Russians are now fleeing to Finland.

[Chelseaboy]

There are no queues at the border yet,but there is a steady flow of traffic getting out of Russia.


Apparently these people leaving Russia don't fancy the idea of living under a Martial Law imposed by Mad Vlad.

[Trenchcoat]

The Russian economy is beginning to fail as well, how long before it collapses completely?

MasterCard and Visa have just announced that they are stopping their services in Russia:

http://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-invasion-visa-and-mastercard-announce-suspension-of-operations-in-russia-12558938

That's a big deal and will send Russians back to the dark ages with their paper roubles that are becoming worthless, hyperinflation and high interest rates. It may not be too long before the Russian economy starts buckling under the pressure. Could be that both Russia and Ukraine end up real dirt poor after all of this with no winners.

With Russia really shelling out sone if the cities in Ukraine possibly most of them by the time this ends I'm not sure they are going to want a lot of Ukraine it will need loads of money spent to reconstruct it, money Russia won't have nor the Ukrainian people.

[Grumpy]

[2tallbill]

The Russian economy us beginning to fail as well, how long before it collapses completely?

The price of oil per barrel on 2017-01-19 (Trump left office the next day)
was $53.18 and it was $115.00 per barrel on Friday.

None of the "so called tough sanctions" included oil or gas. If you want to damage
the Russian economy you can't pussy foot around and have the media coverup 
your lies back. Oil and gas are the way to hurt the Russian economy.

Tell everyone that Angela Merkle is funding the Russian invasion.
Tell everyone that the Germans shuttered their nuke reactors so that
they could help Russians kill Ukrainians instead.

Germany is our friend and ally but they did ignore the warnings of getting
addicted to Russian gas. 

[Admin]

The price of oil per barrel on 2017-01-19 (Trump left office the next day)
was $53.18 and it was $115.00 per barrel on Friday.

None of the "so called tough sanctions" included oil or gas. If you want to damage
the Russian economy you can't pussy foot around and have the media coverup 
your lies back. Oil and gas are the way to hurt the Russian economy.

Tell everyone that Angela Merkle is funding the Russian invasion.
Tell everyone that the Germans shuttered their nuke reactors so that
they could help Russians kill Ukrainians instead.

Americans seem to be willing to accept energy price hikes in the short term which will be required if the Russian gas and oil spigots are turned off.

It was a rather big surprise when German Chancellor Olaf Sholtz agreed to stop progress on the Nord Stream pipeline and later to supply Ukraine with anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons.

[Admin]

One must keep in mind that Russia's economy is not even in the Top 10 worldwide. They have a GDP smaller than Italy and it's almost identical to Brazil.

Having said that, their military power is clearly in the Top 3 of the world. Only Russia and China are considered near-peer rivals to US power with Iran and North Korea on the list but far behind.

Point being, militarily in the short-term Russia is formidable. Sanctions over the longer term are bound to have significant effect. Whether in time to save Ukraine will depend, almost entirely, on whether Ukraine can hold on until it becomes a war of attrition. Chechen military leaders serving as officers in the Russian forces have publicly asked Putin to release the chains so they can finish the war in days. Zelensky sounds strong and defiant speaking of counter-strikes. If the Russian casualties are as he says in the thousands, no amount of suppressed news will prevent that sorrow from resonating across Russia.

[fathertime]

The price of oil per barrel on 2017-01-19 (Trump left office the next day)
was $53.18 and it was $115.00 per barrel on Friday.

None of the "so called tough sanctions" included oil or gas. If you want to damage
the Russian economy you can't pussy foot around and have the media coverup 
your lies back. Oil and gas are the way to hurt the Russian economy. 

One reason I don't think it is doable is China, India, Pakistan, and others would be just fine with buying oil from Russia, especially if it they got it at a lower price. We would injure ourselves as much as anything, while ties would strengthen between Russia and the rest of the non-western world.  I don't think we would be able to twist the collective arms of these nations into not buying Russian oil. 
Fathertime! 

