Heirloom_Tomato

I think this is part of the wider strategy behind blowing the dam. @Haiduk has posted twice in the past 24 hours the Russians are trying to blow up the ammonia pipeline. This pipeline provides ammonia for fertilizer. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/how-un-plan-russian-ammonia-export-could-help-global-fertiliser-market-2022-09-14/
The reservoir currently draining through the blown dam provides the irrigation water to 80% of Ukraine's irrigated crop land. 
So if the fertilizer supply is impacted and prices for fertilizer go up, either the price for crops needs to increase to cover the extra expense or farmers will use less fertilizer and yields will decrease. Either way, the consumer will pay more for food. With the water supply for irrigation impacted until the dam can be repaired, the supply of food will go down and prices up. As @billbindc says, governments fall rather quickly when food prices get out of control. I think the Russians are hoping the rest of the world will put increasingly more pressure on Ukraine to accept a ceasefire to stabilize the price of food.
If you have a garden at home, or room for even a few plants, it is not too late to plant a few more rows or a couple of extra tomato plants. Every extra pound of food you can grow for yourself this season, will not only secure your food supply, it will free up food for those who can't grow their own.

I think this is part of the wider strategy behind blowing the dam. @Haiduk has posted twice in the past 24 hours the Russians are trying to blow up the ammonia pipeline. This pipeline provides ammonia for fertilizer. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/how-un-plan-russian-ammonia-export-could-help-global-fertiliser-market-2022-09-14/
The reservoir currently draining through the blown dam provides the irrigation water to 80% of Ukraine's irrigated crop land. 
So if the fertilizer supply is impacted and prices for fertilizer go up, either the price for crops needs to increase to cover the extra expense or farmers will use less fertilizer and yields will decrease. Either way, the consumer will pay more for food. With the water supply for irrigation impacted until the dam can be repaired, the supply of food will go down and prices up. As @billbindc says, governments fall rather quickly when food prices get out of control. I think the Russians are hoping the rest of the world will put increasingly more pressure on Ukraine to accept a ceasefire to stabilize the price of food.
If you have a garden at home, or room for even a few plants, it is not too late to plant a few more rows or a couple of extra tomato plants. Every extra pound of food you can grow for yourself this season, will not only secure your food supply, it will free up food for those who can't grow their own.

I think this is part of the wider strategy behind blowing the dam. @Haiduk has posted twice in the past 24 hours the Russians are trying to blow up the ammonia pipeline. This pipeline provides ammonia for fertilizer. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/how-un-plan-russian-ammonia-export-could-help-global-fertiliser-market-2022-09-14/
The reservoir currently draining through the blown dam provides the irrigation water to 80% of Ukraine's irrigated crop land. 
So if the fertilizer supply is impacted and prices for fertilizer go up, either the price for crops needs to increase to cover the extra expense or farmers will use less fertilizer and yields will decrease. Either way, the consumer will pay more for food. With the water supply for irrigation impacted until the dam can be repaired, the supply of food will go down and prices up. As @billbindc says, governments fall rather quickly when food prices get out of control. I think the Russians are hoping the rest of the world will put increasingly more pressure on Ukraine to accept a ceasefire to stabilize the price of food.
If you have a garden at home, or room for even a few plants, it is not too late to plant a few more rows or a couple of extra tomato plants. Every extra pound of food you can grow for yourself this season, will not only secure your food supply, it will free up food for those who can't grow their own.

Do not underestimate how badly this will be taken in New Delhi and Beijing…not to mention the rest of the world that depends on cheap wheat. They are going to be about as unhappy about this as they would about anything short of a reactor accident or a tactical nuke. Governments fall from high food prices. Dependable price trends get a shock…again. It seems clear to me that the Russians are panicking, that the regime is in disarray and that an air of desperation has set in…which is why they did this…but there’s no way they would not try to pass the buck.

