I have to say I really don’t understand a lot of these. Is it all Putin or is it oligarch vs. oligarch? Who’s taking control of all that cash the dead leave behind?
I would love to see it. Russia seems to do the moving backwards thing better than the moving forward thing.
I have friends in Ukraine and contact is really spotty. Mother and 2 daughters, home destroyed, possessions lost, living in a shelter and borrowing phones to try to stay in contact with her husband, who is in the fighting. On top of that, the risk in going anywhere because a missile can fall out of the sky at random times, makes for a really shitty existence. The sooner Russia gets pushed back to their own borders the better. Preferably before any of the new troops can be brought to bear and possibly be used to block retreat.
Everything I saw says security video is being withheld. Can you find the video?
You can actually get attachments for spray paint cans that allow you to spray in a stream, but I don’t think that’s what happened here. With all the droplets visible, they probably used something like a pressure washer to spray a regular can of paint. They have battery powered ones that are portable.
Putin’s wealth consists of arresting people on trumped up charges and letting them go if they give him 50%. It’s possible he’s financing the war with the current list of oligarchs who’ve passed their expiration date.
I can’t imagine he’s spending his own money on this, no matter how many billions he has. Dictators spend other peoples money, just like capitalists.
I am curious how the money stuff works. Does he just have someone thrown thru a window and then say “Hey government flunky, find all his holdings and put my name on them so all the rubles go to me.” Even in a kleptocracy there has to be a way to keep track where all the stolen money goes.
in many smaller countries, a consul is quite often a natural person (as in a Joe Doe) that happens to be a reputable person.
Having worked w/in an embassy, I once had a collegue leaving his job and moving south … and he was asked (and agreed) to be consul for any business in the south … basically a consul is a local liaise between guest country and embassy country, normally looking at pretty mundane stuff ( e.g. drug offenses, mugged tourists, lost passports, emergency health care…)
but yes, surprising that there was no security there, def. a relevant target … and I get the feeling that the truck is not parked there by chance…
Intellectually, it seems like if you know a missile can randomly strike where you are, then going about your as normal seems a reasonable choice. Emotionally, I can see where that would be hard to put in practice, and even if you did, it would still be a shitty existence.
I believe that the reasoning behind the annexation was to allow them to “legally” use conscripts or other kinds of troops in those areas that would normally be required to only be deployed in Russia. I don’t think Russia cares at all what the rest of the world thinks about their sham elections and rapid annexation. Usually these things wouldn’t be done until things are relatively stable and secure. That they went this route suggests a strong strategic reason for doing so relating to shoring up one of their main weaknesses - finding enough bodies for the front lines.
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