Русский корабль - иди нахуй

[Chad Fuck 18,135]

Unfortunately it looks like it's a parody account but God damn is it good. 

Dammit. It’s real to me.

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

 

 

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

 

[Rimbo 27,026]

7 hours ago, MillerEP said:

 

 

 

"Send more." --Poles, maybe.

 

4 hours ago, Humble Beast said:

Well I guess noted Kremlin agent/Russian bot Peter Zeihan should be embarrassed because that’s where I first saw that account shared yesterday. 🤷🏻‍♂️
 

 

Fuck off, vatnik.

 

57 minutes ago, The Dog said:

Maybe non-paywall link:

 

 

"I went to their single tank range and was proudly told by the Russian commander that each of his crews was able to fire one live round per year. I tried to keep my jaw from dropping."

Dannnnng.

 

 

Today I was reminiscing about the old lady giving Rashist soldiers sunflower seeds to put in their pockets. Absolutely cold.

[Gengs1 2,583]

17 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

 

Kazakhstan should put these boys to work, if you want to stay here, get your ass to work and start digging some ditches or whatever civil projects they want to do, free labor or you getting deported  

[Rimbo 27,026]

https://old.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/xpi78b/this_was_uploaded_online_with_the_caption_we_are/

This was uploaded online with the caption, "We are closer than you think."

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

33 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

Dammit. It’s real to me.

This is straight up something you would  expect to see

[pops 7,142]

2 hours ago, Parliament said:

Wait.  Do people outside of Russia believe it was the US who did it?  Good lord.

Just one. And he's in this thread. 

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

The original Solovyov video that Julia Davis posted where he’s just complaining…does he (and the rest of Russian society) not understand that out of the million+ members of their armed forces, only about 250,000 are in the ground forces?

Also, that video is full of awesome self-awareness.

[utee94 16,088]

3 minutes ago, pops said:

Just one. And he's in this thread. 

Not even he believes it. He's just doing his master's bidding.

[MillerEP 30,907]

 

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

Special kind of stupid to force people who don’t want to fight for you, to fight for you.

And there is this, which many predicted

 

[grazinhorn 472]

This is a little dated, and SIAP, but I periodically check in on Iceland and noticed this little bit.  Russian trolls everywhere, man

https://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/politics_and_society/2022/09/21/inviting_icelandic_journalists_to_go_to_the_occupie/

Inviting Icelandic journalists to go to the occupied areas in Ukraine

A letter was sent to 10 media companies in Iceland inviting them to go to Ukraine and write about the coming elections in the annexed areas this weekend. mbl.is/Eggert Jóhannesson

“This fund is sponsored by the Russian state. That is all I know about it, but I am in good contact with the fund manager, a woman, I have known for years, but she is one of the ministers of the self-governing area of Vasilkiv,” says Konráð Magnússon, but he sent today a letter to ten media companies in Iceland with an invitation to visit the Donbas area in Ukraine, where a referendum will take place next weekend. There it will be decided whether the Donbas area with the Donetsk and Luhansk regions want to  become a part of Russia.

When asked about the name of the person managing the fund he does not want to reveal that.

“I have not asked her if I can reveal her name. I won’t do it until we meet tomorrow or the day after. I am not sure when.”

“Russia is my second home”

Magnússon lives in Reykjavík but calls Russia his second home. His ex-wife is Russian and he has been living there on and off since the turn of the Century and speaks good Russian.

“I first went to Russia in 2002 and there I met my former wife. I was in Russia quite a bit while she was finishing her studies. I lived there as much as I my visitor’s visa allowed. Ever since I have spent a lot of time in Russia and made a lot of friends and aquaintances, both from Russia and Ukraine, but I see those countries as basically the same,” Magnússon says.

A Ukranian soldier in the Mykolaiv region last Tuesday. AFP/Genya Savilov

When asked whether he has any contact with the foreign service or the authorities in Russia, he says no. He says he is just an ordinary man trying to do a favour for his Russian friends.