Sure I remember. That was the RBMK reactors like at Chernobyl. They had a "positive temperature coefficient"  or  "positive reactivity coefficient" (those mean the same thing) meaning that as temperatures in the coolant increase, the nuclear reaction rate increases, which increases temperature, which increases nuclear reaction rate.....  you can see where that leads. HOWEVER, this is not the design of these reactors. These are more "typical" reactors that have a "negative temperature coefficient".  Reaction rate decreases as water temperature increases. Should be obvious that that is beneficial and is how most reactors are designed. I believe RBMK reactors were the way they were for weapons materials production, for one thing. They also had no containment, which the Russians justified by their strict operating procedures preventing accidents. Ironically, Chernobyl's root cause was a) the violation of multiple operating procedures and parameters, b) running an unapproved test procedure, c) lack of understanding by the operators of the physics of the plant and the indications they were receiving (those are related). 
It's nothing to do with steam by the way. (probably the translation or lack of accurate knowledge by the original writer). It's water. Steam is transparent to neutrons so really has no effect on reaction rate, other than if you've got steam in the core you've got NO cooling, which is of course, very bad. Steam flow is an incredibly poor heat transfer mechanism. Steam is the RESULT of efficient heat transfer.
In my qualification training (18 months) to be licensed for start up testing of US Navy reactor plants one things was drilled into us (well, many things, but) That was "Believe your indications and act on them".  If you have an indication of something going wrong and you take all the steps to shutdown and "put the plant is a safe condition" (that's the key words), you can't go wrong. You may waste time if it turns out to be faulty indicators, but you won't break the plant or kill someone. Our motto in the shipyard nuclear test organization - "When in doubt, shut it down"   An operating sub doesn't necessarily have that option, but many times they do, and that's the reason why we build and test them so well, so that it doesn't come up.
I have had to argue that point a few times with my upper management. "I was there. I had the watch. My decision."    I mean, it's the entire reason they spend 18 months and who knows how many $$ to license us!
Dave
 

The head of the IAEA said that the cooling water in the separate pond/lake, which is pumped from the reservoir, is sufficient for many months at least, since all the reactors are in cold shutdown. They have the ability to pump more water from the river until the river level gets TO ~12.7m. That's much more than dropping 2m.
The media can stop their breathless reporting of imminent nuclear disaster, another Fukushima, etc. Might have been a good idea for the various media to actually ask some experts first, specifically the IAEA which has been keeping a very close eye on the power plant status since the beginning of the conflict.
Not sure how many people know the intricate workings of a nuclear plant but that pond water does not go in and out of the reactor. In 2 sentences, it's used for the secondary side of heat exchangers that cool the water that is in a closed circuit circulating through the core. It's "clean" water, and not exposed to radioactive contamination.

Dave
[edited] I listened to his statement and thought he said 2.7m. The written statement says 12.7m. In any case, that refers to directly pumping water for cooling, and the cooling pond is still there and good for months of cooling.

Another non-paywalled article about the high water levels.  Also mentions the nuclear plant.  
https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwid98OQ1a3_AhW8kIkEHTDRBBsQFnoECAoQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ctvnews.ca%2Fworld%2Fdamage-to-russian-occupied-dam-submerges-ukrainian-reservoir-island-community-1.6412661&usg=AOvVaw3o9EEQ8rTJDvLdC82gwCrB
 

They caught them with their Pantsir-S down.
 
Ok, sorry.

Oh, sh....t. 3:30 of night now and next mass ballistic strike on Kyiv was 20 minutes ago. It was VERY loud and reportedly over left-bank districts of the city. About two dozens explosions. Preliminary Iskanders, launched from Klintsy area, Briansk oblast. Looks like all were intercepted. I think, more details will be at the morning. Well, I should try to sleep after THIS.

This is residental building in Kyiv, being struck by Shakhed this night. 1 killed woman (she came to balcony to look how AD work and in this monent the drone hit the house) and 22 injured settlers. 

The city was attacked yesterday three times throughout of 24 hours (Shakeds + Kh-101, then Iskanders, then Shakheds again). Most dangerous attack Russians conducted at 11:00 of morning, when many people already were on streets on foot, in cars or in public transport. 11 ballistic missiles and cruise missiles Iskander-M/ Iskander-K where launched. My "aerophobia" of Feb2022 turned back, when I heard multiple missile sounds over my house. Well, then I read theses were Patriots... They intercepted all missiles again, but their upper stages have been falling on streets, full of people. In was a God's lucky and protection - that only one citizen was wounded with these parts
Here is how vere lucky, those, who drove along the road, when part of Petriot fell
So, let Moscow burn. No mercy. 

