Russia-Ukraine war and related tensions Megathread

[The Free North]

Few USD/RUB quotes coming in now. Spread is wide but offered at 120 or so.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

At this point it's abundantly clear that Russia should have shut off its internet for the duration of the war and that if they had the capacity to knock out Ukraine's internet, they should have done so. How the hell is an army supposed to keep operational security and secrecy if anybody with a smartphone can record troop and vehicle movements and upload it to Twitter/Telegram/etc immediately?

Cope.

[compucomp]

At this point it's abundantly clear that Russia should have shut off its internet for the duration of the war and that if they had the capacity to knock out Ukraine's internet, they should have done so. How the hell is an army supposed to keep operational security and secrecy if anybody with a smartphone can record troop and vehicle movements and upload it to Twitter/Telegram/etc immediately?

CCP shill very sad that mother Russia being destroyed by Ukraine.

You wouldn't say that if say Afghan civilians were uploading videos of American troop movements on Twitter, you'd call for Twitter to delete the posts immediately and possibly for the army to find and punish said Afghans.

[certified hummus supporter 🇵🇸🤝🇺🇸🤝🇺🇦]

Russia moment



^{Stolen from r/noncredibledefense}

[Astatine]

At this point it's abundantly clear that Russia should have shut off its internet for the duration of the war and that if they had the capacity to knock out Ukraine's internet, they should have done so. How the hell is an army supposed to keep operational security and secrecy if anybody with a smartphone can record troop and vehicle movements and upload it to Twitter/Telegram/etc immediately?

They should've cut off yours first

[Person Man]

Russia moment



^{Stolen from r/noncredibledefense}

Where’s the bears riding the giant balls?

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

At this point it's abundantly clear that Russia should have shut off its internet for the duration of the war and that if they had the capacity to knock out Ukraine's internet, they should have done so. How the hell is an army supposed to keep operational security and secrecy if anybody with a smartphone can record troop and vehicle movements and upload it to Twitter/Telegram/etc immediately?

CCP shill very sad that mother Russia being destroyed by Ukraine.

You wouldn't say that if say Afghan civilians were uploading videos of American troop movements on Twitter, you'd call for Twitter to delete the posts immediately and possibly for the army to find and punish said Afghans.

Yes, yes, of course, I am an American, not a bloodthirsty murderer who supports genocide and barbarism.

Edit: wait, no, I actually wouldn't want to the Army to punish Afghan civilians??? Somehow I just glossed over this despicable sentiment - you are a sicko.

[Storr]

Russia moment



^{Stolen from r/noncredibledefense}

I looked up that van last night and, as you'd expect it's from the 60s. This would be like if the US Army still used Chevy Vans (cue the 1973 hit by NC native Sammy Johns "Chevy Van").

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UAZ-452

LOL: "In March 2011 models 39625, 3962, and 2206 received upgrades, consisting of ABS brakes, power steering, seat belts and the Euro-4 engine as standard equipment."

[certified hummus supporter 🇵🇸🤝🇺🇸🤝🇺🇦]

Would it be fair to call Russia the new Sick Man of Europe considering the utter incompetence of this invasion?

[NOVA Green]

UK starting to really lay down the law for money investments from Russian Elites....   (Per CNN ~ 1 Hr 5 Minutes ago):

"UK to crack down on "dirty money" from Russian oligarchs

From CNN's Susanna Capelouto

British leaders plan to introduce legislation in Parliament on Monday aimed at clamping down on money laundering and fraud following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.   

The measure would strengthen law enforcement to go after corrupt oligarchs and create a so-called “Register of Overseas Entities,” where foreigners who own property in the United Kingdom must be identified by name, according to a government statement.

“There is no place for dirty money in the UK,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in the statement. “We are going faster and harder to tear back the façade that those supporting Putin’s campaign of destruction have been hiding behind for so long.”
The government said the registry sets up a new standard for global transparency so “criminals cannot hide behind secretive chains of shell companies.” 

The registry will be retroactive for property bought up to 20 years ago in England and Wales and since 2014 in Scotland. The bill also includes a prison sentence of up to five years for anyone breaking the new rules. 

Some context: Decades of loose regulation and courting of Russian investors mean that some allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin are now deeply integrated into UK society.

Wealthy Russians flocked to London over the past three decades after gaining entry to the UK via investor visa programs, according to a report published by the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament in 2020. Light-touch regulation, lucrative investment opportunities and a legal system that can be used to settle disputes helped attract the oligarchs.

