Russia's War Against Ukraine

[Uberhaus]

Gunmen apparently attacked a Moscow concert venue on Friday night. I'll just leave it at that...

The AP news story said:

Several gunmen burst into a big concert hall on the edge of Moscow on Friday and sprayed visitors with automatic gunfire, killing and injuring an unspecified number of people and starting a massive blaze.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/gunmen-in-combat-fatigues-open-fire-at-moscow-concert-hall-russian-news-agencies-say/ar-BB1kmVYY

Zelensky states that Ukraine has nothing to do with the attack. https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-68642036?src_origin=BBCS_BBC

Ukraine 'has nothing to do' with attack - Zelensky aide
We're hearing now from an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has distanced his country from the attack near Moscow.

In a Telegram post, Mykhailo Podolyak said "let's be clear, Ukraine absolutely has nothing to do with these events".

A reminder that Ukraine and Russia have been at war for the last two years, after Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

In light of the Moscow apartment bombings of 1999, it remains to be seen who the attack gets attribituted to and the fallout from it.  That being said the attack was on a children's dance recital; whoever perpetrated it is monstrous.

[JasonPratt]

Rus = Vikings

Iceland = Viking region

Transitive property something something North Africa?

(Or unemployed? -- in GREEN-LAND!?!)

Edited to add: actually come to think of it, there was a somewhat reasonable plot about the Soviets taking Iceland in Red Storm Rising, to shut down the SOSUS detection chain.

[GDS_Starfury]

so ISIS is claiming responsibility for the attack

[Crossroads]

so ISIS is claiming responsibility for the attack

Seems corroborated, with ISIS-K as the culprit. Apparently the imminent attack US and others warned their citizens a while ago, to avoid concerts and other public gatherings. Putin was warned, too.

https://twitter.com/ianbremmer/status/1771280755504677080

[Jarhead0331]

I understand Ian Bremmer's point, but if Russia had an independent media, I think the War in Ukraine would make him look far more incompetent than this attack.

[Crossroads]

Author suggesting Putin does not have the resources to fight both ISIS and Ukraine, so he has to choose.

https://twitter.com/Mylovanov/status/1771550249531621526


So many theories out there...

https://twitter.com/DarthPutinKGB/status/1771573735658569755

[Uberhaus]

Don't let a good tragedy go to waste.  From Putin's speech https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68646380

In a televised address, Mr Putin condemned the massacre - the deadliest in Russia for nearly 20 years - as a "barbaric terrorist act" and repeated earlier suggestions by Russian security services that the attackers had tried to escape to Ukraine.

Obviously, the Russian leadership will use this to shore up support for the war against Ukraine, but I think they will use it to further mobilize the Russian population, especially with dryer weather coming.  I'm wondering if they believe that a surge in the near future will bring victory or that they genuinely fear the arrival of foreign troops?

I pity the Russian people, hopefully they'll give Putin the full Czar experience.

As to who perpetrated it, Ukraine would never risk losing the support of the West doing such a thing.  Russia will make use of propaganda stating the West supported this terrorism by propping up Ukraine though.  ISIS and its nihilistic world view would love to instigate further confrontation between the West and Russia and the axis of Resistance.  However, Ukraine Intelligence is stating that it is another self-directed attack by Putin. 

"The public execution of people in Moscow should be understood as Putin's threat of an even greater escalation and expansion of the war. Peskov's statement about 'war,' made shortly before the terrorist attack, is just a false start of a carefully planned Kremlin special operation," the Agency [ Main Intelligence Agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine] said in a message on Telegram.

One should maybe take this with a big grain of salt until proof of it comes to light, but the timing is almost perfect with the Rasputitsa clearing up, and Putin's recent "re-election."  The apartment bombings of 1999 propelled an unknown Putin to popular leader.

I feel like getting blind, bloody drunk.

[JasonPratt]

Man I keep forgetting how gold that Darth Putin parody account it. Although for some reason I can't see more recent posts. (Maybe because I'm not an Xtwit.)

Still, BEHOLD PEONS! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CW1C5H3T

Have you ever wondered how Darth Putin KGB became a master strategist? Do you want to set your life on the path to world domination? Are you terrified of the woke takeover of the world, of unisex toilets and the crushing of masculinity? Do you want to know what happens at the end of that long table as denial turns into goodwill gesture? Then this book is the lifestyle manual that will take you from being a simpering loser to the dominant alpha male in your home, office, and maybe the world.

Through the 13 rules of master strategy find out how to think, dress, date, and negotiate like a master strategist does, while reading never before seen documents that Darth has declassified showing how his amazing plans are always proceeding exactly as expected because the truth doesn't matter when you can just shift the goal posts.

I damn well ordered instantly. Ten dollah on Kindle, but also comes (as linked) on actual paper harvested by tree-counters presumably!

[GDS_Starfury]

[Crossroads]

Update from Darth Putin

https://twitter.com/DarthPutinKGB/status/1771651499958870312

[Crossroads]

Meanwhile, two new Ropucha class submersibles, it seems. Quite a hit for their logistics. Some speculation the large Ukrainian UAV cruise missile attack was launched the same time RuZZia launched theirs, to make countermeasures more difficult.

https://twitter.com/JayinKyiv/status/1771831477728166199

[GDS_Starfury]

2 B-2s could finish off the rest in an afternoon.

[GDS_Starfury]

Im honestly fine with slightly higher gas prices if russia is getting fucked

https://twitter.com/i/status/1771944298595930469

[Gusington]

More on military changes in France.

[Uberhaus]

Im honestly fine with slightly higher gas prices if russia is getting fucked

https://twitter.com/i/status/1771944298595930469

Was that a Bayraktar drone or something else?  Hitting a fractional distillation tower?