The Russia-Ukraine War has begun

[Soen Eber]

My gaming chair is quite comfortable, however.... its also a clawwed up mess.

A thought: your scent is on the chair, but not on the scratching posts you have out.

 

[Aribeth Zelin]

Armrests, back or both?

Yes

A thought: your scent is on the chair, but not on the scratching posts you have out.

Well, right now they don't really have scratching posts.... >.>

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Well, right now they don't really have scratching posts.... >.>

They have you, right?

 

[Cindy Claveau]

Assassination Plot Against Putin Thwarted, Russian Authorities Claim

The Federal Protection Service (FSO), a Russian agency responsible for the protection of high-ranking state officials, has said explosives were discovered under a bridge that Putin was expected to travel across. The incident has been described as an effort to "assassinate Putin" amid an ongoing Ukrainian counter-offensive.
The assassination plot was reportedly uncovered by the FSO after an officer reported a suspicious barge under the bridge. According to the Telegram channel VChK-OGPU, the FSO was inspecting information about the preparation of the assassination attempt involving explosives at the bottom of the Moskva River, which was allegedly laid from a barge.

 

[Chin Rey]

Latest news, Russia is now so desperate they've started to use Iskander missiles against Ukrainian soldiers. It's possible it's a one time incident of course but if it isn't it may seriously reduce their ability to hit strategically vital targets like hospitals, restaurants and elementary schools.

It seems no Ukrainians were harmed during the attack btw. Apparently the Russians sent an alert to their own troops to get out before the strike and the Ukrainians decided to do the same when they got the message.

​

 

[Sid]

From The Guardian live ticker:

Putin met with Wagner leader just days after the rebellion
Associated Press reports that Putin has met with Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner leader, just days after a short-lived rebellion by the mercenary chief and his private army.

According to the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, a three-hour meeting took place on 29 June, which also involved commanders from the military company Prigozhin founded.

Prigozhin has had a long standing conflict with Russia’s top military brass which on 24 June culminated in an armed mutiny in which he led his fighters into Russia.

The Wagner group chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, will move to Belarus under a deal to end the armed mutiny he led against Russia’s military leadership, the Kremlin said on Saturday night.

The deal was brokered by the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Lukashenko had offered to mediate, with Vladimir Putin’s agreement, because he had known Prigozhin personally for about 20 years.

Peskov said the criminal case that had been opened against Prigozhin for armed mutiny would be dropped, and that the Wagner fighters who had taken part in his “march for justice” would not face any action, in recognition of their previous service to Russia.

Although Putin had earlier vowed to punish those who participated in the mutiny, Peskov said the agreement had had the “higher goal” of avoiding confrontation and bloodshed.

Prigozhin and all of his fighters vacated the military headquarters in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don that they had previously taken over, the RIA news agency reported.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Once again: if I had the power to kick out Turkey out of NATO, I would do that right now!

Erdogan again once more blocked Sweden becoming a NATO member; now he's trying a lame horse-trading deal: let Turkey in the EU, then Turkey will let Sweden in the NATO!

“Turkey has been waiting at the door of the European Union for over 50 years now, and almost all of the NATO member countries are now members of the European Union,” Erdogan said Monday. “I am making this call to these countries that have kept Turkey waiting at the gates of the European Union for more than 50 years.”

“Come and open the way for Turkey’s membership in the European Union. When you pave the way for Turkey, we’ll pave the way for Sweden as we did for Finland,” he added.

Of course it's totally not his fault that the membership process came to a total halt, because Turkey went more and more into the direction of an autocracy. Also don't forget that half of Cyprus is still under Turkish occupation since 1974, which is another reason why Turkey is still not in the EU.

https://apnews.com/article/nato-membership-sweden-turkey-347ef8ba4ff2e31d522f4df7049cf1ba

 

[Soen Eber]

Don't the Nordic countries already train together anyways? It wouldn't be that difficult, I think, for Sweden to just follow Norway's and Finland's lead in any coordinated military response if something happened. "Oh, we're not in NATO, we're just working in concert with our neighbors who are coordinating with NATO".

Just ignore Turkey Erdogan.

