Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

[River]

Currently, there is no radiation spike.

Under the Geneva Conventions, it is a war crime to blow up a nuclear reactor. Same with levees and dams.

[N.E. Brigand]

Sheesh. No power at home for the past nine hours while electrical repairs were underway. Power back on, check the news and find that Russia started a fire at a Ukrainian nuclear plant (fortunately it seems to be contained to an ancillary building), and U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham is suggesting that a would-be "Brutus" or "Stauffenberg" ought to assassinate Vladimir Putin.

I'll admit that I've been wondering whether an incident such as Graham conjures might happen! But I kept it to myself, on the grounds that saying it in public would be too incendiary, and I'm a nobody. Thanks to Graham's tweet, Putin now can claim that at least one U.S. official has been threatening the Russian government.

[RoseMorninStar]

Currently, there is no radiation spike.

Under the Geneva Conventions, it is a war crime to blow up a nuclear reactor. Same with levees and dams.

Sadly, I doubt Putin cares. He's lost. Seven days in and he's lost. He may take territory but it will never be a win and it will damage Russian/Ukraine relations for a very long time. He's proven why countries should consider joining NATO. It's also damaged his 'legacy'. He's a sore loser and like many other authoritarian leaders, he desires to take everything down with him if he doesn't get his way. It's a tragedy.

Sheesh. No power at home for the past nine hours while electrical repairs were underway. Power back on, check the news and find that Russia started a fire at a Ukrainian nuclear plant (fortunately it seems to be contained to an ancillary building), and U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham is suggesting that a would-be "Brutus" or "Stauffenberg" ought to assassinate Vladimir Putin.

I'll admit that I've been wondering whether an incident such as Graham conjures might happen! But I kept it to myself, on the grounds that saying it in public would be too incendiary, and I'm a nobody. Thanks to Graham's tweet, Putin now can claim that at least one U.S. official has been threatening the Russian government.

I believe I heard on TV tonight that Putin has more personal security forces than are in all of his military. That doesn't seem credible.

[Frelga]

Everything else aside - and there's a lot of everything - Graham has no business saying that about a foreign leader, being a part of the US government. Stupid and irresponsible.

Russia is piling up "alleged" war crimes, including photos of ambulances transporting ammo. And firing at the nuclear plant, which is not a nice thought on which to go to bed.

Did you know Zelensky was the voice of Paddington Bear in the Ukrainian dub?

tumblr_b5f4cff6d62321b0c87b41a6dc542667_de7acbd5_540.jpeg (53.74 KiB) Viewed 2070 times

[RoseMorninStar]

Everything else aside - and there's a lot of everything - Graham has no business saying that about a foreign leader, being a part of the US government. Stupid and irresponsible.

Yeah, *sigh* consider the source.

Russia is piling up "alleged" war crimes, including photos of ambulances transporting ammo. And firing at the nuclear plant, which is not a nice thought on which to go to bed.

This quite frightens me. Once certain lines are crossed, what is to stop them?

Did you know Zelensky was the voice of Paddington Bear in the Ukrainian dub?

No, aww..

[N.E. Brigand]

(Scanning the Wikipedia pages on current and historical Russian stock exchanges, this appears to be oversimplified but essentially true.)

[N.E. Brigand]

"Volodymyr Zelenskyy survives three assassination attempts in days" (The Times)

The attacks, carried out by Chechen special forces and the Wagner Company (the private security firm previously mentioned in this thread) were "thwarted by anti-war elements within Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB)." The Wagner mercenaries "are said to have been alarmed by how accurately the Ukrainians had anticipated their moves."

It appears the statement that renegade FSB agents are tipping off Ukrainian security forces is a claim that originated from the Ukrainian government, so treat it skeptically. Ukraine would certainly love for Russia's spy agencies to be worried about leaks!

One Russian source tells the Times there are about 400 such Russian would-be assassins in or near Kiev and that "it only takes one of them to get lucky and everyone goes home with a bonus."

However, that claim also may be propaganda, this time from Russian intelligence trying to make the Ukrainians even more nervous.

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Speaking of which, more warnings about propaganda:



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And a story about how Russian propaganda is tearing some Russian families apart:

"My city's being shelled, but Mum [in Russia] won't believe me" (BBC)

"He called his father and described what was happening. His father replied that this wasn't true; there was no war and -- in fact -- Russians were saving Ukraine from Nazis."

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However, this very long thread of invasion photos and videos seems to be fairly reliable.

[N.E. Brigand]

Wow. I missed this footage shared on CNN earlier today:

[Frelga]

Alternatively, it could be a psy ops by Ukraine to sow discord in the ranks of the FSB by claiming that they are leaking information, and to raise Zelensky's mana.

It's been reported that Kadyrov's Chechen troops were deployed to Ukraine. Depending on who you ask they are either elite shock warriors or thugs in Prada boots who are good only for butchering Syrian civilians. In either capacity, they could be trouble, but multiple sources confirm that what most of them are now is dead. By most accounts, that's a relief to Ukraine, Chechnya, and Russia.

Chechnya has been fighting against Russian occupation since the 18th century. There are reports of Chechen fighters going to fight on the side of Ukraine, and some (unverified) noises saying that if Kaydyrovtzy are out of the picture, some Western arms shipped to Chechnya might be enough to open a second front.

