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Somaen posted:And you know why that is. 
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Jan 15, 2022 11:57
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I'm the troll eating from a bucket labeled "poo poo".
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Jan 15, 2022 12:26
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Grouchio posted:Why should they feel nervous if they aren't the target for provocation? Scared to death of losing their neutrality? There's been a lot of Russian ships around the island and Russia has been making threats because of Swedish Nato-talks. While I don't personally think Russia will do anything other than make a lot of noise it doesn't hurt to move troops to the island.
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Jan 15, 2022 12:55
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Onto my next line of thinking post-war: What the hell happens to Russia when Putin eats it/gets ousted? Could any wild-eyed Russian nationalist take power? Would the oligarchs place one of their own? Does Russia become more or less trigger-happy?
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Jan 15, 2022 13:00
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Grouchio posted:Onto my next line of thinking post-war: What the hell happens to Russia when Putin eats it/gets ousted? Could any wild-eyed Russian nationalist take power? Would the oligarchs place one of their own? Does Russia become more or less trigger-happy? I imagine oligarchs fighting it out for power and lots of chaos. Is there anyone who remotely exudes the same big strong daddy aura as Putin? https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1482183958972575744 Hee hee, Silly Russia tweaked Denmark's nose.
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Jan 15, 2022 13:39
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Morrow posted:Russia is a regional power, it just so happens that Ukraine is in their region. Within living memory, the area they're currently preparing to invade wasn't just part of their sphere, it was considered some of their core territory. They punch above their weight because of a disproportionate investment in military and cyber systems and vast natural gas reserves, but their economy is on partner with South Korea. I'd consider them a great power, not a superpower or a regional power. They have some power projection capabilities that extend beyond their immediate borders, as we've seen in Syria. They obviously lack in major external economic ties except for natural gas, but that's a pretty big 'except for' in Europe, and the Soviet Union was always poorer than the US and itself was pretty dependent on natural resource wealth too, at least toward the end. Back to the Ukraine crisis specifically, I thought this was a good thread about how NATO's operating based on principles rather than pragmatism in this standoff, so I'll include the first few tweets: https://twitter.com/OlyaOliker/status/1481676417993744394 https://twitter.com/OlyaOliker/status/1481676422100000769
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Jan 15, 2022 13:50
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HUGE PUBES A PLUS posted:I imagine oligarchs fighting it out for power and lots of chaos. Is there anyone who remotely exudes the same big strong daddy aura as Putin?
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Jan 15, 2022 14:02
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Sinteres posted:I'd consider them a great power, not a superpower or a regional power. They have some power projection capabilities that extend beyond their immediate borders, as we've seen in Syria. They obviously lack in major external economic ties except for natural gas, but that's a pretty big 'except for' in Europe, and the Soviet Union was always poorer than the US and itself was pretty dependent on natural resource wealth too, at least toward the end. Yes. NATO doesn't want Ukraine, and everyone but Ukraine seems to get it.
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Jan 15, 2022 14:53
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Ukraine also gets it, but it's in their constitution now, so politicians have to make appropriate noises.
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Jan 15, 2022 15:40
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The neutrality was in the constitution too, and look where it got them. Might as well try to get into NATO or die trying is probably the idea
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Jan 15, 2022 15:46
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https://ria.ru/20220114/donbass-1767821698.html Is this our casus belli, then - NATO instructors "waging war against ethnic Russians"?
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Jan 15, 2022 16:36
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HUGE PUBES A PLUS posted:Is there anyone who remotely exudes the same big strong daddy aura as Putin? None can exist before Putin is willing to give up power/at death's door. At the risk of inviting a ban because people don't read classics anymore, tyrants (In the Greek sense! No moral judgement here.[0]) need to cut the tall wheat. The existence of anyone who would be a natural successor to Putin would be a massive threat to him, even if that person was 100% loyal to him. It would produce a natural rallying point to any opposition to him, and make offing him a much more viable choice to anyone who feels slighted by him. It's precisely because of this that dictators (or, you know, whatever Putin is) don't have clear successors, unless they are their children. In which case having a clear successor is still inadvisable, but the judgement of the guy at the top is probably clouded by sentiment. [0]: Lots of moral judgement ouside that sentence, though. Sinteres posted:I'd consider them a great power, not a superpower or a regional power. The problem with this is that in economic strength they are about halfway between Italy and Spain. Any of the top 5 European countries could be more than a match to Russian in conventional strenght, if they chose to. On top of that, most of Europe is part of that pesky supranational union that economically surpasses Russia by an absurd degree.