“In this instance I immediately told them that this was a very short notice, but I would do my best. Under normal circumstances I would not have sent a letter like this, but rather talked to a few people in person.

But the way I see it, I am getting information out to independent journalists out there by sending the letter to the big media companies, if they write about it.”

Is probably going by himself if nobody contacts him tonight

Magnússon says that nobody has accepted the invitation yet, but he has had a few phone calls where people want to know more about the offer. He did not expect the big media companies to accept the offer, because of the short notice.

“In this instance I was contacted because of my friendship, in the hope that an independent journalist would write about the referendum. As I have been explaining to those who have called me, the news from this area is often biased, taken from foreign media who do not really know what is going on.”

Ukranian soldiers in Luhansk with a fallen Russian soldier. AFP

The journalist interviewing Magnússon tells him that many media companies are in contact with Icelanders in Ukraine. For example mbl.is and Morgunblaðið have been working with the photographer Óskar Hallgrímsson, who lives in Kiev, and he has sent photographs and is regularly interviewed.

Does not want to take sides

-What if no media company accepts the offer, will nobody go then?

“If that happens, I will probably just go by myself. I told them to talk to me again at 18 PM and if nobody had accepted by then, I will give up on anybody coming,” he says.

“I have not decided if I will go by myself. I can go if I want to, but have not decided yet.” Magnússon says he does not want to choose sides in this war and that he has friends from both Russia and Ukraine.

“I decided immediately when I moved to Russia to be apolitical, because politics are boring and nothing but complications. The only thing that I want is that people get the real news. I know in a war the truth disappears fast and both parties start writing the things that profits them the most.”

The journalists can speak to the people

When Magnússon is asked whether he doesn’t think a sponsored trip to the annexed areas is supposed to result in a narrative that benefits the Russian authorities, he says it might.

“Yes, I think you might be right,” he says and adds: “That is why I asked specifically about whether the journalists would have to go through some prescreened process or whether they can talk to whomever they choose. The answers I got was that they could speak to the people and this would not be orchestrated, except that some areas are off limits because of security reasons.”

- You mean they cannot go to the battlefields?

“Yes. This is something that journalists should be able to see through and choose the right people to talk to.”

Magnússon says that visas will be provided for those who accept the invitation and they will both get the flight and accommodation free of charge. Furthermore, there will be a strong security for the media. The plan is to fly to London tomorrow and from there to Istanbul in Turkey and from there to Moscow in Russia. A special flight from Moscow will then be provided for the journalists to go to Luhansk to witness the referendum on Sunday.

Edited September 28, 2022 by grazinhorn

[MillerEP 30,907]

 

[Gengs1 2,583]

18 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Special kind of stupid to force people who don’t want to fight for you, to fight for you.

And there is this, which many predicted

 

It’s all fun and games until they start shooting back. With the Information Age, will be very hard to go back to the old ways of making someone do shit by threats. They will find out what is going on if they can get a internet connection. 
Ukraine will be sending text for ppl to surrender etc and it will work.

winter is coming and some of these dudes will be thawed out in summer   

[cactusflinthead 27,627]

1 hour ago, The Dog said:

Maybe non-paywall link:

 

He hits the main points. The training he saw was when they were still perceived as strong. One round a year in the tank. No wonder they could half ass the barrels. Weren't going to fire enough rounds to get it hot. Put together enough tanks to run the guys through it and that'll do. Never mind we had to take parts from 7 tanks to get one. Was it ten? So what? Everyone got paid. Not like we're ever gonna use this shit.

Apparently those shitty looking medkits from March have run out. Working or not, those rusted out AKs wouldn't fly in any army. Except totally corrupt ones.

Just rounding them up and shove them in a truck, put a gun in their hands, some kind of uniform, and off you go. Here in these woods. Ukraine is over there. We are at your back. Don't run off or we'll fucking shoot you.

