Anonymous wrote:In a very Ukrainian move, Zelensky just fired the head of the Air Force while saying they are still looking into what caused the loss of the F-16:
https://kyivindependent.com/zelensky-dismisses-air-force-commander-oleshchuk/

I guess they know what the cause was, but they sure aren't going to admit it.

On the night that happened, the Russians had launched more than 400 missiles, glide bombs, and drones at targets all over Ukraine, mostly energy facilities. More than $1.2 billion worth of munitions at the same time. It would have been a very chaotic air environment with enemy aircraft, friendly aircraft, and air defense having seconds to make sense of each potential target. There were hundreds of objects in the air at the same time. We know the F-16 had shot down at least four enemy targets. But what happened after that is unclear.

We do now that those Ukrainian F-16 pilots have more combat experience in three weeks in an extremely chaotic air environment than any western pilot has in years. It is an extreme environment with many moving parts. We do know that the Russians have shot down numerous of their own planes from SU-35s to even A-50 AWACS planes. It wouldn't be a surprise of Ukraine hit its own. The fact that the Head of the Air Force was dismissed more or less confirms it.

Sucks. But it highlights how difficult it is to fight this war piecemeal, with a little western equipment here, and a little equipment there. It's not a coordinated system. And the situation continues to evolve with each month. Without the kid of overwhelming air superiority that only the US can bring, the dangers and chaos are only going to continue. It's why Ukraine needs to be allowed to use ATACMS in Russia to hit airfields there. It expands the perimeter and allows for a more manageable defense of Ukrainian air space.

Putin should not have invaded.

Ukraine should have taken the Istanbul deal.

Arms suppliers have gotten rich.

Ukrain has most more than half of its population; most will never return.

It's terrible Ukraine lost an F-16 and my condolences to the pilot's family. Take heart. There was more news today.

"Prices typically rise when too much cash is chasing too few goods. One solution is to produce more goods, and Russian President Vladimir Putin told the government to do exactly that"
"The traditional answer to inflation is to reduce the money supply and one way of doing that is to raise the prime interest rate to encourage people to spend less and save more. The CBR has tried that. Inflation touched on 9.1% in July and despite a radical 200bp hike to 18% at the last monetary policy meeting inflationary pressures remain stubbornly high."
"August 24 Putin complained that both lending and inflation are growing despite the sky high interest rates"
https://www.intellinews.com/russian-government-central-bank-to-stamp-on-economic-growth-in-a-non-monetary-effort-to-slow-inflation-341000/

For those not specialized in communist economics, here's what's going on. Russia's economy was GDP was growing with virtually no unemployment, which backfired. Why? Because most of Russia's labor force is producing tanks, ammunition, war supplies, etc. The problem is consumers can't drive a tank to work, or eat ammunition at lunch, or use war supplies to sleep on at night. Putin ordered state factories to glut the market with goods to lower prices. The problem is you still need to pay for the raw materials and if they don't come from Russia, you need to exchange currency.

"Chinese state banks are shutting down transactions with Russia "en masse" and billions of yuan worth of payments are held up"
"One working solution was to buy gold, move it to Hong Kong and sell it there, depositing cash in a local bank account"
"some Russian businesses have been using chains of intermediaries in third countries to handle their transactions and get around compliance checks run by Chinese banks. As a result, costs to process transactions have risen to as much as 6% of transaction payments, from close to zero before"
"For many small companies, this means a complete shutdown"
https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/russia-payment-hurdles-with-china-partners-intensified-august-sources-say-2024-08-30/

But if you look at this video, Russell (a Russian propagandist) is showing off a brand new mall opening. See anything wrong?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTG4D4bIiRk

If you said "creepy or eerily empty" you're right! Also, the shelves are packed, but very few people are shopping? It's even fewer than his earlier videos. So what? Remember what happens in the food chain when the plankton die? In the meantime..