Many Russian oligarchs made their fortunes when state-owned companies were privatized in the chaos following the collapse of the Soviet Union. In London, they found an army of lawyers and bankers who were willing to help them invest in UK companies and London property, according to analysts.


https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-news-02-27-22/index.html

[Person Man]

At this point it's abundantly clear that Russia should have shut off its internet for the duration of the war and that if they had the capacity to knock out Ukraine's internet, they should have done so. How the hell is an army supposed to keep operational security and secrecy if anybody with a smartphone can record troop and vehicle movements and upload it to Twitter/Telegram/etc immediately?

CCP shill very sad that mother Russia being destroyed by Ukraine.

You wouldn't say that if say Afghan civilians were uploading videos of American troop movements on Twitter, you'd call for Twitter to delete the posts immediately and possibly for the army to find and punish said Afghans.

Yes, yes, of course, I am an American, not a bloodthirsty murderer who supports genocide and barbarism.

Edit: wait, no, I actually wouldn't want to the Army to punish Afghan civilians??? Somehow I just glossed over this despicable sentiment - you are a sicko.

Well, for starters, no American troops would be in that position.

[NOVA Green]

Unified late Sunday call from US & Allies:

Look at the list of Allied Foreign Ministers on the call!!!



"US and allied partners to Ukrainian foreign minister: "We stand with Ukraine"


US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his G7 counterparts “underscored” the “unified response to Russia’s invasion,” in a call with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Sunday, according to a State Department readout.

“Together we are supporting the Ukrainian people and imposing severe costs and consequences to hold Russia accountable for its war of choice,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said. “We stand with Ukraine and recognize the bravery and heroism of the Ukrainian people.”
The foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the High Representative of the European Union were also on the call."

Meanwhile more "Bottle Donations" in Ukrainian Cities...

[compucomp]

At this point it's abundantly clear that Russia should have shut off its internet for the duration of the war and that if they had the capacity to knock out Ukraine's internet, they should have done so. How the hell is an army supposed to keep operational security and secrecy if anybody with a smartphone can record troop and vehicle movements and upload it to Twitter/Telegram/etc immediately?

Cope.

I don't need to cope, I'm not Russian. China is not a party to this conflict. However there are surely valuable lessons to be learned, and the PLA should be carefully studying and analyzing this campaign to figure out what worked, what didn't, and what should have been done, and to adjust accordingly.

[Yoda]

Retired Gen. Philip Breedlove on a no-fly zone. He supports it, but finds it unlikely to happen. Breedlove was Supreme Allied Commander Europe 2013-2016.

https://twitter.com/ak_mack/status/1498081883149807621

Wouldn’t an NFZ mean conventional fighting between NATO and Russian forces?
I want to do everything for Ukraine, but the risk of nuclear escalation from that is too great.

I’m open to calling the nuclear bluff.

Same. Putin is not launching nukes over being stopped in Ukraine, it's just not happening. He's not crazy. He knows that would mean Moscow and every other Russian city would be a mushroom cloud. The nuclear sabre-rattling just does not work on me anymore. When you threaten nuclear warfare any time the West breathe in a way you don't like, the threat has lost all potency.

[Yoda]

is this true:

https://twitter.com/sotiridi/status/1498080359195586567?s=20&t=pXLJQPXwtPHEn...

NUT

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Retired Gen. Philip Breedlove on a no-fly zone. He supports it, but finds it unlikely to happen. Breedlove was Supreme Allied Commander Europe 2013-2016.

https://twitter.com/ak_mack/status/1498081883149807621

Wouldn’t an NFZ mean conventional fighting between NATO and Russian forces?
I want to do everything for Ukraine, but the risk of nuclear escalation from that is too great.

I’m open to calling the nuclear bluff.

Same. Putin is not launching nukes over being stopped in Ukraine, it's just not happening. He's not crazy. He knows that would mean Moscow and every other Russian city would be a mushroom cloud. The nuclear sabre-rattling just does not work on me anymore. When you threaten nuclear warfare any time the West breathe in a way you don't like, the threat has lost all potency.

I'm not entirely sure he isn't just that crazy, but I am convinced that whoever the nearest general to him isn't. So it amounts to the same thing.

[Lexii, harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy]

FX markets very thin right now but good luck buying anything if you're a Russian company in the next few months.


https://twitter.com/RamiRanger/status/1498046845737701377?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle...

