Sanctions against Russia

[facthunter]

It can't be. They can VETO any move to expel them  The chairmanship rotates. Nev.

[Old Koreelah]

2 hours ago, Bruce Tuncks said:

There was a bunch of big but cheap tractors called "Belarus" sold here 30 years ago. We looked it up, and sure enough there was such a place on the map. They were not very good tractors or they would have been on sale longer.

At the time the Belarus factory in Minsk was reputed to be the world’s biggest tractor factory, supplying the sprawling Soviet agricultural sector. It was said their main fault was lower build quality because on State Farms, if one broke down, you just went and got another one.

[red750]

Well-known Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was killed by a bomb blast in a St Petersburg cafe on Sunday in what appeared to be the second assassination on Russian soil of a figure closely associated with the war in Ukraine.

 

Russia's state Investigative Committee said it had opened a murder investigation. St Petersburg's governor said that 25 people were wounded and 19 of them were being treated in hospital.

 

Read more here.

 

 

 

 

[willedoo]

Rest in pieces, Vladlen Tatarsky. He was a particularly nasty POS. More oxygen for the rest of the planet now.

[willedoo]

2 hours ago, facthunter said:

It can't be. They can VETO any move to expel them  The chairmanship rotates. Nev.

Rotates monthly between the fifteen members (5 permanent, 10 non permanent).

[rgmwa]

11 minutes ago, willedoo said:

Rest in pieces, Vladlen Tatarsky. He was a particularly nasty POS. More oxygen for the rest of the planet now.

Who do you think did him in - the Ukrainians or the Russians?  

[willedoo]

3 minutes ago, rgmwa said:

Who do you think did him in - the Ukrainians or the Russians?  

Could be anyone's guess. Given the speed of the FSB finding a culprit and continually changing their story (as per usual) I'd suspect an inside job by them. Yevgeny Prigozhin (Wagner boss) said he doesn't believe it was Ukraine. There's some reports the venue was owned by Prigozhin. It could have been Russian partisan/dissidents but if the FSB comes up with a story that the arrested lady is a Ukrainian agent, then it could indicate an FSB false flag incident.

[willedoo]

This is Tatarsky (with microphone) not long before he exploded. The blonde woman beside him is supposed to be the one who was arrested on suspicion of his murder. It was an organised event to honour him. At least he was able to indulge in some vanity before he went out with a bang.

 

[rgmwa]

If she handed him the bomb she was taking a risk standing that close.

Edited April 3, 2023 by rgmwa

[Jerry_Atrick]

This is an interesting opinion. I bet the author isn't welcome in his homeland at the moment: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/apr/02/russian-writer-mikhail-shishkin-letter-ukrainian-invasion-anniversary-my-russia-war-peace?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

[willedoo]

It doesn't take the meme makers long. Here he is with his exploding statue.

 

[willedoo]

24 minutes ago, rgmwa said:

If she handed him the bomb she was taking a risk standing that close.

From all the video evidence, she didn't directly hand him the bomb. She brought it in a box and must have then placed it on the table. She went to sit down in the audience and Tatarsky called her back up. It think that's when the photo of her standing near him was taken. It's a bit hard to see in this low res screen grab, but it was unboxed by Tatarsky and another bloke and exploded a few minutes later.

 

In one version from the authorities, she was taken to hospital. In another version, she was arrested at her home. As usual, they can't get their story straight.

 

Edited April 3, 2023 by willedoo

[willedoo]

Slightly off-topic, but one of Ukraine's biggest supporters, Finland PM Sanna Marin has been defeated in the election. She will be missed by a lot of people.

[willedoo]

Wagner boss Prigozhin has confirmed the cafe where Tatarsky was assassinated belonged to him, but he had turned it over to Cyber Front Z, a propaganda/troll group who held regular seminars there. There are reports Prigozhin was invited to the event but didn't attend. Tatarsky was a prominent propagandist/blogger who has been invited to Kremlin functions, but of late has been critical of defence minister Shoigu. Prigozhin himself has increasingly been on the outer with the Kremlin, due to his perceived increasing power and being publicly critical of those in charge of Russia's war machine. Sounds increasingly like an FSB inside job to send a message to putler's minions to stay in line.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Agree. As soon as I read Tatarskt was critical of Shoigu (and apparently, Putin, as well)., as a vlogger, he is hardly going to be worth the risk for the Ukraine to send someone in to blow him up.

