Discussion: Relations with Russia

[MagnarTheGreat]

Exclusive: US finalizing plans to send Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine | CNN Politics

Ukraine has been calling for the US to send the advanced long-range air defense system that is highly effective at intercepting ballistic and cruise missiles as it comes under a barrage of Russian missile and drone attacks that have destroyed key infrastructure across the country. It would be the most effective long-range defensive weapons system sent to the country and officials say it will help secure airspace for NATO nations in eastern Europe.

It is not clear how many missile launchers will be sent but a typical Patriot battery includes a radar set that detects and tracks targets, computers, power generating equipment, an engagement control station and up to eight launchers, each holding four ready to fire missiles.

Once the plans are finalized, the Patriots are expected to ship quickly in the coming days and Ukrainians will be trained to use them at a US Army base in Grafenwoehr, Germany, officials said.

 

[squeekness]

Exclusive: US finalizing plans to send Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine | CNN Politics

Better be quick before the Republicans in the house stall it.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Russians Used Fake Kid Rock Fan Accounts to Fool Donald Trump Jr. – Rolling Stone

The trolls stuck to themes familiar to previous Russian influence operations, including support for fringe or far-right candidates. The trolls backed Kari Lake, the Trump-backed failed Republican candidate for governor, creating a “war room” account for Lake that has since pivoted to echoing bogus voter-fraud claims in the wake of her defeat. In addition to hyping Lake, the trolls also attacked Democratic Senate candidates in battleground states, such Raphael Warnock in Georgia and John Fetterman in Pennsylvania.

NY Times - Prince Accused of Plot in Germany Is Said to Have Visited Russian Diplomats

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Reuters - U.S. charges five Russians, two Americans with conspiracy on behalf of Russia

 

[squeekness]

Reuters - U.S. charges five Russians, two Americans with conspiracy on behalf of Russia

Nice.

 

[Hobgoblin]

Nothing to see here. It’s all a hoax.

 

[Mani-Man]

Russians Used Fake Kid Rock Fan Accounts to Fool Donald Trump Jr. – Rolling Stone


NY Times - Prince Accused of Plot in Germany Is Said to Have Visited Russian Diplomats

Those headlines sound so much like Satire...how can it be real?
Where did we took a wrong turn to come to this moment in time?
Its just so insane at this point.

 

[InCali]

Reuters - U.S. charges five Russians, two Americans with conspiracy on behalf of Russia

Maybe they can trade all 7 of them for Whelan.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Gizmodo - Russian Trolls Are Using Under-Moderated Right-Wing Sites Like Truth Social to Post Manipulating Content
A new study reveals that Russian groups are found to have a larger impact on conservative platforms than previously thought.

 

[squeekness]

Gizmodo - Russian Trolls Are Using Under-Moderated Right-Wing Sites Like Truth Social to Post Manipulating Content
A new study reveals that Russian groups are found to have a larger impact on conservative platforms than previously thought.

I'm not surprised. The people most likely to believe Russian bs can be found there.

 

[Steyin]

More missile attacks throughout Ukraine today. Seemed like Putin was amping up the bigger launchers the other day. Going to get intense again very shortly.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

The Washington Post - Ukraine air defenses counter Russian barrage, but missiles hit energy targets

Russia launched another ferocious barrage of missiles at Ukraine on Friday, again pummeling critical infrastructure. At least three people were killed and more than a dozen were injured when a residential building was hit in Kryvyi Rih, one of seven cities targeted in the attack.

Damaged cities — including Kharkiv and Sumy in the northeast, Poltava, Dnipro and Kyiv, the capital — reported power outages after the strikes, even though Ukrainian officials said that their bolstered air defenses had succeeded in intercepting and destroying 60 of 76 missiles fired by the Russians.

Patriot Missile systems can't come soon enough.

 

[squeekness]

The Washington Post - Ukraine air defenses counter Russian barrage, but missiles hit energy targets


Patriot Missile systems can't come soon enough.

