Russia Attacks Ukraine - 23 Feb 2022 #5

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  • #281
CSIDreamer said:
I remember my first over the ocean flight. I squeaked "wait we're flying in a football field". You are doing great, no worries! I was just wanting a feel of how many people might be on those people movers. JMO
Click to expand...

I remember seeing those Airbus A380's and Boeing 747 's in airports and just being astonished at how huge they were. My Dad, who did some foreign travel to the mid-East and Asia for business hated them because it look "for-ever" board and unboard a plane like that and it was even worse having to wait for the luggage of a 500+ person plane.

Stock photo of the double-layer Emirates A380. Note the 4 huge jet engines.

1639696156935.jpg
 
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  • #282
McDonald's says it is temporarily closing 850 restaurants in Russia

@McDonaldsCorp

In a message shared to employees and franchisees, CEO Chris Kempczinski shared that McDonald's will temporarily close all restaurants and pause all operations in Russia. Click to read the message in its entirety. McDonald's To Temporarily Close Restaurants & Pause Operations in Russia
 
  • #283
OK I hope you won't remove it because this is:
1) sad
2) hilarious
3) confirms my theory - Putin has own interests in Ukraine war, but his ministers might be interested in covering up money laundering. Please read. This lady was Russia minister of defense Sergei Shoigu's lover till 2017. He has a new one now. The first one got 100 million USD in military contracts. The article from 2019, so has nothing to troll re. current situation.

former associate of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has allegedly earned 6.5 billion rubles ($101.9 million) from deals with the ministries of defense and emergency situations, according to an investigation by Russia’s The Insider news website.

Russian Defense Chief’s Reported Ex Made $100M From Ministry Deals, Media Reports - The Moscow Times

The Insider’s investigation follows the high-profile sentencing for embezzlement and quick parole in 2015 of Yevgenia Vasilyeva, a Defense Ministry manager thought to be romantically involved with Shoigu’s predecessor. Former Emergency Situations Ministry flight attendant Yelena Shebunova was involved with Shoigu until as recently as 2017, the outlet reported, citing two unnamed sources close to the emergency ministry.
"former associate of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has allegedly earned 6.5 billion rubles ($101.9 million) from deals with the ministries of defense and emergency situations, according to an investigation by Russia’s The Insider news website.

The Insider’s investigation follows the high-profile sentencing for embezzlement and quick parole in 2015 of Yevgenia Vasilyeva, a Defense Ministry manager thought to be romantically involved with Shoigu’s predecessor. Former Emergency Situations Ministry flight attendant Yelena Shebunova was involved with Shoigu until as recently as 2017, the outlet reported, citing two unnamed sources close to the emergency situations ministry report.
Companies co-owned by Shebunova allegedly earned 6.5 billion rubles from contracts with the Defense Ministry and the Emergency Situations Ministry, The Insider reported Thursday."

Now, the irony is, to find this information, I had to Google (in Russian) "Shoigu's lovers" (любовницы Шойгу). А whole list opened (these 26-y.o. women have the ranks of mayor-general of Russian army, no joke!). And several spoke about the money-laundering schemes. A lady like this gets a 100 mln USD order, then they are "used". To export them abroad, sometimes almost hilarious things were used. Such as: a fake foreign company sues a Russian-owned company, the Russian court admits that they are right, and the money is paid.

So partially, the masters of this war have contributed into Ukraine doing so well, as they stole from Russian "modernized" army so much.

I think the war is the result of Putin's geostrategical ambitions, but Russian generals want to cover up immense stealing and money-laundering, too.

There is a Russian phrase, "war will write it all off". It applied to war romances during WWII. These people are probably using it for a different reason.
 
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  • #284
US Army Blackhawk helicopter operating along the Romania Black Sea coastline near the Ukraine border

Good to know there are eyes and ears everywhere
 
  • #285
Sundog said:
Interesting news report from that link -

Russia-Ukraine negotiations 'much more serious than West is saying' and gaps between sides 'not great' - report

A fascinating report has been published in the Jerusalem Post this afternoon, which quotes sources it says were privy to a meeting three days ago between Israeli PM Naftali Bennett and Vladimir Putin.

The gist of the story is that negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are "much more serious than what the West has been saying".

It says Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been given a "final" version of Mr Putin's offer to end the crisis and - in a claim that would represent a rare glimmer of hope amid Russia's brutal attacks - "the gaps between the sides are not great" (assuming, as this correspondent is, that "great" is being used in its definition that relates to size rather than that which relates to quality).

