Russia/Ukraine conflict

[BioSehnsucht]

That fits with aircraft carrier arrestor wires...

Well, in that case you're arresting motion (of the landing aircraft).

I suppose if you seize a ship you probably also arrest it's motion, temporarily at least (you might decide to move it to another harbor, or something).

If anything, the underlying meaning of the term has more to do with stopping / preventing motion, and it's usage as also meaning taking people (or things) into custody is more the case of the term absorbing the meaning of words that normally accompanied it ("Arrest that man and take him into custody!" being shortened to "Arrest that man!").

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Well, in that case you're arresting motion (of the landing aircraft).

I suppose if you seize a ship you probably also arrest it's motion, temporarily at least (you might decide to move it to another harbor, or something).

If anything, the underlying meaning of the term has more to do with stopping / preventing motion, and it's usage as also meaning taking people (or things) into custody is more the case of the term absorbing the meaning of words that normally accompanied it ("Arrest that man and take him into custody!" being shortened to "Arrest that man!").

So, brief search:
Arrest just prevents it from leaving.
Seizure takes possession.
So when saying arrested, it implies it _hasn't_ been seized.

 

[Terminator857]

Would be nice if Ukraine got this:

This new AI-powered drone is both a bomb and a boomerang

The Defense tech company Anduril unveiled a novel jet missile that's a combination of AI-powered drone, bomb and boomerang all in one.

www.latimes.com

Quote: ... product was designed to provide the U.S. military and its allies with a way to destroy hostile airborne threats, from small drones up to cruise missiles and manned aircraft, while keeping costs down.

Anduril Builds a Tiny, Reusable Fighter Jet That Blows Up Drones

Palmer Luckey’s California startup says the US will deploy its Roadrunner weapon in the field next year.

www.bloomberg.com

 

[wdolson]

Would be nice if Ukraine got this:

This new AI-powered drone is both a bomb and a boomerang

The Defense tech company Anduril unveiled a novel jet missile that's a combination of AI-powered drone, bomb and boomerang all in one.

www.latimes.com

Quote: ... product was designed to provide the U.S. military and its allies with a way to destroy hostile airborne threats, from small drones up to cruise missiles and manned aircraft, while keeping costs down.

Anduril Builds a Tiny, Reusable Fighter Jet That Blows Up Drones

Palmer Luckey’s California startup says the US will deploy its Roadrunner weapon in the field next year.

www.bloomberg.com

It looks nice, but it's not in production yet. They can probably get it into production quicker than a manned aircraft, but it's still going to take at least a year for any to reach frontline units anywhere.

 

[lolachampcar]

I found this opinion piece by Anders Åslund in the Kyiv Post interesting:

"OPINION: Washington Defeatism: More Drivel From High-Profile US Policy Advisers​

Certain well-connected Washington pundits are revealing their true colors. In a screed full of contradictions and errors, Richard Haass and Charles Kupchan continue to advocate for a Russian victory.

By Anders Aslund
November 20, 2023, 12:43 pm

Richard Haass, former President of the Council of Foreign Relations, and Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow of the Council, have just published a truly scary article, “Redefining Success in Ukraine.” Pretty much everything is wrong in this article. Last spring, together with Putin’s prime US advocate Thomas Graham, Senior Director for Russia in the National Security Council under George W. Bush, Haass and Kupchan met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who was sanctioned by the United States.

As Senior Director for Europe in the National Security Council in the Obama administration, Kupchan took pride in blocking any delivery of lethal arms to Ukraine, claiming that he helped to avoid World War III, while in fact he facilitated Russia’s invasion in 2022. At that time, he was supported by President Barack Obama, while Vice President Joe Biden and his assistant Anthony Blinken wanted to deliver arms. [..."

Opinion: Washington Defeatism: More Drivel From High-Profile US Policy Advisers

Certain well-connected Washington pundits are revealing their true colors. In a screed full of contradictions and errors, Richard Haass and Charles Kupchan continue to advocate for a Russian victory.

www.kyivpost.com

I became disillusioned with Haass (the pundit, not the machine tool company although I have a bone to pick with them as well) many months ago when he started with that crap.

Regretfully, it looks like more are looking to follow his lead as we short attention span mericans focus on the latest shinny new penny (IH conflict). The crying shame is the absurdity of switching focus when one of the problems is sooooo much greater than the other. Both involve killing, rape, kidnapping and devastation just one is on such a greater scale that it deserves a proportionate degree of attention.

I believe we can walk and chew gum at the same time; we have bandwidth to address both situations. I just wish we (in the US) would.

 

[wdolson]

I became disillusioned with Haass (the pundit, not the machine tool company although I have a bone to pick with them as well) many months ago when he started with that crap.

