War

injinji said:

That's pretty close. The first genetical successful modern humans to leave Africa was about 70K odd years ago. I'm sure they chilled for a while before road tripping.

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They were built on an existing foundation of human history that goes back further.

DIY-HP-LED said:

Spending billions to bounce the rubble of Mariupol, they might regret wasting all the ammo in the near future and might wish they had it to stop the Ukrainians who will soon be trying to kill them.

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Considering their monetary unit is now the rubble …

DIY-HP-LED said:

Spending billions to bounce the rubble of Mariupol, they might regret wasting all the ammo in the near future and might wish they had it to stop the Ukrainians who will soon be trying to kill them.

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The important bit.

"Despite the massive Russian attack, Ukraine's air defense also set a record for this war in the number of missiles it shot down in one day, as only eight of the 70 missiles fired by Russia engaged their targets, according to The Insider.

Among those shot down were several cruise missiles, suggesting that Ukraine has recently gained the ability to bring down such missiles, Defense World reported.

In addition, Russian missiles are failing to explode at a significant rate, which experts speculate could be due to lax quality control as the Russian army hastens to get them to the war front."

DIY-HP-LED said:

They were built on an existing foundation of human history that goes back further.

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We weren't the first to get out of Africa, we were preceded by many others and later might have shared genes with some as is evidenced with Neanderthals. Humans had fire for instance for a very long time and cultures, so did those survivors of a few African mothers that we are all descended from after the disaster that befell our species all those eons ago.

cannabineer said:

Considering their monetary unit is now the rubble …

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Rubles to rubble

DIY-HP-LED said:

Rubles to rubble

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A rock-solid currency
(edit) concrete value

injinji said:

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He is an example of the kind of NCO's in western armies, guys without college degrees who are as smart, or smarter than their officers. They lead on the ground, get the maintenance done and keep the guys working and training. They are usually older and career orientated professionals who take their jobs seriously. The Russians have no NCO corps of such career professional tradesmen and it shows, officers do all the leading in the Russian army and they follow orders from above. There are many skills and a lot of technology that modern well trained troops have to learn, it ranges from using mortars and reading maps to communications to chemical and nuclear attacks. If they have the time, they train on as much stuff as possible for as long as possible, when they don't fight, they learn and train for the real thing.

CunningCanuk said:

Biden seems to have had a pretty good handle on diplomacy to me. His diplomatic efforts have kept the NATO alliance on the same page throughout the crisis.

I’m happy he spoke the truth and Macron’s comments about it after were more dangerous, imo. He may see himself a great diplomat but he is a fool if he thinks Putin is going to negotiate in good faith.

So, Russia, if you’re listening…

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@CunningCanuk

The majority of the American People support what Biden is doing while at the same time do not support that Biden is the one doing it.
That's my take of the statistics that is.

The "Putin must not stay in power" plays politically better in the USA than elsewhere I believe.
I wonder just how many Russians will even see that since there isn't much of an independent media left in Russia.

I do agree with you there.

If Russian farmers can't get financing to plant this spring in Russia, more than Ukrainian agriculture will be affected, both countries export grain and other commodities. Most of west Ukraine should be able to plant, the Russians are probably occupying around 10 or 20% of the land. Would they waste scarce soldiers to go around and systematically destroy farms? Especially when the farmers are bound to kill a few, more if they have been armed, even secretly. Some people hid their cellphones away and contacted the government and there was contact with the local partisan commander.
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Putin's New Brutal Plan - The world is in DANGER !

If the Russians are mining the fields, then when the farmers plow them, they can make and fit V shaped plows to the front of their tractors. This is a common solution for mine clearance, the V shaped plow scoops up the top six inches of soil and lifts the mine to the surface and to one side without exploding it. They used them in Iraq, a neat idea and a simple solution. I don't think too many fields were mined, except for defensive positions in some places where the Russians might have been. They planned for a quick take over, not the kind of war you use mines in, so they might not have brought any or many with them.

Go ahead Joe call a spade a spade and an asshole what he is. Walk it back my ass, Putin threatened nuclear blackmail on several occasions already FFS, walk back from what? You step over or around dogshit, not in it, you don't walk backwards from it either.



Biden said Monday that he doesn't care what Putin thinks about the comment, saying, "He's going to do what he's going to do."

