[Continuation] The Russian Invasion of Ukraine part 9

[theprestige]

What's really scary is that Ukraine is now talking about nukes. And basically saying the same thing I've been saying all along: Why is Russia not the one being made to back down in the face of nuclear threats?

 

[Dr.Sid]

What's really scary is that Ukraine is now talking about nukes. And basically saying the same thing I've been saying all along: Why is Russia not the one being made to back down in the face of nuclear threats?

How ?

 

[The Great Zaganza]

Ukraine doesn't have nukes and can't make any - unless they didn't quite disarm as much as they said they did.

 

[Ziggurat]

Ukraine doesn't have nukes and can't make any - unless they didn't quite disarm as much as they said they did.

Ukraine absolutely could make nukes. Not super quickly, and possibly not with alerting the international community (the IAEA keeps tabs on their nuclear reactors). They have the infrastructure, they have the expertise, and they have the fuel. I don't think they're going to because it's a very risky move with big downsides and uncertain payoff. But they could.

 

[Hercules Rockefeller]

Ukraine doesn't have nukes and can't make any - unless they didn't quite disarm as much as they said they did.

What makes you say that?

 

[The Great Zaganza]

Ukraine doesn't even have the ability to produce fuel for its own reactors - it's aiming to built the capability by 2027.

Ukraine pushes for domestic uranium supply

A programme to make Ukraine self-sufficient in uranium by 2027 has been approved by the country's cabinet. Nuclear power is planned for significant expansion beyond the 54% of electricity it already provides in Ukraine.;

www.world-nuclear-news.org

enriching further to weapons-grade level is harder still.

 

[Hercules Rockefeller]

Ukraine doesn't even have the ability to produce fuel for its own reactors - it's aiming to built the capability by 2027.

Ukraine pushes for domestic uranium supply

A programme to make Ukraine self-sufficient in uranium by 2027 has been approved by the country's cabinet. Nuclear power is planned for significant expansion beyond the 54% of electricity it already provides in Ukraine.;

www.world-nuclear-news.org

enriching further to weapons-grade level is harder still.

You only need the waste (plutonium).

 

[The Great Zaganza]

still needs enrichment

 

[theprestige]

If any of the former SSRs could develop nuclear weapons quickly, it would be Ukraine.

 

[Hercules Rockefeller]

still needs enrichment

Nope.

Plutonium recovered from LWR spent fuel, while not weapons grade, can be used to produce nuclear weapons at all levels of sophistication

Weapons-grade nuclear material - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[The Great Zaganza]

thanks, learned something.

 

[Gulliver Foyle]

Russian troops looting Kursk.

ChrisO_wiki (@ChrisO_wiki@mastodon.social)

Attached: 1 video 1/ Widespread looting of Russian civilian homes and businesses by Russian troops in the Kursk region is being directed by Russian officers for their personal profit, according to a Russian marine who has fought in the area. ⬇️

mastodon.social

ChrisO_Wiki again on a new cult (or aspect of) in Russia : Saint Joe Stalin. WTF? In fact this may merit a "What the blue dancing Fword?"

ChrisO_wiki (@ChrisO_wiki@mastodon.social)

Attached: 1 image 1/ A cult of 'Saint Stalin' has appeared in the Russian Orthodox Church, with the Soviet dictator being hailed as a saint or even a secret Orthodox bishop. In reality, Stalin closed or destroyed nearly all churches in Russia and had 85,000 Orthodox clergy shot in 1937 alone. ⬇️

mastodon.social

Stalin did make the orthodox church the de facto state religion after 1941. In fact he was one of the first "I used to be an atheist" christians.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Ukraine says Russia's unstoppable hypersonic missiles had another bad night

The Ukrainian military said it destroyed nearly all of the hypersonic missiles Russia launched as part of a massive bombardment over the weekend.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

US greenlights use of anti personal landmines for Ukraine.
Better remember where you buried them, or this will be a tragedy for generations

 

[Ethan Thane Athen]

US greenlights use of anti personal landmines for Ukraine.
Better remember where you buried them, or this will be a tragedy for generations

They are the ones that go inert after a set period...

 

[The Great Zaganza]

infallibly, I'm sure.

 

[Jack by the hedge]

US greenlights use of anti personal landmines for Ukraine.
Better remember where you buried them, or this will be a tragedy for generations

BBC version of the story is not about "greenlighting" but rather about supplying antipersonnel mines and, as Ethan Thane Athane said, the type to be suppied is battery powered and becomes inert after 2 weeks. Unlike the Russian mines and bomblets already liberally scattered across Ukraine, so yes there is going to be a tragic legacy but it won't be these US-supplied mines, it'll be Russian ones.

