Russia-Ukraine war and related tensions Megathread

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

Curfew in Kiev.

[Aurelius]

Europe is too wedded to Russian energy. The US should go full court press on ramping up energy production and selling to Europe. So should Canada.

[Storr]

I would be very careful about believing everything you see online. There are a lot of false claims flying around and it is still very early: troop movements, even these days, are a lot slower than people think.

The fact there hasn't been reports of major oblast administrative center cities being occupied (especially Kharkiv which is 30 km from the Russian border) is a good sign, at least.

[Gass3268]

https://twitter.com/RichardEngel/status/1496860722059517958

Chernobyl tweets earlier appear to be misinfo, thank God.

https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1496862540957114370?s=20&t=EbnxU7MIRU...

[KaiserDave]

Legit impressed with Zelensky, I can see the appeal and why he got elected

[John Dule]

https://twitter.com/RichardEngel/status/1496860722059517958

Chernobyl tweets earlier appear to be misinfo, thank God.

https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1496862540957114370?s=20&t=EbnxU7MIRU...

Why on Earth would the Russians bring the fighting to Chernobyl?

[Aurelius]

https://twitter.com/SimTack/status/1496861104869416966

[Cassius]

https://twitter.com/RichardEngel/status/1496860722059517958

Chernobyl tweets earlier appear to be misinfo, thank God.

https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1496862540957114370?s=20&t=EbnxU7MIRU...

I suspect anything to do with Chernobyl is just bs to draw the attention of westerners, given that Chernobyl is one of the few things about Ukraine that most westerners are familiar with.

[Hnv1]

Seems like Ukraine is folding insanely quickly? What even is the plan on the Ukranian side? I understand a war would almost certainly be lost long term but I don't think anyone expected Ukraine to fold this fast?

I don't understand why people deduce this from the sparse information we have.

Part for Kherson the Russian advance hardly looks successful to me. Mariupol is still standing and after several hours of intense battles, territorial gains in the east are minimal. As the Khrakov and Kiev, the Ukrainians couldn't defend them fighting in an open field with Russian air superiority. But that doesn't mean Russia has this in the bag

This is an old-school war, and so early into it people are jumping into too many conclusion.

[Storr]

https://twitter.com/SimTack/status/1496861104869416966

The key battle going on currently would seem to be the Russian airborne assault at Gostomel airport.

edit for Ukranian MOD tweet: https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1496845123342245889?s=20&t=yMtl11suFZS8xx...

[Mike88]

Europe is too wedded to Russian energy. The US should go full court press on ramping up energy production and selling to Europe. So should Canada.

Portugal has also been fighting for years, with no avail, to have a gas pineline from the Iberian Peninsula to the rest of Europe. The idea was to use the Sines harbour to transport US gas to the rest of Europe, and also export African gas, I believe, But, it was rejected in 2019: https://eco.sapo.pt/2019/02/01/gasoduto-nos-pireneus-ja-nao-avanca-portugal-fica-isolado-na-exportacao-de-gas-a-europa/

The newspaper Público (conditioned access) writes that the two entities consider it to be a project with high costs and with few benefits for consumers in both countries, but also that the existing interconnection capacity is not exhausted.

The construction of this project was a condition for REN to also build a new 115 million gas pipeline to Spain, through Trás-os-Montes — in addition to the two existing ones — and which would allow Portugal to export natural gas to the rest of Europe.

The decision by Spain and France calls into question the Portuguese project, as well as the ambition of the Prime Minister, António Costa, that Portugal becomes, through the liquefied gas terminal in Sines, an entry of North American natural gas into Europe, as an alternative to Russian.

[John Dule]

ABC is now reporting the Chernobyl thing too. Still find it hard to believe.

[Aurelius]

ABC is now reporting the Chernobyl thing too. Still find it hard to believe.

Same. My threshold for believing this is much higher than other Ukraine news. Putin is aggressive but not stupid.

[KaiserDave]

Repeating "Kabul Kabul Kabul" is Russian propaganda. There is no reason to believe the collapse of the Ukrainian state is imminent.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Why on Earth would the Russians bring the fighting to Chernobyl?

It's due north of Kiev and, in theory, a handy short-cut.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1496864768229097478https://twitter.com/KyivPost/status/1496858851521482758

[Aurelius]

Ukraine is calling on its allies to follow in its steps and sever relations with Russia. -Foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba

https://twitter.com/DmytroKuleba/status/1496833857009729547

[Splash]

Why on Earth would the Russians bring the fighting to Chernobyl?

It's due north of Kiev and, in theory, a handy short-cut.

This.

Going through the exclusion zone is the fastest way for mechanized units to get from Belarus to Kyiv.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

I can see the rationale for capturing it early, before the Ukrainian government collapses. It minimises the risk of Ukranian forces making a last stand there, which could be very dangerous for an otherwise victorious Russia.

[Sir Mohamed]

Repeating "Kabul Kabul Kabul" is Russian propaganda. There is no reason to believe the collapse of the Ukrainian state is imminent.

Not sure, Russia is a much different thing than Taliban. I hope you're right and I'm wrong, but I'd be surprised, if a week from now Zelensky is still in Ukraine and its prez. I actually expect him to flee into exile in the coming days, if not hours. Not to mention the possibility he'll be murdered. As much as I hate to say it.

[Hnv1]

Reports that Kherson has officially fallen. Any confirmation?

[Aurelius]

Reports that Kherson has officially fallen. Any confirmation?

This is what I'm seeing.

https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu/status/1496863457513447424

Kherson is the most pro-Russia part of Ukraine outside of DNR and LNR. An insurgency could be difficult to maintain there.

[John Dule]

Why on Earth would the Russians bring the fighting to Chernobyl?

It's due north of Kiev and, in theory, a handy short-cut.

This.

Going through the exclusion zone is the fastest way for mechanized units to get from Belarus to Kyiv.

It would be a pretty Pyrrhic victory for Putin to seize control of Ukraine only to have its soil and water poisoned for millennia. Troops might be passing through the exclusion zone, but that stuff about damage to the waste storage is BS.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

Tanks entered Sumy.

https://twitter.com/leonidragozin/status/1496867877617639429

[It’s so Joever]

Contrary to all stereotypes in my definitely unscientific poll on Instagram, it seems women are overwhelmingly more likely to support troops in Ukraine.