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I thought it was switched off anyway?

It was never switched on, Germany didn't certificate it. Russia stuffed 300mn m cu in in preparation


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 3:02 pm
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Are the russians closing the boarder crossings to men of fighting age or are they letting possible conscripts to leave the country?


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 3:21 pm
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Now that all tnose with money and power have got their sons & friends out I expect they will close the borders. Animal farm my a@@e!!!


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 3:29 pm
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The Nordstream 2 issue around the island off Denmark.... it will be interesting to see if it has been purposely damaged by some sort of attack as opposed to a rupture or failure of the pipe due to manufacturing defects.

It goes south of the Danish island Bornholm and the submarines from Konigsberg have to go somewhere unless a surface ship has done some damage...

5 mile shipping exclusion zone as the gas is absorbed in the seawater and could cause bouyancy issues or ignite on the surface..


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 3:36 pm
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^ some interesting observations from Danes, Swedes and Germans about such large leaks, something unprecedented by natural causes, and in NS1 and NS2 almost simultaneously....

Do we think Pooters is now throwing the toys?


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 3:49 pm
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A No Smoking sign needs placing nearby.


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 3:50 pm
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So even if the EU apologise and ask to buy more gas they can't? What economic threat does putin have left?


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 3:53 pm
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I'm waiting for Surging Lavatory to state it was done by a Ukrainian Submarine..


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 4:04 pm
 DT78
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What entirely was the point in blowing it up? If it’s not in use

I’m confused.


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 4:10 pm
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Because it will now not be able to be used. It's a "fsck you" _if_ it was deliberate Russian sabotage.


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 4:14 pm
 DT78
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I would have thought they could achieve more by cutting underwater cables and denying it. I’m sure I read an article about the Russians having that sort of capability


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 4:15 pm
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In light of recent discoveries it's hard to know whether it's deliberate by the Russians or just shoddy engineering or lack of upkeep.


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 5:25 pm
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What entirely was the point in blowing it up? If it’s not in use

I’m confused.

Yep it doesn't make sense. If Russia are responsible, it looks to me like they have taken one of their own pieces off the board for no gain. I would say that there is more to the story


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 6:07 pm
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I’ve just watched a video of a drafted young Russian in his barracks have his leg broken by his mate jumping on it, to avoid being sent to fight.

On a human level this mobilisation is just tragic.


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 6:39 pm
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What entirely was the point in blowing it up?

A false flag that they will blame on NATO? A practice for blowing up the new Norwegian pipeline (and others?)

But they have lost one of their bargaining points, even if EU push for a ceasefire, they won't get the gas restored.


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 6:47 pm
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In light of recent discoveries it’s hard to know whether it’s deliberate by the Russians or just shoddy engineering or lack of upkeep.

Is it not managed by a German company and was installed by international group of companies?

It's odd if they have done something, but perhaps it's just hard man, I'm in control, desperation? So far Pootin has proved a master strategist...


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 6:56 pm
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I’ve just watched a video of a drafted young Russian in his barracks have his leg broken by his mate jumping on it, to avoid being sent to fight.

That is seriously grim.

Today the Ukrainians around have reported thier first POW's from the mobilized conscripts, captured near Lyman.

Fog of War and all that but it looks like the Russian authorities scooped them up and shoved them straight into the front line, with predictable results.


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 7:27 pm
 DT78
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Article on the telegraph about why would putin blow up his own pipelines. I’m none the wiser. Plenty of comments suggesting it was nato/us/uk


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 7:31 pm
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He blows up the currently unused pipeline to prove he has the capacity to do the same to the Sweden/Poland one that came on stream today and reduces central Europe's dependency on Russia. I obviously wasn't explicit enough about that this morning.

Holes and damage can be repaired. If it floods with seawater, that could be a much significant issue, depending on exactly what material it's made from.


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 8:19 pm
 DrJ
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In a previous incarnation I studied seismic focal mechanisms with the Swedish defence research organisation. For me it was a good jolly to spend a year in Sweden. Turns out there was a point after all!!