<snipped>

"Kyiv has not shared with the West what has been going on in the negotiations since they do not want to [dampen] the worldwide sense of emergency."

The report outlined the following as the arrangement being offered to Ukraine's leader: "Zelenskyy can fortify Ukraine's independence but will have to pay a heavy price, the sources said. Assumptions are that he will be forced to give up the contested Donbas region, officially recognise the pro-Russian dissidents in Ukraine, pledge that Ukraine will not join NATO, shrink his army and declare neutrality. If he declines the proposal, the outcome may be terrible: thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of Ukrainians will die and there is a high probability that his country will completely lose its independence."

The newspaper goes on to say Mr Zelenskyy is "torn" over the offer.

<snipped>

However, if there does turn out to be any substance to claims that a deal is "difficult" but not "impossible", this could clearly be of huge significance.
Click to expand...

This may have been posted here but I've read so much it's a bit blurry.

https://twitter.com/ASLuhn/status/1501134454168895490?t=LTwRpppX2kCyOTmPNR2Zlw&s=19

Zelenskyy says "compromise" is possible on Putin's demands he cede Crimea/DPR/LPR & not join NATO: "I've cooled down regarding this question a long time ago after we understood that NATO isn't prepared to accept Ukraine." Could be big if both sides genuine Video The Zelenskyy Interview: David Muir Reporting | ABC News Exclusive

Zelenskyy is proposing a "collective security agreement" with Russia, Turkey & Ukraine's other neighbors, as well as the US, France & Germany, according to the official readout of his ABC interview Україна повинна мати колективний договір безпеки зі всіма своїми сусідами за участю провідних держав світу – Президент — Офіційне інтернет-представництво Президента України

*more links in actual tweet*
 
  • #286
08/03/2022 - 18:00
In nod to Russia, Ukraine says no longer insisting on NATO membership (france24.com)
''Washington (AFP) – President Volodymyr Zelensky said he is no longer pressing for NATO membership for Ukraine, a delicate issue that was one of Russia's stated reasons for invading its pro-Western neighbor.
In another apparent nod aimed at placating Moscow, Zelensky said he is open to "compromise" on the status of two breakaway pro-Russian territories that President Vladimir Putin recognized as independent just before unleashing the invasion on February 24.

"I have cooled down regarding this question a long time ago after we understood that ... NATO is not prepared to accept Ukraine," Zelensky said in an interview aired Monday night on ABC News.

"The alliance is afraid of controversial things, and confrontation with Russia," the president added.

Referring to NATO membership, Zelensky said through an interpreter that he does not want to be president of a "country which is begging something on its knees."
 
  • #287
dotr said:
08/03/2022 - 18:00
In nod to Russia, Ukraine says no longer insisting on NATO membership (france24.com)
''Washington (AFP) – President Volodymyr Zelensky said he is no longer pressing for NATO membership for Ukraine, a delicate issue that was one of Russia's stated reasons for invading its pro-Western neighbor.
In another apparent nod aimed at placating Moscow, Zelensky said he is open to "compromise" on the status of two breakaway pro-Russian territories that President Vladimir Putin recognized as independent just before unleashing the invasion on February 24.

"I have cooled down regarding this question a long time ago after we understood that ... NATO is not prepared to accept Ukraine," Zelensky said in an interview aired Monday night on ABC News.

"The alliance is afraid of controversial things, and confrontation with Russia," the president added.

Referring to NATO membership, Zelensky said through an interpreter that he does not want to be president of a "country which is begging something on its knees."
Click to expand...

As his neighbor country, Moldova, is seeking entrance into the EU, I wonder if Ukraine is still keeping that concept in reserve. I can't see how they can exist as a partial country next to ravenous Russia without some treaty-links to a larger partner like NATO or EU.
 
  • #288
  • #289
McDonald's is temporarily closing Russian restaurants - CNN

"McDonald's has decided to temporarily close all our restaurants in Russia and pause all operations in the market," CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a statement Tuesday.
There were 847 locations of McDonald's in Russia at the close of last year, according to an investor document.
​
 
  • #290
  • #291
  • #292
Illia Ponomarenko @IAPonomarenko


Ukraine pays $1 million for an intact Russian airplane, $500,000 for a helicopter.

