Russia to Invade Ukraine

[bradman]

Bopped up to the liquor store yesterday. Ran into the manager who i know well. i asked about the Russia Vodka. Word had it, they were going to start taking them off the shelf the following day. i made mention that somewhere around 1% of Russian Vodka actually came from Russia. She told me rather firmly, "we support Ukraine". i made mention that one of them was made here in the U.S., then let it go.

[ProfX]

IF you're going to boycott - know what comes from where ... and if you care, the stance of the owners ...

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/27/business ... index.html

[snip]

For example, some bar owners are protesting the invasion by dumping out Stoli Vodka. Problem is, it's only Russian by name, which is loosely translated as "capital city" due to its origins in Moscow. The vodka is actually made in Latvia, and the company's headquarters is in Luxembourg — a member of NATO which has spoken against the Russian invasion.

In a statement to CNN Business, Stoli Group said it "unequivocally condemns the military action in Ukraine and stands ready to support the Ukrainian people, our teams and partners."

[snip]

Smirnoff is another brand being confused as being Russian. Although it traces its heritage to 19th century Russia, the company has long been owned by British spirits giant Diageo (DEO) and is manufactured in Illinois.

[snip]

Russian Standard, along with lesser-known vodka Green Mark, are one of the few alcohol brands imported from Russia and sold in the United States. It's parent company, Roust International, is owned by Roustam Tariko, a Russian oligarch who also owns Russian Standard Bank. The alcohol company didn't immediately respond to CNN Business' request for comment.

[snip]

Less than 1% of vodka consumed in the United States is produced in Russia. In fact, more than half of all vodka consumed domestically is actually made here, according to data from IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, a global firm that tracks alcohol sales.

[snip][end]

MHO: I support the sanctions against the oil/gas industry, the big banks and oligarchs supporting Putin & the invasion, but I don't really think boycotts of caviar or vodka or whatever other Russian products you can find is really anything but a feel good measure.

It's a free country as they say; TBH, never drank much vodka, anyway. Caviar is also usually outside my budget, even in the best of times.

[bradman]

That's why i let it go. It was obvious the gesture was coming from the heart and not he head. Hard to fault that.


i'm betting some of those vodka companies are reexamining the use of the word Russia on their products.

[carmenjonze]

IF you're going to boycott - know what comes from where ... and if you care, the stance of the owners ...

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/27/business ... index.html

[snip]

For example, some bar owners are protesting the invasion by dumping out Stoli Vodka. Problem is, it's only Russian by name, which is loosely translated as "capital city" due to its origins in Moscow. The vodka is actually made in Latvia, and the company's headquarters is in Luxembourg — a member of NATO which has spoken against the Russian invasion.

In a statement to CNN Business, Stoli Group said it "unequivocally condemns the military action in Ukraine and stands ready to support the Ukrainian people, our teams and partners."

[snip]

Smirnoff is another brand being confused as being Russian. Although it traces its heritage to 19th century Russia, the company has long been owned by British spirits giant Diageo (DEO) and is manufactured in Illinois.

[snip]

Russian Standard, along with lesser-known vodka Green Mark, are one of the few alcohol brands imported from Russia and sold in the United States. It's parent company, Roust International, is owned by Roustam Tariko, a Russian oligarch who also owns Russian Standard Bank. The alcohol company didn't immediately respond to CNN Business' request for comment.

[snip]

Less than 1% of vodka consumed in the United States is produced in Russia. In fact, more than half of all vodka consumed domestically is actually made here, according to data from IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, a global firm that tracks alcohol sales.

[snip][end]

MHO: I support the sanctions against the oil/gas industry, the big banks and oligarchs supporting Putin & the invasion, but I don't really think boycotts of caviar or vodka or whatever other Russian products you can find is really anything but a feel good measure.

It's a free country as they say; TBH, never drank much vodka, anyway. Caviar is also usually outside my budget, even in the best of times.

Poor Stoli is going through it, again. A bunch of us were saying this a decade ago. Stoli is Latvian, stop boycotting them in the name of helping the queers :problem:

Stoli Vodka CEO issues statement following LGBT boycotts, activists respond - Fooddive

D Dive Summary:

Anti-LGBT legislation and violence in Russia has led activists to call for boycotts of the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games and products made in Russia, including Stolichnaya Vodka.