Morale was bad in the Russian army in the best of times. Now it's throwing Molotov cocktails in recruiting offices.

I couldn't fucking care less about that pipe explosion. Europe is fine on gas. Germans are already full. Who gives a shit? 

Ukraine can afford to work this quietly and patiently. Let them herd themselves together. The longer the wait between pushes, the more time to build resources. The only fucking resource Russia has left in any quantity is flesh. It's gonna be brutal when they start taking them out.

[TexasEd 8,266]

10 hours ago, NorthLoop said:

1. to be assholes

2. to be assholes and blame it on someone else 

3. they don't even know why, same as every other decision they've made during this whole thing. 

4. hold my vodka

My guess is that lack of maintenance or maybe that Russia reduced pressure in the pipeline causing the problem.  Not fully pressurized it was compromised by the sea pressure or something.

Hanlon's Razor = Putin's Proof (Better known as Hold my vodka)  Some notable examples:

1. Missile return to sender

2. Landing gear has erectile dysfunction, leads to premature ejection

3. Let's just skip the middle part and get to the ending

 

4. Tank rally turns tragic

 

5. Love that old minefield game

 

6. Let's go fishing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLxlGoSqfXs

 

Edited September 28, 2022 by TexasEd

[Laxtonto 13,302]

So a rhetorical question to all here. Why is it such a big deal to see Lyman become encircled, beyond the obvious of it will capture/eliminate 5 BTGs of fairly hardened troops and remove a rather heavily entrenched position on the RU lines?

Its time again to break out the map and the rulers and start talking about to what this allows HIMARS to be in range to.
 

So, hypothetically, start with your 60km circle (yes I know that the range is 80, but you want to provide a buffer) and you see that you can now reach the town (and more importantly the bridges on H-26 (P-07) over the river) in Mistky. That is the main east/west feeder from the Starbolisk, which is now has to be the link to the  primary rail feeder from Dontesk and Luhansk to all points North ending at Staroblisk.
 

That puts Svatove under extreme pressure, which is now compounded by the fact that the bridges that are possible feeders via truck from the north from Russia proper are all under the HIMARS umbrella from Kupyansk. 
 

If and when Svatove falls, which then allows a link up with the forces that helped capture Kupyansk, you now both hold the entire n/s corridor over the Oskil, but also are in range of the rail bridges to isolate Strabolisk and then slowly win the war of attrition.

Why does Strabolisk matter? It’s the end of the line N/S for all of that region of occupied Ukraine and it is approximately 80km from the map point 48.842843,40.38738, or better known as the rail bridge in Turoverovo-Glubokinski, Russia.
 

That rail bridge going boom, plus the primary highway bridges heading e/w out of Millerovo would cripple the ability to supply by rail all of the occupied territories from the north and the only other way to get things in by rail is over the Kerch bridge in Crimea, then north through Melitopol, then north to Donetsk, and finally Luhansk.

HIMARS, and the umbrella it provides is a game changer. When you can consistently shoot farther and more accurately than the other guy, things are looking good. When the terrain is in your favor is even better. When those get combined and the enemy only has a few ways to transport troops due to the weather and the RU reliance on rail, the battle plans become even easier to go with.

 

I don’t know if I would try and go the long game and try to go North and then East to get in range to shut down the main RU rail artery for all of the Ukraine or try to drive a wedge between Horlivka and Luhansk to be able to essentially have the same set of targets, but if they are pushing hard at Lyman and it looks that they have momentum, there is an easily identifiable set of objectives that can be put into action to cripple the RU flow of men and materials.

 

 

Edited September 28, 2022 by Laxtonto
map links

[InkaUtexas 26,893]

9 minutes ago, TexasEd said:

My guess is that lack of maintenance or maybe that Russia as reduced pressure in the pipeline caused the problem.