Yikes, even down here it took like 9 months for the (black market) dollar to go from 80 to 170 pesos

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

(Based off the 'who's rooting for who world series' meme from when it was Astros v. Braves)

[Splash]

https://twitter.com/vsualst/status/1498120083679363072

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

At this point it's abundantly clear that Russia should have shut off its internet for the duration of the war and that if they had the capacity to knock out Ukraine's internet, they should have done so. How the hell is an army supposed to keep operational security and secrecy if anybody with a smartphone can record troop and vehicle movements and upload it to Twitter/Telegram/etc immediately?

Cope.

I don't need to cope, I'm not Russian. China is not a party to this conflict. However there are surely valuable lessons to be learned, and the PLA should be carefully studying and analyzing this campaign to figure out what worked, what didn't, and what should have been done, and to adjust accordingly.

Okay, so you're not actively unhappy with Russia running a campaign worthy of a second-string He-Man villain; you'd just be actively happy if it weren't. Congratulations, I think that might actually be more depraved and uncompassionate than just being a saber-rattling Russian nationalist.

[Хahar 🤔]

I'll be real honest, while Putin has brought this upon his forces and himself, i can't help but be unnerved by the huge amount of major weapons NATO+allies are supplying both directly and openly.

Kinda freaks me out to think where the Russian perspective crosses the line from "Ukrainians are using some NATO weapons against us" to "NATO is basically at war with us"

Not to further freak you out, but this strikes me as a totally legitimate fear. For the first, say, 24 hours or so I was surprised that an overtly NATO-supplied Ukraine fighting Russia was basically "fine" when we know that direct NATO-on-Russia combat would get out of hand very quickly. Thing is, aside from the obvious option of leaving Ukraine to its fate, I'm not entirely sure what the other options are, except gradations of sanctions or appeasement.

I agree with this sentiment. I know it's exciting to live in interesting times, but the glee in this thread at remilitarization has been untoward. There has been a dramatic shift in the scope of this conflict over the last 36 hours. With Ukraine openly receiving massive supplies of armaments from NATO (and, if these posited international brigades ever come to exist, manpower as well), the difference between what we have now and an outright war between NATO and Russia becomes increasingly difficult to maintain. This should not be a welcome thought to anyone not in the weapons business.

[Storr]

The sun is about to rise in Kyiv, and it seems Russian activity will likely pick up soon. So here's one last meme before things get serious again:


https://twitter.com/jediwinetrick/status/1498113622819713025?s=20&t=6FXUdQKO...
 

[Yoda]

Retired Gen. Philip Breedlove on a no-fly zone. He supports it, but finds it unlikely to happen. Breedlove was Supreme Allied Commander Europe 2013-2016.

https://twitter.com/ak_mack/status/1498081883149807621

Wouldn’t an NFZ mean conventional fighting between NATO and Russian forces?
I want to do everything for Ukraine, but the risk of nuclear escalation from that is too great.

I’m open to calling the nuclear bluff.

Bruh:

https://twitter.com/McFaul/status/1498065915665022983

What is the worst he will do, nuke DC? GO ahead Putin, do your worst!

Uhh? Literally start a nuclear holocaust? That he doesn't care about? Because he's going to die soon anyways and no longer gives a you know what about his country anyways.

If he's "going to die soon" and doesn't care about what happens after he's gone he wouldn't be trying so hard to bring Ukraine under Russian control. He dreams of a reunified USSR, not of his country burning in nuclear hell fire. The nuclear threats are a bluff and a sign of weakness; he knows if just a single democratic power got directly, militarily involved Russia would get it's ass kicked.

[OSR stands with Israel]

At this point it's abundantly clear that Russia should have shut off its internet for the duration of the war and that if they had the capacity to knock out Ukraine's internet, they should have done so. How the hell is an army supposed to keep operational security and secrecy if anybody with a smartphone can record troop and vehicle movements and upload it to Twitter/Telegram/etc immediately?

Cope.

I don't need to cope, I'm not Russian. China is not a party to this conflict. However there are surely valuable lessons to be learned, and the PLA should be carefully studying and analyzing this campaign to figure out what worked, what didn't, and what should have been done, and to adjust accordingly.

Aren’t you an American

[dead0man]

UK starting to really lay down the law for money investments from Russian Elites....   (Per CNN ~ 1 Hr 5 Minutes ago):

"UK to crack down on "dirty money" from Russian oligarchs

so they knew about Russian dirty money before today but didn't do anything about it and they know about non-Russian dirty money now but they don't plan on doing anything about that?