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Has anyone seen the AirBnB thing?
Yep, did the airbnb thing a few days ago. Got an amazing email back saying the owner was safe in Moldova. Near had me in bits (well that's what Google translate told me anyway).
I made sure i went for one that was a room in a house rather than going to a big hotel, looked like she was booked out for weeks to come. Cost me sod all but nice to know that it might help a little, hopefully in years to come i can get to go and visit odessa
So I just passed the Manchester pro-Ukraine rally and saw what looked like far right flags. Anyone care to explain that?
Provisional wing of the Tory party?
Has anyone seen the AirBnB thing?
Is it like the Google reviews of central Moscow hotels and attractions, where people had posted pictures of the Ukrainian bomb sites? I'd imagine Saruman's goblins have censored them by now.
^^ No the Air B&B is to channel money to people in ukraine.
we are still one of the biggest economies in the world
Thanks in part to all that lovely Russian cash.
No the Air B&B is to channel money to people in ukraine
Ah ok.
That's the bad boy. Brilliant idea.
^^ No the Air B&B is to channel money to people in ukraine.
Apparently there is a similar thing on Etsy. A lot of artists on there sell items as a PDF so you can buy without them having to do anything.
Why not just wire the money directly to the seller or give to an aid organisation rather than etsy/Air bnb skimming their % off the top?
FYI Air bnb have waived all fees for Ukrainian rentals
Edit: @ceepers got there first. Easy have done the same for sellers based in the Ukraine.
Within six minutes of that turd arriving, Truss would pose for pics with it for her Insta account.
🎁💩🤭🤪📸👍🏼
Is it like the Google reviews of central Moscow hotels and attractions, where people had posted pictures of the Ukrainian bomb sites?
I just had a quick look, all the photos and reviews looked like regular tourist stuff?
I just had a quick look, all the photos and reviews looked like regular tourist stuff?
Last week they were - it's been censored since. Just Google Moscow attractions.
Last week they were – it’s been censored since.
Can't Google get on board with the war effort?!
Can’t Google get on board with the war effort?!
#profits
https://twitter.com/markhachman/status/1499617782299643907
Edit: It's been deleted as people (like me) were taking it too literally...
https://twitter.com/markhachman/status/1500219551115448320?s=20&t=Uv2KrDvTk0xoRdAloA3kqg
I've an awful feeling that things are going to descend into hell over there in the next few days. With so much infiltration by Russian operatives and the involvement of militias and mercenaries it could become absolutely murderous.
The stories of conscripts surrendering and being offered cups of tea and a phone to call their mum will be very much last week's news. I fear for volunteer fighters going over there to help, they could very easily find themselves out of their depth and involved in war crimes.
Yes, Putin is "pot committed" in poker-speak. He's at a point where he cannot back out, his only strategy is to just keep ramping things up and hoping that Ukraine will crumble. It's going to just get nastier and nastier.
As funny as it is watching a farmer towing away a russian tank, we haven't heard the punchline yet. What's going to happen to him when the Russians come back for it?
We forget that for every video of a plucky grandma of girl throwing a petrol bomb out of a Renault Clio, there's probably quite a few that we haven't seen that end with silence and a couple of minutes of blank sky.
Not sure the British public is ready for what is about to come. Though by contrast I think many on the continent do know. Something that makes the vain posturing of our cosplay cabinet all the more repugnant.
Not sure the British public is ready for what is about to come. Though by contrast I think many on the continent do know. Something that makes the vain posturing of our cosplay cabinet all the more repugnant.
What makes you think that us on the continent are better prepared?
Genuine question, btw.
