Russian invasion of Ukraine

[Barzotti]

Just wish the Germans would stop pretending. They seem to full of lies when it comes to Russia and even nuclear power.

Indeed. It would be at least honest and less insulting if Scholz said at the beginning of the war "we don't give a fuck about Ukraine, Russian energy is way more important for us than human lives and we have no issues financing war crimes, deal with it". I think history will not judge Merkel's legacy kindly in the upcoming years.

[Finlandia WOAT]

I see this as more of a dictator thing.

"I am in control, we will achieve x by y date"

Sure, but it's not as if he picked the date at random.

https://twitter.com/kamilkazani/stat...799425?lang=en

[Forogil]

Seems Azovstal is getting evacuated:

https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/stat...74213728190468

100 civilians are on their way to Zaporizhzhia

Amazing that it actually seems to be working, since so many previous human corridors have failed and Putin previously wanting it sealed off so that not even a fly could leave.

I can see a number of possibilities - one is that Russia is desperate for a quick peace combined with Zelensky's previous statement that peace-talks would end if they were killed; another is that Russia is planning to really bomb it and want to show that it was only soldiers left.

[Iphie]

Amazing that it actually seems to be working, since so many previous human corridors have failed and Putin previously wanting it sealed off so that not even a fly could leave.

I can see a number of possibilities - one is that Russia is desperate for a quick peace combined with Zelensky's previous statement that peace-talks would end if they were killed; another is that Russia is planning to really bomb it and want to show that it was only soldiers left.

Yeah, I'm also somewhat surprised, my cynical mind says: 'The russians must be out of ammo', but then there are UN and Red Cross operatives around so who knows? Frankly if it is option 2 I would be surprised that they let out civilians as the russian army does not care about those, as shown in the last few months. On the other hand, if Azovstal falls and Mariupol IS completely captured then that is an out for the russians.

One thing I do kinda hope is that this isn't a fluke and that it leads to a more permanent and widerspread cease fire, but that would involve trust and that is in short supply even if this holds, I think we can look into that if and when the remaining 100000 inhabitants of mariupol are evacuated. (as that is also the aim of the UN.)

I don not think sanction relief is a good idea for anything but the most essential humanitarian reasons.

[Kiri]

Indeed. It would be at least honest and less insulting if Scholz said at the beginning of the war "we don't give a fuck about Ukraine, Russian energy is way more important for us than human lives and we have no issues financing war crimes, deal with it". I think history will not judge Merkel's legacy kindly in the upcoming years.

Eh, while I am not exactly a fan of Scholz, I really don't think it is that bad. Not like they (or Germans at large, who are not exactly happy with the leadership right now) 'do not give a toss' or anything like that.
Sure, it certainly was a mistake to get that reliant on Russian gas in the first place, I doubt anyone is denying that much. But it is getting slightly annoying that people keep acting like
a) It would be easy for Germany to just stop using Russian gas, which between costing a ton of jobs and, well, heating especially for the lower income Germans (not like everyone there is some rich snob or something) is a tough call. Much tougher than for many other countries that had an easier time disconnecting from Russia that way.
b) Germany continuing to buy gas right now even making that much of a difference. Not like Russia will just stop the war tomorrow because less money is coming in to begin with. The sanctions etc are meant to cripple Russia long-term and dissuade them, which is, while not as efficiently, still supported by the slower German disconnect as well.
c) Financing war crimes is something done exclusively done in this context. Just because Russia moved from "nations that commit war crimes but that we can look away from" to "actual war crimes that we care about" it suddenly matters who buys from them in particular and it is somehow an achievement that Germany moves from buying fossil fuels from Russia to buying it from the Saudis.

I mean, yes, Germany should do a lot more and Scholtz in particular needs to be more honest and transparent. The German reliance on Russian gas is a strong detriment to the Western effort and a cudgel Russia wields all too eagerly. It is important to keep up the pressure in that regard. But pretending that Germany, and the average German in particular, is somehow uncaring just strikes me as wrong and unhelpful to begin with.

