Russia - Ukraine

[haraldo]

I watched "Citizen K" the other night. I'd recommend it if you're interested in trying to understand the current situation in Russia.

It's a 2019 documentary about Mikhail Khodorkovsky (It's on Amazon Prime). Khodorkovsky had been one of the wealthiest (if not the wealthiest) Russian until he had a run-in with Putin and spent years in a Siberian prison. The movie portrays him as being a "good guy with flaws" of sorts. The movie frequently touches on Putin's rise to power and the rise of the Russian oligarchs. If nothing else, it provides some insight into the present situation in Russia.

Here's the IMDb blurb about the movie:

>>>The strange case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once believed to be the wealthiest man in Russia, who rocketed to prosperity and prominence in the 1990s, served a decade in prison, and became an unlikely martyr for the anti-Putin movement.<<<

Citizen K (2019) ⭐ 7.1 | Documentary

2h 6m | Not Rated

www.imdb.com

Here's recent interview with Khodorkovsky on CNN:

He was Russia's richest man. Hear what he has to say about Putin | CNN Business

CNN's Nina dos Santos speaks with Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former Russian oil tycoon and Kremlin critic who says Russian President Vladimir Putin is "the enemy of humankind."

edition.cnn.com

I'm not sure I trust everything he says, but I'm sure he's well aware of the fact that he's putting his own life at risk by speaking out against Putin.

He also founded "Open Russia" which purports to advocate democracy and human rights. According to wiki "In 2017 the organisation was listed as undesirable by Russia's Prosecutor General, and its website banned in Russia." To my mind, that suggests it can't be all bad.

Open Russia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Khodorkovsky is a very smart guy…. I am getting optimistic listening to him, I hope he is right

 

[Danzilla31]

Here's the thing I feel no one wants to speak about.

The elephant in the room. Nato looks like it is prepared to let Ukraine fall as horrible as that sounds it is horrible beyond horrible words can't begin to describe it. And then see what Putin plans so they can adapt and react.

Which is the correct move in this fu#$Ed up situation.

If he backs off after taking down Ukraine we have time to build our defenses and strengthen our militaries and start getting our infrastructures for energy and manufacturing out of the hands of China and Russia.

If he keeps going well then we've had some time to prepare and it's WW3 and we'll just have to roll the dice

But the same mistake is going on here that went on with Covid in the long haul. I have no issues with mandates or vaccines I've complied with all of them. I do have issues with how we implemented them tho we literally went nuclear on a virus that as horrible as it is Covid is not the Black Death not the Spanish Flu not something as lethal as Ebola. This choice decimated parts of our economies and infrastructure that may have not needed to be decimated. And the consequences?

well when you absolutely disrupt your infrastructure and create poverty supply issues and other massive problems in the past all over the world in World history you end up with serious repurcussions like I dont know war? This same approach this scorched earth reaction driven by fear without analyzing costs and benefits and balancing between the 2 is the worst thing we can do in this new situation in Ukraine

This is the ultimate game of high stakes and we need our leaders to stay calm with nerves and balls of steel and make the best calculated decisions not based on fear or anger but on what gives us the best chance for the best outcome.

If we don't it doesn't matter what Covid policies we put in place. Or how we choose to handle Russia and China. None of our good intentions will matter if we end up turning our entire planet into a radioactive graveyard.

Putin by invading Ukraine basically told Nato to fu$% off and Nato knows right now there isn't much they can do about it. Hopefully after the dust settles Nato takes the appropriate steps without being driven by there anger and fear to handle this situation. If they don't then we're all fu$%ed

 

[Alex2507]

so no one can knife him!

That doesn't sound very Hippocratic oathy to me.

 

[haraldo]

Nikita Mazepin ‘SACKED from Haas Formula 1 team

The Haas Formula 1 Team say they have terminated Nikita Mazepin’s contract and their title partnership with Uralkali with immediate effect. “Haas F1 Team has elected to terminate, with immediate effect, the title partnership of Uralkali, and the driver contract of Nikita Mazepin,” said a statement from the team.

