Sanctions against Russia

[facthunter]

Wilful murder and wanton destruction. of property. You gotta be a psycho. Most of the "made up" stuff will come out eventually,   Russia Under Putler has lost it trustworthyness. and humiliated itself. Nev

[Jerry_Atrick]

As with SFM, Putin doesn't really care what the rest of the world thinks.. he is worried about the centre of the universe for him - Russia.. And, like SFM, I get the feeling he doesn't really care what teh average Russian thinks, either. He has been able to concentrate power and hoodwink enough people to retain power and wealth - that is all he cares about. Unlike a normal businiess, when your wealth is tied to physical boundaries, the only way to obtain growth is to expand those boundaries.

 

Over the last couple of centuries, Russia has had its fair share of cathartic moments after atrocities, but it hasn't resulted in any great cultural/groundwell of change - as history repeats. The lesson in this for me is that it doesn't matter what model of society people live under.. roof over the head and food stomachs will generally keep people from changing.. .and only when you're prepared to swim with the sharks will you entertain getting bitten..

[willedoo]

43 minutes ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

The lesson in this for me is that it doesn't matter what model of society people live under.. roof over the head and food stomachs will generally keep people from changing.. .and only when you're prepared to swim with the sharks will you entertain getting bitten..

I think most people are orderly when they have something to lose. Often rebellion happens when they have nothing to lose.

[willedoo]

2 hours ago, willedoo said:

He also is facing the possibility of starting the war with four NATO neighbours, and ending up with six if Finland and Sweden join. Brilliant plan, Vladimir.

Just an edit: I forgot about the border between Kaliningrad and Poland, although it's not contiguous with the rest of Russia. So technically, Russia has land boundaries with five NATO countries - Poland, the three Baltic states and Norway. Maybe soon to be seven if Turkey approves Sweden and Finland's applications.

[willedoo]

The war is grinding on. The Russians control most of Luhansk Oblast, and Putin is expending a lot of men and equipment to take Severdonetsk, the last remaining major city in Ukrainian hands. He seems to have concentrated his forces on that battle so that he can claim a victory by taking all of Luhansk. Severdonetsk doesn't have much military or economic importance in the big picture of things, so it will be an expensive and somewhat hollow victory. I think he's desperate to have something to promote back home.

 

The Russians have made little ground over the weeks in the Donetsk Oblast, and have had trouble advancing on the pre February 24th. lines. There's reports of strong partisan activity in the newly occupied areas in Kherson and Zaporizhia Oblasts, making it hard to administer as occupiers. Russian appointed Mayors and administrators have become a target.

 

There's also evidence coming in that some DNR volunteer fighters of the so called Donetsk People's Republic are not happy with the Russians. They think they should be fighting to defend their region only, but the Russians have conscripted them and are trying to send them to Luhansk region as cannon fodder. Some units are flatly refusing to go. This is another issue with Putin offering people in those regions Russian citizenship. Once they get that passport, even though they live in Ukraine, they can be conscripted into Russia's armed forces. Another thing the Donetsk mob is not happy about is Russia's attempts to take their T-72 tanks and swap them for the old mothballed T-62 tanks the Russians have just brought out of storage.

[willedoo]

[kgwilson]

The Russian advance is continuing but the Ukrainians are making them pay for every inch of ground. The US heavy artillery continues to arrive & now they may be getting long range rocketry. Putin still seems hell bent on destroying every building there is in the towns he is taking so there seems little gain other than territory. Eventually due to the rate they are using equipment & ammunition they will have to slow down or stop and regroup while their supply lines can catch up.

 

I reckon there will be another well timed counter offensive from Ukraine combined with  co-ordinated Partisan distractions and attacks behind the lines that will cause major upsets.

 

Putin reportedly spent 80 minutes on the phone to the Germans & French complaining about their supply of arms & ammo to Ukraine. They told him he'd better start talking to Zelenskyy about a cease fire. He won't of course so another nail starts to get driven in.

[willedoo]

The Ukrainian group that won the Eurovision Song Contest have auctioned the trophy for $900,000 USD. They are using the funds to buy for the military a PD-2 unmanned aerial system, which includes three aircraft and a ground control station.

