Sanctions on Russia

Nancy Gomez26 said:The report stated that the pressure had stabilized. It failed to mention at what specific level it stabilized, and you asked how stabilization is even possible if there is a breach—which is what I was addressing. As for the reality of the situation—the actual size of the hole, whether it truly exists, or what the actual internal pipe pressure is—I have no idea.
One can certainly move gas through that pipeline (assuming it hasn't been breached) from 746 miles using a pressure lower than 10 bars—say, during the initial stages—but the flow capacity would be significantly diminished.

I'm sitting here reading the Associated Press right now and, I have to admit, I'm feeling pretty lost, especially regarding who is reporting what to whom... Did they just shove some sealant foam in there or something?

The agency said on Twitter on Saturday that it had been informed by the company operating the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that pressure appears to have stabilized in the pipeline, which runs from Russia to Germany.

“This indicates that the leaking of gas in this pipeline has ceased,” the Danish Energy agency said.

Undersea blasts that damaged the Nord Stream i and 2 pipelines this week have led to huge methane leaks. Nordic investigators said the blasts have involved several hundred pounds of explosives.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-uk...acfeabfe384609

brightheron64 said:I'm sitting here reading the Associated Press right now and, I have to admit, I'm feeling pretty lost, especially regarding who is reporting what to whom... Did they just shove some sealant foam in there or something?

The agency said on Twitter on Saturday that it had been informed by the company operating the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that pressure appears to have stabilized in the pipeline, which runs from Russia to Germany.

“This indicates that the leaking of gas in this pipeline has ceased,” the Danish Energy agency said.

Undersea blasts that damaged the Nord Stream i and 2 pipelines this week have led to huge methane leaks. Nordic investigators said the blasts have involved several hundred pounds of explosives.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-uk...acfeabfe384609

Man, that guy is just a total clown trying to fix a blowout with a piece of gum.

A little something on how Russian banks operate

bluemason3 said:How exactly would satellites track that? As far as I know, satellites aren't really built to detect things deep underwater—unless there’s some classified tech out there we haven't heard about yet. Usually, they just monitor surface activity, ports, and stuff like that, then make educated guesses from there.

In the ocean, you're still most likely looking at some kind of acoustic detection.🤔

Plus, most detection methods seem to rely on a submarine actually moving. If a nuclear sub positions itself strategically and just sits silent at depth, what exactly is going to pick it up?🤔

There’s this recurring theme on this forum—the idea that Americans have these supernatural abilities to detect everything everywhere, and all the Ukrainians have to do is press a button.

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
—Isaac Asimov

The whole "sufficiently advanced" part is pretty subjective. Once you cross that line in someone's mind, they think anything is possible.

When it comes to this economic warfare, there isn't even a question about who comes out on top if we just hold the line long enough. The West will prevail, hands down. After all, you can't exactly eat natural gas.

Now, aside from raw natural resources, the one thing currently tilting the scales in Russia's favor—and something Kotromanović hit the nail on the head regarding—is the reality that tens of millions of Russians are living without basic access to running water or indoor plumbing. It is incredibly difficult to tank the standard of living for a population that is already struggling with such fundamental necessities.

Jessica Rivera37 said:When it comes to this economic warfare, there isn't even a question about who comes out on top if we just hold the line long enough. The West will prevail, hands down. After all, you can't exactly eat natural gas.

Now, aside from raw natural resources, the one thing currently tilting the scales in Russia's favor—and something Kotromanović hit the nail on the head regarding—is the reality that tens of millions of Russians are living without basic access to running water or indoor plumbing. It is incredibly difficult to tank the standard of living for a population that is already struggling with such fundamental necessities.

Actually, they can, because those same people are largely being sent to Ukraine to serve as nothing more than cannon fodder.

No matter how miserable their domestic situation is, lacking water and sanitation at home is still arguably preferable to being stuck in a muddy trench in Ukraine without any of those basic necessities.

Anthony Hill5 said:Actually, they can, because those same people are largely being sent to Ukraine to serve as nothing more than cannon fodder.

No matter how miserable their domestic situation is, lacking water and sanitation at home is still arguably preferable to being stuck in a muddy trench in Ukraine without any of those basic necessities.

I honestly can't say for certain. It's possible, but I have my doubts. Even though it feels like time is on Russia's side right now, I truly believe time is actually working in favor of the West. Look at the situation in Russia today—it's absolute chaos when a specific part breaks on a Western car (and let's be clear, there are way more of them out there than your average Lada), so I can only imagine what the landscape will look like in three years. We'll be back to horse and buggy.

That said, my heart goes out to Ukraine; I really wouldn't want them to have to endure another three or four years of this.
That's why I'm convinced we should be completely sealing the borders with Russia right now. Those 100,000 people who fled to avoid mobilization represent 100,000 fewer men who could potentially cause trouble on the streets of Moscow. Unfortunately, there are plenty of cowards among them who still support the aggression, using the excuse of "oh, I have two kids to look after, so it's not convenient for me," when in reality, if they weren't so terrified, they'd be out there immediately...

Is there any way for Russia to take on more sanctions that would actually make a dent?

Looks like Russia is cutting off the gas to Italy now.

Sanctions must be sustained and ramped up to the absolute extreme against Russia’s ultra-wealthy oligarch class.

We need to freeze their assets, block them entirely, and if necessary, temporarily seize their property or redistribute it to new owners just to tighten the noose around Vladimir Putin.
These Russian elites have to find a way to get rid of Vladimir Putin.
Their wealth should remain frozen or confiscated for as long as Vladimir Putin remains in power or stays alive.