Hanlon's Razor = Putin's Proof (Better known as Hold my vodka)  Some notable examples:

1. Missile return to sender

2. Landing gear has erectile dysfunction, leads to premature ejection

3. Let's just skip the middle part and get to the ending

 

4. Tank rally turns tragic

 

5. Love that old minefield game

 

6. Let's go fishing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLxlGoSqfXs

 

Man, I feel bad for anyone in the back of that BMP. No fucking way to get out. 

[Brisketexan 106,899]

Man, I feel bad for anyone in the back of that BMP. No fucking way to get out. 

Tough shit. They shouldn’ta been Russians in Ukraine.

[TexasEd 8,266]

5 hours ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

Does anyone else watch the entirety of these videos in Russian somehow thinking you’re going to learn something? Like maybe if I watch enough of them I’ll start to piece things together?

I took one year of Russian in my Freshman year at Texas.  I got nothing.

[InkaUtexas 26,893]

5 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Tough shit. They shouldn’ta been Russians in Ukraine.

I agree for the most part. But damn, the bottom troop was 1- tricked into this war, 2- had no other option (Contract vs. Conscript) and 3- Already in the Army. I have little sympathy, but they are dying due to their leaderships ineptitude and corruption. Still a shitty way to go. We can hate and still feel sympathy. 

On the Tank Video. The fact that Russians are still riding on their tanks amazes me. In the 10+ years watching the US Army in the Balkans and Afghanistan I never saw a US Soldier on top of an M-1 or even a Bradley. They are inferior fucks for sure and still want to use the tactics from 1944. 

Concerning the potential encirclement, that is a lot of prisoners, but also a lot of equipment the UA will deal with. First won't be easy, the second is a blessing. 

[Brisketexan 106,899]

I agree for the most part. But damn, the bottom troop was 1- tricked into this war, 2- had no other option (Contract vs. Conscript) and 3- Already in the Army. I have little sympathy, but they are dying due to their leaderships ineptitude and corruption. Still a shitty way to go. We can hate and still feel sympathy. 
On the Tank Video. The fact that Russians are still riding on their tanks amazes me. In the 10+ years watching the US Army in the Balkans and Afghanistan I never saw a US Soldier on top of an M-1 or even a Bradley. They are inferior fucks for sure and still want to use the tactics from 1944. 
Concerning the potential encirclement, that is a lot of prisoners, but also a lot of equipment the UA will deal with. First won't be easy, the second is a blessing. 

I’m done with sympathy. The servile Russians chose this path long ago, and they’ve kept choosing it. The wages of sin is death. Payment eventually comes due.
And yes, I’m aware of the irony, and I know you’ve read me saying “we get what we deserve” as well. And it’s true here as well. When the people consistently choose a path, either actively or by pathetic acquiescence, they get what they deserve.
TLDR: FAFO.

[ShaggyBevo RIP 3,873]

So a rhetorical question to all here. Why is it such a big deal to see Lyman become encircled, beyond the obvious of it will capture/eliminate 5 BTGs of fairly hardened troops and remove a rather heavily entrenched position on the RU lines?
Its time again to break out the map and the rulers and start talking about to what this allows HIMARS to be in range to.
 
So, hypothetically, start with your 60km circle (yes I know that the range is 80, but you want to provide a buffer) and you see that you can now reach the town (and more importantly the bridges on H-26 (P-07) over the river) in Mistky. That is the main east/west feeder from the Starbolisk, which is now has to be the link to the  primary rail feeder from Dontesk and Luhansk to all points North ending at Staroblisk.
 
That puts Svatove under extreme pressure, which is now compounded by the fact that the bridges that are possible feeders via truck from the north from Russia proper are all under the HIMARS umbrella from Kupyansk. 
 
