ok what the fuck is happening in ukraine

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.

Most recent news I've seen:

BORODYANKA/LVIV, Ukraine, March 4 (Reuters) - The largest nuclear power plant in Europe is on fire following a Russian attack, Ukraine's foreign minister said on Friday, as he called for a security zone and firefighters to be allowed to tackle the incident.

A generating unit at the plant has been hit during an attack by Russian troops and part of the station is on fire, RIA news agency cited the Ukrainian atomic energy ministry as saying on Friday.
A plant spokesperson told RIA that background levels of radiation had not changed.

"Russian army is firing from all sides upon Zaporizhzhia NPP, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter.

"Fire has already broke out ... Russians must IMMEDIATELY cease the fire, allow firefighters, establish a security zone!"

There has been fierce fighting in the area about 550 kilometers (342 miles) southeast of Kyiv, the mayor of the nearby town of Energodar said in an online post. He said there had been casualties, without giving details.
from https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/top-wrap-1-europes-largest-nuclear-power-plant-fire-after-russian-attack-mayor-2022-03-04/

#BREAKING Ukrainian authorities say safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is now secured, after a fire broke out when the station came under fire from invading Russian forces.

"The director of the plant said that the nuclear safety is now guaranteed": Oleksandr Starukh pic.twitter.com/J8bk142GLY

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) March 4, 2022

This thread is a bit reassuring

We at @TheBTI have been in touch with colleagues at other organizations who have U.S. Dept of Energy and @ANS_org contacts.

Word is that the fire is indeed outside the containment zone at a training facility. Reactors have been safely shut down. Radiation lvls normal.

— Seaver Wang (@wang_seaver) March 4, 2022

Does not appear like Russia is trying to blow this up, but they are incredibly reckless and stupid

CNN updates add detail:
The Zaporizhzhia plant is Ukraine's largest nuclear power plant, containing six of the country's 15 nuclear energy reactors, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
...n an interview with CNN on Thursday, Rafael Grossi, director general of the IAEA said the agency was in "constant contact" with Ukrainian counterparts to ensure the safety of facilities in Ukraine.
"What makes it unprecedented is this is the first time in post-second world war history we have a full-fledged military operation amidst...a big number of nuclear facilities, including nuclear reactors," said Grossi.
"There is always the danger of military activity that could affect the sites or that there might be some interruption or some disruption in the normal operation of any of these facilities that may result in a problem or an accident," he said.
Zaporizhzhia is located about 125 miles (200 kilometers) west of the city of Donetsk within one of the two pro-Moscow territories recognized as an independent state last month by Russia.
...On Thursday, IAEA member states passed a resolution calling on Russia to cease actions against nuclear facilities in Ukraine, diplomats said.
The resolution, which was led by Canada and Poland, and supported by 26 other countries, deplored Russia's "aggressive activity and attacks against nuclear sites in Ukraine, and seizing and taking control of nuclear facilities," the ambassador at the UK mission in Vienna Corinne Kitsell said.
Only Russia and China voted against the resolution, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.
On Wednesday, Russia notified the IAEA that its forces had taken control of the territory around the Zaporizhzhia plant, according to a letter posted the IAEA website.
The Russian letter to the IAEA said personnel at the plant continued their "work on providing nuclear safety and monitoring radiation in normal mode of operation. The radiation levels remain normal."
On the first day of the invasion, Russian forces seized control of the Chernobyl power plant in northern Ukraine, the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster, according to Ukrainian officials.
The Zaporizhzhia plant is about 325 miles (520 kilometers) southeast of Chernobyl, where a nuclear power plant reactor exploded when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union in 1986 -- sparking a disaster that affected, directly or indirectly, 9 million people, due to radioactive materials released into the atmosphere.

Definitely one of those times I wish I'd been tuned out or seeing The Batman or something instead of seeing it unfold moment by moment.

Meanwhile we got ol' Lindsey here asking if someone in the Russian military can be just like a German WWII officer which, well, really now.

Is there a Brutus in Russia? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military?

The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out.

You would be doing your country - and the world - a great service.

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) March 4, 2022

By Cracky, Lindsay, you the Greatest. Now that you mention it, thank I'll go do that thang.

a sitting senator openly calling for the assassination of the leader of the biggest nuclear arsenal in the world doesn't seem ideal

I honestly read that as ‘shitting senator’ and welp…

It's not ideal but a different prospective strongman putting one in the back of Putin's head would probably be the easiest way out of this.

Zelenskyy:

Calls the attack "blackmail" by Russia. Says Ukraine has a total of 15 nuclear reactors, says if they are all targeted they could cause "the evacuation of Europe". 5/5

— Zoya Sheftalovich (@zoyashef) March 4, 2022

Russian military is just super sloppy and this is collateral damage? Which is almost worse

― frogbs, Friday, 4 March 2022 01:47 (one hour ago) link

i mean, this is par for the course for them, to be honest. i'm honestly surprised at people's shock at russia's screw up

i am never reading this thread again ffs

fire's been put out

i know this is prosaic & cliched but i would give anything to go back to reading daily updates in a newspaper from a war correspondent

this minute to minute stuff where everything is catastrophic til it’s not is a goddamn nightmare

Yeah, gotta pace ourselves. Professor of Nuclear Engineering just now pointed out on BBC World that if they wanted just to shut down Ukraine power supply, or any power supply, there are plenty easier ways to do it. Maybe it's mainly mindfuck, psywar terror and yeah xp blackmail, but if they really let it/made it rip, the radiation could easily go to nearby areas they make like they care about, the liberated pro-Russian areas etc, also all the other real estate they may want for reasons other than a barren bulwark/no man's land vs. the West, also could go to Russia, if they care about that/if Vlad does.

have family that works in the IAEA - y'all need to calm down.

i know this is prosaic & cliched but i would give anything to go back to reading daily updates in a newspaper from a war correspondent

local options might suck or have tainted ownership but newspapers do still exist

tbf this board should not be your go-to for this conflict

aaand thank you both for making me regret that post

totally not my intention - I have also spent the last two days trying to devise a way to get a one-dose update every day without giving money to the local newspaper that publishes multiple op-eds against democracy in the middle of elections.

tweet style updates of wartime will kill ye, folks

here, there or anywhere else

Not that I don't read the up to the minute stuff, but Heather Cox Richardson's nightly recap has been a gift.

This fuckin guy

Putin on Friday called for “normalization” of relations with other states, saying that Moscow had “absolutely no ill intentions with regard to our neighbors.”

“I think that everyone should think about normalizing relations and cooperating normally,” he said in comments via video link from a ceremony raising the Russian flag on a Kaliningrad ferry.