Russia/Ukraine conflict

[growler23]

Gift article from Washington Post:
Russia, Remastered

Under Putin, a militarized new Russia rises to challenge U.S. and the West​

https://wapo.st/4dxlWwg

Long and interesting, with a number of interviews with current and former Russians. The metaphor of Putin turning Russian society into another North Korea is not too far off base. Particularly chilling how they are indoctrinating the children in this. And encouraging women to have 8 kids (need that cannon fodder entering the pipeline, you know...)
Given what Russia is turning into, it seems they must be defeated and thereby forced to change themselves into a new less aggressive ideology. One would think Europe would recognize this with even more clarity than the US, being next in line as it were after Ukraine.

Spoiler: My take on future US politics and Ukraine

Being in the US, I accept that right now, we probably politically can't do what General Ben Hodges and others suggest: make it official US policy that "Ukraine wins", instead of the current policy of "keeping Ukraine in the fight". If Biden wins in November, and perhaps wins bigger than expected, I wonder if we could take that step. It is not the sort of thing a President wants to or can declare if there is not a Congress behind them. And that is very much the status today (witness the House these last 6 months) but, hopefully, could change, come next year. With the political will would come a whole lot more aid, possibly other more direct steps (for example, some have mentioned we still don't allow military contractors to go to Ukraine, thus lengthening the repair supply lines) or more consistent, predictable aid that Ukraine can actually form military plans on (right now they likely need to stay rather ad hoc).
I'm keeping hope alive. A big part of that future success will have to include the US evolving some national immunity against the Russian propaganda flood which has whittled support back a bit over the years it has had to work.

 

[madodel]

Ukraine’s security services said on Tuesday that they had foiled a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky and other top military and political figures.

Ukraine says it foiled a Russian spy agency plot to assassinate President Zelenskyy

 

[growler23]

Ukraine’s security services said on Tuesday that they had foiled a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky and other top military and political figures.

Ukraine says it foiled a Russian spy agency plot to assassinate President Zelenskyy

That's about the tenth one, according to the article. Makes me think the war is not going as swimmingly for Putin as he would have us believe, nor is Zelensky the pushover he expects us to believe either, or he wouldn't be trying so hard to eliminate him.
The guys they caught were Colonels - pretty darned high up to be traitors, but not all that shocking given that they were allegedly recruited before the war, and Russia had a lot more fingers in Ukraine then than it does now.
I remember soon after the war started, the big purge of Ukrainian government officials suspected of spying/supporting Russia. I expect Ukraine still needs to be vigilant; I doubt that is all the rats yet found.

 

[Crutonius]

Nearly half of the 50 North Korean ballistic missiles Russia launched on Ukraine exploded in mid-air

Andrii Kostin, Head of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, has stated that almost half of the North Korean missiles that Russia launched on Ukraine during winter 2024 did not reach their target because they exploded in mid-air.

www.pravda.com.ua

Interesting. North Korean Ballistic missiles seem to have a failure rate of nearly 50%.

 

[Surfer of Life]

Whoa!
Lots of heavy duty goings-in here:

 

[Crutonius]

The news about the assassination attempt were surprising since I thought assassination attempts were non stop this entire time.

 

[Surfer of Life]

Ukraine’s security services said on Tuesday that they had foiled a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky and other top military and political figures.

Ukraine says it foiled a Russian spy agency plot to assassinate President Zelenskyy

And I bet they uncovered a vast amount of great intel along the way, breaking up Putin’s assassin capabilities in Kiev.

I mean, if Putin is really as screwed as the expression on his face looks…

 

[AlekseiNovikov]

Diesel up 10% in Russia during the past week according to the Dictator's own minions.

NOTE: The red hyperlinks below seem to lead to Russian sites. As someone who isn't an IT-expert, I'm not sure if clicking on those links can come with risks...