If and when Svatove falls, which then allows a link up with the forces that helped capture Kupyansk, you now both hold the entire n/s corridor over the Oskil, but also are in range of the rail bridges to isolate Strabolisk and then slowly win the war of attrition.
Why does Strabolisk matter? It’s the end of the line N/S for all of that region of occupied Ukraine and it is approximately 80km from the map point 48.842843,40.38738, or better known as the rail bridge in Turoverovo-Glubokinski, Russia.
 
That rail bridge going boom, plus the primary highway bridges heading e/w out of Millerovo would cripple the ability to supply by rail all of the occupied territories from the north and the only other way to get things in by rail is over the Kerch bridge in Crimea, then north through Melitopol, then north to Donetsk, and finally Luhansk.
HIMARS, and the umbrella it provides is a game changer. When you can consistently shoot farther and more accurately than the other guy, things are looking good. When the terrain is in your favor is even better. When those get combined and the enemy only has a few ways to transport troops due to the weather and the RU reliance on rail, the battle plans become even easier to go with.
 
I don’t know if I would try and go the long game and try to go North and then East to get in range to shut down the main RU rail artery for all of the Ukraine or try to drive a wedge between Horlivka and Luhansk to be able to essentially have the same set of targets, but if they are pushing hard at Lyman and it looks that they have momentum, there is an easily identifiable set of objectives that can be put into action to cripple the RU flow of men and materials.
 
 

You also need to look at https://uawardata.com/ troop position maps as there would be only 2 BTGs left to defend the northern half of Luhansk Oblast. Would also allow UKR to possibly thunder run to the rear of the dozen BTGs in south Luhansk as RU/Putin is like too stubborn/stupid to pull those troops back towards Russia to protect suply lines. Plus could shortly free up a metric shit ton of UKR troops to pivot south and push to the Sea of Azov and cut the ground communication lines in mainland Urkraine to 30 BTGs west of Mariupol.

[TexasEd 8,266]

35 minutes ago, Laxtonto said:

So a rhetorical question to all here. Why is it such a big deal to see Lyman become encircled, beyond the obvious of it will capture/eliminate 5 BTGs of fairly hardened troops and remove a rather heavily entrenched position on the RU lines?

Its time again to break out the map and the rulers and start talking about to what this allows HIMARS to be in range to.
 

So, hypothetically, start with your 60km circle (yes I know that the range is 80, but you want to provide a buffer) and you see that you can now reach the town (and more importantly the bridges on H-26 (P-07) over the river) in Mistky. That is the main east/west feeder from the Starbolisk, which is now has to be the link to the  primary rail feeder from Dontesk and Luhansk to all points North ending at Staroblisk.
 

That puts Svatove under extreme pressure, which is now compounded by the fact that the bridges that are possible feeders via truck from the north from Russia proper are all under the HIMARS umbrella from Kupyansk. 
 

If and when Svatove falls, which then allows a link up with the forces that helped capture Kupyansk, you now both hold the entire n/s corridor over the Oskil, but also are in range of the rail bridges to isolate Strabolisk and then slowly win the war of attrition.

Why does Strabolisk matter? It’s the end of the line N/S for all of that region of occupied Ukraine and it is approximately 80km from the map point 48.842843,40.38738, or better known as the rail bridge in Turoverovo-Glubokinski, Russia.
 

That rail bridge going boom, plus the primary highway bridges heading e/w out of Millerovo would cripple the ability to supply by rail all of the occupied territories from the north and the only other way to get things in by rail is over the Kerch bridge in Crimea, then north through Melitopol, then north to Donetsk, and finally Luhansk.

HIMARS, and the umbrella it provides is a game changer. When you can consistently shoot farther and more accurately than the other guy, things are looking good. When the terrain is in your favor is even better. When those get combined and the enemy only has a few ways to transport troops due to the weather and the RU reliance on rail, the battle plans become even easier to go with.

