Figured I'd start a new thread on what's happening in Ukraine...

quote:

Officials in Poland and Bulgaria say Russia is suspending their countries’ natural gas deliveries starting on Wednesday.

The governments of the two European countries said Tuesday that Russian energy giant Gazprom informed them it was halting gas supplies.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/2...h-media-reports.html

Spring is racing toward summer, so heating needs are abating. EU economies will have to adjust to less gas (conserve and triage use) and develop alternative supplies (including hopefully more US liquid natural gas if we can pump and condense it). They have to have weaned themselves by fall.

For the Monty Python fans ...

Please adjust size! It's 4096x4096, and just relabeling it 1024x1024 doesn't seem to work.

Lithuanian pianist plays Chopin in Ukraine....

https://www.euronews.com/2022/...-amid-ruins-of-irpin

Amazing. Ukraine hits the Russian general staff in Izium during a meeting, killing or wounding dozens of top military leaders, including the military chief of staff, Gerasimov. Gerasimov was wounded and evacuated back to Russia. Others weren't so lucky.

One wonders how Ukraine seems to be getting such accurate intelligence! We wonders. Yes, we wonders ...

Strike in Izium

Hitler had Jewish "blood"

So Lavrov claims on Italian TV, along with "many of the worst antisemites are Jews." All to justify Putin's claim that Russia is truly de-Nazifying Zelenskyy-led Ukraine. This is a standard anti-semites trope that justifies blaming the Holocaust on the Jews themselves.

Over the last fifty+ years, and through many ventures into Europe, I have encountered a truly shocking amount of anti-semitism, even from highly educated people. It's simply casual and in the air. I'm not at all surprised that he said this on Italian TV. In the mediterranean, anti-semitism is baked into the culture. I'm venting, I know. And I'm remembering visiting "scholars" from Spain casually talking about "Jewish control of the US media," because "The NY TIMES, you know ..." while proclaiming astonishment that I would call this attitude "casual antisemitism." Oh no, we don't hate Jews ...

They're furious in Tel Aviv, but not really doing anything except the usual "call in the ambassador for an explanation!!!" I'm seeing Claude Rains in my mind, saying "round up the usual suspects." Israel needs to get off the proverbial pot and start funneling weaponry (Iron Dome, for instance) into Ukraine. They have to be seeing what is obvious to everyone else. The vaunted Russian military seems adept only at bombing defenseless cities into ruins and annihilating combatants armed mostly with old AK-47s, especially if they use chemical weapons against them.

Am I the only one here who was aghast at Israeli Prime Minister Bennett's meeting with Putin?

What was that all about?

I think it's fairly clear that Israel was trying to straddle the line. Russia is a power broker in Syria, and Israel thinks it can continue to contest Iranian entrenchment there only with the tacit permission of Russia. Hence, don't gratuitously poke the bear.

I suspect, and hope, that they will be getting off that line now, and for two reasons.

1. Their realpolitik is increasingly unethical given their professed values. It's time to ship Iron Dome and other serious military gear to Ukraine, no matter that it may make Russia shoot at Israeli jets.

2. Which brings me to #2. We're all watching the ineptitude of the Russian military. I suspect Israel could take out the entire Russian air defense / air assault mission in Syria in short order, if Russia actually goes after Israeli forces acting against Iran and Hezbollah. I suspect Russia now knows this too.

Another Russian warship, the 406' long frigate Admiral Makarov supposedly hit by a Neptune missile and on fire near Snake Island. Russians supposedly sending helicopters to try to rescue crew.

It'll take a while to show up in the WaPo, NYT, or BBC. They have to confirm things. Forbes, however, is running with the story.

US spokesperson saying we cannot yet corroborate, but supposedly (I'm using that a lot) we have an observation drone circling in the area.

Admiral Makarov