...] Diesel prices for Russian consumers have skyrocketed, rising almost 10 percent in the past week alone, according to the government’s figures. Petrol costs have also hit a six-month high, up more than 20 percent from the start of the year as supply tightens and more and more facilities are forced to suspend production. [...

Putin’s fuel problem: How Ukraine is sapping Russia’s diesel and gasoline

Ukraine is taking out oil refineries inside Russia, cratering Moscow’s supplies and sending local prices soaring.

www.politico.eu

It is not true. Fuel prices, which were a month ago, remain the same.

 

[AlekseiNovikov]

Gift article from Washington Post:
Russia, Remastered

Under Putin, a militarized new Russia rises to challenge U.S. and the West​

https://wapo.st/4dxlWwg

Long and interesting, with a number of interviews with current and former Russians. The metaphor of Putin turning Russian society into another North Korea is not too far off base. Particularly chilling how they are indoctrinating the children in this. And encouraging women to have 8 kids (need that cannon fodder entering the pipeline, you know...)
Given what Russia is turning into, it seems they must be defeated and thereby forced to change themselves into a new less aggressive ideology. One would think Europe would recognize this with even more clarity than the US, being next in line as it were after Ukraine.

Spoiler: My take on future US politics and Ukraine

Being in the US, I accept that right now, we probably politically can't do what General Ben Hodges and others suggest: make it official US policy that "Ukraine wins", instead of the current policy of "keeping Ukraine in the fight". If Biden wins in November, and perhaps wins bigger than expected, I wonder if we could take that step. It is not the sort of thing a President wants to or can declare if there is not a Congress behind them. And that is very much the status today (witness the House these last 6 months) but, hopefully, could change, come next year. With the political will would come a whole lot more aid, possibly other more direct steps (for example, some have mentioned we still don't allow military contractors to go to Ukraine, thus lengthening the repair supply lines) or more consistent, predictable aid that Ukraine can actually form military plans on (right now they likely need to stay rather ad hoc).
I'm keeping hope alive. A big part of that future success will have to include the US evolving some national immunity against the Russian propaganda flood which has whittled support back a bit over the years it has had to work.

There is a lot of untruth in this article.

We don't have compulsory military lessons. There are no required textbooks. There are no such lessons in any school or college.

There are no military symbols on government buildings, schools and other government institutions. There are a small number of military banners, they were there before, 5 years ago, 10 years ago. They have always existed to advertise military service under contract.

We don't force women to have many children. A woman can have an abortion at any time at will.

The only thing that is true in this article is the promotion of traditional family values. Society in Russia has been denying non-traditional relationships for centuries. 99% of the population is against non-traditional relationships, it has always been so and it will always be so.

 

[SwTslaGrl]

^This is the crux in a closed society without freedom, the poor souls who do not conform will be taken away to get rid of.

 

[AlekseiNovikov]

I think that society in the West is very far from the Russian reality.
I don't follow what the media writes to you. Sometimes I read this thread. But I can say that the quality of life of ordinary Russian citizens has not deteriorated.
Most sanctions don't work.
As before, we continue to work, study and go on vacation abroad. The only thing that has become inconvenient is that bank cards do not work. You have to take cash dollars and euros with you.
No one catches us on the street and sends us to war. Of all my friends (there are many of them), the call for military service came to only one person a year and a half ago. He was not taken away because he has two small children.
We still drive and buy imported cars (BMW, Mercedes, Tesla Cybertrack and others).
We don't have a shortage of fuel. We do not have a shortage of consumer goods. Supermarket shelves are littered with goods. We continue to drink Coca-Cola and Captain Morgan, eat at Burger King and KFC, continue to buy and use Apple and Dell appliances, play Xbox and PlayStation, continue to buy Balenciaga and Nike clothes.
Some products have become cheaper, some more expensive. But nothing has changed significantly in life.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