Regretfully, it looks like more are looking to follow his lead as we short attention span mericans focus on the latest shinny new penny (IH conflict). The crying shame is the absurdity of switching focus when one of the problems is sooooo much greater than the other. Both involve killing, rape, kidnapping and devastation just one is on such a greater scale that it deserves a proportionate degree of attention.

I believe we can walk and chew gum at the same time; we have bandwidth to address both situations. I just wish we (in the US) would.

The conflict in Israel is of critical importance to Israel and Americans are kind of trained to pay attention to conflicts there, but the stakes of the conflict in Israel are so much smaller than in Ukraine.

The aggressor in the Israel conflict is too small to actually topple Israel. Hamas has done damage and they could do more if Israel didn't fight back, but unlike some other Israeli wars the existence of Israel is not imminently at risk (as long as nobody else joins the war).

The aggressor in the Ukraine was is the larger power. If Ukraine doesn't defend itself it isn't looking at some of its citizens being hurt or killed, it is looking at its existence being wiped out. Also Russia is constantly making noises about attacking other countries next. Their capability to do so with conventional arms is pretty limited, but they do have nuclear weapons. A threat of "your next" from Russia is probably just bravado, but they actually do have the capability to do damage to other countries in the region if they really got suicidal.

Hamas is not quite a spent force, but they are headed there. They can only make rudimentary weapons themselves, and they still need to import materials to make those weapons. There are no chemical factories in Gaze churning out the chemicals needed to make explosives. Russia's defense industries are not up to the job they are being asked to do keeping their army supplied, but they actually do have a military munitions industry capable of churning out some pretty sizeable quantities of ammunition and some arms.

As long as Hamas is kept from being supplied by its allies, it's going to run out of ammunition. Even if China cut off Russia they would be able to make some munitions from their own industries. This is why the peaceniks who want to just end the fighting in Ukraine are wrong. An armistice in Ukraine would just give Russia the time and space to rearm and retrain the army.

An extended ceasefire in Gaza just delays the clock on when Hamas is going to run out of ammunition. Especially since Israel has now closed off most of the access to the Mediterranean. Hamas can't be resupplied by small boats bringing in supplies if they control none of the shoreline. A landlocked Hamas is a force dying on the vine.

Aggressive groups like Hamas are dangerous. But nations with a real arms industry and an aggressive dictator are vastly more dangerous.

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

Allegedly the only railway line connecting China (and North Korea?) in this part of Russia.

EDIT: Seems like there are at least one alternative route...

"Ukraine’s SBU Blows Up Freight Train in Rail Tunnel Deep Inside Russia​

Kyiv Post sources claim that the Russians are using the railway to transport military supplies from China. At least four explosions struck the train, they added.

by Maryna Shashkova | November 30, 2023, 12:04 pm

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) blew up a freight train in a tunnel on a vital rail link between Russia and China, sources have told Kyiv Post. [...]

They added: “Currently, the Russians use this route, including for military supplies. After the explosion, it was paralyzed.” [...]

There is currently no information on the extent of the damage to the tunnel itself. [..."

Ukraine’s SBU Blows Up Freight Train in Severomuysky Rail Tunnel Deep Inside Russia

Kyiv Post sources claim that the Russians are using the railway to transport military supplies from China. At least four explosions struck the train, they added.

www.kyivpost.com

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

Allegedly a second explosion on an alternate route to the one reported on by Kyiv Post:

@kromark

https://twitter.com/x/status/1730550988367352069

 

[navguy12]

From the linked Globe and Mail story (“gifted” link, so shouldn’t be paywalled):

Liubomyr Mysiv, the deputy director of Rating Group, another Kyiv-based sociological research company, said it feels as though some unknown player – likely the Russian government or someone working with them – is using the looming end of Mr. Zelensky’s mandate to stir up thorny issues that had remained dormant since the start of the war. He pointed to resurgent social media arguments over the place of the Russian language in Ukrainian society as one example, suggesting it may be fuelled by bots. “It’s a very dangerous discussion, and obviously the Russians know very well how to use it.”

Polling conducted by KIIS suggests Ukrainians are ready for a longer war, with 80 per cent saying they’d rather keep fighting than make a peace deal with Russia that involves territorial concessions. But Mr. Hrushetskyi said a growing share of the population also believes Western support for Ukraine is fading and that international pressure to make “some peace deal with unacceptable positions for Ukraine” will grow.

Staying optimistic in Ukraine is more difficult as the home front becomes increasingly divided

Last year, many in Ukraine felt victory was not just possible but close, but now creeping pessimism might be creating a dangerous split

www.theglobeandmail.com

 

[navguy12]

Screen shot from today’s Reddit stream:

 

[madodel]

Screen shot from today’s Reddit stream:

View attachment 995499

Is there any recourse to throw fascist backstabbers out of NATO?

