Ukraine War

[Knobby22]

Good to see Sweden helping.

 

[qldfrog]

and soon they won't even be able to use the local drive-through for provisions

Pressure is growing on Western food and drink giants to pull out of Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine.

A US pension fund was urging them to review their businesses in Russia because they face "significant and growing legal, compliance, operational, human rights and personnel, and reputational risks".

McDonald's and Coca-Cola boycott calls grow over Russia

Food and drink giants have been criticised on social media for failing to speak out on Ukraine's invasion.

www.bbc.com

If this keeps up, we'll have a bifurcated world.

1. Liberal democracies on one side, desperately trying to reconfigure supply lines and adjust to the inflation/ stagflation (and not commit our young to senseless slaughter)
2. the neo-USSR and China on the other; one supplying raw materials and food , with the other providing manufactured goods
3. and then there'll be the teeming masses, food deficit and dollar a day places, that will hemorrhage their educated ones who will flee to somewhere that offers opportunity (chose from the above, 1 or 2, folks)

I agree, just that the liberal democracies you mentionned will be the Reset ones and will not have much left of the freedom and human rights models we were born with.
I know that preventing access to unjab in 2022 to a cafe, forbidding Australians to leave their country for 3y or seizing assets of individuals based on (Russian) nationality..are exactly the type of actions we rightly accused USSR and dictatorships just a few decades ago.
Not even talking propaganda,brain washing...here in the West..
FFS even Switzerland has broken neutrality...
Poor of us.

 

[bluekelah]

Interesting stats on how much damage has been done to Russian forces, if you believe them. It looks like they might be in trouble. I initially thought their numbers for the invasion force were a bit light on. In general Army defence theory, you need 3:1 to mount an effective attack against a defending force, so the 120K or so Russians sounded a little light on.

I still don't understand why that huge column of Russian vehicles (assume it's the logistic tail) backed up NW of Kiev hasn't been taken out by Ukraine missiles or their airforce. A single run of a few jets could have decimated them. Three attack helicopters could have done it. Perhaps air defences around those trucks is pretty solid.


Article in the Oz:

Russia's forces decimated, defence chief says​

Russia’s lead forces have been “decimated” and it is not inevitable that it will succeed in taking over Ukraine, The Times reports the head of Britain’s armed forces saying.

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the chief of the defence staff, said Moscow had “got itself into a mess” and that its invasion was “not going well”.

He also warned that Russia might “turn up the violence” with “more indiscriminate killing” in response to the highly effective Ukrainian resistance.

As many as 11,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the fierce fighting, according to the latest approximate figures published by the Ukrainian armed forces on Sunday.

An estimated 44 aircraft, 285 tanks, 985 armoured vehicles, 109 artillery systems and 60 fuel tanks have also been destroyed. Admiral Radakin said the Kremlin had lost more troops in a week than the UK did in 20 years in Afghanistan.

He also said that the morale of the invading soldiers had been knocked so badly that some had abandoned the convoy destined for Kyiv to camp in the forest.

– The Times

Its all Ukrainian propaganda. Russia has full control on the airspace over Ukraine. They have dropped paratroopers very early on to take all the key airbases. Ukrainians only have half the tanks the Russians have. In modern warfare you dont need that many ground troops to take out the opposition if you have tanks and air support.

Russians want to take Ukraine intact with as much infrastructure as possibly so that they can put in a pro-RUssian gov as well as station troops and weapons along the Ukrainian border with poland/romania (thats where the 2 aegis ashore ICBM "defense" systems from NATO/USA are located, and have tomahawk nuclear missile capability within range of Russia)

So far the main Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plan was captured recently with some damage but still safe and functional.

Russian military control of Ukraine nuclear plants cause for grave concern, nuclear energy agency warns

Reports that Ukraine’s, and Europe’s, largest nuclear power plant is under the control of Russian forces is a cause for grave concern, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, said on Sunday.

news.un.org

Russian control water supply too. Push come to shove they dont have to bomb anything, just turn off the water for a week and that's it.

 

[bluekelah]

This particular part of the world, Ukraine, Russia with Istanbul has been in foment for 1500 years and it all goes back to the Fall of Rome and the movement East of the Christian Church.

I believe that all three entities will long outlast Coca Cola and McDonalds just as Turkish bread is not really Turkish bread.

Roger Crowley has a good book on it, 1453: The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West. which is pertinent to the present conflict but does not mention takeaways nor drive through eateries which flourished in Pompeii.

I will digress no further.

gg

Look up the history of the Kievan Rus
Makes for an interesting read.