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Jan 15, 2022 16:42
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cinci zoo sniper posted:https://ria.ru/20220114/donbass-1767821698.html
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Jan 15, 2022 16:46
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Tuna-Fish posted:The problem with this is that in economic strength they are about halfway between Italy and Spain. Any of the top 5 European countries could be more than a match to Russian in conventional strenght, if they chose to. On top of that, most of Europe is part of that pesky supranational union that economically surpasses Russia by an absurd degree. The economic part is true, but I genuinely don't think any European country could match Russia militarily even if they tried super hard to do so for a decade, though the EU as a whole probably could (and has the potential to be a superpower under those circumstances). Russia has a ton of banked expertise/logistics/industry/etc., and a larger population, and a large state slush fund they can tap into due to the country's dependence on natural resource wealth. Then Russia also obviously has a completely insane amount of nukes, which hopefully can't/won't be used, but do have something to do with maintaining Russia's power ranking on the global stage. If Russia's not a great power, who is? Other than the US, I think only China and France have any significant power projection capabilities at all at this point. Turkey's working on it, but so far they're a lot more limited to their region than Russia. Dr Kool-AIDS fucked around with this message at 16:51 on Jan 15, 2022 |
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Jan 15, 2022 16:48
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People keep saying how small Russia’s economy is, that it’s smaller than South Korea or Italy. It looks like they have the sixth largest GDP in the world by purchasing power parity? Only the US, China, India, Japan, and Germany are larger.
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Jan 15, 2022 17:17
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TipTow posted:People keep saying how small Russia’s economy is, that it’s smaller than South Korea or Italy. It looks like they have the sixth largest GDP in the world by purchasing power parity? Only the US, China, India, Japan, and Germany are larger. Yeah, one benefit of being relatively cut off from the rest of the world economically is that they can have their own little bubble where being poor kind of works out because it keeps costs super low. It's what makes them far more resistant to sanctions pressure than pretty much any other country too.
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Jan 15, 2022 17:21
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TipTow posted:Does Moldova even share a border with Ukraine that isn't controlled by Transnistria? This extremely Clancychat-ish report (from an ex-CIA paramilitary) speculates one possible step Russia could take short of occupying all of Ukraine is to seize the entire Black Sea coast, thus linking up with Transnistria, giving a land corridor for Crimea, and extremely loving over what is left of Ukraine. https://www.csis.org/analysis/russias-possible-invasion-ukraine quote:4. Seize Ukrainian territory up to the Dnepr River and seize an additional belt of land (to include Odessa) that connects Russian territory with the breakaway Transdniestria Republic and separates Ukraine from any access to the Black Sea. The Kremlin would incorporate these new lands into Russia and ensure that the rump Ukrainian statelet remains economically unviable. (Option 5 is just taking the Black Sea coast and leaving eastern Ukraine to the DNR/PNR, Step 6 is declaring a literal Slavic Union at gunpoint with Belarus and Ukraine.) Lum_ fucked around with this message at 19:14 on Jan 15, 2022 |
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Jan 15, 2022 19:12
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Al-Saqr posted:Russia seems to have a really chill army if they're troops are all allowed to use their smartphones on the way to the front lines. They've passed laws against exactly this, thanks to "volunteers" taking selfies inside Ukraine and posting them to VK. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41510592 The soldiers pictured heading to the front are probably conscripts, which are exempt from the law.
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Jan 15, 2022 19:19
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TipTow posted:People keep saying how small Russia’s economy is, that it’s smaller than South Korea or Italy. It looks like they have the sixth largest GDP in the world by purchasing power parity? Only the US, China, India, Japan, and Germany are larger. Sinteres posted:Yeah, one benefit of being relatively cut off from the rest of the world economically is that they can have their own little bubble where being poor kind of works out because it keeps costs super low. It's what makes them far more resistant to sanctions pressure than pretty much any other country too. Admittedly they do have gas, but that's also the kind of thing you don't want to push too hard, because you risk convincing countries that their reliance on you is too much of a liability. Given the composition of the Russian economy, that would be extremely bad, like an echo of the fall of the USSR.
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Jan 15, 2022 19:24
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"" There was an anonymous bomb threat against an airport in Kyiv today. A few other infrastructure points were closed down for the same reason few days ago. "" "" Ukrainian Military intelligence reports leaking container with ammonia was recently brought to Stirol Chemical plant in Horlivka by Russian forces "" "" U.S. State Dept has held talks with international energy companies over contingency plans for European natural gas supply in case of Russia-Ukraine conflict - U.S. officials and industry sources "" --Ahahahah America never let a good disaster go to waste! Don't worry Europe we will just take that energy crisis if Russia turns the gas off and help you facilitate some better deals. That's our true motive once again.
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Jan 15, 2022 19:26
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Regarding Gotland, the reason Swedes are so anxy is because Russia just moved several landing ships from Northern Fleet to Baltic Fleet. Gotland normally has only token garrison on a huge island, taking it wouldn't be a task at all for Russia. And why would they do this? Gotland is excellently situated if someone wanted to secure the seaways (and airways) north of Kaliningrad for themselves. And invading it wouldn't trigger NATO article 5, unlike taking Hiiumaa and Saaremaa would.  Now this would be extremely unlikely to happen because it would be dumb of Russia, but it's the task of Swedish army to react to rising threat levels in the area. If, say, USA threatened to blockade Kaliningrad, then Russia would have to react somehow to keep the lanes open. This is an unlikely chain of events, but Crimea shows that it's healthy to be a little paranoid around Russia  Finland won't be doing the same with Åland because the islands have been demilitarized during peace time since the previuos Crimean War when the Anglo-French fleet blew up the garrison there. If a war started there would be a race to the islands. But it has less of a strategic importance in this case anyway.