 

I don’t know if I would try and go the long game and try to go North and then East to get in range to shut down the main RU rail artery for all of the Ukraine or try to drive a wedge between Horlivka and Luhansk to be able to essentially have the same set of targets, but if they are pushing hard at Lyman and it looks that they have momentum, there is an easily identifiable set of objectives that can be put into action to cripple the RU flow of men and materials.

 

 

TLDR

 

Posting this again.  I have no basis for this but going to credit NAFO for the second one.

 

 

[MagicSoccerSpray 1,736]

15 hours ago, Chad Fuck said:

How has Girkin not fallen out a window?

 

He is GRU and probably has some protection.

 

11 hours ago, Laxtonto said:

I am still  at a loss for trying to come up with a workable hypothesis on who benefits blowing up 2 inactive pipelines.

It really doesn’t benefit any of the players involved in all of this. Why would Russia blown up something that they already have turned off? Why would the US do it while knowing that Europe needs anything that goes through the pipeline and knowing that it would be an empty effort because the sanctions are effective already as is. Why would a European country do it knowing it would guarantee that they are going to have a fuel crisis this winter?

I can come up with a bunch of half baked false flag narratives, but I am at a loss for a solid logic stream of why one of the big players involved would be willing to do this… Need more info at this point to speculate I guess.

 

9 hours ago, SquishMitten said:

Best theory I've got... a bit John Grisham or Tom Clancy-ish, but someone wanted to make sure the gas couldn't be turned back on. If it's no longer possible, certain countries can't even begin to entertain the idea of making a deal with Russia.

ETA: I'm not saying this is more likely than some half-cocked Russian plan. It's just the best theory I could come up with for it being anybody else

 

7 hours ago, Laxtonto said:

If I had to make a list, gun to my head style, I would go:

Russia - Most likely suspect, but it is idiotic in the reasoning

Poland - proximity and could act to keep Germany in line

Some other state actor trying to stir the pot

US - we "can" do it, but there is no real reason. If it was to keep Germany in line, you just "convince" Poland to so it for you.

Ukraine - its possible I guess, but how?

Then everyone else.

 

Zeihan has stated the depth at that location is only 70 meters, a fishing boat with properly equipped divers could do it.

Perhaps the German were in secret negotiations to turn it back on, and the Baltics/Poland/Ukraine wanted to make sure that will never happen? They, and the French, are being such pieces of shit.

 

Edited September 28, 2022 by MagicSoccerSpray

[dimyh 1,890]

So I'm still intrigued about the pipeline sabotage. Here is a clip that goes into some more detail, including some reasons for Russia to scuttle their own stuff.

1. Avoid contract penalties due to a force majeur reasoning. Not sure how much they would save if that stood up in court. Not sure what else we could do even if we were able to positively identify RF/Gazprom as the saboteurs. We're running out of sanctions that we can throw at these assholes.
2. Lifting technology sanctions so that RF/Gazprom could make the repairs. Which sounds absolutely fucking bonkers that anyone from the West would trust them with any repairs. Not sure how it works with a multi-national like this one but I'm guessing someone is telling Russia to back the fuck off, we got this.
3. Possibly just to cause general instability or incite concern about the gas supply for the winter. Which is also ridiculous...nothing screams more little dick energy then threatening to take away the one thing everyone likes about you. Not because you have direct control of it but because of some "accident". It actually would make Putin look very weak.
4. Or just your basic run-of-the-mill false flag operation. Where you are trying to point the finger at Ukraine, USA, or whatever western culprit you can imagine, in a supposed attempt to shut down any possibility of rapprochement.

 

In any event all of those possible reasons sounds bat shit crazy if true. Not sure if Putin is showing his Chekist background and going to the only playbook he has left since his nuke brinkmanship button is worn out and broken at this point. If he is behind this then he is truly grasping at straws to figure out any type of angle he can gain.

Curious to see ultimately what the investigators find out. They mentioned that the explosion could have been outside or possibly generated inside the pipe. Either way it sounds like a significant operation to pull off and something straight from a Bond movie or a Clancy novel.

