I remember a Bugs Bunny cartoon where Bugs wanted to run for office. Referencing Reagan, he said ‘After all, I wouldn’t be the first Warner Brothers actor to run for office!’
I saw a link to a Twitter feed where people in Ireland where surrounding the Russian ambassador’s residence when said ambassador drove up in a car. It stared with waving signs and people draping Ukrainian flags over the limo while the cops looked on with little sign they’d do anything to stop anyone. Ended with the limo driving away as people smashed things across it and screamed “Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you!”
Demonstrators in downtown Chicago yesterday and today were displaying signs in (I presume) Russian and Ukrainian. It’s not uncommon these days for demonstrations to feature signs in many languages.
English is the world’s most common second language, as well as the first language of hundreds of millions. If you want to get a message out to everyone it’s not a bad choice.
I wonder how long it it between announcing a weapons shipment and the weapons arriving in the hands of the troops who need to use them? It’s not like they can be airlifted in and the Russians would presumably be quite keen to intercept them as soon as they cross the border.
Perhaps the politicians make the announcement some time after the weapons begin their journey.
True, the Russians would do everything to intercept any aircraft coming into Ukraine. But I wonder: Is there anything legally stopping a European country from delivering weapons if it can? Ukraine says, ‘You are invited! Bring weapons!’ ISTM that no treaties would be broken. (Russian intervention is a separate issue.)
AFAIK, shipments are still getting into Ukraine, either via air or rail. Russia hasn’t, to this point at least, closed down all flights or gotten total air supremacy, especially in western Ukraine, and I’d guess Russia would not really like to have an ‘accident’ where they shot down a western countries flagged aircraft operating legally. I know US shipments are still getting in at this point, and those from other nations too, so I don’t think it’s an issue…yet.
As to how long it might take now that Germany has changed course on all the weapons from other countries they were stopping, I’d guess it’s happening already. It won’t be weeks, more like a few days at most.
Not surprising since they are both using Russian/Soviet era equipment. And, basically, the same doctrine as well. Hell, they are probably all speaking Russian for that matter. Even their radio gear would be the same, though presumably they would have different encryption. But, yeah, it’s got to be very confusing, especially on the ground. Are those T-64 tanks over there ours…or theirs?? What about that towed artillery? It all looks exactly the same! And those troops carrying AK-47s? Who are they??
I imagine there will probably be quite a few friendly fire incidents in this chaos. At least on Ukraine’s side, if it’s in the air it’s probably Russian, so shoot it!
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17/MAS17)[a] was a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down on 17 July 2014 while flying over eastern Ukraine. All 283 passengers and 15 crew were killed.[3] Contact with the aircraft, a Boeing 777-200ER, was lost when it was about 50 km (31 mi) from the Ukraine–Russia border, and wreckage of the aircraft fell near Hrabove in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, 40 km (25 mi) from the border.[4] The shoot-down occurred in the War in Donbas in an area controlled by pro-Russian rebels.[5]
The responsibility for investigation was delegated to the Dutch Safety Board (DSB) and the Dutch-led joint investigation team (JIT), who concluded that the airliner was downed by a Buk surface-to-air missile launched from pro-Russian separatist-controlled territory in Ukraine…