Ukrainian Losses

[Jonas!]

Russia will now control more of the world's food, which will make It even more difficult to isolate them. 

Boy!!!  talk about sick! So now your excited that a NAZI dictator would control so much of the world food supply.  Now move this forward twenty years and think the type of life your children would face.

Are you an idiot also trying to make it  about me, while mischaracterizing my level of 'excitement'?  Realty is Russia is on course to control more of the world resources. Westward efforts of expansion in his region are failing and backfiring.  Your fake stories about Russia getting ruined are doing nothing except spreading disinformation and undermining 
truthful discourse in general.   

Jonas!   

[WestCoast]

Two British citizens and a Moroccan, Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner and Saaudun Brahim, were sentenced to death by firing squad Thursday for fighting on Ukraine's side, in a punishment handed down by the country's pro-Moscow rebels.

A court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic found the three men guilty of working toward a violent overthrow of power, an offense punishable by death in the unrecognized eastern republic. They were also convicted of mercenary activities and terrorism.

The irony seems to be lost on Moscow  and the court in the Donetsk People’s Republic. Putin's favorite mercenary group the Wagner Group are mercenaries who have operated in Ukraine, Russia, Syria and parts of Africa sometimes reportedly at the behest of Putin.

The article states that the Donetsk People’s Republic is not internationally recognized as a sovereign state however the DPR is has been recently recognized by Russia with Putin signing the orders February 21, 2022.

https://ca.yahoo.com/news/smashed-buildings-mariupol-produce-caravan-040713053.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_recognition_of_the_Donetsk_People%27s_Republic_and_the_Lugansk_People%27s_Republic

[WestCoast]

More evidence for the hypothesis that Putin is attempting to rebuild the USSR. Putin said during his speech "Apparently, it also fell to us to return (what is Russia's) and strengthen (the country). And if we proceed from the fact that these basic values form the basis of our existence, we will certainly succeed in solving the tasks that we face."

If Putin prevails in Ukraine can Moldova be far behind? If Putin prevails in Moldova will the stans be next?


https://ca.yahoo.com/news/hailing-peter-great-putin-draws-173955810.html

[yankee]

Russia will now control more of the world's food, which will make It even more difficult to isolate them. 

Boy!!!  talk about sick! So now your excited that a NAZI dictator would control so much of the world food supply.  Now move this forward twenty years and think the type of life your children would face.

Are you an idiot also trying to make it  about me, while mischaracterizing my level of 'excitement'?  Realty is Russia is on course to control more of the world resources. Westward efforts of expansion in his region are failing and backfiring.  Your fake stories about Russia getting ruined are doing nothing except spreading disinformation and undermining 
truthful discourse in general.   

Jonas!

yes he is an idiot.

[AvHdB]

Russia will now control more of the world's food, which will make It even more difficult to isolate them. 

Boy!!!  talk about sick! So now your excited that a NAZI dictator would control so much of the world food supply.  Now move this forward twenty years and think the type of life your children would face.

Are you an idiot also trying to make it  about me, while mischaracterizing my level of 'excitement'?  Realty is Russia is on course to control more of the world resources. Westward efforts of expansion in his region are failing and backfiring.  Your fake stories about Russia getting ruined are doing nothing except spreading disinformation and undermining 
truthful discourse in general.   

Jonas!

IF Russian were to control all of Ukraine they would be the fourth largest producer of cereals. This is not even half of the the production of the country in third place.

Based on the actions during the Holdomor I would be uncomfortable for the local population though.

[Jonas!]

Russia will now control more of the world's food, which will make It even more difficult to isolate them. 

Boy!!!  talk about sick! So now your excited that a NAZI dictator would control so much of the world food supply.  Now move this forward twenty years and think the type of life your children would face.

Are you an idiot also trying to make it  about me, while mischaracterizing my level of 'excitement'?  Realty is Russia is on course to control more of the world resources. Westward efforts of expansion in his region are failing and backfiring.  Your fake stories about Russia getting ruined are doing nothing except spreading disinformation and undermining 
truthful discourse in general.   

Jonas!

IF Russian were to control all of Ukraine they would be the fourth largest producer of cereals. This is not even half of the the production of the country in third place.

Based on the actions during the Holdomor I would be uncomfortable for the local population though.