This is the transcript from an interview conducted on the CBC Radio program As it Happens. I heard it while out in the field the other evening  working ground. It doesn't offer anything new this group hasn't seen or heard yet but does show how the mainstream media in Canada is covering the story. CH stands for Chris Howden and NK for Nil Koksal, the hosts of the show.
RUSSIA INTERNAL ATTACKS
Guest: Ilya Ponomarev
CH: Yesterday, a group of pro-Ukrainian soldiers took the war home to Russia. The Free Russia Legion is a paramilitary group claiming to be made up of Russian volunteers who have taken up arms for Ukraine. They crossed the border and seized villages in the Belgorod region of Southern Russia. Today, the Russian Ministry of Defence said the forces had been pushed back across the border. But members of the Legion say they're still in Russian territory. And they intend to stay there. Ilya Ponomarev is a former Russian politician who now lives in Ukraine. He says he's the political representative of the Free Russia Legion. We reached him in Kyiv.
NK: Ilya, the Russian government is saying that it has pushed the Free Russia Legion soldiers out of Russian territory. Is that the truth?
ILYA PONOMAREV: No, that's not true. That's not true. It's the other way around. The Legion of Freedom of Russia. And the Russian volunteer corps, they have liberated more territories. Right now, all together, the frontline there in Belgorod region already is wider than 40 kilometres.
NK: What kind of resistance, if any, are they meeting? Can you, can you paint a picture for us of, of what they're doing and what kind of resistance they're facing?
IP: Right now, this resistance looks very much disorganized. Because the original resistance that was put during the initial put was crushed. Right now, there are helicopters, attack helicopters, flying, and they're getting more and more units around. But the question is that police officers and all other, like, internal forces, they are, they are not fighting. They are very, very reluctant. They're afraid. And they rather tend to flee. So, right now, they are mobilizing the 74th Brigade of, of Russian armed forces, which they are relocating from Ukraine. And that, that would be a more serious thing to me. But still, it's equipped with a lot of mobilized troops which are not very efficient in fighting as we saw in Ukraine.
NK: At this stage, so if I'm understanding you correctly, your soldiers are meeting a disorganized group of Russians, is what you're saying? In some cases, they're running away from you?
IP: Yes. So, quite a lot. And the Russian military were all obviously not ready for this attack. They were thinking that because there is international consensus that Ukraine should not attack Russian territory, that they have nothing to fear. And so, all the capable forces, they already relocated to Ukraine. And because right now, it's not Ukrainians who are attacking Russia, it's Russians. And Russians did not make any deals with the West. So, they're liberating its own soil, its own country, and they're off the limits. And that's actually the main military meaning of this attack that Russia would have to relocate forces back from Ukraine. And that would obviously help Ukrainian offensive.
NK: Are you doing this with the permission and support of Ukraine?
IP: I would rather say with awareness of Ukrainian authorities, obviously, because the units are officially part of the international Legion, which is an integral part of Ukrainian army, but they are very much autonomous. And they planned this operation by themselves. They are doing the operation by themselves. And there is not a single Ukrainian soldier which is right now in Russia.
NK: Many people might just be learning about Free Russia Legion as we're speaking, as they're listening to us speak. So, who are its members? Who do you represent?
IP: The members have three different origin. One group, is former Russian military, which were sent to fight in the Ukraine, but which decided to switch sides because they were fooled by the Russian regime. There are POWs which were also captured, and then they realized that, again, Russian propaganda was telling them lies and they decided to join the Legion. So that's one group. The second group is Russians who are living in Ukraine, were married or was working in the Ukraine but didn't have Russian passports. But they wanted to defend Ukraine. And so, they volunteered to go into the army. And so, they were redirected to the Legion. And the third group are Russian political activists who, unlike many of their peers, who were just complaining about Putin, decided to put up a fight, and they went into Ukraine through European countries and joined the Legion. Basically, these are three equal groups.
NK: What's their long-term goal there?
IP: The long-term goal is to change the regime in Russia, to dismantle the empire, to build a new democratic country. But most importantly, it's to get rid of this system because they would not be satisfied if Ukraine would just liberate its territory, but the West would permit for somebody like Prime Minister Mishustin to stay in power. They want fundamental reform, and they want that Russia would never be an empire again.
NK: Are you concerned that the Legion's operations might upset Ukraine's allies in the West and cause them to, to pull their support because they didn't want, you know, incursion into Russia?
IP: First of all, we already heard what Americans are saying in this regard, and everything is fine here. But, at the end of the day, no other nation should prohibit Russians to fight for their own freedom in their own country. It's just not fair that Ukrainians are fighting for, fighting for a free Russia. And that's why I don't expect any of international allies to be able to say something against Russians. Go and fight against them.
NK: What message is the Legion trying to send to Russia?
IP: Join us. The repatriation is near, and we are capable of defeating this regime. It's not as dangerous as it seems. They are weak. They are about to fall. And we're coming.
NK: Ilya, thank you for your time.
IP: Thank you for having me.
CH: Ilya Ponomarev is a former Russian politician who calls himself the political representative of the Free Russia Legion, which launched attacks inside Russia yesterday. He's in Kyiv.