Watch this video end-to-end and remember that Andrei Fedorov (a former deputy foreign minister of Russia and ex-adviser to both the prime minister and vice president of Russia) is violating the Russian laws against "discrediting" of the armed forces capable of imposing large fines (article 20.3. 3) and up to five years imprisonment (article 280.3). The list of cities with factories he rattled off were sabotaged? It's an interesting conversation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es4e9qXH1Vo

Still on track for June 2025, imho.

Zelensky at his last presser:

We have a plan for victory. I wanna share it with the White House because our victory hinges on whether they give us what we want, and allow us to use it where we want to use it.

I also think it is fair that I share this plan with both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump because who knows which one will become president. They should both have it so they know what we need.

Agree. And I have the greatest respect for Ukraine. The World has no idea how much they are owed right now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Pavel Durov saga should be instructive to Ukrainians. The West was happy to use him as a catspaw against Russia, contrasting the "authoritarian" Russian meddling with Western "freedom."

Once he outlived his usefulness, the hammer comes down. Discarded and off to the gulag because he didn't give someone something they wanted, all the past laurels forgotten.

He probably thought he would be told "well done good and faithful servant." But like Ukraine, he picked the side that discards its minions as soon as they are done with them

Actually what his saga demonstrates is that the West will always treat you like a Russian when the hammer comes down. It doesn't matter that you were raised in Italy, are a citizen of UAE, France and god knows how many other countries, a bona fide prodigy and a billionaire. The West offers no safe haven, only an illusion of it. It's sort of ironic that the "great minds" behind personal sanctions thought it would help tighten the screws on Putin. Quite the opposite. It has shown wealthy Russians with legitimate businesses in the West that their money is not safe in the West.

Won’t someone think of the poor Russian oligarchs who subsumed the economy after the fall of the USSR? What of their mansions in London? What of their wealth??! It’s just so unfair.

Wait. What if. What if Russia simply stopped attacking Ukraine? Do you think maybe the west would want to repair ties after a period of contrition? How about that?

Whatever grievances you may have against Durov, getting rich off the fall of the USSR isn’t one of them. Or having anything to do with the war in Ukraine, either.

He kind of does, though. Telegram is one of the Russian Armed Forces unofficial communications backchannels, it is also being used to avoid sanctions, enable illegal weapons sales and other things that help fund and enable Russia's war against Ukraine.

lol what do you think Ukraine uses? Pigeons? They are all on telegram.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Pavel Durov saga should be instructive to Ukrainians. The West was happy to use him as a catspaw against Russia, contrasting the "authoritarian" Russian meddling with Western "freedom."

Once he outlived his usefulness, the hammer comes down. Discarded and off to the gulag because he didn't give someone something they wanted, all the past laurels forgotten.

He probably thought he would be told "well done good and faithful servant." But like Ukraine, he picked the side that discards its minions as soon as they are done with them

Actually what his saga demonstrates is that the West will always treat you like a Russian when the hammer comes down. It doesn't matter that you were raised in Italy, are a citizen of UAE, France and god knows how many other countries, a bona fide prodigy and a billionaire. The West offers no safe haven, only an illusion of it. It's sort of ironic that the "great minds" behind personal sanctions thought it would help tighten the screws on Putin. Quite the opposite. It has shown wealthy Russians with legitimate businesses in the West that their money is not safe in the West.

Won’t someone think of the poor Russian oligarchs who subsumed the economy after the fall of the USSR? What of their mansions in London? What of their wealth??! It’s just so unfair.

Wait. What if. What if Russia simply stopped attacking Ukraine? Do you think maybe the west would want to repair ties after a period of contrition? How about that?

Whatever grievances you may have against Durov, getting rich off the fall of the USSR isn’t one of them. Or having anything to do with the war in Ukraine, either.

He kind of does, though. Telegram is one of the Russian Armed Forces unofficial communications backchannels, it is also being used to avoid sanctions, enable illegal weapons sales and other things that help fund and enable Russia's war against Ukraine.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Pavel Durov saga should be instructive to Ukrainians. The West was happy to use him as a catspaw against Russia, contrasting the "authoritarian" Russian meddling with Western "freedom."

Once he outlived his usefulness, the hammer comes down. Discarded and off to the gulag because he didn't give someone something they wanted, all the past laurels forgotten.

