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poesel

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Everything posted by poesel

  1. Is Ukraine actually shelling the civilian parts of Belgorod? Or the Free Russians? Or where do these impacts come from? Because if they do - why?
  2. Actually, he got 105%. But, as the modest person he is, Putin reduced it to 85% to show some respect for the other puppets candidates.
  3. Btw, Putin won the election. With twice the candidates and the age of the candidates 20 years younger (on average) than the US election, it must have been more democratic and better.
  4. I guess most people here (me included) don't read Russian and thus don't read the relevant TG groups. Since most stuff here is Pro-Ukrainian, we get a very biased view of what is really happening. For a better opinion I would have to watch more of the Russian stuff and, even if that is a bit stupid, I don't really want to do that.
  5. That's 500 mil just for ammo production, out of a total of 2 bil for defense spending. But more important than the actual numbers is the fact, that the EU as an entity is spending money on defense. AFAIK, that is unprecedented.
  6. I love the simple design. If this trend to unmanned continues, no one will be able to cross the front line anymore and the fighting will take place remotely in the hinterland. Tests of Ukrainian mine laying drone equipped with 15 TM-62 anti tank mines
  7. FYI - the foreign minister would export Taurus to Ukraine ASAP. But it is the prerogative of the chancellor to decide that stuff. So she cannot say what she thinks. And what Scholz thinks - nobody knows. Wrong man at the wrong time.
  8. Ok, I need to add something. The public interpretation of what the pope said is that he suggests that Ukraine should surrender. That is in itself a fact. So the public reaction is in response to that interpretation. That again is a reality. So the pope better explain himself. He did not speak clearly enough.
  9. Yes. Read the transcript. I don't know what he thought, but I know what he said. Technically, he is the absolute monarch and head of the government of the Vatican State. So he IS the leader of a government. Since his faith is rather widespread, I guess that would qualify him as a 'world leader'.
  10. The way this is phrased could mean either Ukraine or Russia. Most people do just assume he meant Ukraine. Very well phrased in the sense of "a great empire will fall".
  11. Germany never showed "every intention". We have discussed that at length, and we are in line with most of the rest of the West, unfortunately. The economy is declining as it sometimes does. "no end in sight" is a bit over the top IMHO. The interest in Ukraine has declined. Of course, modern society is easily bored. The amount of newsworthy items has gone down. But look at us: downing an A-50 has even us only occupied for a few days until we derailed again. But: the amount of support given by Germany is pretty stable, and I don't see that changing (see below). That may not be necessary. The political constellation is currently, that the biggest supporters of Ukraine are both in the government (greens & liberals(*)) and the opposition (conservatives). The next government will most likely include one or two of those parties. Thus, it is most unlikely that support for Ukraine will falter. (*) not 'liberal' in the US sense of the word
  12. This answers some of your questions: https://publications.bof.fi/handle/10024/53281 I included one graphic from the report, but there is more data. TL;DR: a mobik dying in his 30s might earn more by his death than he would during the remainder of his lifetime, including pension. Where do Russia’s mobilized soldiers come from? Evidence from bank deposits Solanko, Laura (21.02.2024) Forgot: I got this through this paywalled article: https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/russland-geld-fuer-tote-soldaten-wie-der-krieg-einen-makabren-vermoegensboom-ausloest-a-a35d1548-1e7c-4481-b798-0a5fae6dc3e4
  13. I'm afraid we are way past the argument stage wrt Scholz and Taurus... There are also quite a few people in his party who still very much agree with him on that issue. Add to this that in East-Germany, the population is split on sending arms to Ukraine at all. I mentioned the three upcoming votes there? There is zero chance that anything will happen before these are through, and it won't get much better afterward. The last of these votes is September 22nd. And the next national vote is a year after that. So nope, I ain't seeing that happening as much as I wish it.
  14. AFAIK it was published in the TG channel of some Russian propagandist first. So it is definitely pushed from Russia. There is also no doubt that it is beneficial for Russia. It makes look Scholz stupid no matter what he does. If he does not deliver Taurus, it's stupid because his arguments are wrong. If he does, he will look weak. And no way, this comes from his own party. We have a few votes coming up in the east. The only party which does profit from this are the fascists. Maybe Russia did it for them?
