Originally Posted By AeroEngineer:


Because it has nothing g to do with political influence anymore.

Once the tanks rolled across the border it exited the world of soft power kerfluffle.

Let’s set aside all discussions of basic principles of morality, because if you’re asking this question you clearly don’t operate from a standpoint of morality.

Much of the wealth and prosperity this country enjoys is due to our position in the world.  We have a globally linked economy.  That’s a sone deal.  If you’re still arguing we shouldn’t have our evomybkinked to the rest of the world’s, you are arguing we should still be using horse snd wagons.  It’s a done deal, now and forever.

We will all benefit from maintaining certain norms of global stability, and Russia invading Ukraine is a drastic disturbance from that stability.

If Russia is unsuccessful and punished for their little adventure, it will reaffirm the order and help our influence.

Originally Posted By RolandofGilead:


I'm not suggesting boots on the ground. I'm suggesting that if we live in fear of his nukes, eventually we will HAVE to call his bluff, or let him have anything he wants.

We do it now, or we do it later. Period.

Calling his bluff can mean many things, like outfitting Ukraine like we have been.

Originally Posted By HipSh0T:
Is anyone out there tallying the high-ranking Russian Officer KIA's?

Originally Posted By Photographic:


2022 wheat went in later summer/fall of 2021 and will be harvested this summer. Corn planting started in February and is still ongoing in some areas.

IOW, that ship has set sail for the year.

The field corn that’s used for ethanol is also not “our food”, but rather, the food of our food. We eat sweet corn. If you stop production of that, then feed prices get even higher and so do meat costs.

Farmers are going to plant what’s profitable. If many could magically plant wheat right now, you’d so a glut and prices would plummet.

Originally Posted By HipSh0T:
Is anyone out there tallying the high-ranking Russian Officer KIA's?

Originally Posted By Chokey:

Per Ukrainian officials to WSJ, due to the ongoing Ukrainian counter-offensive, the cities of Luch, Shevchenkove and Mykolaiv are back under Ukrainian control. Some Russian forces are unable to communicate to leadership so they are reportedly just driving around aimlessly.

— Global: MilitaryInfo (@Global_Mil_Info) March 18, 2022

Originally Posted By Photographic:


2022 wheat went in later summer/fall of 2021 and will be harvested this summer. Corn planting started in February and is still ongoing in some areas.

IOW, that ship has set sail for the year.

The field corn that’s used for ethanol is also not “our food”, but rather, the food of our food. We eat sweet corn. If you stop production of that, then feed prices get even higher and so do meat costs.

Farmers are going to plant what’s profitable. If many could magically plant wheat right now, you’d so a glut and prices would plummet.

Russian troops have used up almost their entire stockpile of missiles and some types of ammunition. As a result, a number of companies working in the Russian arms industry have been switched to round-the-clock mode.

Source: operative information of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as of 12 pm.

Literally: "Due to the consumption of almost all missile ammunition and some types of ammunition, the military-political leadership have decided to transfer all companies working in the Russian arms industry and producing "Calibre" cruise missiles and ammunition for the "Tornado" multiple launch rocket systems to round-the-clock mode".

Details: The General Staff also reported that the Russian occupying forces had partially managed to temporarily occupy settlements and establish control over routes in the Donetsk and Pivdennobuzhsky operational areas in Ukraine's East.

The Russian occupying forces are also trying to increase troop numbers in the direction of Kyiv by moving uncoordinated and incompetent units from the Central and Eastern military districts.

No significant changes in the activities of the occupying forces have been recorded in the Volyn, Polissya and Siversky directions. The Russian occupying forces have been focusing on fortifying the occupied frontiers.

In the Slobozhansky and Sumy directions in Ukraine's north-east, units of the Russian occupation forces are not conducting active offensive operations; the Russian occupying forces are regrouping and trying to establish logistics. The occupiers have become more active in performing reconnaissance.
Russian terrorist forces are still trying to capture the city of Izyum, a town in Ukraine's east, strengthening the group by introducing additional units and taking measures to organise engineering, material and technical support.

In the Luhansk region, Russian occupying forces have stepped up hostilities in the area of the village of Rubizhne in the east of Ukraine, with partial success. They continue to shell unprotected civilian infrastructure in order to intimidate the local population and limit the actions of the defence forces.
In the Donetsk region, Russian occupying forces have not been conducting active hostilities.

In the Tavriya direction, Russian occupying forces are trying to establish a strict administrative and police regime in the temporarily occupied settlements of the Kherson region.

