Well that’s a shock. I had been disappointed by how heavily Karpov had been backing Putin but the man had legendary chess skills. I met him once at Collins Place in the city, very friendly to me as a little tacker. You could argue Karpov scared Bobby Fischer out of defending his title, though Fischer was always a weird one. Karpov got a pretty rough deal against Kasparov too. That said Kasparov has been an inspiring leader against the Putinocracy, as if their chess rivalry has morphed into a civic warfare.
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Damn Prussians morph into damp Russians.
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20% never even made it to the front. From all we know of russia’s mobilization, not shocking at all.
We all remember this video - it rings true now…
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By all accounts, (naturally) the war has done wonders for the resurrection of Ukraine’s airforce…
The Unkillable Bomber Regiment: Ukraine Is Restoring More Old Su-24s Than Russia Can Shoot Down
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Zero shipping movements north of Romania on the live map today. Some cargo ships docked at the UA ports. Some outbound close to the Bosphorus, but no inbound.
Reportedly, a fair number of cargoes were destined for Turkey ( about the world’s largest flour miller) some for China and a WFP charter for Ethiopia or Somalia ( where people are in camps close to starving to death after the drought decimating livestock and crops).
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I’ve documented some of the…ummm…antics of my Parkinsons suffering father from the last few years on here. Just before he passed away at 79, he could barely walk yet thought he was going to get a job as a truck driver. He also thought he was going to save the country when he notified the Prime Minister’s office that Dan Andrews had been smuggling Chinese spies through Avalon airport during Covid lockdowns. Yet when he received a letter from Scomo thanking him for his good work, but it also suggested that he call Lifeline if he need to, he had the presence of mind to say to Mum “They think I’m ■■■■■■■ mental”. 
If you don’t laugh you cry.
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Agree, but perhaps it helps the AFU more. RUAF need to keep a well defended south bank along the entire line, or it may cop a sneaky pontoon bridge. Whereas AFU would surely reduce their troops in that area and re-deploy elsewhere.
Unless of course there is a change in momentum and there is a risk RU could try crossing again. But surely that is a low risk.
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Spain and UK Govts are supplying mobile generators.
The Jewish Relief Agency is also fund raising and buying up generators for Chabad communities. They don’t come cheap ATM, hope some of the oligarchs bunkering down in Israel are chipping in.
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What comes through to me from her rant, including their reference to the west as uneducated, and other speakers, is that it is deeply embedded in the Russian view of the world that they are the world’s superior civilisation. They use history, god and their higher intellect and values to support this view of superiority.
They seem to understand they are losing the war, but are lamenting the collapse of values and loss of order in a world where evil western ideas will dominate.
Are these ideas representative of how many Russians think? This is frightening commentary.
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There was one video clip in the Russian Media Monitor series showing a panel member mentioning that a majority answering polls in Moscow wanted a negotiated end to the war - directly opposite to the official position (though Lavrov is now desperate enough to be claiming they want negotiations blocked by NATO). I would guess there is very little audience left for state TV and the presenters know it.
My impression is that the information warriors have no playbook and are visibly falling to pieces under pressure.
Putin’s Valdai speech was supposed to give them some sort of framework to work with but they are no more capable of doing so than the generals are capable of defeating Ukraine.
It isn’t aimed at Western audiences. The fact that it gives the “frightening” impression that Russians in general must be nuts is an impression gained accidentally by outsiders. It certainly would not help their war effort if they were successful in convincing most observers that basically Russians are nutcases. They are supposed to be presenting Russia as cool, calm and coping.
Putin’s VALDAI speech WAS aimed at an external audience as well as trying to give some guidance to these people eg to stop lunatic broadcasts. But I think they honestly don’t know what to do. How could they know what to do? There isn’t anything much they COULD do.
At least Baghdad Bob seemed happy.
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VAMPIRE C-UAS is a low cost effective solution for dealing with enemy drones, it works by firing laser guided rockets like APKWS with a range of several kilometers and speed of +2 Mach https://twitter.com/ukraine_map/status/1587806243145613315/photo/1
It looked a pretty good choice - about $22k per rocket and mounts on pretty much anything.
The APKW rocket is standard issue for air launch with about 50,000 produced in the last decade.
So why would it take 6-7 months to deliver it with a turret?
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Certainly more emphasis on the degenerate west recently, but also more acknowledgment the war is not going to plan.
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Russia’s next operation.
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