This is the transcript from an interview conducted on the CBC Radio program As it Happens. I heard it while out in the field the other evening  working ground. It doesn't offer anything new this group hasn't seen or heard yet but does show how the mainstream media in Canada is covering the story. CH stands for Chris Howden and NK for Nil Koksal, the hosts of the show.
RUSSIA INTERNAL ATTACKS
Guest: Ilya Ponomarev
CH: Yesterday, a group of pro-Ukrainian soldiers took the war home to Russia. The Free Russia Legion is a paramilitary group claiming to be made up of Russian volunteers who have taken up arms for Ukraine. They crossed the border and seized villages in the Belgorod region of Southern Russia. Today, the Russian Ministry of Defence said the forces had been pushed back across the border. But members of the Legion say they're still in Russian territory. And they intend to stay there. Ilya Ponomarev is a former Russian politician who now lives in Ukraine. He says he's the political representative of the Free Russia Legion. We reached him in Kyiv.
NK: Ilya, the Russian government is saying that it has pushed the Free Russia Legion soldiers out of Russian territory. Is that the truth?
ILYA PONOMAREV: No, that's not true. That's not true. It's the other way around. The Legion of Freedom of Russia. And the Russian volunteer corps, they have liberated more territories. Right now, all together, the frontline there in Belgorod region already is wider than 40 kilometres.
NK: What kind of resistance, if any, are they meeting? Can you, can you paint a picture for us of, of what they're doing and what kind of resistance they're facing?
IP: Right now, this resistance looks very much disorganized. Because the original resistance that was put during the initial put was crushed. Right now, there are helicopters, attack helicopters, flying, and they're getting more and more units around. But the question is that police officers and all other, like, internal forces, they are, they are not fighting. They are very, very reluctant. They're afraid. And they rather tend to flee. So, right now, they are mobilizing the 74th Brigade of, of Russian armed forces, which they are relocating from Ukraine. And that, that would be a more serious thing to me. But still, it's equipped with a lot of mobilized troops which are not very efficient in fighting as we saw in Ukraine.
NK: At this stage, so if I'm understanding you correctly, your soldiers are meeting a disorganized group of Russians, is what you're saying? In some cases, they're running away from you?
IP: Yes. So, quite a lot. And the Russian military were all obviously not ready for this attack. They were thinking that because there is international consensus that Ukraine should not attack Russian territory, that they have nothing to fear. And so, all the capable forces, they already relocated to Ukraine. And because right now, it's not Ukrainians who are attacking Russia, it's Russians. And Russians did not make any deals with the West. So, they're liberating its own soil, its own country, and they're off the limits. And that's actually the main military meaning of this attack that Russia would have to relocate forces back from Ukraine. And that would obviously help Ukrainian offensive.
NK: Are you doing this with the permission and support of Ukraine?
IP: I would rather say with awareness of Ukrainian authorities, obviously, because the units are officially part of the international Legion, which is an integral part of Ukrainian army, but they are very much autonomous. And they planned this operation by themselves. They are doing the operation by themselves. And there is not a single Ukrainian soldier which is right now in Russia.
NK: Many people might just be learning about Free Russia Legion as we're speaking, as they're listening to us speak. So, who are its members? Who do you represent?
IP: The members have three different origin. One group, is former Russian military, which were sent to fight in the Ukraine, but which decided to switch sides because they were fooled by the Russian regime. There are POWs which were also captured, and then they realized that, again, Russian propaganda was telling them lies and they decided to join the Legion. So that's one group. The second group is Russians who are living in Ukraine, were married or was working in the Ukraine but didn't have Russian passports. But they wanted to defend Ukraine. And so, they volunteered to go into the army. And so, they were redirected to the Legion. And the third group are Russian political activists who, unlike many of their peers, who were just complaining about Putin, decided to put up a fight, and they went into Ukraine through European countries and joined the Legion. Basically, these are three equal groups.
NK: What's their long-term goal there?
IP: The long-term goal is to change the regime in Russia, to dismantle the empire, to build a new democratic country. But most importantly, it's to get rid of this system because they would not be satisfied if Ukraine would just liberate its territory, but the West would permit for somebody like Prime Minister Mishustin to stay in power. They want fundamental reform, and they want that Russia would never be an empire again.
NK: Are you concerned that the Legion's operations might upset Ukraine's allies in the West and cause them to, to pull their support because they didn't want, you know, incursion into Russia?
IP: First of all, we already heard what Americans are saying in this regard, and everything is fine here. But, at the end of the day, no other nation should prohibit Russians to fight for their own freedom in their own country. It's just not fair that Ukrainians are fighting for, fighting for a free Russia. And that's why I don't expect any of international allies to be able to say something against Russians. Go and fight against them.
NK: What message is the Legion trying to send to Russia?
IP: Join us. The repatriation is near, and we are capable of defeating this regime. It's not as dangerous as it seems. They are weak. They are about to fall. And we're coming.
NK: Ilya, thank you for your time.
IP: Thank you for having me.
CH: Ilya Ponomarev is a former Russian politician who calls himself the political representative of the Free Russia Legion, which launched attacks inside Russia yesterday. He's in Kyiv.

