I agree that there probably has been a lot of funds diverted away from maintenance. Obviously it’s not a theory I would like to see tested.
Russian invasion of Ukraine | Fewer tweets, more discussion
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I agree that there probably has been a lot of funds diverted away from maintenance. Obviously it’s not a theory I would like to see tested.
Yeah, but that was what I was commenting on. Azov are very disconnected from the general commandment (a matter on which they themselves have commented on multiple times) & it's unlikely that they're trying to instigating anything outside of Azovstal. They are simply stating that the fight for Azovstal isn't done yet even though a lot of their wounded comrades have surrendered to Russia/DNR.
Yeah that's definitely possible, too.
We can probably assume the Russians are bullshitting about their nukes as much as their other weapons.
Pretty obvious if nations want that grain out of Ukraine and to countries in need. For all of those US-led (with the British, French and even German present) military exercises we have seen over the years at China's doorstep to enforce freedom of navigation, one would be right to expect those to be put into good use in the Black Sea.
This might be the primary area of Russia’s last big push before their capability to launch offensives is exhausted, if the armchair analysts are right.
How many European politicians are being paid by Russia? Today. Perhaps as members at the board of various Russian companies.
Has anyone investigated this? It would be interesting if we had a list of the most prominent European politicians receiving Russian money, and of course a summary of their positions after Russia invaded Ukraine. What do those politicians believe about Ukraine today? Journalists should ask them, because these people have defined the European stance during the past 20 years. It is not enough to just say "mistakes were made", we should find out more details.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ed-of-office-for-not-cutting-ties-with-russia
Gerhard Schröder to be stripped of privileges for not cutting ties with Russia
Former German chancellor, who holds positions at Rosneft and Nord Stream, will lose staff and office
The former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder will lose some of his post-office privileges after failing to cut his links with Russian energy companies over the Ukraine war, the Bundestag’s budgetary committee has decided.
Schröder, who was German head of government from 1998 until 2005, will be stripped of his office and staff, which cost about 419,000 euros (£354,500) in taxpayers’ money in 2021.
The motion, which was passed on Thursday afternoon with support from Schröder’s own Social Democratic party (SPD), the Greens, and the Free Democratic party (FDP), does not name the politician’s Kremlin connections or stance on the Ukraine war, most likely to avoid legal challenges.
Instead, the motion argues that the former leader no longer fulfils any continuing obligation as a statesperson and therefore does not require an office and staff to do so.
The main opposition party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), backed the move even though it had also called on the government to cut the ex-chancellor’s pension, equivalent to an annual salary of about 100,000 euros.
Schröder will keep his pension payments as well as his security detail.
The four employees who used to work at Schröder’s office, located almost directly opposite the Russian embassy on the Unter den Linden boulevard in Berlin, already resigned of their own accord in early March, after their boss had showed no intention of stepping down from his boardroom roles at Russian oil company Rosneft and pipeline company Nord Stream.
The Bundestag budgetary committee’s vote comes just hours after the European parliament urged the commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, to impose sanctions against Schröder because of his ties to the Kremlin.
The EU legislature passed a resolution on Thursday that said sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine should be extended “to the European members of the boards of major Russian companies and to politicians who continue to receive Russian money”.
As well as the German politician, the motion indirectly addresses former Austrian foreign minister Karin Kneissl, a supervisory board member at Rosneft who danced with Vladimir Putin at her own wedding in 2018.
Schröder’s close personal friendship with Putin has come under heavy criticism after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, and the SPD leadership has called on the 78-year-old to hand in his party membership.
The Hanover-based politician has come across as unrepentant, however. “I don’t do mea culpa,” Schröder told the New York Times in April. “It’s not my thing.”
Has anyone investigated this? It would be interesting if we had a list of the most prominent European politicians receiving Russian money, and of course a summary of their positions after Russia invaded Ukraine. What do those politicians believe about Ukraine today? Journalists should ask them, because these people have defined the European stance during the past 20 years. It is not enough to just say "mistakes were made", we should find out more details.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ed-of-office-for-not-cutting-ties-with-russia
Gerhard Schröder to be stripped of privileges for not cutting ties with Russia
Former German chancellor, who holds positions at Rosneft and Nord Stream, will lose staff and office
The former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder will lose some of his post-office privileges after failing to cut his links with Russian energy companies over the Ukraine war, the Bundestag’s budgetary committee has decided.