 

What I love is how the Russians were claiming the west ware hypocritical because it wasn't critical of such an attack on a journalist. I don't think there is anyone doiong that sort of roile in Russia at the moment that can be desxcribed as a journalist. Maybe when Russians learn English, they define journalist as propagandist.

[willedoo]

I don't know why Girkin hasn't been bumped off yet. He's in the Donbass, but I don't know whether in the open. Maybe the Kremlin sees some value in allowing his constant critisism. Maybe Girkin thinks he will end up in the Hague over the MH-17 arrest warrant if Russia loses the war, so figures he has nothing to lose by speaking his mind. They are a sad bunch when someone like Girkin makes more sense than the rest of them put together.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Revenge is best served cold. Either that, or he has something on someone in the regime which will get exposed on his death...

[Marty_d]

Maybe Girkin doesn't want to get into a pickle?

[nomadpete]

Meanwhile, media has been quiet. Has somebody hit the pause button out on the field?

[Old Koreelah]

2 hours ago, nomadpete said:

Meanwhile, media has been quiet. Has somebody hit the pause button out on the field?

Maybe this is the quiet Ukraine likes to have before they storm a big slice of their territory back.

[facthunter]

Who would you rather be? Putin or Zelinsky or Lukashenko??  Nev

[red750]

Putin protection officer defects and reveals despot's intense paranoia

A protection officer who worked directly for Vladimir Putin has defected from Russia, labelling the Kremlin despot a 'war criminal' for his invasion of Ukraine. Gleb Karakulov (pictured), 35, is a captain in the Federal Guard Service, known as the FGS or FSO, who escaped Russia to the safety via Istanbul. Now, he has revealed in an interview that Putin is so paranoid about his personal security, assassination attempts and health and that he opts to stay 'in his bunker' rather than make regular trips across the country like he used to. Karakulov added that the Russian despot is 'mortally afraid' of Covid and is isolating for the fourth year, and that he never uses a mobile phone out of fear of being bugged by the West - instead taking a special communications box with him.

 

Read the full story.

 

 

[kgwilson]

There are still plenty of daily reports coming out with numerous long range attacks using Himars etc on military targets in Crimea and the Zaporizhzhia regions including Melitopol, Berdiansk,and also in Donetsk. The heavy snowfall has slowed fighting around Bakhmut with reports of Wagner forces stalling and exhausted while Ukrainian army has recovered some lost ground. Wagners are reported to have lost 50,000 killed or wounded around Bakhmut this year alone while the infighting between them & the Russian army continues with a shortage of equipment, weapons and ammunition.

 

The Ukrainians are saying little and keeping up the pressure while most likely building up their strength for a counter attack in late Spring or Summer once all the Western supplied equipment arrives and the training to use it is complete.

Edited April 5, 2023 by kgwilson

[willedoo]

8 hours ago, nomadpete said:

Meanwhile, media has been quiet. Has somebody hit the pause button out on the field?

I think the media likes to report big flashy things and not the day to day nitty gritty. There's plenty going on, just not much ground changing hands. Russia is incrementally gaining almost insignificant ground. I think last month they only gained around 70 sq/klm along the entire front. That only equates to a kilometer gained over 70 klm of a 1,000 klm long front.

 

The Ukrainians have had no desire to go on the offensive lately as they are busy defending while they get all their ducks lined up in a row for their push. The big Ukrainian gains in Kharkiv and Kherson didn't go any further for the simple reason they didn't have the resources due to the West being slow and indecisive in supply. Added to that, the Russians have constructed a massive amount of fortifications and trench systems along the front. While the West has been trying to make up their mind about supply, the Russians have been digging in. To breach those systems, Ukraine will have to do it right. Meanwhile, the Russians are squandering resources. There's reports of them using tens of thousands of shells to take a position, only to then get pushed straight out of it.

 

Something big should happen soon. The tanks and other equipment are arriving in country, and a lot of the training is just about done. MiG-29's are arriving from Poland and Slovakia, and it's been confirmed that the JDAM bombs (Joint Direct Attack Munition) are in use now. The JDAM is an add-on kit that converts dumb bombs in the 500lb to 2,000lb range to precision GPS guided munitions; a cheap alternative to a cruise missile. The extended range wing kits can give a range of 70klm or more enabling aircraft to launch them fairly safely.

[Bruce Tuncks]

Zelinski, Nev, is the only rational choice. The the 2 will soon be dead or jailed.