He probably thought he would be told "well done good and faithful servant." But like Ukraine, he picked the side that discards its minions as soon as they are done with them

Actually what his saga demonstrates is that the West will always treat you like a Russian when the hammer comes down. It doesn't matter that you were raised in Italy, are a citizen of UAE, France and god knows how many other countries, a bona fide prodigy and a billionaire. The West offers no safe haven, only an illusion of it. It's sort of ironic that the "great minds" behind personal sanctions thought it would help tighten the screws on Putin. Quite the opposite. It has shown wealthy Russians with legitimate businesses in the West that their money is not safe in the West.

Putin's taint rubs off on anyone who comes close to him. Stop crying and recognize that Putin is the problem.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Pavel Durov saga should be instructive to Ukrainians. The West was happy to use him as a catspaw against Russia, contrasting the "authoritarian" Russian meddling with Western "freedom."

Once he outlived his usefulness, the hammer comes down. Discarded and off to the gulag because he didn't give someone something they wanted, all the past laurels forgotten.

He probably thought he would be told "well done good and faithful servant." But like Ukraine, he picked the side that discards its minions as soon as they are done with them

Actually what his saga demonstrates is that the West will always treat you like a Russian when the hammer comes down. It doesn't matter that you were raised in Italy, are a citizen of UAE, France and god knows how many other countries, a bona fide prodigy and a billionaire. The West offers no safe haven, only an illusion of it. It's sort of ironic that the "great minds" behind personal sanctions thought it would help tighten the screws on Putin. Quite the opposite. It has shown wealthy Russians with legitimate businesses in the West that their money is not safe in the West.

Won’t someone think of the poor Russian oligarchs who subsumed the economy after the fall of the USSR? What of their mansions in London? What of their wealth??! It’s just so unfair.

Wait. What if. What if Russia simply stopped attacking Ukraine? Do you think maybe the west would want to repair ties after a period of contrition? How about that?

Whatever grievances you may have against Durov, getting rich off the fall of the USSR isn’t one of them. Or having anything to do with the war in Ukraine, either.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Pavel Durov saga should be instructive to Ukrainians. The West was happy to use him as a catspaw against Russia, contrasting the "authoritarian" Russian meddling with Western "freedom."

Once he outlived his usefulness, the hammer comes down. Discarded and off to the gulag because he didn't give someone something they wanted, all the past laurels forgotten.

He probably thought he would be told "well done good and faithful servant." But like Ukraine, he picked the side that discards its minions as soon as they are done with them

Actually what his saga demonstrates is that the West will always treat you like a Russian when the hammer comes down. It doesn't matter that you were raised in Italy, are a citizen of UAE, France and god knows how many other countries, a bona fide prodigy and a billionaire. The West offers no safe haven, only an illusion of it. It's sort of ironic that the "great minds" behind personal sanctions thought it would help tighten the screws on Putin. Quite the opposite. It has shown wealthy Russians with legitimate businesses in the West that their money is not safe in the West.

Sure, sure. Maybe the Russian UN Ambassador can make an appeal and ask that anyone working for Russia is given amnesty for all crimes and legal immunity? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9LfMrqO_tA Do you really think Russians and people working with Russia will be loved and embraced by the World after what it did in Ukraine? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpYvDMlSEGo What magical thinking! Only the Russians who stood up for Ukraine deserve salvation.

The world doesn’t care. Really, it doesn’t.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Pavel Durov saga should be instructive to Ukrainians. The West was happy to use him as a catspaw against Russia, contrasting the "authoritarian" Russian meddling with Western "freedom."

Once he outlived his usefulness, the hammer comes down. Discarded and off to the gulag because he didn't give someone something they wanted, all the past laurels forgotten.

He probably thought he would be told "well done good and faithful servant." But like Ukraine, he picked the side that discards its minions as soon as they are done with them

Actually what his saga demonstrates is that the West will always treat you like a Russian when the hammer comes down. It doesn't matter that you were raised in Italy, are a citizen of UAE, France and god knows how many other countries, a bona fide prodigy and a billionaire. The West offers no safe haven, only an illusion of it. It's sort of ironic that the "great minds" behind personal sanctions thought it would help tighten the screws on Putin. Quite the opposite. It has shown wealthy Russians with legitimate businesses in the West that their money is not safe in the West.

