ok what the fuck is happening in ukraine

never mind

But for whatever reason do Ukrainians feel separate enough from Russians to stand up (and I am guessing the answer is yes) and how will this effect their view of a puppet government over time and what does this mean for nation states and empires and the lines along which borders are drawn?

"But sir, Mr. McAdams was the name of his dog!"

affect (sorry copy fiends)

Sadly, it has gone too far.

Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russian foreign intelligence: "The masks are off. The West isn't simply trying to close off Russia behind a new iron curtain. This is about an attempt to ruin our government - to 'cancel' it, as they now say in "tolerant" liberal-fascist circles."

— Paul Sonne (@PaulSonne) March 3, 2022

Отразите свое проснувшееся небо

Russia is totally going rebuild its economy by starting a Substack

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò did a series for the nation literally a month or two ago where he asked the question "who runs the world?" besides being absolutely horrifying and a major bummer, the russian invasion of ukraine and the sanction response is also a real-life test-run of this question imo.

https://www.thenation.com/authors/olufemi-o-taiwo/

also, this is an actually good response from zizek

https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/europe-unequal-treatment-of-refugees-exposed-by-ukraine-by-slavoj-zizek-2022-03

China Asked Russia to Delay Ukraine War Until After Olympics, U.S. Officials Say

https://archive.ph/LOMqw

of course chinese officials are denying everything, but:

China and Russia have been strengthening their economic, diplomatic and military ties for years. Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin met 37 times as national leaders before their discussions in Beijing ahead of the Olympics. The ambitious joint statement that the two nations issued during that meeting alarmed American and European officials, especially because it was the first time China had explicitly sided with Russia on issues concerning NATO and European security. European leaders have denounced China and Russia in recent weeks, including in speeches at the Munich Security Conference.
For months, some American officials tried to recruit China in efforts to avert war in Ukraine.
Days after President Biden spoke to Mr. Xi in a video summit on Nov. 15, senior American officials decided to present intelligence on the Russian troop buildup around Ukraine to senior Chinese officials to try to get them to persuade Mr. Putin to stand down. The Americans spoke to Qin Gang, the Chinese ambassador in Washington, and to Wang Yi, the foreign minister, among others. In a half-dozen meetings, including one in Washington between U.S. officials and the Chinese ambassador just hours before the Russian invasion, Chinese officials expressed skepticism that Mr. Putin would invade Ukraine, American officials said.
After one diplomatic exchange in December, U.S. officials received intelligence showing Beijing had shared the information with Moscow, telling the Russians that the United States was trying to sow discord and that China would not try to impede Russian plans and actions, American officials said.
U.S. intelligence findings and assessments of Russian plans for an invasion of Ukraine have generally been accurate. The Americans began a campaign last fall to share intelligence with mainly ally and partner nations and to present declassified material to the public to build pressure on Russia to halt any planned invasion. William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director, flew to Moscow on Nov. 2 to confront the Russians with the information, and on Nov. 17, American intelligence officials shared their findings with NATO.

Since the war began, Chinese officials have consistently aligned with Russia. They have expressed support for Russia’s concerns about NATO and said Russian and Ukrainian officials should have negotiations. A Chinese government readout of a telephone conversation last Friday between Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin reiterated those points. Spokespeople for the Chinese Foreign Ministry have refused to call Russia’s actions an “invasion” and blamed the United States for inflaming tensions around Ukraine.

so, basically the US goes to china and russia to try to ask why russia seems to be getting ready for war. china tells the americans why they're starting to start a war, lol, because they don't know anything of that sort. russia attacks after the olympics. china wants negotiations between russia and ukraine but sides with russia's "listen, just give me your country and we'll call it even." but everybody gtfo:

China is trying to evacuate thousands of its citizens, including diplomats, from Ukraine. About 6,000 citizens were in Ukraine before those efforts began. At least one Chinese citizen was injured by gunfire on Tuesday while trying to leave Ukraine, Mr. Wang said. The Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, spoke with the Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, on Tuesday about the Chinese citizens in the country, according to an official Chinese readout of the conversation.

and more conniving:

American and European officials are watching China closely to see whether it will help Russia evade sanctions. Before the invasion, Beijing and Moscow announced a 30-year contract for China to buy gas through a new pipeline. China has also lifted restrictions on the import of Russian wheat. But U.S. officials expect the large Chinese state-owned banks to avoid openly violating the sanctions on Russia for fear of jeopardizing their own global commercial activities.

I'm actually kind of shocked by how coherent and otm that Zizek piece was.

"That Russian 40km army convoy has stalled apparently because it has run out of fuel."

A Robert Peston Tweet. Hope it is true, and gives a breathing space.

I wonder who the Russia Rumsfeld is who did this awesome planning

iirc ShariVari mentioned something about the head general being fired a few days ago?