 

[Do you feel lucky]

Anyone know how I can buy Russian shares and bonds? I‘m Australian but still want in. Commsec doesn’t do them ,neither do most brokers I have rung.

 

[Do you feel lucky]

Sorry! Russian and ruble -denominated too.

 

[Sean K]

While they may win the battle in Ukraine, with the US and Britain now boycotting Russian oil, along with all other sanctions, there’s every chance Russia’s economy will completely collapse in the near future and they will be in dire straights for decades. This will be the model the West will use against the CCP when they try to take Taiwan by force. It could be the end of Putin and then Xi. While globalization has potentially allowed this current conflict to be even contemplated due to EUs reliance on Russian energy, it’s also similar globalization factors that will destroy the aggressors.

 

[qldfrog]

While they may win the battle in Ukraine, with the US and Britain now boycotting Russian oil, along with all other sanctions, there’s every chance Russia’s economy will completely collapse in the near future and they will be in dire straights for decades. This will be the model the West will use against the CCP when they try to take Taiwan by force. It could be the end of Putin and then Xi. While globalization has potentially allowed this current conflict to be even contemplated due to EUs reliance on Russian energy, it’s also similar globalization factors that will destroy the aggressors.

Ahhh Sean you are a dreamer.and it is good in a way but please do not apply that thinking to your portfolio now for your own sake.
How is the S&P going?

 

[Garpal Gumnut]

Anyone know how I can buy Russian shares and bonds? I‘m Australian but still want in. Commsec doesn’t do them ,neither do most brokers I have rung.

Sorry! Russian and ruble -denominated too.

You can't at the moment as their stock exchange is closed and brokers here and in in the USA are presently not allowed trade with Russia.

Some of the bigger gamblers than you and I are buying Russian debt or outstanding loans but it is a nietzeche market.

gg

 

[Sean K]

I don't think Russia is going to like this. This is a little different to a few anti-armour and air defence missiles.

In the AFR:

Poland bolsters Ukraine airforce with Russian planes​

Timothy Moore

Poland said it will give all of its Russian made MiG-29 military jets to the US in Germany, with the objective that they will be given to Ukraine.

“The authorities of the Republic of Poland, after consultations between the President and the goverment, are ready to deploy – immediately and free of charge – all their MiG-29 jets to the Ramstein Air Base and place them at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America.

“At the same time, Poland requests the United States to provide us with used aircraft with corresponding operational capabilities. Poland is ready to immediately establish the conditions of purchase of the planes.

“The Polish government also requests other NATO Allies – owners of MiG-29 jets – to act in the same vein.”

Poland has 21 single-seat MiG-29s and 6 twin-seat MiG-29s, according to Janes World Air Forces.

 

[SirRumpole]

Vladimir Putin’s biggest mistake of the Ukraine war so far? Trusting the Western financial system​

Ten days ago, the West did the unthinkable — and Putin didn't see it coming

The television has been telling Russians things are normal. But Russians' fridges, ATMs, and their blocked Visa, Mastercard and ApplePay accounts are all telling them something else, writes Peter Martin.

www.abc.net.au

 

[PZ99]

Vladimir Putin’s biggest mistake of the Ukraine war so far? Trusting the Western financial system​

Ten days ago, the West did the unthinkable — and Putin didn't see it coming

The television has been telling Russians things are normal. But Russians' fridges, ATMs, and their blocked Visa, Mastercard and ApplePay accounts are all telling them something else, writes Peter Martin.

www.abc.net.au

Heh.. I would've thought that was everyone's mistake

 

[sptrawler]

The flaws with NATO.s lack of military spending, that Trump highlighted are starting to show up, Poland wants to give Ukraine its old obsolete Mig 29's and get the U.S to give them F-16 planes in return.

US rejects Poland's offer to help bolster Ukraine's air power with MiG jets

The Pentagon remains wary of joining and potentially widening the ongoing conflict, but it is continuing to look at what can be done to support Ukraine without provoking retaliation from Russia.

www.abc.net.au

From the article:
Ukraine has been pleading for more warplanes and Washington has been looking at a proposal under which Poland would supply Ukraine with the MiG-29s and in turn receive American F-16s.

The Polish government also appealed to other owners of MiG-29 jets to follow suit.

Former Soviet-bloc NATO members Bulgaria and Slovakia also still have Soviet-made fighter jets in their air forces.
The handover of Poland's 28 Soviet-made MiG-29s would signal Western resolve to do more to deter Russia.

Militarily, it would be unlikely to be a game changer. The number of aircraft is relatively small.