Following the product's boycott by prominent Chicago gay bar Sidetrack, Stoli Vodka CEO Val Mendeleev issued an open letter stating the company's opposition to anti-LGBT actions and highlighting its past sponsorship of major events in the community, such as Miami Gay Pride.
The activist group Queer Nation issued a press release today, responding that "marketing will not save LGBT lives."

[Libertas]

https://twitter.com/carlquintanilla/sta ... syUBB_-HXQ

* RUSSIAN MOVE ON KYIV IS STALLED, OFFICIAL SAYS

* U.S. HAS INDICATIONS THAT SOME RUSSIAN UNITS HAVE SURRENDERED WITHOUT A FIGHT, U.S. OFFICIAL SAYS

@Reuters

[ZoWie]

40-mile convoys have a way of changing situations on the ground, at least when they don't become practice for bombing/strafing, as apparently these aren't.

The point that escapes most people is that ground armies travel on their stomachs, as the general once said, and the support for them eats up resources like you wouldn't believe. Russia is pouring a ton of money they don't really have into this war, and it's going to hurt as much as the sanctions do. The oligarchs/kleptocrats have enough money to make huge contributions to the war, but that's not what super rich do. They invest their money or spend it on luxuries. Anything else looks like taxes.

Meanwhile the Ruble is worth something like 1 cent on the dollar.

[Libertas]

https://www.reuters.com/world/ukraines- ... 022-03-01/

EXCLUSIVE Ukraine's Zelenskiy tells Russia: stop bombing before ceasefire talks can start


KYIV, March 1 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday Russia must stop bombing Ukrainian cities before meaningful talks on a ceasefire could start, as a first round of negotiations this week had yielded scant progress.

Speaking in an interview in a heavily guarded government compound, Zelenskiy urged NATO members to impose a no fly zone to stop the Russian air force, saying this would be a preventative measure and not meant to drag the alliance into war with Russia.

Zelenskiy, who has refused offers to leave the Ukrainian capital as Russian forces advanced, also said Ukraine would demand legally binding security guarantees if NATO shut the door on Ukraine's membership prospects.

Setting out his conditions for further talks with Russia, Zelenskiy told Reuters

[bradman]

https://www.reuters.com/world/ukraines- ... 022-03-01/

Putting up a no fly zone in east Ukraine (Kiev) would be a stretch. It'd be direct contact with the Russian air force. A eventual no fly zone in the west? Well, Poot, you might want to rethink shouldering back up to the West. Coming that close to the West could be the final nail in your coffin.

[ZoWie]

Forgot to mention that crypto, which had lost something like 25 per cent recently, is going up like a hydrogen balloon. Apparently it's seen as the only currency that's worth something in places where the Ruble is worthless. It's also probably sometimes the only one available.

1. Crypto is prolonging this war.
2. It can't last. Don't invest in it. Most of the upside is over. Besides, it helps Putin.

[ProfX]

In general, the one place where I suspect crypto is not a good asset (whether it is anywhere is a diff. q.) is a war zone.

After all, it requires a working electronic/telecom infrastructure to transact and transmit.

BTW, just a hat tip, the newest Net Scams are - shocker - people claiming to raise money to help the needy in Ukraine, and taking the money and running.;... always do your diligence there, too.

How many are run by Trump ...

[carmenjonze]

Ukraine Orthodox leader likens Putin to the Antichrist - RNS

Meanwhile, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow appeared to decry Russia’s opponents in Ukraine as 'evil forces.'

Metropolitan Epiphanius I of Ukraine, leader of the independent Orthodox Christian Church based in Kyiv, celebrated Ukrainians’ defense of his country against Russian invaders on Sunday (Feb. 27) while likening Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Antichrist and deriding the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

“The spirit of the Antichrist operates in the leader of Russia, the signs of which the Scriptures reveal to us: pride, devotion to evil, ruthlessness, false religiosity,” he said, according to an automated translation of his statement. “This was Hitler during World War II. This is what Putin has become today.”

Epiphanius lauded “heroic people” who are “defending themselves from the attack of Russia,” saying, “every hour of our resistance inspires more and more people around the world to support Ukraine.”

[Number6]

40-mile convoys have a way of changing situations on the ground, at least when they don't become practice for bombing/strafing, as apparently these aren't.

The point that escapes most people is that ground armies travel on their stomachs, as the general once said, and the support for them eats up resources like you wouldn't believe. Russia is pouring a ton of money they don't really have into this war, and it's going to hurt as much as the sanctions do. The oligarchs/kleptocrats have enough money to make huge contributions to the war, but that's not what super rich do. They invest their money or spend it on luxuries. Anything else looks like taxes.