Sucks they are still taking such a beating after all this time.

 

[:eek:]

FIFA rebuffs Zelensky's request to share message of peace before World Cup final | CNN

 

[InCali]

The Washington Post - Ukraine air defenses counter Russian barrage, but missiles hit energy targets


Patriot Missile systems can't come soon enough.

If they are lucky, they will get them in the spring. I can't see any way to deploy them and train the Ukrainian troops in their usage before then. I hope I'm wrong.

One thing I think the Biden administration has failed in is being proactive, or forward thinking enough, in which weapons (offensive and defensive) Ukraine might need in 6 months or so. Did they really not see the bombardment of civilians and civilian infrastructure coming last summer? By now, the Ukrainian people could be better protected than they are now. They shouldn't have had to wait until spring or next summer to have access to, and training on, these defensive weapons.

I think Ukraine has had their hands tied. Russia is allowed to bomb the S*** out of them, but Ukraine isn't allowed to strike back at certain locations they are being attacked from. Ultimately, they are going to need offensive weapons that aren't technologically inferior to what is being thrown at them from Russia.

 

[squeekness]

FIFA rebuffs Zelensky's request to share message of peace before World Cup final | CNN

Shame!

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Yonette Joseph, NY Times: "NYT obtained Putin's invasion plans, showing his military expected a cakewalk in Ukraine. Instead, Putin unleashed his nation’s greatest calamity since the Soviet Union fell" Putin’s War: The Inside Story of a Catastrophe

1. Blunders | It took four days for Russia to strike an obvious target. By then it was too late.
2. Hubris | Putin summoned many of Russia’s most powerful businessmen — into a trap.
3. Internal Rot | Putin summoned many of Russia’s most powerful businessmen — into a trap.
4. Collapsing Front | As Russia stumbled, the U.S. tried to save a Russian general’s life.
5. Divided Ranks | The Russian tank blew up its own checkpoint. It was no accident.
6. Cannon Fodder | At least your son didn’t drink himself to death, Putin told a bereaved mother.

“This isn’t war,” Mikhail said, struggling to speak through heavy, liquid breaths. “It’s the destruction of the Russian people by their own commanders.”

How could one of the world’s most powerful militaries, led by a celebrated tactician like Mr. Putin, have faltered so badly against its much smaller, weaker rival? To piece together the answer, we drew from hundreds of Russian government emails, documents, invasion plans, military ledgers and propaganda directives. We listened to Russian phone calls from the battlefield and spoke with dozens of soldiers, senior officials and Putin confidants who have known him for decades.

In interviews, Putin associates said he spiraled into self-aggrandizement and anti-Western zeal, leading him to make the fateful decision to invade Ukraine in near total isolation, without consulting experts who saw the war as pure folly. Aides and hangers-on fueled his many grudges and suspicions, a feedback loop that one former confidant likened to the radicalizing effect of a social-media algorithm. Even some of the president’s closest advisers were left in the dark until the tanks began to move. As another longtime confidant put it, “Putin decided that his own thinking would be enough.”

 

[Iceman]

'1984,' George Orwell's novel of repression, tops Russian bestseller lists

 

[squeekness]

'1984,' George Orwell's novel of repression, tops Russian bestseller lists

Must seem familiar to them.

 

[Iceman]

 

[Iceman]

Ukraine: Russia to deploy musicians to front to boost morale

 

[squeekness]

Ukraine: Russia to deploy musicians to front to boost morale

That'll fix everything.

 

[Morg]

A Russian tank unit deliberately attacked another Russian position in Ukraine, report says, illustrating vicious rivalries within Putin's army

 

[squeekness]

A Russian tank unit deliberately attacked another Russian position in Ukraine, report says, illustrating vicious rivalries within Putin's army

Ha! Nice, lol.

 

[Fosterson]

Just Tucker having a normal one: