Russian invasion of Ukraine

[Draco-Onis]

China sure thinks there's a fat wad of cash coming their way. They're bragging about how the e-yuan (apparently that's a thing) is peaking against the dollar due to Putin's invasion and the subsequent consequences.

China is going full crypto digital for their currency in the future because it allows them more control of their citizens.

[Cynep]

What counts as Ukraine proper?

Territories that have been populated by overwhelmingly Ukrainians for centuries. Specifics of it are a bit vague and open for debate but I'll give you my own view.

Definitely not Zakarpattia lowlands, but arguably Zakarpattia highlands if we do count Halychyna in - which is the area of medieval Regnum Rusiae so Ukraine proper in broad sense but not in narrow sense. Unquestionably Podolia and east Volhynia. I'd argue yes for Ukrainian part of Polesia. Obviously yes for Dnieper Ukraine down to the bend. Debatable for Sloboda Ukraine, half of which is now in Russia despite being ethnically Ukrainian. No for Donbass proper (doesn't coincide with oblast borders at all), no for Azov coast, no for Tavria. Super debatable but I'll say no for Black Sea coast. Definitely not Budjak.

For a different view, here's an interesting map with 1897 census data superimposed on modern borders, it's too large so I'll provide a link.

The obvious attempt predicted even before the war is to pocket whole Donbas front (the best troops Ukraine has), via thrusts from south and north, or, at least, push them against Dnieper and destroy bridges - which is what is happening right now. As for those cities - judging by the recent events - flip seems unlikely, just another bloody siege battle. Plus I have a feeling Kramatorsk remembers bombings by rebels. Russkij mir prishol and all that.
Russian troops are raiding around Mykolaiv - there is no solid resistance there, that means Odessa is vulnerable. As far as I am concerned - it is looking bad.

Ah yes, and front falling back brings another whole host of issues, like loosing equipment, forward bases for enemy, less options to organize in rear, and so on.

Obviously this is David vs Goliath war. What will happen on Donbass front I won't try to predict, but my point in this whole sub-conversation was that "push them against Dnieper" anywhere north of Dnipro city is Kremlin's wet dreams - they'll be in territory where they'll be potentially shot in the back from any window by local radicals - and it's not all the empty rural areas and highways they predominantly "control" now. How will they both push and hold with 200k troops total? Mariupol/Volnovakha might yet become Putin's Stalingrad BTW, before they ever get to Poltava.

[Elegiac]

China sure thinks there's a fat wad of cash coming their way. They're bragging about how the e-yuan (apparently that's a thing) is peaking against the dollar due to Putin's invasion and the subsequent consequences.

This bit of your link really stuck out to me:

“One distinctive characteristic of digital yuan is that payment and settlement happen concurrently. This will help reduce reliance on bank accounts and bypass financial intermediaries in some scenarios,” Ming said.

"Bypass financial intermediaries" very much seems like code for "making it easier to commit fraud by dodging regulators."

[Edge-]

So Russia took a nuclear reactor? Aren't those supposed to be like, non-military targets given the risk of military conflicts around them?

Also, Russian gamers are gonna be mad. EA canceled all sales to the country, and Sony just pulled GT7 off sale.

[Daymanmb]

Unfortunately not in all parts of the West. You'd still be frowned upon and get aggressive reactions from passerbys.

You wont be arrested for it. A stark contrast that shouldnt need explaining, but here we are.

[Poopymonster]

So Russia took a nuclear reactor? Aren't those supposed to be like, non-military targets given the risk of military conflicts around them?

Also, Russian gamers are gonna be mad. EA canceled all sales to the country, and Sony just pulled GT7 off sale.

Correction, Russia SHOT at a nuclear reactor, which at some point was briefly on fire, put out, then taken.
Let's reflect for a moment. Russia wants it to deny power to the Ukraine.
On one hand, nuclear reactors are designed and built to not go melty or fwoosh, many layers of concrete will take a bit more the light arms fire and random explosives.
On the other hand, design and implementation are two totally different things, especially when you're using substandard equipment, lowest bid engineers, and piss poor plans. Not to mention the quality of maintenance.
On the gripping hand, some poor bastard could have said "It's 22:30, what is the sun doing o-"

[Rasulis]

Thrall's balls! An on-topic post I can respond to!