@danfrodo I hope I am not too late with this info but here goes. All the advice in this thread has been about graphics cards but nobody said anything about CPU. CM shines on CPU with a high single thread performance rating. When I bought my new computer three years ago, I used the following website to compare off the shelf pre-built computers and selected the one with the best cpu and graphics card I could afford. My cpu has a score of around 3000, smashing my old score of 950. 
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html
 

@danfrodo I hope I am not too late with this info but here goes. All the advice in this thread has been about graphics cards but nobody said anything about CPU. CM shines on CPU with a high single thread performance rating. When I bought my new computer three years ago, I used the following website to compare off the shelf pre-built computers and selected the one with the best cpu and graphics card I could afford. My cpu has a score of around 3000, smashing my old score of 950. 
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html
 

This but more. I was playing a massive PBEM many years ago and noticed I had a whole platoon routed and couldn't figure out why. I loaded up the last few turns and watched just that platoon until I could see what happened. 
I had smashed one of my opponents units and then sent in a whole platoon to go clear them out. Rookie mistake but I sent them all to move at once figuring they would cover each as they ran, no need to area fire to keep the fleeing enemy fleeing. As my platoon was filtering into his postions, the squads got a bit bunched up. One enemy stopped fleeing turned and fired a single shot. It hit one of my guys who was about to throw a grenade. He falls, the grenade bounces into the pile of friendlies. It goes off and down go a bunch of my men, including two others who were also just about to throw grenades. As they fall, their grenades also land at the feet of their comrades and a bunch more guys drop. One single bullet and he took out half a platoon.
I watched that single turn so many times because I just could not believe what I was seeing. Had we been playing real-time I would have missed it but instead I was able to go back a few turns and see what I had missed. WEGO only ever since.

This but more. I was playing a massive PBEM many years ago and noticed I had a whole platoon routed and couldn't figure out why. I loaded up the last few turns and watched just that platoon until I could see what happened. 
I had smashed one of my opponents units and then sent in a whole platoon to go clear them out. Rookie mistake but I sent them all to move at once figuring they would cover each as they ran, no need to area fire to keep the fleeing enemy fleeing. As my platoon was filtering into his postions, the squads got a bit bunched up. One enemy stopped fleeing turned and fired a single shot. It hit one of my guys who was about to throw a grenade. He falls, the grenade bounces into the pile of friendlies. It goes off and down go a bunch of my men, including two others who were also just about to throw grenades. As they fall, their grenades also land at the feet of their comrades and a bunch more guys drop. One single bullet and he took out half a platoon.
I watched that single turn so many times because I just could not believe what I was seeing. Had we been playing real-time I would have missed it but instead I was able to go back a few turns and see what I had missed. WEGO only ever since.

