Ukraine

[Mr brolin]

Umm ... I wish I could see an end game that doesn't result in the incineration of the planet. OK, maybe it's not that bad. I don't know.

It seems like Putin can't back down, for a variety of reasons, but mainly because it would make him look weak, and he could lose the presidency. Russians might put more value in being macho than many people.

But he's committed, and I think he is definitely going to invade Ukraine REAL SOON.

And then, as we know, the West is going to impose crippling sanctions and support Ukraine militarily, and we'll have ringside seats as we find out whether or not this leads to WWIII.

I'm hoping not, but that's just me, my life is exciting enough already, thanks.

Actually, Putin can de-escalate right now, go all " Hey, lilly livered weak Western democracies are terrified of the great Russian military, oh and by the way I've done an Anschlus and annexed Belarus anyway"

[Volkonski]

Reuters@Reuters·15mUkraine's cybersecurity center says websites of the Ukrainian defense ministry and banks Privatbank and Oshadbank are under a cyber attack, Russia's TASS news agency reports https://reut.rs/3Blehi2

[Volkonski]

Julia Davis@JuliaDavisNews·23mPutin is not done with Ukraine—merely inconvenienced by the whole world watching every move of his armed forces. In the meantime, the pretext-building is actively continuing. State media repeatedly emphasized that Russia's recognition of "LPR/DPR" would lead to military actions.

[neeneko]

Yeah, this is not going to be 'done' for a long time. More than long enough to try again next presidency.

[Suranis]

As I thought, having the world news report every move he is making and every plan he is planning really shook Putin. Everyone was saying he planned to attack tomorrow, so he is not going to now while he quietly slashes and burns to plug the leaks.

https://twitter.com/i/events/1483255084750282753

World news·LIVEUkraine: Russia says it is withdrawing some troops from the Ukraine border

Russia's defence ministry confirmed on Tuesday that some of the troops stationed on the country's border with Ukraine are returning to their bases after completing drills, Interfax news agency reports. The news agency added large-scale drills will continue across the country. It comes as US President Joe Biden’s deputy principal press secretary said Russia has not moved to deescalate its presence on Ukraine’s border, where some 100,000 troops are massed. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived in Moscow on Tuesday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin

[Luke]

Zero Hedge has been spreading propaganda for years. Engaged on Twitter a bit condemning his actions way back, haven't watched in a while. His avatar is a pretty hot male torso. 1.2M followers. https://twitter.com/zerohedge

US accuses Zero Hedge of spreading Kremlin propaganda
BY LEXI LONAS - 02/15/22 10:16 AM EST 1,437

U.S. intelligence officials are accusing the conservative financial news website Zero Hedge of spreading Russian propaganda. The officials, who spoke to The Associated Press, pointed to a number of stories published by Zero Hedge that accused the U.S. government of raising exaggerated alarms about the prospects of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. They said the stories originated with Kremlin-controlled media. Some of those stories were written by people affiliated with the Strategic Culture Foundation, an organization sanctioned by the Biden administration for allegedly contributing to Russia's interference in the 2020 election, according to the AP.

Zero Hedge has denied any wrongdoing and said it publishes a variety of opinions on its site. Zero Hedge told the AP there “is no relationship between Strategic Cultural Foundation (or the SVR) and Zero Hedge, and furthermore this is the first time we hear someone allege that the Foundation is linked to Russian propaganda.” “They are one of our hundreds of contributors — unlike Mainstream Media, we try to publish a wide spectrum of views that cover both sides of a given story,” the outlet added. Some of the stories published by the organization on the website include “NATO Sliding Towards War Against Russia In Ukraine,” “Americans Need A Conspiracy Theory They Can All Agree On” and “Theater Of Absurd... Pentagon Demands Russia Explain Troops On Russian Soil,” according to the AP.

Zero Hedge on Tuesday published an article in which it said the AP’s story was based on a “false allegation.” “Of course, there is no actual accusation that Zero Hedge works directly with anyone tied to Russia or its intelligence apparatus - as the AP admits,” the outlet wrote. The outlet also addressed allegations of the Strategic Cultural Foundation’s connections to Russia, saying the outlet has never worked with Russia and is not sure if the organization has any ties to the country. “Perhaps. We don't know. What we do know is that Alastair Crooke, one of the most prolific writers on SCF website is a former high ranking MI6 figure and UK diplomat, i.e., a former British spook. Perhaps he is now a double agent working for Putin after spending decades spying for the UK?” the outlet wrote. The officials also named three websites are allegedly connected to Russia’s federal security service (FSB) and two others they said were taking orders from the Strategic Cultural Foundation, according to the AP.

