OT subject but worth a main-stream read- OT News Feeds...

JohnInCarolina · March 2022

JohnInCarolina · March 2022

HeavyG · March 2022

Excellent poster designed by Polish designer Pawel Jonca.

HeavyG · March 2022

lousubcap · March 2022

Here is some reading this AM. May find more later. Russia-Ukraine:
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2022/03/forces-halt-kyiv-advance-russia-says-donbass-was-only-goal-all-along/363650/

dmchicago · March 2022

lousubcap said:

Here is some reading this AM. May find more later. Russia-Ukraine:
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2022/03/forces-halt-kyiv-advance-russia-says-donbass-was-only-goal-all-along/363650/

Ukraine should give up the Donbass region in exchange for the RF troops to GTFO.

Be nice to get some financial payback from Putin but the rebuild will most likely fall on the Europe and US.

Putin will claim victory and have a parade.

The sanctions should be permanent.

lousubcap · March 2022

An article about Russian comms issues and discipline:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/03/27/russian-military-unsecured-communications/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB 03.28.2022

HeavyG · March 2022

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/1e/1wakz7bf6oeu.png

HeavyG · March 2022

The twig and berries was a nice touch.

lousubcap · March 2022

Today's Russia - Ukraine reading on the diplomatic front:

"Negotiators from Ukraine and Russia are to begin face-to-face talks in Istanbul today. However, as negotiators arrived in Istanbul yesterday, both sides played down the chances of a major breakthrough and a senior U.S. official said that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not appear ready to compromise. According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, a ceasefire was the most his country could hope for from the talks. “We are not trading people, land or sovereignty,” Kuleba added. Jon Henley, Shaun Walker and Pjotr Sauer report for the Guardian.

Russia is no longer requesting that Ukraine be “denazified” and is prepared to let Kyiv join the E.U. if it remains militarily non-aligned and does not seek to join NATO, as part of ceasefire negotiations. According to individuals briefed on the talks, the draft ceasefire deal does not contain any discussion of three of Russia’s initial core demands – “denazification,” “demilitarization” and legal protection for the Russian language in Ukraine. Max Seddon in Riga, Roman Olearchyk in Kyiv and Henry Foy report for the Financial Times.

French President Emmanuel Macron has clocked 17 phone conversations with Putin over the past four months, as well as one personal meeting in Moscow, he has also spoken 17 times to Zelenskyy however, up to now, Macron’s diplomacy appears to have achieved “very little,” Roger Cohen reports for the New York Times."

Ozzie_Isaac · March 2022

lousubcap said:

Today's Russia - Ukraine reading on the diplomatic front:

"Negotiators from Ukraine and Russia are to begin face-to-face talks in Istanbul today. However, as negotiators arrived in Istanbul yesterday, both sides played down the chances of a major breakthrough and a senior U.S. official said that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not appear ready to compromise. According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, a ceasefire was the most his country could hope for from the talks. “We are not trading people, land or sovereignty,” Kuleba added. Jon Henley, Shaun Walker and Pjotr Sauer report for the Guardian.
Russia is no longer requesting that Ukraine be “denazified” and is prepared to let Kyiv join the E.U. if it remains militarily non-aligned and does not seek to join NATO, as part of ceasefire negotiations. According to individuals briefed on the talks, the draft ceasefire deal does not contain any discussion of three of Russia’s initial core demands – “denazification,” “demilitarization” and legal protection for the Russian language in Ukraine. Max Seddon in Riga, Roman Olearchyk in Kyiv and Henry Foy report for the Financial Times.
French President Emmanuel Macron has clocked 17 phone conversations with Putin over the past four months, as well as one personal meeting in Moscow, he has also spoken 17 times to Zelenskyy however, up to now, Macron’s diplomacy appears to have achieved “very little,” Roger Cohen reports for the New York Times."

Russia's demilitarization strategy appears to be "present enough hard targets of opportunity to consume Ukrainian weapons".

It is effective in one sense.

