Russian Invasion of Ukraine

[China]

'Apparently I'm stupid': Don Trump Jr. defends his position on Russia

 

Donald Trump Jr. made a shocking revelation Monday while discussing his much maligned position on Russia's war with Ukraine during an interview with former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

 

"Apparently I'm stupid," Trump Jr. declared. "I'm a Putin apologist and a Russia lover. Basically I work for them according to the mainstream press."

 

Trump Jr. was defending his position against sending aide to Ukraine more than two years after Russia invaded its borders in February 2022.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

Too bad that's not a self-realization.

[Larry]

8 minutes ago, China said:

 

"Apparently I'm stupid," Trump Jr. declared.

 

 

 

[China]

 

[Riggo-toni]

@China, I just came into this thread to post that.  Not looking good.

[LD0506]

Meanwhile, at the Lukoil refinery....

 

 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

2 hours ago, China said:

Too bad that's not a self-realization.

 

Freudian slip, maybe? lol...

[China]

Disaster for Vladimir Putin as oil refineries erupt into flames in double overnight blitz

 

Vladimir Putin was left red-faced after two refineries in Russia were engulfed by flames following a night of intense drone attacks.

 

A fleet of drones, which the Russian Defence Ministry claimed to be Ukrainian, caused explosions and fires at the plants in the early hours of March 12.

 

The facilities were located in the Oryol and Nizhny Novgorod regions in western Russia, around 93 and 621 miles away from the Ukrainian border respectively.

 

Pictures shared on the messaging platform Telegram showed firefighters trying to quash the blazes, with flames that could be seen from miles away rising from the plants.

 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[The Sisko]

On 3/11/2024 at 6:09 PM, Larry said:

It doesn't matter to you if the things you say are true. 

CC84 is mostly right about this IMO. It’s not about telling the truth, it’s about selling. The Dems have mostly sucked at selling the benefits of their policies as long as I can remember. They assume the intelligence, historical knowledge, and interest of the voters too much when history has shown there’s little of either for most of them. Biden needs to sell this as being about ‘Muricun jobs and the need to use old weapons now instead of direct intervention and ‘Muricun blood and treasure later. It’s not lying. It’s choosing how to best characterize it so that the benefits to Joe Six PAC are as simple and obvious as possible. 

 

On 3/12/2024 at 2:18 PM, China said:

'Apparently I'm stupid': Don Trump Jr. defends his position on Russia

 

Donald Trump Jr. made a shocking revelation Monday while discussing his much maligned position on Russia's war with Ukraine during an interview with former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

 

"Apparently I'm stupid," Trump Jr. declared. "I'm a Putin apologist and a Russia lover. Basically I work for them according to the mainstream press."

 

Click on the link for the full article

One of the few times he actually told the truth about something.

[Renegade7]

We didn't have a to sell something like "Russia Bad" in the past...this isn't about the country supporting this, imo.

 

The higher story is GOP politicians eating Trump's ass while he gives Putin head.  Nah, these schmucks need to go so more appropriate aid can get passed, this election can't come soon enough.

Edited March 14 by Renegade7

[The Sisko]

2 hours ago, Renegade7 said:

We didn't have a to sell something like "Russia Bad" in the past...this isn't about the country supporting this, imo.

 

The higher story is GOP politicians eating Trump's ass while he gives Putin head.  Nah, these schmucks need to go so more appropriate aid can get passed, this election can't come soon enough.

Selling Russia as bad in the past was easy because the Soviet Union was communist. Generations of generally accurate anti-communist training here did the rest. However, with the USSR and Russian communists gone, Putin is something many ‘Muricuns idolize due to  popular culture/mythology, i.e., a “greed is good” Mafia Boss, a la Tя☭mp. 

[Renegade7]

9 minutes ago, The Sisko said:

Selling Russia as bad in the past was easy because the Soviet Union was communist. Generations of generally accurate anti-communist training here did the rest. However, with the USSR and Russian communists gone, Putin is something many ‘Muricuns idolize due to  popular culture/mythology, i.e., a “greed is good” Mafia Boss, a la Tя☭mp. 

