CayceG Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 Keep in mind, Transnistria is separated from the rest of Moldova by a river. Its other border is a land border with Ukraine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 Just now, CayceG said: Keep in mind, Transnistria is separated from the rest of Moldova by a river. Its other border is a land border with Ukraine. If Moscow does decide to draw Transnistria/Moldova into this thing, I fully expect that a pretty decent number of Romanian "volunteers" will suddenly find their way to Chișinău. Because if there's one thing that I know Romanians won't pass up, it's the opportunity to kill Slavs...or Magyars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CitizenVectron Posted April 26, 2022 Author Share Posted April 26, 2022 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 Gazprom has suspended natural gas deliveries to Poland and Germany. Russian gas supplies to Poland halted - Polish media WWW.JPOST.COM Poland has repeatedly said it would not agree to Russia's demand to pay in roubles for gas it buys from Gazprom under new rules Russia announced last month. Quote Russian gas supplies under the Yamal contract to Poland have been halted, Polish private broadcaster Polsat News and the Onet.pl website reported, citing unnamed sources. PGNiG, which buys gas from Gazprom under a long-term contract that expires this year, added it will take steps to reinstate the flow of gas according to the Yamal contract and the halt of supplies was a breach of that contract. It further added that it has the right to pursue damages over the breach of contract. Physical gas flows via the Yamal-Europe pipeline from Belarus to Poland were at zero kilowatt-hours (kWh) at 4p.m. CET, down from 52,634,785 kWh/day in the early hours of Tuesday, data from the European Union network of gas transmission operators showed. The Polish Climate Ministry said it would hold a briefing on gas supplies at 7:15p.m. CET on Tuesday. Poland has repeatedly said it would not agree to Russia's demand to pay in roubles for gas it buys from Gazprom under new rules Russia announced last month. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 U.S. intel helped Ukraine shoot down Russian plane carrying troops WWW.NBCNEWS.COM Ukrainian forces have used specific coordinates shared by the U.S. to direct fire on Russian positions and aircraft, current and former officials tell NBC News. Quote As Russia launched its invasion, the U.S. gave Ukrainian forces detailed intelligence about exactly when and where Russian missiles and bombs were intended to strike, prompting Ukraine to move air defenses and aircraft out of harm’s way, current and former U.S. officials told NBC News. That near real-time intelligence-sharing also paved the way for Ukraine to shoot down a Russian transport plane carrying hundreds of troops in the early days of the war, the officials say, helping repel a Russian assault on a key airport near Kyiv. I'm going to assume that this is referring to the IL-76 that was carrying VDV airborne troops that we still haven't seen the wreckage of Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CayceG Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 So that means it still might have happened! In other news, if you want to donate $1,000 to Ukraine's defense fund, they'll send you a piece of a Russian plane they've shot down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperSpreader Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 Itsatrap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 1 hour ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said: Gazprom has suspended natural gas deliveries to Poland and Germany. Russian gas supplies to Poland halted - Polish media WWW.JPOST.COM Poland has repeatedly said it would not agree to Russia's demand to pay in roubles for gas it buys from Gazprom under new rules Russia announced last month. Germany needs to learn the lesson that if you’re in for a penny, you’re in for a pound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 6 minutes ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said: Germany needs to learn the lesson that if you’re in for a penny, you’re in for a pound. Or in the pre-euro days: "In für einen Pfennig, in für einen Mark." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 2 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said: Or in the pre-euro days: "In für einen Pfennig, in für einen Mark." That is simply not a real word Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 Waiting for @Nokra and @Bloodporne to have a fit at my attempt at German 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CitizenVectron Posted April 26, 2022 Author Share Posted April 26, 2022 Neat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodporne Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 12 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said: Waiting for @Nokra and @Bloodporne to have a fit at my attempt at German That was pretty close really for a literal translation! It would be "eine Mark", not "einen Mark". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 Gazprom has informed Bulgaria that it will also have its natural gas supply cut off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signifyin(g)Monkey Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 2 hours ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said: And prior to that, it was one of the Black Sea Greek colonies, so it really belongs to Athens. Ukraine belongs to the Cossacks. They were just too busy being handsomely rewarded as hitmen for other empires to start one of their own, and forgot to build an imperial city because...well that takes, like, walls, and we just don't do walls on the steppe, bro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodporne Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 24 minutes ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said: That is simply not a real word Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 1 minute ago, Signifyin(g)Monkey said: Ukraine belongs to the Cossacks. They were just too busy being handsomely rewarded as hitmen for other empires to start one of their own, and forgot to build an imperial city because...well that takes, like, walls, and we just don't do walls on the steppe, bro. Cossacks? Absolutely not - they are far too recent! Legitimately, Ukraine belongs to the descendants of the Scythians! