My Ukrainian is a little rough, but my translation is: "Hello Russian boys. We took your tenk but do not worry, we drive it beck to your shithole country for you. When we are there, we check in on your wives. Make sure they heff everything they need." [Turns volume back up on "Big City Nights" by the Scorpions]
This is Roman trying to offer a public sacrifice to stay off the sanctions list for all his other ill gotten gains. Nothing more.
My comment was directed towards people who discounted the incredibly high number of fatalities that would have resulted from an invasion (which was what I believe IV said was contentious), not whether other options were available. The merits of conditional vs unconditional surrender was the real impetus of whether to use the bomb, along with a power projection play towards the Soviet Union to keep their asses out of the Pacific.
They were never going to not use the bomb after the money invested in it. EDIT: why am i continuing this
Is it beyond asking that the Russian people, squeezed by economic impacts, sent back home from Western countries, decide on another revolution? They’re experienced at it, right?
To be clear, not making an ethical judgement about that but the Japanese did end up capitulating as a result. Just wouldn't surprise me if Putin turns it to 10 before eventually settling for peace for maximum leverage
The 2027 film: "The Invasion of Ukraine" by Armando Iannucci, starring Steve Buscemi as Putin, is going to be incredible
Today's episode of The Daily is very good. Biden did really well to get EU on board and was very proactive.
If anyone is looking for a mid day podcast binge I also found the below to be a pretty interesting conversation. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podca...entagon-official/id1286906615?i=1000552653185
The 21 ultra-rich Russians among the world’s 500 wealthiest people have lost a combined $83 billion in 2022, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The steepest loss goes to Vaget Alekperov, chairman of energy titan Lukoil, who has lost $13 billion. With “only” $6 billion left to his name, it would be impossible for Alekperov’s losses to catch Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, whose fortune has shrunk by $45 billion this year, but remains a robust $199 billion. The Economic Impacts of War in Ukraine are Already Here It’s been just one week since Russia invaded Ukraine, but already the global economy seems a world away from seven days ago. Spoiler Swiftly deployed retaliatory sanctions — especially by the US and EU — have upturned the economy of the belligerent nation, and the aftershocks are being felt across the world. From energy markets to inflation to global supply chains, the heavy economic toll of war is clear. Energy Prices Continue to Surge Oil and gas prices were already rising before the war began, and on Tuesday International oil benchmark Brent crude was turbocharged to an eight-year high. The International Energy Agency, whose membership includes many allies of Ukraine, announced plans to release 60 million oil barrels from emergency stockpiles to try and tamper down skyrocketing prices. The move could also reduce oil and gas revenue flowing into Russia, where the energy industry has been largely untouched by sanctions thanks to the West’s need for oil. In the private sector, BP, Shell, and Norway’s Equinor said they will sever ties to Russian state-backed oil groups, dealing another blow to the country's energy sector. Stalled at Sea The world’s two largest container ship operators, Mediterranean Shipping and Maersk, are temporarily suspending service to Russia, but ports around the world are still facing disruption. Hundreds of vessels are trapped in different locations while customs authorities inspect cargo in light of new sanctions. Shipping across the Black Sea — full of key routes for oil and food — has dropped dramatically as commercial ships avoid the active conflict zone. Daily tanker freight rates are now the highest since May 2020 and insurance premiums have increased as much as 4% since last week. So How Are Central Banks Responding? As investors pour into safe government bonds, the Fed and the European Central Bank have been forced into an even trickier dance amid already decades-high levels of inflation. While rising prices typically portend hawkish behavior, the reality of war could cause a steep growth slowdown in Europe’s economy and elsewhere — sparking concerns of stagflation. Traders are now pricing in five rate hikes this year, down from six last week. And more aggressive rate hike scenarios have been "priced out," according to two senior Fed officials. Inflation Nation: Rick Rieder, chief investment officer of global fixed income at BlackRock, told the FT, “This is clearly going to keep inflation high for a longer period of time. But much of these dynamics are not in the Fed’s control."
Russian jets routinely violate Swedish air space (and their submarines pull shit all the time too, iirc) Here's an 8 year old article ironically about a US recon plane that violated Swedish air space https://theaviationist.com/2014/08/01/rc-135-violated-swedish-airspace/