I really hope this guy is right and the Russians just can't sustain their army.
https://twitter.com/PhillipsPOBrien/status/1500213943012319252
https://twitter.com/PhillipsPOBrien/status/1500213994304454661
https://twitter.com/JimmySecUK/status/1500177643504910337
The tech side of the restrictions on Russia is stepping up a little bit more…
https://mashable.com/article/cogent-communications-isp-russia-ukraine
Cogent told Reuters that it made the decision to cut off access in order to counter "outbound cyber attacks or disinformation" staged by Russian interests aligned with President Vladimir Putin. However, the company also noted that it was "a tough decision," since keeping Russians connected to the internet is crucial for them to get non-state sanctioned information.
Edit: It’s been deleted as people (like me) were taking it too literally
I 100% believe that the Russians are involved in trying to destabilise their competition through social media. I don't think people are taking this too literally at all, in fact I think that the problem is that people aren't taking it seriously enough
We are talking about a regime that does not blink when committing horrific atrocities to further their own ends (see their involvement in various breakaway states such as Transnistria, South Ossetia and Abhkazia and subsequent wthnic cleansing, scorched earth tactics in Chechnya, current events in Ukraine etc etc etc), why would they shy away from poisoning the social media well?
They don’t even have to be subtle about it
https://twitter.com/EmbassyofRussia/status/1499989967782694913
Followed by
https://twitter.com/GermanEmbassySA/status/1500032894261211138
What makes you think that us on the continent are better prepared?Genuine question, btw.
It wasn't me that wrote the comment to which you're asking the question but the way I read it suggested that on the continent you have reasonable leaders and a less biased / idiotic media...
And depending on where in Europe you are, a population far more familiar with and closer to the horrors of WW2 and more recent conflicts such as the former Yugoslavia.
Cars on a train deck
Whose to say they havent been stolen from Ukrainian people at gun point and are being sent back to Russia.
Didnt monty allow the German africa corp to extend their supply line to the point it became near useless. Hit them with a big counter attack and take massive swaves of north Africa back under allied control.
Cant the euro zone destroy the ruble by shorting it, or has it been withdrawn from currency trading? If nato members are willing to donate millions of euros worth of hadware. Buying a few rubles for 20p then dumping them for 10p thus devalueing it immediately should have an instant effect. George soros V lamont iirc.
What if another random country were to align itself with the Ukraine, non nato. Whose got enough clout to make a difference, and really does not like Russia. Logistics nightmare though, calibre size for ammo replen, radio frequency, language issues, actually getting there. Blue on blue, local people getting confused etc Cant think of one,but there must be one.
If we're getting into armchair geopolitics then one solution I thought of would be to allow Moldova and Georgia to join Nato, which would then force Russia to divert resources to bolster their respective 'breakaway republics' (in inverted commas as they are proxy states covertly set up by Russia to weaken potentially uncooperative border nations) but as Russia is not supposed to be doing that in the first place and therefore has never admitted to as such then it couldn't be construed as an act of war.
Whose to say they havent been stolen from Ukrainian people at gun point and are being sent back to Russia.
The person who made the video claimed they were being sent to Ukraine. Some of them were trucks. Russia would not be sending trucks from Ukraine back to Russia, they desperately need trucks in Ukraine. They had the Z marking that some of the Russian forces use for identification. That points to them being sent to support the invasion. No, it's not confirmed but it is consistent with Russia struggling with logistics and Ukrainian forces specifically targeting supply trucks.
https://twitter.com/PhillipsPOBrien/status/1500213971562999809
Sabotage or broken down trucks beimg sent back tp the repair shop. A few spare spots, filled with stolen cars.
Just because someone on utube claims one thing, it could be absolutely 100%true. It could alsp not be.
Some elements of Russian SF capable but we wait to see the application in Ukraine. What concerns me about the Russians is how they play dirty at an agent level. Toxins, microwaves etc. Just takes them to start on our water supplies. They would not think twice if pushed.
They win by just blowing sh1t up usually. I met some during a training thing in the middle east. Their solution to every raid or room entry is RPG the room.
