Ukraine

[Unagi]

I think Taiwan will reunite with China. They're one country that got divided by a civil war. Both government claimed (or used to claim) to be the legitimate government of the whole China.

Can you explain reunite?

Become one country again?

I think the phrase that comes to my mind is: “Dude, she is just not into you.”

Taiwan and the Ukraine are quite happy to be their own country.

[Scraper]

Thread worth reading:

I never thought I would say this during the initial Trump Impeachment proceedings. But Zelensky is one hell of a leader. He stood up to Trump when Trump tried to extort him, he has stood up to Putin when Putin threatened his country and now he is a war time leader the likes of which we haven't seen in the west in a very long time. Maybe even better than Churchill and other leaders during WW2. Whether or not Zelensky survives this war remains to be seen, but even if he doesn't he will have inspired his people to keep fighting and to win the war.

[LawBeefaroni]

The prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia are travelling to meet Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv even as pre-dawn Russian shelling killed more civilians in an apartment building in Ukraine’s capital.

Ballsy move but I'd hate it think what happens if they get killed or captured.

[Carpet_pissr]

Wow, I didn't realize they were coming to him. So admirable on their part considering the risk.

And I'll say it again, I cannot believe Zelensky is still alive. I'm not ready to say Putin sucks at assassination, but....??? As mentioned earlier, there are dozens (?) of bounty hunters (and I am quite sure members of the SVR) actively trying to take him out. Must be infuriating Putin even more than not being greeted with flowers by the Ukrainians.

[LawBeefaroni]

A Russian journalist who burst on to a live TV news programme to protest against the war in Ukraine has been reported missing overnight.

Marina Ovsyannikova, an editor at state-controlled Channel 1, was detained after she ran on to the set on Monday holding an anti-war sign.

Absolute hero. I'm assuming torture and then death in prison. Hope I'm wrong.

[malchior]

Reported panic buying of potassium iodide

This was after the reports about the invasion in the Chernobyl region.

[Smoove_B]

Won't wear a mask but will take KI to just magically deal with nuclear apocalypse. Feels right.

[Blackhawk]

Reported panic buying of potassium iodide

This was after the reports about the invasion in the Chernobyl region.

And after Putin started posting memes about The Button.

This also means that any third party marketplace (Amazon, Ebay, etc) will soon be bursting at the seams with counterfeits - sugar pills, salt tablets, aspirin - being sold as potassium iodide. Because humanity.

[Hyena]

Reported panic buying of potassium iodide

This was after the reports about the invasion in the Chernobyl region.

And after Putin started posting memes about The Button.

This also means that any third party marketplace (Amazon, Ebay, etc) will soon be bursting at the seams with counterfeits - sugar pills, salt tablets, aspirin - being sold as potassium iodide. Because humanity.

That's OK, placebos work just as well as the real thing if you believe strong enough, right?

Right?

[Carpet_pissr]

Reported panic buying of potassium iodide

This was after the reports about the invasion in the Chernobyl region.

And after Putin started posting memes about The Button.

This also means that any third party marketplace (Amazon, Ebay, etc) will soon be bursting at the seams with counterfeits - sugar pills, salt tablets, aspirin - being sold as potassium iodide. Because humanity.

That's OK, placebos work just as well as the real thing if you believe strong enough, right?

Right?

Definitely. It's been proven many times.

[raydude]

Eh, we're within 10 miles of the White House. I have no illusions of being in a position to suddenly need potassium iodide.

[YellowKing]

I'm sure all of these far righters are walking around with a raging boner at the prospect of nuclear war and getting to shoot people trying to get into their bomb shelter.

[malchior]

I'm sure all of these far righters are walking around with a raging boner at the prospect of nuclear war and getting to shoot people trying to get into their bomb shelter.

Bomb shelter would indicate some ability to plan. That's way beyond those smooth brains. They might think they'll survive because nukes only kill citified libs.

[Blackhawk]

I'm sure all of these far righters are walking around with a raging boner at the prospect of nuclear war and getting to shoot people trying to get into their bomb shelter.

Bomb shelter would indicate some ability to plan. That's way beyond those smooth brains. They might think they'll survive because nukes only kill citified libs.

