Russian invasion of Ukraine

Is Russia ever going to see that $400bn in frozen assets again? You'd assume it would either want that returned as part of a settlement and/ or sanctions lifted

If Macron supports either of those things thats the point I'll think he's lost the fricking plot!

‘Hell. Just hell’: Ukraine and Russia’s war of attrition over Bakhmut

https://www.ft.com/content/dcdd09bf-440a-4648-9664-6084b11dddd4

Today I learnt footwraps are a thing

https://twitter.com/secretsqrl123/status/1601048144166682625

It’s closed for relocation but if you visit the Museum of London you can find Roman socks preserved from over a millennium ago.

It’s closed for relocation

Where are they moving to? It's a great museum, as is its often-neglected Docklands branch.

This doesn't surprise me much - here in eastern europe we wrap our feet in anything from newspaper to plastic bags - anything to make it better when it's cold and wet.

Smithfield Market I believe.

Kind of amazed that the Russian army doesn't supply good quality socks, but its a millenia tested method of keeping feet warm and dry (and better than shit socks) so maybe I shouldn't be.

Need several pairs per soldier, plus spares to resupply as they wear out. It's no surprise really that they couldn't keep up... they planned for a couple of days of fighting

Russia and Iran deepen ties
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/russia-providing-unprecedented-military-support-iran-exchange-drones-o-rcna60921

I thought russia had problems to even manufacture the high tech weapons they needed themselves in ukraine yet they are able to provide fighters and helicopters for iran?

I dont know what to think of any military "intel" right now.

You’re right, foot wrap can actually be better than socks, but gotta be wrapped properly and carefully.

(Context, grandfather telling me about his father from WWI).

think the word hi-tech is the issue, Ukraine have put forward evidence that Russia is still able to manufacture crude cruise missiles. Things like the planes and helicopters they have so many of them and can't use them due to not having air supremacy so are probably happy they can replenish them in the future and might as well trade them for useful things they can use in the current conflict. It also opens up a revenue stream with Iran and Iran have proven good at sourcing components despite sanctions, so can probably get the Russians the chips and sensors they are currently struggling to source

Rumours that the rocket attack on a Russian base in Melitopol killed up to 200 Russian soldiers. Feels like a turning point of sorts.

If even the Russian government is acknowledging casualties, it was obviously a big strike. If it had only killed 10 or 20, they'd deny it totally.

First Russian anti war protest abroad?

Russian Anti-War Activists Seek Common Goals (When They’re Not
Bickering) Almost 300 activists, many young and from the diaspora,
gathered to try to forge a common path, beyond struggling against
Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine.

[...]

Everyone acknowledges the difficulty involved in bringing about
change, given that Russia under Mr. Putin has outlawed even the most
mundane opposition activity and forced much of civil society into
exile rather than face time in a penal colony. More and more activists
have been officially designated “foreign agents,” a resurrected
Stalinist label implying that they are traitors.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/07/world/europe/russia-putin-opposition-ukraine-war.html

If you’re going to watch any tv today watch the David Letterman interview with Zelenskiy on Netflix.

Have there not been loads of protests outside Ru embassies already?

Oh yeah, there have been, but not by Russians. At best there were some Russians in those protests but not majority and not with the message "we, Russians, do not support this and that".

I've seen protests of German-Russians supporting Russia though.

Not sure if 300 protesters out of 1.2M of Russian diaspora in Germany are enough to change my mind on "not all Russians are the same" issue but it still is something.

What’s the deal with this then? I struggle to believe all Russians, or even most Russians, are pro war. Especially if they’re leaving elsewhere and have access to proper news. Is it a genuine fear of repercussions?

Spent quite a bit of time in mid and eastern Russia. I like the country itself, especially the east regions (altai etc) is an amazing place, most of the people whilst maybe won't come bounding up to you with open arms, if you ask them for help in any way, they will help as much as they can and beyond. I've never been west of Samara or to any of the big cities in the western/european area, I would make a guess that most folk who live in the mid and eastern regions feel little interest in what happens in Moscow. Much like how many folk in the north of England have any interest in what happens in the South East/London.

The amount of bureaucracy in rural Russia is high, not so much fear of authorities, but just wary of the utter misery that can be inflicted on them if they raise their voice or hand. Loads of rural areas will put their kids into military roles such as local enforcement, border lands or infantry type roles as its pretty much the only way to get a leg up, they also live quite deep in the state run media bubble, so with the best will in the world, they can't easily see the truth.

I don't know what the answer is to the problem, the state definitely does have enough dusty old prisons, state companies and bureaucracy to make anyones life a misery if you do oppose.

I would say very few are pro war, probably much less than 5% if my mates feelings on numbers are correct. Most folk just try to block it out and survive, they are also in a domestic energy crisis coupled with a lot of people are out of work, its a very bleak feeling there (again all not in the western areas, I don't know anybody there).

Yeah from what I’ve read, it’s not a question about whether they’re pro war or not, it’s life, money and work. If you live in the middle of nowhere in the wastes of Eastern Russia where the only work is subsistence farming etc then a relatively high salary to join the army and fight is honestly a reasonable and desirable choice. Who you’re fighting and why is irrelevant . Sad but when you have nothing it makes sense.

Which it is why it’s so important that we cut off money from purchasing Russian energy as that cash directly feeds this fucked up situation.

Friend is Russian and grew up there but was sent to Uni outside Russia and has worked around the world has a different viewpoint. Her parents still live there and she won't speak to them about the war unless they're here in person. They accept their phones may be bugged sporadically and wouldn't comment anything beyond "we hope for everyone that the war ends soon" at the start of the war so she stopped discussing it.

She reckons most older people consume state-run media almost entirely and even younger ones are heavily influenced by it (particularly dependant on socio-economic status) so the influence is quite pronounced. She's spoken to old friends who genuinely believe the war is justified and that Western media is lying.

Yeah I know the one's who eat it up. We have those same people here in the UK who are susceptible to the bullshit and then spout it back at others, brexit being the most recent example. Had one yesterday at my door, an older neighbour who just wanted to rant about the 'immigrant crisis' and how much the world has gone to hell, I don't think I've ever not seen him with a daily star or sun in his hands in ten years, so you get the type.