The Ukraine war thread
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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/09/25/russian-pilots-dared-nato-start-war/
From the moment the Russian pilots entered Estonian airspace, they were pursued by Nato’s most advanced fighter jets.
Two Italian F-35s, “Ghost 1” and “Ghost 2”, had launched an interception mission from an air base 50km outside of the capital Tallinn.
For an instant, the course of world affairs rested on the shoulders of five men – three Russians and two Italians – who were not in radio contact with each other.
The Italians began the routine of an aerial intercept, rocking their wings from side to side.
In reply, the Russians rocked theirs back. Then one of the pilots raised his hand and gave a friendly wave.
For the next 12 minutes, the Italian pilots trailed the Russians all the way to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad – an unprecedented length of time for an incursion into Nato airspace.
This time, the manoeuvre was carried out peacefully and Nato fighters were not forced to fire at the three Russian MiG-31s, themselves armed with air-to-air missiles.
But the potential flashpoint has sparked days of intense discussion inside Nato over when, where and how they might pull the trigger. -
A long queue of cars outside a petrol station in Sevastopol, a port city in Russian-controlled Crimea, laid bare the challenges drivers across Russia are facing in a widening gasoline crisis.
As Ukraine has stepped up drone attacks on Russian refineries and export terminals in recent weeks, motorists are feeling the bite.
One man, Alexander Semin, told Reuters he had waited for 40 minutes to fill his tank in Sevastopol the previous day, although he said he was "not panicking."
Shortages of fuel and disruptions to gasoline supplies have been reported for more than a month in more than 10 regions across Russia, the Izvestia newspaper reported, citing a fuel producers' union.
Sergei Aksyonov, the head of Crimea, acknowledged the problem in a video message on Thursday but assured motorists that gasoline stations would be fully supplied with all types of fuel within two weeks.
Thousands of kilometres north of Crimea, in the historic city of Nizhny Novgorod along the Volga river, locals were experiencing similar problems.
"At both gas stations, there was no 92 or 95 petrol," a taxi driver who gave his name only as Alexei said. "Later it appeared and then disappeared again."
The local governor in the region east of Moscow said this week the disruptions were related to issues down the supply chain and reassured the public that the problems would be solved soon.
Back in Crimea, some drivers like Alexei Zlobin said the situation of shortages required some creativity.
"If you're having trouble with petrol, just take a trolley", he offered. -
A fine op-Ed analysis by a retired CIA counter espionage officer. I do not for a moment think Sipher is off the mark at all:
The inferiority complex
From the Bolshevik revolutionaries to Vladimir Putin, Russia’s leaders have exhibited the mentality of professional conspirators: they assume enemies are everywhere, truth is relative, and survival depends on sowing confusion and fear.
The founders of the Soviet state were, in effect, terrorists operating underground. Lenin and Stalin were cover names used to hide from the Tsarist police. When they seized power, they imported the habits of clandestine revolution into government: obsession with regime security over national security, fear of enemies both internal and external, use of state power as terrorism, and the belief that deception is not just useful but essential.
The bullying masks the inferiority complex; the insistence on imperial glory conceals the fear that without it, the system will collapse…..
Sadly, as we have seen since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and over the past decade or more, it has worked. Subsequent American Presidents have misjudged Putin’s power, and his willingness to negotiate in good faith.
Former Finnish President Niinisto quoted Henry Kissinger in his New Year’s speech to highlight this failure to deal with the Kremlin; “Whenever avoidance of war is the primary object of a group of powers, the international system has been at the mercy of its most ruthless member.”….
As George Kennan warned in his Long Telegram, Russia’s persistent weakness and insecurity drive it to aggression as a way of shielding itself from Western ideas and values. But aggression built on lies eventually undermines itself.
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The only reason to end the war is to spare the suffering and death of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. But if you don't care about that--then the war can go on forever. In that respect Putin is like Hamas--as long as they get what they want in the end human suffering really doesn't matter.
Flushing the toilet is like practicing the piano; you just cannot go too long without doing it.--Axtremus
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The only reason to end the war is to spare the suffering and death of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. But if you don't care about that--then the war can go on forever. In that respect Putin is like Hamas--as long as they get what they want in the end human suffering really doesn't matter.
@Tom-K said in The Ukraine war thread:
The only reason to end the war is to spare the suffering and death of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. But if you don't care about that….. Putin is like Hamas--as long as they get what they want in the end human suffering really doesn't matter.
No it doesn’t. What only matters is Putin’s own megalomaniac legacy to become the greatest Russian autocrat since Peter the Great. That legacy includes all of what remains of sovereign Ukraine and whatever other coveted imperial morsel he can steal by subterfuge or brute force.
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Russians taking over Ukrainian territory doesn’t seem to end the suffering of the inhabitants.
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Budapest Summit indefinitely postponed.
