beautifulthailand99

They allow the NSA backdoor access so they can spy on the users.

The supposition that the Russian economy is on their knees , they are out of ammo , men , missiles and tanks and that Putin will die/be toppled or such like are simply not true. It's day 900 and something and a country that in 2022 was deemed to be spent has just launched it's biggest ever attack on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure. This can go on indefinatley until Ukraine is effectively destroyed as a viable independent state and Russia severely wounded. Which may just be what the US wants or accepts. They certainly don't want to go in on the ground or escalate their donations that's for sure. Nor does their second biggest donor Germany. https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/aug/26/russia-ukraine-war-live-latest-updates https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13779759/Putin-unleashes-hell-Russia-pounds-Ukraine-biggest-rocket-salvos-war-Kyiv-cities-wave-strikes.html Nationwide air raid alerts were triggered in the early hours as Ukraine's air defences sprang into action to shoot down a torrent of drones, which were launched as Moscow seeks revenge for Ukraine's invasion of its Kursk region. The attacks kept coming, and hours later Ukraine's air force warned that Russia had deployed almost a dozen Tu-95 and six Tu-22M3 strategic bombers which let loose salvo after salvo of missiles. MiG-31K warplanes - capable of firing fearsome Kinzhal supersonic missiles - and four naval vessels were also involved in the bombardment.

Reminds me of the famous Groucho Marx qoute "Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others." !

Russian courts be like Thai courts - the outcome is never in doubt. Apparently the most popular search engine in Russia is Yandex which was sold cheap to a Russian consortium. As Lenin wrote, “When it comes time to hang the capitalists, they will vie with each other for the rope contract.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68213191 Putin seizes $100m from Google to fund Russia’s war machine - Bailiffs funnel tech giant’s cash to pay for war propaganda https://archive.is/SqVCQ#selection-2403.4-2407.66

The neoliberal battle for Ukraine’s reconstruction - The country’s postwar future is almost as riven as the war itself. NEW STATESMAN By Lily Lynch Civilians & politicians https://www.newstatesman.com/the-weekend-essay/2024/08/the-neoliberal-battle-for-ukraines-reconstruction Ukrainian officials have also indicated that they might be more discerning about foreign investors. Last year, the finance minister Sergii Marchenko gave a speech at the London Ukraine Recovery Conference that reflected this shift. “Traditionally, we were open to any form of money,” he said. “Now we are not. If you want to invest in Ukraine, you must accept the priorities of Ukraine.” The nationalisation of strategic assets throughout the war has also prompted a backlash among some supporters in Washington. Among Ukraine’s most daunting tasks will be convincing the 6.5 million citizens who have fled the war to return and rebuild the country. The government is in an unenviable position: to maintain interest from foreign investors, who are typically drawn to the region for its cheap labour force, it will also need to ensure the repatriation of refugees, who won’t be keen to return if only low-paying jobs await them.

Despite Ukraine’s Kursk invasion gamble, Russia is closing in on a big victory The key city of Pokrovsk is being evacuated as heavily outnumbered Ukrainian soldiers find their comrades’ success across the border is doing nothing to relieve the strain - THE TIMES https://archive.is/HFURU#selection-2223.0-2241.171 “But Russia keeps going,” said Matthew Savill of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a military and security think tank in London. “The Russian mindset seems to be, ‘We took tens of millions of casualties in the Second World War and we can keep going’.” He sees Ukraine’s invasion of Russia as “either an act of genius or an act of desperation”, adding: “Rather than lose ground slowly in the east with nothing to show for it, Ukraine needed to change the narrative — to say ‘yes, we’ve lost ground in the east, but we can still manoeuvre and make things difficult for the enemy’.” The final verdict, Savill predicted, would depend on the “cost Ukraine has to pay” for its lightning cross-border assault. If the operation forces Russia to “thin out” its front line and “creates a sea change in international support, with renewed equipment for Ukraine and a change in the caveats about its use of western long-range weapons in Russia, that would also be a win”, he said.