Won’t someone think of the poor Russian oligarchs who subsumed the economy after the fall of the USSR? What of their mansions in London? What of their wealth??! It’s just so unfair.

Wait. What if. What if Russia simply stopped attacking Ukraine? Do you think maybe the west would want to repair ties after a period of contrition? How about that?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Pavel Durov saga should be instructive to Ukrainians. The West was happy to use him as a catspaw against Russia, contrasting the "authoritarian" Russian meddling with Western "freedom."

Once he outlived his usefulness, the hammer comes down. Discarded and off to the gulag because he didn't give someone something they wanted, all the past laurels forgotten.

He probably thought he would be told "well done good and faithful servant." But like Ukraine, he picked the side that discards its minions as soon as they are done with them

Actually what his saga demonstrates is that the West will always treat you like a Russian when the hammer comes down. It doesn't matter that you were raised in Italy, are a citizen of UAE, France and god knows how many other countries, a bona fide prodigy and a billionaire. The West offers no safe haven, only an illusion of it. It's sort of ironic that the "great minds" behind personal sanctions thought it would help tighten the screws on Putin. Quite the opposite. It has shown wealthy Russians with legitimate businesses in the West that their money is not safe in the West.

Sure, sure. Maybe the Russian UN Ambassador can make an appeal and ask that anyone working for Russia is given amnesty for all crimes and legal immunity? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9LfMrqO_tA Do you really think Russians and people working with Russia will be loved and embraced by the World after what it did in Ukraine? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpYvDMlSEGo What magical thinking! Only the Russians who stood up for Ukraine deserve salvation.

Anonymous wrote:The Pavel Durov saga should be instructive to Ukrainians. The West was happy to use him as a catspaw against Russia, contrasting the "authoritarian" Russian meddling with Western "freedom."

Once he outlived his usefulness, the hammer comes down. Discarded and off to the gulag because he didn't give someone something they wanted, all the past laurels forgotten.

He probably thought he would be told "well done good and faithful servant." But like Ukraine, he picked the side that discards its minions as soon as they are done with them

Actually what his saga demonstrates is that the West will always treat you like a Russian when the hammer comes down. It doesn't matter that you were raised in Italy, are a citizen of UAE, France and god knows how many other countries, a bona fide prodigy and a billionaire. The West offers no safe haven, only an illusion of it. It's sort of ironic that the "great minds" behind personal sanctions thought it would help tighten the screws on Putin. Quite the opposite. It has shown wealthy Russians with legitimate businesses in the West that their money is not safe in the West.

Anonymous wrote:The Pavel Durov saga should be instructive to Ukrainians. The West was happy to use him as a catspaw against Russia, contrasting the "authoritarian" Russian meddling with Western "freedom."

Once he outlived his usefulness, the hammer comes down. Discarded and off to the gulag because he didn't give someone something they wanted, all the past laurels forgotten.

He probably thought he would be told "well done good and faithful servant." But like Ukraine, he picked the side that discards its minions as soon as they are done with them

Yeah, I can see why the Russian Government would panic. It's like if Martha Stewart defected, since Telegram is at the center of a lot of activity within the Russian Government. Solovyov: "I have a simple question. Was anyone aware that all our military sits on Telegram? Was anyone aware that all our government officials also sit on Telegram?" Telegram is #3 in Leading social media platforms in Russia in 2024

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They took out Russia's main ferry in Crimea. So now all supplies have to go by the bridge, which will probably be taken out again, or on the longer land corridor.

The mighty Internet Defense Force of Ukraine used to boast about killing millions of Russian soldiers, and sinking cruisers. Now they boast about sinking a civilian ferry. I guess you have to work with what you have, and all you have is low-level terrorism.

This loser troll probably watched Masters of the Air crying about all the "terrorist" bombs being dropped on Germany.