Ukraine

It could be a while before they get those jets, we obviously don't hear the time table, but it's not just a matter of handing over some planes.

Is it any coincidence that this dam breach comes just a short time after the commemoration of the WW2 dambusting raids.
It's war and both sides do these kind of things.

 

I must admit, while I think it's outrageous, I also thought it was a bit hypocritical for Sunak, current boss of the UK, to say Russia had sunk to a new low, when in Britain we proudly celebrate the dambusters raids of WW2. But it's different circumstances. The dams that the Brits destroyed in WW2 were powering nazi ammo factories just downstream. That made them a strategic military target by any standards, including rules of war today with all the treaties that have been agreed since WW2.

In contrast, the dam in Ukraine was civilian infrastructure, and the towns destroyed by the resulting floods are civilian settlements. The loss of all the water in the reservoir also means millions of tonnes of crops will now not get watered. This is entirely an attack on civilians and the scale and consequences are probably no less than if they'd used a tactical nuke.

It's also not just an attack on Ukrainian civilians. Knowing the impact to food crops in the region, not just this year but probably for quite a few years, it will push food prices up further for a long time. In a way it's an economic attack as much as an act of aggression.

As to the availability of aircraft, they're already in the region and training has been going on for a while now.

 

We celebrate the boldness and audacity of the raid, the heroic skill of our airmen, the design of our aircraft, the left field thinking of the scientists and the technical expertise required to construct the devices.

 

It's in the news now that Russia has accused Ukraine of damaging a pipeline that Russia uses to export ammonia. The damage is I'm kharkiv. Ammonia is a nasty gas that burns soft tissue like eyes and lungs. I wonder why the Ukrainians would risk letting such a gas vent on their own side of the front line.

 

They did the same to Napoleon.

 

They were also providing water for the population of the Ruhr area, orginally built c1910 to provide water to the people and industry in that area. Of the casualties the majority were slave workers. The dam at the Mohne reservoir had been repaired by the autumn and the winter rains refilled the reservoir. Of the other four dams attacked three were largely undamaged and the fourth was destroyed, but was not involved in supplying the Ruhr anyway.
Spectacular yes, successful not particularly, repairs did pull resources away from other projects.
Given the losses of Lancaster bombers and trained aircrew we would probably have been better off dropping standard bombs on the factories, transport and power infrastructure.

 

It appears that the penny has finally dropped for Putin - did you see the video of his body double refusing to shake hands and then turning his back on Shoigu?

Got to hand it to the USA - they are replacing all the Bradley fighting vehicles lost in combat.

Apparently the bulk of the Ukraine forces have not yet taken part in the counteroffensive. I reckon they are waiting for a weak spot to appear and will then pour in the heavy hitting kit.

I still say that finances will finish off Putin by the end of this year.

 

If we're to believe the news, and I have no reason to doubt it, Putin has bigger problems than Ukraine now.

Lots of countries that historically have strong ties with Russia are now getting a bit twitchy, and the boss of Wagner is getting increasingly vocal, and even physical, against Putin and his minions. Meanwhile inside Russia itself, it seems there are factions that seek to impede Russia's war effort.

In other news, Russia has been caught out spoofing western media websites and tweaking reports on the war to portray Ukraine as the bad guys. Apparently internet traffic to the spoofed sites has been minimal, suggesting the masses are mostly bright enough to recognise a fake website.

 

Interesting article on the BBC news site.

Counting Russia's dead in Ukraine - and what it says about the changing face of the war - BBC News

 

These companies should have done the right thing - when they had the chance:

We learned recently that the Kremlin has signed a secret order that will allow officials to seize the assets of “naughty” Western companies at cut price rates and is considering fully nationalising some of them as well.

The remaining European and American companies that stayed on in Russia after the war – such as the tobacco manufacturer Philip Morris, Unilever, or the brewer Heineken – may soon be in for a huge shock.

Unilever have said:

It is clear that were we to abandon our business and brands in the country, they would be appropriated – and then operated – by the Russian state. In addition, we do not think it is right to abandon our people in Russia.

They need to reassess the current situation.

 

I never understood why companies should pull out of Russia in the first place.

It's not like those that did pull out did so to hurt Russia. They didn't simply close the business and lay off staff. They sold their Russian operations to other buyers who would then continue to run them. So other than a small political statement, I don't understand what impact in practical terms it would have had on Russia.

Unless I'm misunderstanding, which is possible because I'm not an international business guru, what happened for those that did pull out is in effect, they said 'we don't want to take money out of Russia any more' as they stopped selling goods there. Sure they'll have also been paying tax into Russia, as will the buyers of their Russian operations, but they won't have set up in Russia in the first place if not to profit from the Russian market, is to take more money from there than they put in.

 

IMHO its doing whats right trumping money. Those who took massive losses have apparently seen their stock market value increase enough to make up for losses. Investors want to put their cash into companies who have robust morals. Russia can take on a McDonalds but they dont have the whereabouts to step into, for example, the shoes of BP. Those Russians with the technical know how have high tailed it out of the country. I had to have a wry smile about the recent Russian economic forum, no one turned up. Putin has lost 25% of his income, banged up taxes and is spending hugely on shoring up his murderous campaign againt Ukraine. Hes got to the end of the year.

 

I agree @clanless. This is about integrity. It is not being woke or any of that nonsense, it is doing what's genuinely right.

 

I get the moral point from a PR perspective, but I'd be prepared to bet a month's salary that those that sold out didn't do so for purely moral reasons. It will have been a business decision in the boardroom with the financial director present and lots of charts about financial forecasts for different scenarios.

The conclusion of such meetings would have been the decision that it is potentially harmful to the net profit to stay in Russia.

The next set of meetings would have been about finding a buyer for their Russian assets that is likely to pay the best price in the shortest time.

The PR team would then have devised a suitable press release and social media campaign to tell all their customers how righteous they've been, and how continuing to buy their products is the right thing to support Ukraine.

 

Curious what's funny about war, profiteering, and manipulating customer sentiment @CanadianLori ?