I think that society in the West is very far from the Russian reality.
I don't follow what the media writes to you. Sometimes I read this thread. But I can say that the quality of life of ordinary Russian citizens has not deteriorated.
Most sanctions don't work.
As before, we continue to work, study and go on vacation abroad. The only thing that has become inconvenient is that bank cards do not work. You have to take cash dollars and euros with you.
No one catches us on the street and sends us to war. Of all my friends (there are many of them), the call for military service came to only one person a year and a half ago. He was not taken away because he has two small children.
We still drive and buy imported cars (BMW, Mercedes, Tesla Cybertrack and others).
We don't have a shortage of fuel. We do not have a shortage of consumer goods. Supermarket shelves are littered with goods. We continue to drink Coca-Cola and Captain Morgan, eat at Burger King and KFC, continue to buy and use Apple and Dell appliances, play Xbox and PlayStation, continue to buy Balenciaga and Nike clothes.
Some products have become cheaper, some more expensive. But nothing has changed significantly in life.

Where in Russia do you live?

 

[AlekseiNovikov]

Where in Russia do you live?

Ivanovo (56.998522, 40.973610)

 

[Dangerous Fish]

Ivanovo (56.998522, 40.973610)

Would you say your comments hold true for the whole of Russia?

 

[AlekseiNovikov]

Would you say your comments hold true for the whole of Russia?

For at least 90%, yes.
I think things are not going well in some border areas. But for example, the last weekend (national holidays April 27 - May 1) I was in the Crimea, I did not notice that life in this place is different from mine.

 

[Bouba]

For at least 90%, yes.
I think things are not going well in some border areas. But for example, the last weekend (national holidays April 27 - May 1) I was in the Crimea, I did not notice that life in this place is different from mine.

What’s it like to own a Tesla in Russia ?...are there lots of Superchargers ?.....service centres ?...spare parts ?

 

[AlekseiNovikov]

What’s it like to own a Tesla in Russia ?...are there lots of Superchargers ?.....service centres ?...spare parts ?

There are no difficulties.
There are enough fast charging stations, I can't say there are many of them, and I can't say there aren't enough of them. Over the past few years, a sufficient number of them have been installed. We currently have subsidies for the installation of fast charging stations. 70% of the cost of the station is compensated by the state.
There is no official service center, but there are a sufficient number of unofficial service centers specializing in electric vehicles.
There are no problems with spare parts, the typical delivery time for spare parts is 3-7 days. Something rare will take a little longer, but not critical.

PS: I'm sorry if I'm writing something incomprehensible. I use Yandex Translator.

 

[Bouba]

We trust the media to supply us with factual information.....of course deep down we know they either lie, are incompetent or biased...and probably all three....when ever there is a media article on a subject of which we are evperts (our profession or Tesla cars) we know it’s always wrong...unfortunately we don’t extrapolate that over everything. We are trusting the media to supply us with facts about the Russia Ukraine conflict....despite them writing bu## sh*& in 90% of what they say about Gaza

 

[Bouba]

There are no difficulties.
There are enough fast charging stations, I can't say there are many of them, and I can't say there aren't enough of them. Over the past few years, a sufficient number of them have been installed. We currently have subsidies for the installation of fast charging stations. 70% of the cost of the station is compensated by the state.
There is no official service center, but there are a sufficient number of unofficial service centers specializing in electric vehicles.
There are no problems with spare parts, the typical delivery time for spare parts is 3-7 days. Something rare will take a little longer, but not critical.

PS: I'm sorry if I'm writing something incomprehensible. I use Yandex Translator.

Your translation is very good....thank you for answering my question

 

[AlekseiNovikov]

We trust the media to supply us with factual information.....of course deep down we know they either lie, are incompetent or biased...and probably all three....when ever there is a media article on a subject of which we are evperts (our profession or Tesla cars) we know it’s always wrong...unfortunately we don’t extrapolate that over everything. We are trusting the media to supply us with facts about the Russia Ukraine conflict....despite them writing bu## sh*& in 90% of what they say about Gaza

The media is lying both to you and to Us. The truth is somewhere in between)