Russian invasion of Ukraine

[Easo]

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1501002245457862659

Mystery solved, gang. America is responsible for this invasion.

Thanks, Tucker Carlson.

Man he is deeply retarded. Curious what kompromat Russia has on this former bow-tie wearing rich kid.

Video of prostitutes pissing on his tiny peepee in some hotel room in Moscow's center? I mean, he has to learn from the best, no?

According to EIU, Tel Aviv has the highest cost of living in the world.

To compare, I am getting something like ~21k EUR a year in Latvia, that's roughly 1.8k a month. This brings me somewhere at the bottom of top 10% earners there. The average pay in Latvia? ~940 EUR a month, quite skewed by the top earners.
This is neto pay, of course, what you actually get.

New appartment in Riga costs... 80-120k, depending on how many rooms + the location. Average rent in Riga, usually in a Soviet built house is very roughly ~250-300 EUR. Add ~100-150 for utilities, which brings the cost of your living place up to a half of your paycheck, sometimes more, sometimes less.

[Logwyn]

Poland has agreed to immediately supply all its MIG-29s to Ukraine (via the US) and encourages all other NATO members to do the same. That's pretty big, assuming they have somewhere to operate from.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/li...08d64fa95e8bdf

So let's see.
Bulgaria - 16 MiG-29 and 3 MiG-29UB fighters
Poland - 30 MiG-29s
Slovakia - 10 MiG-29ASs and 2 MiG-29UBSs
If I did that right.

I'm sure there is somewhere for them to take off and land. A highway would work.

[Barzotti]

Russia suspends sale of foreign currencies until September 9.

[Easo]

So let's see.
Bulgaria - 16 MiG-29 and 3 MiG-29UB fighters
Poland - 30 MiG-29s
Slovakia - 10 MiG-29ASs and 2 MiG-29UBSs
If I did that right.

I'm sure there is somewhere for them to take off and land. A highway would work.

1. Only Poland is involved in this. Slovakia literally is left without planes if they gives theirs, which is what they said. IIRC Bulgarian F-16's are not yet delivered, so same issue here.
2. Highway landings are cool. But again, logistics. Fuel, weapons, repairs? Much harder to do on highways, which are definitely monitored. Realistically they still would base on smaller airfields in Western Ukraine.

[Rasulis]

1. Only Poland is involved in this. Slovakia literally is left without planes if they gives theirs, which is what they said. IIRC Bulgarian F-16's are not yet delivered, so same issue here.
2. Highway landings are cool. But again, logistics. Fuel, weapons, repairs? Much harder to do on highways, which are definitely monitored. Realistically they still would base on smaller airfields in Western Ukraine.

Talking about refueling.

Korean Air said it canceled flights to Moscow because it can't refuel its planes there

On Friday, Korean Air announced it is canceling flights to Russia for the next two weeks, telling Reuters that it can no longer refuel in Moscow. Korean operates regular service between Moscow and Seoul once weekly on Thursdays, according to Cirium data.

Unlike airlines from countries in Europe and North America, Seoul-based Korean is not banned from flying in Russian airspace, but the carrier said sanctions against Russia may make it difficult to source jet fuel.

"We were informed by a Russia-based refueling service provider this afternoon that we can no longer refuel our planes at the airport in Moscow," a Korean Air spokesperson told Reuters.

The airline is also rerouting cargo flights to fly directly between Seoul and destinations in Europe instead of stopping in Moscow for fuel. The new routing will force Korean to carry less cargo in exchange for more fuel to make the nonstop journey.

Korean is not the only airline impacted by Russia's possible lack of oil. According to South Korea's national newspaper, Korea JoongAng Daily, Seoul-based Asiana Airlines will also stop fueling in Moscow on its daily cargo flights to Frankfurt and London.

[Thekri]

1. Only Poland is involved in this. Slovakia literally is left without planes if they gives theirs, which is what they said. IIRC Bulgarian F-16's are not yet delivered, so same issue here.
2. Highway landings are cool. But again, logistics. Fuel, weapons, repairs? Much harder to do on highways, which are definitely monitored. Realistically they still would base on smaller airfields in Western Ukraine.