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signifyin(g)Monkey Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 4 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said: Cossacks? Absolutely not - they are far too recent! Legitimately, Ukraine belongs to the descendants of the Scythians! The Cimmerians take offense to this post. And to the Scythians proper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 21 minutes ago, Bloodporne said: German is fake news Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaladinSolo Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CitizenVectron Posted April 27, 2022 Author Share Posted April 27, 2022 To be clear, he wouldn't actually know, he just thinks that is what happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CitizenVectron Posted April 27, 2022 Author Share Posted April 27, 2022 Ukraine strikes inside Russia, again: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CayceG Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 Russia is going to drive its populace deeper into poverty in an attempt to recover militarily from this war. I also fear that Russia will collapse in our lifetimes, and that its collapse will be a devastating nightmare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaladinSolo Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaladinSolo Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CitizenVectron Posted April 27, 2022 Author Share Posted April 27, 2022 Russia keeps shooting down the Bayraktars after they hit their targets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 Russia has now threatened to cut off natural gas shipments to any EU state that refuses to pay in rubles. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signifyin(g)Monkey Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 9 hours ago, CitizenVectron said: To be clear, he wouldn't actually know, he just thinks that is what happened. I can’t keep up with all the ‘it was a false flag!’ claims. Can’t remember if I mentioned this, but Russian partisans are claiming Bucha was a false flag: Quote The Ukrainian National Police committed numerous crimes against humanity in Bucha. Biden, in seeking to shift blame for the Bucha murders onto Russia, is guilty of aiding and abetting these crimes. Congratulations America… we’ve created yet another Presidential war criminal!” As Ritter explained in his current Consortium News piece, he had support for that provocative statement. We’ll take the liberty of quoting at length, on the assumption that he wants others to see his work: On the television screen before me, the President of the United States was making a live appearance, where he addressed the Bucha killings. “You may remember I got criticized for calling Putin a war criminal,” Biden told the gathered reporters. “Well, the truth of the matter,” he continued, “you saw what happened in Bucha…. I had just finished an article for Russia Today (RT) on the Bucha incident… The available data coming out of Bucha was ultimately inconclusive but, if anything, strongly suggested Ukrainian culpability, not Russian. The certainty expressed by the President led me to believe that he was privy to classified information otherwise unavailable to the general public…it looked like I might be in the uncomfortable position of having to withdraw my conclusions and correct the record…. Shortly after Biden spoke, however, my cellphone alerted me to a Reuters article with a headline proclaiming, “Pentagon can’t independently confirm atrocities in Ukraine’s Bucha, official says.”…. I turned off the television, and proceeded to spend the next 40 or so minutes researching the available information about the Bucha incident. One of the leading news stories was a New YorkTimes report based upon commercially available imagery which the authors of the article, Malachy Browne, David Botti and Haley Willis, claimed was taken on March 19, 2022, putting a lie to Russian claims that when its troops pulled out of Bucha on March 30, no bodies were present. However, when I examined the video and still photographs of the Bucha bodies, I was struck by the fact that they didn’t appear to have been left in the street to decompose for two weeks (the bodies were “discovered” by the Ukrainian National Police on April 2.) Bluntly speaking, bodies begin to bloat some 3-5 days after death, often doubling in size. They will remain this way for up to ten days, before they burst, spilling a puddle of putrid liquid into the ground around the corpse. In comparing The New York Times’ image with the video of the bodies on the ground, I was struck by a scene in the movie My Cousin Vinny, where Vincent Gambini, a streetwise New York lawyer played by Joe Pesci, cross examined a witness on the issue of the preparation of Grits. “Are we to believe that boiling water soaks into a grit faster in your kitchen than on any place on the face of the earth? Well perhaps the laws of physics cease to exist on your stove!”…. The available evidence that could be extracted from the images from Bucha showed bodies that by appearance appeared to have been killed within 24-36 hours of their discovery—meaning that they were killed after the Russians withdrew from Bucha. The exact time of death, however, could only be determined after a thorough forensic medical examination. Many of the bodies had white cloth strips tied to their upper arm, a visual designation which indicated either loyalty to Russia or that the persons did not pose a threat to Russians. The bodies that lacked this white cloth often had their hands tied behind their backs with white cloth that appeared similar to that which marked the arms of the other bodies. Near to many of the bodies were the green cardboard box adorned with a white star which contained Russian military dry rations that had been distributed to the civilian population of Bucha by Russian troops as part of their humanitarian operations. In short, the evidence suggested that the bodies were of civilians friendly to, or sympathetic with, Russia…. On April 2, an article appeared in an official Ukrainian government website, LB.ua, entitled “Special forces regiment ‘SAFARI’ began to clear Bucha of saboteurs and accomplices of Russia.” According to the article, “Special forces began clearing the liberated, by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, city of Bucha of the Kiev region from saboteurs and accomplices of Russian troops.” According to the article, the Safari Regiment was comprised of personnel from various special police units, including the Rapid Operational Response Unit and the Tactical Operational Response Police. There was other information—a video where a Ukrainian official warns the citizens of Bucha that on April 1 a “cleansing operation” was going to be conducted in Bucha, and that the citizens should remain indoors and not to panic. Another video, also from April 1, purported to