 

[Chin Rey]

Don't the Nordic countries already train together anyways? It wouldn't be that difficult, I think, for Sweden to just follow Norway's and Finland's lead in any coordinated military response if something happened.

Yes but it might actually be beneficial for NATO to have Sweden as a friendly but nominally neutral country.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Yes but it might actually be beneficial for NATO to have Sweden as a friendly but nominally neutral country.

Ah, a disposable piece of protective armour.

 

[Noodles]

A thought: your scent is on the chair, but not on the scratching posts you have out.

I had this ratty old chair for the longest time at my desk. One of the cats would always sit in it when I was not.

I eventually bought a new chair (One from Ikea). I stuck the old chair in a corner, the cat would sit there, everything was good because it kept my new chair free of hair.

The old chair eventually became COVERED in cat hair, so we broke out the shampooer and cleaned it.

Now the cat never sits in that chair, ever, and my new chair is covered in cat hair.

 

[Sid]

I'm not impressed. That is the way Erdogan works.
He asks more than he knows he will ever get, in the hope of getting at least something out of it.
His opinions change easily, when it suits him fine.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

High death rate among Russian servicemen wounded in Ukraine caused by inadequate medical care

The UK Ministry of Defence reported this on Twitter.

Russia is grappling with a military medical crisis after losing an average of around 400 people a day for 17 months.
According to the head of combat medicine at Kalashnikov, it is likely that up to 50 per cent of Russian combat casualties could have been prevented by providing proper first aid.

The very slow evacuation of wounded, combined with the improper use of a crude Russian combat tourniquet, is the main cause of preventable deaths and amputations," the UK Ministry of Defence said.

Fifty percent. That's over 100,000 men, most of them their active, trained men.

 

[CronoCloud Creeggan]

Ah, a disposable piece of protective armour.

You mean like Airstrip One? ;-)

 

[Sid]

From the Dutch newssite nu.nl (translation with google):

---
Turkey no longer opposes Sweden joining NATO.
That says NATO boss Jens Stoltenberg on Monday evening.
For a long time Turkey blocked Swedish entry into the alliance. Stoltenberg calls it a "historic step". Turkey has long blocked Swedish accession to NATO. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is asking the Turkish parliament to approve membership for Sweden, the NATO chief says after feverish negotiations just before the NATO summit, which starts in Lithuania on Tuesday.

Turkey blocked Sweden's accession for a long time because the Turkish government believes that Sweden is not acting hard enough against the Kurdish PKK and the Gülen movement. The PKK has been waging an armed insurgency against Turkey for 38 years and the Gülen movement was involved in a coup attempt in 2016, according to Ankara.
----

Erdogan is as predictable as the Dutch weather.
As I wrote above: Erdogan doesn't mind to change his position quickly.
My guess: A few countries had better cards than Erdogan during this game.
Maybe some economic candy has been passed around.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

So Erdogan was bribed again. How convenient for him.

 

[Soen Eber]

Not much leverage anyways. If Norway and Finland respond to a fire, Sweden's going to be there as well.

 

[Chin Rey]

So Erdogan was bribed again. How convenient for him.

It's actually quite a bit more than Swedish NATO membership. Turkey released some of the Azov soldiers back to Ukraine and have now offered to safeguard Ukrainian grain ships across the Black Sea if the deal with Russia isn't renewed. Also Baykar, the manufacturer of the Turkish Bayraktar drone is now building a factory in Ukraine.

Turkey and Erdogan are distancing themselves from Russia and moving towards the western alliance at the moment. I'm not sure exactly why and there may be several reasons but it's a good sign.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Erdogan is the proverbial rat leaving a sinking ship. Simple. Russia is that ship, and Erdogan must be pretty sure about that within the next months from Putin leaves to revolution anything goes in Russia.

 

[Khamon]

Belarus has been locked totally down over the past couple of weeks. Entertainment licenses are revoked; theatres and other venues are closed; and artists are threatened with prison for public performances. The Lumiere Tales troupe has fled to Moscow, Moscow of all fucking places, because they could get there quickly and cheaply without having to immigrate. They’re hopeful that they can find enough employment to eat.

All this to stage a front for Putin’s war.