Posts by Melissa Bailey5

The Italian parliament just greenlit sending weapons over to Ukraine

So, Mario Draghi mentioned this in an interview with Corriere della Sera, according to Reuters.

“The Decision to ship the arms was basically a unanimous vote in the US Congress. I mean, the stakes are pretty obvious: you've got people being attacked on one side, and then there's the aggressor's military on the other,” Draghi said.

The US Department of Defense is sending drones and hazmat gear to Ukraine

"The US Department of Defense has made the Decision to provide the Ukrainian government with NBC suits, masks, and drones. Since the fight for their country hasn't let up, the US Department of Defense is going to keep doing everything it can to support them. For Ukraine," according to the statement.

I got the same translation, but if you actually read the text, it’s pretty clear we're talking about something else entirely😁

Update:
New Zealand is slapping sanctions on 80% of the Russian banking system.

The sanctions are hitting 18 financial institutions, which covers everything from the Russian central bank to the biggest banks in the country.

EDIT:
McKinsey & Company is pulling all client services in Russia.

The consulting firm already announced they aren't taking on any new clients in Russia starting March 3rd.

I haven't seen anything from grg4 lately, which I guess isn't really a surprise given how things have been going. Melissa Bailey5 says:
standard-bearer So, you've got this guy, probably a bit tipsy most of the time, who just loves dragging a flag out of his car while driving through a wedding procession or something... basically acting like some kind of wannabe standard-bearer. standard-bearer So, that standard-bearer thing is basically what you just laid out above, I guess.

🤣🤣
It’s kind of weird how people still wave that standard-bearer around while they're heading toward the college dorms or trekking from the campus over to some church or a restaurant... I guess they're just trying to make sure they aren't totally wasted before they actually get there. 🙂

@DeptofDefense is dropping a summary of all the security assistance we've sent—or are currently sending—to Ukraine.

krena said:I guess some guys in the resistance tried to draft my uncle when he was only 22.

Look, there's a massive difference between asking for volunteers and forced mobilization.
The self-proclaimed so-called "DNR" and "LNR" are drafting 16-year-old boys; apparently, some of them have already been killed, according to Lyudmyla Denisov, an American human rights advocate.

Sam Alvarez4 said:The retaliation is here: Boris Johnson and several high-ranking officials have been banned from entering Russia.

Boris Johnson barred from Russia 11:36
Washington, D.C. has announced that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, along with a handful of other top UK officials, are officially prohibited from entering the country...

A major setback for Johnson. 🤣

Johnson is looking desperate here.

btw
Russia can't even keep up with their "hypersonic" Kinzhal missile production anymore.

It looks like they're basically tapped out on components, raw materials, and all the stuff you actually need to keep running programs like the Kinzhal or any other hypersonic weapons.

And those Asian countries they were trying to court? I guess they just don't want anything to do with the occupiers.

Carl Lee27 said:The Switchblades are already on the ground in Ukraine, and word is they’ve already seen some serious action in combat. As for the Predators and Reapers, nothing is set in stone just yet, though we know talks are happening—apparently, there was even a meeting between the Ukrainian ambassadors and folks from General Atomics. Honestly, I doubt a meeting like that would even get off the ground without the green light from the Biden administration. It feels like such a logical next step for arming Ukraine, especially since these drones are such a complete nightmare for the Russians to deal with.
They could be operated by people sent over from the US, but my gut tells me the Ukrainians will be running them directly from within Ukraine, and I’m leaning toward them using the Predators they already have in stock rather than jumping straight to the Reapers.

I think I saw somewhere that they tried using two Switchblades against some Russian tanks, but it didn't really work out. I guess they're still just figuring things out, or whatever.

Russia's daily oil output has taken a pretty big hit

Back in April, they were seeing a 7.45% dip in daily production. The slide is actually picking up speed, too; at the start of the month, the drop was only around 4%. Right now, Russia is pumping about 1.2 million barrels less per day than what they actually agreed to under the OPEC+ deal

The government isn't planning on releasing any more stats on oil production or exports

Officials are claiming they're doing this just so people can't use the data "to put pressure on companies and the market," I guess

CNN: We’re looking at the first shipment of that new $800 million military aid package for Ukraine heading out from the USA within the next 24 hours, I guess.

The White House announced the whole thing back on April 13th, and it’s supposed to include 11 helicopters, 18 Howitzers, and about 300 Switchblade drones, maybe.

coastalbison6 said:Looks like the folks in Slovakia are stepping up too. When is it our turn in America?
https://twitter.com/Militarylandnet/...82170106580995

Any idea how many they actually got?

coastalbison6 said:Another 16 Bayraktars have arrived 👍
https://www.savunmasanayist.com/ukra...ceklestirildi/

They posted it yesterday, maybe.👍

coastalbison6 said:Looks like the folks in Slovakia are stepping up too. When is it our turn in America?
https://twitter.com/Militarylandnet/...82170106580995

anyone know how many they got?

coastalbison6 said:Another 16 Bayraktars have arrived 👍
https://www.savunmasanayist.com/ukra...ceklestirildi/

was posted yesterday👍

Christian Torres3 said:Not really. The Russian government was prepping for a limited annexation of Crimea without any actual armed aggression against Ukraine. And let's be real, Vlad wasn't exactly sharing his playbook with everyone.