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5942 ... propaganda

There's a lot of alarming use of Russian media being pushed out by social media influencers, Malaysian Ian Miles Cheong pushes out tons of Russia Today articles for US users. We've seen small US TV and radio stations are using RT content and getting paid for it. No idea what we do about it... guess we have to keep pointing the sourcing out and combat disinformation with facts. Looks like Fogbow isn't going to retire for a while.

[Foggy]

True dat.

[raison de arizona]

NEW: Ukraine says they are suffering from the largest cyber attack they’ve ever experienced.

Viktor Zhora, head of the State Special Communications Service said that they cannot confirm that Russian hackers stand behind the attack on Ukraine's critical infrastructure networks.

As relayed by NBC’s @suekroll in Ukraine with NBC’s translation staff.

[Danraft]

Zero Hedge has been a propaganda tool for a long time. Based in Bulgaria, etc
https;//newrepublic.com/article/156788/ ... jan-horse

Zero Hedge has been spreading propaganda for years. Engaged on Twitter a bit condemning his actions way back, haven't watched in a while. His avatar is a pretty hot male torso. 1.2M followers. https://twitter.com/zerohedge

US accuses Zero Hedge of spreading Kremlin propaganda
BY LEXI LONAS - 02/15/22 10:16 AM EST 1,437

U.S. intelligence officials are accusing the conservative financial news website Zero Hedge of spreading Russian propaganda. The officials, who spoke to The Associated Press, pointed to a number of stories published by Zero Hedge that accused the U.S. government of raising exaggerated alarms about the prospects of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. They said the stories originated with Kremlin-controlled media. Some of those stories were written by people affiliated with the Strategic Culture Foundation, an organization sanctioned by the Biden administration for allegedly contributing to Russia's interference in the 2020 election, according to the AP.

Zero Hedge has denied any wrongdoing and said it publishes a variety of opinions on its site. Zero Hedge told the AP there “is no relationship between Strategic Cultural Foundation (or the SVR) and Zero Hedge, and furthermore this is the first time we hear someone allege that the Foundation is linked to Russian propaganda.” “They are one of our hundreds of contributors — unlike Mainstream Media, we try to publish a wide spectrum of views that cover both sides of a given story,” the outlet added. Some of the stories published by the organization on the website include “NATO Sliding Towards War Against Russia In Ukraine,” “Americans Need A Conspiracy Theory They Can All Agree On” and “Theater Of Absurd... Pentagon Demands Russia Explain Troops On Russian Soil,” according to the AP.

Zero Hedge on Tuesday published an article in which it said the AP’s story was based on a “false allegation.” “Of course, there is no actual accusation that Zero Hedge works directly with anyone tied to Russia or its intelligence apparatus - as the AP admits,” the outlet wrote. The outlet also addressed allegations of the Strategic Cultural Foundation’s connections to Russia, saying the outlet has never worked with Russia and is not sure if the organization has any ties to the country. “Perhaps. We don't know. What we do know is that Alastair Crooke, one of the most prolific writers on SCF website is a former high ranking MI6 figure and UK diplomat, i.e., a former British spook. Perhaps he is now a double agent working for Putin after spending decades spying for the UK?” the outlet wrote. The officials also named three websites are allegedly connected to Russia’s federal security service (FSB) and two others they said were taking orders from the Strategic Cultural Foundation, according to the AP.

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5942 ... propaganda

There's a lot of alarming use of Russian media being pushed out by social media influencers, Malaysian Ian Miles Cheong pushes out tons of Russia Today articles for US users. We've seen small US TV and radio stations are using RT content and getting paid for it. No idea what we do about it... guess we have to keep pointing the sourcing out and combat disinformation with facts. Looks like Fogbow isn't going to retire for a while.

[Phoenix520]

Zero Hedge hasn’t always been a Kremlin microphone. I remember sensible things from them in the early aughts. Did it change hands?

[Volkonski]

Reuters@Reuters·58sRussia 'likely' to launch 'limited' military attack against Ukraine, says Estonian intelligence http://reut.rs/3LAyCVv

[bob]

Zero Hedge hasn’t always been a Kremlin microphone. I remember sensible things from them in the early aughts. Did it change hands?