They've seen Mad Max and played Fallout. They know what to do. They've been stockpiling rusted metal and skull-spikes just for this eventuality!

[Isgrimnur]

Too bad they won't be able to fix their tractors.

[LawBeefaroni]

They've seen Mad Max and played Fallout. They know what to do. They've been stockpiling rusted metal and skull-spikes just for this eventuality!

There was a segment on the news where the reporter was in some village in Western Ukraine. It is largely untouched by combat and the residents have spent the last two weeks building out defenses. It looked exactly like something out of the base building in FO4 (or FO3, can't remember). Sandbag and tire barricades with sharpened rebar spikes, MG nest on top, it was unbelievable.
[Edit] I think this is the video:



[/Edit]

I'm sure all of these far righters are walking around with a raging boner at the prospect of nuclear war and getting to shoot people trying to get into their bomb shelter.

Isn't this what they wanted when the voted for Trump? Burn everything down?

[Defiant]

[IceBear]

Wow was just instructed by management to stop communicating with any Russian coworkers (not that I have any). We've been told since the first weekend to not work on any Russian cases

[Carpet_pissr]

I have to say, I've never been a Hillary fan, but if she has been writing her own tweets in the past few years, I at least like the cut of her jib. You get bonus points with me if you have a sarcastic wit. Dry humor? Even better.

[Holman]

I have to say, I've never been a Hillary fan, but if she has been writing her own tweets in the past few years, I at least like the cut of her jib. You get bonus points with me if you have a sarcastic wit. Dry humor? Even better.

I once taught a high-school student (an actual Eisenhower, like Ike's great-great-niece) who went on to work as an aide to then-Senator Hillary Clinton. She had nothing but good things to say about her.

(The Eisenhower clan are Democrats now, BTW.)

[YellowKing]

I'll never forget that Hillary was telling us Trump was a Russian puppet long before any of us really knew wtf she was talking about.

[coopasonic]

I'll never forget that Hillary was telling us Trump was a Russian puppet long before any of us really knew wtf she was talking about.

You're the puppet.

[xwraith]

Military training videos have changed

[Unagi]

"To bolster its defenses against invading Russian forces, Ukraine is asking the Biden administration for armed drones, anti-ship missiles, “off-the-shelf” electronic jamming equipment and surface-to-air missiles that can strike aircraft at a higher altitude, according to four sources with knowledge of the request."

I hope very much that we do.

[hepcat]

I have to say, I've never been a Hillary fan, but if she has been writing her own tweets in the past few years, I at least like the cut of her jib. You get bonus points with me if you have a sarcastic wit. Dry humor? Even better.

Ditto.

[xwraith]

Burn baby, burn

[Daehawk]

Cant a non NATO country help fly air patrol over Ukraine? Are they all afraid of repercussions or something?

[LawBeefaroni]

Cant a non NATO country help fly air patrol over Ukraine? Are they all afraid of repercussions or something?

Tell us who and we'll tell you why not.

[malchior]

Unconfirmed as yet but the UA army seems to be inflicting heavy losses on leadership.



Meanwhile, another indicator that the Russians are totally not in desperation mode. They allegedly rounded up the local populace to act as human shields. "This business will get out of control..."

[LawBeefaroni]

Unconfirmed as yet but the UA army seems to be inflicting heavy losses on leadership.

I think this is less of a big deal than if it were US Brigadier Generals getting killed, for example. Russia has always thrown corpses at the enemy and view losses at all levels as part of the bargain. I mean why are they so vulnerable in the first place?

[Max Peck]

My understanding is that the Russian command and control is so poor that these senior officers have felt the need to be at or near the pointy end in order to attempt to coordinate action. In some cases it may just be a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but at least once it was because he ran around yelling at people and being obviously in charge when a UA sniper had a line of sight.

[LawBeefaroni]

Watching Zelenskyy's address to Congress. Pelosi is like a carnival barker and I'm pretty sure we won't do anything he asks for other than sending some missile platforms. But he's pressing the right buttons.