That is the sole purpose of sanctions.
Eliminate Vladimir Putin.

Russia says one line of Nord Stream 2 actually held up—meaning they could start pumping gas whenever the politicians decide to stop playing games:

https://www.euractiv.com/section/glo...n-single-line/

Bummer ☕

analogmarlin4 said:Is there any way for Russia to take on more sanctions that would actually make a dent?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List...y_average_wage

Looking at this link, I honestly think their net wages—when you convert them to dollars using the official exchange rate—have actually gone up quite a bit. They used to be on par with Mexico, but now they’re only about 10% behind our average salaries in USD. It just goes to show they haven't really felt much of anything yet.

Plain and simple, nothing helps them in the short term because OPEC's policy is basically guaranteeing them steady foreign currency revenue. On top of that, it’s fueling inflation over in Europe.
I mean, can you even imagine a worse scenario for Ukraine than what this cartel is pulling right now? Honestly, I don't think so. Not even theoretically.

wiredseal7 said:Russia says one line of Nord Stream 2 actually held up—meaning they could start pumping gas whenever the politicians decide to stop playing games:

https://www.euractiv.com/section/glo...n-single-line/

Bummer ☕

Just my luck...

If anyone was still questioning whether Russia was behind the sabotage... 😁

bluemason3 said:Just my luck...

If anyone was still questioning whether Russia was behind the sabotage... 😁

My first thought was: it’s either the Russians or the Ukrainians. Everyone else was off the table because right before the NS hit, the Russians were busy making headlines about arresting "Ukrainians carrying explosives" near TurkStream. I figured I'd just sit tight and wait to see how much damage we're actually looking at before I called it.
Well, looks like I called it...

wiredseal7 said:Russia says one line of Nord Stream 2 actually held up—meaning they could start pumping gas whenever the politicians decide to stop playing games:

https://www.euractiv.com/section/glo...n-single-line/

Bummer ☕

The sheer madness of the whole scheme was this: destroy NS1 by pretending it was broken, then use that one surviving Nord Stream 2 pipe to force the Germans into begging them to sell them gas.
And of course, right before the sabotage on the pipelines, there were those "spontaneous" protests in East Germany organized by the Republican Party and the Democratic Party demanding that Nord Stream 2 be reopened.🤦
They have completely lost touch with reality.🤦
Best regards,

wiredseal7 said:Russia says one line of Nord Stream 2 actually held up—meaning they could start pumping gas whenever the politicians decide to stop playing games:

https://www.euractiv.com/section/glo...n-single-line/

Bummer ☕

Are you honestly going to continue trying to convince us that the Russians aren't pulling the strings behind this sabotage? 🤣

TTF has dropped below 170, and honestly, it’s sliding fast
https://www.theice.com/products/2799...rketId=5439161
The latest Russian lever to squeeze Europe has completely deflated, way sooner than anyone over at The Kremlin actually expected (though, if I'm being honest, a few people on this thread—myself included, lol—saw it coming). Cutting off those gas supplies back in August and those pipeline explosions definitely didn't have the intended effect. It's a total failure on par with what's happening in Ukraine; for decades, Russia built this whole grand strategy based on making Europe dependent on their energy, but it turns out they won't even be freezing through a single winter because of it.

Anthony Hill5 said:Are you honestly going to continue trying to convince us that the Russians aren't pulling the strings behind this sabotage? 🤣

The odds just went up—maybe to about 1%.

At least until someone can explain how one single pipeline—where ExxonMobil could only ship half capacity under those regulations—is somehow better than having two running at full tilt.

You think there's any chance it was actually the Americans who blew them up?

And why on earth would Americans just leave a single pipeline sitting there...

wiredseal7 said:The odds just went up—maybe to about 1%.

At least until someone can explain how one single pipeline—where ExxonMobil could only ship half capacity under those regulations—is somehow better than having two running at full tilt.

You think there's any chance it was actually the Americans who blew them up?

Why would anyone sabotage just one line of Nord Stream 2, a pipeline that hasn't even been cleared for operation and won't be?🤔
If the Americans were behind this, they wouldn't have stopped at one; they would have wiped out both lines to ensure nothing could ever run again.🤔 On the other hand, if the Russians did it, leaving one line intact actually makes strategic sense. Why? Because if gas starts flowing through that single remaining pipe, the West ends up violating its own sanctions just to keep the lights on. It's a masterstroke.

So why blow up Nord Stream 1, both pipes?
Nord Stream 1 wasn't under sanctions, and it was the Russian Federation itself that choked off the supply in the first place.
Russia's whole game plan was to use the Nord Stream 1 shutdown to put massive pressure on the European Union, specifically targeting Germany.
But look at the reality before the sabotage happened: the Russian plan wasn't working. Gas deliveries to Germany were continuing, and storage facilities were being filled up. At that point, cutting off Nord Stream 1 wasn't even making much of a dent.

Hypothesis 1: The Americans sabotaged the pipelines.
In this scenario, they hit both lines of Nord Stream 1—the very tool Russia was using to manipulate the market by tapering supplies before eventually shutting it down entirely. Then, they hit only one line of Nord Stream 2, which is the specific line Russia desperately wants to use (and the USA has always fought against).

Hypothesis 2: The Russians sabotaged the pipelines.
They destroy Nord Stream 1, a line whose flow they had already reduced and then completely halted, rendering it useless to them now. Meanwhile, they only destroy one line of Nord Stream 2—the one they are hell-bent on utilizing. This leaves them perfectly positioned to negotiate; they can always ship gas through that one remaining pipe if the West hits a shortage or if public pressure becomes too intense to ignore.

🤔🤔

Best regards,