Throughline had an interesting episode about the history of Ukraine and the war with Russia. Throughline: Ukraine's Dangerous Independence on Apple Podcasts It reminds me of the statement, “Without Ukraine, Russia is a country. With Ukraine, Russia is an empire.”
Just downloaded. My latest pseudo-complaint - “I am drowning in oak leaves and quality content”. It just got worse, at least on the content side. Seriously, thanks
Much better way of viewing it. At the risk of totally hijacking this off topic, it was already bad with so many high quality free podcast content. Now you add a bunch of high quality free substack content (all of their models, at least temporarily, release a lot of good free content to try to entice you to subscribe on a pay basis ), and the fact that Wall Street has told all the video streamers that they want to see high subscriber numbers by the end of the year, meaning that they are all overpaying for substantial high quality content and giving great discounts or even free subscription through other means in the short term, is almost overwhelming
Update of maternity hospital bombing...you know, actors per Russians: "Mother and baby injured in Mariupol maternity hospital bombing have both died, their surgeon confirms From Tim Lister in Kyiv and Olga Voitovych The surgeon who tried to save the life of the woman rescued from last week's hospital bombing in Mariupol, as well as her newborn baby, has confirmed that both died. The surgeon, Timur Marin, told Ukrainian television from the city: "While she was being resuscitated and the anti-shock measures were being taken, we performed a caesarean section and took a child with no signs of life. The child's resuscitation for more than half an hour did not work. Resuscitation of the mother for half an hour or more -- without any results. They both died." Some background: The Associated Press reported earlier that the pregnant woman had died, along with her baby. An AP image of emergency workers carrying the injured pregnant woman on a stretcher outside the bombed hospital last Wednesday had been widely reported, including by CNN."
If Renaud's death was the result of a bombing, a missile attack or artillery it was almost certainly an accident. According to the descriptions he was shot by Russian troops. Given that members of the press covering the war in Ukraine almost all wear tags identifying them as such, Matthew Chance of CNN in the photo below being one example, Renaud's death was more likely intentional rather than accidental.
Most of the coverage just said that he was shot. Didn't mention that he was in a vehicle at the time. Still intentional even if he was not specifically targeted as member of the press. Unless he was embedded with Ukrainian troops (still possible) there is no way his shooting can be rationalized.
I think one of the ones I posted said that he was with other journalists when he was shot. They were at or near a refugee checkpoint.
Russian prosecutors warned Western companies that criticism of Moscow's war on Ukraine could lead to arrests of corporate leaders or seizure of assets in the country. Companies that received the warning included Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Procter & Gamble, IBM and Yum Brands, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal. The threats came in the form of calls, letters and visits threatening to take legal action against the companies and seize assets including their trademarks, the newspaper reported. Russian prosecutors warn Western firms of arrests, asset seizures
Just over a week ago I met a group of young men who had volunteered at a centre in Kyiv to fight for Ukraine. Most of them were in their late teens, not long out of school. They told me that after three days' basic training they would head for the front line - or very close to it. War in Ukraine: Uni to uniform - Ukraine's new teenage army recruits
Head of FSB and his deputy both placed under house arrest. Hopefully this encourages them to launch a rebellion against Putin Putin said to be conducting internal purge of military generals, intel personnel | The Times of Israel Russian President Vladimir Putin is said to be conducting purges of military generals and intelligence personnel, including arrests of FSB (Federal Security Service) officers, according to an analysis by the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, which cited Ukrainian officials and media reports. The institute says that Ukrainian Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov estimated on Wednesday, March 9, that Putin had replaced at least eight generals “due to their failures in Ukraine” and authorities have detained personnel from the FSB’s 5th Service, which the institute says is responsible for gathering information on the political situation in Ukraine. According to Ukrainian outlets and a report in an independent Russian outlet, the head of the 5th service, Sergey Beseda, and his deputy Anatoly Bolyukh were under house arrest on Friday.
You’d think that, but it’s like there is an unlimited supply of lackeys once authoritarians take hold. As these individuals are probably under heavy state surveillance, it could be very difficult for them to engage in an organized coup. Assuming they aren’t still “loyal” to Putin. If Putin were actually afraid of them orchestrating a coup, he’d probably do what they do in NK and just have them executed. The best possibility is for some individual on the inside to just do it acting on their own, someone unexpected.
i read a report he was shot while in a car. No idea if true, but if so there would be no way to see any credentials. Tragic either way
Either way, they are intentionally shooting at a civilian vehicle. It’s very doubtful there is a non-bullshit explanation for that.
I think this is both positive and negative. It is positive because of the chaos it causes among the war planners but negative because their replacements will be "encouraged" to be even more brutal in their attacks.
It's not strength, he would've probably just told Ukraine no on NATO. If he thinks bankrolling SK, Japan, and Germany's defense is a waste of money, he sure as heck would think paying for Ukraine's defense is a waste of money. That's one way he could've potentially saved off the war. A bankrupt Ukraine with no hopes of Western support would have no choice but fall in line with Russia. Putin would have no need to invade to control Ukraine. Obama was very much in line with the neo-lib/con (doesn't matter which side of the aisle) strategy of aggressive NATO expansion. Folks can ignore evidence if they want, but the fact is that the twice Russia has invaded has been on the heels of Western plans to expand into Ukraine. I guess when you say enough about all sorts of war crimes committed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Ethiopia...etc. etc.? We don't intervene for humanitarian reasons, we intervene for geopolitical reasons. If humanitarian assistance advances our geopolitical aims, then that's the best for everyone involved. Otherwise, tough luck. There are numerous hurdles for that. First, it takes quite a bit of time to make them flight worthy again. Then you need to make them capable of communicating with Ukrainian forces (not compatible with NATO comms), also no easy task. Then you need to train Ukrainian pilots to fly them. But really, planes aren't the biggest hurdle. The biggest is delivering Ukraine the planes, as in no one wants to do it. You saw the push/pull between us and the Polish earlier, no one wants to escalate the conflict. Then lastly, those planes are just not very useful. Modern aircrafts are cogs in a machinery of war, they're not that useful by themselves against another modern military. Even if the Ukrainians can obtain and competently fly F-22s it won't do a thing without EW assets, AWACS, etc. And even in WWII planes need airfields, logistics for fuel and munitions, on site maintenance and repairs, etc. which Ukraine cannot secure.
There are some good first hand accounts by mercs in Ukraine on reddit. Is easier to share tweets so here are some tweeted screenshots. China is not likely to send drones except maybe civilian ones, that would be too ostensible in picking sides. I think what they'll do is to send munitions. They bought a lot of munitions for their Su-27/30/35s bought from Russia, a lot of them are probably expired or nearing expiration anyway, so they can just send them back to Russia.
Wishful thinking on his part that an errant missile would trigger Article Five and obligate NATO to respond militarily. Even if it happened, the West would exercise restraint. Imposing a no-fly zone is an implied act of war. There would be no going back.