I'm increasingly drawn to the argument that Ukraine is running on fumes - note the comments of the dire state of conscripts I posted up thread and their lack of training or weapons or even motivation to fight. Zelenskiy has repeatedly said that this war will end in November and there has been shuttle diplomacy with UKR and China and India. When these negotiations come the Kursk incursion makes sense as trading land for peace. The 64,000 Rouble question is of course will Putin bite. Both sides will have to beleive they have won - when neither have. It is a European tragedy without equal in my lifetime. Let's hope it ends soon and this senseless slaughter ends. “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.”

There is some reasoning behind the Kursk offensive based on simple logic; Option 1: Deploy all your troops to the Donbass front to slow down the Russians who will advance anyway Option 2: Deploy your reserves and best trained men on a hail Mary mission into Russia hoping Russia's reaction is to withdraw men from the front, easing off the pressure and letting it stabilise Option 2 is the more sound one as there was a chance it could have worked, unfortunately for Ukraine it didn't and the Russians have continued the same pace of advance in Donbass whilst deploying enough reserves to stall the Kursk offensive without sacrificing the Toretsk/Pokrovsk offensive capabilities, leading to a lose lose where not only is Ukraine still getting battered in Donbass but now it's best brigades are tied down in Kursk. They didn't take the bait. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c785z8917leo Ukraine had hoped that by seizing territory in Russia's Kursk region it would be able to divert Russian troops away from their eastern advance, but that has not happened. If anything the Russian offensive on Pokrovsk, and Toretsk further to the north east, has intensified. "Pokrovsk is a very important hub, a centre of defence. If we lose Pokrovsk, the entire front line will crumble," military expert Mykhaylo Zhyrokhov warned. Ukraine relies on the town's rail and road infrastructure to provide supplies and reinforcements to its troops on the eastern front line, as well as to evacuate the wounded.

Classic Vietnam domino theory it was nonsense then and nonsense now. Schrodinger's Russia , both dead and alive at the same time - the second best army in Ukraine on it's last legs but capable of annexing Europe. Which is it ?

The only good thing about Thaksin's return is the Thai Salim aunties apoplexy at his return. The rest is evil.

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It's Kyiv the Orcs spell the RuZZian version.

Links please.

Yes that's the deal, total war this is not - except for Russia and Ukraine and the west wants an out.

Money is money is money. USA loves the stuff - like in Thailand there is no bad money just money. This is Schlumberger btw the most connected politcally along with Halliburton oil services company in the world. Funny how we sanction companies we don’t like but are ok with politically connected corporations to do business where otherwise they would’ve been frozen from the western financial system. Dying for US oil a common refrain down the decades. The US has kicked all competitors out of the Russian market, while actively operating themselves - Financial Times https://archive.is/gLqZF In May, a US Department of State official said SLB had “thus far” not breached sanctions and the company had a clear understanding of “where the guardrails” were. A Treasury spokesperson told the FT: “The United States and an international coalition opposing Russia remain committed to reducing [Vladimir] Putin’s profits. At the same time, simply aiming to stop the flow of Russian oil would have serious consequences for the global economy.”

It's more than a modicum or else his greatest act and probably a combination of both.

I found the link - these are the malign forces which will destroy him should he falter. “Listen, Denys, I’m the president of this country. I’m 41 years old. I’m not a loser. I came to you and told you: remove the weapons. Don’t shift the conversation to some protests,” Zelensky said, videos of the exchange show. As he said this, Zelensky aggressively approached Yantar, who heads the National Corps, a political offshoot of the far-right Azov volunteer battalion, in Mykolaiv city. “But we’ve discussed that,” Yantar said. “I wanted to see understanding in your eyes. But, instead, I saw a guy who’s decided that this is some loser standing in front of him,” Zelensky said. https://www.kyivpost.com/post/6652

There is a video I've forgotten where where Zelesnkiy before the war goes to meet the head of AZOV (the one that hadn't been whitewashed yet!) somewhere in the Donbass and his troops and the AZOV head threatens him if he gives up anything to the Russians ( he was elected on a bring peace to Ukraine ticket and is a Russian speaker) then he was toast. There is a stand up row where Zelenkiy stands his ground. If the war is lost these forces will come to the fore with fearsome miltias and war lords ruling their fiefdoms and a probable target on Zelenkiy's head. https://archive.is/0V65h - written over a year ago. Indeed, given the likelihood of a prolonged military stalemate between Ukraine and Russia—and the fact that, the longer the war drags on, the longer elections can be delayed under martial law—Zelensky may feel less pressure to consider diplomatic measures than he did in the early days of the conflict. Perhaps Zelensky’s biggest moral failure will prove to be prolonging a war that in a year or two won’t look any different on the ground, save for much larger cemeteries on both sides.

