Russian invasion of Ukraine

[Afrospinach]

Big part of why Russia is doing this is the water situation in Crimea becoming critical.

I don’t think they’re ready yet to pull back from the south without a more permanent answer to that being agreed upon by both sides.

I feel like they could have built a lot of desalination plants and corresponding power plants for what this has just cost them.

An incidental goal, surely.

[Daymanmb]

So you keep returning to the single thing in the past (Oh, btw, how about Ukrainians using DHL minibuses for transport? Surely that can't cause any problems...) instead of talking about what I said to Mihalik about his supposed systematic maintenance failures by Russia? Good to know...

"What Mihalik said" is a non-sequitur and has nothing to do with you being hypocritical and holding people to standards that you don't abide by.

So, either you post proof of:

I am constantly seeing our military (Ukrainian military to be exact) ride in ambulances to go between parts of the city.

He is right about use of ambulances by soldiers

OR:

admit that you don't have a solid proof.

Last I checked DHL =/= Ambulance.

[Rasulis]

Japan tells businesses not to do business in rubles. Calls out energy sector in particular not to do that.

Related: many Asians are complying with trade restrictions to avoid being sanctioned.



I'm still not sure where China stands on this, seems to be mostly fence-straddling, but since Russia is pushing rope I doubt they're saying "yeah, after all these attempts that failed and these weak excuses from Putin, let's go all-in on that" now of all times. I don't think their love for Russia and their hatred of the US are either/together strong enough to spend significant time, effort, or resources backing the side that is both objectively in the wrong and also losing. I'm not expecting them to shut down trade or anything, but they won't be fencing stolen goods or hiding dead Ukrainian children either.

Simply put economic interest. Most countries just do not conduct enough trade with Russia to risk incurring the economic wrath of US/EU. Not even Chinese companies are willing to do that. At least not for Russia. The global market is still very much dominated by dollar and euro.

Countries are still buying cheap Russian crude and gas. Not only because they are cheap, but also because there is no sanction on Russian crude and gas. So why not buy them when they are discounted so heavily. Especially when UAE and SA kept rising the price of their crude.

Even without sanction, Russia crude export March 17 through 23 is down 26% from the week before.

[Pann]

I'm sure this comes as a surprise to absolutely no-one - 'Blinken: No signs that Russia is serious about peace talks with Ukraine.'

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/...27938732625920

[Iphie]

I'm sure this comes as a surprise to absolutely no-one - 'Blinken: No signs that Russia is serious about peace talks with Ukraine.'

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/...27938732625920

Yes, because a proposal would immediately lead to withdrawal. I mean I don't trust the Russians either but at least give them the CHANCE of doing something before questioning their motives, by which I mean: more than a few hours.

[Rasulis]

The economic sanction can still get tougher.

Japan to ban Russia-bound exports of gold from April 5

Japan will ban the shipment to Russia of precious metals, especially gold, in response to its invasion of Ukraine, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said on Tuesday.

The ban on Russia-bound precious metal reflects Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's resolve to impose further sanctions against the country, pledged at last week's meeting of leaders from the Group of Seven (G7) advanced nations.

The export controls list - including luxury cars, jewellery, cosmetics and liquor - will take effect from April 5.

Japan's move comes after the United States and Britain took steps to curtail transactions in gold with Russia.

Britain revised its sanctions guidance on Friday to make clear that British entities cannot help Moscow sell its gold reserves, while the U.S. Treasury Department said a day earlier that gold-related transactions involving Russia may be sanctionable by U.S. authorities.

The latest ban comes on top of curbs on high-tech exports to Russia, including semiconductors, censors and communication equipment.

Kishida has announced plans to revoke Russia's most-favoured-nation trading status, which could lead to higher tariffs on its imports, as well as a ban on certain imports from Russia.

Japan has also frozen the assets of more than 100 Russian individuals and organizations, and is considering extending financial regulations to Japan-based crypto-currency exchanges.

Tokyo has walked a fine line regarding its energy supplies from Russia, stressing the strategic importance of oil and gas projects in eastern Russia, in which the government and Japanese firms hold stakes.

[Easo]

"What Mihalik said" is a non-sequitur and has nothing to do with you being hypocritical and holding people to standards that you don't abide by. So either you post proof of:

OR:

So a single case which you keep dragging up (and for which I admitted I have no proof) vs constant Slant's and Mihalik's military "knowledge" bullshit? And still ignoring Mihalik's failure to provide proof about maintenance? Ok then. Do whatever you want and join the chorus here claiming Ukraine is winning.

[Daymanmb]

So a single case which you keep dragging up (and for which I admitted I have no proof) vs constant Slant's and Mihalik's military "knowledge" bullshit? And still ignoring Mihalik's failure to provide proof about maintenance? Ok then. Do whatever you want and join the chorus here claiming Ukraine is winning.

It took you 15 pages and a decent amount of pressure before you admitted you were wrong. The audacity of some people...

But... I did not.

You cant even keep your story straight lol. You JUST said you "did not" (admit you were wrong). Im glad you can admit it again now that I have provided receipts, though.