I don't think it changed hands; I think they just got more unhinged.

[Volkonski]

Reuters@Reuters·38mRussia still building forces on Ukraine border, says UK defence intelligence chief http://reut.rs/3HYfNcm

[Volkonski]

Reuters@Reuters·4mAsian stocks pull back, bond yields drop on reported shelling in Ukraine http://reut.rs/3rU01ts

[Volkonski]

Ukraine rebels accuse government forces of attacks

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/uk ... ce=twitter

Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine accused government forces on Thursday of opening fire on their territory four times in the past 24 hours and said they were trying to establish if anyone had been hurt or killed.

It was not immediately clear how serious the incidents were and there was no immediate reaction from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has been monitoring the situation in eastern Ukraine but has pulled out some of its monitors in recent days.

Ukraine's military denied the separatists' accusations that government troops had attacked, saying it was the rebels who shelled the Ukrainian military.

Such incidents have occurred many times over the past eight years but this clash comes after Russia has massed more than 100,000 troops close to Ukraine's borders while demanding that NATO pledge not to accept Ukraine as a member.

[Volkonski]

[RTH10260]

https:// twitter.com/ChristopherJM/status/1494233372834549760

Russia-backed forces shelled the music room of a kindergarten in far-eastern Stanytsia Luhanska, Luhansk region, at 9am this morning,

The wording sounds like they intentionally targeted the location but all shooting is just in the general direction of the city, kindergartens are collateral damage. The activity is not news - it's been going on for years.

[Volkonski]

USA TODAY@USATODAY·13mPresident Biden warns there is a "very high" risk that Russia invades Ukraine within next "several days." https://bit.ly/354gxOu

[Greatgrey]

Israel Turns Down Ukraine’s Iron Dome Request

https://www.thedefensepost.com/2022/02/ ... -iron-dome

Fuckers

Israel has refused Ukraine’s request to purchase the Iron Dome air defense system, Tel Aviv-based Yedioth Ahronoth revealed.

Jerusalem refused the request as it involved the risk of annoying Moscow, the daily added, citing sources.

Israel and Russia have reportedly forged an understanding not to harm each other’s interests in Syria in recent years. Jerusalem provides notice to Moscow before striking Iranian-backed militias to avoid Russian casualties. The Jewish nation, in turn, does not ask permission to conduct military strikes in the country.

According to the Israeli outlet, the US administration and American Congressional members have understood the Israeli approach of “treading lightly” in its relations with Russia.

Israel must obtain US approval before selling the Iron Dome to a third country as per the co-development agreement signed with US-based Raytheon.

[Volkonski]

[AndyinPA]

https://thehill.com/policy/internationa ... aggression

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and her counterparts in Poland and Ukraine issued a joint statement on Thursday saying that the three nations would be developing a “trilateral memorandum of co-operation” to support Ukraine and combat Russian aggression amid rising tensions between the two Eastern European nations.

“This will demonstrate our commitment to further strengthening the strategic cooperation and engagement between our 3 nations on the highest priority issues in support of Ukraine,” the three said.

“We will work together to advance our cooperation, which includes but not limited to co-ordinating support to the International Crimea Platform, increasing our collaboration on cyber security, energy security, and boosting strategic communications to counter disinformation,” they added.

The three said that the United Kingdom and Poland stood in solidarity with Ukraine in helping the former Soviet state defend its independence and sovereignty and would provide Ukraine with support.

The joint statement also offered a thinly veiled rebuke at Russia, without naming the country specifically, for its efforts at trying to dictate whether Ukraine should be a part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

[Foggy]

Well bless Liz Truss, an unfortunate name for someone who seems to be handling any sort of trouble with her testicles, but whatever.

You go, lady.

[Volkonski]

That should keep Russia busy for a while.

Separatists in eastern Ukraine say they plan to evacuate 700,000 people

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/se ... ce=twitter

Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine said on Friday they planned to evacuate around 700,000 people to Russia from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).

Most DPR residents are Russian speakers and many have already been granted Russian citizenship.

Ukraine says the people who run the DPR are not separatists but Russian proxies, something the Kremlin denies.

[Foggy]

Yeah, I'm sure 700,000 Earthlings are ready to give up their homes and their jobs and their communities so they can go live in the economic paradise that is Russia.

I hear the steppes are lovely in the second half of February ... and plenty of lebensraum!

[Volkonski]