ok what the fuck is happening in ukraine

apparently a lot of men attempting to leave the country are being forcibly sent back to fight

Where is "here"?

― anatol_merklich, Friday, February 25, 2022 6:52 PM (twenty minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Confusing syntax. I meant let’s try to keep this thread specific to the situation in Ukraine and not hash out extremely general ideological stuff in this thread.

aye, I see those implicit parentheses now, thanks for clarifying.

Ok I’m going to own up that I gave Calzino, a poster I like, an FP cause I thought he crossed a line to personal insults the other day rather than his usual righteous invective.

Now I see that his temp ban has led to this thread running rampant with idiocy and bad takes that I thought were only possible on Twitter by wannabe Brookings Institution foreign policy experts, I regret my FP profoundly.

I don’t.

take it to Admin Log, but Boring otm

wat is an wannabe brookings institution? care to elucidate?

xxp bad takes and posts "rampant with idiocy" are still better than hateful personal attacks, which are just childish

wat is an wannabe brookings institution? care to elucidate?

wat is an wannabe brookings institution? care to elucidate?

― anatol_merklich, Friday, February 25, 2022 8:24 PM (thirty-nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

It really just means that some of us are being unintelligent right wing warmongers for suggesting Ukraine can defend itself from invasion and that they have the right to join any alliance they want to. The key here is to relax and always remember that no internet tankie has ever had much influence on anything.

"The key here is to relax and always remember that no internet tankie has ever had much influence on anything."

why are you posting shit like this?

i think we're all aware that the right wing warmongers are the ones with the influence, yeah

feeling very relaxed, knowing that the folks with their hands on the levers of power have this all taken care of

"The key here is to relax and always remember that no internet tankie has ever had much influence on anything."

why are you posting shit like this?

― Dan S, Friday, February 25, 2022 6:30 PM (one minute ago) bookmarkflaglink

I mean, you realize who you're asking, correct?

I don't endorse nor condemn, but!

For what it's worth, here's a perspective from some Ukrainian anarchists on the ground, and here is a statement from Russian Fed anarchists. I distrust pretty much all media equally, but some stuff that might prove interesting to some of you.

thanks for the links table

Just wish we could have a discussion without some people coming in just to insult others.

― Van Horn Street, Wednesday, February 23, 2022 2:32 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

fwiw, i insulted and then gave some links.

as it should be!

yes thanks for those links table, appreciated

Those links were fascinating, thanks Table.

sleeve & Boring otm

I look forward to reading it.

Saw that a member of the Duma called for an end to this nonsense. China hasn't exactly been supportive. Kazakhstan has reportedly rebuffed Russian calls to get involved. Wonder how long Putin can keep this up, or how he will maintain any gains.

Meanwhile:

@AP reporting tonight: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was asked to evacuate Kyiv at the behest of the U.S. government but turned down the offer. An American official tells me Zelenskyy said, “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.”

He's made of strong stuff.

xpost

Damn.

I believe that is what you call a "Chad"

It’s no “Nuts!” but it’s definitely up there

He needs a ride to carry his enormous balls around

Zelenskyy has come across very impressively. He's proven very good at standing up for himself and his country, especially given his total lack of political experience.

I highly recommend folks here check out Servant Of The People. Zelenskyy is great in it and its satire of political culture is far better than most of the b.s. important shows that air here.

The whole series is on YouTube now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ-3YwVQV0M

ty this looks p good

are we winning, lads

If Zelenskyy really does stay in Kyiv though, he's dead within a week. The Russians will take Kyiv even if it means committing the most horrendous war crimes.

That’s true, but if they kill him they will never get the fig leaf of legitimacy they want for a replacement government that is supposedly chosen by the Ukrainian people. They may do it anyway and then claim he fled. All dark to contemplate.

If they get the chance, which they will if he sticks around, they'll kill him.

I wonder what Putin's current popularity in Russia is tbh

https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-is-crowdfunding-to-shore-up-defense-against-russian-military-2022-2

I don't think there's any precedent for a military doing crowdfunding? Insane times.

This is a good guy to follow anyway, but

End. This guy walked up to me and wanted to share a message with y’all. pic.twitter.com/4dFBd78mtr

— Terrell Jermaine Starr (@terrelljstarr) February 26, 2022

If accurate, this seems important:

Russia-Ukraine latest news: Turkey will block Russian warship access to Black Sea, says Zelenskiy, in blow to Putin https://t.co/eAkAlneo1o

— The Guardian (@guardian) February 26, 2022

New (to me) dimension of crowdwork platforms:
Russian military uses Premise microtasking platform to aim and calibrate fire during their invasion of Ukraine. Example tasks are to locate ports, medical facilities, bridges, explosion craters. Paying ¢0.25 to $3.25 a task. pic.twitter.com/kHTO2tSCUH

— Bogdan Kulynych 🇺🇦 (@hiddenmarkov) February 25, 2022

“Turkey hasn’t made a decision to close the straits to Russian ships yet,” a senior Turkish official tells me

So guess Zelensky was making a request with that tweet

— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) February 26, 2022

Yeah, I figured it was some sort of miscommunication. But it is somewhat intriguing that Turkey hasn't decided yet.

I don't understand the rationale behind Putin sending conscripts already.

I presume the request for troops from Kazakstan was just a PR thing, but why sending conscripts who don't appear particularly reliable

The Russian army is about 35-40% conscripts iirc and lots are trained as specialists. They’re involved in everything as standard.

Late, but thank you so much for sharing those links, table. That provided the clearest picture of what's happening (and has already happened) on the ground that I've yet encountered.

you have to think james ward-prowse could do a job all the same xp

pic.twitter.com/rIRtMnL7Fb

— Axl Rose (@axlrose) February 26, 2022

ain’t that fresh

Axl’s no appetite for destruction

If people are really missing Calzino that much, I could pop in every once in a while to tell all the Americans to fuck off.

Ukrainians wrecking Russian Motorized Infantry with #Molotov cocktails at improvised roadblocks on the outskirts of #Kyiv, #Ukraine.
pic.twitter.com/A7lvr0G6Hh

— Soleyman (@soleyman_1) February 26, 2022

About the micro tasking post above - why would they want to know where explosion craters are?