War in Ukraine

I don't see why a blackwater type group couldn't. Really hoping some deep pockets somewhere is sponsoring a team for the good guys. A few well trained individuals and some properly deployed drones would be really helpful about right now. Don't understand how that convoy hasn't been hit yet

 

Elon Musk Jet-Tracking Teen Launches Russian Oligarch Jets Account (businessinsider.com)

track and harass oligarchs..

ukranian sailor doing maintenance attempted to sink oligarch's yacht.

Ukrainian sailor arrested for trying to sink oligarch’s superyacht | Spain | The Guardian

 

they don't have east west pipelines to get it to market either

 

half of Russian airliners subject to repossession

Russian Planes Face Grounding Risk as Leasing Firms Mull Default (yahoo.com)

Leasing firms are facing the challenge of recalling jetliners worth billions of dollars from Russian airlines, as sanctions imposed over the Ukraine invasion threaten carriers’ ability to operate rented planes.

EU sanctions announced Sunday ban the supply of “all goods and technology” linked to aircraft. Planes can’t be insured, either. That means leasing firms will be required to terminate all contracts with Russian airlines over the next 30 days, said a senior leasing executive with aircraft in the country.

More than half of the active commercial aircraft based in Russia are leased, mostly from companies based abroad, according to analysis from IBA Group, which advises airlines, planemakers, banks and lessors. That tally includes scores of aircraft at flag-carrier Aeroflot.

Russian Airlines Face Repossession Of Half Their Planes, As Aeroflot Flight Ignores Airspace Ban - View from the Wing

Under EU sanctions leased aircraft must be recalled from Russian airlines. The planes can’t be insured, and parts can’t be supplied. This represents more than half of all aircraft in Russia. Plus, with SWIFT connectivity blocked for major Russian banks, it would be difficult to make March lease payment sin any case. Aeroflot’s low cost carrier Pobeda has already had a Boeing 737 reposessed in Ireland.

Sure, Russian airlines could take a ‘come and get it’ approach to the planes but if Russian carriers want to lease planes in the future, they’ll need to comply.

 

will this help unite the russian people against Putin or will they hate the ukranians?

Russian Sites Hacked Across Country To Display Their War Dead (msn.com)

Multiple Russian state-run media outlets were hacked across the country to display anti-war messages and Russia's war dead, as President Vladimir Putin continues his full-scale invasion against Ukraine.
"Dear citizens. We urge you to stop this madness, do not send your sons and husbands to certain death," the message read on several websites. "Putin is forcing us to lie and is putting us in danger."

Independent Russian news outlet Novaya Gazeta reported that some sites were hacked with messages that said: "Stop the madness and do not send sons and husbands to certain death."

Some sites were replaced with a black "tombstone" stating that 5,300 Russian troops had been killed in four days—since Putin declared a "special military operation" against Ukraine on February 24. "More deaths than in the First Chechen War 1994-1996," the message read.

"This message will be removed, and some of us will be fired or even imprisoned. But we can no longer tolerate it," one message reportedly said, Novaya Gazeta reported, noting that at the end of the message, the logo of the hacker group Anonymous was published.

 

Sounds like they better hurry up.

 

I wonder what kinds of munitions they’re provided? The drones are great but it would take too many for a convoy of that size.

 

The Kremlin ordered 400 Russian mercenaries in Kyiv to hunt and kill Ukraine's president, report says (msn.com)

The Kremlin ordered hundreds of Russian mercenaries in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, The Times of London reported.

Between 2,000 and 4,000 mercenaries with the Wagner Group — a private army believed to be owned by the Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin — entered Ukraine through Belarus in January, The Times reported.

Some 400 of them were deployed to Kyiv, while others were sent to the pro-Kremlin regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, the newspaper reported.

Zelenskyy's name tops the Wagner Group kill list of 23 senior Ukrainian figures that includes Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, The Times reported. The Kremlin offered what The Times described as "hefty bonuses" to wipe out Zelenskyy's government. The exact amount of the bounty is unclear.

 

Oh boy, killing the Klitschko brothers would not go over well in Ukraine. If you want to guarantee those people will forever fight you, kill any of the boxers (the Klitschkos, Loma, Usyk, etc.) who bring them so much national pride.

 

I'm not saying Russia, or anyone else, is pure as snow. I'm saying that we, like anyone else, is dirty as coal. Let's calm down a bit and not use words like "hate". Emotions have no place in making decisions regarding important things like war. Emotions are only used after decisions are already made in order to whip up support from the populace for war.

Putting emotions aside, Ukraine doesn't really matter to us, and neither does Russia for that matter. I mean, I don't really see how Ukraine going back to being a Russia puppet is of much more import to us than Tigray becoming integrated into Ethiopia. What are your thoughts on the resumption of the Ethiopian civil war, which had already claimed over 1 million lives before its resumption and has claimed more than 10,000 in military casualties alone since? Nothing? I thought so. If you erase the names of Russia, Ukraine, Tigray, and Ethiopia etc., you'd come to the same conclusion.

Those names, with the help of the media, are bringing out emotions in you. What's needed is not emotions, it's calculations. My calculations are that the one foreign power which presents the greatest threat to our well being is China. What I'm concerned about is that we're yet again distracted from the real superpower competition, which is against China. Things were about to ramp up against them after the air collision in 2000 but we got distracted by 9/11. We've finally extricated ourselves from the War on Terror and now we're about to be bogged down in Eastern Europe.

 

I know very little about events in Ethiopia, but it seems to me that Tigrayan forces attacked first in what is a civil war. Whereas Ukraine is not part of Russia. Ukraine did not attack first. Tigrayan rebels are not violating the sovereignty of a foreign nation, they are battling a federal government that they feel has excluded them. The Russians are overrunning a sovereign nation with the goal of conquering it and making it subservient to their will.

They seem very different to me.

 

Here's what makes it different. Nukes.

Using your "be analytical about it" request, okay let's:

In your example from Ethiopia (addressed by a poster above me), has either side threatened for all intents to nuke anyone that helps one of their parties? No.

Are either of those 2 entities in possession of a huge nuclear arsenal that can be sent out at a moment's notice? No.

Any of that territory contain the world's most dangerous nuclear disaster site that is still so radioactive, if it were to get blown up the waste would spread throughout Europe/other parts? No.

You're the one that said the US doesn't really care about sovereignty, and brought up it only cares about its own interests. To an extent every nation does. But in this particular case, it really isn't being "emotional" or dramatic to say the world may hang in the balance. Look at the amount of support around the world. THAT'S what makes it different.

 

“You can’t have your money back” is…well…a strategy.