The MiG-29s also are inferior to more sophisticated Russian aircraft and could be easy prey for Russian pilots and Russian missiles.

 

[PZ99]

The flaws with NATO.s lack of military spending, that Trump highlighted are starting to show up, Poland wants to give Ukraine its old obsolete Mig 29's and get the U.S to give them F-16 planes in return.

US rejects Poland's offer to help bolster Ukraine's air power with MiG jets

The Pentagon remains wary of joining and potentially widening the ongoing conflict, but it is continuing to look at what can be done to support Ukraine without provoking retaliation from Russia.

www.abc.net.au

From the article:
Ukraine has been pleading for more warplanes and Washington has been looking at a proposal under which Poland would supply Ukraine with the MiG-29s and in turn receive American F-16s.

The Polish government also appealed to other owners of MiG-29 jets to follow suit.

Former Soviet-bloc NATO members Bulgaria and Slovakia also still have Soviet-made fighter jets in their air forces.
The handover of Poland's 28 Soviet-made MiG-29s would signal Western resolve to do more to deter Russia.

Militarily, it would be unlikely to be a game changer. The number of aircraft is relatively small.

The MiG-29s also are inferior to more sophisticated Russian aircraft and could be easy prey for Russian pilots and Russian missiles.

F-16s are just as inferior so it would be a provocative yet pointless exercise and the MiG's didn't exactly set world records during the Bosnian War so Poland are probably just wanting to ditch them to save on maintenance costs

If anything they're probably better off just giving the MiGs to Ukraine for nothing. It was only the skills of the Russian pilots that made them formidable

 

[IFocus]

The flaws with NATO.s lack of military spending, that Trump highlighted are starting to show up,

Thump hated NATO and actively tried to undermine it, it was Trump who also stop military aid to Ukraine.

 

[sptrawler]

Yes I remember reading the Swiss were buying F-35's, so they might be neutral, but they will have competitive fighters.

 

[sptrawler]

Thump hated NATO and actively tried to undermine it, it was Trump who also stop military aid to Ukraine.

The EU brings a lot of its problems on itself, the very reason the U.K got out, Germany going green shutting down nuclear, importing Russian gas and renting Norway's hydro. Priceless
I think you will find Trump hated the way the EU bludged on the U.S regard military spending and did they ever pay back the the Lend Lease, from the last time they were pulled out of the $hit?.

 

[moXJO]

Meanwhile in SA

 

[Wedgy]

Is the Ukraine war about to come to a sudden and unexpected end. Reports suggest that the Russian invasion is slowing and low morale within the military. If this is correct we could see a military coup in Russia, with Putin being arrested and held to blame, (Generals:- we were just following orders!). Probably wishful thinking on my part, but if happens will be soon.

Not without precedent:

1. 1762: A coup by Catherine the Great forced the abdication of Peter III of Russia.
2. March 15, 1917: Tsar Nicholas II of Russia is forced to abdicate in favor of the Russian Provisional Government, ending the Russian Empire and the Romanov dynasty.
3. September 1917: Lavr Kornilov attempts to march into Petrograd, dissolve the Petrograd Soviet, and possibly establish a military dictatorship after being appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army by Alexander Kerensky. The coup failed because of a lack of support and mass resistance, but it eroded the Provisional Government's legitimacy and revived the Bolsheviks.
4. November 7, 1917: The Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party led by Vladimir Lenin overthrows the Russian Provisional Government and forms the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, leading to the Russian Civil War and the formation of the Soviet Union.
5. August 19 to 21, 1991: A group of Soviet Communist Party hardliners form the State Committee on the State of Emergency and attempt to overthrow President Mikhail Gorbachev in order to reverse his reforms; the coup is suppressed by RSFSR President Boris Yeltsin, weakening the Communist Party's authority and accelerating the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
6. September 21 to October 4, 1993: Russian President Boris Yeltsin, aided by the Russian Armed Forces, extralegally dissolves the Supreme Soviet and suspends the constitution in response to impeachment proceedings against him.

Just in case i am right, remember where you read it first.

 

[qldfrog]

The west decides to ban oil from Russian, so we will walk all more..
But our heath crusade does not stop there:

All what Biden puppeteers want is not crushing the last Reset opposition or sell US shale, or even just finding a new blame distraction after covid.
They want an healthier world:
No car for you..EVs for them, and no food for most..even Indians and Chinese are getting fat, and healthy sportmen dying on the sport fields after their life saving shots..
Must be the diet.
Let's get a good famine
...