Russia-Ukraine war and related tensions Megathread

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Russia suspends grain exports to central Asia, prices do what they do

The Russian government has announced that it intends to extend its ban on the export of grain and sugar to fellow members of a trading bloc until the end of August in a move that has sparked fear of food shortages around the region.

The Economic Development Ministry said on March 10 that the decision was motivated by the need to “ensure the country’s food security and to help protect the domestic market in the current climate.”

All the other member states of the Eurasian Economic Union, or EAEU, which comprise Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, will be deprived of the opportunity to import wheat, rye, barley, and corn from Russia until that designated date. Officials in Moscow insist that Russia currently has stocks of grain well in excess of its needs, but that the temporary prohibition has been instituted in part to prevent the re-export of crops to third countries.

“EAEU countries have already bought the amounts they need, free of duty, over the current season,” the Economic Development Ministry said in its statement.

Kazakhstan may take a different view, however. Last year, Kazakhs increased their volume of grain purchases from Russia by 77 percent, or around 2.3 million tons, coming behind only Turkey and Egypt as the main global buyers of Russian grain. Industry insiders say the real volume may be even greater, as official Russian data does not account for transactions made in the gray economy.

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it's not impossible

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Since we don't have a lot of "counter point" here (the only poster in the thread on the "other side" clearly doesn't wants to talk about everything but the war), I offer you Military Images.net (link goes to page 50 (of 610) of their version of this thread).  It's still mostly pro Ukraine, but there are a few in-between-ers and at least two on Russia's side, if you wanted to see some impressive whataboutery and "no see, it's not going THAT bad for Russia because blah blah".

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The Pentagon would give Biden a list of responses, suggest one or two of them and then do what he says.  Ideally they (Biden, the Joint Chiefs and whomever else Biden wants in the discussion) have already discussed this and other possibilities so there isn't a lot of hemming and hawing if the sh**t does hit the fan.

As to what those options are, well, they are probably what we think they are.  Everything from starting the "big one" to nothing at all, and everything in between.  The choice is Joe's, because that's who we elected.  Apparently our only other option was Trump, I saw other names on the ballot, but we've been told there are only two options and we do what we're told.  So we have Biden, and that's.....fine.

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The Pentagon would give Biden a list of responses, suggest one or two of them and then do what he says.  Ideally they (Biden, the Joint Chiefs and whomever else Biden wants in the discussion) have already discussed this and other possibilities so there isn't a lot of hemming and hawing if the sh**t does hit the fan.

As to what those options are, well, they are probably what we think they are.  Everything from starting the "big one" to nothing at all, and everything in between.  The choice is Joe's, because that's who we elected.  Apparently our only other option was Trump, I saw other names on the ballot, but we've been told there are only two options and we do what we're told.  So we have Biden, and that's.....fine.

TNR addresses the question. I don’t find its musings very comforting. By the way, I read a baby nuke would destroy NYC. I am sitting about 3 miles as the crow flies from its city hall.

smallest US nuke on city hall, as you can see, you'd be fine if you were at Battery Park.

1.a baby nuke couldn't destroy Peoria
2.they wouldn't use a "baby" nuke on NYC
3.if they did, you'd be fine

https://newrepublic.com/article/165634/putin-nuclear-weapons-ukraine-us-response

Even if the unfathomable occurred and Russia used nuclear weapons in or around Ukraine, it’s unlikely the U.S. would respond in kind. “I doubt that we would reply in nuclear terms; the risks of escalation would be too great,” says Harvard University’s Joseph Nye, former assistant secretary of defense. Nye suggests that the U.S. might respond in the cyberworld, “but that has its own problems with retaliation.” Instead, the most likely response would be to try and further isolate Russia for violating the nuclear taboo, and perhaps move some troops to Europe. The U.S. could take the opportunity to reinforce the unacceptability of Russia’s extraordinary use of these weapons.