 

 

[Laxtonto 13,302]

50 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

I agree for the most part. But damn, the bottom troop was 1- tricked into this war, 2- had no other option (Contract vs. Conscript) and 3- Already in the Army. I have little sympathy, but they are dying due to their leaderships ineptitude and corruption. Still a shitty way to go. We can hate and still feel sympathy.

I will always have some sympathy for grunts that I know are heading to a slaughter. It won't keep me from accepting that losses are a part of war or that the massacre only stops when the enemy surrenders or pulls back, but they are sending their backwoods, redneck, non-slav minorities to their deaths without a real tangible objective beyond saving face.

 

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

 

every accusation is a confession. 

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

Regimental Commander: “I survive on pills and blockers”

 

 

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

It seems they are cannibalizing their strategic forces.  
 

 

 

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

[MagicSoccerSpray 1,736]

 

[Dahobbs 18,324]

There is only one country for whom destroying the pipeline is essentially a zero risk endeavour. Everyone else sacrifices something or risks world changing blowback if discovered with very little benefit. Stop overthinking this. It was Russia. Full stop. 

[The Dog 44,861]

 

[The Dog 44,861]

 

[SydneyCarton 49,504]

16 minutes ago, The Dog said:

 

While it’s tough to imagine why many Americans would still be there….this seems pretty big. I have to assume this kind of declaration is made because the US has gotten some pretty grim intelligence of what’s coming down the pipe. 

[Captainant 28,539]

7 hours ago, dimyh said:

So I'm still intrigued about the pipeline sabotage. Here is a clip that goes into some more detail, including some reasons for Russia to scuttle their own stuff.

1. Avoid contract penalties due to a force majeur reasoning. Not sure how much they would save if that stood up in court. Not sure what else we could do even if we were able to positively identify RF/Gazprom as the saboteurs. We're running out of sanctions that we can throw at these assholes.
2. Lifting technology sanctions so that RF/Gazprom could make the repairs. Which sounds absolutely fucking bonkers that anyone from the West would trust them with any repairs. Not sure how it works with a multi-national like this one but I'm guessing someone is telling Russia to back the fuck off, we got this.
3. Possibly just to cause general instability or incite concern about the gas supply for the winter. Which is also ridiculous...nothing screams more little dick energy then threatening to take away the one thing everyone likes about you. Not because you have direct control of it but because of some "accident". It actually would make Putin look very weak.
4. Or just your basic run-of-the-mill false flag operation. Where you are trying to point the finger at Ukraine, USA, or whatever western culprit you can imagine, in a supposed attempt to shut down any possibility of rapprochement.

 

In any event all of those possible reasons sounds bat shit crazy if true. Not sure if Putin is showing his Chekist background and going to the only playbook he has left since his nuke brinkmanship button is worn out and broken at this point. If he is behind this then he is truly grasping at straws to figure out any type of angle he can gain.

Curious to see ultimately what the investigators find out. They mentioned that the explosion could have been outside or possibly generated inside the pipe. Either way it sounds like a significant operation to pull off and something straight from a Bond movie or a Clancy novel.

 

I doubt that we would make an overt strike against civilian infrastructure like that, but it's not without precedent for the CIA to inject malware and viruses that eventually cause the pipeline to degrade and rupture

https://web.archive.org/web/20191027171324/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/96unclass/farewell.htm

Reagan's CIA in '82 pulled it off, and we did a similar thing with Stuxnet to Iran, but IMO it's an outside shot that the US is responsible considering it hurts our allies more than it hurts Russia 

[The Dog 44,861]

Wtf

 

[The Dog 44,861]

10 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

While it’s tough to imagine why many Americans would still be there….this seems pretty big. I have to assume this kind of declaration is made because the US has gotten some pretty grim intelligence of what’s coming down the pipe. 

More clarity - it’s because Russia might try to draft dual nationals:

 

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4,999]

Impressment of Americans...where has that happened before, and what was the result? Oh, yeah.