I don’t see where the RF are going here. There aren’t anything like enough troops to occupy Ukraine currently in or near enough to take over from the first echelon the FR airforce appears not to be in action in anything like the numbers it needs to be, the logistics to supply the forces is/has failing/failed, soon the shelling will stoop as they’ll run out of ammo food, fuel etc.
and even if all of that doesn’t happen, without millions of RF forces in Ukraine for the next 10 years or so, any puppet regime put in place will get overthrown in days.
I think this is what happens if the head of state lives in a world entirely of his own devising.
Not sure the British public is ready for what is about to come. Though by contrast I think many on the continent do know. Something that makes the vain posturing of our cosplay cabinet all the more repugnant.
What makes you think that us on the continent are better prepared?
Genuine question, btw.
I read it that the general populations know what total war looks like and their collective memories may better prepare them for it.
As bad as the Blitz or the bombing of Coventry were we haven't seen anything on that scale on our own shores since probably the mid 17th century. It is within living memory on most of the continent.
The tech side of the restrictions on Russia is stepping up a little bit more…
https://mashable.com/article/cogent-communications-isp-russia-ukraine
/blockquote>This has got to help.
I don't really understand how the internet works but I've been wondering whether ICANN could simply turn off/block the .ru domain.
I’ve been wondering whether ICANN could simply turn off/block the .ru domain.
Ukraine have already asked that question...
Some more info here
https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/03/icann_ukraine_russian_domains/
Ukraine have already asked that question…
Some more info here
https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/03/icann_ukraine_russian_domains//blockquote >
I hadn't realised that, thanks. It doesn't look as if they're going to get involved though 😕 Any way they can be pressured?
We want to avoid a war with Russia - UK defence chief
Looks like we're going to have a war with Russia
I’m perfect happy not to be a ‘big player’ tbh.
This. I don’t understand why it’s important for the uk to be a big military player. Seems to me the only people it benefits is narcissistic politicians and uk arms companies. We’d be far better off taking a neutral position on geo-political issues whilst maintaining the ability to defend ourselves much like Switzerland does.
What if another random country were to align itself with the Ukraine
Please stop calling it 'The Ukraine'
That - and Kiev vs Kyiv - is the way the Soviet Union refer(red) to it, in a deprecating way.
Good blog on the logistics problems
It also mentions Ukraine flooding the land north of Kyiv, making the mud even worse.
Putting aside what’s happening in Ukraine directly, what do we reckon the impact elsewhere will be?
Syria: RF now effectively cut off from re-supply except by air, which is very expensive, as Turkey has closed the Black Sea.
Kaliningrad: surrounded on two sides by the EU which has closed its airspace, so again cut off from Russia
Caucasus: will various insurgent groups be looking at what’s happening in Ukraine and wondering if the Russian Army is weak?
We’d be far better off taking a neutral position on geo-political issues whilst maintaining the ability to defend ourselves much like Switzerland does.
Switzerland is a far smaller country, and a surprisingly heavily armed one at that. Anyway, they’ve just decided to implement the same sanctions against Russia as the EU, which is better than we’re doing. Insert joke about five hundred years of democracy and peace producing the cuckoo clock.
Meanwhile Sweden and Finland, which are both historically neutral countries (apart from the bits in the Middle Ages when the Swedes, like the Swiss, were rampaging across Europe) are now seriously talking about applying to join NATO.
Looks like we’re going to have a war with Russia
That's literally the opposite of what's written.
For all the positive propaganda coming out of Ukraine I don’t see them making any gains against the Russian rocket launchers which are flattening cities.
Towing broken-down tanks away with a tractor is hardly winning but makes a good Insta post.
For an army that it supposedly badly prepared and supplied the Russians are causing an awful lot of damage and misery.
is the way the Soviet Union refer(red) to it, in a deprecating way.
Actually Ukraine was a founding member of the United Nations in 1945 and the Soviet Union garranteed Ukraine had its own permanent seat at the UN.
