Russia & Ukraine

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Not ukraine but war is war. Lost a friend of mine in Syria thursday found out last night .
He was civilian contractor that got killed in the initial strike .
Just needed to type about it to get it off my chest.really good guy.really shook me.
I'm really worried about his family they were devastated.

He's the guy in blue in the middle.

Sorry for your loss and condolences to his family.

[bundabergdevil]

Sorry for your loss and condolences to his family.

Yes, wave, very sorry for your loss.

[YmoBeThere]

My condolences.

Interesting picture in that Phalanx system immediately behind him might have provided a layer of defense if operational.

[wavedukefan70s]

My condolences.

Interesting picture in that Phalanx system immediately behind him might have provided a layer of defense if operational.

He fixes those things I believe .
Talked to his family today.they are managing . Me and some friends are getting some gift cards to a very nice restaraunt to give them.maybe they can have a few family dinners with the rest
Of the family.

[bundabergdevil]

Finland joins NATO. Putin Will probably not like that. Wolves closing in a d such.

[budwom]

Finland joins NATO. Putin Will probably not like that. Wolves closing in a d such.

we've come a loooong way since Finlandization...

[PackMan97]

Finland joins NATO. Putin Will probably not like that. Wolves closing in a d such.

If he doesn't like it, all he has to do is stop invading his neighbors.

[Kdogg]

If he doesn't like it, all he has to do is stop invading his neighbors.

What if they just start letting him in? (Looking at you Belarus.)

[wavedukefan70s]

He fixes those things I believe .
Talked to his family today.they are managing . Me and some friends are getting some gift cards to a very nice restaraunt to give them.maybe they can have a few family dinners with the rest
Of the family.

They finally announced my friends name.
Was in the news today.
Looks to be a long Saturday.


https://www.live5news.com/2023/04/04/family-identifies-summerville-man-us-contractor-killed-syria/

[budwom]

Report just now from the NY Times discussing the recently leaked documents...according to this, the U.S. has amazing intelligence on Russia's strategy and capabilities, ironically more info in many ways than they have on Ukraine's capabilities (this has been reported before...Ukraine does not like to share everything with the U.S., can't necessarily blame them)...losses on both sides have been tremendously high...U.S. hopes this leak won't compromise current sources, of course...

[wavedukefan70s]

Report just now from the NY Times discussing the recently leaked documents...according to this, the U.S. has amazing intelligence on Russia's strategy and capabilities, ironically more info in many ways than they have on Ukraine's capabilities (this has been reported before...Ukraine does not like to share everything with the U.S., can't necessarily blame them)...losses on both sides have been tremendously high...U.S. hopes this leak won't compromise current sources, of course...

Need to find the leak and dispose of it.

We are still sending support vehicles to poland. Most of it was already loaded.
Here is a few oddball pieces .
I'd imagine a repaint is due.

[BigWayne]

Some interesting historical info. in this article.

https://time.com/6280869/vladimir-pu...assassination/

[CameronBornAndBred]

It's bad form to defenestrate a world leader, but you can get by with poisoning him.

Valery Tsepkalo, Belarusian opposition leader, said that after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko was taken to the Central Clinical Hospital of Moscow in critical condition.
...
According to the information we have, which needs additional confirmation, Lukashenko, after meeting with Putin behind closed doors, was urgently taken to the Central Clinical Hospital of Moscow, where he is now located. The best specialists were sent to return him from a condition assessed by doctors as critical. [His - ed.] blood was purified, Lukashenko's condition was proclaimed not transportable.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/president...204642610.html

[Skydog]

It's bad form to defenestrate a world leader, but you can get by with poisoning him.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/president...204642610.html

Wtf?

[Kdogg]

Wtf?

Belarus has already become a vassal state for Russia. After Ukraine, it was always going to be the next country that Russian would try to absorb. Not only did it seem inevitable but also "welcomed." Seems Putin is either accelerating the take over or Luakashenko wanted to renegotiate the relationship. Any foreign official that interacts with Russian should either travel with a Geiger counter or those radiation badges Duke gave us in certain research labs. Probably both.

