Russian invasion of Ukraine

[snebb]

Russia asks China for military assistance in its invasion of Ukraine
Russia Asked China for Military and Economic Aid for Ukraine War, U.S. Officials Say

These articles don't make it clear when the requests were made, but I expect it would have been headlining a lot earlier if this isn't a fresh story.

Big if true, US intelligence has been pretty on point and nobody really knows how big Russia's stockpiles were before the invasion. Of course, we also don't know exactly what they are requesting at the moment. Guess it's time for China to actually pick a side.

American officials, determined to keep secret their means of collecting the intelligence on Russia’s requests, declined to describe further the kind of military equipment Moscow is seeking. The officials also declined to discuss any reaction by China to the requests.

[Elegiac]

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/16069...-gold-reserves
https://www.forbes.com/sites/christo...d-horde-helps/

Bruh neither of those articles remotely support what you're saying.

But let's be real here - you literally just googled 'Putin gold reserves' and linked two of the first results without actually reading them:



The thinkery. Rofl.

I will not further justify myself or rationalize how Putin is someone who has prepared for every eventuality to wage this Ukraine war.

You never justified it in the first place and have been doing nothing but talking out of your ass.

He's also no idiot.

Really? Because starting an unwinnable attempt to conquer Ukraine and turning his country into an international pariah in the process seems kinda stupid.

[Jessicka]

their murderous crown prince hates Biden, a commonality with the man since Trump left office, like how Putin imploded after he left.

Also: 9/11.

The Saudi royalty is made up of opportunists.

SA is playing at burgeoning regional superpower on its own terms. Damn right they're opportunists, and opportunists like them don't really 'pick a side'. Same applies to any country that wants to be independently relevant.

[Easo]

UK has enough to glass Russia np.

Far from enough. Russia, simply put, is too big and too spread out, even the European part, to be destroyed by UK's arsenal. Deterrence, not MAD, as I said.

I will not further justify myself or rationalize how Putin is someone who has prepared for every eventuality to wage this Ukraine war. He's one of the richest people on the planet, if not the richest.

He's also no idiot.

You have been having troubles with the first part since the beginning of this thread.

[PhaelixWW]

with the news of the bombing in the Middle East and how Putin is specifically hiring muscle from there, has it been confirmed Saudi Arabia is siding with him?

That makes as much sense as someone here saying:

"With as much disinformation as you try to spread throughout this forum, has it been confirmed that you work for the Kremlin?"

you people HAVE to consider right now who Putin's foreign allies are since he said all bets are off in conscripting random mercenaries to wage his war in violation of international law. It's not singling out Saudi Arabia.

I think besides SA he'll have a degree of China's aid, India, ISIS fighters, Mexican Cartels, as far as conscripts go.

No. None of this is going to happen. You're wrong. Completely. Again.

[jonnysensible]

Far from enough. Russia, simply put, is too big and too spread out, even the European part, to be destroyed by UK's arsenal. Deterrence, not MAD, as I said.

??? 500 nukes, you need 50 at 15 kilotons to create nuclear winter and end the planet?

[Jessicka]

Far from enough. Russia, simply put, is too big and too spread out, even the European part, to be destroyed by UK's arsenal. Deterrence, not MAD, as I said.

Is also mostly wasteland, leaving the bogs and forests in tact doesn't mean Russia is still populated.

[Elegiac]

Far from enough. Russia, simply put, is too big and too spread out, even the European part, to be destroyed by UK's arsenal.

Depends on what you mean by 'destroyed'.

MAD doesn't mean "annihilating every last member of the opposition's population" it means "doing enough damage to cause it to cease to function as a viable political or economic entity"; most nuclear powers are capable of doing that to one another barring the marginal ones like Israel, Pakistan, and North Korea.

[PhaelixWW]

Russia asks China for military assistance in its invasion of Ukraine
Russia Asked China for Military and Economic Aid for Ukraine War, U.S. Officials Say

These articles don't make it clear when the requests were made, but I expect it would have been headlining a lot earlier if this isn't a fresh story.

Financial Times: US claims Russia has asked China for military help in invasion of Ukraine

Russia has asked China for military ​equipment to ​support its invasion of Ukraine, ​according to US officials, sparking concern in ​the White House that Beijing ​may undermine western efforts to help Ukrainian forces defend their country.

US officials told the Financial Times that Russia had requested military equipment and other assistance since the start of the invasion. They declined to give details about what Russia had requested.

Another person familiar with the situation said the US was preparing to warn its allies, amid some indications that China may be preparing to help Russia. Other US officials have said there were signs that Russia was running out of some kinds of weaponry as the war in Ukraine extends into its third week.

The White House did not comment. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for a comment.

The revelation comes as Jake Sullivan, US national security adviser, heads to Rome for talks on Monday with Yang Jiechi, China’s top foreign policy official.

Before leaving Washington on Sunday, Sullivan warned China not to try to “bail out” Russia by helping Moscow to circumvent the sanctions that the US and its allies have imposed on President Vladimir Putin and his regime.