Meanwhile the Ruble is worth something like 1 cent on the dollar.

Remember the movie The Graduate and this conversation:
Mr. McGuire: I just want to say one word to you. Just one word.

Benjamin: Yes, sir.

Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?

Benjamin: Yes, I am.

Mr. McGuire: Plastics.

Instead of "Plastics" the word "Logistics" is the keyword. The problem with countries like Russia is their military logistics is limited to their immediate region unlike the U.S. who has worldwide logistics using military and civilian channels. The ability to keep troops supplied with food, weapons, ammo, etc... is vital in every war and the side with the best logistics usually wins. Eisenhower wasn't picked as Supreme Allied Commander during WWII because of his brilliance as a field commander but because he was an Army logistican.

There was a book in the 80s called The Third World War: The Untold Story and the one section that's always remained with me is the first casualties of the war will be the supply/logistics people trying to keep up with the military's demand.

[bradman]

Fox is all over the place. One expert wonders why we even give a crap about Ukraine, it's a lost war. The next one is screaming Biden should have boots on the ground. How anyone could take Fox seriously is beyond me.

[Number6]

Love or hate Microsoft, Microsoft has aided the Ukrainian government in preventing a piece of software aimed at Ukraine's government ministries and financial institutions which would wipe the data on computers and networks. Microsoft picked apart the software, called "FoxBlade" and issued an update to defeat the software.

Last Wednesday, a few hours before Russian tanks began rolling into Ukraine, alarms went off inside Microsoft’s Threat Intelligence Center, warning of a never-before-seen piece of “wiper” malware that appeared aimed at the country’s government ministries and financial institutions.

Within three hours, Microsoft threw itself into the middle of a ground war in Europe — from 5,500 miles away. The threat center, north of Seattle, had been on high alert, and it quickly picked apart the malware, named it “FoxBlade” and notified Ukraine’s top cyberdefense authority. Within three hours, Microsoft’s virus detection systems had been updated to block the code, which erases — “wipes” — data on computers in a network.

“We are a company and not a government or a country,’’ Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, noted in a blog post issued by the company Monday, describing the threats it was seeing. But the role it is playing, he made clear, is not a neutral one. He wrote about “constant and close coordination” with the Ukrainian government, as well as federal officials, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/tanks-rolled ... 18484.html

[carmenjonze]

Across US, worshippers seek solidarity at Ukrainian churches, pray for peace - RNS

My city has a huge Russian/Russian-American population. I wonder what they're dealing with these days.

In cities with some of the largest Ukrainian populations in the United States, worshippers prayed for peace and an end to war Sunday (Feb. 27) as Russia threatened its western neighbor for the fourth straight day.

In Chicago — where more than 54,000 people in the metropolitan area identify as having Ukrainian ancestry, according to 2019 U.S. Census estimates — several Catholic churches held special Masses and rosaries over the weekend to pray for peace in Ukraine and an end to the war. All rang their bells at noon Sunday in solidarity with the Ukrainian people — something they’ll repeat on Ash Wednesday, when Pope Francis has asked all believers and nonbelievers alike to fast and pray for peace.

Sunday’s liturgy at St. Nicholas was sung by a choir of mothers and daughters — fitting, Cupich said, as “this moment is an opportunity for the whole world to reflect on what kind of world we want to leave to future generations.

“It is our moment in the history of the world to say, ‘Stop. No more. We want a different world for our children.’ That is what this moment is all about. That is why the entire world is raising its voice in outrage, but also support,” the cardinal said.

[marindem01]

Across US, worshippers seek solidarity at Ukrainian churches, pray for peace - RNS

My city has a huge Russian/Russian-American population. I wonder what they're dealing with these days.

Yeah, I was wondering the Russian Populations in the Bay Area are handling this shit storm. I sure as hell hope there will NEVER be violence against them.

[Libertas]

John Bolton earlier in fox interview said trump barely knew where Ukraine was and that he asked someone if Finland was part of Russia.

I think I posted this here somewhere, video is out there.

I can guarantee or will bet thousands that he has NO CLUE where Ukraine is NOW and before he threatened them had never heard of Ukraine.

[ProfX]

Babi Yar, Kyiv's Holocaust memorial to victims of Nazis, damaged in Russian bombing attack
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/pol ... 979800001/

Russian forces on Tuesday damaged Babi Yar, one of Europe's most prominent Holocaust memorials, amid a brutal onslaught of Kyiv, Ukraine's capital. The damage quickly drew international condemnation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his chief of staff said the Russian military had bombed a nearby radio tower that killed five people and damaged the memorial.

