The Russian Invasion of the Ukraine.

[JoeMorgue]

Unless I'm very much mistaken, the UN Security council requires a unanimous vote by the 5 permanent members on any resolution. As Russia is one of those 5 members its rather unlikely that anything any significant will pass.

"We shall now vote. United States?"
"Aye."
"United Kingdom?"
"Aye"
"France?"
"Aye"
"The Soviet Union?"
"Nay"
"We're not talking to you Russia, we're asking the Soviet Union..."

//Before anyone has a fit, it's a joke, calm down.//

 

[Mike!]

Either that or a World Crime League.

Where's Buckaroo Banzai when we need him?

 

[The Greater Fool]

Where's Buckaroo Banzai when we need him?

Where ever he is, there he is.

 

[Ivor the Engineer]

CNN correspondent in Moscow was saying the younger people in Russia largely ignore the state media and are relying on VPN's to access social media. The wool isn't being pulled over their eyes except for the most gullible.

Exactly. And many Russian people with family in Russia live and work in areas of the world where they can get more impartial information, which they relay to their relatives at home.

 

[Arcade22]

President Vladimir Putin banned Russians from leaving the country with more than $10,000 in foreign currency — the latest measure introduced to try and stem the worst of a looming economic crisis.

They are trying to get around unofficial Russian capital controls by physically smuggling the money out of the country.

 

[theprestige]

Where's Buckaroo Banzai when we need him?

I know it's bad taste to send fictional heroes to fight real evils, but I'd like to think the Hong Kong Cavaliers would be in Ukraine right now, providing technical assistance and special skills to Zelensky and his staff officers.

 

[dudalb]

I hate to rain on the parade, but RUssia is going to take the big cities though sheer numbers, no mattr how inept they are..and they are inept.
Bu that will just be the beginning. Insurgency which will make Afghanistan look mild in comparsion to follow.
Someone said Putin should get the Donbas. I could not disagree more. He cannot be allowed to get anything. That would just encourage future aggressions.
Frankly, I don't see this crisis ending until Putin withdraws completly or Putin is gone. Get ser for the long haul.
And I think it has dawned upon the West this is an extisntial moment for them. Putin will not stop. His goals arenot just to restore the old Soviet union but to destroy Democracy anywhere. He sees the mere existence of democracy anywhere as a threat.

 

[theprestige]

I hate to rain on the parade, but RUssia is going to take the big cities though sheer numbers, no mattr how inept they are..and they are inept.

It's not just ineptitude, though. The Russians may have a real lack of logistical capacity to keep those numbers supplied and on the move. All the tank divisions in the world aren't worth a hill of beans if they're not full of beans.

 

[crescent]

Meanwhile in RU TV:
- How do people meet you at the liberated territories?
- Well. Smiles. Flowers. Tears of happiness…

https://twitter.com/olex_scherba/status/1498766669614886924

Video accompanying the tweet. That really is how Russian media is covering this.

In terms of land area, this invasion is going about as well as the Coalition Invasion of Iraq in 2003. That invasion took about six weeks.

In terms of casualties, Russia has much, much, MUCH higher casualties than the Iraqi coalition did. The invasion of Iraq had about 200 deaths among the invading force - U.S., British, and Kurdish over the entire course of the six-week invasion phase of that war. Current mid-range estimates for Russian casualties seem to be around 5000 killed in action so far - six days in. They might have about 150,000 people in-country. So somewhere around a 3% fatality rate.

Russia is still advancing, mostly in the south of the country. Stalled elsewhere, overall Ukraine is still losing ground. Russia is getting close to being able to cut off some pretty large chunks of the Ukrainian military in the south and in the east.

 

[jimbob]

I hate to rain on the parade, but RUssia is going to take the big cities though sheer numbers, no mattr how inept they are..and they are inept.
Bu that will just be the beginning. Insurgency which will make Afghanistan look mild in comparsion to follow.
Someone said Putin should get the Donbas. I could not disagree more. He cannot be allowed to get anything. That would just encourage future aggressions.
Frankly, I don't see this crisis ending until Putin withdraws completly or Putin is gone. Get ser for the long haul.
And I think it has dawned upon the West this is an extisntial moment for them. Putin will not stop. His goals arenot just to restore the old Soviet union but to destroy Democracy anywhere. He sees the mere existence of democracy anywhere as a threat.