show members of the Safari Regiment shooting civilians who were not wearing the blue distinguishing armbands signifying loyalty to the Ukrainian cause. Ritter continues with the Twitter kangaroo court part of the story. He was banned for “abuse and harassment”. I’m of course personally more inclined to believe Ukraine’s claims, but neither side ever really has much backing their accusations up that isn’t mostly speculation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CitizenVectron Posted April 27, 2022 Author Share Posted April 27, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LazyPiranha Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 I am a dummy, how much would this help the value of the ruble? Will this prop it up or just slightly slow the decline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 1 minute ago, LazyPiranha said: I am a dummy, how much would this help the value of the ruble? Will this prop it up or just slightly slow the decline. It would definitely help support its value as it would increase the demand for rubles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 ISW analysis for 26 April 2022: Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 26 | Institute for the Study of War WWW.UNDERSTANDINGWAR.ORG Russian forces have adopted a sounder pattern of operational movement in eastern Ukraine, at least along the line from Izyum to Rubizhne. Russian troops are pushing down multiple roughly parallel roads within supporting distance of one another, allowing Quote Russian forces have adopted a sounder pattern of operational movement in eastern Ukraine, at least along the line from Izyum to Rubizhne. Russian troops are pushing down multiple roughly parallel roads within supporting distance of one another, allowing them to bring more combat power to bear than their previous practice had supported. Russian troops on this line are making better progress than any other Russian advances in this phase of the war. They are pushing from Izyum southwest toward Barvinkove and southeast toward Slovyansk. They are also pushing several columns west and south of Rubizhne, likely intending to encircle it and complete its capture. The Russian advances even in this area are proceeding methodically rather than rapidly, however, and it is not clear how far they will be able to drive or whether they will be able to encircle Ukrainian forces in large numbers. Russian forces on the Izyum axis likely benefit from the absence of prepared Ukrainian defensive positions against attacks from the Kharkiv direction toward Donbas. Ukraine has prepared to defend the line of contact with Russian-occupied Donbas since 2014, and Russian troops continue to struggle to penetrate those prepared defenses—as shown by repeated Russian efforts to take Avdiivka, just north of Donetsk City, or to advance through Popasna, just beyond the original line of contact. Russian troops continued to attack Ukrainian defenders in Mariupol, including in the Azovstal Plant, despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claims that there is no more fighting in the city. Ukrainian forces likely still hold important positions beyond the plant itself, and Russian forces continue to fight outside the plant, bomb the plant, and assault positions near the plant. Putin’s order not to chase Ukrainian defenders into the tunnels and catacombs of the facility evidently did not preclude continued efforts to secure at least the entire perimeter of the plant and likely also the important M14 highway that runs along it to the north and northwest. Russia is staging false-flag attacks in Transnistria, Moldova, likely setting conditions for further actions on that front. The two motorized rifle battalions Russia has illegally maintained in Transnistria since the end of the Cold War are not likely sufficient to mount a credible attack on Odesa by themselves, nor are the Russians likely to be able to reinforce them enough to allow them to do so. They could support more limited attacks to the northwest of Odesa, possibly causing panic and creating psychological effects to benefit Russian operations in the south of Ukraine. Russia may also seek to destabilize Moldova itself, however. Comments by the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic and other Russian officials and proxies raise the possibility that Putin might recognize the self-styled Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR) in Transnistria as he recognized the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics. The PMR could then ask for additional Russian protection, and Putin could attempt to send some additional forces or capabilities to Transnistria. Any such activities would greatly raise tensions and fears in Moldova and neighboring Romania, putting additional pressure on NATO, possibly giving Putin a cheap “win,” and distracting from Russia’s slog in eastern Ukraine. Continued indications that Russian forces intend to hold referenda to establish “people’s republics” in occupied areas of southern Ukraine raise the possibility that Putin intends to unveil an array of new “independent” “people’s republics” as part of a Victory Day celebration. The forecast cone is wide, and there is as yet no solid basis to assess one path as much more likely than another. But the false-flag attacks and Russian and Russian proxy reactions to them are alarming, and it behooves NATO and the West to consider the most dangerous courses of action and prepare to meet them. Key Takeaways Russian forces continue to make slow but steady progress south from Izyum and northwest of Rubizhne, but Russian offensive operations elsewhere along the line in eastern Ukraine remain unsuccessful. Fighting continues in Mariupol, where Ukrainian defenders apparently still hold positions beyond the Azovstal Plant. Russia and/or Russian proxies have staged false-flag attacks in Russian-occupied Transnistria, possibly to threaten a (very likely unsuccessful) attack on Odesa, possibly to destabilize Moldova. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CitizenVectron Posted April 27, 2022 Author Share Posted April 27, 2022 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CitizenVectron Posted April 27, 2022 Author Share Posted April 27, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chairslinger Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 36 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said: I didn't realize there was a Russian word for "sheesh"..... I am left imagining Drago in his corner in between rounds saying, "sheesh that guy can take a punch!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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