[Gengs1 2,583]

42 minutes ago, The Dog said:

 

USA has been 2 steps ahead of Russia.

I am sure there are a lot of Russian Americans who go there and support Putin from America.

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

Listened to the Inside Russia guy's podcast some more - he's devoting today's episode to why (and probably why) he left.  He did leave his family behind, but he trusted the people who were looking after them, and the whole reason he was leaving was that the borders were going to be closed to men leaving anyways.

He mentioned something very interesting, and I'm paraphrasing - he had a good friend in Uzbekistan that he called up and said he was considering visiting him and by proxy leaving Russia, and said friend was like "what the fuck, when are you coming and where" and Constantin tells him the date and that he's flying from Russia to Tajikistan, and his Uzbekistan friend then says something like "okay, when you land in Tajikistan, I've got a guy who is going to get you to the Uzbekistan border, and you're going to meet another guy there and he's going to bring you across the border to me".

Every one of us needs a buddy like that - somebody that you can call up when shit goes down, and you're like "I need to leave" and they're like "okay, fly to this country, and I've got a guy there you will meet, and he will take you to another guy who will get you across the border to third country and he will bring you to me."

Sure, if you're in your 20s or 30s, you may not think you need a friend like that, but when you get in your 40s, it's good to have a friend like that.

[Schulz2.0 29,280]

 

[Fico 1,806]

36 minutes ago, Captainant said:

I doubt that we would make an overt strike against civilian infrastructure like that, but it's not without precedent for the CIA to inject malware and viruses that eventually cause the pipeline to degrade and rupture

https://web.archive.org/web/20191027171324/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/96unclass/farewell.htm

Reagan's CIA in '82 pulled it off, and we did a similar thing with Stuxnet to Iran, but IMO it's an outside shot that the US is responsible considering it hurts our allies more than it hurts Russia 

While possible, and I understand you are just giving examples, it's very unlikely we would go from insisting Ukraine to not use our weapons to hit Russian territory to blowing up pipelines in the Baltic. 

[Captainant 28,539]

3 minutes ago, Fico said:

While possible, and I understand you are just giving examples, it's very unlikely we would go from insisting Ukraine to not use our weapons to hit Russian territory to blowing up pipelines in the Baltic. 

100% agree, I don't think the US did this. Just thought it was an interesting historical parallel I came across reading last night. OTOH @Zeusand @maninblackare big proponents of the Kremlin/karlson theory of the US bearing responsibility 

[Schulz2.0 29,280]

 

[AUS-97HORN 12,051]

I really would have thought after 2-3 days after the mobilization order was given when it became obvious that it was every male being called up in every city not named St Pete or Moscow that any american citizens would have left....

 

but then I remembered that as a general rule, the average american is dumber than a box of rocks.  and now telling them a full week later to GTFO is gonna rile up a lot of folks

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

21 minutes ago, Gengs1 said:

USA has been 2 steps ahead of Russia.

I am sure there are a lot of Russian Americans who go there and support Putin from America.

Having watched a few Americans/Brits in Russia vlogs, and various travel YouTubers, I'm not discounting the idea that there are a bunch of fucking morons from here or Britain who were like "Hey, I dated a Russian girl or I took a few semesters of Russian in high school, and for some reason, travel to Russia is really cheap right now and my money will go far and I'll get a lot of clicks filming myself at Russian grocery stores!"

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6 minutes ago, Captainant said:

100% agree, I don't think the US did this. Just thought it was an interesting historical parallel I came across reading last night. OTOH @Zeusand @maninblackare big proponents of the Kremlin/karlson theory of the US bearing responsibility 

My middle sister also shares belief in this theory.  But she works in an office with Russian nationals outside Chicago.  And has Down's Syndrome.  But I have no doubt Zeus & ManInBlack have at least 5 IQ points on her.