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

Screen shot from today’s Reddit stream:

View attachment 995499

I'm guessing it's part of a negotiation tactic by Orbán. The EU has been withholding 'financial aid/grants' to Hungary since Orbán and his party has been moving Hungary in an Authoritarian direction. I also think there's a Hungarian bank with links to Orbán that has been sanctioned to some extent.

But there must be away to side-step Hungary for the the rest of the EU. But that is likely hard to cram in to a one sentence tweet on X...

According to Freedom House Hungary is no longer a full Democracy as I understand it. They only get a score of 66/100:

Hungary: Freedom in the World 2023 Country Report | Freedom House

See the Freedom in the World 2023 score and learn about democracy and freedom in Hungary.

freedomhouse.org

 

[iPlug]

Russia hemorrhaging record amounts of soldiers in the last month, so Putin is bringing in reinforcements. Apparently this is what “winning” looks like.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian military to increase the number of troops by nearly 170,000 to a total of 1.32 million​

Putin orders the Russian military to add 170,000 troops for a total of 1.32 million

 

[dhrivnak]

More:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1724427557016043668

Yes true and the USA also agreed to no NATO expansion. So we broke the treaty first.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Yes true and the USA also agreed to no NATO expansion. So we broke the treaty first.

No one promised *Russia* no expansion of NATO, not verbally nor written. The whole thing is a myth referencing talks during Germany's reunification, when USSR still existed. Any assurances given then was in context to the reunification, that it would only extend to East Germany; there was never a consideration about other countries joining NATO.

It was considerably later in 1995, after USSR already dissolved, when Eastern European countries wanted to join and were taken into consideration. Nobody promised Russia that they couldn't.

Did NATO ‘betray’ Russia by expanding to the East?

The Kremlin claims the West broke a promise it made in the 1990s not to expand NATO, and is now using this claim to justify threats to invade Ukraine.

www.france24.com

‘There was no promise not to enlarge NATO’ - Harvard Law School

Robert Zoellick, the U.S. diplomat who helped negotiate the end of the Cold War, says Vladimir Putin’s claims about Ukraine are part of a disinformation campaign.

hls.harvard.edu

However, as referenced, Russia signed a written agreement that they would not violate Ukraine's territorial integrity, in exchange for them giving up nuclear arms, an agreement they clearly broke multiple times.

 

[dhrivnak]

No one promised *Russia* no expansion of NATO, not verbally nor written. The whole thing is a myth referencing talks during Germany's reunification, when USSR still existed.

Did NATO ‘betray’ Russia by expanding to the East?

The Kremlin claims the West broke a promise it made in the 1990s not to expand NATO, and is now using this claim to justify threats to invade Ukraine.

www.france24.com

‘There was no promise not to enlarge NATO’ - Harvard Law School

Robert Zoellick, the U.S. diplomat who helped negotiate the end of the Cold War, says Vladimir Putin’s claims about Ukraine are part of a disinformation campaign.

hls.harvard.edu

However, as referenced, Russia signed a written agreement that they would not violate Ukraine's territory integrity in exchange for them giving up nuclear arms, an agreement they clearly broke multiple times.

Again I agree but we also agreed no NATO expansion for Ukraine. We likely will never know but I wonder if Biden had agreed to no inclusion of Ukraine into NATO if the invasion would not have occurred. While Biden met with Putin before the war no such guarantee was given.

 

[SageBrush]

Again I agree but we also agreed no NATO expansion for Ukraine.

UKR rejected Russian subjugation. That is hardly the same as becoming a NATO member.

Why are we even discussing Russian BS ? George Santos has more credibility

 

[Unpilot]

Again I agree but we also agreed no NATO expansion for Ukraine. We likely will never know but I wonder if Biden had agreed to no inclusion of Ukraine into NATO if the invasion would not have occurred. While Biden met with Putin before the war no such guarantee was given.

What exactly are you inferring.

As I read your last two posts, it seems you're laying the blame for an invasion by Russia at the feet of NATO?
The next post seems to infer Biden is somehow responsible?

 

[dhrivnak]

What exactly are you inferring.

As I read your last two posts, it seems you're laying the blame for an invasion by Russia at the feet of NATO?
The next post seems to infer Biden is somehow responsible?

First let me be clear that I believe that Russia and Putin are in the wrong and Putin is evil. That said looking at borders the inclusion of Ukraine into NATO could be seen as a threat to Russia. Russia has been seriously invaded by the west in recent history's, Sweden, Napoleon, WW1 and WW2. So I can understand them being fearful. While that is no reason to invade, I see where a western expansion of NATO could be threatening.

 

[iPlug]

...Russia has been seriously invaded by the west in recent history's, Sweden, Napoleon, WW1 and WW2. So I can understand them being fearful...

Not at all. Colonial Russia, however, has continued to invade many countries in the last 100 years.

It is surprising how many remain quite unfamiliar with the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and the deep culpability of Russia in the origins of WW2.