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 8:25 pm
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seismic focal mechanisms

Guinness or Curry?


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 8:28 pm
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The article in DT78 suggests a plausible reason, create a sense of risk/scarcity in the market and push prices up. (Although I didn’t see any comments, was that on Twotter or FB and possibly mostly Bots?)

But gas prices have been dropping for the past four days. After the news of the suspected sabotage to the pipes, they rose by 12 per cent.

[url= https://i.postimg.cc/gjmMG5Vr/nguk-com.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/gjmMG5Vr/nguk-com.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

Particularly after forecasts like this https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/sep/13/gas-prices-eu-fall-sharply-goldman-sachs-eu-russia

Goldman said on Tuesday it expected European wholesale natural gas prices to fall from about €215 (£186) a megawatt hour to below €100 a MWh by the end of the first quarter of next year, assuming typical winter weather conditions. That is well below the €213 previously predicted.


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 8:32 pm
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Looks like Lyman is going to be in Ukrainian hands soon, at no small cost to Ukraine

Wagner prisoners and newly drafted soldier captured/ surrendering will be a headache for Ukraine to feed & detain


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 8:39 pm
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The article in DT78 suggests a plausible reason, create a sense of risk/scarcity in the market and push prices up.

In addition to the above; in 2021 Russia was blamed for a cyber-attack on the US Colonial Pipeline and earlier this year on the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp regional oil hub.
Russia can't effectively demonstrate a cyber-attack on unused pipelines and their capability might not work on brand-new infrastructure and control systems.
In a further hint of desperation they launch attacks in Danish waters on their own pipelines which upsets market predictions of NS re-opening in 2023, upsets the opening of the Baltic Pipe Project in October and increases the economic shock in Europe. This lays the ground for pro-Russia leaders in Italy to start demanding a ceasefire and deals


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 8:57 pm
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tthew
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He blows up the currently unused pipeline to prove he has the capacity to do the same to the Sweden/Poland one that came on stream today and reduces central Europe’s dependency on Russia.

That has to be the only plausible explanation I think.

It's very Putin, isn't it?


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 9:00 pm
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Remind me who is winning again?


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 9:26 pm
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What is it "winning" looks like to you?

Genuine question.

To me this doesn't look like a scenario where anybody really wins, more who loses the least. And even then...


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 9:30 pm
 pk13
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If the pipeline is deep enough it will be a pancake now it might have compressed and be completely squishy down there.
NATO aren't that daft to do this they have the upper hand both with firepower and morales.
I can see Putin taking out the fiber cables though


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 9:39 pm
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Given that Putin doesn't give a sh1t about his people, I'd say they are losing the least. They have the gas, they have huge reserves of money and we have an economy on brink along with most others in the west. His war on the west is doing pretty much what he wants it to be doing.


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 9:42 pm
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When one dictator tries to cheer up his fellow dictator...utterly surreal.


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 9:45 pm
 pk13
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Are you saying Russia has more cash than the EU / west?

I hate to break it to you.
Putin might be the worlds richest man off the books but that makes no difference if you rule over an empire of dirt.


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 9:50 pm
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The "Inside Russia" YouTuber has, well, left Russia.

For anyone that watched any of his stuff


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 10:11 pm
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I've no military training.
However I'm fairly confident the instructor shouldn't stand there or grab that...
https://twitter.com/TpyxaNews/status/1574795540767850499?t=iiZ6XFm0P7ag444tL_Zj9Q&s=19


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 10:15 pm
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Got to love a bit of quo


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 10:18 pm
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Question is what happens next after Putin has upended his country by mobilising

And he still keeps losing

https://twitter.com/lilygrutcher/status/1574729924392325120?t=HKwtjMhO0ap_8juiDcnyzg&s=19


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 10:29 pm
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NATO aren’t that daft to do this they have the upper hand both with firepower and morales.