  15. This has been officially verified as being genuine. And I had no doubt about it. It was like hundreds of project meetings I had had to enjoy. Of course, our government is not amused and there are lots of critics. But OTOH, the way these guys discuss the matter is very pragmatic and down to earth. They discuss the political and technical ramifications and search for solutions (and find them). Kraft has summarized this very well, although the English subs are quite bad. The things got hacked because one of the guys was in Singapore and probably didn't use a VPN.
  16. So you are saying that absolutely nothing can be learned from history? A sad day for historians around the world... Joke aside: it is wrong to assume that trends from the past project linearly into the future. But is also wrong to assume that there is no trend.
  17. Poverty and lack of education - they usually go hand in hand. For India add the caste system (officially dead, but actually still alive).
  18. No, that's from today. They did it before, however. It is speculated that they did it again now to distract from Navalny's death & funeral. Transnistria isn't recognized as a country by anyone, even Russia itself. So attacking it would not create a casus belli. And frankly, Ukraine couldn't care less. Even more interesting is that Moldova is ethnically very close to Romania. So instead of applying for EU membership, they could just join Romania. Which would make Transnistria a NATO area. But I'm not sure if the Romanian would want that to happen. It wouldn't be a very prosperous addition to the country.
  19. Why Ukraine hasn't cleared Transnistria is something I don't understand. Technically, Ukraine would attack Moldova if they invaded Transnistria, but I don't think Moldova would mind. This is just another piece of Russian influence that poisons its surroundings. NEW | WARNING: Transnistria May Organize a Referendum on Annexation to Russia to Support Russian Hybrid Operation Against Moldova The pro-Russian breakaway region of Transnistria may call for or organize a referendum on Transnistria’s annexation to Russia at a recently announced Transnistrian Congress of Deputies planned for February 28. The pretext for such a call would be the purported need to protect Russian citizens and “compatriots” in Transnistria from threats from Moldova or NATO or both.
  20. While we talk about Krynky: what happened to traversing the former lake above the Kakhovka dam? Is it dry enough, or will it be impossible to cross for the next years? Or doesn't that make any sense to do anyway?
  21. Ach - how have I missed Germany bashing day. Seufz... Actually, yes. The parliament. Which is, for historical reasons, the way it is in Germany. The government can only petition the parliament to go to war. You would need a two-thirds majority which the current government doesn't have. Then that needs to be approved by the second chamber, too. We made quite sure one person cannot start a war from Germany again.
  22. Scholz (finally) explained why Germany won't deliver Taurus to Ukraine. TL;DR: you would need German soldiers in Ukraine to operate Taurus, and that would make Germany a war party. The explanation implies that the UK & France have just done that for Stormshadow/Scalp, but Germany won't. This has caused harsh critics from the usual suspects (which is from the opposition and the other two parties of Scholz government). The point that German soldiers are absolutely necessary also seems factually wrong. Scholz has willingly painted himself in that corner. I don't see a way out of it. https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/ukraine-olaf-scholz-begruendet-ablehnung-der-taurus-lieferung-a-3a43bb97-3709-4e24-80c9-dafb6ca2de75
  23. The R-37 is a very good missile, one of the best available. Especially dangerous is that it can restart its motor in the final phase. Usually AA can't do that and rely on the energy they got from the boost phase. The R-37 can be a nasty surprise. This is a good article about the R-37 and generally about Russian & Chinese long range AA missile: https://londonpolitica.com/euroasia/how-do-nato-and-the-west-compare-with-chinese-and-russian-air-to-air-technology
  24. Because a missile has 400km range, that doesn't mean it can down a fighter jet at that range. The chances would be very, very low, especially if the jet is linked to an AWACS.
  25. Good article that probably those people who are in need of reading it, never will. Fun fact: they are citing Scholz for debunking myths about Ukraine. How far have we come?
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