This but more. I was playing a massive PBEM many years ago and noticed I had a whole platoon routed and couldn't figure out why. I loaded up the last few turns and watched just that platoon until I could see what happened. 
I had smashed one of my opponents units and then sent in a whole platoon to go clear them out. Rookie mistake but I sent them all to move at once figuring they would cover each as they ran, no need to area fire to keep the fleeing enemy fleeing. As my platoon was filtering into his postions, the squads got a bit bunched up. One enemy stopped fleeing turned and fired a single shot. It hit one of my guys who was about to throw a grenade. He falls, the grenade bounces into the pile of friendlies. It goes off and down go a bunch of my men, including two others who were also just about to throw grenades. As they fall, their grenades also land at the feet of their comrades and a bunch more guys drop. One single bullet and he took out half a platoon.
I watched that single turn so many times because I just could not believe what I was seeing. Had we been playing real-time I would have missed it but instead I was able to go back a few turns and see what I had missed. WEGO only ever since.

This but more. I was playing a massive PBEM many years ago and noticed I had a whole platoon routed and couldn't figure out why. I loaded up the last few turns and watched just that platoon until I could see what happened. 
I had smashed one of my opponents units and then sent in a whole platoon to go clear them out. Rookie mistake but I sent them all to move at once figuring they would cover each as they ran, no need to area fire to keep the fleeing enemy fleeing. As my platoon was filtering into his postions, the squads got a bit bunched up. One enemy stopped fleeing turned and fired a single shot. It hit one of my guys who was about to throw a grenade. He falls, the grenade bounces into the pile of friendlies. It goes off and down go a bunch of my men, including two others who were also just about to throw grenades. As they fall, their grenades also land at the feet of their comrades and a bunch more guys drop. One single bullet and he took out half a platoon.
I watched that single turn so many times because I just could not believe what I was seeing. Had we been playing real-time I would have missed it but instead I was able to go back a few turns and see what I had missed. WEGO only ever since.

This but more. I was playing a massive PBEM many years ago and noticed I had a whole platoon routed and couldn't figure out why. I loaded up the last few turns and watched just that platoon until I could see what happened. 
I had smashed one of my opponents units and then sent in a whole platoon to go clear them out. Rookie mistake but I sent them all to move at once figuring they would cover each as they ran, no need to area fire to keep the fleeing enemy fleeing. As my platoon was filtering into his postions, the squads got a bit bunched up. One enemy stopped fleeing turned and fired a single shot. It hit one of my guys who was about to throw a grenade. He falls, the grenade bounces into the pile of friendlies. It goes off and down go a bunch of my men, including two others who were also just about to throw grenades. As they fall, their grenades also land at the feet of their comrades and a bunch more guys drop. One single bullet and he took out half a platoon.
I watched that single turn so many times because I just could not believe what I was seeing. Had we been playing real-time I would have missed it but instead I was able to go back a few turns and see what I had missed. WEGO only ever since.

This but more. I was playing a massive PBEM many years ago and noticed I had a whole platoon routed and couldn't figure out why. I loaded up the last few turns and watched just that platoon until I could see what happened. 
I had smashed one of my opponents units and then sent in a whole platoon to go clear them out. Rookie mistake but I sent them all to move at once figuring they would cover each as they ran, no need to area fire to keep the fleeing enemy fleeing. As my platoon was filtering into his postions, the squads got a bit bunched up. One enemy stopped fleeing turned and fired a single shot. It hit one of my guys who was about to throw a grenade. He falls, the grenade bounces into the pile of friendlies. It goes off and down go a bunch of my men, including two others who were also just about to throw grenades. As they fall, their grenades also land at the feet of their comrades and a bunch more guys drop. One single bullet and he took out half a platoon.
I watched that single turn so many times because I just could not believe what I was seeing. Had we been playing real-time I would have missed it but instead I was able to go back a few turns and see what I had missed. WEGO only ever since.