Schröder, who was German head of government from 1998 until 2005, will be stripped of his office and staff, which cost about 419,000 euros (£354,500) in taxpayers’ money in 2021.
The motion, which was passed on Thursday afternoon with support from Schröder’s own Social Democratic party (SPD), the Greens, and the Free Democratic party (FDP), does not name the politician’s Kremlin connections or stance on the Ukraine war, most likely to avoid legal challenges.
Instead, the motion argues that the former leader no longer fulfils any continuing obligation as a statesperson and therefore does not require an office and staff to do so.
The main opposition party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), backed the move even though it had also called on the government to cut the ex-chancellor’s pension, equivalent to an annual salary of about 100,000 euros.
Schröder will keep his pension payments as well as his security detail.
The four employees who used to work at Schröder’s office, located almost directly opposite the Russian embassy on the Unter den Linden boulevard in Berlin, already resigned of their own accord in early March, after their boss had showed no intention of stepping down from his boardroom roles at Russian oil company Rosneft and pipeline company Nord Stream.
The Bundestag budgetary committee’s vote comes just hours after the European parliament urged the commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, to impose sanctions against Schröder because of his ties to the Kremlin.
The EU legislature passed a resolution on Thursday that said sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine should be extended “to the European members of the boards of major Russian companies and to politicians who continue to receive Russian money”.
As well as the German politician, the motion indirectly addresses former Austrian foreign minister Karin Kneissl, a supervisory board member at Rosneft who danced with Vladimir Putin at her own wedding in 2018.
Schröder’s close personal friendship with Putin has come under heavy criticism after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, and the SPD leadership has called on the 78-year-old to hand in his party membership.
The Hanover-based politician has come across as unrepentant, however. “I don’t do mea culpa,” Schröder told the New York Times in April. “It’s not my thing.”
The problem is that nobody but Russia has subs in the Black Sea. Turkey wouldn't allow even NATO subs to enter based on the Montreux Convention. The US couldn't put a single aircraft carrier in the Black Sea and could, at most, put maybe 2-3 destroyers/cruisers if Turkey hadn't closed the strait for military traffic because of the war. The only way I could see Turkey letting in NATO ships would be if they themselves were at risk of running out of grain, which they won't be because there are many poorer nations that will suffer first.
Don't think we're supposed to copy full articles on the Caf.
What is Russia's aim now?
I thought/hoped once they took the steelworks they'd claim those areas forever and call it a day...but apparently not?
I thought/hoped once they took the steelworks they'd claim those areas forever and call it a day...but apparently not?
Make no mistake, this area will.be retaken in the coming months. The Azov fighters are heroes, Ukraine will take this area back no matter what, its iconic.. This war won't end until its reclaimed, not that its been conqured yet, unless I've missed something?
Aren't they the Nazi's Putin goes on about?
That's the Azov Battalion, which in fairness was incorporated into the resistance, who are still fighting along side Ukrainian army
What a way to fight a war
This is a tweet with a single like, that has nothing to do with the war and seems to be from some pretty random Argentinian guy. Are you continously scanning the hashtags for this stuff?
It's a joke ... not everything has to be taken so seriously.
Sure, but I'm geniunely interested in how you came across it.
It's so "gamer-esque" you almost believe the phones going to tell you that you're on a kill streak.
Yes it does. Next thing you know [warp] you’re in an AC-130 gunship
The gamification of war is reaching new levels. How far away are we from Philip K. Dick's "Time out of Joint" scenario, I wonder?
Putin calls them Nazis but it's quite an unfitting description for them at the moment, although it's not a completely baseless accusation. They've had some quite extreme members, including their founder, in 2014 but they've changed a lot since then. They are, for the most part, Ukrainian nationalists (not Nazis though) and generally they share quite conservative political views (including being in a vocal opposition of LGBT+), which is why they weren't widely popular even in Ukraine itself before the 24th of February 2022...
But after what they did at Mariupol, tying down a significant part of Russian offensive forces in an ultimately pointless fight for months, allowing other Ukrainian forces to regroup, withstand the original offensive and even launch a reasonably counter-offensive, they are, unquestionably, heroes in the eyes of all of Ukrainians.
And Azov Battalion is now a part of the Ukrainian military (internal forces) btw, they're not independent anymore.