Russia Closes Kerch Straight; Rams Ukrainian Navy Tugboat
128 replies, posted
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-46333976
Ukraine has accused Russia of ramming one of its boats off the coast of the annexed Crimea, amid rising tensions.
The "openly aggressive actions" occurred as three of its vessels sailed from the Black Sea port of Odessa to Mariupol in the Sea of Azov, Kiev said.
Ukraine's Yana Kapu tug suffered damage to its engine, guard rail and outer shell, the Ukrainian navy said.
But Russia said the ships were in its waters, and accused the Ukrainians of "provocative actions".
Russia has now blocked access to the Sea of Azov with a tanker under the bridge that spans the Kerch Strait.
Reports are coming forward that all Ukrainian naval units are on combat alert:
https://twitter.com/StratSentinel/status/1066728189744041984
https://twitter.com/Liveuamap/status/1066763084839174144
https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/1066764241749839873
Mod should probably append the title to include this incident
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/5D0A/production/_104481832_fa66bd4b-fe9f-4d17-9323-fc64a8a90ad0.jpg
Yep nothing to see here
So what's Russia's deal here? Asserting full dominance over the Azov sea and telling everyone else, especially Ukraine, to fuck off?
This sure seems to be escalating real quick, from a blockade to firing on and seizing Ukrainian navy ships, here's hoping it doesn't go further than that, but you never know when it comes to Russia.
Russia’s dominance over Ukraine is strategically important to Putin’s cult of personality. It is central to his vision of a unified Russia and “Eurasian Union,” as well as important to the historical-revisionist mythology (Volodymyr of Rus) that powers his strongman Mythos. And then there’s the “black earth” — Ukraine is the most fertile agricultural ground in all of Europe.
Ukraine is the canary in the coal mine that signals authoritarian swings throughout Europe and now America. We didn’t pay enough attention to Russian propaganda and cyber warfare in 2013. We shouldn’t make the same mistake twice. This is very, very bad.
oh fuck, here we go again
Also important to note that the escalation of violence followed a prescribed pattern: Russia carved out a piece of territory, denies that nation’s sovereignty and asserts its own, and then fires on retroactively-designated trespassers under the pretense of defending against aggressors. This is exactly what they did in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine and (not coincidentally) it is what Hitler did in Poland and Hungary.
A blocade escalating into conflict, the undermining of democracy in the faction with the largest military force? George Lucas is the new Nostradamus and we all owe him an apology.
Yes, but there was a whole time of the Clone War where the checks and balances against the station of Supreme Chancellor were erroded so that the Empire could be formed.
Several flights from the EU that were scheduled to land in the Ukraine haven't diverted, they flew past.
Its looking more and more like we're hitting that threshold.
Dosen't surprise me with the weak reponse to Khashoggi and Trumps hesitation to leverage more sanctions.
The EU said it wasn't going to let this happen earlier, time to backup those words.
Even their boats have dashcams.
This is one big insurance scam.
So who's gonna help Ukraine if Russia decides to invade? As mean as it sounds their military is outgunned when it comes to Russia.
what are they saying?
are the tanks actually 30 minutes away now???
In an ideal world: Europe and the US.
In reality: Probably nobody.
Not only what others said about the whole pan Russian putin cult, but the siezed naval craft represent a significant portion of Ukraine navy's arsenal.
Two of the siezed ships are Gurza-M light attack craft of which they have only 6, so its a significant dent in what little force projection they already had, there's military strategy involved as well as political posturing.
https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/545/054e4d10-f4e8-4042-b049-4d27ef77f008/ruboat.png
For what its worth this wasn't just a snatch and grab, all the signs are showing this was an act of war at sea, and the russian craft are bearing the scars of far more than a "maritime police action" and non violent seizure or whatever the official headline will be.
Putin will keep pushing and pushing until we shut his authoritarian regime down. He wants to destroy the European Union from within and eventually wrench the balance of global power back from the U.S. He is a direct threat to all of us, and he currently controls the U.S. presidency.