1. Germany providing more weapons to the Ukraine?
It gets interesting. Around a thousand anti-tank rockets, and 500 Stingers (you'd use it against helicopters, tracked vehicles, tanks)....are being sent to the Ukraine. For Russian invasion forces....it's a harsh reality that upon arrival....probably a couple dozen Russian vehicles (a few helicopters in the mix) will be taken down daily.
2. Is Putin behind on some schedule?
I've sat and listened to various 'Doctor Doom' characters on German/French/UK TV make this statement.
There is probably some schedule, and it probably says by X-day....these tasks are done. It's anyone's guess however, if they are on schedule, or behind schedule.
Frankly, if I were the Russian general in charge....I might be worried over current results and feel more 'Putin-heat'. This 'war' has a limit and I just can't see Putin happy if it continues past thirty days.
3. Russians short on money?
Some German journalists (in Moscow)....noted that at the international ATM machines....folks were lined up and trying to get any currency except Rubles. One guy was observed trying to get a significant amount of Euro, and all the machine would allow for the day was eighty Euro.
You might say that the ordinary Russian doesn't care....but if you had 'status' and real wealth....as a Russian right now, you might be worried over the coming weeks and this 'cut-off' by the west.
4. Accurate reporting from either the Ukrainians or Russians?
Well....you just don't know. This morning via N-TV.....the Ukrainians say they killed some Russian general in charge of Russian special operations group (General Magomed Tushayev), and took a fair amount of weapons. Maybe it's true.....maybe it's BS. Putin might be trying to ring-up Tushayev and just get a off-line answer. The problem is that people sit there in Germany and get BS info.....without anyway of confirming things.
5. Musk activating additional Star-link satellites over the Ukraine?
Yes, it really didn't take much to get the satellites into position and provide more internet access.
6. Russian banks excluded from the Swift transfer system now?
It took an awful lot of talking (especially to Germany) to get this united view. There are two lesser known transfer organizations still out there and the Russia will turn to those. It does put some problems in place for the Oligarch folks.
7. Youtube limiting Russian state media?
All you can say is that the state media folks got on the normal regular 'bad-boy' list for Youtube. It basically means they are demonetarized (unable to make cash profits off their 'channel'). A big deal? No.....there are thousand-odd people who get demonetarized every single week.
8. German public TV (ARD/ZDF) selling the 'Ukraine-brand'?
There's an enormous amount of video/interviews going on.....Ukrainian women crying over leaving their husbands behind....Ukrainian older folks in desperation about what may or may not happen....Ukrainian kids highly emotional as they enter Poland as refugees.
A lot of Germans are getting attached to the Ukrainians and their situation. Accepting refugees is just one part of this. Negative feelings over the Russians is another part. Demand pressure being put on Shultz and the coalition government is growing. You also have to put in the dynamics of the anti-war crowd of Germany (those who grew out of the 1980s/1990s).
9. You kinda wonder if the Russian military has all this vast experience/willing nature for some protracted war.
Since 1945, there's been two 'wars' for Russia. The Afghanistan episode was deemed a major failure in the end (much like the US experience in Vietnam), and the Chechen Wars (I/II) were mostly a guerrilla war situation that evolved much like Afghanistan.
Several of the 'Doctor Doom' analysts have appeared on TV and rendered the suggestion that the Russians often talk big but end up with a mess that isn't worth discussing.
One odd feature of this war is that video feed across the globe is immediate. When some rocket hits an apartment building....the scene is broadcast across the globe in seconds. Some South African kid is watching it....some grandmother in Finland is viewing it, and even some remote Alaskan village can see the destruction. None of this is hidden (like it was in Chechen episodes.
10. Jürgen Trittin of the German Green Party warning of a Third World War?
Yeah, he made a statement on Saturday, and was pretty blunt in that this whole thing could get out of control....start affecting other countries, and NATO would be dragged into a direct confrontation.
Trittin is an older Green member....mid-60s, and one of the top ten more recognized party members in Germany.
11. All of this leading back around to a repeat of the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt?
It's a silly discussion because that coup was an attempt by the 'old' Guard (the remaining Communists) to restage the government and bring their brand of stability back into reality. It failed miserably (lasting three days).
I might agree that from the United-Russia political party....there might be half of the members who question where this war will lead onto....but no one has any willpower to challenge Putin or to take down the government.
However, there is this element of the Oligarch 'world' and to suggest to them that it's not a big deal to see twenty-percent or forty-percent of their wealth evaporate, and they being willing to accept that? No.....their rage might have some value in the days ahead.
It wouldn't shock me if various fortunes were being herded out of Russian banks, and put into a safe atmosphere, with little value put into the Ruble.
12. The Finance Director of GAZPROM dead (suicide)?
Well....they found his body (St Petersburg). They suggest it was suicide, but it's anyone's guess.
A big deal? This was the mega natural gas company, who sold Russian natural gas to Europe. It's going to beg questions over problems within the company.
Maybe some members of the company were peeved over money....maybe the guy was taking a cut of the cash. You just don't know.
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