UKRAINE WAR - 1 YEAR AND GOING.

[LadyTevar]

Tev, are you talking about flags of convenience? - where a ship might have owners in country A, crewed mainly by nationals of country B, and be on the merchant registry of country C?

YES! That's what I remember! Thank you!

[LadyTevar]

Tev, are you talking about flags of convenience? - where a ship might have owners in country A, crewed mainly by nationals of country B, and be on the merchant registry of country C?

I thought most ships were on the merchant registries for the countries they most often visited, and often flew multiple flags to show country of origin, ownership, and current 'out of'.

i.e US Made, so bottom flag, Canadian Ownership, so that's the middle flag, currently sailing out of France, so that's the top flag.

Well, not according to that wiki if I'm reading it right.

[LaCroix]

Well, now they blew up the Transfiguration Cathedral in Odessa, a set of Patriarchy...

Pretty sure Vlad's ear will get a set of blessings today...

[Lord Revan]

I'm pretty sure the Russian Orthodox church considers that a nest of heretics and thus an acceptable loss to get rid of said heretics. Heretics because the had Audacity to prefer the Greek Patriarch as they chosen "leader" rather then the Russian one.

[LadyTevar]

I'm pretty sure the Russian Orthodox church considers that a nest of heretics and thus an acceptable loss to get rid of said heretics. Heretics because the had Audacity to prefer the Greek Patriarch as they chosen "leader" rather then the Russian one.

Doesn't mean they want to see Cathedrals blown up. Those are Sacred Ground, and could be 'retaken'.

The Russians also blew up a lot of silos and buildings on the Danube, just across the river from Romania. Someone then flew two drones into Moscow.

[Broomstick]

To me it seems the Russians are now actively targeting grain reserves. Taking weaponizing food to an all new level.

[LadyTevar]

To me it seems the Russians are now actively targeting grain reserves. Taking weaponizing food to an all new level.

They pulled out of the Grain Deal, claiming it wasn't "Humanitarian Aid" to starving countries like it'd been pledged. Now Putin's also bragging that Russian Harvests will be huge and replace what Ukraine can't provide. (Highly unlikely, Ukraine's been THE 'bread basket' for decades, if not longer)

So, he hits the grain, he hits the storage silos and barns, he hits the infrastructure, and I guess in his mind starves Ukraine of money and support, while not giving two shits about those who will starve in other countries without those shipments. Not his problem (yet).

Still... I don't know if this is "a new level". After all, Russian playbook for those invading them was "burn the fields, leave them nothing to live on" as far back as the Mongol invasion, and it definitely hit Napolean's army hard.

[LaCroix]

Currently, there are plans that the grain is simply getting exported via containers (Train and Truck), across the border, and then shipped from Ukraine via land borders. Odessa is only a relatively short hop across the danube from harbors that won't be bombed, and that kind of traffic is harder to disrupt.

Also, Russia is starting to field all-female territorial defense armies. Along with the extensions for older and older draft/reservist ages, it draws a dire picture.

[Solauren]

Putin hitting grain supplies is him trying to ramp up preasure to try to get people to not help the Ukraine.

"You help the Ukraine, I blow up grain meant for starving people. You don't help the Ukraine, starving people eat."

Really, if he's trying to pull that, it's time to up the game on him. Like say, getting his allies to not support him, even if it means bribing them.

[Lord Revan]

Honestly it wouldn't surprise at all if this increases the support for Ukraine, after all it's not Ukrainians who are blowing up the grain. After all most of those Russian allies (or Russia leaning neutral countries) will know who is responsible for their citizens starving (it's not like Russia has been hiding this or blaming the West, directly making the strikes that is).

I got feeling like your typical bully, Putin has lost the ability to understand that if you can't intimidate your target they will be very upset with you and upset people (or in this case countries) don't want to be "friends" with you.

[Broomstick]

Currently, there are plans that the grain is simply getting exported via containers (Train and Truck), across the border, and then shipped from Ukraine via land borders. Odessa is only a relatively short hop across the danube from harbors that won't be bombed, and that kind of traffic is harder to disrupt.

The "won't be bombed" thing is in theory, it may not continue in practice, particularly if Putin thinks he can make it happen with plausible deniability (which I'm suspecting is why Wagner is now in Belarus)

Also, Russia is starting to field all-female territorial defense armies. Along with the extensions for older and older draft/reservist ages, it draws a dire picture.

That's like eating your seed corn.

Honestly it wouldn't surprise at all if this increases the support for Ukraine, after all it's not Ukrainians who are blowing up the grain. After all most of those Russian allies (or Russia leaning neutral countries) will know who is responsible for their citizens starving (it's not like Russia has been hiding this or blaming the West, directly making the strikes that is).

But will the general population in those countries understand all that? The leaders will (which leads to the question of whether or not they care) but staving people are not known for being rational.

[LadyTevar]

Honestly it wouldn't surprise at all if this increases the support for Ukraine, after all it's not Ukrainians who are blowing up the grain. After all most of those Russian allies (or Russia leaning neutral countries) will know who is responsible for their citizens starving (it's not like Russia has been hiding this or blaming the West, directly making the strikes that is).