Biden agrees to give Ukraine anti-personnel mines

A US official tells the BBC the mines will be given soon, as Russia advances steadily in the east.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Wudang]

You want Ukraine to give up the fight and embrace peaceful resistance, it's up to you to convince the Ukrainians that Moscow would honor such an arrangement any longer than it took them to regroup and re-arm. Hell, you're giving Moscow more grace than you give Israel. It's perverse.

Does he? I missed that.
Anyway, no need to speculate. Ukraine surrendered the nuclear weapons on its territory in exchange for guarantees from Russia (and others) that its borders would be respected. The attentive reader may note that this turned out not to be the case.

 

[ponderingturtle]

Does he? I missed that.
Anyway, no need to speculate. Ukraine surrendered the nuclear weapons on its territory in exchange for guarantees from Russia (and others) that its borders would be respected. The attentive reader may note that this turned out not to be the case.

Which just goes to show how foolish giving up nuclear weapons is. They want to be like most countries in the world and under someone's nuclear umbrella and that means either being in NATO or getting their own nukes.

 

[Jack by the hedge]

Ukraine appears to have expended perhaps a dozen Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles on a single target in Kursk.
Suchomimus describes it on YouTube here

but they restricted the video he tried to add, maybe for subtitle profanity. You can follow the link to his Patreon page and watch it for free there. https://www.patreon.com/user?u=80032585

Basically it's some Russian recording the pall of smoke from a strike he's just witnessed nearby, beyond some trees, when suddenly whoosh boom there's another one. And then another. And another. And just when you think it's finished... whoosh boom. They keep coming, with remarkable comic timing. It's simultaneously hilarious and very shocking, and makes you wonder what high value thing could be there that the Ukrainians wanted really, really dead.

 

[dudalb]

bit too much

BBC version of the story is not about "greenlighting" but rather about supplying antipersonnel mines and, as Ethan Thane Athane said, the type to be suppied is battery powered and becomes inert after 2 weeks. Unlike the Russian mines and bomblets already liberally scattered across Ukraine, so yes there is going to be a tragic legacy but it won't be these US-supplied mines, it'll be Russian ones.

Biden agrees to give Ukraine anti-personnel mines

A US official tells the BBC the mines will be given soon, as Russia advances steadily in the east.

www.bbc.co.uk

Which I think is the most practical answer to the Mine problem. Fact is, countries to do not want to give them up because they are too damn useful.
And they are too damn easy to manafacture.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Ukraine appears to have expended perhaps a dozen Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles on a single target in Kursk.
Suchomimus describes it on YouTube here

but they restricted the video he tried to add, maybe for subtitle profanity. You can follow the link to his Patreon page and watch it for free there. https://www.patreon.com/user?u=80032585

Basically it's some Russian recording the pall of smoke from a strike he's just witnessed nearby, beyond some trees, when suddenly whoosh boom there's another one. And then another. And another. And just when you think it's finished... whoosh boom. They keep coming, with remarkable comic timing. It's simultaneously hilarious and very shocking, and makes you wonder what high value thing could be there that the Ukrainians wanted really, really dead.

North Koreans?

 

[Jack by the hedge]

North Koreans?

Not sure. The place was described as a command centre but also as a former palace (I guess the main building is pre-revolution, then). Looking on Google maps it's identified as a sanatorium. So it could be quite plush accommodation, and I would assume senior officers would find compelling military reasons to park themselves there and swan around its manicured grounds, rather than give it up to be a barracks for North Koreans.

 

[theprestige]

That's a lot of Storm Shadows for a single target. Must have been near the top of Budanov's list of things.

 

[angrysoba]

Yeah, I do wonder if they could target the weak point of the alliance. Blast as many North Koreans as possible and make Kim Jong-un get cold feet.

 

[Trebuchet]

Ukraine appears to have expended perhaps a dozen Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles on a single target in Kursk.
Suchomimus describes it on YouTube here

but they restricted the video he tried to add, maybe for subtitle profanity. You can follow the link to his Patreon page and watch it for free there. https://www.patreon.com/user?u=80032585

Basically it's some Russian recording the pall of smoke from a strike he's just witnessed nearby, beyond some trees, when suddenly whoosh boom there's another one. And then another. And another. And just when you think it's finished... whoosh boom. They keep coming, with remarkable comic timing. It's simultaneously hilarious and very shocking, and makes you wonder what high value thing could be there that the Ukrainians wanted really, really dead.

I had to chuckle at the guiy taking "shelter" behind a glass window while filming!