More importantly, Poland's are the only ones you can actually count on to work. I have worked with the Bulgarian military, lets just say their maintenance standards did not impress. I worked with the Poles too, and theirs did. Poland has built a quite professional military, that is generally quite competent. Despite these Migs being old as sin, and having been handed around more then a Fox News talking point, they probably work reasonably well.

Your second point is very true. Russian jets don't require quite as much maintenance as American ones, but they are still high performance jets, and they need literal tons of fuel and weapons for resupply, as well as readily available parts and maintenance. I am sure there is a plan in place that they have no interest in discussing publicly.

[Easo]

Talking about refueling.

Well, that was to be expected.
I assume you have seen how the flight routes from Europe to Asia will look like now, yes? That's the new reality for unknown period of time.

More importantly, Poland's are the only ones you can actually count on to work. I have worked with the Bulgarian military, lets just say their maintenance standards did not impress. I worked with the Poles too, and theirs did. Poland has built a quite professional military, that is generally quite competent. Despite these Migs being old as sin, and having been handed around more then a Fox News talking point, they probably work reasonably well.

Your second point is very true. Russian jets don't require quite as much maintenance as American ones, but they are still high performance jets, and they need literal tons of fuel and weapons for resupply, as well as readily available parts and maintenance. I am sure there is a plan in place that they have no interest in discussing publicly.

People on the internet are saying that Polish MiG's havent flown for more than a year, after a series of incidents.
Well... Old and worn out plane is still better than no plane. And Ukraine as of right now likely has very few planes left, if any.
P.S.
I think Bulgarian ones were repaired in Belarus, or was it Russia? Same for Slovakia. Poles tried to do theirs on their own, which supposedly did not go that well.

[Thekri]

People on the internet are saying that Polish MiG's havent flown for more than a year, after a series of incidents.
Well... Old and worn out plane is still better than no plane. And Ukraine as of right now likely has very few planes left, if any.
P.S.
I think Bulgarian ones were repaired in Belarus, or was it Russia? Same for Slovakia. Poles tried to do theirs on their own, which supposedly did not go that well.

Well that is possible. People on the internet are usually a reliable source.

Joking aside, that is quite likely true. I know Poland uses mostly F-16s these days, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Migs had been sidelined for a while now. I assume Poland was planning on flying them to Ramstein though, so I suspect most of them are at least flyable. I suspect some safety regulations will be hand waved given the circumstances.

[Easo]

Well that is possible. People on the internet are usually a reliable source.

Joking aside, that is quite likely true. I know Poland uses mostly F-16s these days, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Migs had been sidelined for a while now. I assume Poland was planning on flying them to Ramstein though, so I suspect most of them are at least flyable. I suspect some safety regulations will be hand waved given the circumstances.

And I suspect Ukraine will accept them even with those conditions, as long as they can fight. Someone in this thread did raise a question about NATO integration and the like. Well - those are pretty much the same planes from when they were in GDR 30+ years ago. R-27 as armament, with NATO communications equipment included at best. Ukraine, again, per internet, is without friend-or-foe system (project was not finished, or something like that, just the old Soviet/Russian ones scrubbed), so no need to worry about that. Well... Actually, they should worry, but beggars can't be choosers.

- - - Updated - - -

Well... USA does not think this option is "tenable":

US defence department spokesman John Kirby has rejected Poland's surprise offer to hand over its military jet fleet to the US - rather than Ukraine.

"As we have said, the decision about whether to transfer Polish-owned planes to Ukraine is ultimately one for the Polish government," Kirby said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that "Poland's proposal shows just some of the complexities this issue presents".

"The prospect of fighter jets 'at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America' departing from a US/Nato base in Germany to fly into airspace that is contested with Russia over Ukraine raises serious concerns for the entire Nato alliance," he said.

"It is simply not clear to us that there is a substantive rationale for it. We will continue to consult with Poland and our other Nato allies about this issue and the difficult logistical challenges it presents, but we do not believe Poland's proposal is a tenable one."

Ball is back in Poland's court.

[Breccia]

Russia suspends sale of foreign currencies until September 9.

Their stock market is still in trouble.

Russia's central bank has decided to keep stock market trading on the Moscow Exchange largely suspended again on Wednesday, keeping only a limited range of operations, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

The foreign currency market will reopen at 10 a.m. (0700 GMT), forgoing the morning session, it added.

