European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread - Page 1329

On February 26 2022 01:44 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:
And now Russia is threatening Finland.

At least two of China’s largest state-owned banks are restricting financing for purchases of Russian commodities, underscoring the limits of Beijing’s pledge to maintain economic ties with one of its most important strategic partners in the face of sanctions by the U.S. and its allies.

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.’s offshore units stopped issuing U.S. dollar-denominated letters of credit for purchases of physical Russian commodities ready for export, two people familiar with the matter said. Yuan-denominated letters of credit are still available for some clients, subject to approvals from senior executives, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information.

The move followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which triggered a wave of sanctions from countries including the U.S., the U.K. and Japan and stoked speculation that more may follow. Because commodity-linked letters of credit are issued so frequently, they would be among the first transactions impacted by the threat of sanctions.

Bank of China Ltd. has also curbed financing for Russian commodities based on its own risk assessment, another person said. The lender has yet to receive explicit guidance on Russia from Chinese regulators, two people said.

The Chinese banks’ response could be temporary, especially given that Western sanctions have so far spared Russia’s energy sector. It’s unclear whether Chinese banks have pulled back from other forms of financing for Russian companies and individuals, and their policies could change.

On February 25 2022 23:55 Gorsameth wrote:
Is the invasion going that badly? Oo

For the first time ever, the NATO Response Force has been activated as a defensive measure in response to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

NATO Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Tod Wolters activated the multinational force consisting of land, air, sea and special operations forces from the allies that can deploy quickly in support of the NATO alliance.

The activation of the response troops does not mean that any US or NATO troops will go into Ukraine, which is not a member. US President Joe Biden has been clear that US troops are deploying to eastern Europe to help bolster NATO countries nervous about Russia's aggressive actions, and they will not be fighting in Ukraine.

"This is an historic moment and the very first time the Alliance has employed these high readiness forces in a deterrence and defense role. They represent a flexible, combat credible force that can be employed in multiple ways and we are utilizing fully their inherent agility," Wolters said in a statement "These deterrence measures are prudent and enhance our speed, responsiveness and capability to shield and protect the one billion citizens we swore to protect."

The force has not yet deployed but is on standby. It's not clear how many troops the response force will contain.

On February 26 2022 03:57 zeo wrote:

There is an extreme amount of botting and shilling going on now on Russian channels, though that's normal. This morning they started handing out automatic rifles in Kiev to civilians and are trying to form their own Volkssturm. Opposition MP's from the Ukrainian parliament are asking for the government to step down, a few of them openly offering themselves to Putin to become the next President of the Ukraine.

Anyway, here is what I gathered from moderate pro-russian sources about how operations are going. This is all usually accompanied by video and other evidence but who knows, there is complete and utter radio silence within the Russian military. They are not using any of their new tech, presumably to hide their capabilities from NATO.


Very outdated map but just so you get the picture

1. On the Crimean front seems like Kherson is now completely under the control of the Russian army and they have pushed to Mykolaiv. Towards the east Melitopol is under complete control, and more importantly Berdiansk is either captured or surrounded depending on who you ask. This opens up the main strategic line towards Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk, as well as a pincer move on the now less strategically important port city of Mariupol. Basically no resistance yesterday, with Kiev sending troops today to Mykolaiv, destroying bridges ect.

2. The Donbass contact line is very active, the main objective is to keep the large bulk of the Kiev army bogged down so they cannot send units to relieve other fronts. A few settlements taken by the Republics but no major breakthroughs, heavy losses on both sides.

3. The most surprising advance was at the north-eastern border, with what was supposed to be poking and prodding operations turned into the encirclement of Harkov. Keep in mind that Russia only deployed around 30,000 - 60,000 troops the first day. These forces are primarily concerned with storming and securing key points (towns/cities/roads), after which wait for additional support to arrive to secure the area / keep the encirclement. Harkov is a city of 1.5 million, with Azov battalions and other territorial units ready to fight in civilian areas. Plan is to encircle and keep them there so they don't break out until Kiev falls. In general the Kiev army is not defending terrain outside of cities and is falling back to populated areas in this region.