 

[The Don]

Yeah, I do wonder if they could target the weak point of the alliance. Blast as many North Koreans as possible and make Kim Jong-un get cold feet.

That assumes Kim isn't perfectly happy to sacrifice a few tens (or hundreds) of thousands in order to bolster his reputation with his allies.

 

[Gulliver Foyle]

North Koreans?

Unlikely, all North Koreans in theatre are dead meat, even if they survive combat.

The regime has to keep up the lie that the rest of the world is a post-apocalyptic hell hole.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

Russia building mobile nuclear shelters:

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-begins-mass-production-radiation-resistant-mobile-bomb-shelters-2024-11-19/

Now we know what our Billionaires are going to buy themselves for Christmas!

 

[Andy_Ross]

Are they built by a man called Pulowski?

 

[arthwollipot]

I don't have a citation for this, so take it as a rumour:

When I arrived in Budapest, there was a delegation of NATO diplomats having an emergency summit concerning the American election. Traffic was disrupted all over the place. That part is not rumour. This part is:

I heard that when Zelenskyy made a speech, the cameras were switched off on Orban's orders, and nothing of what he said was broadcast.

 

[a_unique_person]

What is it about the good old days of the USSR that makes people want to return to hell.

 

[Wudang]

For those on Bluesky, ChrisO_Wiki is now there.
@chriso-wiki.bsky.social

 

[The Great Zaganza]

Probably everyone giving each other high fives for having successfully assassinated Putin - he hasn't been seen in a while

 

[a_unique_person]

Russian dairy used to be mostly run by a French company before the invasion. The business was given to Chechen cronies. It's been a disaster for everyone but the cronies.

Butter prices in Russia have skyrocketed, sparking a wave of supermarket thefts as inflation accelerates amid the highest interest rates in 20 years.


Some Muscovites are turning to armed robbery to obtain such a basic good as prices soar beyond the reach of many. Surveillance footage dated Oct. 29 from a Pyaterochka supermarket on Leningradskoye highway captured two men attempting to steal 25 packs of butter. As they tried to escape, a scuffle broke out at the store's exit: one robber struck a store assistant repeatedly, while the other threatened her with a knife.


According to reports on Telegram, thieves aren’t stealing butter for personal use but to resell it. Dozens of these packages have been spotted for sale at metro stalls or listed on dedicated social media channels.


Prices have risen partly due to the shutdown of Health & Nutrition factories, which were seized from French multinational Danone by associates of Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov. In response, the authorities are turning to imports from Turkey, Iran, India, and Latin America, but these goods are coming in at exorbitant prices for consumers.

Russia’s Economy Is Spoiling as Putin Struggles to Balance Guns and Butter - The Moscow Times

Opinion | As President Vladimir Putin doubles down on military spending, Russia’s economy is curdling, leaving Muscovites feeling the squeeze at the checkout.

www.themoscowtimes.com

 

[Jack by the hedge]

"That's not a butter knife. This is a butter knife."

 

[Andy_Ross]

Danish Navy Stopped a Chinese Ship Suspected of Damaging Undersea Cables

The Danish Navy has detained the Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3, which is suspected of damaging telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea.

The detention took place in the area of Danish territorial waters, in the Danish Straits at the exit of the Great Belt. The detention of the vessel was carried out by the Danish Navy patrol vessel P525. After a few hours, another vessel HDMS Soeloeven, which is specialised for underwater work, reached both vessels. The detention of the vessel occurred on the evening of 19 November. There is no information on whether there was an inspection of the vessel by the Danish MW’s boarding group. The Chinese vessel was sailing from the Russian port of Ust-Luga.

Danish Navy Stopped a Chinese Ship Suspected of Damaging Undersea Cables

**The Danish Navy has detained the Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3, which is suspected of damaging telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea.**

defence24.com

 

[The Great Zaganza]

That would be an unusually direct act of aggression.

 

[Gulliver Foyle]

What is it about the good old days of the USSR that makes people want to return to hell.

To be fair Orban wants to recreate the regime of Miklos Horthy, forgetting what happened to Horthy once he lost his usefulness to the nazis.

 

[Andy_Ross]

That would be an unusually direct act of aggression.

According to the same piece it's not the first time.

This is not the first time that a Chinese naval vessel has been responsible for damaging strategic infrastructure in the Baltic. In October 2023, the Balticconenctor gas pipeline connecting Estonia and Finland was unsealed. The gas pipeline was damaged by an anchor dropped from the deck of the Chinese container ship Newnew Polar Bear. The vessel was suspected of being the perpetrator of that incident from the outset, but it was not decided to detain it and it escaped from the Baltic Sea without consequences.