The Ukraine Situation

Post by **StringThing** » Tue Mar 01, 2022 11:10 am

https://www.reuters.com/business/master ... 022-03-01/

Visa, Mastercard block Russian financial institutions after sanctions

I had to look it up, but they do use Visa and Mastercard widely in Russia. So this is pretty effective. I wonder if people will even be able to use an ATM? I imagine everyone is trying to withdraw their money so they can convert it to something more stable.

Post by **herbalhippie** » Tue Mar 01, 2022 11:19 am

Russia is getting stripped of so.many.things. I love to see it.

Post by **Loveandpeace** » Tue Mar 01, 2022 11:48 am

Me too Hippie. It is like when that asshole kid, who gets away with everything, starts to realize their life ain't shit. That kid should have made some friends, even fake ones might help you out.

NOT HERE!!

I also found this on Reddit. Supposedly this is what Putin is telling his army.

Post by **herbalhippie** » Tue Mar 01, 2022 11:49 am

I subbed at r/russia the other day just to keep an eye on it and this morning it's no longer there.

Post by **StringThing** » Tue Mar 01, 2022 2:39 pm

I looked through that sub a bit over these last weeks. Totally filled with propaganda about 'NATO expansion'. There are people online still saying civilians aren't being killed... I want to say they're bots, if only because- how can you be on the English speaking internet at this point and not see the atrocities being committed by Russian soldiers? How can you blame this on anyone but Putin? The whole world is shouting SLAVA UKRANI.

Side note: I live in Illinois, where they test tornado sirens on the first Tuesday of every month. Absolutely scared the shit out of me for a second lol. I thought bombs were coming.

Putin needs the Caesar treatment.

Post by **StringThing** » Tue Mar 01, 2022 2:44 pm

Loveandpeace wrote: ↑Tue Mar 01, 2022 11:48 am
I also found this on Reddit. Supposedly this is what Putin is telling his army.

I do not understand how Putin gets away with that 'Nazi ideology' thing.

Zelenskyy is Jewish and had family who fought against Hitler for the USSR. Like... ??? What Nazi policy could he possibly support? Privatization of the railroad industry, maybe??? Does he want to make tobacco illegal? What could he possibly be doing to be misconstrued as a Nazi?

How did a (former) top KGB agent compose such flimsy lies?

Post by **herbalhippie** » Tue Mar 01, 2022 2:45 pm

StringThing wrote: ↑Tue Mar 01, 2022 2:39 pm

Putin needs the Caesar treatment.

https://old.reddit.com/r/ukraine/commen ... bounty_on/

Post by **StringThing** » Tue Mar 01, 2022 2:48 pm

herbalhippie wrote: ↑Tue Mar 01, 2022 2:45 pm
StringThing wrote: ↑Tue Mar 01, 2022 2:39 pm

Putin needs the Caesar treatment.

https://old.reddit.com/r/ukraine/commen ... bounty_on/

Oh my god I love it

Post by **StringThing** » Tue Mar 01, 2022 8:17 pm

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.47112,3 ... a=!3m1!1e3

I would like to say that I think this was on accident. They were bombing the Kyiv TV Tower which is/was amazingly sturdy. But still... its pretty messed up.

Post by **StringThing** » Tue Mar 01, 2022 8:23 pm

https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/commen ... _anywhere/

Ukraine’s chief Rabbi said "I'm not going anywhere, I'm staying here to help" and told Russian Jews, and Russians in general, to wake up. "I swear on the Torah I'm holding... If I'll have to die, I curse each and everyone who staid silent and cooperated by not speaking up about this crime."

You guys think this Rabbi is a Nazi too?????

Post by **StringThing** » Tue Mar 01, 2022 11:38 pm

this is not good

Post by **StringThing** » Wed Mar 02, 2022 12:29 am

Post by **herbalhippie** » Wed Mar 02, 2022 12:37 am

Would you just look at that happy bullshit.

Post by **StringThing** » Wed Mar 02, 2022 11:13 am

US appears to be trying to get Sweden and Finland to join NATO right away. They were never even considering joining before. Putin is a truly a master strategist. Maybe he is a US spy, sent to sabotage Russian interests???????!?!?!?!?!?!

Seriously tho, I have to say - I am not very comfortable with the way the world is 'testing' a man with 5k+ nuclear arms. I'm not saying anyone needs to capitulate but, Putin isn't the kind to chicken out or lose face. He won't back down without gaining something. I suspect part of the negotiation deals will be for Russia to adopt areas of Eastern Ukraine and that will be how he gets a small 'win' out of this. However, I don't think Zelenskyy would be into that. It's still early in the war, and as bad as it is, I don't think the Ukrainians are desperate enough to give up ANY part of their homeland.

I'm really afraid Zelenskyy will be killed sometime in the next few weeks. I hope he's not still in Kiev.

Disappointed by Biden's state of the union address. He needs to give Putin an 'out'. I think it's important to remember that Putin's life is on the line here too. Russian Tsars don't tend to have peaceful deaths. Putin needs to see that he will be in control of Russia until he is old and frail, as unjust as that might sound.