Indeed this is precisely what Putin has accused the Bolsheviks/Communists of doing - giving Ukraine an independent entity which, according to him, they are not entitled to.
Putin claims that all those who committed to "decommunisation", or some other made up word that he uses, should support his invasion of Ukraine.
Edit: Apologies, I've just checked and Putin is actually quoting right-wing Ukraine politicians when he claims to be committed to the "decommunisation" of Ukraine.
It was the use of “The Ukraine”, rather than just “Ukraine” that they were pointing out. I keep having to edit and delete my posts to remove “The” often myself, easy mistake to make, but one we should be aware of.
Yeah sadly a swift decapitation of the Ukrainian government and installation of pro Putin puppet government would have meant far less damage and loss of life.
But the Ukrainians don't want to surrender
Putin has support at home and almost total control of the domestic media
He has far too much pride to back down, sadly that means attrition and destruction of Ukrainian cities
Yeah sadly a swift decapitation of the Ukrainian government and installation of pro Putin puppet government would have meant far less damage and loss of life.
There’s a good post out there purportedly leaked from an FSB officer that asks the question, if Zelenskyy is captured/dead, who exactly do the Russians negotiate the surrender with, and unless they’re planning to occupy the whole Ukraine, any puppet government will be overthrown 10 minutes after RF withdraw.
Remember this is a country that overthrew its government because the government wanted to join a customs union with Russia rather than the EU.
I'm not talking about when Ukraine was constructed or about whether Ukraine owes Russia because of past history, it's purely about use of language.
I've spoken previously to my Ukrainian colleague at work about it and according to him it is a really big thing; maybe only three letters but of deep significance to Ukrainians, and one I feel should be respected. That's all.
That’s literally the opposite of what’s written.
Sorry, fair point- it was a sly dig at politicians, ie when a politician pre-emptively says something definitely isn't going to happen, then you can be pretty sure that it is
I should have added a 🤷♂️
Putin has support at home and almost total control of the domestic media
He has far too much pride to back down, sadly that means attrition and destruction of Ukrainian cities
This is how I see it too
unless they’re planning to occupy the whole Ukraine, any puppet government will be overthrown 10 minutes after RF withdraw.
They did this succesfully in Chechnya by installing a brutally oppressive dictator
There are some parallels between Ukraine and Chechnya, this video fills in some of the details on the latter
There’s a good post out there purportedly leaked from an FSB officer
Here it is, the jury is out on whether this is genuine or UF psyops. IMO which is obv worth no more or less than anyone else's - it feels genuine. Might be wishful thinking. If true though, it offers a fascinating and worrying glimpse into the dysfunctional higher echelons of the Kremlin and Ru military.
Apologies if this has already been posted - this thread moves so fast it's hard to keep up.
https://twitter.com/igorsushko/status/1500301348780199937?s=20&t=PMYMpiRwChWQ00HIGBI2Bw
Came here to post that!
For an army that it supposedly badly prepared and supplied the Russians are causing an awful lot of damage and misery.
I imagine the artillery etc doing the shelling are in locations the Ukrainians have been unable to hit (regularly and reliably?). And the Russians seems happy to flatten whatever they want and be indiscriminate about it.
That Igor Shushko chap wrote this on his 2000 word FSB tweet:
"Our conditional deadline is June. Conditional because in June there will be no economy left in Russia – there will be nothing left."
Is that possible?
The question about why the UK Government feels it has a role to play, it’s simply down to them having a permanent seat on the UK Security Council, the justification for retaining nuclear weapons otherwise the whole Brexit ‘but soverunty’ argument is kinda useless. The fact that the UK Armed Forces are the smallest they’ve been for 200 years and their ability to sustain any sort of large-scale, expeditionary warfare capability is somewhat moot. Certainly, regardless of the outcome, this is certainly going to change European Geopolitics and the UK’s role. Regardless, the argument for international co-operation grows stronger whist those arguing for the dissolution of NATO and ridiculing the notion of an EU military capability are the ones looking a bit silly. Besides, the UK is pretty broke and simply can’t afford it.