Oh, that story's a few hours old, ignore that last line.

Ruble is currently 0.0078 dollars. That's technically up from last time.

- - - Updated - - -

"We were informed by a Russia-based refueling service provider this afternoon that we can no longer refuel our planes at the airport in Moscow,"

Baffled. Russia needs all the visitors they can get and you'd think fuel is the one thing they'd have. They can't possibly be saving it all for air support.

[Arrashi]

Gotta say that whole Mig thing seems like awkward game of hot potato betwen Poland and USA.

Guess after 39 Poland needs a bit more than "Green lights" to put itself on the front.

[Shadowferal]

Hmf...first, the thought is "no jets," now the thought is "old worn out jets"...I suppose the next is "obsolete garbage..."

[Easo]

Hmf...first, the thought is "no jets," now the thought is "old worn out jets"...I suppose the next is "obsolete garbage..."

As of ~20 minutes ago we are back to "no jets".

[PhaelixWW]

As of ~20 minutes ago we are back to "no jets".

More accurate, it's "we need a different delivery plan" rather than "no jets".

There's no disagreement over the "jets" part of the plan.

[Gaidax]

In the end there will be jets, it's just a tad amusing throwing of responsibility around.

[Easo]

More accurate, it's "we need a different delivery plan" rather than "no jets".

There's no disagreement over the "jets" part of the plan.

I would say back to square one. It seems clear that Poland does not want to risk it. Question is, what now?
Imho it still would have been easier to just oficially gift the planes to Ukraine and have them flown there by Ukrainians, make it televised and shit.

[Thekri]

In the end there will be jets, it's just a tad amusing throwing of responsibility around.

Maybe, my pet theory (Which I can't support), is that Ukraine isn't able to take delivery of the jets (Lack of pilots or airfield capacity), so NATO has agreed to keep shuffling the jets around to force Russia to plan around these jets deploying. As long as we keep threatening the insertion of another 25 or so fighter-bombers into the situation, Russia isn't able to move outside their local air defense bubbles, and is forced to keep burning its limited logistics capacity on a large number of AA systems that are useless if no jets show up.

[Shadowferal]

Poland says it’s ready to deploy all their MiG-29 fighter jets to US air base in Germany

3 hr 15 min ago Poland says it’s ready to deploy all their MiG-29 fighter jets to US air base in Germany

Poland said on Tuesday that it was ready to deploy — immediately and free of charge — all their MiG-29 fighter jets to the US Air Force’s Ramstein Air Base in Germany and place them at the disposal of Washington to provide them to Ukraine, according to a statement from the Polish foreign ministry.

“At the same time, Poland requests the United States to provide us with used aircraft with corresponding operational capabilities. Poland is ready to immediately establish the conditions of purchase of the planes,” it added. The Polish government in the statement urged “other NATO Allies — owners of MIG-29 jets — to act in the same vein.”

A top State Department official said Tuesday that Poland did not consult with the United States prior to issuing its statement about readiness to transfer jets to the US in Germany.

“I saw that announcement by the government of Poland as I was literally driving here today,” Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.

“So to my knowledge, it wasn't pre-consulted with us that they plan to give these planes to us,” she said.

“I look forward when this hearing is over to getting back to my desk and seeing how we will respond to this proposal of theirs to give the planes to us,” she said, noting that the US and Poland have been in consultations for a couple of days on this topic.

---------

Just a matter of logistics it seems.

[Gaidax]

Maybe, my pet theory (Which I can't support), is that Ukraine isn't able to take delivery of the jets (Lack of pilots or airfield capacity), so NATO has agreed to keep shuffling the jets around to force Russia to plan around these jets deploying. As long as we keep threatening the insertion of another 25 or so fighter-bombers into the situation, Russia isn't able to move outside their local air defense bubbles, and is forced to keep burning its limited logistics capacity on a large number of AA systems that are useless if no jets show up.

No it's just exactly what it is - Poland does not want to directly send jets to Ukraine to not directly put themselves into Russian retaliation, which could be as simple as "lol no gas for you", I bet Russia is looking for someone to make example of.

Them sending it to 3rd party is a safer option. Maybe US/Poland can find some other 3rd party instead of US.

[PhaelixWW]

I would say back to square one.

Nah.

/10c