Haas part ways with Nikita Mazepin ‘with immediate effect’ | Formula 1®

The Haas Formula 1 Team say they have terminated Nikita Mazepin’s contract and their title partnership with Uralkali with immediate effect.

www.formula1.com

 

[haraldo]

We know where he is. He spends most of his time in a bunker under the Kremlin, except for TV ops at the end of a long table so no one can knife him!

We know what happened to that guy in a bunker in 1945

 

[Dude#1279435]

So does Nato/US go in with our own drones and/or fighter planes and blow up the convoy or keep sending in munitions in hopes Ukraine can do it? Seems to me the convoy is at the heart of whether Russia succeeds or fails.

 

[Trell]

So does Nato/US go in with our own drones and/or fighter planes and blow up the convoy or keep sending in munitions in hopes Ukraine can do it? Seems to me the convoy is at the heart of whether Russia succeeds or fails.

That means a NATO/US attack on Russian forces and a declaration of war. I find that unlikely to happen unless the situation escalates dramatically, but then we have a much bigger war. Sending weapons/munitions we already do and is similar to other conflicts.

 

[Trell]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/03/04/us-weapons-ukraine/

>>>
The United States drastically enhanced its shipments of lethal military aid and protective equipment to Ukraine as the prospect of a Russian invasion became more apparent and then a reality, according to a declassified accounting of transfers and sales reviewed by The Washington Post.

The list indicates that as early as December, the Pentagon was equipping Ukrainian fighters with arms and equipment useful for fighting in urban areas, including shotguns and specialized suits to safeguard soldiers handling unexploded ordnance. Over the last week, the Biden administration has increased such shipments, sending Stinger antiaircraft missile systems for the first time and further augmenting Kyiv’s supply of antitank Javelin missiles and other ammunition.

Taken together, the variety, volume and potency of firepower being rushed into the war zone illustrate the extent to which the United States sought to prepare the Ukrainian military to wage a hybrid war against Russia, even as President Biden has expressly ruled out inserting American troops into the conflict.
...
<<<

 

[highfigh]

He's former KGB and he's assassinated and eliminated all of his opposition in his rise to the top. Doubt it will be easy for even his own inner circle to get to him. Guy is supposed to be paranoid as hell and knows all the tricks in the book

But his paranoia may be his downfall if he's so distracted by goblins who aren't there. His reactions probably aren't great, either. He's said to be extremely paranoid about Covid, too.

 

[highfigh]

Money talks.

And it has no conscience.

 

[highfigh]

Latest news from London.

Mr. Johnson was woken in the night by a call from Mr. Zelensky, who informed him that the nuclear power plant on the Dnieper river was under attack. The Ukrainian president thought the plant had been captured by "Chechen guerillas and that they would do something very irresponsible", the Prime Minister said.

Boris Johnson is very worried about a nuclear cloud enveloping Europe.

The British public seems in a highly bellicose mood, which is probably appropriate. As I read it the prospect of a NATO military advance on Ukraine is rising by the minute. There seems to be rapid consensus that any radiation from an attacked nuclear plant reaching a NATO country will constitute and attack.

The way I read the comment sections in the Minneapolis paper, the citizenry round here is also in a Bellicose mood.

The whole trouble is compounded by the cart before the horse in the energy front. We have been cutting off sources of energy without planning replacements, hoping that wind mills and solar panels will get us by. They won't.

Natural das prices have spiked 13 fold in the UK. Yes, up 13 times. So my brother James usually spends 2000 to 3000 GBP on heating costs depending on how cold the winter is. Energy prices are higher there than here. At the current price it would mean his energy costs would be at least 26,000 GBP and may be up to 35,000 GBP, unless measures can be taken to bring the price down. Gasoline prices are rising fast over there, as they are here. I expect prices to be over $4 a gallon by early next week. They are just at $3.60 here today. On my way back from my son's place this evening, I saw one station at $3.79.

My sense is a widening of the war is imminent. Time to download Home Security dept. advice to home owners in event of nuclear attack I fear.

