Ukraine – Russia … not more of the last thread

[Trell]

 

[SithZedi]

This war it has finally made it obvious that the world is polarizing into two camps with Russia and China anchoring one of them. The naive have to wake up to the true nature of the other side and stop helping them. That is unless they are sell outs purposely doing it for the money. That includes corporations as well.

Are European academics helping China's military? – DW – 05/19/2022

An investigation by DW and partners has found that European researchers have cooperated with China's National University of Defense Technology. The NUDT's purpose is to "Strengthen the Armed Forces and the Nation."

www.dw.com

 

[Mojo Navigator]

My thought for the day.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has caused massive disruption throughout the World. We can assume at this time that Russia is not winning the War. Within days, Putin has given the World:

Global food crisis
Breakdown of supply chains
Worldwide economic recession
Soaring inflation
Oil and gas are now weapons of war
War crimes and mass murder
Massive environmental damage due to military activity
Threats of nuclear annihilation

Now, think about the consequences for the World if Russia wins.......

 

[haraldo]

Military routine

Military routine

youtube.com

 

[haraldo]

My thought for the day.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has caused massive disruption throughout the World. We can assume at this time that Russia is not winning the War. Within days, Putin has given the World:

Global food crisis
Breakdown of supply chains
Worldwide economic recession
Soaring inflation
Oil and gas are now weapons of war
War crimes and mass murder
Massive environmental damage due to military activity
Threats of nuclear annihilation

Now, think about the consequences for the World if Russia wins.......

From Ukrainian eyes I see that it is way way way worse than this!

 

[highfigh]

Yes, it is. There are 20 million metric tonnes of grain in the Ukraine, not able to exit via the Black Sea. There are at least 20 Russian war ships in the Black Sea. In addition they have mined the sea.

The governor of the Bank of England this week warned of unprecedented mass world starvation related to this conflict. He also highlighted the role of this conflict in the aggressive world wide inflationary pressures. In addition to the grain problem, Ukraine is a major world wide supplier of fertilizer.

So at least in London there is now a conversation on how to open up the Black Sea and get agricultural product moving again. The first step is going to be to provide Ukraine with advanced lad to sea anti ship missiles and try and sink those Russian ships in the North Sea.

If this fails, I think the Royal Navy is prepared to go in and enter the Black Sea. Hopefully the US is also preparing for this eventuality.

The Russian Navy has to be removed from the Black Sea, so that it can be demined. Then ships can export grain again under naval escort.

On other matters Russia has now cut off Finland from natural gas, and more European countries are being cut off also.

Germany is today drawing up plans to ration natural gas, after Russian threats intensify to cut them off. The first consequence would see a massive fall in German industrial output especially in the auto sector.

The UK is going to provide military assistance to Moldova which Russia is now threatening.

This crisis is now at a tipping point, and direct confrontation between Russia and NATO is becoming more likely by the day.

So much fertilizer and Diesel fuel- how could they possibly use that against the Russians?

 

[haraldo]

Wild women from wild country.
Russian invasion of Norway

www.facebook.com/100023909297390/posts/1223744538432511/

Post states:
Today during our demonstration at the Stortinget (Norwegian Government Building) against war, two ruzzian women attacked my wife.

She was peacefully demonstrating. As you can see on video my wife just called my name and begged for help!
Two russian women used physical and mental violence:
Spit in my wife's face, hit her multiple times, pushed and pulled her, threatened her personally with death!

Used hate speech baced on her ukrainian nationality!
Used hate speach to other Ukrainians including me: you Ukrainians will die!
We got witnesses and evidences
We are registering traces of violence on victim's body.
We start a case with the police and PST. (Norwegian Police Security Service)
We will make maximum publicity out of this case.

The mistake we made in Ukraine before 2014 was ignoring the violence coming from agressive russians.
Don't make same mistake Norway now! Otherwise they will come here to kill and destroy. Now we know it for sure!

 

[haraldo]

The last day at Azovstal: terrible shots.

Ukrainian hero Dmitry Kozatsky recorded a video with Azovstal surrounded by orcs and handed it over to documentarians.

Everyone should see this

 

[Mr._Clark]

I'm sure others have noticed that the resignation of Boris Bondarev, a Russian diplomat, has been all over the news today. Given that this will most likely make him a target for assassination, this requires some resolve.

He certainly didn't beat around the bush. I'd say he took a flamethrower to it:

>>>Boris Bondarev, a counselor in the Russian mission since 2019 who described himself as a 20-year veteran of Russia’s Foreign Ministry, announced his resignation in an email sent to diplomats in Geneva on Monday. His resignation is the most high-profile gesture of protest so far made by a Russian diplomat over the war in Ukraine.