"Given his recent behavior, people should understand he is going to do what he thinks he should do, period," Biden said. "He's not effected by anyone else, including, unfortunately, his own advisers. This is a guy who goes to the beat of his own drummer. And the idea he is going to do something outrageous because I called him for what he was and what he's doing, I think, is just not rational."

Close, but not close enough for a kill, might make the crew bail down the road, it must have shook them up and maybe killed some of the crew. This video illustrates the difficulty the Russians are facing in Urban environments, even when they shell and burn the buildings, they can't burn twice.

If they are getting fresh supplies of NLAWs into Mariupol, they are getting other things in too and that means the Russians are in deep trouble, they obviously can't secure the perimeter of the city at night from infiltration and covert resupply. If the Ukrainians have a big drive in the south, they will attack at Mariupol and at Kherson driving south to the two roads connecting Crimea to Ukraine. If they can do this they can trap large Russian forces and cut them off in the 300km between Mariupol and the first road entrance to Crimea. I think Vlad has very little left in Crimea to defend it, I figure he stripped it bare and took replacements from there too. Cut the Russians off from from getting back in and a small force could go to the bridge in the east and blow or mine the span connecting Crimea to Russia. Then the whole force heads for the stolen provinces in the east where the fighting has been constant and kicks ass there.

It looks like the north and north east will be clear enough for reservists to hold it, many are as good as regular troops these days. That means the regular army can move on to another front quicker, while the reservists hold the ground and mop up pockets of enemy. The Ukrainians have only lost a fraction of the casualties that the Russians have been suffering from all causes, they don't surrender unless they absolutely have to and they don't desert or shoot themselves in the leg. Because the Ukrainians have been conducting a series of ambushes on the Russian line of advance. They haven't lost too many experienced people yet, while inflicting heavy casualties from modern weapons. People are also rotated out for R&R and to spread a core of experienced troops to newly formed units, some training can also be given in the field to supplement that which they got and these guys show the noobs the ropes.
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Ukrainian troops firing an NLAW AT VERY CLOSE RANGE at a Russian T-72B obr 1989 tank in Mariupol

Day 33: updates, positive moments, achievements

Russian elite battalion defeated by Ukrainian armed forces in Trostianets!

House Oversight launches probe into Credit Suisse ties to Russian oligarchs
The House Committee on Oversight and Reform announced Monday it has launched a probe into Credit Suisse's ties with Russian oligarchs amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

“We are writing to seek information about a recent report that Credit Suisse asked hedge funds and other investors to destroy documents regarding yachts and private jets owned by Credit Suisse’s clients,” Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and National Security subcommittee Chair Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) said in a statement.

In their letter to Credit Suisse CEO Thomas Gottstein, the lawmakers noted a recent report saying that the company ordered its employees to “destroy and permanently erase” certain information related to loans backed by material possessions such as yachts and private jets.

Another report detailed that as part of an $80 million synthetic securitization deal, Credit Suisse sold off risk related to the $2 billion portfolios of loans backed by the assets owned by the bank’s “ultra-high net worth” clients, the letter said.

“This report raises significant concerns about Credit Suisse’s compliance with the severe sanctions imposed by United States and its allies and partners on the architects and enablers of Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and oligarchs in his inner circle,” the lawmakers said.

The committee asked Gottstein to turn in documents related to their investigation by April 11.

Any insights into this? Haven't seen it mentioned, but I may have missed it.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2020/11/19/the-looming-us-withdrawal-from-the-open-skies-treaty/

The Open Skies Treaty, which entered into force in 2002, permits countries to fly unarmed aircraft with cameras and other sensors over the territory of the treaty’s other 34 members states. Based on an idea advanced by Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s, Open Skies provides for the collection of imagery of military installations and activities in order to foster transparency.

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Roman Abramovitch “poisoned” at peace talks with Ukraine - BBC News


The Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian peace negotiators are reported to have suffered symptoms consistent with chemical poisoning during negotiations about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Western media: "the Russian army is retreating to the Donbass"
"Russia is retreating!" - the headlines of Western publications joyfully trumpet. Some even clarify : "Russia is retreating to the east of Ukraine." Yes, to the east. And don't ask where. On sober reflection, to the east it is necessary to retreat from the west. But it seems that there were no Russian troops in Western Ukraine. And if we mean our units located on the outskirts of Kyiv, then in order to "retreat to the east" they would need to launch an offensive against Poltava or Dnepropetrovsk. Just like in the popular song: "When we retreat, it is we who go forward."