So advance > secure countryside > wait for reinforcements that slowly push into populated areas > advance again towards Dnipropetrovsk. Strategic goal is to encircle on a massive scale the 60.000 Kiev units at the Donbass front.

4. The most important theater is of course Kiev. Last night the Russians dropped 200-300 VDV paratroopers deep inside Kiev territory and took over Gostomol airport while at the same time piercing through the lightly defended Chernobyl zone. Its 130km between Pripyat and Gostomol through difficult terrain and it began a race against time for the Chernobyl force to link up with and secure the bridgehead being held by the paratroopers. At stake was the entire western flank of the city of Kiev, with the amount of hysterics on twitter everything and the kitchen sink was thrown at the paratroopers entrenched at Gostomol but they held on at the airport. Russians cruise missiled and bombed everything close to and on the way to the airport overnight and today they linked up with the Russian forces coming to secure the bridgehead. With the entire Western and Eastern flank of the city under control, full scale encirclement of the city is expected tonight if it already hasn't been encircled with special forces units pushing into the suburbs from the North.

Forces loyal to the Kiev government bombed bridges to slow the advance into the city but as I mentioned in the first sentence, its kind of over if they had to resort to handing automatic weapons out to civilians and forming a Volkssturm. Handing out Molotov cocktails to people... its just... not what a stable government does.

On February 26 2022 03:57 zeo wrote:

There is an extreme amount of botting and shilling going on now on Russian channels, though that's normal. This morning they started handing out automatic rifles in Kiev to civilians and are trying to form their own Volkssturm. Opposition MP's from the Ukrainian parliament are asking for the government to step down, a few of them openly offering themselves to Putin to become the next President of the Ukraine.



Forces loyal to the Kiev government bombed bridges to slow the advance into the city but as I mentioned in the first sentence, its kind of over if they had to resort to handing automatic weapons out to civilians and forming a Volkssturm. Handing out Molotov cocktails to people... its just... not what a stable government does.

On February 26 2022 04:08 Narw wrote:


Volkssturm, really? Right off the provided script... you paid off Russian troll, that you are being tolerrated here is just abysmal.

On February 26 2022 04:10 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:
Who cleared this for release?

https://twitter.com/GermanyNATO/status/1497278947226128390

NATO has a flank sure, but is not in the East.

On February 26 2022 04:20 Acrofales wrote:

Then what would you call it? Seems east to me.

On February 26 2022 04:08 Narw wrote:


Volkssturm, really? Right off the provided script... you paid off Russian troll, that you are being tolerrated here is just abysmal.

On February 26 2022 04:10 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:
Who cleared this for release?

https://twitter.com/GermanyNATO/status/1497278947226128390

NATO has a flank sure, but is not in the East.

On February 26 2022 04:24 Dav1oN wrote:


My advise is not to consider what he says, I've wasted a two minutes on that pile of crap. The dude is getting his info from "moderate pro-russian" channel, what a credible source

On February 26 2022 04:24 Dav1oN wrote:


My advise is not to consider what he says, I've wasted a two minutes on that pile of crap. The dude is getting his info from "moderate pro-russian" channel, what a credible source

On February 26 2022 04:28 Biff The Understudy wrote:

I kind of wonder what “moderately pro russian” even means in that context.

On February 26 2022 04:08 Narw wrote:


Volkssturm, really? Right off the provided script... you paid off Russian troll, that you are being tolerrated here is just abysmal.

On February 26 2022 04:28 Simberto wrote:


zeo has been like that for ages. I remember that he already was an incredibly annoying Putin bot years ago.

Central Bank of Russia increases supply of cash to ATMs due to "increased demand"
From CNN’s Vasco Cotovio and Nathan Hodge in Moscow

The Russian Central Bank is increasing the supply of bills to ATMs after demand for cash increased in recent days.

“In recent days, the demand for cash has grown,” the Bank said in a statement on Friday. “To meet the increased demand, the Bank of Russia increased the issuance of cash to banks, and replenishment of ATMs will continue this weekend.”