Russia-Ukraine war and related tensions Megathread

[oldtimer]

...perhaps it's because Israel has more in common with Russia than the United States and other Western democracies.

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1701732985631109468

Russian Jews make a significant portion of the Israeli jewish population these days.

Plus Israel has become an increasingly partisan issue in America, with Democrats becoming more hostile vs Republicans warming up.

[CanadianDemocrat]

...perhaps it's because Israel has more in common with Russia than the United States and other Western democracies.

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1701732985631109468

Netanyahu is a far right authoritarian similar to Jair Bolsonaro, Rodrigo Duterte or Vladimir Putin. Israel is not a Western liberal democracy under Netanyahu.

[Red Velvet]

I went to a date with a guy this year and mentioned that I dreamed traveling around Mediterranean areas (Southern Europa, Middle East and North Africa).

Regarding the Middle East trip, I said that I would start in Turkey, go to Lebanon then Israel/Palestine, Jordan and then finish it in Egypt.

When I said Israel to him his eyes were kinda shocked but he pretended to fake it. I asked him why his reaction was that and he mentioned that there was a whole controversy about visiting Israel because of what they do to Palestinian people. And that visiting the country was kinda helping the country by giving it money through tourism, kinda wanting to imply that visiting Israel was inherently a political position.

I somewhat understood his point but was kinda cringed how only the casual hypothetical talk of travel based on places I think it would be interesting to know got that kind of problematization. I think Israel today is a disgusting country for what they do (and more and more openly each new day) but I always hate the people who act so morally superior that they would rather isolate places they dislike from society.

Like, Israel isn’t the only place that abuses human rights at all and you don’t really ever hear this kind of discourse with other places. Like, would it be a problem if I wanted to visit Russia just because they’re at war? What about visiting the USA after everything awful they’ve done to practically every country in the world? Wouldn’t that also be a political choice? It makes little sense with me.

There wasn’t a 2nd date because neither of us entered in contact with the other lol

[Hindsight was 2020]

https://twitter.com/reconghostsamar/status/1701763302630523011?s=12

[pppolitics]

https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1701791873562517826

[Hindsight was 2020]

https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1701791873562517826

The Russian Black Fleet is fighting a country with no navy and is losing. Amazing stuff all around

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

78% of Ukrainians blame Zelenskyy for corruption

According to a recent poll published by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation, 78% of surveyed Ukrainians believe that the president bears direct responsibility for corruption in the government and regional administrations. Only 18% of respondents disagreed with this statement.

Older Ukrainians seem more demanding of the head of state than the young people, reads the report. The share of respondents who think the president is responsible for corruption ranges from 70% to 81% among people aged 18-29 and those over 60, respectively.

British people overwhelmingly approved Churchill's wartime leadership and yet when the first post-war elections were held he lost in a landslide.

Churchill was the Boris Johnson of his day.

In the good and the bad way, which is why he was tossed out on the first opportunity.

However Churchill's second stint as PM in the 1950's was far far better, and created the myth of Churchill.

Best PM the UK had in the 20th century, but not in the period most people associate today.

One of the most LOL things about Churchill was that he had troops go around in Africa to capture monkeys because of the myth that Gibraltar would fall without them.

[pppolitics]

https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1701811541933260836

[Storr]

https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1701811541933260836

I doubt the timing of this attack is a coincidence (right before Putin meets with Kim):

https://twitter.com/PhillipsPOBrien/status/1701818242577191322?s=20

[jaichind]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/13/estonia-prime-minister-husband-russian-business-links

"‘Witch-hunt’: Estonian prime minister defends husband’s Russian business links"

Estonian PM has "hardline" position against Russia and then it was found out that her husband continues to have significant business links with Russia

[Hindsight was 2020]

[Hindsight was 2020]

https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1701919113705054474?s=12

[CumbrianLefty]

78% of Ukrainians blame Zelenskyy for corruption

According to a recent poll published by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation, 78% of surveyed Ukrainians believe that the president bears direct responsibility for corruption in the government and regional administrations. Only 18% of respondents disagreed with this statement.

Older Ukrainians seem more demanding of the head of state than the young people, reads the report. The share of respondents who think the president is responsible for corruption ranges from 70% to 81% among people aged 18-29 and those over 60, respectively.

British people overwhelmingly approved Churchill's wartime leadership and yet when the first post-war elections were held he lost in a landslide.

Churchill was the Boris Johnson of his day.

In the good and the bad way, which is why he was tossed out on the first opportunity.

However Churchill's second stint as PM in the 1950's was far far better, and created the myth of Churchill.

Best PM the UK had in the 20th century, but not in the period most people associate today.

Well that is a view, but not many of us actually in the UK share it.

[jaichind]

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/white-house-confirms-more-than-100b-in-taxpayer-resources-spent-on-ukraine

"White House confirms more than $100B spent on Ukraine war"

[jaichind]

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/13/us/politics/russia-sanctions-missile-production.htm

"Russia Overcomes Sanctions to Expand Missile Production, Officials Say"

As a result of the push, Russia is now producing more ammunition than the United States and Europe. Overall, Kusti Salm, a senior Estonian defense ministry official, estimated that Russia’s current ammunition production is seven times greater than that of the West.

Russia's battle for war production continues to ramp up

[pppolitics]

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/white-house-confirms-more-than-100b-in-taxpayer-resources-spent-on-ukraine

"White House confirms more than $100B spent on Ukraine war"

Money well spent.

By comparison, the US spent $4 trillion (adjusted for inflation) on World War II and war spending was about 40% of GDP in 1945, the last year of the war.

[pppolitics]

https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1701736991308578860

[pppolitics]

https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1701919113705054474?s=12

https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1701913345907933663

[Hindsight was 2020]

https://twitter.com/maks_nafo_fella/status/1701973483016602075?s=12

[pppolitics]

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/white-house-confirms-more-than-100b-in-taxpayer-resources-spent-on-ukraine

"White House confirms more than $100B spent on Ukraine war"

Now tell me: How much has Russia spent on the Ukraine war (including as a percent of GDP)?

[Storr]

https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1701919113705054474?s=12

https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1701913345907933663

Satellite view:

https://twitter.com/JimmySecUK/status/1701973482731384925?s=20

[jaichind]

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/white-house-confirms-more-than-100b-in-taxpayer-resources-spent-on-ukraine

"White House confirms more than $100B spent on Ukraine war"

Now tell me: How much has Russia spent on the Ukraine war (including as a percent of GDP)?

My understanding is that Russia's 2023 defense budget is around $100 billion.  This $100 billion most likely is "more" than the USA's $100 billion spent since we will have to PPP-ize these numbers to consider the lower cost of many things in Russia relative to costs in the USA.

On the other side of the ledger, we also have the EU and other collective West pending on the war and aid to Ukraine plus Ukraine spending out of its own resource base.

[Storr]

In the same vein:

https://twitter.com/RomanSchurko/status/1701857740396622287?s=20

[jaichind]

During the 1999 India-Pakistan Kargil War, the USA cut off Indian access to GPS in the J&K area.  In anger, India later worked to develop its own navigation system.  Of course, the USA had good reason to do so since it did not want to get dragged into a conflict.  It seems Elon Musk has similar motivations. The best thing for Ukraine is, just like India, to not get mad but get even and invest in its own satellite internet system.   

[Storr]

"I've long argued that the Italian post-war growth miracle might be even a better blueprint for Ukraine than the celebrated German and Japanese miracles. And then the recent miracles of Poland, Czechia, and Slovakia - we have not yet started to call it "miracles", though we should - provide an actual blueprint."

https://twitter.com/k_sonin/status/1701996332422946983?s=20