Since the West has made it clear it will not involve itself in Ukraine significantly, some experts believe that Putin is conducting his entire assault on Ukraine for domestic reasons. Putting his nuclear forces on alert could be an attempt to shore up his support at home or, at most, be a signal to the U.S. and its allies not to interfere in its war. Says Kristensen: “It’s important that NATO hasn’t taken the bait.”

I agree with that.

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If they can't show how any specific bit of information is wrong, and they aren't posting any information of their own, then they can go suck eggs.

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If they can't show how any specific bit of information is wrong, and they aren't posting any information of their own, then they can go suck eggs.

This is nonsense. Reports about a war from belligerents are always questionable due to the clear bias and interests of the reporting party. They are expected to produce reports exaggerating their wins and downplaying their losses. Any thinking person should automatically question their reliability. The burden of proof is on the Ukrainians (or the Russians) to prove that they are telling the truth, not on us to refute them.

k

I'd give you sh**t, but I got a feeling life is going to give you plenty over the next couple of decades.  Good luck son.

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https://twitter.com/IuliiaMendel/status/1507442015323234305?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%...Putin is calling in some more Nazis

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Looks like the Ukrainian authorities are now cracking down on private ownership of former Russian military equipment...

boooooooooo

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https://twitter.com/Ohra_aho/status/1507666627567013888?s=20&t=IrYgpVB9C94he...

sad and exhausted, every funking one of them.

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I keep seeing that we can't send them this or that western weapons system because they lack the training and experience.  I sure hope there are a few hundred Ukrainian techs, troops and teachers currently sitting in various NATO classrooms right now learning these systems (and how to teach them to others).  Sure they might not be ready for months or even years, but better to get that process started sooner than later, right?

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The klepto plot line is one that I had not thought of before. Maybe that was a factor in combat ineffectiveness. You can't fight and loot at the same time.

I read that (at least) one of the generals killed was up at the "front" trying to stop his men from looting.

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https://twitter.com/GissiSim/status/1510979083257139204?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctw...   

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meanwhile, in Mali

Suspected Russian mercenaries participated in an operation with Mali’s army in March in which about 300 civilian men were allegedly killed over five days, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says.

Witnesses and local community leaders said hundreds of men were rounded up and killed in small groups during the anti-jihadist operation on 23 March in the central town of Moura. The rural town of about 10,000 inhabitants is in the Mopti region, a hotspot of jihadist activity that has intensified and spread to neighbouring countries in the Sahel region.

Local security sources told HRW that more than 100 Russian-speaking men were allegedly involved in the operation, which HRW described as the worst single atrocity reported in Mali’s decade-long armed conflict. Witnesses spoke of white soldiers talking in an unfamiliar foreign language they believed to be Russian.

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https://twitter.com/AlexKokcharov/status/1512065700029820934?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw...

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as long as Woody is not posting blatant untruths, he should be allowed to post in here (and do so without being attacked)

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using a parachutte on a bomb isn't a crazy idea, the US just stopped using them in 2008.  remember the Daisy Cutters

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a Russian website is suggesting he has been captured by the Russian authorities

On April 9, a soldier Alexei Bychkov was detained in Russia, who was recording a video with sexual abuse of a baby, Vot Tak writes . A day earlier, a thread about Bychkov with a video was published on Twitter , where the man first says that he is recording a “fierce video”, after which he rubs an eyelash brush between the baby’s buttocks, and then licks her and drives her in the face. The time and place of the video shooting is unknown.

Information about Bychkov publishedVKontakte user Kostya Kikeev. According to him, Bychkov was born in 1997, registered in the Stavropol Territory and lives in the Krasnodar Territory. In addition, on March 8, 2022, he was fined for transporting children without a special seat in a car registered to Anastasia Tsekres. In correspondence with Vot Tak, Cecres stated that she had sold his wife's car, but she did not know "this bastard". Later, she told Vot Tak that she saw Bychkov's videos, wrote a statement to the police, and the man was detained.

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https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1512906959980216323?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7C...

ugggg

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