Ukraine

[Ag3ma]

And what is Luka gonna do? Offer the FSB hit team a drink? Write a slightly awkward letter to Vlad "Vova" Putin?

I doubt Luka had anything significant to do with cooking this up at all.

I'm inclined to believe this was hashed out internally by Russia. Belarus presented a sort of solution where Prigozhin/Wagner was offered an out that kept them safe and maybe even useful and able to continue activities. Luka's reward for compliance was to be credited as peacemaker, given a day in the sun and improve his reputation as a statesman, etc.

I don't really believe Lukashenko is an independent leader anymore - Russia propping him up after the protests following the last Belarusian election left him more a puppet of Russia than ever.

 

[Dalisclock]

I don't really believe Lukashenko is an independent leader anymore - Russia propping him up after the protests following the last Belarusian election left him more a puppet of Russia than ever.

Pretty much. It's honestly hard to think of Belarus as anything other then an extension of Russia at this point, or at best a Vassal State.

 

[Absent]

Purges Underway In Russian Security Apparatus After Prigozhin's Mutiny

Reports say Gen. Sergei Surovikin, head of the Russian Air Force and erstwhile Prigozhin ally, was arrested for his part in the mutiny.

www.thedrive.com

 

[Dalisclock]

Purges Underway In Russian Security Apparatus After Prigozhin's Mutiny

Reports say Gen. Sergei Surovikin, head of the Russian Air Force and erstwhile Prigozhin ally, was arrested for his part in the mutiny.

www.thedrive.com

Fun Fact: Russia is Required to run purges every couple decades or the reality collapses. I don't make the rules, guys, that just how it works.

More seriously,

 

[Dalisclock]

Emutopian PowerPoint man discusses Pringles Road Trip.

 

[Hawki]

Ukraine war: The lethal minefields holding up Kyiv's counter-offensive

Russia has mined vast swathes of Ukrainian territory its holds, inflicting casualties as Kyiv advances.

www.bbc.com

Russia: This land is mine.

Ukraine: No, it's mine.

Russia: This land is mined.

Ukraine: This land is mined.

Russia: So you accept the land is mine?

Ukraine: No, we'll clear out the mines, so the land is no longer mined, so it can be mine.

Russia: But it's mine!

 

[Absent]

Ukraine war: The lethal minefields holding up Kyiv's counter-offensive

Russia has mined vast swathes of Ukrainian territory its holds, inflicting casualties as Kyiv advances.

www.bbc.com

Russia: This land is mine.

Ukraine: No, it's mine.

Russia: This land is mined.

Ukraine: This land is mined.

Russia: So you accept the land is mine?

Ukraine: No, we'll clear out the mines, so the land is no longer mined, so it can be mine.

Russia: But it's mine!

Yeah, it's worse than that : https://www.icog.es/TyT/index.php/2022/05/the-mineral-resources-of-ukraine/

 

[Thaluikhain]

Er...is it in any way a surprise that people are using mines to delay an offensive? I mean, that's been a thing for over a hundred years, and despite some nations deciding against it, was standard doctrine everywhere.

 

[Ag3ma]

Er...is it in any way a surprise that people are using mines to delay an offensive? I mean, that's been a thing for over a hundred years, and despite some nations deciding against it, was standard doctrine everywhere.

To be clear, I think all countries still use anti-vehicle landmines. Some may have ceased use of anti-personnel landmines. But then, anti-vehicle landmines are mostly enough of an impedence on their own. Vehicles are still critical to warfare, and nn army that can't readily get its vehicles into the necessary positions is partially stymied.

Ukraine is of course heavily limited in offensive actions by lack of an air force, too. Western military tactics have long been based on assumptions of air support. Soviet doctrine less so (they more worked on the idea of airspace denial), but even still...

 

[Thaluikhain]

To be clear, I think all countries still use anti-vehicle landmines. Some may have ceased use of anti-personnel landmines. But then, anti-vehicle landmines are mostly enough of an impedence on their own. Vehicles are still critical to warfare, and nn army that can't readily get its vehicles into the necessary positions is partially stymied.