[Barzotti]

Eh, while I am not exactly a fan of Scholz, I really don't think it is that bad. Not like they (or Germans at large, who are not exactly happy with the leadership right now) 'do not give a toss' or anything like that.
Sure, it certainly was a mistake to get that reliant on Russian gas in the first place, I doubt anyone is denying that much. But it is getting slightly annoying that people keep acting like
a) It would be easy for Germany to just stop using Russian gas, which between costing a ton of jobs and, well, heating especially for the lower income Germans (not like everyone there is some rich snob or something) is a tough call. Much tougher than for many other countries that had an easier time disconnecting from Russia that way.
b) Germany continuing to buy gas right now even making that much of a difference. Not like Russia will just stop the war tomorrow because less money is coming in to begin with. The sanctions etc are meant to cripple Russia long-term and dissuade them, which is, while not as efficiently, still supported by the slower German disconnect as well.
c) Financing war crimes is something done exclusively done in this context. Just because Russia moved from "nations that commit war crimes but that we can look away from" to "actual war crimes that we care about" it suddenly matters who buys from them in particular and it is somehow an achievement that Germany moves from buying fossil fuels from Russia to buying it from the Saudis.

I mean, yes, Germany should do a lot more and Scholtz in particular needs to be more honest and transparent. The German reliance on Russian gas is a strong detriment to the Western effort and a cudgel Russia wields all too eagerly. It is important to keep up the pressure in that regard. But pretending that Germany, and the average German in particular, is somehow uncaring just strikes me as wrong and unhelpful to begin with.

I didn't talk about the average German because I have no idea about what the average German wants or thinks. My rebukes are only aimed at the German leaders since Schröder and more broadly a significant part of the german political class who willingly chose to make Germany extremely reliant on Russia and is basically hands tied. Of course Germany can't realistically stop buying from Russia right now, it's not in their interest. But their leaders could at least show some honesty and transparency instead of playing their hypocritical double faced game.

[Corvus]

Looks like an ammo depot might of when boom in Belgorod.
https://twitter.com/OAlexanderDK/sta...47711179460610

Confirmed by the Russians there was a fire at a military installation. They also had a rail bridge in Kursk taken out.

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-...ost_type=share

[Edge-]

Confirmed by the Russians there was a fire at a military installation. They also had a rail bridge in Kursk taken out.

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-...ost_type=share

Shit still "mysteriously" catching on fire and blowing up? Man, Russia doesn't even seem like they have their own territory secured, maybe they should look into that before trying to take on even more land.

[Corvus]

Shit still "mysteriously" catching on fire and blowing up? Man, Russia doesn't even seem like they have their own territory secured, maybe they should look into that before trying to take on even more land.

Speaking of, a fuel depot just 30 minutes from the Kremlin went up in flames. They could probably see the smoke from there.

https://mobile.twitter.com/igorsushk...CygcjdlpsqAAAA

[Iphie]

Shit still "mysteriously" catching on fire and blowing up? Man, Russia doesn't even seem like they have their own territory secured, maybe they should look into that before trying to take on even more land.

The only problem I have with this is, there are SO MANY over a very wide area that it is virtually impossible to be Ukrainians doing this. I mean from the Ukrainian/Russian border in the west to Sakhalin in the east, and the time between them is also too short.

And then there's the thing that Russia acts as if nothing special is going on. But as has been discussed earlier in this thread that might be because of optics.

[Breccia]

A Putin court has fined Google and Twitter for leaving online a guide on making Molotov cocktails.

The irony is thick enough to climb.

First of all, I thought Russia was blocking the internet?

Second of all, Russians should be good and familiar with their construction. They had an up-close and personal look at the first ones ever lit and thrown.

[Slant]

I didn't talk about the average German because I have no idea about what the average German wants or thinks. My rebukes are only aimed at the German leaders since Schröder and more broadly a significant part of the german political class who willingly chose to make Germany extremely reliant on Russia and is basically hands tied. Of course Germany can't realistically stop buying from Russia right now, it's not in their interest. But their leaders could at least show some honesty and transparency instead of playing their hypocritical double faced game.