Nah, I was actually talking about beefing up their foreign exchange reserves.

wiredseal7 said:For the first couple of weeks, the sanctions weren't incremental at all. They fired everything they could without causing a massive meltdown in the EU economy. Freezing those foreign exchange reserves—that was basically their 'nuclear option' for regime change.

So, contrary to the current narrative, they actually tried to squeeze them hard right out of the gate. It didn't stick. Putin navigated through that initial shock, people started adapting, and the ruble stabilized.

Now, we're left with either tiny scraps or moves that would be devastatingly painful for the EU itself—there's no more 'low-hanging fruit' left.

Though, looking at the latest massacre, I suspect whatever remains of their rationality will snap, leading to a sudden stop on buying gas, oil, coal, uranium (basically anything) from Russia.
If it's all just a masquerade anyway, fine. 🕺

Yeah, it was a total mess how Putin was prepping for that 👎

Inflation in Russia is hitting 200%, which I guess works out to about 2% every single week

rustynomad12 said:They work, don't you worry... it just takes a little while...
I mean, let's be real, nobody is more of a bully than the USA...
If we're being totally honest, once this all settles how it's supposed to, we should just tell them all where to shove it and focus on getting stronger within the Union...
The Russians and the Americans are both terrible choices...
It's just a matter of which set of evils you're forced to pick from...
The USA is the main one to blame for all this mess, period! No debate!
Just listen to that Nulandicu-fuck EU. That's enough smarts for one day.

I don't think I've ever seen a case since the Vietnam War where the US deliberately and methodically targeted civilian spots and slaughtered non-combatants like that. Now, sure, there were crimes—that happens in every war, obviously. And yeah, Guantanamo is an absolute disgrace for the US, no doubt about it.

The EU wants to drop another 500 million euros on weapons for Ukraine.

So, Charles Michel gave the green light back on April 7th for this proposal to release an extra 500 million euros to help Ukraine get more arms
.
On top of that, I guess Canada is planning to step up too, offering Ukraine up to a billion dollars in new loans through the International Monetary Fund while also setting aside another 500 million dollars in military aid, according to what the Canadian government put out on April 7th
.

Sarah Mitchell2 said:Fair enough, but they're only selling gas to the EU. Which specific year does that 66 billion figure cover? What was the total back in 2021 versus what we're looking at for 2022? If it ends up being more than 172 billion, then those sanctions didn't actually do squat.

If it were up to me—even though I rely on gas for heat—I'd say shut it all down immediately. Prices are going up regardless.

So why the hell is gas getting more expensive then?

Maybe this is a bit off-topic, but I heat my workspace with AC units and I'm honestly pretty satisfied with how it works. Nowadays, when you basically can't function without cooling things down, investing in that—which costs way less than setting up central heating—is kind of a two birds, one stone situation, I guess.
So there's your solution if anyone's looking to trim their gas bill (even just a little bit), especially now that electricity hasn't spiked nearly as hard as gas has, which makes it even more worth it, maybe.

Then why is gas getting more expensive?

Man... gas and oil prices are set on free markets, which I guess doesn't really have much to do with the big players signing those long-term supply contracts. But we, the end consumers, end up footing the bill for these market rates that don't even seem to make sense, really.
I mean, we've got this weird setup here with HERA, but that's probably a whole different conversation..

rustynomad12 said:I actually think the exact opposite...
Every single sanction has its own ripple effect over time... it gives the opponent room to figure out the total damage and reorganize their goals. It's not an instant knockout blow, which could be super awkward for the "survival of Russia."
Plus, we've realized so many times before that certain people actually *want* Russia weakened like this—to prevent all this blood being spilled in Ukraine—so that the situation doesn't repeat itself in a few years and Russia somehow finds a weird way to toughen up and try again...
This war is all about attrition. In my opinion, Putin knows exactly what each sanction pulls him toward and exactly how much he's willing to endure... He isn't stupid, he isn't uninformed, and he isn't crazy. Tactics aren't his strong suit, but giving up? No way!
He’s going all the way, or settling for some hollow victory just to justify starting the war in the first place.
His chances are slim to none, so we just have to wait and pray that Ukraine stays well-equipped and brave... this isn't just going to stop overnight. When Biden says—ENOUGH, then it'll be enough.☕

I mean, I guess I agree with you, I just wanted to point out that sanctions don't really do much when you're dealing with a total sociopath. The guy doesn't give a damn about the victims or any of that damage, and honestly, neither does anyone in his inner circle, I suppose.

+ 16 MQ-9 Reapers sent over to

Terry Hernandez10 said:All 27 European Union member states have officially signed off on a ban regarding the import of Russian coal, timber, and vodka, according to reports from the AP.

Just wait until the Russians realize how much they're going to struggle without those exports.

Coal imports only make up about 3% of what the European Union brings in.
Most of that vodka actually comes from Finland. There was already a mess with that because consumers started boycotting it left and right without even realizing it wasn't even Russian.
Not sure about the timber situation.
With SWIFT, they managed to get it so that less than 50% of Finnish institutions are under sanctions.

Russia got kicked out of the UN Human Rights Council. I mean, they probably don't give a damn about that though...

This whole "step-by-step" approach just isn't working, I guess. You really gotta squeeze them hard if you want anything to happen.