 

I question if it's even that complicated in context of Russian disinformation campaigns.

 

It's playbook, attack credibility of everyone until only one person is credible...in our situation our "credible person" has a good friend in Russia who's also xenophobic.

 

But I agree it's no longer as easy as " communism bad", it jus feels like a feedback loop sometimes of why NATO needs to prepare for Russia and Russia wants to prepare for NATO when they neither want to actually fight each other directly.

 

Some of what we've seen just in thisbwar is indefensible and damage is done.  There are still some folks playing their part what sometimes feels like a charade to get what they want out of it, even if that means helping to put wood on the fire.

 

This war will end eventually...then what?

[LD0506]

[CousinsCowgirl84]

23 hours ago, Renegade7 said:

 

 

This war will end eventually...then what?

Russia/west relations are permanently broken until Putin is gone. As far as the rest, I think that depends on how the war plays out.

[TradeTheBeal!]

 

[The Sisko]

Of course Putler is already trying to implicate Ukraine.🙄 ISIS claimed responsibility, so it probably was them. However, I have to think that Putler may have intentionally allowed this to happen as a way of drumming up popular support and volunteers for the meat grinder.

[ixcuincle]

 

[ixcuincle]

Russian nexus revealed during five-year Havana Syndrome probe https://www.cbsnews.com/news/havana-syndrome-russia-evidence-60-minutes/

 

A lead U.S. military investigator examining reports of what has become known as Havana Syndrome told 60 Minutes he believes U.S. officials are being attacked by Russia and that the official threshold to prove it was set impossibly high.

[Ball Security]

4 hours ago, ixcuincle said:

Russian nexus revealed during five-year Havana Syndrome probe https://www.cbsnews.com/news/havana-syndrome-russia-evidence-60-minutes/

 

A lead U.S. military investigator examining reports of what has become known as Havana Syndrome told 60 Minutes he believes U.S. officials are being attacked by Russia and that the official threshold to prove it was set impossibly high.

I watched that segment yesterday. Came on right after the NC State game. It’s a scary and wild story.

[Fergasun]

4 hours ago, ixcuincle said:

Russian nexus revealed during five-year Havana Syndrome probe https://www.cbsnews.com/news/havana-syndrome-russia-evidence-60-minutes/

 

A lead U.S. military investigator examining reports of what has become known as Havana Syndrome told 60 Minutes he believes U.S. officials are being attacked by Russia and that the official threshold to prove it was set impossibly high.

Thought we had a thread on this.  G'dammit -- why is our government so stupid.  Stuff like this feeds conspiracy theorists.  

 

"We can't say it's Russia -- but we know it's Russia."  Or worse... "Russia is using our stolen tech that we have used on them."

 

 

[Ball Security]

9 minutes ago, Fergasun said:

Thought we had a thread on this.  G'dammit -- why is our government so stupid.  Stuff like this feeds conspiracy theorists.  

 

"We can't say it's Russia -- but we know it's Russia."  Or worse... "Russia is using our stolen tech that we have used on them."

 

 

So, to clarify, the Government is not saying anything. The person who said it was Russia in the segment no longer works in Government. So he’s making the connection outside of an official capacity. The Government, likely, will continue to deny it.

[ixcuincle]

 

[The Sisko]

2 hours ago, ixcuincle said:

 

Zelenski's jammin' to this right now: https://on.soundcloud.com/3QkWBUk5MJXZYhie9

Edited April 3 by The Sisko

[China]

Russia Is Repeating Its Mistakes From Start of Ukraine War

 

Ukraine has lauded its recent success in taking out a slew of Russian tanks and armored vehicles near the embattled former Ukrainian stronghold of Avdiivka, illustrating a Russian strategy that continues to echo mistakes that cost Moscow dearly in the early weeks of the war, despite recent territorial gains.

 

Kyiv on Monday said paratroopers from the country's 25th Airborne Brigade had stopped a "massive" Russian attack close to the village of Tonenke, destroying four tanks and two infantry fighting vehicles directly west of Avdiivka. The brigade, in a separate statement, said simply that it had "destroyed a column of enemy equipment."

