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Holy cow I know it's already been observed but still ridiculous that for a war that has been going on for less than two months Russia is already doing moves usually done in desperation to throw any men you can into defending your capital. Rushing training of conscripts, sending in mercenaries, emptying out naval vessels, probably some penal battalions wandering around. Except it's for a war of aggression that ostensibly they had years to plan.
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Mar 31, 2022 15:42
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Friendly reminder that we should keep in mind the domestic situation in Russia when wondering "why the gently caress X?" I'm sure that Putin & co. are desperately trying to avoid an accurate account of the situation leaking out into the general public, and things like calling up units or transferring materiel from outside that immediate military district would not be good. Can't have the people figuring out that the mighty Russian military is getting chopped up by their plucky neighbor who was supposed to welcome them with open arms.
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Mar 31, 2022 15:54
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Comrade Blyatlov posted:https://twitter.com/oryxspioenkop/status/1507047027695398912?t=ajS9zzhts6_wS0TN3rfPoA&s=19 Update on this particular tank: https://twitter.com/oryxspioenkop/status/1509556792291901443 Doesn't look like any of the crew made it out of the bottom hatch.
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Mar 31, 2022 16:55
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orange juche posted:People who say that oh it's no big deal do not know how loving deadly cesium 137 is, even 34 years on, it is still 1.4 million curies worth of radiation in the zone around Chernobyl. A single curie of Cs137 is 1/100 of a gram, about equivalent to a pinch of salt. Thank you - I was starting to feel crazy with all the "digging in radioactive dust is fine" posts.
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Mar 31, 2022 17:04
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Generation Internet posted:Update on this particular tank: Not surprised. Even in Leo 2 which is spacious reaching that hatch in gear is a crawl. After falling IFF a bridge and banging around the tank you really Arent gonna do it fast, If at all.
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Mar 31, 2022 17:08
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Herstory Begins Now posted:Naval infantry have been popping up in Ukraine, yeah. Likely guys intended originally for something around Odessa, but appeared to have been deployed to help the fight for Mariupol. Yeah, including this guy about a week ago https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-navy-commander-killed-ukraine-2022-03-20/
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Mar 31, 2022 17:17
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Cimber posted:I should have more coffee before replying. I'd say that the joke flew over your head, but in this case it just fell flat.
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Mar 31, 2022 17:30
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SerthVarnee posted:I'd say that the joke flew over your head, but in this case it just fell flat. I love this thread so much.
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Mar 31, 2022 17:41
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is this what they mean when they say "naval infantry"? https://twitter.com/Capt_Navy/status/1509492996059844611
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Mar 31, 2022 17:41
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shame on an IGA posted:is this what they mean when they say "naval infantry"? The mine scene from hot fuzz instantly came to mind.
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Mar 31, 2022 17:43
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shame on an IGA posted:is this what they mean when they say "naval infantry"? I'm confused. Russians are using naval mines on land? Ukraine is doing this? Who is just placing naval mines on roads?
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Mar 31, 2022 17:46
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Generation Internet posted:Update on this particular tank: Those black squares are ominous as gently caress.
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Mar 31, 2022 17:48
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ASAPI posted:I'm confused. I guess if you use it on land technically it is a land mine.
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Mar 31, 2022 17:50
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ASAPI posted:I'm confused. Probably the Russians. The chain of events and decisions where a naval mine is your best option for obstructing a road defies imagination. I bet a rather long winded brief could be written about that one mine, and that I found find it compelling reading.
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Mar 31, 2022 17:54
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Sentinel posted:The mine scene from hot fuzz instantly came to mind. Anyone driving a tank on that is going halfway to low Earth orbit.
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Mar 31, 2022 17:54
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FrozenVent posted:Those black squares are ominous as gently caress. If you click through the ghouls on Twitter posted uncensored versions. Absolutely covering the remains of the crew
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Mar 31, 2022 17:57
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Valtonen posted:Anyone driving a tank on that is going halfway to low Earth orbit. Is it considered a breach of NATO airspace if what used to be a tank is blown clear into another country?
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Mar 31, 2022 18:00
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A.o.D. posted:Probably the Russians. The chain of events and decisions where a naval mine is your best option for obstructing a road defies imagination. I bet a rather long winded brief could be written about that one mine, and that I found find it compelling reading. I would love to hear the chain of events that resulted in this happening. I think we are going to get decades of stories explaining the insane poo poo we are seeing.
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Mar 31, 2022 18:13
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Naked Bear posted:Friendly reminder that we should keep in mind the domestic situation in Russia when wondering "why the gently caress X?" I'm sure that Putin & co. are desperately trying to avoid an accurate account of the situation leaking out into the general public, and things like calling up units or transferring materiel from outside that immediate military district would not be good. Can't have the people figuring out that the mighty Russian military is getting chopped up by their plucky neighbor who was supposed to welcome them with open arms. Also the war is a cover for destroying evidence of corruption in Ukraine. This is why they misdirect to Hunter Biden and bioweapons. They're trying to bomb every place the gov would keep files of them laundering billions through the government, esp. the energy sector out there.