[fathertime]

None of the "so called tough sanctions" included oil or gas. If you want to damage
the Russian economy you can't pussy foot around and have the media coverup 
your lies back. Oil and gas are the way to hurt the Russian economy.

I'm reading that the US is trying to rekindle relations with Venezuela suddenly.  Earlier today there was talk of trying to make a deal with Iran.   I think these nations will be ok with taking US dollars, especially at the current oil pricing.  Sources such as these would at least temporarily reduce reliance on Russian oil.  Lots of affects reverberating around the globe


I'd be so curious to see what type of tactics the US uses in the meeting with Venezuela.  I think it is just as likely that threats will be used as much as anything.   Venezuela already has been recovering from their multiyear slump.  People talk about this being an opportunity for China to envelop Taiwan...but what about the US trying to overthrow Maduro in Venezuela...especially if he doesn't deal on terms we like.   
U.S. officials to meet with government of Russian ally Venezuela: report

Senior U.S. officials on Saturday went to Venezuela, a Russian ally, to meet with the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, people familiar with the matter told The New York Times.

A delegation including senior State Department and White House officials is traveling to the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, sources told the Times....

http://www.yahoo.com/news/u-officials-meet-government-russian-015050119.html 

Fathertime! 

[Trenchcoat]

Now American Express are banning payments in Russia:

http://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-invasion-american-express-suspends-operations-in-russia-and-belarus-12559519

That's likely any use of payment by card out the window, bet the Russians are loving it.

Many companies in general are starting to boycott Russia now, even closing down their operations there. I wonder how much more the Russian economy can take before it caves in.

I definitely think this is the most effective strategy so far, it will hobble their war effort and get to a point where they really start to question about invading Ukraine. I think more and more needs to be done on this front so it really hits home.

[ML]

Now American Express are banning payments in Russia:

http://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-invasion-american-express-suspends-operations-in-russia-and-belarus-12559519

That's likely any use of payment by card out the window, bet the Russians are loving it.

Wife says that there is a local Russian credit/debit card, so Russians will not be that much affected when they do local transactions within Russia.

But maybe no longer can make Amazon and ebay purchases or pay to download nude pictures of Ukrainian hot chicks.

[LAman]

Now American Express are banning payments in Russia:

http://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-invasion-american-express-suspends-operations-in-russia-and-belarus-12559519

That's likely any use of payment by card out the window, bet the Russians are loving it.
 

You do know that AE is not very popular in Russia. It took me most of a day once to find a bank that took the card. Very few shops would accept it

[LAman]

But maybe no longer can make Amazon and ebay purchases or pay to download nude pictures of Ukrainian hot chicks.

Why is it so many guys want a chick with a temperature??

[Trenchcoat]

You do know that AE is not very popular in Russia. It took me most of a day once to find a bank that took the card. Very few shops would accept it

I used to have an AE card in the UK, was glad to get rid of it in the end after some points offer/tye up ended and get a MasterCard. Most places in the UK accepted AE but not all and that became a pain as every so often when going into a pub/restaurant etc they would tell me they don't accept it. While I had other payment available it gets a bit awkward and embarrassing after a bit. Decided I could do without the fuss.

[Stirlitz]

Apparently these people leaving Russia don't fancy the idea of living under a Martial Law imposed by Mad Vlad.

His true name is Putin. [who-i-law].

[2tallbill]

Russians cross Mexico border to seek US asylum
More than 8,600 Russians have sought refuge in the U.S. on the Mexican border in recent months. Many fly from Moscow to Cancun, entering Mexico as tourists, and go to Tijuana, where they pool money to buy cars.
http://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/nation/2022/03/14/russians-cross-mexico-border-seek-us-asylum/7032688001/

More Russians, Ukrainians seek asylum at U.S.-Mexico border
http://www.reuters.com/world/more-russians-ukrainians-seek-asylum-us-mexico-border-2022-03-04/


It would be my guess that most of the Russians seeking asylum have
an education level exceeding the 6th grade.