Defense reporter with The Kyiv Independent. War, weapons, beer & heavy metal. A village guy from Donbas in a crusade for something better.
https://twitter.com/IAPonomarenko/status/1501239798446632960
 
  • #293
OPINION
PAUL KRUGMAN
''Laundered Money Could Be Putin’s Achilles’ Heel
Feb. 24, 2022
''By conventional measures the Putin regime doesn’t look very vulnerable, at least in the short run.

True, Russia will eventually pay a heavy price. There won’t be any more pipeline deals; there will be hardly any foreign direct investment. After all, who will want to make long-term commitments to a country whose autocratic leadership has shown such reckless contempt for the rule of law? But these consequences of Putin’s aggression will take years to become visible.''
''But even the invasion of Ukraine probably won’t be enough to persuade Europe to make those sorts of sacrifices. It’s telling, and not in a good way, that Italy wants luxury goods — a favorite purchase of the Russian elite — excluded from any sanctions package.''

''Everyone has heard about giant oligarch-owned yachts, sports franchises and incredibly expensive homes in multiple countries; there’s so much highly visible Russian money in Britain that some people talk about “Londongrad.” Well, these aren’t just isolated stories.

Filip Novokmet, Thomas Piketty and Gabriel Zucman have pointed out that Russia has run huge trade surpluses every year since the early 1990s, which should have led to a large accumulation of overseas assets. Yet official statistics show Russia with only moderately more assets than liabilities abroad. How is that possible? The obvious explanation is that wealthy Russians have been skimming off large sums and parking them abroad.

The sums involved are mind-boggling. Novokmet et al. estimate that in 2015 the hidden foreign wealth of rich Russians amounted to around 85 percent of Russia’s G.D.P. To give you some perspective, this is as if a U.S. president’s cronies had managed to hide $20 trillion in overseas accounts. Another paper co-written by Zucman found that in Russia, “the vast majority of wealth at the top is held offshore.” As far as I can tell, the overseas exposure of Russia’s elite has no precedent in history — and it creates a huge vulnerability that the West can exploit.''


''There are two uncomfortable facts here. First, a number of influential people, both in business and in politics, are deeply financially enmeshed with Russian kleptocrats. This is especially true in Britain. Second, it will be hard to go after laundered Russian money without making life harder for all money launderers, wherever they come from — and while Russian plutocrats may be the world champions in that sport, they’re hardly unique: Ultrawealthy people all over the world have money hidden in offshore accounts.''

What this means is that taking effective action against Putin’s greatest vulnerability will require facing up to and overcoming the West’s own corruption.

Can the democratic world rise to this challenge? We’ll find out over the next few months.''
 
  • #294
As others have stated, I'm also learning so much related to geography, history, aircraft radar, language... the list goes on and on. I've been concerned about Finland simply because of all the Russian traffic in the Barents Sea but maybe I'm wrong about this? Feel free to "school me" on this. And, could someone tell me the names of the last two members of British Parliament who spoke after Zelensky's speech? TIA!
 
  • #295
Sky News
@SkyNews
8m

Ukraine war: Temperatures set to drop to -10C as thousands flee Russian attacks

Conflict News

@Conflicts
3m

BREAKING: Statement by the Polish government approves the transfer of all of the country's MiG-29 fighter jets to the US, likely as the first stage in a swap deal that will see them transferred to Ukraine.
 
  • #296
  • #297
Elley Mae said:
United Nations advises staff against using ‘war’ or ‘invasion’ regarding Ukraine

United Nations advises staff against using ‘war’ or ‘invasion’ regarding Ukraine

…

They are useless.

Jmo
Click to expand...

https://twitter.com/UN/status/1501264014189359109?t=P-JdymAtcf38UfvAQ3f9tA&s=19

2 million people have fled the war in Ukraine.

This is now the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.

UNHCR is working to provide humanitarian aid to those in need.

You can support their efforts: UNHCR | Donate to families from Ukraine via @Refugees https://t.co/2YSmVdGMPP

*Funny. The UN calls it a war. I call fake news. This was posted 33 minutes ago*
 
  • #298
fred&edna said:
As others have stated, I'm also learning so much related to geography, history, aircraft radar, language... the list goes on and on. I've been concerned about Finland simply because of all the Russian traffic in the Barents Sea but maybe I'm wrong about this? Feel free to "school me" on this. And, could someone tell me the names of the last two members of British Parliament who spoke after Zelensky's speech? TIA!
Click to expand...

Can't help on the UK Parliament members

The Russian commercial flights over the Barents Sea don't bother me.

It's the Russian sub fleet up there that does.
 
  • #299
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