You're also judging from hindsight. A luxury people actually in charge don't have.

- - - Updated - - -

Can someone translate this for me? Seems relevant from the context:



Shalcker? Any of the other apologists?

[DarkTZeratul]

According to Google Translate, slightly edited for grammar:

I thought that after the horrible stories from Bucha and Mariupol, it's hard to surprise me with the savage methods of Putin's army. But today at the meeting Oleksii Reznikov's defense was just the horrible history of one liberated city. Where the racists killed a young mother with her child still living and fastened between the child and the corpse was a mine. When the mine was unwound it was detonated. Just freaks. Are principles missing in the 21st century?

[Rasulis]

Ut oh!

Some of the most dangerous weapons deployed in Russia's war on Ukraine are affecting the entire Black Sea region, as naval mines used in the conflict are drifting hundreds of miles away.

Ukraine and Russia share the Black Sea coast with Georgia and NATO members Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey, which controls the straits that connect the sea to the Mediterranean and beyond.

Since the beginning of the war four mines have floated away from Ukrainian waters. One was found off of Romania's coast and three in Turkish waters. Stray mines can cause significant disruptions to maritime traffic in the region.

All four stray mines detected in the Black Sea so far have been Soviet-made anchor contact mines, which are designed to float just below the surface. They appeared to be in poor condition, which may have made them more dangerous.

Speaking to Deutsche Welle, Johannes Peters, a maritime strategy expert at the University of Kiel, said the Black Sea's salinity combined with the mines' age and condition considerably increases their sensitivity.

It is not clear whether the four mines belonged to Ukraine or Russia. Each side has accused the other of employing them. As of mid-March, there were more than 400 mines in the Black Sea, according to a Russian navigational notice, with about 10 of them already adrift.

Some of the most dangerous weapons used in Russia's war on Ukraine are starting to float away

[Iphie]

Ut oh!

Some of the most dangerous weapons used in Russia's war on Ukraine are starting to float away

Yeah, but Russia has informed the NATO countries about missing mines, so we're cool, right? Right? So yeah covering their bases if a mishap occurs...

John Deere doing its part?

[jonnysensible]

saw the pope giving it the charlie biggun, good to see the western and eastern Christianity in full schism.

[Deus Mortis]

Confirmed by the Russians there was a fire at a military installation. They also had a rail bridge in Kursk taken out.

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-...ost_type=share

Fantastic. Picture of the bridge that got toasted.

[Edge-]

John Deere doing its part?

Apparently they're actually pretty huge into tech and helped pioneer some advances with GPS accuracy/navigation, plus I know that farmers are increasingly annoyed with all the tech packed into farm equipment. Not surprised that JD has the ability to remotely disable hardware if they want to, it's hilarious how Russia essentially tried to turn the tables on the farmers towing Russian vehicles and failed at even that.

[Vegas82]

Fantastic. Picture of the bridge that got toasted.

Looks like that railroad in FF7. I wonder if there’s an item at the bottom.

- - - Updated - - -

Apparently they're actually pretty huge into tech and helped pioneer some advances with GPS accuracy/navigation, plus I know that farmers are increasingly annoyed with all the tech packed into farm equipment. Not surprised that JD has the ability to remotely disable hardware if they want to, it's hilarious how Russia essentially tried to turn the tables on the farmers towing Russian vehicles and failed at even that.

They’re also pretty proprietary with such things which makes it tough for anyone but them to repair their vehicles. See the numerous right to repair lawsuits. It’s kind of a good thing in this situation, but overall sucks for anyone using their equipment.

[Corvus]

The Moldavian seperatists have apparently preprinted an article reporting on a 'bloody terrorist attack' by Ukrainians and calling on Russia to save them.

https://mobile.twitter.com/MrKovalen...62986410958850