Even if you are 100% sceptical of the Ukranian SM output that train of civilian vehicles is pretty damning.
For those talking about the convoys repairing and resupplying - without money, where will they get tyres from? Where will they get parts when the factories can't get raw materials? Etc etc.
what do we reckon the impact elsewhere will be?
Russian prestige will take a huge hit. Autocrats around the world saw Putin as a strongman, able to stand up to the weak democracies. Seeing the Russian economy flattened like that will hopefully make them think.
Big thing will be what lessons China takes from it. If Russia had been successful. there would have been internal pressure to invade Taiwan. Now, having seen what insurgents armed with anti-tank missiles and MANPADS can do, they will probably be rethinking the military feasibility of sending thousands of troops on a sea crossing to try and storm ashore then fight it out in the mountains against a dug-in enemy. Also, the democracies' willingness to go nuclear on the economic sanctions must have surprised the Chinese leaders. Hopefully, China will decide that a military invasion would be too risky to contemplate.
What makes you think that us on the continent are better prepared?""
As andrewh and crazy-legs said.
Our understanding of the second world was very different to the rest of the continent. I grew up with tales of the doodlebugs and the blitz. There aren't memorials to concentration camps at the bottom of my road, or mass grave sites etc.
The way we celebrate and glorify that conflict over here can only be seen as obscene by any of our European neighbours. 50 Sovietss died for every Briton for example, 5 French, over a dozen Germans. So while me might feel a little bit of sick in our mouths when we see a Liz Truss tweet, over there they vomit on the carpet when they see her.
British casualties made up less than one percent of the total number from WW2, yet there's a lot in Britain who think we won it singlehandedly, with a bit of help from the Yanks. This government has been zealous in perpetuating that myth. We just don't realise the contempt with which we are held across Europe for our behaviour .
@inkster - The number of people in the UK who believe we won WW2 alone is staggering.
British casualties made up less than one percent of the total number from WW2, et there’s a lot in Britain who think we won it singlehandedly, with a bit of help from the Yanks. This government has been zealous in perpetuating that myth. We just don’t realise the contempt with which we are held across Europe for our behaviour .
Hmmm. I laid a wreath for the KSLI dead (Op Market Garden) in Mook in 2009. Not a lot of contempt shown by the Dutch that day, some of whom lived through & remember that event quite clearly.
So while me might feel a little bit of sick in our mouths when we see a Liz Truss tweet, over there they vomit on the carpet when they see her.
Promoted above her pay grade.
Are you saying those Dutch people who were greatful for the sacrifices made by British troops on their behalf excuse the behaviour of our jingoistic prime minister and press?
As far as parallels between RF/Ukraine and China/Taiwan I believe the US has a legal obligation to protect Taiwan, so it's a different proposition.
Having said that I think China will be very interested spectators to any US actions regarding Ukraine.
The way we celebrate and glorify that conflict over here can only be seen as obscene by any of our European neighbours. 50 Sovietss died for every Briton for example, 5 French, over a dozen Germans. So while me might feel a little bit of sick in our mouths when we see a Liz Truss tweet, over there they vomit on the carpet when they see her.
So glory in war is based on how many people died?
Perhaps we just did a better job or weren’t prepared to use our people as cannon fodder, or perhaps because we are an island nation and a land war never happened here has a huge bearing on casulaties?
And name me a country which hasn’t glorified a war that they ‘won’. As they say history is written by the victors.
The number of people in the UK who believe we won WW2 alone is staggering.
Sounds like you are one of the lucky ones who has enough nous to be able peak behind the curtain and see how countries work re propaganda and trying to promote feelings of patriotism- even democratic ones. I suppose what separates the less corrupt, more politically transparent nations such as ours (UK) is that it allows for dissenting voices to add some counterbalance and therefore, to some extent at least, the jingoistic rhetoric. What you do with that information is, of course, up to you.
