The Russia is getting more evil thread

[Menzo]

Maybe sanctions are sometimes more targeted at individuals? Seems like the sea change is the West’s desire to bring the whole Russian economy down.

[Dejin]

One part of note to prior Jets to Ukraine discussion in that article linked:

It is a delicate balance. On Saturday, while Mr. Biden was in Wilmington, Del., his National Security Council staff spent much of the day trying to find a way for Poland to transfer to Ukraine a fleet of well-used, Soviet-made MIG-29 fighter jets that Ukrainian pilots know how to fly. But the deal is contingent on giving Poland, in return, far more capable, American-made F-16s, an operation made more complicated by the fact that many of those fighters are promised to Taiwan — where the United States has greater strategic interests.

Polish leaders have said there is no deal, and are clearly concerned about how they would provide the fighters to Ukraine and whether doing so would make them a new target of the Russians. The United States says it is open to the idea of the plane swap.

[Grifman]

New update on war situation - little change but Russians continue to mass forces near Kyiv and Kharkiv:

ISW

[John_Many_Jars]

Well, I can report that my Johnson is still blocking the road to Kyiv, but I can also report that it is motherfucking cold up there. Send Sterno!

[Canuck]

Don’t get frostbitten.

[jpinard]

@MelesMeles

@vyshka

Neo-nazis in Russia is a thing though.

In Ukraine as well, to be fair. Ukraine has a long history of pogroms and anti-semitism, and it hasn’t just gone away. I used to listen to a lot of black metal, and it was very well known that a lot of the bands from Ukraine were hardcore nazis. They would have big festivals down there that doubled as political rallies.

The idea that it defines the whole country is still nuts though.

We have a thousand Nazis for every single Ukraine nazi here in the U.S. guess Russia should have invaded us!

[HideousRex]

[CraigM]

On the one hand there is a legitimate perspective and truth to that view. It is too easy to sanitize what war means, especially this kind of urban warfare. It is important to remember and center the horror of what Russia is doing when it shells cities like Kyiv.

But at the same token… I don’t really need to see that. Like I can grasp and understand that without seeing the bodies of a toddler.

So its tough because it is simultaneously important and relevant, and utterly terrible and I would not wish to see that. But do think people should see and know that.

[Soma]

Tiktok belongs to a Chinese company, and I imagine geotagged every Tiktok users in Ukraine. So via Tiktok I imagine PRC knows a lot about what’s happening on the ground, just like Google and by extension NSA knows a lot via Google map. IF (that is a big if) PRC turns over those Tiktok data to Putin, I imagine it would help a lot with clearing the fog of war from the Russian side.

Food for thought. Social media war indeed.

[ShivaX]

@CraigM

But at the same token… I don’t really need to see that.

I’d like to apologize to you and everyone else.

My stupidity made the thing I was trying to avoid inevitable and there is no excuse for it.
I feel fucking awful and I know I can’t take it back. I royally fucked up.

[KevinC]

Don’t beat yourself up, Shiva. You put a warning, albeit lacking details that might prevent someone from clicking. Intent is important and I know you weren’t intending to trick anyone into clicking a link they didn’t want to see.

What you linked was incredibly tragic and sad and unfortunately it’s the reality going on over there. Fuck Putin for this war.

[rrmorton]

No worries from me either, Shiv. I clicked the link and got a sense of the pics then quickly closed it. Seeing them didn’t change my opinion of war… still not in favor.

[CraigM]

What @KevinC said.

Like it is a war, and war is inherently horrible. Even the videos of the Ukrainians destroying a tank or helicopter, which most of us cheer. or feel good about, when you step back is still its own kind of horrible.

Like I don’t feel bad for Russia, they are. the ones who did this of their own volition. But that grunt is likely just some guy who had no input or desire for this.

So any video or pictures from there are implied to be possible to show horrible things. Anyone expecting different is fooling themselves. I clicked on it knowing that, because I do think it is important to really grasp the weight of what is happening.

Its just that particular picture just wrecked me. Its a very specific type of thing that, as a father of a kid close to that age, made me physically react to that. And so while the images from the war can universally be horrible, that is a specific kind of horror that does merit clear knowledge going in.

And honestly it is a good thing that you copied a quote tweet, rather than a direct link, because otherwise that would render inline. While a bit more clarity would have been good, that was the right call there. Its one thing to click on a link to see the horrors of war like that, another to have it post inline.

[Istari6]

@ShivaX

I’d like to apologize to you and everyone else.

My stupidity made the thing I was trying to avoid inevitable and there is no excuse for it.
I feel fucking awful and I know I can’t take it back. I royally fucked up.

Everyone reacts differently.

For me it was tragic and heartbreaking, but I don’t regret seeing the images. What are just statistics in a news article are made real by those images, and they emotionally drive home the reality of war in a way that prose often can’t.

So no need to apologize. I’m sad for having seen them, but hopefully a (little) wiser about what this war means for everyday Ukrainians.

[SeaGreen]

ShivaX. We have to bear witness.

[sillhouette]

OSINTtechnical

OSINTtechnical

[ShivaX]

@KevinC

You put a warning, albeit lacking details that might prevent someone from clicking. Intent is important and I know you weren’t intending to trick anyone into clicking a link they didn’t want to see.

Maybe, but in retrospect I all but assured the thing I wanted to avoid happening would happen.

It was stupid and I can’t stop thinking about it.

@SeaGreen

ShivaX. We have to bear witness.

While I agree, it’s not my place to force someone to. Or to trick them (even inadvertently) into doing so.

@CraigM

And honestly it is a good thing that you copied a quote tweet, rather than a direct link, because otherwise that would render inline.

I did that intentionally so it wouldn’t shit out on the screen, but my lack of clarity made it happen anyway.

[BloodyBattleBrain]

Hah, I got that reference!

[BloodyBattleBrain]

I have a hard time believing those are cops.

Their equipment looks very much like the stuff in my cupboard…(no RPGs here though.)

[Dejin]

UK Ministry of Defence Update

Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