JohnInCarolina · March 2022

http://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1508955848298704901?s=20&t=dt3hFTSXcWaNVf5dg0y_MA

lousubcap · March 2022

Russia - Ukraine and diplomacy today:

"Ukraine and Russia have said that they made progress in talks to end the war, with Kyiv presenting its proposal for a neutral status and international security guarantees. In a sign of progress, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to meet Zelenskyy for the initiation of the treaty once the negotiations are completed, said Moscow’s chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky. James Marson, Yaroslav Trofimov and Jared Malsin report for the Wall Street Journal.

The Kremlin has welcomed the fact that Kyiv has set out its demands for an end to the conflict in Ukraine in written form, but said there was no sign of a breakthrough yet. Reuters reports. "

Eoin · March 2022

Russian state TV. Host Evgeny Popov says it's time for the Russian people to change "the regime in the US" before its term expires "and to again help our partner Trump to become President."

nolaegghead · March 2022

Eoin said:

Russian state TV. Host Evgeny Popov says it's time for the Russian people to change "the regime in the US" before its term expires "and to again help our partner Trump to become President."

...but...but...the Russians said they wanted to "de-nazify" Ukraine, none of this makes sense!

JohnInCarolina · March 2022

http://twitter.com/MrKovalenko/status/1509278005469847574?s=20&t=87xs1S0MgsI4gr9uy41PNQ

The aholes were apparently repeatedly driving through the Red Forest.

nolaegghead · March 2022

I dunno. That Forrest is not that radioactive based on some documentaries I saw.

lousubcap · March 2022

A take from the BBC today:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60936117?xtor=AL-72-[partner]-[gnl.newsletters]-[headline]-[news]-[bizdev]-[isapi]&xtor=ES-213-[BBC News Newsletter]-2022March31-[top+news+stories]

JohnInCarolina · March 2022

nolaegghead said:

I dunno. That Forrest is not that radioactive based on some documentaries I saw.

I can't tell if this was a joke or not, but apparently the level of radioactivity is a function of how much things are disturbed. A lot of it is in the soil, so when that is kicked up in the form of dust (which tends to happen after vehicles roll over it) that can be breathed in... it's effing dangerous, for lack of a better term.

lousubcap · April 2022

Not a lot of movement today but this shows that Ukraine is not playing all defense:

"Ukraine pilots reportedly carried out cross-border airstrikes on or near an oil depot inside Russia overnight, according to videos (like this, this and this) shared online Thursday evening. The depot (Reuters calls it a "logistics hub") was located in Belgorod, which is about 18 miles from Ukraine's eastern border, near the city of Kharkiv.

One obvious takeaway: If it was indeed a Ukrainian helicopter assault, infiltrating "such a heavily militarized area to make such a brazen attack would be a damning indictment of Russia's air defense capabilities," Tyler Rogoway of The Drive wrote Friday."

nolaegghead · April 2022

Realistically, this is not a smart move by the Ukranians. The Russians will report all over their news that their country is being attacked and this may cause an aggressive response that causes asymmetric damage to Ukraine as well as potentially throw a wrench in any negotiations for Russia to withdraw. Putin is less likely to pull out if he thinks that's a sign of weakness. Timing here is not good.

(disclaimer - I'm supporting the Ukrainians here)

Gulfcoastguy · April 2022

I was saying that they should be attacking fuel depots and power plants in Crimea and the Donbas.

Coastal_OReggON · April 2022

nolaegghead said:

Realistically, this is not a smart move by the Ukranians. The Russians will report all over their news that their country is being attacked and this may cause an aggressive response that causes asymmetric damage to Ukraine as well as potentially throw a wrench in any negotiations for Russia to withdraw. Putin is less likely to pull out if he thinks that's a sign of weakness. Timing here is not good.

(disclaimer - I'm supporting the Ukrainians here)

Agree with you that this would not be a smart move and that's why I’m not convinced it was an attack by the Ukrainians. This sounds like something Putin would do. Pretend to be Ukraine taking out Russian assets so Putin has a “legitimate” reason to end negotiations and continue to escalate attacks on Ukraine. Maybe?