Russia invades Ukraine

[Fuzz]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1502186841394589697

[Itse]

Oh, forgot a couple of pretty good ones.

Two Russians are sitting on a train to a prison camp.
"Do you know which camp we're going to exactly?"
"Damned if I know, I hate politics."

Russia bans all export of fertilizers. The Kremlin however wants to underline that this does not affect the amount of locally produced horsesh*t.

[Faust]

EBRD concerned about Chernobyl nuclear plant amid Ukrainian warnings:

https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pm...ian-warnings-2

[PeteMoss]

Ukraine claiming that Russia has bombed a village in Belarus as a false flag to give Belarus a reason to entire the war (more then they already are).

https://twitter.com/user/status/1502293881894969346

[Fuzz]

Satellite images taken on Thursday show a large Russian military convoy, last seen northwest of Kyiv near Antonov airport, has largely dispersed and redeployed, a private U.S. company said on Thursday.


Maxar Technologies said images show armored units maneuvering in and through the surrounding towns close to the airport. It said images also show convoy elements further north have repositioned near Lubyanka with towed artillery howitzers in firing positions nearby. (Reporting by Eric Beech; editing by Diane Craft)

https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSW1N2TQ02R

[PeteMoss]

Putin is also going after this own people due to the gong show this war has been so far:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1502221544499601411

[Itse]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

Putin is also going after this own people due to the gong show this war has been so far:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1502221544499601411

Starting to punish high ranking officials for his own mistakes doesn't exactly help Putins position I would imagine.

I keep having the feeling that at some point enough people around him are going to feel like they have nothing to lose by trying to take him down.

[CliffFletcher]

At this point it seems like the only question is what will come first: A military coup against Putin or a popular uprising against the regime.

[icarus]

I'm not much of a Twitter user, but this guy has some great updates: https://mobile.twitter.com/jominiw
(As recommended by journalist and author Mark Galeotti)

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSW1N2TQ02R

So much for the convoy being stuck.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Itse

Starting to punish high ranking officials for his own mistakes doesn't exactly help Putins position I would imagine.

I keep having the feeling that at some point enough people around him are going to feel like they have nothing to lose by trying to take him down.

Feels like the old soviet system doesn't it. Clearly Putin is unhappy with the intelligence that the FSB gathered on Ukraine before and during this war. Probably got an overly optimistic report. Yeah, Ukraine is militarily week, their resolves isn't that strong, the people will rise up against the government and all of that.



Next comes, whoops they died of heart attacks in their head.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by SebC

So much for the convoy being stuck.

I think the old term is finally someone got the thumb out on the Russian command side.



Probably it was a choice of doing something decisive or eat a bullet.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by holden

Good ole factcheck.org.

FlamesAddiction isn't the only CP fellow that seems to regurgitate garbage they find at garbage sources.

WHO and Reuters are garbage sources?

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...nt-2022-03-11/

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by holden

Good ole factcheck.org.

FlamesAddiction isn't the only CP fellow that seems to regurgitate garbage they find at garbage sources.

FlamesAddiction doesn't regurgitate anything friendo.


Always offers analysis and his own thoughts, and uses sources well.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by blankall

Apparently that's not true at all:

https://www.factcheck.org/2022/03/so...ction-program/

How does that have anything to do with what I said. I said that there were pathogens storage and research facilities and there was a concern if they get comprised. That seems to be true even with the source you posted.

I never said anything about bioweapons and in fact, said that the intent of the facility was not likely what the Russians were presenting it as.

It seems to be consistent with every other news story out there.

I can't help but think things are being taken out of context.

FWIW, here is the original story that I got the information from: https://thebulletin.org/2022/02/us-o...ous-pathogens/

The Russian invasion of Ukraine may put at risk a network of US-linked labs in Ukraine that work with dangerous pathogens, said Robert Pope, the director of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, a 30-year-old Defense Department program that has helped secure the former Soviet Union’s weapons of mass destruction and redirect former bioweapons facilities and scientists toward peaceful endeavors.

The labs in Ukraine are not bioweapons facilities. The US government maintains that they are public and animal health labs operated by host countries. Although a long-running Russian disinformation campaign has painted a picture of a network of US military labs in Ukraine, Georgia, and other former Soviet republics involved in bioweapons or risky research, Pope said the labs conduct peaceful scientific research and disease surveillance. Outside experts have also said Pope’s program is not a covert bioweapons operation.

While the United States isn’t maintaining bioweapons facilities, Pope said, war could put pathogen collections in Ukraine at risk.

“I would say from every facility that we have worked with them in, we have confidence that as long as the electrical power is turned on and the people we have trained are present at the facility, the biosafety officers, that these pathogens are safe and secure to international standards,” Pope said. “Should these facilities be damaged by conflict, that could change.”

I don't consider it a garbage source. I misspoke by implying that Americans have the facilities there, but they definitely fund the facilities and direct some of the research.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

How does that have anything to do with what I said. I said that there were pathogens storage and research facilities and there was a concern if they get comprised. That seems to be true even with the source you posted.

I never said anything about bioweapons and in fact, said that the intent of the facility was not likely what the Russians were presenting it as.

It seems to be consistent with every other news story out there.

I can't help but think things are being taken out of context.

You stated:

It's true that the Americans have a pathogens storage and research facility in Kyiv. One of the biggest in the world.

The actual truth:

Rather, the Biological Threat Reduction Program “has provided technical support to the Ukrainian Ministry of Health since 2005 to improve public health laboratories whose mission is analogous to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” Weber said. “These laboratories have recently played an important role in stopping the spread of COVID-19.”

The USA has no pathogen storage facilities in Kyiv. They are providing technical support to the Ukrainian equivalent of the CDC. That's very different.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by blankall

You stated:



The actual truth:



The USA has no pathogen storage facilities in Kyiv. They are providing technical support to the Ukrainian equivalent of the CDC. That's very different.

Fair enough, but I don't see it as posting garbage from garbage sources. That seems a little harsh and maybe more of a misunderstanding on my part on how much the Americans are involved, but they are involved at some level.

https://thebulletin.org/2022/02/us-o...ous-pathogens/

Another post mentioned from a Ukrainian source it gets funding from the U.S., EU and WHO.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Fair enough, but I don't see it as posting garbage from garbage sources. That seems a little harsh and maybe more of a misunderstanding on my part on how much the Americans are involved, but they are involved at some level.

https://thebulletin.org/2022/02/us-o...ous-pathogens/

Another post mentioned from a Ukrainian source it gets funding from the U.S., EU and WHO.

I didn't make those comments about you. I do think it's important to be as factful as possible when dealing with Putin's propaganda, as he is using that to justify his military action.

[Cappy]

Originally Posted by Pointman

They amassed 190K troops and only moved in like a third of them during first week. Most of the troops in the first wave were green and armament was old. There were reports earlier that Russians are about to run out of supplies this weekend, which means they took two-three weeks worth of supplies. They attacked from three directions while you only need one direction for a cake walk to Kyiv. They clearly did expect resistance and did expect to fire guns.

Maybe one of the vets can answer this question, but what is the typical "teeth to tail" for a modern force like Russia's.

I think during WWII the ideal was 3 to 1 support to active soldier. So when we talk about 190k soldiers on the border, does that include the support personnel?

[PeteMoss]

Is there anything to prove they sent in a bunch of green guys? I mean I'm sure every army has green guys, but would seem to be the world worst strategy to start your attack off with a bunch of guys who don't know which way to point their gun.