Now's the time to bomb the trucks

fuck yeah

brilliant idea, notify the generals

BREAKING: RT America is ceasing productions and laying off its staff, according to a memo I have obtained from the production company behind the Russia-backed network. https://t.co/l2wcGA85Zg

— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) March 3, 2022

lol I did not know that Dennis Miller had a show on RT America

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/Bart_Chilton.jpg/330px-Bart_Chilton.jpg

This guy will surely find another job soon (in Eternia)

bye

Q: How meaningful is it that the convoy is "stalled" or "running out of fuel?" Is there any analysis of that? Presumably they have means of refueling/resupplying? At least it's hard for me to believe otherwise. How long does this set Russia back?

I think it’s a sign of a larger problem and won’t expect much to change even after they get their hands on some jerrycans

Q: How meaningful is it that the convoy is "stalled" or "running out of fuel?" Is there any analysis of that? Presumably they have means of refueling/resupplying? At least it's hard for me to believe otherwise. How long does this set Russia back?

I don't think anybody really knows what's going on:

Saying that the convoy had “not made any appreciable progress, geographically speaking, in the last 24-36 hours”, Kirby added: “In general we believe there are a couple of reasons for that. One reason is we believe the Russians are deliberately regrouping themselves and reassessing the progress that they have not made and how to make up the lost time.

“Two, we do believe that they have experienced logistic and sustainment challenges. Challenges that we don’t believe they fully anticipated. Three, they are getting resistance from the Ukrainians. We have some indications, nothing that we can 100% verify, that the Ukrainians have indeed tried to slow down that convoy.”

Apparently they've struck a deal with some local pro-Russian separatists who need a ride and agreed to throw in some money for gas and tolls

turned down the ass and grass huh?

PARIS — Russian President Vladimir Putin called French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, in what appeared to have been a markedly more tense exchange than previous conversations between the two leaders.

The 90-minute call failed to deliver a diplomatic breakthrough, and a senior French official said it left Macron convinced that “the worst is yet to come” and that Putin aims to take control of all of Ukraine.

“Your country will pay dearly because it will end up as an isolated country, weakened and under sanctions for a very long time,” Macron told Putin, according to a French official, who added that Macron “called on Vladimir Putin to not lie to himself.”

...The Kremlin’s news service cited Putin as having told Macron that the objectives “of the special military operation” — the term the Kremlin has used to refer to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — “will be fulfilled in any case.”

“Attempts to gain time by dragging negotiations will only lead to additional requirements for Kyiv in our negotiating position,” Putin told Macron, according to the readout.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/03/macron-putin-call-ukraine/

Ugh

Some powerful photos of the civilian resistance:

https://time.com/6154068/ukrainian-citizens-fight-russian-troops/

Thousands of people in Berlin have gone to the central train station to offer fleeing Ukrainians a place to stay. Really moving. pic.twitter.com/OReuMnHcfk

— Marcel Dirsus (@marceldirsus) March 3, 2022

Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station under attack and on fire feels like next-level madness now.

I saw that, but for the sake of sanity didn't post. I'm not sure there is any confirmation the fire is close the reactors, fingers crossed, but ... not good.

yes, not good

that does not bode well

What the fuck are they doing this is insane

there needs to be the End Times for the NüSoviet Republic to rise like a phoenix from the ashes

If something happens here is NATO gonna get involved ? Giving Putin a reason to nuke the entire globe? Fuck this is scary.

Sorry I know that’s dumb but holy fuck

This is insane. What even is the appropriate response here?! Is this nuclear war now?!

Xpost - nothing anyone could say here will be dumber than bombing a nuclear power plant.

appropriate response is to clear the area/ceasefire and get containment effort underway, i would think

.

Is it possible this is no worse than just a fire - or is this a fucking Nuclear fire?! I can’t really find sold information.

And they destroyed the only plane that worked on Fukushima the other day.

At the same time, nuclear experts rushing to point out these are a vastly safer model than Chernobyl and not going to explode - risk here is not having power to cool them properly when they’re shut down. Ideally you want 24h of cooling to make it safe but 5 would be good.

Indeed

The actual nuclear specialists are coming out of the woodwork to say that no, it would not be a marvel-movie-style explosion. Yes, it's bad — fuel could leak. But let's not retweet gov't pronouncements uncritically. It's a different kind of reactor than Chernobyl. pic.twitter.com/udyigaEWk8

— Ilya Lozovsky (@ichbinilya) March 4, 2022

Idk I’m starting to think Putin really is willing to blow up the whole world. This is insane. My anxiety is shooting through the roof right now

Definitely feels like some kind of Chekhov'sPutin's gun shit.

Okay reading more about this it could be that the Russian military is just super sloppy and this is collateral damage? Which is almost worse

Def not worse than intentional. But hopefully they can fucking knock it off until the situation is contained.