Russia - threadbanned users in OP

It's not 1943, the Ukrainians are prepared to take prisoners I thought?

They are but the amount of dead russians being stacked up suggest not everyone is on the same hymm sheet

Some reports coming from Germany that they are assuming NS1 and NS2 may never be repaired or work again.

And of course that makes sense, as soon as the gas stops flowing the water rushes in, wonder how far the water could travel before a cut off point?

Who's going to want to pay to fix it only be to bent over another barrel in a few years .

Heed uncle Joe's warning

Ahhhhh, I see now where you took a wrong turn off the logical path.

What I actually said was "both sides are seldom equal".

So, it's an endorsement rather than a retraction !

I totally disagree with your initial, lame, "ah, sure we're all God's children" approach.

Yes indeed, and I have an excellent example to show you. A while back, Russian Navy ships appeared off the Cork coast. Now, most ships have a transponder system called ATIS, which again, gives its location. Now, none of the Russian Navy ships had transponders switched on. However, their fuel ships, or oilers, did. They follow the Navy flotilla and top up fuel when needed. Now, here is where a bit of OSINT came into play this morning, just for you!

One of these oilers we know to be the Akademik Pashin. This very ship was showing up on Marine Traffic ( the tracking site) off Cork. So, the question is, where is she now?

Well, if you search for Akademik Pashin on Marine Traffic, it shows her off the Coast of Cyprus. Now, how do we know that Navy ships are with her? Well, it so happens that Forces.net wrote an article 7 days ago, and I quote:

"Russia has signed an agreement with Cyprus to give its ships access to the Mediterranean country's ports. The deal comes as tensions continue between Russia and Western countries over the Ukrainian conflict. Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview with Forces TV, the Cypriot foreign minister says the agreement is nothing new. Ioannis Kasoulides said it goes back to 1996 and denied reports that Russia wants to establish its own military base on the island."

Bingo, so there you have it. This demonstrates how OSINT is so important in this conflict. And, here is the screenshot to back up my observation:

Seems the Russians want answers from uncle Joe

But are they really "withering them to the bone" ? And will it ultimately work?

It seems money still talks, and there are some clever workarounds to some of the sanctions. I don't think the picture is very clear yet, just how these sanctions will pan out.

Here's another interesting video of a Russian mall with big brands that were apparently supposed to have left Russia.

How are they complying with the EUs Fifth Package of Sanctions which prohibits Russian ships from docking (there is no exemption for previously made agreements), unless they are only being allowed dock in areas not under effective control of the Government of the Republic as EU law and sanctions does not apply in such areas of Cyprus?

Thanks Wibbs, better worded then I could .. The whole things is quite baffling indeed and an escalation. However I found it an escalation already when the Russians cut the gas supply with some ridiculous reasoning, when everyone knew this was used as blackmail

The very negative Russian reaction to partial mobilisation (mass exodus by air and border crossings and protests, with those in the Russian Far East, oft led by women whose husbands die in this war, the most effective) does hold out some hope of an end to this horrifying war. Putin has run of out slaves for his horde. Gas brinkmanship and meddling is only making Europe freeze in Margaret Simonyan's (editor in chief of RT) mind. These probable acts of terrorism against the pipeline seem an escalation in a new direction, and if Russian involvement is verified, it won't matter for Russia's reputation is in the toilet anyhow.

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/norway-oil-safety-regulator-warns-threats-unidentified-drones-2022-09-26/

Well isn't that interesting.

And thanks to that, otherwise there would be a referendum tomorrow where you live to vote for joining ruSSland.

I think it was a general threat we will end it , regardless wether it be one or two.