The difficulty in finding replacements for fossil fuel energy is the reason politicians should shut up and sit on their hands unless they actually know something about it- they like to tell us what we'll get and my comments about Psaki saying "We should be using alternatives, anyway" is a good example of their preaching. Now, Biden says remote working should stop. Right- just when the cost of gasoline and diesel are starting to rise- what could go wrong? The Head Idiot In Charge doesn't understand life outside of his government jobs and has been isolated for far too long- another good reason career politicians shouldn't be POTUS.

I saw $3.69 yesterday at a station where the price was $3.39 the day before- how is it legal for stations and distributors to raise the price before the fuel that costs more even reaches the country? There's no way the gas at the higher price was on a tanker two days ago.

I added electric heat this Winter because natural gas was expected to rise more than 30% and it has decreased my energy cost vs last year. It's too bad that Russia supplies so much to Europe but it's a good thing the temperatures will be rising.

 

[3db]

NATO f?cked up big time strategically by not welcoming Ukraine into its fold. Putin would not have dared to go against NATO. NATO will have very little choice in preventing Ukraine fall back under Russia if they want to prevent escalating this war into Europe. NATO through its blunder has brought this upon themselves.

 

[highfigh]

Does anyone else find it ironic that Putin has blocked Facebook in Russia because it provides false information, considering the amount of Russian influence on Facebook during the 2016 election cycle?

 

[cpp]

So does Nato/US go in with our own drones and/or fighter planes and blow up the convoy or keep sending in munitions in hopes Ukraine can do it? Seems to me the convoy is at the heart of whether Russia succeeds or fails.

Nope. That would be a signal of WAR against NATO and the US and with Putins mental state, which is totally unblanced, there is only one choice for Putin and that is Nukes. Putin would strike back at all NATO countries, and its a no win for anyone. You had better move to some tiny little town away from anything important. But in the end, the fallout will get you in a year or earlier, as crops die from contamination and people die off, women, children you know the innocent ones. Be careful what you wish for, or want.

 

[3db]

To take out Putin, a non government sanctioned hit team needs to be put together and it cannot funded by the government so that the government can deny responsibility for his assassination. Any type of government involvement would be considered a declaration of war. This is the only way or the other alternative is put a bounty on his head so big that crackpots globally would jump at the chance to take him out. Big business can fund the bounty. You want to get inside Putin's paranoid brain? Publish the bounty world wide.

 

[3db]

Does anyone else find it ironic that Putin has blocked Facebook in Russia because it provides false information, considering the amount of Russian influence on Facebook during the 2016 election cycle?

Ironic? Nope. Its in keeping with Putin's spineless character.

 

[highfigh]

NATO f?cked up big time strategically by not welcoming Ukraine into its fold. Putin would not have dared to go against NATO. NATO will have very little choice in preventing Ukraine fall back under Russia if they want to prevent escalating this war into Europe. NATO through its blunder has brought this upon themselves.

Until 2014, Ukraine was led by a puppet of Putin (Viktor Yanukovych ), who is said to be the main choice as leader if Donetsk is separated from Ukraine, which would perpetuate the Russian influence. The Ukrainians overthrew him in 2014 because of his stance on Russia taking Crimea.

 

[SithZedi]

That doesn't sound very Hippocratic oathy to me.

But it does sound more Sicilian ...

 

[Dude#1279435]

Nope. That would be a signal of WAR against NATO and the US and with Putins mental state, which is totally unblanced, there is only one choice for Putin and that is Nukes. Putin would strike back at all NATO countries, and its a no win for anyone. You had better move to some tiny little town away from anything important. But in the end, the fallout will get you in a year or earlier, as crops die from contamination and people die off, women, children you know the innocent ones. Be careful what you wish for, or want.

What's stopping him from nukes anyway regardless of gov't/non-gov't approved attacks on him?

 

[cpp]

What's stopping him from nukes anyway regardless of gov't/non-gov't approved attacks on him?

Because he knows the ramifications, he might be mental about this invasion but he's not that crazy to risk Russia being wiped off the map. Unless you have actually been to war, wishing war is the worst possible solution,.