Are you saying those Dutch people who were greatful for the sacrifices made by British troops on their behalf excuse the behaviour of our jingoistic prime minister and press?
It's quite obvious what I'm saying.
I'm saying not all of Europe holds the UK in contempt. I care not for what they think of Liz Truss et al in this instance - just that I was overwhelmed by the gratitude shown to me that day for the sacrifices made by my grandfather & his colleagues. I cannot speak for the Dutch on their views of our current Gov - perhaps you should ask them?
I believe the US has a legal obligation to protect Taiwan, so it’s a different proposition.
No, there's no treaty and Taiwan isn't officially recognized as a country. The US position is to be ambiguous about it. If they openly sign a defense treaty with Taiwan, China will take that as a hostile act and the leaders will be compelled to invade. If they openly declare that they won't support Taiwan, China will invade. The Chinese leaders use Taiwan to rally nationalistic support but that used to just be empty talk. Now that China is much more powerful economically and militarily, it's easy for nationalist factions to demand that they go ahead and invade. Hopefully the Russian debacle in Ukraine will convince them that it will not be worth the enormous cost, even if they succeed.
It is astonishing how in terms of foreign policy and conflict all the Westminster parties always line up and sadly most people go in for defending 'our' ruling class against that of another country and loads of plebeian lives are lost on the way. Jingoism par excellence. Also how comes 'oligarch' is only ever applied to Russians, good gob it's not as though we haven't got enough of our own.
"or perhaps because we are an island nation and a land war never happened here has a huge bearing on casulaties?"
That's the one, it has a bearing on how we see that war and this war. We were shielded from the worst arttrocities last time around which perhaps makes us less psycologicaly prepared for future conflicts and more eager to be gung-ho or jingoistic as a result.
I wasn't attributing glory to the number of casualties, sorry if you read it that way.
"Also how comes ‘oligarch’ is only ever applied to Russians, good gob it’s not as though we haven’t got enough of our own"
Good point.
In many cases they should be called kleptocrats rather than oligarchs
No, there’s no treaty and Taiwan isn’t officially recognized as a country. The US position is to be ambiguous about it. If they openly sign a defense treaty with Taiwan, China will take that as a hostile act and the leaders will be compelled to invade. If they openly declare that they won’t support Taiwan, China will invade. The Chinese leaders use Taiwan to rally nationalistic support but that used to just be empty talk. Now that China is much more powerful economically and militarily, it’s easy for nationalist factions to demand that they go ahead and invade. Hopefully the Russian debacle in Ukraine will convince them that it will not be worth the enormous cost, even if they succeed.
Nicely summarised!
defending ‘our’ ruling class against that of another country
As a rule, I absolutely do not to that, and neither to many politicians, across all parties. In terms of Putin pushing Russian forces into Ukraine to take it by force… I, and unsurprisingly most politicians, absolutely are not siding with Putin or the actions Russia are currently taking. Stick to the subject of this thread, and tell us why we and/or our politicians should side with Putin in this particular war? Rather than condemn the offensive military actions being taken against a sovereign state? It is not the “ruling class” of Ukraine under bombardment, it is all the people of Ukraine. Stop the war. Putin must stop this war.
In many cases they should be called kleptocrats rather than oligarchs
I would say the difference is a kleptocrat is a government minister who uses their position to steal wealth, whereas an oligarch is a businessman (term used loosely) who uses close political ties to further line their pockets- essentally the same, but one is within government and the other without
Also how comes ‘oligarch’ is only ever applied to Russians, good job it’s not as though we haven’t got enough of our own.
This is a good point, we tend to call them 'fatcats' but that doesn't illustrate the extent to which they lobby (ie influenece) government to further their own ends. Maybe labelling them oligarchs instead would be an effective way of starting to get that message over a bit more!