Ukraine Invasion

[Saz]

Consequences of this in Russia are going to be immense. They released first casualty figures. Seems a bit low, US/EU put the number at about 2000

[John Galt]

i have meetings with russians daily and their demeanor is becoming more stressed and terrified of the situation day by day. they have plans to leave to go to other countries but those plans take time and i can tell they are very stressed. they can't even do work, since my company cut the VDI, we just have meetings because what else are they to do. one who is getting out -- today, if things go to plan -- told me not to contact him because he was wiping his phone before leaving

Putin is destroying his country. they all know it. they wonder aloud if he is demented (i then made a joke about Trump and how people say the same about Biden, and Pavel says "Well, Putin is maliciously demented") and i ask if the FSB is listening and they said they can say these things, everyone says them at every kitchen table, you just can't say them on the street. well, the streets of people lined up to get money and soon enough the wheelbarrows of money for bread that are going to be coming out maybe they will start talking to one another on the street about how absolutely f**k their country is

autocrats can do crazy things, but I think this may be the first situation where an autocratic leader whos country has significant ties to the western world did something like this. we sanction some backwater? what does it matter, no one was invested in them anyway. their people didn't have cell phones. the sanctions change nothing. these sanctions though? the whole country is imploding

[Kane]

https://www.forexlive.com/news/russia-m ... -20220302/

This has been making the rounds - emergency meeting this Friday in Russia to possibly impose martial law throughout the country.

Conscription may follow...

Russians are trying to get out any way they can right now.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/02/worl ... nland.html

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/03/ ... rts-a76721

This isn't going to end anytime soon.

[John Galt]

Well I mean they are mostly conscripts. But one Russian I work with is a Lt in the reserve and very worried he's going to get called up if they declare it a "war". Just his luck: he got covid 6 days ago and can't leave the country.

[Saz]

[John Galt]

Russians want to use American military doctrine (superior firepower) but end up still just throwing actual civilians from the "newly independent regions" that they just told would be receiving training onto the front lines (they got captured, big suprise)

10% strike rate, pretty awful. too bad horseshoes, hand grenades, and 100mt thermonuclear devices all are okay with close enough

[Saz]

[uebermann]

[Kane]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/nationa ... r/3582111/

Ukraine Nuclear Plant — Largest in Europe — on Fire After Russian Shelling

[Saz]