There have been no active actions by the Russian occupiers in the Southern Bug direction. Russian occupying forces continue to shell civilian infrastructure, increasing the logistics system of the grouping.

Originally Posted By Dracster:

Is that a mistranslation? Did he actually say "to Ukraine" instead of "in Ukraine"? "May" instead of "is"? Lots of transporters *may* carry cargo. What are they going to do, shoot down a plane in NATO airspace? Sink a ship in international waters?

Originally Posted By Mal_means_bad:
There's a freeze frame held on some halted Ukrainian (probably) trucks, a couple seconds later there's a THUNK and the pilots level the helicopter, land in a field and unass.  Pretty sure the implication is they were hit by ground fire from the truck guys.

Originally Posted By batjka104:
Foreign Legion under fire in Ukraine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Iwzl7RI1Jw

Bulgaria's foreign ministry has announced the expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats, accusing them of breaching international conventions on diplomatic ties.

In a statement on its website on Friday, the foreign ministry said Prime Minister Kiril Petkov was consulted on the expulsions and the Russian ambassador to Sofia had been informed.

"At the suggestion of the competent authorities, agreed with Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, Bulgaria today declared ten Russian diplomats personae non gratae," the statement read.

"They were given a period of 72 hours to leave the country."

Eleonora Mitrofanova, Russia's ambassador to Bulgaria, described the decision as an "unfriendly act".

" The wording is usual"  activities incompatible with their status. "We perceive this as an extremely unfriendly act and reserve the right to retaliate," Mitrofanova said in a statement carried by the TASS news agency.

This is the second wave of expulsions of Russian diplomats from Bulgaria. On March 2, Sofia expelled two Russian diplomats over allegations they had been involved in espionage.

Bulgaria, Russia's closest ally during the Cold War but now a European Union member state and part of NATO that has condemned the invasion of Ukraine, has expelled eight other Russian diplomats over suspected spying since October 2019.

Separately on Friday, the foreign ministries of Latvia and Estonia said they were expelling three Russian diplomats.

On Monday, EU and NATO member Slovakia expelled three Russian embassy staff based on information from its secret service.

LONDON -- Britain's communications regulator on Friday revoked the license of the state-funded Russian broadcaster RT amid concern that its coverage of the war in Ukraine was biased.

The decision comes as the regulator, Ofcom, conducts 29 investigations into the impartiality of RT's coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The volume and nature of the issues raised by these inquiries are of "great concern," the regulator said, particularly because RT had been fined 200,000 pounds for previous violations of impartiality standards.

RT's funding from the Russian state, as well as the fact that Russia invaded its smaller neighbor, were also part of the decision, Ofcom said.

As a result, Ofcom ruled that RT's parent company, ANO TV Novosti, isn't "fit and proper to hold a U.K. broadcast license." The move is largely symbolic, as the broadcaster is already off the air due to sanctions imposed by the European Union.

"We also note new laws in Russia which effectively criminalise any independent journalism that departs from the Russian state's own news narrative, in particular in relation to the invasion of Ukraine,'' the regulator said in a statement. "We consider that given these constraints it appears impossible for RT to comply with the due impartiality rules of our Broadcasting Code in the circumstances.''

RT said in a statement that the regulator had robbed the U.K. public of access to information and ignored its "clean record'' of four consecutive years.
RT deputy editor-in-chief Anna Belkina said that with its decision Ofcom "has shown the U.K. public, and the regulatory community internationally, that despite a well-constructed facade of independence, it is nothing more than a tool of government, bending to its media-suppressing will."

Government minister James Heappey said Ofcom's decision was "very welcome." But he stressed that "it was the regulator that took the choice rather than government."

Originally Posted By FrankyRay:
With Ukraine being a major exporter of wheat, you'd think this would be a major concern for the whole world.

Ukraine war: Russia blocks ships carrying grain exports

"Up to 300 ships have been stopped by Russian forces from departing the Black Sea, leaving one of the key global trade routes for grain virtually blocked. The fertile region is known as 'the world's breadbasket.'"

They can't seriously expect to get away with this for very long.

Originally Posted By spydercomonkey:


Hitler is always the example brought up of appeasement leading to greater aggressiveness. I've never heard another example used.

I'm curious what other examples there are where this has happened?

Originally Posted By blackriflefan10:
A very insightful and cogent analysis of what's happening and why. Long read, yes. Too much for the meme lords here, maybe.

https://cartographer.substack.com/p/russias-invasion-of-ukraine-day-12?s=r