You realize that this sentiment is really the problem, right?  I mean there is nothing categorically wrong in what the ambassador said for an objective point of view.  Russia has not demonstrated that it will act in good faith during the conduct of this war - the systemic warcrimes are a big hint.  So it would be a very good idea to approach any peace negotiations very carefully.
You do not have to like someone nor agree with their politics, but that does not automatically mean everything they say is incorrect.  Statements or positions need to be weighed against the facts, not affiliations, no matter which end of the spectrum the come from.  
There are exceptions of course, for example if someone has demonstrated habitual lunacy or use of mis/dis-information, sure go ahead and burn them as a source, but the Ukrainian ambassador does not fall into that category as far as we know - unless you have proof beyond her possible post-secondary education?  You are burning her based in affiliation alone or at least it appears that way, and that is intellectually lazy to be blunt.
Finally this whole line of thinking is a significant fracture point that has, and will be exploited by all sorts of players.  It is in fact step 2 in the subversive warfare playbook - widen the fractures that were already there and make them unsealable; the death of compromise.  Step 3 is to harden elements from either side of the fracture into organized and connected collectives that are able to self perpetuate and metastasize - a carcinogenic operation. This is a long standing recipe on how to destroy a society from the inside out.
This is exactly the type of operations Russia did before 2014, and was attempting before this war started.  Every nation that borders Russia is combating this sort of influence.  And it will very likely be what Russia falls back on once this war is over - assuming there is a functioning Russia left.  China is also very good at this game, it is also out of their playbook, but they are much better at it.
So you do not have to agree with the current US president - and sure go ahead and insult him based on ageism. But it is hard to disagree with the results in Ukraine, so far.  This has been one helluva tough one to steer through from a strategic and political level.  And it has not been perfect.  But for navigation through the first real proxy war of the 21st century I gotta give it a B+ so far.
As to the rest of the politics, well you Americans can go argue that - preferably on another thread.

And what is the quality of those new systems?  Given shortages in tech supply within Russia these systems will likely have issues with guidance systems and flight controls.  They will be then plugged into a 3rd rate ISR architecture that is being eroded as well.  Which is plugged into a Command and Control system that was a mess to start with.
This is what it looks like when organized crime tries to fight a conventional war.  
We have been watching the one-way erosion of the RA for over a year now.  The symptoms of systemic failure are written on the walls, underlined and bolded.  I am getting a growing sense that the upcoming collapse may be spectacular.
All war is communication, and Russia has been sending out signals of failure since this thing began.  All war is violent, but it has to be effective violence.  Simply doing disconnected or ineffective violence only reinforces an opponents resolve because they get angry, not despondent. You never create a curve they feel they are falling behind.  Russia has been a testament to ineffective violence in this war - it has not been focused or connected, a flailing windmill of murder and rage that looks scary for the first few seconds and then everyone realizes it is in fact a seizure.
Russia has already lost this war, they likely already know it.  We have already won it, but some refuse to see it.  All that remains is how do we end it?

Hi All, 
First post here, I'm a 44-year gamer who plays a bit of everything but my main interest is anything WW2. I've been playing Gary Grigbsy War in the East, Steel Division, Panzer Corp, Hell Let Loose, and pretty much anything related to WW2.
Took me until 2 weeks ago to actually hear about Combat Mission (probably did but never took note). I took the plunge and picked up Battle for Normandy and have already clocked up 120 hours and barely seemed to have scratched the surface. 
I am so amazed at how low profile this game is considering how addictive and rewarding it appears. I am already installing mods and now pay little interest in graphics, UI, and presentation. It really takes me back to a golden age when you actually bought a good game, book, or film and indulged yourself in it, and keep going back to it! 

To me, someone who enjoys playing quick battles H2H or creating scenarios with unique forces, the vehicle pack has been great fun. If you find and download some of the community made content or modify some of the existing scenarios, you will have hours of fun and enjoyment. 
As for value, how much do you play CMBN? If you look at the price of the pack on a cost per hour of entertainment basis, the pack will cost you less than a movie ticket with a drink and popcorn. The movie is over in a couple of hours and you are probably going to be looking for another bite to eat. Whereas the vehicle pack will still be there ready to entertain hour after hour, week after week, month after month, year after year.

To me, someone who enjoys playing quick battles H2H or creating scenarios with unique forces, the vehicle pack has been great fun. If you find and download some of the community made content or modify some of the existing scenarios, you will have hours of fun and enjoyment. 
As for value, how much do you play CMBN? If you look at the price of the pack on a cost per hour of entertainment basis, the pack will cost you less than a movie ticket with a drink and popcorn. The movie is over in a couple of hours and you are probably going to be looking for another bite to eat. Whereas the vehicle pack will still be there ready to entertain hour after hour, week after week, month after month, year after year.