Yes nevertheless it is a bankable commodity that Russia will control more of.  I do think Russia is capable of using food as a weapon though if need be.  Personally I think they will use any weapon or potential weapon at their disposal. 

Jonas!

[andrewfi]

Jonas!, Russia shows no signs of using food as a weapon. They are working with countries to enable transfers of grain and other foodstuffs to those markets.

Do not forget that the current difficulties are due to the actions of the collective west (a small subset of the world's population).

But you are correct, food has been weaponised - but not by Russia. The weaponisation may have been an unintended consequence of foolish actions, western sanctions, but the effects are real and have a direct causal factor.

As an aside, food shortages in the USSR in the early part of the 20th century were also due to western sanctions! There is a modern parallel in Ukraine today. Ukraine is busily exporting as much grain as it can into Europe in exchange for cash. In the case of the USSR, grain was exported to the west because of sanctions on the USSR that made it almost impossible for the state to obtain necessary foreign exchange except through grain sales.

Will we see food shortages in rump Ukraine later in the year? I hope not, but the mechanism to cause it is already working.

[AvHdB]

As an aside, food shortages in the USSR in the early part of the 20th century were also due to western sanctions!

Please explain.

[WestCoast]

Russia shows no signs of using food as a weapon.

Why Russia is being accused of using food as a weapon of war
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/10/europe/food-grain-crisis-ukraine-russia-intl/index.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/08/russia-is-weaponizing-food-supplies-to-blackmail-the-world.html
Russia is weaponizing food supplies to ‘blackmail the world’

UN: Russia using food as weapon of war
https://www.axios.com/2022/04/17/un-ukraine-food-weapon-war-russia

This is how Russia is using food as a weapon of war in Ukraine
https://news.yahoo.com/russia-using-food-weapon-war-135007921.html

[yankee]

My wife has been reading that women are now being forced to join the military.  Ages between 16 and 50.

Can any one confirm or deny this??

[andrewfi]

Westcoast, before repeating twaddle, why not fact check yourself?
This stuff is not hard. You were before having to leave your job a high flying banker, were you not?

Were yiu not trained to do at least the kind of analysis that most university students learn?

[WestCoast]

Westcoast, before repeating twaddle, why not fact check yourself?
This stuff is not hard. You were before having to leave your job a high flying banker, were you not?

Were yiu not trained to do at least the kind of analysis that most university students learn?

Please Andy tell me where I'm wrong or will this be the limit of your post?

[AvHdB]

The below is a list of books regarding Ukraine. I admit I only have read a few. Some seem fascinating. The list was compiled by The New York City public library.

The eyes of the world are on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, leaving many with questions about the circumstances that led to what is now the largest conflict to erupt in Europe since World War II," said Bogdan Horbal, the curator for Slavic & Easter European collections at the NYPL and the creator of the book list, in an official statement. "This list of books was created to provide you with the tools to understand the history of Ukraine and the factors that have led to today."

Some of the highlighted titles are available through the library's circulating catalogs while others are accessible through the research catalog (therefore available for onsite use only at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building by Bryant Park).

We reproduce the full list, which you can also find here, below:

General Works on Ukraine

Borderland: A Journey Through the History of Ukraine by Anna Reid

The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine by Serhii Plokhy

Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine by Tim Judah

The Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation by Andrew Wilson

Ukraine: What Everyone Needs to Know by Serhy Yekelchyk

The Battle for Ukrainian: A Comparative Perspective Edited by Michael S. Flier and Andrea Graziosi

The Cossack Myth: History and Nationhood in the Age of Empires by Serhii Plokhy

Culture, Nation, and Identity: The Ukrainian-Russian Encounter, 1600-1945 Edited by Andreas Kappeler, Zenon Kohut, Frank Sysyn, and Mark von Hagen

The Frontline: Essays on Ukraine's Past and Present by Serhii Plokhy

The Future of the Past: New Perspectives on Ukrainian History Edited by Serhii Plokhy

A History of Ukraine: The Land and Its Peoples by Paul Robert Magocsi

Making Ukraine Soviet: Literature and Cultural Politics Under Lenin and Stalin by Olena Palko

Revolutionary Ukraine, 1917-2017: History's Flashpoints and Today's Memory Wars by Myroslav Shkandrij

Russia and Ukraine: Literature and the Discourse of Empire from Napoleonic to Postcolonial Times by Myroslav Shkandrij