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Mar 31, 2022 18:22
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SerthVarnee posted:I'd say that the joke flew over your head, but in this case it just fell flat. Yeah, it really cratered.
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Mar 31, 2022 18:26
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https://twitter.com/CarlaBabbVOA/status/1509553376417173508 VD:V
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Mar 31, 2022 18:30
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Wasabi the J posted:Also the war is a cover for destroying evidence of corruption in Ukraine. This is why they misdirect to Hunter Biden and bioweapons. Wait, what? Am I understanding you correctly in that you're suggesting that Russia's war in Ukraine is partially to cover up Russian corruption in Ukraine? If so, where are you getting this from? At a baseline level I feel like if that made sense as a reason for war I'd have thought the Russians would be more interested in bombing London.
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Mar 31, 2022 18:36
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Wasabi the J posted:Also the war is a cover for destroying evidence of corruption in Ukraine. This is why they misdirect to Hunter Biden and bioweapons. I don't think Russia would gaf about evidence of corruption being discovered. It's not like it's a big secret that corruption was a hallmark of the Ukrainian government pre-maidan and that it was largely a product of their close ties to the Kremlin. I mean maybe it's like way down the list of objectives related to this campaign, but I really just can't imagine that its a real priority. There are about a million less destructive and costly ways to attend to evidence of corruption other than warfare, and Putin has shown that he's willing to utilize those kinds of means in the past.
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Mar 31, 2022 18:50
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zoux posted:VD:V 
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Mar 31, 2022 19:01
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zoux posted:VD:V I feel like I should get this
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Mar 31, 2022 19:08
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Alan Smithee posted:I feel like I should get this Smiley sad-face shrugging its shoulders while also technically being the initials for the VDV? That's my best guess.
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Mar 31, 2022 19:10
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Soul Dentist posted:If you click through the ghouls on Twitter posted uncensored versions. Absolutely covering the remains of the crew Not clicking on the ghouls, wish they had went in a faster/less terrifying way... enemy or not. 
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Mar 31, 2022 19:35
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Grip it and rip it posted:I don't think Russia would gaf about evidence of corruption being discovered. It's not like it's a big secret that corruption was a hallmark of the Ukrainian government pre-maidan and that it was largely a product of their close ties to the Kremlin. I'm saying it's a fringe benefit for Putin et al. There's tons of money in mob property and the gas industry; Russia kicked off the 2014 invasion due to losing control of the national government, after Yanukovych "vetoed" the measure for Ukraine to join the EU. It then tried to force Ukraine to deal with the "separatist" (secessionist) governments as the politicians in those areas were still Russian agents, essentially. quote:Since 2019, Russia has issued over 650,000 internal Russian passports among an unconfirmed overall population, which is considered by Ukrainian government as a step towards annexation of the region. quote:On 31 March, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree that would obligate purchasers of Russian gas from the "unfriendly countries" to set up special "K-accounts" to transfer their payments, the entire payment facility to be run by Russia's Gazprombank, a subsidiary of Gazprom. He said that any country refusing to use the payment mechanism would be in violation of their contracts and face "corresponding repercussions". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gazprombank?wprov=sfla1 quote:The bank has a distribution network of 43 branches and over 260 banking outlets located throughout the Russian Federation. GPB also has ownership interests in three other Russian banks. In addition, Gazprombank is represented in the markets of Belarus and Switzerland through ownership interests in two foreign banks: Belgazprombank (Belarus) and Gazprombank (Switzerland) Ltd. Gazprombank also has representative offices in Mongolia, China and India. quote:December 2019, Gazprom paid $2.9 billion to Ukrainian counterpart Naftogaz to resolve damage claims stemming from alleged economical harassment. The weaker the government fighting back in court the better for Russia, in my view. They are using the army as enforcers of a financial racket Ukraine was getting out of quickly. Wasabi the J fucked around with this message at 20:01 on Mar 31, 2022 |
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Mar 31, 2022 19:59
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That bank is under sanctions though by the US. Thats going to make things interesting for everyone. [edit] basically forcing Germany to either break the sanctions or lose their gas.
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Mar 31, 2022 20:22
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Cimber posted:That bank is under sanctions though by the US. Thats going to make things interesting for everyone. One weird trick to force opposing countries to bypass your sanctions! Economic unions hate it!