Indeed. Look at the siege of Grozny.

But taking the cities and holding Ukraine are two different things.

 

[GlennB]

Communications infrastructure is a legitimate target.

But TV, when every person and their dog has a smartphone and a laptop?

 

[Oystein]

First, no thanks to Germany. Your waffling in the first few days was some stellar ****. It took you a long time to change your bloody stance. (Sending something to Ukraine and support for sanctions)
...

Your thinking or perception seem oddly fogged.
I am not Germany. I thought that should have been obvious.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Rolling CNN feed says Ukraine air force is still active, but Russian air force is dominant in some regions. Ukraine is asking for more air-defence weapons.

Seriously, though, readiness is expensive. I don't think there's a military in the world that doesn't whinge about budget cuts. In the West, only 2 hours of flying an F-35 on training missions would wipe out the average person's annual salary. Even an old jet trainer can cost $5000 an hour to fly! Some Western commentators complain about their countries' small militaries, but are those larger militaries kept at high readiness?

Every Thursday we get Eagles out of Lakenheath over us flying sorties over the moors and up to Spadeadam in Northumberland (Mock up Warsaw Pact airbase in a forest complete with working Russian radar systems etc)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Spadeadam

Plus lots of training missions out of Leeming and Typhoons up from Coningsby 'dogfighting over the moors and north sea.

 

[lobosrul5]

Putin and the Duma are doubling down on this:

https://twitter.com/Kasparov63/status/1498742057682284555



https://twitter.com/HarlysCorner/status/1498397647832502274
(the cite for this is in the tweet.)

We've always been at war with Eastasia

 

[Andy_Ross]

But TV, when every person and their dog has a smartphone and a laptop?

Those transmitter masts host more than just TV.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Russia’s second largest bank, VTB, has been granted a 30-day exemption for clients to close transactions and move assets by UK Government.

Boris announced last Thursday that the state-owned VTB Bank, which is the second-largest Russian bank and its largest investment bank, was the subject of a “full and immediate” asset freeze in the UK

But the Treasury unit in charge of enforcing the UK’s sanctions quietly issued a 30-day licence granting permission for any individual or entity to “wind down any transactions” with VTB until 27 March.

Despite announcing last week that it intends to sanction 100 Russian oligarchs and entities, the Government has yet to reveal full details of who is being targeted and to what extent.

 

[jimbob]

Russia’s second largest bank, VTB, has been granted a 30-day exemption for clients to close transactions and move assets by UK Government.

Boris announced last Thursday that the state-owned VTB Bank, which is the second-largest Russian bank and its largest investment bank, was the subject of a “full and immediate” asset freeze in the UK

But the Treasury unit in charge of enforcing the UK’s sanctions quietly issued a 30-day licence granting permission for any individual or entity to “wind down any transactions” with VTB until 27 March.

Despite announcing last week that it intends to sanction 100 Russian oligarchs and entities, the Government has yet to reveal full details of who is being targeted and to what extent.

Don't want to annoy one's donors

 

[Arcade22]

This might be the reason behind why foreign students in Ukraine were prevent from boarding trains:

She had bought tickets for six different trains, but soon realised they counted for nothing. Instead, there was a boarding algorithm: first mothers with children, then women, then old people. Others were kept away by the police and soldiers standing guard.

Quickly, the train was crammed full. Families had to make split-second decisions, as mothers and children were allowed to board but grandparents told to wait behind.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...out-citizens-flee-kyiv-as-assault-intensifies

I'm guessing they will not be prioritizing young students of any skin-color or nationality.

 

[Hans]

Sorry, when I said larger, I was excluding the United States, which has the largest military budget in the world. Even US commentators often decry cuts to training budgets.

I meant countries which typically try to maintain a large military on paper, but have garbage in reality.

Combat armies (armies in current combat after a period of time)
Real armies US Britain, France etc
Police armies Mexico
Paper armies UAE
Political/religious armies Iran and NK
Comic armies Qatar, etc.

Some countries have armies in multiple categories: Like Saudi they are a paper army (actually they have two armies) religious and comic

 

[MarkCorrigan]

I hate to rain on the parade, but RUssia is going to take the big cities though sheer numbers, no mattr how inept they are..and they are inept..

I don't know if that's true. As theprestige says, logistics is more important than numbers. You can't just throw men at the cities if you can't feed or transport them.