In early February President Biden promised to "end" NS2 (specifically) as a threat to prevent the invasion by Russia. After that promise NS2 wasn't certificated and hasn't pumped gas and it simply serves no purpose for the US or its allies to damage the pipelines.
The damage in Danish waters is significant and tells Europe that Russia can damage the Baltic Pipe Project. Those Russian subs that were parked in Russian waters after leaving Crimea will now be targetted if they re-enter Ukrainian waters


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 10:29 pm
 pk13
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The minions need to step up and remove him after his birthday party where no one drinks the tea or eats the cake


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 10:32 pm
 pk13
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Timba
I think Putin did it in all honesty


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 10:35 pm
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popping NS2 wasn't about popping NS2 which wasn't connected anyway

It was about showing off the capability to damage undersea infrastructure under our noses

Think of all the other pipelines running under sea .... gas..... telecoms and data connections to the USA

Putin wants us to know he can damage them whenever he feels like it


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 10:38 pm
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Think of all the other pipelines running under sea …. gas….. telecoms and data connections to the USA

And how disruptive it will be for months to repair things.

☹️


 
Posted : 27/09/2022 10:52 pm
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I must admit I really think we need to think beyond events in Ukraine. Putin is self-evidently waging war against the West as a whole. Given the USSR failed primarily because of its economic weakness it isn’t surprising that Putin will be trying the same trick in reverse. You have to hope that Russia’s economy will crack first. I just wish we had a vaguely competent government which wasn’t doing Putin’s job for him.


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 12:05 am
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The UA have crossed the river to the East of Lyman and headed towards Kreminna.

This means Lyman is operationally encircles as the only remaining road in/out for the RF is under UA guns.

With the loss of Lyman (and god knows how many troops and bits of kit, they've been flooding the area) the UA are now poised to drive either NE into Luhansk or directly East to Severodonetsk.

Putin is in real trouble as a well trained, well equipped and well motivated army trounces an ill equipped, poorly (if at all) trained and extremely demotivated army


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 12:13 am
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wzzzz
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popping NS2 wasn’t about popping NS2 which wasn’t connected anyway

It was about showing off the capability to damage undersea infrastructure under our noses

Was that in doubt? I mean, it didn't used to be, is it possible that Russia's reputation is now so weak that they have to re-establish things like this?


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 12:38 am
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Was that in doubt? I mean, it didn’t used to be, is it possible that Russia’s reputation is now so weak that they have to re-establish things like this?

They are demonstrating their willingness to do it.


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 12:40 am
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So, "referendum" votes have been counted. Anyone want to take a stab at the results? ☹️


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 1:58 am
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Russia have formally declared a win in the "referendums"...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-63052207

99.23% in favour.... Yeah... right.

So, they will become part of Russia in a matter of weeks... Even though parts of the territories are actually in UA hands.

If Putin is going to use nukes, we're going to find out soon. I'm still calling BS on that one though.


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 1:58 am
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99.23% in favour

What was the turnout 170%?


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 7:38 am
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@pk13

Timba, I think Putin did it in all honesty

I don't doubt you, honest 🙂 My post was meant to back your point up


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 7:45 am
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I must admit I really think we need to think beyond events in Ukraine.

I’m not saying this because I’m some sort of Geopolitical boffin, but I’ve been there for a long time.

When Moscow describes the fall of the Soviet Union as a “genuine tragedy”, they meant for Moscow, not the former members. The Baltic states like Lithuania that Gorbachev sent the tanks into to prevent independence no doubt have a different perspective.

The source of that “genuine tragedy” statement being Putin back in 2005.


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 8:37 am
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I love an internet...

If the pipeline is deep enough it will be a pancake now it might have compressed and be completely squishy down there.

To minimise the risk of pipe collapse during installation, buckle arrestors (pipe reinforcement) are installed at specific intervals in susceptible areas. The buckle arrestors are welded into the pipelines in those areas that are susceptible to propagation buckling, i.e., deeper sea areas.

The buckle arrestors are made of the same steel alloy as the line pipes and are equal in length to the line pipes. However, these pipes has a greater wall thickness, with machined thinner wall ends to match the adjoining line pipe.

Buckle arrestors are used along a 305 km stretch of the pipeline, and the spacing between them is 927m (equal to 76 line pipes).