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Mar 31, 2022 20:32
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Putin just announce he’s increasing the draft to 135k additional conscripts… https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-putin-news-03-31-22/index.html
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Mar 31, 2022 21:04
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There's been some really good interviews with Ukrainian fighter pilots - link to a personal favorite, I think it was posted already: https://coffeeordie.com/ukrainian-mig-29-pilot-interview/ Hmm a Mig-29. And he talks about how low they fly to avoid detection. Well a video just popped up on my Ukraine feed https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1509622003711500288?t=Fgk-pDpoY60094tW3TtuGQ&s=19 Pretty...pretty loving low 
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Mar 31, 2022 21:05
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Tomn posted:Mind you, I feel like it’s way more embarrassing for Putin, the ex-KGB agent with a reputation for 5D chess mastery to suffer from an intel failure than it was for George Bush, a politician routinely mocked for being an idiot prior to his election. Like, spymastering is supposed to be his whole thing. Read a few books and a bunch of articles about the start of the Iraq War / OIF. From what I can tell, Cheney had ambitious Yes Men in the CIA cherry pick intel from unreliable sources. One of the higher ups in the CIA's Near East division was fired after telling them we wouldn't be greeted as liberators, that the Shias were still pissed at us for abandoning them after encouraging them to rise up against Saddam after Gulf War 1. He was fired for telling truth to power. His careee ambituous superiors and same level managers played Yes Men to Cheney, and they gave Cheney exactly what he wanted. Of course, they were rewarded for this by being promoted even after the poo poo hit the fan in Iraq, while the poor gently caress who was right was fired and lost his career. Cheney then fed this bullshit to Bush and the rest of the administration, including Powell.
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Mar 31, 2022 21:41
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Bored As gently caress posted:Read a few books and a bunch of articles about the start of the Iraq War / OIF. From what I can tell, Cheney had ambitious Yes Men in the CIA cherry pick intel from unreliable sources. One of the higher ups in the CIA's Near East division was fired after telling them we wouldn't be greeted as liberators, that the Shias were still pissed at us for abandoning them after encouraging them to rise up against Saddam after Gulf War 1. He was fired for telling truth to power. His careee ambituous superiors and same level managers played Yes Men to Cheney, and they gave Cheney exactly what he wanted. Of course, they were rewarded for this by being promoted even after the poo poo hit the fan in Iraq, while the poor gently caress who was right was fired and lost his career. And a lot of good people died or have been permanently marred by that rear end in a top hat. And hundreds of billions of dollars flushed down a toilet. Imagine if we gave NASA that money instead.
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Mar 31, 2022 21:45
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Iraq was close to 2 dollars.
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Mar 31, 2022 21:48
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Some of y'all really wondering how an empire teetering on the edge of collapse could buy into its own bullshit so hard that it would squander countless lives and risk economic ruin on ill advised foreign adventures, despite spending the last 20 decades literally being part of the speartip.
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Mar 31, 2022 22:00
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Proud Christian Mom posted:Some of y'all really wondering how an empire teetering on the edge of collapse could buy into its own bullshit so hard that it would squander countless lives and risk economic ruin on ill advised foreign adventures, despite spending the last 20 decades literally being part of the speartip. To be fair, the US never really risked anything other than international standing from those misadventures. And not even that from the partners that matter economically. I mean, sure it's mind bogglingly wasteful to funnel a couple trillion dollars into the defense industry. But no outcome from Iraq or Afghanistan was going to change anything fundamentally for the US, while Russia may look a lot like Iran after all is said and done.
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Mar 31, 2022 22:25
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KitConstantine posted:Pretty...pretty loving low They've been practicing highway landings so I guess this is exactly what they've been training for. (Still seems risky as gently caress!) bees everywhere fucked around with this message at 22:46 on Mar 31, 2022 |
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Mar 31, 2022 22:36
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FrozenVent posted:Those black squares are ominous as gently caress. Fun fact:* "Viewed body in water" is considered as a separate exposure category from other exposure to dead bodies in some assessments of PTSD risk because of how bad it can get. *not fun
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Mar 31, 2022 22:45
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Bored As gently caress posted:Read a few books and a bunch of articles about the start of the Iraq War / OIF. From what I can tell, Cheney had ambitious Yes Men in the CIA cherry pick intel from unreliable sources. One of the higher ups in the CIA's Near East division was fired after telling them we wouldn't be greeted as liberators, that the Shias were still pissed at us for abandoning them after encouraging them to rise up against Saddam after Gulf War 1. He was fired for telling truth to power. His careee ambituous superiors and same level managers played Yes Men to Cheney, and they gave Cheney exactly what he wanted. Of course, they were rewarded for this by being promoted even after the poo poo hit the fan in Iraq, while the poor gently caress who was right was fired and lost his career. I teach a class in Intel. The Bush admin actually stood up its own intelligence apparatus within the CIA to cherry pick and in some cases fabricate intelligence. A bunch of CIA careerist called them out on it, so they had to pivot and moved the Bush admin people to the DOD. The DCIA (George Tenet) got ambushed during the infamous yellow cake speech by Powell. Powell told Cheney he’d only give the speech to the UN if CIA backed it. Cheney got Tenet a front row seat behind Powell to sell it. After the speech Tenet and Powell figured out what was going on and were apparently furious that they were set up with a bunch of bogus Intel. Neither of them resigned though or made a fuss so obviously they weren’t too mad…
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Mar 31, 2022 22:48
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