The Economist published an article a few weeks ago saying that cutting Russia off from SWIFT would strengthen their internal system and maybe China’s. However, I’m sure they weren’t thinking of an actual attempted takeover of Ukraine and united actions from Western countries to cut off Russia from the world.
An oligarchy/kleptocracy without access to their money is an interesting concept, rarely if ever seen on this scale. Putin seems likely to start seeing serious internal outrage from the very people he depends on to keep him in power.
I just took a look. It seems like there’s always that one plane that looks like it’s going to just fly straight across the combat zone. I’m guessing that most of them don’t actually do that…
Meanwhile, in the “Things That Shouldn’t Have To Be Said But Here We Are” file, here’s a well-written essay regarding the transphobes on Twitter who think that Russia invaded Ukraine because of people asking to be called “they/them”.
Not even the first in Ukraine. Yeah, oil refinery fire? Pshaw! Ukraine still has the remains of a nuclear power plant fire on its territory.
As far as using conventional weapons to destroy a city - nations were doing that back in WWII. You’d think Putin would want to preserve the useful stuff like buildings but if he gets angry or desperate enough who knows what he’ll do?
Several videos on Twitter of Russian POWs, explaining that they didn’t know where their orders were taking them and they didn’t want to fight Ukrainians. If true, I wonder if Russian unwillingness to fight is having as much of an impact on their lack of progress as poor logistics and supplies.
The feeling I get from all this is that Putin may have made a catastrophic miscalculation that could lead to a more rapid downfall than anyone could have predicted. We’ll see if my feelings have anything to do with reality.
A lot of experts on Russia and Putin agree that his decision to invade was totally irrational. He’s simply lost the plot. There can be no positive outcome for him.
Typical autocratic thinking - seeing your soldier as automatons who will follow your orders blindly, and thus forgetting to provide them with a reason to fight for you.
Control over Kharkiv is completely ours! The Armed Forces, the National Police, and the Defense Forces are working, and the city is being completely cleansed of the enemy.
Russia’s enemy is completely demoralized. Directly in Kharkiv, throwing enemy vehicles in the middle of the road, whole groups of 5-10 people surrender to Ukrainian troops. As soon as they see at least one representative of the Armed Forces, they surrender.
Regarding the situation in the region as of now: Chuguiv is completely controlled by Ukrainian troops, Ukrainian flags on all administrative buildings.
The offensive of the Russian aggressor continues in the Lipetsk direction, Vovchansky and Belgorod.
Dozens of Russian soldiers surrendered to the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kharkiv.
The captured Russian fighters speak of complete exhaustion and demoralization, they have no connection with the central command, do not understand and do not know their further actions. Since the beginning of the attack on Ukraine, they have not received food and water, the equipment has no fuel reserves.
Leaving their positions, Russian fighters try to hide among the civilian population, asking people for clothes and food. Because no one is waiting for them ‘at home’.
Residents of Kharkiv region, be careful not to open the door to strangers, do not help the Russian aggressor in hiding.
Something I find very surprising about this whole situation is the fact that most of Ukraine seem to still have internet connection, I have coworkers in or near Kyiv and Dnipro who are, if not actively working, at least in constant contact with the rest of us.
Does this reflect a Russian policy of not actively going against the communications infrastructure?, I thought that one of he pillars of modern war was to destroy/disrupt enemy communications.
Alternatively, are they trying to do it and failing? Is it due to Ukrainian resistence or the general “robustness” of the internet?.
Well said, and I fully agree. Zelensky is going to be a legendary figure in a future free and independent Ukraine. Headlines around the world already say it all – CNN: “a profile in courage”; The Atlantic: “a prayer for Volodymyr Zelensky”. If anything happens to him it will just add to the litany of war crimes perpetrated by the Chinless Wonder.
Wasn’t the internet originally designed as an alternate communications system capable of continuing to operate during wartime? Seems like it’s doing its job.
“We currently observe national connectivity at 87% of ordinary levels, a figure that reflects service disruptions as well as population flight and the shuttering of homes and businesses since the morning of the 24th,” Alp Toker, director of NetBlocks, told Reuters.
“While there is no nation-scale blackout, little is being heard from the worst affected regions, and for others there’s an ever-present fear that connectivity could worsen at any moment, cutting off friends and family,” Toker said.
Elon Musk is galloping to the rescue with Starlink receivers, but who knows how many, or when they’ll get there, or how long they’ll take to be distributed. Anyway, it’s great publicity for Elon Musk and Starlink!
And on that note – I think it’s been posted on one of the Ukraine threads – Elon Musk tweeted yesterday:
Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route.
With off-grid charging for phones, tablets, and laptops, that probably (my understanding about the infrastructure involved is limited) makes the prospect of taking them offline significantly more challenging.