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Jan 15, 2022 20:28
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WAR CRIME GIGOLO posted:"" Have Europeans considered simply building their civilization in an area with large gas and mineral deposits?
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Jan 15, 2022 21:08
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BIG FLUFFY DOG posted:Have Europeans considered simply building their civilization in an area with large gas and mineral deposits? Many civilizations tried starting their game on top of oil resources, then Europeans (including Russians) came. Norwegians got super lucky 
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Jan 15, 2022 21:17
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Ukranians will fight for Ukrane, west or not. If Rusiia endeavors into this, Putin regime will not survive the campaign. Still remain that there will be no war
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Jan 15, 2022 22:11
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BIG FLUFFY DOG posted:Have Europeans considered simply building their civilization in an area with large gas and mineral deposits? Sure. Except you need someome to live in extreme cold to pump it welp its Russia again
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Jan 15, 2022 22:21
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BIG FLUFFY DOG posted:Have Europeans considered simply building their civilization in an area with large gas and mineral deposits? Germany is sitting on some of the largest shale gas resources on the planet. And they chose not to frack it, instead deciding to buy their gas from Russia.
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Jan 15, 2022 22:35
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Tuna-Fish posted:Germany is sitting on some of the largest shale gas resources on the planet. And they chose not to frack it, instead deciding to buy their gas from Russia. So they're not fracking? I guess they're busy destroying the earth with their enormous coal-mines instead.
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Jan 15, 2022 22:39
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Tuna-Fish posted:Germany is sitting on some of the largest shale gas resources on the planet. And they chose not to frack it, instead deciding to buy their gas from Russia. The most ironic part about this is that drilling in Russia is one the least regulated and environmentally friendly. I guarantee you their entire infrastructure leaks gas (methane) like a sieve and in reality their gas just as bad as coal. Or even worse.
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Jan 15, 2022 22:53
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Crosby B. Alfred posted:The most ironic part about this is that drilling in Russia is one the least regulated and environmentally friendly. I guarantee you their entire infrastructure leaks gas (methane) like a sieve and in reality their gas just as bad as coal. Or even worse. How can it be bad when it has *green* in the name, checkmate nuclealures 
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Jan 15, 2022 23:12
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BIG FLUFFY DOG posted:Have Europeans considered simply building their civilization in an area with large gas and mineral deposits? Germany destiny does not lie in the east friend
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Jan 15, 2022 23:17
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So about that weird web defacement with a bunch of nonsense on it that people were trying to interpret: https://twitter.com/wiczipedia/status/1482736881372741641?s=21 quote:Today, we’re sharing that we’ve observed destructive malware in systems belonging to several Ukrainian government agencies and organizations that work closely with the Ukrainian government. The malware is disguised as ransomware but, if activated by the attacker, would render the infected computer system inoperable. We’re sharing this information to help others in the cybersecurity community look out for and defend against these attacks.
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Jan 16, 2022 16:52
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idk, calling destructive malware a "cyber attack" seems pretty alarmist.
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Jan 16, 2022 17:03
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Cugel the Clever posted:idk, calling destructive malware a "cyber attack" seems pretty alarmist. Yeah, it only irreversibly destroys all information stored in the target system. Not sure why would anyone consider targeted distribution of such, notably unseen previously, malware an attack.
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Jan 16, 2022 17:33
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It's a snarky referenceFishBulbia posted:Calling ddos attacks "cyber attacks" is pretty alarmist. Its cyber vandalism. Russia has directly attacked the Ukrainian energy grid before.
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Jan 16, 2022 17:39
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steinrokkan posted:It's a snarky reference We have people itt who unironically claim that Holodomor was named after Holocaust, so I think I’ll hold off from enthusiastically assuming that something surely is a well-intended joke. 
cinci zoo sniper fucked around with this message at 17:48 on Jan 16, 2022 |
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Jan 16, 2022 17:43
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When watching The Death of Stalin I noticed that Uncle Joe had a cockney accent to represent the thick georgian accent he carried throughout his life. (everyone spoke british english in the film) So what does Russian with a Georgian accent sound like to an english speaker? How does it differ?
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Jan 16, 2022 17:57
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Grouchio posted:When watching The Death of Stalin I noticed that Uncle Joe had a cockney accent to represent the thick georgian accent he carried throughout his life. (everyone spoke british english in the film) Grouchio posted:So what does Russian with a Georgian accent sound like to an english speaker? How does it differ? If the cockney accent/dialect was chosen deliberately, it has to have been due to the association with violent criminals in British cinema.
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Jan 16, 2022 20:55
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Grouchio posted:everyone spoke british english in the film I may be going crazy, but I’m pretty sure the accents weren’t just British. At least Molotov and Khrushchev had American accents I think? I can’t exactly remember Beria’s accent…
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Jan 16, 2022 21:07
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More troops moving into the Ukrainian border. Uptick in troops at the north end of Russias Ukrainian border 600KM from Kiev. They were seen gathering at railways, which is still the Russian preferred method of troop transport
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Jan 16, 2022 21:10
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Worlds longest loving invasion prep
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Jan 16, 2022 21:19
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