“For 20 years of my diplomatic career I have seen different turns of our foreign policy but never have I been so ashamed of my country as on Feb. 24 of this year,” Mr. Bondarev said, referring to the date that President Vladimir V. Putin sent Russian forces into Ukraine.

“The aggressive war unleashed by Putin against Ukraine and in fact against the entire Western world is not only a crime against the Ukrainian people but also, perhaps, the most serious crime against the people of Russia,” he added.<<<

He didn't spare Lavrov:

>>>Mr. Bondarev went on to deliver a stinging critique of Russia’s foreign service and its chief diplomat, Sergey V. Lavrov. The ministry had been his home, he said, but over the last 20 years the lies and unprofessionalism had reached levels that he described as “simply catastrophic.”

“Today the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not about diplomacy. It is all about warmongering, lies and hatred,” he wrote, and was contributing to Russia’s isolation.

Mr. Lavrov was “a good illustration of the degradation of this system,” Mr. Bondarev said. In 18 years, the Russian foreign minister had gone from being a professional and educated intellectual esteemed by colleagues to threatening the world with nuclear weapons.

“I simply cannot any longer share in this bloody, witless and absolutely needless ignominy,” Mr. Bondarev wrote.<<<

A Russian diplomat resigns: ‘Never have I been so ashamed of my country.’ (Published 2022)

Boris Bondarev, a counselor at the Russian mission in Geneva, quit in a rare example of an official breaking with the Kremlin over its war in Ukraine.

www.nytimes.com

 

[highfigh]

If this is true, maybe someone will continue to try.

Ukrainian intelligence chief: Putin survived assassination attempt 2 months ago

The head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin survived an assassination attempt two months ago.

www.yahoo.com

 

[Mr._Clark]

The last day at Azovstal: terrible shots.

Ukrainian hero Dmitry Kozatsky recorded a video with Azovstal surrounded by orcs and handed it over to documentarians.

Everyone should see this

It almost looks like something from a sci fi movie. Unfortunately, we've all seen enough other videos to know that it is not.

 

[haraldo]

It almost looks like something from a sci fi movie. Unfortunately, we've all seen enough other videos to know that it is not.

Even Blade Runner is not this dark ....

 

[Mr._Clark]

If this is true, maybe someone will continue to try.

Ukrainian intelligence chief: Putin survived assassination attempt 2 months ago

The head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin survived an assassination attempt two months ago.

www.yahoo.com

Interesting. So far I have not seen any other reports confirming this, but that of course does not prove that it is false.

Andrei Soldatov appears to have pretty decent insight into the Russian government, and pretty decent sources in Russia as well (assuming he's not misrepresenting anything, which I do not know to be a fact). He wrote an article for Foreign Affairs a few weeks ago expressing his view that the odds of a coup attempt are low:

>>>As a former KGB officer himself, Putin has long relied on the security services to enforce his policies and help him maintain his grip on power. And although the siloviki have been somewhat eclipsed by Shoigu’s Defense Ministry in recent years, never before has Putin appeared to be so at odds with both the security services and the military as he is now. Given Putin’s increasingly ruthless crackdown on these men and the growing awareness in Moscow that the war has gone badly, some observers are wondering how long they will tolerate his catastrophic mistakes.

Such questions, however, overlook the historical relationship between the security forces and the Russian state—and the particular way that Putin has built his base of power. Although the recent developments are noteworthy, they do not suggest a larger breakdown of the existing order. Even amid the current tensions, the chances that leading members of the security or military elite might make a move against Putin remain slim. It is worth considering, then, why this is so, and what might have to happen for that to change.<<<

Could the Siloviki Challenge Putin?

What it would take for Kremlin insiders to stage a coup.

www.foreignaffairs.com

 

[highfigh]

Such questions, however, overlook the historical relationship between the security forces and the Russian state—and the particular way that Putin has built his base of power. Although the recent developments are noteworthy, they do not suggest a larger breakdown of the existing order. Even amid the current tensions, the chances that leading members of the security or military elite might make a move against Putin remain slim. It is worth considering, then, why this is so, and what might have to happen for that to change.<<<

Could the Siloviki Challenge Putin?

What it would take for Kremlin insiders to stage a coup.

www.foreignaffairs.com

"Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. "

 

[haraldo]

How to drive in Ukraine, this video is from today

 

[haraldo]

Go into the dark and find people and why the ruzzians support the war? Shura Burtin's study - Meduza

The war in Ukraine has been going on for two months. All this time, many ruzzians have openly supported the "special operation" - they closed their eyes to the killings and rapes, the protection of peaceful cities, unimaginable destruction and millions of people who have lost their homes. The journalist Shura Burtin talked to the citizens of the ruzzian Federation for several weeks about how they feel when they think of war - and now he tells how fear and a feeling of humiliation overcame their humanity ...