Post by **herbalhippie** » Wed Mar 02, 2022 11:58 am

StringThing wrote: ↑Wed Mar 02, 2022 11:13 am

Disappointed by Biden's state of the union address. He needs to give Putin an 'out'. I think it's important to remember that Putin's life is on the line here too. Russian Tsars don't tend to have peaceful deaths. Putin needs to see that he will be in control of Russia until he is old and frail, as unjust as that might sound.

I suspect he needed to look 'hard' to satisfy that block of voters who would say he has a weak stance in this. But I agree.

I'm sure his advisers are very good though.

Post by **StringThing** » Wed Mar 02, 2022 12:32 pm

herbalhippie wrote: ↑Wed Mar 02, 2022 11:58 am
StringThing wrote: ↑Wed Mar 02, 2022 11:13 am

Disappointed by Biden's state of the union address. He needs to give Putin an 'out'. I think it's important to remember that Putin's life is on the line here too. Russian Tsars don't tend to have peaceful deaths. Putin needs to see that he will be in control of Russia until he is old and frail, as unjust as that might sound.
I suspect he needed to look 'hard' to satisfy that block of voters who would say he has a weak stance in this. But I agree.

I'm sure his advisers are very good though.

Yeah, I think it's hard to accurately judge this situation without all the information (which nobody is revealing). It appears that the US has some kind of high level intelligence gathering in the Kremlin, and makes me wonder what else they know and haven't said. Their actions could be predicated on factors unknown to us.

Kind of tired of living in interesting times.

Post by **herbalhippie** » Wed Mar 02, 2022 12:45 pm

Yeah, me too. I actually thrive on chaos, but only up to a point. lol

Post by **herbalhippie** » Wed Mar 02, 2022 3:07 pm

https://old.reddit.com/r/ukraine/commen ... s_on_ebay/

Post by **herbalhippie** » Wed Mar 02, 2022 6:42 pm

Starving Surrendered Russian Soldier Cries During Video Call With His Mother

https://god.dailydot.com/russian-soldie ... g7JaB64K48

Post by **StringThing** » Wed Mar 02, 2022 6:53 pm

herbalhippie wrote: ↑Wed Mar 02, 2022 3:07 pm

https://old.reddit.com/r/ukraine/commen ... s_on_ebay/

Slava Ukrani!

Post by **StringThing** » Wed Mar 02, 2022 6:54 pm

herbalhippie wrote: ↑Wed Mar 02, 2022 6:42 pm

Starving Surrendered Russian Soldier Cries During Video Call With His Mother

https://god.dailydot.com/russian-soldie ... g7JaB64K48

The amount of videos like this is kind of shocking.

I wonder what percentage of the Russian military is against this or at least having doubts

Post by **herbalhippie** » Wed Mar 02, 2022 7:00 pm

StringThing wrote: ↑Wed Mar 02, 2022 6:54 pm
herbalhippie wrote: ↑Wed Mar 02, 2022 6:42 pm

Starving Surrendered Russian Soldier Cries During Video Call With His Mother

https://god.dailydot.com/russian-soldie ... g7JaB64K48
The amount of videos like this is kind of shocking.

I wonder what percentage of the Russian military is against this or at least having doubts

I don't know but I had a good cry over this article and so did two of my daughters.

Post by **StringThing** » Wed Mar 02, 2022 7:14 pm

herbalhippie wrote: ↑Wed Mar 02, 2022 7:00 pm
StringThing wrote: ↑Wed Mar 02, 2022 6:54 pm
herbalhippie wrote: ↑Wed Mar 02, 2022 6:42 pm

Starving Surrendered Russian Soldier Cries During Video Call With His Mother

https://god.dailydot.com/russian-soldie ... g7JaB64K48
The amount of videos like this is kind of shocking.

I wonder what percentage of the Russian military is against this or at least having doubts
I don't know but I had a good cry over this article and so did two of my daughters.

Honestly I cannot watch those videos anymore. I did watch that one earlier, and many others, but fuck... it's too depressing. People dying for ZERO REASON. For reasons they don't even believe in. Because they're afraid of punishment.

The only good takeaway is that Russian soldiers have been surrendering from day 1. The ones in these videos will probably go back to their mothers.

Post by **StringThing** » Wed Mar 02, 2022 7:18 pm

https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/commen ... dorkovsky/

Exiled oligarch

Most important line of this video:

"Is it not worth it to spend 15 nights in jail, to prevent one civilian from getting killed?"

Post by **StringThing** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 10:39 am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu6xUG9zoRg

RUSSIA VS SANCTIONS: how they affect regular Russians

-from a Russian.

Apparently prices are going UP as the ruble goes DOWN, which makes things even worse.

Russians are not even allowed to deposit money in a foreign account now. Putin' signed a law making it so that everyone who gets paid in foreign currency has to convert at least 80% to rubles within 3 days of getting paid. Doesn't matter though since most people like this dude can't even access the money.