Once its full of sea water its not collapsing, Shirley...

Personally, I could believe the US did it to kill any last bargaining option that Russia may have had with it. German winter gas reserves are high and I think the next day another line to Poland was opened. Ads - B have aircraft flying laps of Konigsberg so any movement would be spotted there. Biden is on record saying they have the means to do this, back in February. Its easy to pin it on Russia and get it to stick.... but this is just my way of joining the dots here and all sides closing the conversation about NS1 and 2.

We probably will never know beyond speculation and I'm thankful there are people managing the responses who are closer to the event and privy to info we don't have...


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 8:37 am
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Once its full of sea water its not collapsing, Shirley…

Hard to see the pipe would have been laid fully pressurised as well? Definitely a question, not a statement.


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 8:41 am
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Tech and process fest is here:
https://www.wermac.org/nordstream/nordstream_part3.html

Stage info on the r-h side.


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 8:43 am
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Personally, I could believe the US did it to kill any last bargaining option that Russia may have had with it.

Nah. It was Greenpeace.


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 8:44 am
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Earlier reports saying a 15% turnout in he referendum in one area, but that might have been before voting closed. In which case about 14% of the population agree to annexation.

I wonder how many of the voters are visiting Russian squaddies.


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 8:47 am
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Think of all the other pipelines running under sea …. gas….. telecoms and data connections to the USA

Putin wants us to know he can damage them whenever he feels like it

Not sure I buy this (although granted there's not really any alternative logical explanation I've seen either). NATO intelligence know full well the capabilities Russia has to damage/cut undersea pipelines and cables. A demonstration isn't needed and even if it were, doing it on pipelines you might want operational in future is akin to someone punching themselves in the face on a night out to prove how hard they can hit someone as a warning.

Given the mess Russia has made of many 'covert' ops over the last decade even Putin would have thought there's a 50% chance of Russian saboteurs either being detected or blowing themselves up which would have had the opposite effect (if his motivation was intimidation).

Destabilising the energy market even further is maybe more plausible but even with that I'd have thought the market would have factored in no Russian gas for at least 12 months anyway so any blip in reaction to it would be very short term.


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 9:15 am
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I could believe the US did it

Its easy to pin it on Russia and get it to stick….

If it wasn't Russia, they'd be apoplectic. Screaming from the rooftops that it was an act of war to damage their export infrastructure, a direct terrorist attack on their economy and a massive provocation/escalation.  They'd be demanding UN resolutions, threatening retaliatory strikes on western energy infrastructure and properly losing their shit.  I've seen none of that (specifically in relation to the pipeline attack), a few muted and unconvincing denials, probably accompanied by a 'prove it' smirk.


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 9:29 am
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We probably will never know beyond speculation

It was Russia. There's absolutely no doubt about that. The pipelines were both closed and there is no chance of them reopening in the foreseeable future so they have no economic value to Russia. This is Russia sending a message that they will escalate and blow up energy infrastructure. However, they did it outside of NATO borders because they don't know how NATO will actually respond if they attack a target within NATO borders. If it wasn't Russia, they would be kicking up a huge fuss, but by not acknowledging it was them, they can throw wild accusations around that it was Ukraine/Poland/USA/etc. as a distraction from their warcriming in Ukraine.


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 9:56 am
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If it wasn’t Russia, they’d be apoplectic.

The US has too much to lose in regional support for it to be worth the risk.

In my uneducated opinion.


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 9:57 am
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This how a conspiracy theory begins: What happened can never ever be the bleedin’ obvious.


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 10:03 am
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The US has too much to lose in regional support for it to be worth the risk.

In case it wasn't crystal clear from my post you quoted, I am absolutely convinced it was Russia and believe it to be highly unlikely the US or anyone else was involved.  Just saying the very half hearted Russian denials underline that further.


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 10:10 am
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It's simple really, it caused a gas price spike that will hurt EU economies and benefit Russia selling to other nations. Little chance of it getting switched back on anyway, so why not.