A quibble, but while nations still might possess and train with anti-vehicle mines, that's not to say they regularly use them. All sorts of strategic and political implications, but that's mostly because of the wars they tend to be fighting at the moment.

 

[meiam]

Well fuck, Russia is going to blow up the nuclear power plant.

Ukraine, Russia accuse each other of planning to attack Europe's biggest nuclear plant

Ukraine and Russia are accusing each other of planning to attack one of the world’s largest nuclear power plants.

apnews.com

 

[Ag3ma]

Well fuck, Russia is going to blow up the nuclear power plant.

Ukraine, Russia accuse each other of planning to attack Europe's biggest nuclear plant

Ukraine and Russia are accusing each other of planning to attack one of the world’s largest nuclear power plants.

apnews.com

Well, maybe? The question is whether they plan on blowing it up in a full-on nuclear crisis fashion, or blowing it up in a way where it can be safely neutralised, or just "cosmetic" damage.

I actually don't think they'd cause a nuclear crisis. The Russian regime are certainly cruel enough to poison a large tract of Ukraine, but I also think that stands the risk of a diplomatic disaster - for instance, China is very jealous of its reputation, and I doubt wants to be allied to a state that did such a thing.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, probably usual scare tactics, but then again, given the incompetence show, wouldn't be surprised if someone went horribly wrong.

 

[Silvanus]

Russian state media has reported that Prigozhin's home has been raided. The images they've released show weaponry, photographs of severed heads, and enormous numbers of wigs. Meanwhile, Lukashenko states Prigozhin has travelled back to St. Petersburg, so that exile didn't last long.

In addition, Putin has stated (for the first time) that Wagner was "completely financed" by the Russian state, after denying that it existed or had any connection to the Russian state for many years. That includes 86b rubles in direct financing; 110b in insurance payouts; and 80bn for Prigozhin's catering company-- altogether well over 3 billion dollars.

 

[Ag3ma]

Russian state media has reported that Prigozhin's home has been raided. The images they've released show weaponry, photographs of severed heads, and enormous numbers of wigs. Meanwhile, Lukashenko states Prigozhin has travelled back to St. Petersburg, so that exile didn't last long.

In addition, Putin has stated (for the first time) that Wagner was "completely financed" by the Russian state, after denying that it existed or had any connection to the Russian state for many years. That includes 86b rubles in direct financing; 110b in insurance payouts; and 80bn for Prigozhin's catering company-- altogether well over 3 billion dollars.

I'm fascinated by the huge number of wigs, considering Prigozhin always seems to be photographed bald.

 

[Absent]

I'm fascinated by the huge number of wigs, considering Prigozhin always seems to be photographed bald.

They are disguises. He is actually the whole of wagner.

 

[Ag3ma]

They are disguises. He is actually the whole of wagner.

I eagerly await someone pulling the rubber mask off Tom Cruise at the new Mission Impossible film and revealing him to be Prigozhin.

 

[Terminal Blue]

Emutopian PowerPoint man discusses Pringles Road Trip.

The observation that this is the closest we will probably ever get to seeing a T14 Armata in combat is low key the funniest thing about an already surreal situation.

The worlds greatest military superpower, folks.

 

[Absent]

I actually don't think they'd cause a nuclear crisis. The Russian regime are certainly cruel enough to poison a large tract of Ukraine, but I also think that stands the risk of a diplomatic disaster - for instance, China is very jealous of its reputation, and I doubt wants to be allied to a state that did such a thing.

My impression is that everyone desires a nuclear crisis caused by (or "caused by") the enemy.

 

[Satinavian]

My impression is that everyone desires a nuclear crisis caused by (or "caused by") the enemy.

I am pretty sure the Ukrainians don't desire a nuclear crisis at all, even if it gives their side good publicity.