[Skydog]

Belarus has already become a vassal state for Russia. After Ukraine, it was always going to be the next country that Russian would try to absorb. Not only did it seem inevitable but also "welcomed." Seems Putin is either accelerating the take over or Luakashenko wanted to renegotiate the relationship. Any foreign official that interacts with Russian should either travel with a Geiger counter or those radiation badges Duke gave us in certain research labs. Probably both.

I don’t know how the average Belarus citizen views Lukashenko but if he has any support at all then Putin knocking him off sounds like it could backfire badly. You know, like the way you can criticize your own parent or child but heaven help anyone else who tries to do the same?

[Kdogg]

I don’t know how the average Belarus citizen views Lukashenko but if he has any support at all then Putin knocking him off sounds like it could backfire badly. You know, like the way you can criticize your own parent or child but heaven help anyone else who tries to do the same?

Belarus, at least economically, is in a Catch-21. It's biggest export prewar were oil products. The source of the raw material was Russia but the main markets for finished products were Ukraine and the EU. The refineries are state owned and operated so they directly contribute to state revenue. Belarus was also at a crossroad between shady Russian and shady EU buyers and sells. It took a cut of the movement of goods through excise taxes and transit fees. After Western sanctions hit, markets dried up for Belarus. Belarus is also a big exporter of potassium (like one of the biggest in the world.) It's also state owned and operated. The West was reluctant to punish Lukashenko's regime with sanctions prewar due to the importance and volume of potassium's. Well, they hit him after the invasion so that's another market hit. The end result of all of this is Belarus is more economical dependent on Russia than any time since the Soviet Union was around. It become their only market. Even though Belarus's industry has favorable terms with Moscow it's still at a disadvantage compared to Russian companies.Tighter integration by becoming apart of Russian might be their only option. Throw in the fact that the government and part of Belarusian society have be actively promoting Russian history, symbols and viewpoints for years, statehood look inevitable. The war ending is probably the only thing that would stop it...maybe.

[wavedukefan70s]

Russia's Interior Ministry on Monday issued an arrest warrant for U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham following his comments related to the fighting in Ukraine.
Was in this breakfast joint .this came on TV. Guy yells I'll drive him to the airport
While none of our officials should be subjected to this.i found it a bit comical.

[bundabergdevil]

Now Russia is put-in whales to work as spies? Some James Bond stuff right there.


https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/30/europ...ntl/index.html

[cato]

Belarus, at least economically, is in a Catch-21. It's biggest export prewar were oil products. The source of the raw material was Russia but the main markets for finished products were Ukraine and the EU. The refineries are state owned and operated so they directly contribute to state revenue. Belarus was also at a crossroad between shady Russian and shady EU buyers and sells. It took a cut of the movement of goods through excise taxes and transit fees. After Western sanctions hit, markets dried up for Belarus. Belarus is also a big exporter of potassium (like one of the biggest in the world.) It's also state owned and operated. The West was reluctant to punish Lukashenko's regime with sanctions prewar due to the importance and volume of potassium's. Well, they hit him after the invasion so that's another market hit. The end result of all of this is Belarus is more economical dependent on Russia than any time since the Soviet Union was around. It become their only market. Even though Belarus's industry has favorable terms with Moscow it's still at a disadvantage compared to Russian companies.Tighter integration by becoming apart of Russian might be their only option. Throw in the fact that the government and part of Belarusian society have be actively promoting Russian history, symbols and viewpoints for years, statehood look inevitable. The war ending is probably the only thing that would stop it...maybe.

This is very interesting. I don’t recall much about Belarus, except that I used to see it called Belorussia and always wondered what differentiated it from Russia. I took Russian history in ninth grade, but don’t recall much discussion of Belarus (or Ukraine for that matter). It was all Russian history, wars, Greats, Terribles, Rasputin, warm water ports, Crimea, Soviet history, Baltic republics, Glastnost. Yeltsin was a known political figure, but he wasn’t yet president of Russia.