With NATO weapons and help they are achieving stunning PR victories and have shown initially they can put up a heroic fight but in the end it comes down to stamina,resources and manpower and it looks like they are nearly out of all 3. That video I posted from the ex head of the British army 2 years ago said trade land (which was fuill of pro Russian settlers anyway) for lasting peace. But the uber nationalost diehards and their power demanded not one inch. So here we are a country ravaged , an ecomomy destroyed, and a population in which the young women and their children have fled probably never to return. Beware of Americans bearing weapons and promsies, they will ultimately betray you. The last real war that they won was WW2 and that was with Russian help !

Latest FT take on German aid The difference between the Germans on the one hand and the British/Americans on the other hand is that the Germans actually know what losing a war is like. And specifically they have first hand experience in being in a hot war against an inexhaustible Russia. The Americans/Brits have never been defeated in a war and seen their homeland destroyed as a consequence. The former leads to caution. The latter leads to hubris and the misguided idea that winning a war is a solely matter of choice, not a matter of the real balance of power and what happens on the battlefield. https://archive.is/Nqj03 Scholz also seems determined to stymie the EU as it seeks a greater role in defence industry collaboration, vital if Europe is to improve its capabilities. The chancellor objected to any discussion of defence projects when EU leaders met in June to review the bloc’s strategic agenda, according to two European diplomats. The European Commission’s ambitions to create a defence industry fund of up to €100bn through joint EU borrowing has met a wall of German resistance. Because this is what the war is costing them and if the German industrial engine collapses then so does the Euro and the southern EU countries economoes along with it. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-01/four-in-ten-german-manufacturers-eye-move-abroad-on-energy-costs Four in ten German manufacturers are considering limiting production or relocating abroad amid uncertainty over the nation’s future energy supplies and crippling bureaucracy, according to a survey. Energy-intensive firms and those with more than 500 employees are particularly prone to such considerations, according to a report by the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce, with about half looking at curbing production or leaving Germany.

The Kremlin is close to crushing Pokrovsk, a vital Ukrainian town - Even as Ukraine raids Russia, it is losing another key battle -The Economist https://archive.is/xGgEx#selection-945.0-949.61 Ukrainian commanders give different reasons for the Russian advance. Some say there aren’t enough shells, with the enemy firing up to ten times as many. Others point to Russian tactics—small infantry assaults, glide bombs, new types of electronic warfare. But exhaustion and manpower issues seem to be at the heart of the collapse. “People aren’t made of steel,” says Colonel Pavlo Fedosenko. Ukrainian troops, outnumbered 4:1, aren’t getting any rest, he says. Some stay on the front lines for 30 or 40 days at a time, cramped in foxholes inches from death. “Dublin,” a fighter attached to the 59th brigade south-east of Pokrovsk, knows soldiers who have been in place for more than two months. Two had strokes. Ukraine’s problems are compounded by “idiotic” orders, he says.

2 years ago the ex head of the British Army called it straight and said sue peace for land- those voices should have been listened to then and even more now. Find a route out of it asap. But here we are.

Ex head of the British Army basically saying we have nothing left to give to Ukraine. Last year, Sir Patrick said the UK’s donation of 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine had left the Army “temporarily weaker” as the donation had left a “gap in our armoury”. https://archive.is/Entkv

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ukraine-incursion-kursk-russia-capture-land-soldiers-1.7300381?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar "We started shouting that there are conscripts here, don't shoot," he said. Another 22-year-old conscript said Ukrainian troops started storming his position on Aug. 7. He and a few others managed to spend the night hiding in a trench, but the next day, he was hit by a grenade and later captured. As he spoke, he lay on the lower half of a bunk bed, shrapnel still embedded in both of his legs. He is from St. Petersburg and was conscripted in October. "We were told that we would not take part in hostilities," he said. "We understood that anything was possible, but we did not think that our day would end with us being prisoners of war in another country."