[onetrack]

In other news, Russia has announced it has a projected US$14.4B windfall gain in oil and gas sales (because of the current record prices, and obviously from sales to countries who are only interested in themselves) - and that they will use the additional US$14.4B to boost armaments production, and to finance the "denazification" of the Ukraine. For "denazification", read "total destruction".

[red750]

https://au.yahoo.com/news/vladimir-putin-given-three-years-135503043.html

[octave]

13 minutes ago, red750 said:

https://au.yahoo.com/news/vladimir-putin-given-three-years-135503043.html

Damn, that is bad news. Three years is way too long.

[willedoo]

The partisan activity against Russian installed administrations in the southern region is beginning to bite. The Russian backed head of administration in Kherson Oblast recently said they would hold a referendum to join Russia soon. Now he's walked back those comments and is saying it probably won't happen until next year. They're starting to find out that their expectation of the locals welcoming them and waving little Russian flags is just a fantasy. Getting bogged down with ongoing partisan guerilla warfare is the reality.

[Yenn]

Why would the locals welcome the Russians, when the Russians are destroying their homeland?

[old man emu]

2 hours ago, red750 said:

https://au.yahoo.com/news/vladimir-putin-given-three-years-135503043.html

Only three years! Rudolf Hess got Life!

[willedoo]

16 minutes ago, Yenn said:

Why would the locals welcome the Russians, when the Russians are destroying their homeland?

Exactly. Putin's got this delusion that there's some sort of ethnic bond or brotherhood between Russian speakers. Russian speaking Ukrainians make up the bulk of civilians Putin's mob have killed so far. There's very few of them support the Russians. For most of them, it's just the language they grew up with. They don't feel any bond with Russians.

[red750]

1 hour ago, old man emu said:

Only three years! Rudolf Hess got Life!

Did you read the link? He is ill and will be dead in3 years according to  the article, and going blind.

[Marty_d]

There could be a bit of speculation and wishful thinking in that.  3 years is long enough for everyone to forget the article.

[rgmwa]

If he really is on his way out he will be even more willing to play ‘double or nothing’ with Ukraine and NATO.

[kgwilson]

The Ukranians are struggling in the East but continuing to inflict a lot of damage to advancing Russians but in another report it seems that Ukraine has mounted a counter attack offensive in Kherson 

 

https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/europe/2022/05/30/ukraine-launches-counter-attack-to-recapture-kherson-as-donbas-city-breached/

[old man emu]

4 hours ago, red750 said:

Did you read the link? He is ill and will be dead in3 years according to  the article, and going blind.

It was a joke, Joyce.

[red750]

[nomadpete]

And that might be why Putin has kept his finger off the big red button..... For now.

[red750]

And sanctions aren't the only problem in Russia. Corruption and siphoning of military budgets has led to using cheap Cinese tyres which are not up to the job.

 

https://www.morningpress.net/cheap-chinese-tyres-leave-putins-grand-russian-army-stuck-in-ukraines-mud/

[Jerry_Atrick]

The EU has sanctioned shipped oil from Russia, but not piped. According to some EUCrat on the radio, shipped oil represents about 70% of the imports to the EU.. However, of those that import Russian oil using the pipelines, only Hungary looks to actually continue importing the oil, so it is estimated imports will fall by 90%. Of course, the oil has to be replaced, and it looks like it wil come from equally liberal regimes in the middle east. For now.. I would think this will all accelerate Europe's drive to come off fossil fuels except where absolutely necessary.. time will tell.

 

 

[old man emu]

1 hour ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

I would think this will all accelerate Europe's drive to come off fossil fuels except where absolutely necessary.. time will tell.

Remember the Oil Crisis of the 1970s? That had a major effect on the automotive industry. It caused to death of the "gas guzzling Yank tank". Like the end of the Age of Dinosaurs 65 million years ago, the removal of one dominant type allows others to move in to fill the empty spaces. So now we have moved through the low engine volume, normally aspirated cars and then fuel injection replaced normally aspirated, and then turbocharging was introduced. At the same time greater used was made of light-weight materials so that now five people can be transported in a less massive vehicle that uses less fuel per kilometre. And yet these relatively fuel efficient type are being replaced by similarly constructed vehicles using stored electrons as their source of energy.

 

The immediate problem for Europe and the USA, and eventually the rest of the World will be how to harvest those whizzing electrons without having to use ancient plant and animal material.