[2tallbill]

Russian oligarchs are heading to Israel
http://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-viktor-vekselberg-mikhail-fridman-europe-7744b07a6fb0d2321aabe958cb952dd8

[Stirlitz]

His true name is Putin. [who-i-law].

I love this autoreplacement. OK, once again: His true name is Huilo (Хуйло). [who-i-law].

[ML]

I love this autoreplacement. OK, once again: His true name is Huilo (Хуйло). [who-i-law].

I don't understand the humor, if there is supposed to be some here.

[2tallbill]

Americans seem to be willing to accept energy price hikes in the short term which will be required if the Russian gas and oil spigots are turned off.

We could ramp up domestic production, which would help the situation, both
in the long and short term. We could resume the XL pipeline. Currently we are
getting Canadian heavy crude shipped to Texas via truck and railroad. That
unnecessarily increases the costs of making fuel and it's significantly more
dangerous to ship crude by truck or rail.

There are a multitude of things that the government can do to mitigate the
situation, none of which will be done by the current president.

It was a rather big surprise when German Chancellor Olaf Sholtz agreed to stop progress on the Nord Stream pipeline and later to supply Ukraine with anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons.

Yes, I was surprised by both things. The pipeline was finished in September,
but they have a certification process that has been stopped. The weapons
were a surprise as well.

NOTE: This is my opinion and should be considered only as an opinion.
I think that many Germans were like me and didn't think that Russia would
invade and they took Putin on his word.

When Russia invaded (still opinion here) they were shocked and quickly
changed their views about their safety and questioned the wisdom behind
their previous policies.

I found one poll among German teens (who are most likely to be involved
in future military actions) that somewhat supports my opinion. I have looked
for other polls but have spent very limited time on it (less than 15 minutes).


"Nine out of ten teens are anxious and worried about the situation in Ukraine,"
the study found.

They have two specific concerns: First "that other countries will be attacked
because one country is not enough for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin."
This could specifically be a NATO or EU nation like Poland, thus bringing about
"World War III."And secondly: "Russia will threaten us with nuclear bombs"
and the German authorities wouldnˈt be able to warn people about an imminent
attack in time to reach safety.
http://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-russia-conflict-has-german-teens-terrified/a-61069344


Note: This reference that should be checked for accuracy. It's reported to be
from (ARD Deutschlandtrend)
http://twitter.com/thorstenbenner/status/1499436359563591685

65% support 100bn package of defense spending.
61% support weapons for UA (complete reversal compared to last poll).

[Jumper1]

I don't understand the humor, if there is supposed to be some here.

It's just a derogatory word for a person ,
with its English pronunciation in parentheses.

Like:

" his name is  Dick*inson head "  but a tad stronger

[Stirlitz]

I don't understand the humor, if there is supposed to be some here.

There is no humor. I just believe that a spade must be called a spade. Everybody says Pootin which is his KGB alias. But his true name that he had been able to keep secret until 2014 is Huilo.


Yes, it is true that in Russian it also means a small stinky dick and that is why he did his best to conceal it but there is a Russian saying: one cannot hide an awl in a sack meaning truth will eventually come out. It did.

[Patagonie]

There is no humor. I just believe that a spade must be called a spade. Everybody says Pootin which is his KGB alias. But his true name that he had been able to keep secret until 2014 is Huilo.


Yes, it is true that in Russian it also means a small stinky dick and that is why he did his best to conceal it but there is a Russian saying: one cannot hide an awl in a sack meaning truth will eventually come out. It did.

Interesting detail, I will sleep less stupid, thank Stirliz.

[JohnDearGreen]

30000 Russians exited to Geogia, now including Roman.
Apartment prices have doubled.
They can stay for 360 days.

[Stirlitz]

Having said that, their military power is clearly in the Top 3 of the world. Only Russia and China are considered near-peer rivals to US power with Iran and North Korea on the list but far behind.

Point being, militarily in the short-term Russia is formidable.

So is it still clearly there or perhaps top-100? At any event, clearly, Ukraine is not inferior, and soon will be superior.


Russian military is only formidable to unarmed civilians.

[Steven1971]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-61607184