 

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S. think tank that closely follows the conflict in Ukraine, described the Russian attack around Tonenke as Moscow's "first battalion-sized mechanized assault" since the Kremlin kicked off its offensive on Avdiivka last October. A Russian tank battalion typically contains upwards of 30 vehicles.

"There are some similarities between this Russian attack near Tonenke and those Russian assaults early in the war," said Bryden Spurling, senior research leader for defense and security with the European branch of the RAND think tank.

 

"It's surprising that the column in Tonenke mostly used a single road and didn't appear to use the open ground [on] either side and spread its forces out, though it looks like some vehicles did try to disperse," he told Newsweek.

 

The Russian crews may have been worried about muddy terrain or mines, he added, saying: "Either way, these were significant losses of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles."

 

Russia has since burned through its tank arsenal. In February, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a U.K.-based think tank, estimated that Moscow had lost more than 3,000 tanks in two years of war — more than its entire pre-war active fleet. Ukraine's tank losses, although impossible to verify, are believed to be even higher at more than 7,000.

 

Yet Moscow has put its massive defense industry on a war footing, helping to replenish its fleet while still taking constant hits from Ukrainian forces. Domestic Russian tank production has increased fivefold since February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this year. The Kremlin has also pulled old tanks from storage, and repurposes antiquated vehicles to ferry and detonate explosives around a target.

 

Click on the link for the full article 

 

[China]

Ukrainian Hackers Launch Cyberattacks on Moscow Sewage System

 

Blackjack, a Ukrainian hacker group affiliated with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), said it had launched a cyberattack on Moskollector, a company that operates the communication system for Moscow’s sewage network.

 

Unnamed government sources told Ukrainian news outlet LIGA.net that Blackjack managed to shut off 87,000 alarm sensors throughout Moscow and the surrounding suburbs, preventing the company from responding to emergency events. The source also claimed that Blackjack destroyed 70 servers and at least 90 terabytes of company data, including emails, backup copies and contracts.

 

“Now the operation of the object of critical infrastructure of Moscow is completely blocked, the company cannot respond to accidents and emergency events. It will take 15 to 30 days to restore its functioning,” the source told LIGA.net.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Pentagon can’t force Starlink to block service to Russians, US official says

 

As new details come to light about Russia’s use of Starlink satellite terminals, a top Pentagon official said the Defense Department can’t force SpaceX to cut service to the invaders—say, by creating a whitelist for Ukrainian troops’ terminals.

 

“I don't think that DOD is in a position to make them do these things, so I'll just say that. I'm aware of Ukraine's concerns, working through it with both Ukraine and Starlink,” said John Plumb, assistant defense secretary for space policy.  

 

Russian forces have been using Starlink inside Ukraine, Defense One previously reported, compromising the advantage Ukraine once had. Now, the Wall Street Journal has detailed how Starlink is sold through “a shadowy supply chain” and makes its way to Russian forces and other U.S. foes. 

 

Starlink is a commercial product, and Russia has no problem trying to buy things through the black market, Plumb told reporters Wednesday at the 2024 Space Symposium. 

 

Various actors’ efforts to obtain and use Starlink is “something we just have to bake in and understand. And make no mistake, the reason it's this thing is because it's so effective,” he said. 

 

SpaceX officials have previously said that the company does no business with Russia, that the Starlink service does not work there. 

 

Some lawmakers have probed SpaceX on Russia’s illegal acquisition of Starlink, questioning whether the company has implemented enough safeguards to prevent Russia from using the communications service against Ukraine. 

 

Asked whether SpaceX is doing enough to mitigate the use of Starlink by malign actors, Plumb repeated, "I think they're a great partner."

 

The Pentagon is working with Ukraine and SpaceX “to provide the services that Ukraine needs and prevent Russian forces from using this…certainly without licenses, and certainly not at the behest of the country at which they're invading, for goodness sake. So we're working on it, making some progress, and after that, it gets classified,” Plumb said. 

 

Click on the link for the full article