Russia Watch Thread

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raklian
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Re: Russia Watch Thread

Post by raklian »

Biden says Putin ‘cannot remain in power’ in sweeping speech on Russian invasion of Ukraine

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/26/biden-s ... raine.html

President Joe Biden on Saturday said Russian leader Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power” over his invasion of Ukraine.

In a sweeping speech in Poland that marked the finale of a three-day trip to Europe, Biden urged democracies around the world to unify against Russia and commit to a historic battle against authoritarian aggression.

Biden directly and repeatedly condemned Putin throughout the speech, accusing the Russian president of “using brute force and disinformation to satisfy a craving for absolute power and control.”
I suppose the practical significance of this is Russia will have to remove Putin if it wants to resume normal relations with the West.

If I might add, I seriously hope Putin won't use this as a pretext to use chemical/nuclear weapons because President Biden stating "Putin must be removed" constitutes an existential threat to Russia.
To know is essentially the same as not knowing. The only thing that occurs is the rearrangement of atoms in your brain.
Xyls
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Re: Russia Watch Thread

Post by Xyls »

Honestly, Biden is in many ways as bad as Trump for gaffes that make situations worse. He should STFU.
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caltrek
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Post by caltrek »

One of the Last American Journalists in Moscow Recounts How She Escaped Russia as Putin’s New Iron Curtain Fell.
by Michele A. Berdy
March 27, 2022

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/ ... n-00020470

Extract:
(Politico) I work at The Moscow Times, an independent newspaper founded in 1992 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union that publishes online in both English and Russian.
...
I hadn’t set out to spend my life in Moscow. After graduating from college in 1978, I came to Moscow to continue studying Russian and become a translator. Except for a few years in the 1980s, I’ve lived there ever since. I worked as a translator and interpreter, as a field producer and reporter in television journalism, a manager of non-profit communication programs, and at The Moscow Times newspaper for almost 20 years. I write a column about Russian language and culture, and since 2015 I’ve been the arts editor.
...
On our morning walks with our dogs, my friends talked about everything but the war — I don’t know why. Did they believe, as one neighbor said when the sanctions began, that “Biden just won’t let us live in peace” and didn’t want to offend me by criticizing my president? Or did they mistrust me? To my shame, I had a flashback of Soviet-era fear, remembering when friends or colleagues could denounce you to the authorities. I talked about television shows and the weather, just in case.

The strangest part of that last week was the sense of navigating between two realities. There was my reality of a brutal war being waged against Ukraine and foreigners making frantic travel plans. And then there was my neighbors’ televised reality of children handing flowers to Russian soldiers in the warring republics of the Donbas, thanking them for saving them from genocidal Ukrainians. In their reality, NATO was bombing Russian soldiers and the “drug addicted, neo-Nazi” leadership of Ukraine was being run by the Americans. Once someone laughed about “fake” videos of Kyiv being bombed — “as if we could do anything like that.”

I only discussed my situation with one neighbor, who had hurriedly sent her college-age son out of the country and had begun making plans to leave with her daughter. She hadn’t told anyone at work or in the neighborhood that she was leaving. “You never know,” she said on the stairs, rapping her knuckles on the handrail in the old Soviet code that meant an informant.
Don't mourn, organize.

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raklian
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Re: Russia Watch Thread

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Update #1:

To know is essentially the same as not knowing. The only thing that occurs is the rearrangement of atoms in your brain.
weatheriscool
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Re: Russia Watch Thread

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'We will come and we will find you': U.S. issues warning to anyone helping Russia bypass sanctions
Source: CNBC
The U.S. will hold accountable any actor that seeks to help Russia bypass economic sanctions amid the Kremlin's unprovoked onslaught on Ukraine, Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told CNBC on Tuesday.

The U.S. and international allies have imposed a barrage of punitive measures against Russia since the country launched its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

The conflict has triggered a devastating humanitarian crisis, sent shock waves through financial markets and left Russia increasingly isolated on the global stage.

"We have not seen to date that Russia has been able to evade our sanctions in a meaningful way, but we know that they are attempting to do so and we know they are going to try and use every means possible," Adeyemo told CNBC's "Street Signs Europe."
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets ... ar-AAVC9ZC
weatheriscool
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Putin humiliated as Ukraine publishes list of 600 Russian spies - 'DB9's and 007' exposed

By James Lee

With the invasion of Ukraine now entering its fourth week, Putin has suffered a series of humiliating defeats at the hands of Ukrainian resistance, as well as signs of discontent from within. Such is the paranoia surrounding Putin, multiple Russian FSB spies have been placed under house arrest through fear of a coup against him. The move appeared to be a reprisal for detailed plans of Russia’s invasion being obtained and disclosed by Western intelligence agencies.

The list revealed by Ukrainian sources details passport information, phones numbers as well as personal habits, including driving and drinking patterns.

According to the leaked information, one agent has a Skype address that includes “jamesbond007” and another has the characters “DB9” in reference to the fictional MI6 officers' much-coveted Aston Martin.

Another agent is reported to be obsessed with premium cars, whilst another is a heavy drinker who “systematically violates traffic regulations.”

Officials in Ukraine have accused the agents of being involved in criminal activities across Europe.
More: https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/15 ... ce-failure
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Re: Russia Watch Thread

Post by Member »

weatheriscool wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 6:25 pm 'We will come and we will find you': U.S. issues warning to anyone helping Russia bypass sanctions
Including China?
weatheriscool
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Re: Russia Watch Thread

Post by weatheriscool »

Russian supply chains next in line for sanctions, deputy U.S. treasury secretary says
Source: Reuters

LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) - The United States and its allies plan new sanctions on more sectors of Russia's economy that are critical to sustaining its invasion of Ukraine, including supply chains, Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said on Tuesday.

Adeyemo, speaking in London on a European trip to consult with allies on strengthening and enforcing sanctions to punish Russia, said the broadening of those efforts was aimed at undermining "the Kremlin's ability to operate its war machine".

"In addition to sanctioning companies in sectors that enable the Kremlin's malign activities, we also plan to take actions to disrupt their critical supply chains," Adeyemo told an event at the think tank Chatham House.

"Our goal is to use an integrated approach that includes export controls which will bite over time and sanctions that will bite immediately," he said, adding they would also target alternative military suppliers used by Russia.
-snip-

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/us-all ... 022-03-29/
weatheriscool
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Re: Russia Watch Thread

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weatheriscool
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Re: Russia Watch Thread

Post by weatheriscool »

https://news.writecaliber.com/financial ... -payments/

"Russia proposes SWIFT alternative to India for Ruble payments"
Russia wants to use its SWIFT alternative, SPFS, for India to pay for Russian oil which will be in INR using CNY as the reference currency. Too bad Russia cannot work PRC's credit card alternative UnionPay into this deal or else this deal pretty has all of Russia's counter-sanctions moves into one.
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