“We will ensure that neither China, nor anyone else, can compensate Russia for these losses,” Sullivan told NBC television on Sunday. “In terms of the specific means of doing that, again, I’m not going to lay all of that out in public, but we will communicate that privately to China, as we have already done and will continue to do.”

The request for equipment and other kinds of unspecified military assistance comes as the Russian military struggles to make as much progress in Ukraine as western intelligence believe they expected.

It also raises fresh questions about the China-Russia relationship, which has grown increasingly strong as both countries express their opposition to the US over everything from Nato to sanctions.

China has portrayed itself as a neutral actor in the Ukraine crisis and has refused to condemn Russia for invading the country. The US has also seen no sign that Chinese president Xi Jinping is willing to put any pressure on Putin.

The two leaders signed a joint statement in Beijing last month describing the Beijing-Moscow partnership as having “no limits”, in another sign that the two capitals were drawing even closer together.

[Jessicka]

??? 500 nukes, you need 50 at 15 kilotons to create nuclear winter and end the planet?

Needs a few more KT than that, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were about 8-10 I think, no nuclear winter. The biggest Thermonuclear bombs are about 20 megatons, a handful of those have been tested as well without nuclear winter.

That said one Trident boat is enough to end Russia as a nation, but you're right, doing it wouldn't end well for most of Europe either over the longer term.

[Rasulis]

Why would SA ever side with Russia?

SA buy Russian missile system, and Yemen.

[Elegiac]

SA buy Russian missile system

That's nice now do all the materiel it buys from the US.

[Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang]

Needs a few more KT than that, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were about 8-10 I think, no nuclear winter. The biggest Thermonuclear bombs are about 20 megatons, a handful of those have been tested as well without nuclear winter.

That said one Trident boat is enough to end Russia as a nation, but you're right, doing it wouldn't end well for most of Europe either over the longer term.

Thr recent Tonga volcano explosion was estimated at 18 Megatons and we're still here. You'd need more than that.

[Jessicka]

That's nice now do all the materiel it buys from the US.

Loads of British stuff as well weirdly enough.

[Easo]

??? 500 nukes, you need 50 at 15 kilotons to create nuclear winter and end the planet?

225 nukes only, of which, at most, only half are ready to be used. Max yield - up to 100kt.

Is also mostly wasteland, leaving the bogs and forests in tact doesn't mean Russia is still populated.

You barely have enough for military bases. Everything is based on four submarines (4), of which only one is on active patrol. De facto that means no second strike capability, as subs are quite unlikely to have a base to return to load the other half.

Depends on what you mean by 'destroyed'.

MAD doesn't mean "annihilating every last member of the opposition's population" it means "doing enough damage to cause it to cease to function as a viable political or economic entity"; most nuclear powers are capable of doing that to one another barring the marginal ones like Israel, Pakistan, and North Korea.

Russia as country collapses, I mean that. UK alone can't do it.

[jonnysensible]

Thr recent Tonga volcano explosion was estimated at 18 Megatons and we're still here. You'd need more than that.

its about soot, you create 100 city megafires (like hiroshima from nukes or dresden from firebombing) all at the same time. And the soot goes up 6-9 miles and thats. I'll revise 100 15kt nukes used on cities would end it all.

[Jessicka]

Thr recent Tonga volcano explosion was estimated at 18 Megatons and we're still here. You'd need more than that.

For sure, I remember reading an article on it, but I can't remember exactly what it said, just that it wasn't actually nearly as many as you'd think; certainly less than the nuclear arsenal of any one major nuclear power. That included France and Britain.

[Draco-Onis]

Needs a few more KT than that, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were about 8-10 I think, no nuclear winter. The biggest Thermonuclear bombs are about 20 megatons, a handful of those have been tested as well without nuclear winter.

That said one Trident boat is enough to end Russia as a nation, but you're right, doing it wouldn't end well for most of Europe either over the longer term.

I don't know about Russia specifically the current estimate to end the world's population is 300 Nukes the yield wouldn't need to be high. You basically would be striking at supply stores and basic needs areas the people who die from the original blast would be the lucky ones. The fallout from lack of services, disease, radiation and chaos would basically wipe out the human race.

[Jessicka]

I don't know about Russia specifically the current estimate to end the world's population is 300 Nukes the yield wouldn't need to be high. You basically would be striking at supply stores and basic needs areas the people who die from the original blast would be the lucky ones. The fallout from lack of services, disease, radiation and chaos would basically wipe out the human race.

Wikipedia says 50 x 15KT weapons. Thermonuclear weapons run into the Megaton range. So really, not that many at all, couple of dozen.

[Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang]

Loads of British stuff as well weirdly enough.

The Gulf states have a habit of purchasing from different suppliers to curry political alliances and not be vulnerable to a single supplier potentially cutting them off. AFAIK it has been a recent development that the monarchies started diversifying with Russian and Chinese gear.
Back in the days most republics were more or less soviet aligned and sourced their gear there, while the monarchies, Iran included, were American aligned.
IIRC Saddam might have been of the first to mix Soviet and Western gear (French planes).