[Unagi]

Cant a non NATO country help fly air patrol over Ukraine? Are they all afraid of repercussions or something?

You make it sound like it's absurd for them to think there would be "repercussions".
And let's be clear... you are using the word 'repercussions' here as a place-holder for 'nuclear war'.
The local 'good guy' countries that are not members of NATA are not staying out of NATO so that they can engage their military with Russia's military, without NATO backing them.

They think of themselves as the hostage negotiator in times like this and cling to their "we aren't NATO" status as a badge of legitimacy in those negotiations.

If they had the desire to engage the Russian airforce, they would first probably join NATO.

[LawBeefaroni]

The video montage he played is effective. And the English portion of his address is incredibly astute.

[LawBeefaroni]

Biden going to do a live address at 11:45 Eastern today.

[raydude]

My understanding is that the Russian command and control is so poor that these senior officers have felt the need to be at or near the pointy end in order to attempt to coordinate action. In some cases it may just be a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but at least once it was because he ran around yelling at people and being obviously in charge when a UA sniper had a line of sight.

The Russians are probably not very good at Auftragstaktik (giving and following mission commands) either. I'm guessing the Russian troops, and lower-level officers especially, are not renowned or rewarded for their initiative. So instead of giving them orders like "Probe forward and secure the town outskirts" and letting them implement it however they want, they are given orders like "Drive your platoon on this road 200km".

They are like a basic computer program executing steps from the top to the bottom. When they get to the bottom they may be out of command and control to get more program steps, in which case they may be more likely to just sit and wait until higher-ups get to them instead of sending someone back to ask for more orders. Hence, the need for the higher up to get in command and control range to give more program steps, thereby sticking out like a sore thumb and getting sniped.

But that's just my conjecture.

[Carpet_pissr]

Kremlin Says Neutral Ukraine With Army Could Be Compromise
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/kremlin- ... 43248.html
(Bloomberg) -- A proposal for Ukraine to become a neutral country but retain its own armed forces “could be viewed as a certain kind of compromise,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday, hinting at possible progress in peace negotiations.

"We will stop if you agree not to join NATO"?

[Carpet_pissr]

My understanding is that the Russian command and control is so poor that these senior officers have felt the need to be at or near the pointy end in order to attempt to coordinate action. In some cases it may just be a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but at least once it was because he ran around yelling at people and being obviously in charge when a UA sniper had a line of sight.

The Russians are probably not very good at Auftragstaktik (giving and following mission commands) either. I'm guessing the Russian troops, and lower-level officers especially, are not renowned or rewarded for their initiative. So instead of giving them orders like "Probe forward and secure the town outskirts" and letting them implement it however they want, they are given orders like "Drive your platoon on this road 200km".

They are like a basic computer program executing steps from the top to the bottom. When they get to the bottom they may be out of command and control to get more program steps, in which case they may be more likely to just sit and wait until higher-ups get to them instead of sending someone back to ask for more orders. Hence, the need for the higher up to get in command and control range to give more program steps, thereby sticking out like a sore thumb and getting sniped.

But that's just my conjecture.

Makes sense. Russian/Soviet bureaucracy is world famous for a reason.

[UsulofDoom]

Cant a non NATO country help fly air patrol over Ukraine? Are they all afraid of repercussions or something?

What is a no fly zone? Does it mean if any Russian aircraft ,missal, or drone that enters air space will be shot down? Does it mean all aircraft from either side will be shot down?
Does this include medical, evacuation and supply transport?

I don't think you could have that with super powers. It would basically mean you are becoming an enemy of Russia and expect to have your air bases and defensive air assets attacked in your country or more.

[Unagi]

Kremlin Says Neutral Ukraine With Army Could Be Compromise
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/kremlin- ... 43248.html
(Bloomberg) -- A proposal for Ukraine to become a neutral country but retain its own armed forces “could be viewed as a certain kind of compromise,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday, hinting at possible progress in peace negotiations.

"We will stop if you agree not to join NATO"?

What game is this? Russia just wants time to do a do-over. Ukraine should be free to do whatever it can peacefully achieve for itself. Fuck Putin and his tyranny - this man needs to be put down, not given a cookie.