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 10:38 am
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In case it wasn’t crystal clear from my post you quoted

Not only was it Crystal Clear, it was holding a placard and megaphone announcing it 🙃


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 11:07 am
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If it wasn’t Russia, they would be kicking up a huge fuss,

Yep, I agree, they would be playing the "poor me" card, I grant you.


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 11:13 am
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On the tele program Warship the RN sent a destroyer toward Iceland.
There were reports of a Russian sub trying to find the data cables between the uk amd usa.
It ended with the sub hitting the towed sonar array, probably trying tp hide in the prop noise and getting it wrong
This bust the sonar so the destroyer had to rtb


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 11:48 am
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I know people (myself included) have been predicting the fall of Lyman for a while now but that's because the Russian situation there has looked untenable for quite some time, that has not changed, what's drawn this out is that Putin (in his new role as grand commander) has been throwing resources into Lyman to shore it up and insisting that troops there do not fall back.

As a result it has meant that Ukrainians have had to fight particularly hard around Lyman but now they seem to be on the cusp of winning quite a bit of Russia's best remaining kit and units are now caught in an encirclement and could well be about to be captured en masse.

Whether the slog to get to this point means that the Ukr forces will then need pause to recover and resupply or whether they will use the chaos of the fall of Lyman to force another Kharkiv-style rout remains to be seen, although I think we'd all love to see the latter.


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 11:52 am
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Encircle Lyman and Press on towards Svatove, would be my game plan. Lyman can be taken slowly. The RA should pull out of Lyman, but will they?


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 12:01 pm
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When one dictator tries to cheer up his fellow dictator…utterly surreal.

Accidental Partridge?


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 12:02 pm
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Whether the slog to get to this point means that the Ukr forces will then need pause to recover and resupply or whether they will use the chaos of the fall of Lyman to force another Kharkiv-style rout remains to be seen, although I think we’d all love to see the latter.

My understanding is that operational pauses tend to happen after a lot of ground has just been gained, to allow supply lines and defences to be put in place. Lyman has been taken inch by inch, so they might not need a pause? We'll see I guess


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 12:13 pm
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https://edition.cnn.com/2022/09/28/opinions/how-close-putin-nuclear-war-de-bretton-gordon/index.html

Ex NATO commander of specialised nuke / chemical unit is hypothesizing that Russia might target a nuclear power plant or chemical factories in Ukraine.

It would allow them to make an improvised nuke / chemical strike with plausible disability that it was intentional.

Sounds entirely possible to me.


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 12:18 pm
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The troops taking the ground around Lyman have been fighting hard for weeks now, they will need to stop just to rest if Ukraine wants to preserve their effectiveness.

The question is whether Ukraine has a strategic reserve behind them ready to capitalise on the fall of Lyman and force another Kharkiv-style breakthrough. (Remember those Hummers with .50 M2's on them we saw tearing through the Russian rear a few weeks back, that kind of unit)

Analysis of their troop movements and how much equipment has been seen on the front line vs what we know they've received suggests they do, but that could be wishful thinking.


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 12:25 pm
 DT78
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https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-coast-guard-spots-chinese-guided-missile-cruiser-russian-naval-ships-alaska-island/

Also seen this posted on a few news sites, Chinese and Russian ships in formation together, what are they up to?

Any important pipes or cables close by?


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 1:04 pm
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A friend sent me a screenshot from an article on seapowermagazine.org regarding US Navy exercises (BALTOPS) just off the Danish coast involving mine hunters and 'mock explosives' in June 22.

Is decidedly coincidental timing at best if you are conspiratorially inclined... Makes you think etc etc


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 1:18 pm
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It's a measure of how confusing our times have become when we can't even work out which side blew up the pipeline


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 1:41 pm
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Is decidedly coincidental timing at best if you are conspiratorially inclined… Makes you think etc etc

I'll get this out of the way; no, I don't think that you're conspiratorially inclined... 🙂
That was the 51st BALTOPS and seems to be a June fixture. What makes you think is that they haven't worked it out how to win yet 🙂
The Russian Navy shadowed the exercise, as normal I imagine


 
Posted : 28/09/2022 1:42 pm
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