This is a very powerful and scary article. It shows how zombie ruzzians are, how stupid, stupid, coward and aggressive they are. And it shows the main thing - most of them are sincere racists who support putler, the war with Ukraine, the bombing of civilians and all other war crimes committed by the ruzzian army in Ukraine. There is a small number of normal, sufficient and moral ruzzians, but they can not change the situation, just as a spoonful of honey thrown in a barrel of poop can not change the final taste. And this fu#kup is our neighbor.

Enter the darkness and find people in it Why do Russians support the war

 

[Trell]

A new Ukrainian stamp is released.

>>>Ukrainians lined up by the hundreds at post offices across the country on Monday after the postal service released stamps commemorating the sinking of a Russian warship in the Black Sea and a group of Ukrainian border guards who insulted Russian forces and were subsequently captured. ... >>>

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/23/ukraine-new-warship-stamp/?itid=lk_fullstory

 

[Mr._Clark]

This war it has finally made it obvious that the world is polarizing into two camps with Russia and China anchoring one of them. The naive have to wake up to the true nature of the other side and stop helping them. That is unless they are sell outs purposely doing it for the money. That includes corporations as well.

I'm not sure I agree with Kissinger, but he apparently thinks that Russia will be pushed into a permanent alliance with China if the war continues. Assuming this is true, I find myself wondering why a permanent alliance is worse than whatever alliance they have right now?

>>>He [Kissinger] told the World Economic Forum that Russia had been an essential part of Europe for 400 years and had been the guarantor of the European balance of power structure at critical times. European leaders should not lose sight of the longer term relationship, and nor should they risk pushing Russia into a permanent alliance with China.<<<

Henry Kissinger: Ukraine must give Russia territory

Veteran US statesman Henry Kissinger has urged the West to stop trying to inflict a crushing defeat on Russian forces in Ukraine, warning that it would have disastrous consequences for the long term stability of Europe.

finance.yahoo.com

 

[mtrycrafts]

A new Ukrainian stamp is released.

>>>Ukrainians lined up by the hundreds at post offices across the country on Monday after the postal service released stamps commemorating the sinking of a Russian warship in the Black Sea and a group of Ukrainian border guards who insulted Russian forces and were subsequently captured. ... >>>

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/23/ukraine-new-warship-stamp/?itid=lk_fullstory

View attachment 56224

I think it would have been more appropriate to show a mostly sunk ship instead of nothing there as it could have moved along.

 

[SithZedi]

I'm not sure I agree with Kissinger, but he apparently thinks that Russia will be pushed into a permanent alliance with China if the war continues. Assuming this is true, I find myself wondering why a permanent alliance is worse than whatever alliance they have right now?

>>>He [Kissinger] told the World Economic Forum that Russia had been an essential part of Europe for 400 years and had been the guarantor of the European balance of power structure at critical times. European leaders should not lose sight of the longer term relationship, and nor should they risk pushing Russia into a permanent alliance with China.<<<

Henry Kissinger: Ukraine must give Russia territory

Veteran US statesman Henry Kissinger has urged the West to stop trying to inflict a crushing defeat on Russian forces in Ukraine, warning that it would have disastrous consequences for the long term stability of Europe.

finance.yahoo.com

Thanks for posting that. Always interesting to hear Kissinger's view as he is one of the few that has had Putin's ear over the years.

I am with you on the "permanent" take. History, especially European history, is lengthy on shifting alliances based on revised national interests and changing leaders. If Putin is truly a Russian nationalist, which I think he is, he knows the bigger long term threat to Russia is China not the West. The academics will someday reveal what the final trigger or temptation that began this invasion was but Putin went forward and had to accept a "deeper" Chinese alliance. For their part, the Chinese see Siberia as an underpopulated and natural resource rich area for current, through alliance, and longer term conquest. A book that used to be required reading in British and American colleges was Sir Harold Mackinder's "The Geographical Pivot of History". The Chinese know it very well and we in the West should dust it off but we are distracted by other issues.

Putin will not live long enough to be around for the conquest part to materialise but the next Russian leaders will have that existential issue to deal with. When that time comes, we have to hope we have the right people in office to deal with that.

Mackinder Revisited: Will China Establish Eurasian Empire 3.0?

China has emerged as a new contender for control over Mackinder’s “Heartland.”

thediplomat.com