But will the general population in those countries understand all that? The leaders will (which leads to the question of whether or not they care) but staving people are not known for being rational.

No... starving people are not rational. However "Russia Is Blowing Up the Corn" isn't that hard to understand.

[LadyTevar]

It's official, Russia is going to call up those 18-30yrs old

The draft law also bans men from leaving the country from the day of their call-up. Since April, conscription papers can be issued online instead of in person.

[LadyTevar]

I'm trying to track down more information on this, which I got from a gentleman on FB who has been doing a "Daily Roundup" on Ukraine and other World News.

The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that a Romanian-Flagged Cargo Ship suffered Minor Damage in the Russian Shahed Drone Attack on the Port of Reni

EDIT!!!
Found this on Yahoo. Source is HotNews.ro from Romanian, but no other info about it.

YAHOO

[LaCroix]

Yeah, this is not something that is going to be used - it was in the harbour, there are dozens of reasons why the drone could accidentally have hit it.
Making a big fuss out of this would reek of desperation to get into the war.

Now, if a ship gets hit while travelling at sea, now THAT's when shit's gonna hit the fan...

[Solauren]

Yeah, this is not something that is going to be used - it was in the harbour, there are dozens of reasons why the drone could accidentally have hit it.

Maybe not dozens, but certainly enough to go 'meh'. Especially if the damage was minor and no one was seriously hurt or killed.

[LadyTevar]

Yeah, this is not something that is going to be used - it was in the harbour, there are dozens of reasons why the drone could accidentally have hit it.

Maybe not dozens, but certainly enough to go 'meh'. Especially if the damage was minor and no one was seriously hurt or killed.

Which could happen Next Time, because you know Russia isn't going to stop bombing Ukrainian ports.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Quoted from another board:

When the drone warfare started for good, I wished to see this one in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb5_F4_Eod8


...seem like Christmas present will arrive this season:
https://twitter.com/Flash_news_ua/statu ... yu3vp6t%2F

[LadyTevar]

Quoted from another board:

When the drone warfare started for good, I wished to see this one in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb5_F4_Eod8


...seem like Christmas present will arrive this season:
https://twitter.com/Flash_news_ua/statu ... yu3vp6t%2F

Gee... a chance to live-fire test a new product under actual combat conditions? SUURRRE!!! Here's two!

[Rogue 9]

AAA is a lot cheaper than Patriot, that's for certain.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Anything that shortens the life expectancy of Russian drones can only be a good thing.

[bilateralrope]

Russians suddenly block traffic on Crimean Bridge

ALONA MAZURENKO — FRIDAY, 28 JULY 2023, 23:47

Late in the evening of 28 July, Russian propagandists reported that traffic on the Crimean Bridge was temporarily blocked.

Source: RIA Novosti, a Kremlin-aligned Russian news outlet

Quote: "Vehicular traffic on the Crimean Bridge is temporarily blocked".

Details: There is no information on the reason or duration of the decision.

Background:

• Sergey Aksyonov, so-called Head of the Russian administration in occupied Crimea, said that an "emergency" had happened on the Crimean Bridge and the bridge has therefore been closed to traffic. Russian Telegram channels have reported that a span on the bridge has collapsed.
• Ukrainska Pravda sources reported that the nighttime attack on the Crimean Bridge was a special operation by the Security Service of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Navy. It was noted that the bridge was attacked using surface drones. Later, the version about two surface drones was also voiced by the Russian propaganda outlet RIA Novosti, citing the National Anti-Terrorist Committee of the Russian Federation.
• Russian media have previously asserted that the Crimean Bridge is guarded from the sky by fighter jets and underwater by divers and "combat dolphins".
• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Crimean Bridge is a legitimate target for Ukraine, as the Russians use it to transport weapons. Zelenskyy added that this target should be "neutralised".

The first two points of the background link to articles from the 17th. Not a new attack on the bridge.

So I'm guessing that the Russians blocked traffic due to existing damage. Maybe for more permanent repairs, maybe because the damage got worse.

[Lord Revan]

If the earlier repairs were at all shoddy as it was implied earlier, then the stress of traffic could in fact cause more damage since the stresses could go to places they were never meant to go in the first place or focus and thus cause more stress then normal to a support.

It does make me wonder will they try to repair the bridge properly now (which could take a lot of time) or do another quick patch up job and hope Ukraine will collapse before it again becomes an issue.

[bilateralrope]

Proper repairs have two complications. The first is the amount of time they will close the bridge to Russian military traffic. The second is that Ukraine are going to keep attacking the bridge.

[Lord Revan]

Proper repairs have two complications. The first is the amount of time they will close the bridge to Russian military traffic. The second is that Ukraine are going to keep attacking the bridge.

Hence "could take a lot of time" in my post.

Obviously stopping the military traffic will be a problem for Russia but it could be a problem they can't avoid.