[Saradain]

Do whatever you want and join the chorus here claiming Ukraine is winning.

Well Russia certainly isn't winning. Withdrawing, forced to remove faked "denazification" and "demilitarization" goals from any peace treaties they don't plan to respect anyway.

Let's not forget banning free media in Russia and most if not all social media. Why is that? It's like russian goverment does not want their citizens to know what is actually happening...

[Edge-]

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...nt-2022-03-29/

So...are they ACTUALLY scaling down operations around Kyiv, or is this more of a, "We can't keep the siege up due to supply issues so we'll just announce that we're scaling them back instead of just scaling them back because we ran out of things that blow up."?

[Saradain]

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...nt-2022-03-29/

So...are they ACTUALLY scaling down operations around Kyiv, or is this more of a, "We can't keep the siege up due to supply issues so we'll just announce that we're scaling them back instead of just scaling them back because we ran out of things that blow up."?

Or they got soundly beaten in the area, forced to retreat, but the official story has to present the murderer-rapists as generous saints who seek peaceful resolution.

[TACOshake]

Some happy news for the guy that best explained Russian's aggression in the fewest words.

Ukrainian serviceman Roman Gribov rallied the world when he said: “Russian warship, go fuck yourself.”
Captured by Russians, he was later released via prisoner exchange.
Here, he receives a well-deserved medal.

[Belize]

I'm sure this comes as a surprise to absolutely no-one - 'Blinken: No signs that Russia is serious about peace talks with Ukraine.'

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/...27938732625920

Any peace treaty that doesn't include some severe limitations on Russia and guarantees of a Ukraine-West defense treaty is simply a way to give Russia time to regroup, rearm and invade again.

It's why these peace talks will take a very long time, Russia absolutely needs to pay a hefty price or else it'll just start shit again in a couple years.

[Edge-]

Or they got soundly beaten in the area, forced to retreat, but the official story has to present the murderer-rapists as generous saints who seek peaceful resolution.

That's what I'm trying to get clarity on. Whether this is actually them making a move, or whether they were doing this anyways and this is just a nice way to frame the move so as not to seem like an abject failure.

[Belize]

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...nt-2022-03-29/

So...are they ACTUALLY scaling down operations around Kyiv, or is this more of a, "We can't keep the siege up due to supply issues so we'll just announce that we're scaling them back instead of just scaling them back because we ran out of things that blow up."?

Tacticool Retreat*

Not running away.

[zealo]

I feel like they could have built a lot of desalination plants and corresponding power plants for what this has just cost them.

An incidental goal, surely.

The scale of desalination needed is non-practical for uses beyond straight up drinking water.

Ukraine cut access when Russia first seized the peninsula to a canal the soviets built back in the 1960s to divert from the dnieper, and restoring access were one of the first things Russia did back in February there in the opening days of the war.

[Poopymonster]

Well Russia certainly isn't winning. Withdrawing, forced to remove faked "denazification" and "demilitarization" goals from any peace treaties they don't plan to respect anyway.

Let's not forget banning free media in Russia and most if not all social media. Why is that? It's like russian goverment does not want their citizens to know what is actually happening...

With the number of Russian troops killed, it sounds like the Denazification went pretty smoothly thus far.

[Easo]

Americans are saying that some forces are indeed moving back from Kiev.

You cant even keep your story straight lol. You JUST said you "did not" (admit you were wrong). Im glad you can admit it again now that I have provided receipts, though.

"I did not" was about Mihalik's post (I already said this once), context is important, I had no idea you would go on a rant about two weeks or so old post. Jesus christ...

Well Russia certainly isn't winning. Withdrawing, forced to remove faked "denazification" and "demilitarization" goals from any peace treaties they don't plan to respect anyway.

Let's not forget banning free media in Russia and most if not all social media. Why is that? It's like russian goverment does not want their citizens to know what is actually happening...

Those two things can happen at the same time, you do realize that...?

And I do not see relevance in talking about Russia banning opposition media, that's decades old tradition by now.
P.S
Ukraine is getting demilitarized regardless, just in a more direct way - Malyshev, Antonov, Luch, etc...

[Iphie]

Americans are saying that some forces are indeed moving back from Kiev.

Source? Because that would be interesting.

[Belize]

Ukraine is getting demilitarized regardless, just in a more direct way - Malyshev, Antonov, Luch, etc...

Keep your weird Russian power fantasies to yourself, that's a non-starter in any peace treaty.

Ukraine being demilitarized and barred from signing a defense agreement with the West is simply holding the door open for Russia to waltz back in once they've regrouped.

Ukraine has already indicated as a no-go (as they should) and Russia is already backing down by saying that allowing Ukraine to join the EU is something they're willing to let slide.

And as I mentioned just a little over a week ago, the longer this drags on, the more bargaining chips Ukraine will have. And it's already looking like I've been proven right, considering the softer tone Russia is taking and how badly crippled their forces are getting.

Remember when Kyiv was falling after the first weekend? Good times, good times...