This is a list of companies that are backing away slowly so far. It's probably not even complete, but it's big enough already.



Bolded are items I did not see before in these forums.

You missed TikTok blocked RT and Sputnik in EU and US.

[Yunru]

So Russia took a nuclear reactor? Aren't those supposed to be like, non-military targets given the risk of military conflicts around them?

Also, Russian gamers are gonna be mad. EA canceled all sales to the country, and Sony just pulled GT7 off sale.

And their money also got wortless in this game:
https://www.thegamer.com/escape-from...ian-sanctions/

Also Russans are getting banned/auto kicked from player run servers on Rust.

Not a ban yet --- but it can happen:
https://www.engadget.com/ukraine-wan...155335920.html

[Rasulis]

China sure thinks there's a fat wad of cash coming their way. They're bragging about how the e-yuan (apparently that's a thing) is peaking against the dollar due to Putin's invasion and the subsequent consequences.

This is a case study for China. The country is even more exposed to Western economy than Russia. They need to strengthen yuan as international currency. Otherwise, they are highly exposed to sanctions. From your article.

The yuan has shown its risk-averse nature during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as yuan midpoint reached a nearly four year high of 6.3014 against the US dollar on Tuesday.

But its international use is far behind its status as the world’s second largest economy, which accounts for about 18 per cent of the global gross domestic product.

Swift data showed the yuan accounted for 3.2 per cent of global payments in January, ranking fourth after 39.92 per cent for the US dollar and 36.56 per cent for the euro.

British pound is #3. US/EU/Britain/Japan alliance is still the dominating global financial hegemony. The yuan is not an option yet.

[Specialka]

And their money also got wortless in this game:
https://www.thegamer.com/escape-from...ian-sanctions/

Also Russans are getting banned/auto kicked from player run servers on Rust.

Not a ban yet --- but it can happen:
https://www.engadget.com/ukraine-wan...155335920.html

Would be interesting to have stats about cheating in gaming.

[Breccia]

You missed TikTok blocked RT and Sputnik in EU and US.

Technically I did not, I just cut and paste. They should be there, and I did not know about them, so, good on you for bringing it up either way.

[Rasulis]

Technically I did not, I just cut and paste. They should be there, and I did not know about them, so, good on you for bringing it up either way.

I was joking. But they actually did that. Interesting that a Chinese company would do that.

[Breccia]

Interesting that a Chinese company would do that.

Very. They must know they have more money in American viewers than Russian viewers.

[Rasulis]

Dockers at Merseyside refinery refuse to unload Russian oil

Looks like Dutch dock workers in Rotterdam felt the same as their English brethren.

[DarkAmbient]

If you look at Putin's comments over the years he is pretty clear about wanting to bring back the USSR. This may just be the start of his campaign to do just that.

There was that one time he said you're brainless if you want the USSR back but he probably wants people to forget about that

[Torched]

Not sure if this has been posted before. This was hard to watch.

WARNING GRAPHIC AND HEARTBREAKING!

https://twitter.com/RFERL/status/149...2F20222230458d

Dad, please don't die!': A harrowing video has emerged from Ukraine that captures a deadly Russian attack on a father and son attempting to evacuate from the town of Ivankiv in the Kyiv region.

[Aleaa]

Is it hard to watch?
https://twitter.com/NinaByzantina/st...tPKz97d_2DrBgA

or this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdETdJfYDhw

[DarkAmbient]

Not sure if this has been posted before. This was hard to watch.

WARNING GRAPHIC AND HEARTBREAKING!

<snip>

Dad, please don't die!': A harrowing video has emerged from Ukraine that captures a deadly Russian attack on a father and son attempting to evacuate from the town of Ivankiv in the Kyiv region.

That video's pretty hardcore man. The mortally wounded father asking his son to mercy kill him. I've seen worse but it's still awful. Don't watch if such things play on your mind.

[Aleaa]

What's not true? We have footage of the nuclear reactor being shot at. We have footage of it burning. We know it's now in Russian hands and not currently burning.

Shots are everywhere

[Makabreska]

Well shit. Russia bans Facebook....I mean Meta.