[Politics] Russia invades Ukraine (24/02/2022)

[Baldseagull]

The good thing is, and I might be wrong on this, but the SAS and SBS (and other euro SFs) are probably playing a
huge part in searching out and then sending back co-ordinates etc of these sites (just as they did in the Gulf War).
And those blokes can move around and lie low under your f*cking feet and you wouldn't have a clue
they were there. No way in a million years that those f*ckwit, backward russian army pricks have anything like that
capability or be able to detect, because they are morons.

The large missile storage facilities are public knowledge locations, I would suspect Ukrainian intelligence on Russia is quite good, but satellite information, and further intelligence is coming from NATO sources.
Ukrainian and Russian FSB had connections before the war, I suspect they both still have operatives in each others camps.

 

[Eric the meek]

Moscow region:

 

[Eric the meek]

The good thing is, and I might be wrong on this, but the SAS and SBS (and other euro SFs) are probably playing a
huge part in searching out and then sending back co-ordinates etc of these sites (just as they did in the Gulf War).
And those blokes can move around and lie low under your f*cking feet and you wouldn't have a clue
they were there. No way in a million years that those f*ckwit, backward russian army pricks have anything like that
capability or be able to detect, because they are morons.

Like others, I suspect that much of the initial intel comes from remote sensing - satellite imagery. The Pentagon will have a whole team crawling all over them, detecting and interpreting movements between satellite images in a time-sequence.

That isn't to say there aren't Ukrainians on the ground, who will add to the body of intel on a target. There are over 5 million of Ukrainian origin who live inside Russia; some will be friendly towards Kyiv. Some of the footage of all these things exploding or catching fire are filmed from a safe distance - that could be them. Where the footage is close up, like this morning's fire in Podolsk, it will be by Russians who don't consider themselves at personal risk, who then post the footage on their own channels.

 

[The Clamp]

An interesting read from the perspective of a recently released Siberian gulag prisoner;

Putin regime will collapse without warning, says freed gulag dissident

Vladimir Kara-Murza and his wife, Evgenia, speak of his time in a Siberian jail

www.theguardian.com

 

[Eric the meek]

 

[Scappa]

The below image is from the Plesetsk test site in Arkhangelsk Oblast, purported to be the aftermath of a failed RS28 Sarmat ICBM test, showing a smoldering crater where a missile silo once lay.

 

[fly high]

Needs millions more like her to change how most Russians see this war.

 

[raymondo]

China's economic influence in Georgia is increasing...on Russia's doorstep

Russia and China at Odds Over Black Sea Ambitions

The Russia—China alliance faces strain in Georgia on the Black Sea, as Russia's economic needs compromise its strategic interest.

cepa.org

 

[Eric the meek]

China's economic influence in Georgia is increasing...on Russia's doorstep

Russia and China at Odds Over Black Sea Ambitions

The Russia—China alliance faces strain in Georgia on the Black Sea, as Russia's economic needs compromise its strategic interest.

cepa.org

What an interesting article!

I was aware that China has got ambitions much further east in Russian Siberia, (including the part of China that Russia annexed in the 1850s) but I wasn't aware that China was seeking to expand its sphere of influence into Georgia. Perhaps China is doing a bit of future-gazing.

I read the other week, that Russia had moved some of its Black Sea fleet from Novorossiysk (previously the fleet was at Sevastopol, Crimea) to the new port at Ochamchire, Abkhazia to keep them safely out of range of Ukrainian drones and missiles.

 

[fly high]

What an interesting article!

I was aware that China has got ambitions much further east in Russian Siberia, (including the part of China that Russia annexed in the 1850s) but I wasn't aware that China was seeking to expand its sphere of influence into Georgia. Perhaps China is doing a bit of future-gazing.

I read the other week, that Russia had moved some of its Black Sea fleet from Novorossiysk (previously the fleet was at Sevastopol, Crimea) to the new port at Ochamchire, Abkhazia to keep them safely out of range of Ukrainian drones and missiles.

China is doing this sort of thing all round the world, lend money for major infrastructure projects, take less than 50% ownership, country struggles to pay off the loan, probably has high interest rate, China takes control of the whole thing.

 

[raymondo]

China is doing this sort of thing all round the world, lend money for major infrastructure projects, take less than 50% ownership, country struggles to pay off the loan, probably has high interest rate, China takes control of the whole thing.

Exactly this... Chinese customers are a bit stupid, probably lots of corruption going on with local officials.

 

[raymondo]

What an interesting article!

I was aware that China has got ambitions much further east in Russian Siberia, (including the part of China that Russia annexed in the 1850s) but I wasn't aware that China was seeking to expand its sphere of influence into Georgia. Perhaps China is doing a bit of future-gazing.

I read the other week, that Russia had moved some of its Black Sea fleet from Novorossiysk (previously the fleet was at Sevastopol, Crimea) to the new port at Ochamchire, Abkhazia to keep them safely out of range of Ukrainian drones and missiles.

I am expecting China to bid to fund port initiatives in the UK/EU on a similar half ownership basis

 

[raymondo]

As per Times (I can't get the article, paywall) the UK is considering a dispensation whereby Ukraine could have permission to fire Storm Shadows deep into Russia to attack their missile/weapon storage.

 

[Doc Lynam]

As per Times (I can't get the article, paywall) the UK is considering a dispensation whereby Ukraine could have permission to fire Storm Shadows deep into Russia to attack their missile/weapon storage.

RemovePaywall | Free online paywall remover

Remove Paywall, free online paywall remover. Get access to articles without having to pay or login. Works on Bloomberg and hundreds more.

www.removepaywall.com

 

[Sirnormangall]

China's economic influence in Georgia is increasing...on Russia's doorstep

Russia and China at Odds Over Black Sea Ambitions

The Russia—China alliance faces strain in Georgia on the Black Sea, as Russia's economic needs compromise its strategic interest.

cepa.org

That’s an interesting article. I think Georgia has an election next month, so expect lots of Russian interference in the lead up to it and worse if Putin’s puppet doesn’t win.

 

[Since1982]

China is doing this sort of thing all round the world, lend money for major infrastructure projects, take less than 50% ownership, country struggles to pay off the loan, probably has high interest rate, China takes control of the whole thing.

We were at the new Siem Reap airport in Cambodia earlier this year, absolutely massive and all built with Chinese money, then leased to the Cambodian govt on a 55 year lease. We flew from there to Laos where the country’s first high speed rail line links the capital with Luang Prabang, all paid for by the Chinese.

 

[Scappa]

Small Norwegian fishing boat confronted Russian warship during live-shooting exercise

Shootings or not, the fishermen wanted to secure their catch and confronted the Northern Fleet's large destroyer Admiral Levchenko in the maritime border area north of the Varanger Peninsula.

thebarentsobserver.com

Reminder the Russian navy has a long and storied history of engaging fishing boats - the most famous being at Dogger Bank on October 22nd 1904, during the Baltic Fleet/2nd Pacific Fleet's eventful passage to the Strait of Tsushima.

The Russians misidentified those fishing boats as Japanese Torpedo Boats.

The British were not amused with the sinking of their trawlers.

For lolz:

 

[raymondo]

That’s an interesting article. I think Georgia has an election next month, so expect lots of Russian interference in the lead up to it and worse if Putin’s puppet doesn’t win.

Maybe China, as well as Russia, will move in to protect their assets...well, one day

 

[The Clamp]

Ukraine war briefing: War with Russia ‘closer to the end’ than many believe, Zelenskyy says

Ukrainian president also says Putin is ‘afraid’ of Kyiv’s Kursk offensive. What we know on day 944

www.theguardian.com

 

[Eric the meek]