Putin vs Ukraine.

[schurchill39]

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Didn't Vermilion have a big gas field in southern France at one point? You'd think that would be crazy attractive to develop now.

I think they still do but development is SLOOWWWWW in that country. Like, extra slow thanks to the insane regulations. Lets hope that changes here though

[killramos]

That field is currently printing money.

[Buster]

TIL

Ukraine's GDP is less than half of Alberta.

I finally looked it up because I was bored.

[ExtraSlow]

Because that part of Europe is not a first world economic situation, I assume.

[Yolobimmer]

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Because that part of Europe is not a first world economic situation, I assume.

Yet Zelensky, a comedian no one has heard of, is richer than most of America's global mega actors, with their own production companies. It's a corrupt helhole. That's why the Biden's and so may other politicians had skin in the game over there (Including our own Miss Freeland).

[Xtrema]

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TIL

Ukraine's GDP is less than half of Alberta.

I finally looked it up because I was bored.

Not the size that matters...
https://sherpglobal.com/

[eblend]

Ukraine admits 'Ghost of Kyiv' fighter pilot, hailed for feats against Russian forces, is a myth

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ukrain...myth-1.6437895

Here we go. Only a matter of time before more and more of this shit comes out. Seems like Ukraine and the west took the "throw shit at the wall and see what sticks" approach. With everyone just automatically assuming everything is Russia's fault, it's a good strategy.

[DonJuan]

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Ukraine admits 'Ghost of Kyiv' fighter pilot, hailed for feats against Russian forces, is a myth

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ukrain...myth-1.6437895

Here we go. Only a matter of time before more and more of this shit comes out. Seems like Ukraine and the west took the "throw shit at the wall and see what sticks" approach. With everyone just automatically assuming everything is Russia's fault, it's a good strategy.

I liked the theory that the "Ghost of Kyiv" was Russian aircraft maintenance.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

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Ukraine admits 'Ghost of Kyiv' fighter pilot, hailed for feats against Russian forces, is a myth

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ukrain...myth-1.6437895

Here we go. Only a matter of time before more and more of this shit comes out. Seems like Ukraine and the west took the "throw shit at the wall and see what sticks" approach. With everyone just automatically assuming everything is Russia's fault, it's a good strategy.

Nobody with two brain cells to rub together believed the Ghost of Kyiv was a real thing past, like, the second week of the war. Most were extremely skeptical of it from the get-go. This isn't really earth-shattering news.

[whoreads]

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Russian aircraft maintenance.

Now that is a myth.

But seriously, the Russian army is embarrassingly weak. Maybe they shouldn't have wasted all of their steroids on figure skaters.

[Kloubek]

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Ukraine admits 'Ghost of Kyiv' fighter pilot, hailed for feats against Russian forces, is a myth

No surprise there. I took the story with a grain of salt, and was my first introduction to the Ukrainian propaganda machine. It's hard to figure how much of it comes from the government itself, just supporters, but there is a shit TON of misinformation all over social media from BOTH sides.

Swaying public opinion is nothing new. But in today's technological age, I feel the information war is more important now than it has ever been. Back in Hitler's day, the Germans were masters of propaganda and their public only had access to state newspapers, radio, and word of mouth. It was easy to contain, but difficult to sway opinion outside of Germany. But today, anybody and their dog can make a compelling statement on social media and some have become so reliant on these channels that some take it as truth. Free information is of course a double edged sword, whereby your citizens can consume information from your enemy. In the West and Europe, this is generally allowed to happen. But in Russia, they have sealed their outside information sources up tight. No free media. No free internet. Putin has also made it a crime to work around their blackout with VPNs and such. It's a crime to say anything negative about the government, the military, or the "operation".

Autocracies have a definite advantage these days when it comes to controlling their public. The best Ukraine can do is pump out their own nonsense.

[eblend]

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Nobody with two brain cells to rub together believed the Ghost of Kyiv was a real thing past, like, the second week of the war. Most were extremely skeptical of it from the get-go. This isn't really earth-shattering news.

Don't have to tell me that, but many people gobbled it up like candy and it was all over mainstream media. It's amazing how much nonsense the media spews and others repeat.

[jutes]

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Don't have to tell me that, but many people gobbled it up like candy and it was all over mainstream media. It's amazing how much nonsense the media spews and others repeat.

Ukraine is winning the information and social media war, by a large margin.

[ExtraSlow]

News organizations are no longer about information. They are basic content creators. So any story that will likes and clicks is what is broadcast.

Except AlJaz, that shit is best in the world.

[ZenOps]

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Ukraine is winning the information and social media war, by a large margin.

Only in the english speaking world. German, neutral. Chinese? They don't seem to care either way.

[Xtrema]

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Ukraine is winning the information and social media war, by a large margin.

Well, formal declaration of war on Ukraine comes next week on May 9th. See what that will bring.

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Only in the english speaking world. German, neutral. Chinese? They don't seem to care either way.

That's ok the Chinese can hide behind COVID.

[jutes]

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Well, formal declaration of war on Ukraine comes next week on May 9th. See what that will bring.

More dead poorly trained Russian conscripts.

[eblend]

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More dead poorly trained Russian conscripts.

Didn't realize every male under 65 in Ukraine was a highly trained elite soldier, and only the Russians were dying. Good to know.


The longer this drags on, the more dead people there will be period, from both sides, unfortunately it seems that this is exactly what the west wants overall. Many people will become rich at the expense of this war. Look at all the countries unloading their old soviet weapons to Ukraine, and getting fresh weapons in exchange. Weapons manufacturers are happy as pigs for this. It's amazing how many old soviet weapons will seize to exist after all of this is done. Shit that has been in storage since 1945 and is no longer made will get depleted and then everyone gets shiny new weapons. Good deal for everyone involved...except for the people actually fighting the war or caught in the cross fire.

It's become very obvious now that this will drag on for much longer than it needs to unfortunately. Even the thought of reaching a political settlement is gone out of the window, egged on by the west, this war will go on for a while, and I couldn't even begin to guess on the outcome. I believe that Ukraine can say goodbye to the east of the country forever. If before there was a chance for Donbass to exist under Ukraine, I think that's completely out of the window now. If Russia doesn't absorb them, they will forever be like Transnistria or South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and will remain a disputed territory.

Such an unnecessary war that could have so easily been avoided.

[ExtraSlow]

One thing that I didn't foresee, and I would have been wrong if I was making predictions, is that the rest of Europe, and the USA, clearly don't give a fuck about dead Ukrainians or Russians. I'm sure there's some political reason for that, but I have always been an optimist, and I assumed that the civilized countries wanted to reduce suffering and death when possible. I was wrong.

[Buster]

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One thing that I didn't foresee, and I would have been wrong if I was making predictions, is that the rest of Europe, and the USA, clearly don't give a fuck about dead Ukrainians or Russians. I'm sure there's some political reason for that, but I have always been an optimist, and I assumed that the civilized countries wanted to reduce suffering and death when possible. I was wrong.

Oh yes, you are definitely wrong.

They will not expend any geopolitical capital to save non citizens lives.

But then again, I don't want my tax dollars spent on that, so...