"To the world: what is the point of saying 'never again' for 80 years, if the world stays silent when a bomb drops on the same site of Babyn Yar? At least 5 killed. History repeating…," Zelenskyy wrote in a tweet.

"Just now, a powerful barrage is underway. A missile hit the place where Babyn Yar memorial complex is located! Once again, these barbarians are murdering the victims of (the) Holocaust," Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy's chief of staff, wrote in a tweet.

[snip]

The U.S. Holocaust Museum wrote it is "outraged at the damage inflicted on the Babyn Yar memorial by Russia’s attack today," calling the site "sacred ground" in a tweet.

"We condemn the attack on the Jewish cemetery near the memorial site commemorating the Holocaust of the Jews of Kyiv and the murder of the Jewish people in Babi Yar. We call for preserving and respecting the sanctity of the site," according to a translation of a tweet by Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid that did not mention Russia by name.

[snip][end]

[Libertas]

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/sta ... BuHQQ1GKvA

Ukraine’s Air Force, along with units of the army and territorial defense, destroyed a large Russian military convoy near the city of Bashtanka in Ukraine’s southern Mykolaiv region.

Military bloggers reported that the convoy contained up to 800 vehicles.

[Libertas]

https://thehill.com/policy/internationa ... ng-moldova

Belarus president stands in front of battle map indicating Moldova invasion plans

Assume sanctions on Belarus are happening, and they must apply to the prick friend of putin.

[Libertas]

Tyranol


https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status ... 04jPr4PaEQ

[Number6]

The Pentagon says some Russian troops are punching holes in their vehicle gas tanks as morale falls.

Some Russian troops have "deliberately punched holes in their vehicles' gas tanks" as morale among the Russians declines, a senior US official said.

The troops appear to be self-sabotaging to avoid combat, the unnamed senior Pentagon official said, according to The New York Times. The official added that many of the Russian troops were young and inexperienced in combat and faced dwindling food and fuel resources.

As morale drops, some of the Russian troops have surrendered to Ukrainian forces "without a fight," a US senior defense official told reporters in a briefing on Tuesday.

The US official said there had been evidence "of a certain risk-averse behavior by the Russian military" since Russia launched its assault on Ukraine, CNN reported.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/pe ... ar-AAUu2sH

[Libertas]

The Pentagon says some Russian troops are punching holes in their vehicle gas tanks as morale falls.

Saw that, good!

[carmenjonze]

Babi Yar, Kyiv's Holocaust memorial to victims of Nazis, damaged in Russian bombing attack
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/pol ... 979800001/

Russian forces on Tuesday damaged Babi Yar, one of Europe's most prominent Holocaust memorials, amid a brutal onslaught of Kyiv, Ukraine's capital. The damage quickly drew international condemnation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his chief of staff said the Russian military had bombed a nearby radio tower that killed five people and damaged the memorial.

"To the world: what is the point of saying 'never again' for 80 years, if the world stays silent when a bomb drops on the same site of Babyn Yar? At least 5 killed. History repeating…," Zelenskyy wrote in a tweet.

"Just now, a powerful barrage is underway. A missile hit the place where Babyn Yar memorial complex is located! Once again, these barbarians are murdering the victims of (the) Holocaust," Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy's chief of staff, wrote in a tweet.

[snip]

The U.S. Holocaust Museum wrote it is "outraged at the damage inflicted on the Babyn Yar memorial by Russia’s attack today," calling the site "sacred ground" in a tweet.

"We condemn the attack on the Jewish cemetery near the memorial site commemorating the Holocaust of the Jews of Kyiv and the murder of the Jewish people in Babi Yar. We call for preserving and respecting the sanctity of the site," according to a translation of a tweet by Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid that did not mention Russia by name.

[snip][end]

The site has already been so disrespected by the Soviets.

[ap215]

IIHF bans Russia, Belarus indefinitely from all competition

The International Ice Hockey Federation is banning Russia and Belarus from competition until further notice while condemning the use of military force to solve conflict.

A meeting with the IIHF and its council was called last week to discuss a course of action following Russia's invasion of Ukraine as FIFA and other international sporting bodies began suspending and banning the nation for invading Ukraine.

https://sports.yahoo.com/iihf-suspends- ... 06545.html