Pretty damn fucked.

Post by **StringThing** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 1:27 pm

https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/commen ... annel_the/

The Entire staff of the Russian TV channel “the rain” resigned during a live stream with last words: “no war” and then played “swan lake” ballet video (just like they did on all USSR tv channels when it suddenly collapsed)

Post by **herbalhippie** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 1:32 pm

StringThing wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 1:27 pm https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/commen ... annel_the/

The Entire staff of the Russian TV channel “the rain” resigned during a live stream with last words: “no war” and then played “swan lake” ballet video (just like they did on all USSR tv channels when it suddenly collapsed)

Saw that! Good for them!

Post by **StringThing** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 2:44 pm

I was happy to see it, but I kind of wish things were calming down instead.

I keep flip flopping on whether or not I think Putin is likely to use nuclear arms. He is mentioning nuclear weapons almost daily.

The fog of war makes it really difficult to know if its likely. US officials say it isn't. But in war time, its usually beneficial to keep people 'calm'. Look at Zelenskyy's statements in the weeks prior to the invasion. I know the UK and Europe had similar news before the start of WWII. "Hitler would never do that. It's just sabre rattling"

I do think its unlikely but idk. It's been on my mind a lot. Especially after that image with Lukashenko showing a supposed planned invasion of Moldova and Transnistria. I always kind of felt they had bigger plans just based on the whole 'Moscow: The Third Rome" thing but its disturbing to see it. I get the feeling that Russia will try to split a significant part of Ukraine in these negotiations, and not just settle for the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. I think Putin's short-term goal (if they can't take all of Ukraine) is dominance of the Black Sea.

Post by **herbalhippie** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 2:51 pm

I keep waiting for the day when the headlines are he's been "taken care of"

Post by **StringThing** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 3:33 pm

herbalhippie wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 2:51 pm I keep waiting for the day when the headlines are he's been "taken care of"

I hope so much that happens.

Recently found out that Mikhail Mishustin (PM) would be the one to replace him and I think he is so much less of an ideologue than Putin. Still very corrupt but I don't feel he would continue this. He replaced a Putin puppet (former president Mendeleev) as PM. Not sure how he'd fare for Russia but it'd be great for Ukraine.

Post by **StringThing** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 3:42 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjgqQcKE3DY

Lay that missile down, babe
Lay that missile down
Missile-packin' Putin
Lay that thing down before it goes off and hurts somebody

Post by **herbalhippie** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 7:23 pm

Watch the video then go down and read the first comment.

https://old.reddit.com/r/ukraine/commen ... f_russian/

Post by **StringThing** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 9:27 pm

herbalhippie wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 7:23 pm Watch the video then go down and read the first comment.

https://old.reddit.com/r/ukraine/commen ... f_russian/

Damn what a ridiculously good shot.

Post by **StringThing** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 9:29 pm

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukrai ... 7a645a9154

Europe’s largest nuclear power plant on fire after shelling

A government official told The Associated Press that elevated levels of radiation were detected near the site of the plant, which provides about 25% of Ukraine’s power generation.

Post by **herbalhippie** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 9:47 pm

StringThing wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 9:27 pm
herbalhippie wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 7:23 pm Watch the video then go down and read the first comment.

https://old.reddit.com/r/ukraine/commen ... f_russian/
Damn what a ridiculously good shot.

derussianizing whoosh kerblam in the translation just about caused me to spit out my tea.

Are they giving military grade weapons to anyone who's willing to shoot?

Post by **herbalhippie** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 9:48 pm

StringThing wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 9:29 pm https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukrai ... 7a645a9154

Europe’s largest nuclear power plant on fire after shelling

A government official told The Associated Press that elevated levels of radiation were detected near the site of the plant, which provides about 25% of Ukraine’s power generation.

This is very distressing.

Post by **StringThing** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 11:03 pm

herbalhippie wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 9:47 pm
StringThing wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 9:27 pm
herbalhippie wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 7:23 pm Watch the video then go down and read the first comment.

https://old.reddit.com/r/ukraine/commen ... f_russian/
Damn what a ridiculously good shot.
derussianizing whoosh kerblam in the translation just about caused me to spit out my tea.

Are they giving military grade weapons to anyone who's willing to shoot?

Lmao I did not see that comment at first.

I don't think they're giving them away per se (only rifles) but they're probably pretty easy to get right now. Just go to the nearest abandoned convoy and start looting!

Post by **StringThing** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 11:08 pm

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/20 ... 358786002/

Gas prices in many US cities will hit $5 in 'weeks.' Some are already higher

Get ready for our gas prices to start catching up with the rest of the world.

Post by **herbalhippie** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 11:14 pm

Today I saw $3.99 - $4.09 in town. We got gas at Costco a couple days ago for $3.79 which was cheaper than anywhere else I saw on the way there.

Ah well, I'm ready for it. At least we don't have to drive far to get where we need to go around here. I do feel bad for people that have to put on
a lot of miles though.