[RoseMorninStar]

It breaks my heart to hear families being torn apart by propaganda/those believing Putin's propaganda over the experiences of their own children. I never thought that could happen here, but it's happened with my own mother. People who spread such lies are the scum of the earth.

I hope Zelenskyy stays safe. Putin may not want him around, but turning martyrs into legends are really hard to extinguish and would likely further thwart his goals.

[Frelga]

There is a Twitter account dedicated to memes about the war in Ukraine. What's happening there is the exact opposite of a laughing matter, but humans will human.

[Lalaith]

I think that's very apt.

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using Tapatalk

[Sunsilver]

I saw a video about gas prices in Russia. They are paying about 49 cents per liter, which is $1.80 per gallon! And, I am assuming this is after all the recent sanctions.

Here in Ontario, prices skyrocketed from around $1.56 per liter to around $1.65, and I've seen some stations charging $1.70.

I had NO IDEA we were importing gas from Russia!

[Sunsilver]

Ukrainian authorities say citizens don't need to declare captured Russian tanks and military equipment for tax purposes

"Have you captured a Russian tank or armored personnel carrier and are worried about how to declare it? Keep calm and continue to defend the Motherland!" a statement from the Ukrainian National Agency on Corruption Prevention seen by Interfax-Ukraine said.

"There is no need to declare the captured Russian tanks and other equipment, because the cost of this ... does not exceed 100 living wages," or 248,100 Ukrainian hryvnia, the agency said, according to Interfax-Ukraine. The sum equates to about $8,300.

Just had to post this meme

In other news that is not funny, it's been confirmed the pride of the Ukranian naval fleet, the Hetman Sahaidachny, was deliberately scuttled by her captain to keep her out of Russian hands. https://www.firstpost.com/world/did-ukr ... 28991.html

[Frelga]

There was a whole genre of jokes about old men in Western Ukraine, the region that Soviets chopped off from Poland, and which has its own distinct culture and language and negative love for Russia (but they were all super nice to the Russian speaking tourists when we were there).

"Mykola, why are you watering potatoes with kerosene?"
"So that the machine gun doesn't rust."

"Mykola, do you have a machine gun?" "God be with you, of course not!"
repeat for artillery, tank, and so on
"What about a fighter jet, do you have one?"
"Not going to lie, that one I really don't have."

In today's news, a report that a Kiyiv woman brought down a drone by throwing a jar of pickles at it from a balcony. I'm not even sceptical.

[Sunsilver]

In today's news, a report that a Kiyiv woman brought down a drone by throwing a jar of pickles at it from a balcony. I'm not even sceptical.

I can believe that! I'm just hoping it was a Russian military drone, and not someone's toy!

I'm mildly skeptical of this, but George Takei has reported that Putin says making fun of him for riding shirtless on a horse is "equivalent to a declaration of war."

Oh myyy...sensitive - much?

My sister-in-law is now calling Putin 'Poutine'. I like it - has a very Canadian ring to it!

[RoseMorninStar]

Does anyone else get the feeling that Putin is intentionally antagonizing 'The West' to get involved so he can use nukes and blame it on Nato starting WWIII/a nuclear war? I've heard that 'uncountried' 16,000 troops (mercenaries?) along with other highly trained NATO 'volunteers' have gone to Ukraine so that officially it cannot be said that 'The West'/Nato has entered the war, but Ukraine is getting help.

[River]

Ukraine opened up Foreign Legion (though they may be calling it something else), so people so inclined can go fight for Ukraine in a uniform but not on behalf of their home country. I think, but don't quote me on this, that Americans taking this path will not lose their US passports at the door.

During WWI and WWII, Americans who wanted in on the action and didn't want to wait around for official US entry would go to Canada or Europe and volunteer. So this isn't a new idea.

[Sunsilver]

Ukrainian woman offers Russian soldiers sunflower seeds, so sunflowers will grow when they are killed. The sunflower is the national flower of the Ukraine. (Language warning!)
Brave woman!

And now they are saying this was Baba Yaga! I saw a really cool cartoon that said, "Listen, when Baba Yaga gives you sunflower seeds to put in your pockets, and tells you to leave, you'd better go!" It also showed her house with the chicken feet. Annaand, before I could save it, I unfortunately went to another page and lost it.

Edit: Enchantress found it for me! It's on the next page!

[RoseMorninStar]

Ukraine opened up Foreign Legion (though they may be calling it something else), so people so inclined can go fight for Ukraine in a uniform but not on behalf of their home country. I think, but don't quote me on this, that Americans taking this path will not lose their US passports at the door.

During WWI and WWII, Americans who wanted in on the action and didn't want to wait around for official US entry would go to Canada or Europe and volunteer. So this isn't a new idea.

Yes, I knew this was nothing new, but I didn't know if I was using the correct terms. In any case, 16,000 seems a good number. I guess it's being called “International Legion of Territorial Defence”. I am not surprised to hear they are compromised of Europeans, Georgians, Canadians, and Americans, but also Japanese, and others. There are some countries where it is illegal for citizens to do so. I think Slovakia is one and Australia is discouraging it's citizens to do so as it is legally 'uncertain'.