Total Wars and the Making of Modern Ukraine, 1914-1954 by George Liber

Ukraine and Europe: Cultural Encounters and Negotiations Edited by Giovanna Brogi Bercoff, Marko Pavlyshyn, and Serhii Plokhy

Ukraine: Contested Nationhood in a European Context by Ulrich Schmid

Ukraine in Histories and Stories: Essays by Ukrainian Intellectuals Edited by Volodymyr Yermolenko

Ukraine, the Middle East, and the West by Thomas M. Prymak

Post 1991 Developments

Roots of Russia's War in Ukraine by Elizabeth A. Wood, William E. Pomeranz, E. Wayne Merry, and Maxim Trudolyubov

Ukraine and the Art of Strategy by Lawrence Freedman

Ukraine: A Nation on the Borderland by ​​Karl Schlögel

Ukraine Over the Edge: Russia, the West and the "New Cold War" by Gordon M. Hahn

In Wartime: Stories from Ukraine by Tim Judah

Decentralization, Regional Diversity, and Conflict: The Case of Ukraine Edited by Hanna Shelest and Maryna Rabinovych

Language of Conflict: Discourses of the Ukrainian Crisis Edited by Natalia Knoblock

Normalizing Corruption: Failures of Accountability in Ukraine by Erik S. Herron

Religion During the Russian-Ukrainian Conflict Edited by Elizabeth Clark and Dmytro Vovk

Ukraine and the Empire of Capital: From Marketisation to Armed Conflict by Yuliya Yurchenko

Ukraine and Russia: From Civilized Divorce to Uncivil War by Paul D'Anieri

Ukraine in the Crossfire by Chris Kaspar de Ploeg

Ukraine's Euromaidan: Analyses of a Civil Revolution Edited by David R. Marples and Frederick V. Mills

Ukraine's Maidan, Russia's War: A Chronicle and Analysis of the Revolution of Dignity by Mychailo Wynnyckyj

Ukraine's Quest for Identity: Embracing Cultural Hybridity in Literary Imagination, 1991-2011 by Maria G. Rewakowicz

Ukrainian Women Writers and the National Imaginary: From the Collapse of the USSR to the Euromaidan by Oleksandra Wallo

A War of Songs: Popular Music and Recent Russia-Ukraine Relations by Arve Hansen, Andrei Rogatchevski, Yngvar Steinholt, and David-Emil Wickström

[dorbradavid]

Russia shows no signs of using food as a weapon.

Why Russia is being accused of using food as a weapon of war
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/10/europe/food-grain-crisis-ukraine-russia-intl/index.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/08/russia-is-weaponizing-food-supplies-to-blackmail-the-world.html
Russia is weaponizing food supplies to ‘blackmail the world’

UN: Russia using food as weapon of war
https://www.axios.com/2022/04/17/un-ukraine-food-weapon-war-russia

This is how Russia is using food as a weapon of war in Ukraine
https://news.yahoo.com/russia-using-food-weapon-war-135007921.html

WADR, not exactly credible sources. Nothing from Rachel Madow? 

[WestCoast]

Russia shows no signs of using food as a weapon.

Why Russia is being accused of using food as a weapon of war
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/10/europe/food-grain-crisis-ukraine-russia-intl/index.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/08/russia-is-weaponizing-food-supplies-to-blackmail-the-world.html
Russia is weaponizing food supplies to ‘blackmail the world’

UN: Russia using food as weapon of war
https://www.axios.com/2022/04/17/un-ukraine-food-weapon-war-russia

This is how Russia is using food as a weapon of war in Ukraine
https://news.yahoo.com/russia-using-food-weapon-war-135007921.html

WADR, not exactly credible sources. Nothing from Rachel Madow? 

Why don't you provide sources that say Russia isn't using food as a weapon? No Russian or Chinese sources.

[WestCoast]

Westcoast, before repeating twaddle, why not fact check yourself?
This stuff is not hard. You were before having to leave your job a high flying banker, were you not?

Were yiu not trained to do at least the kind of analysis that most university students learn?

Please Andy tell me where I'm wrong or will this be the limit of your post?

Typical Andy. Drops by to insult and then runs and hides.

[Tom Cat]

It's being rumored that the United States will be building grain silos in Poland, along with other plans to transport the Ukrainian wheat through  Poland.

[WestCoast]

It's being rumored that the United States will be building grain silos in Poland, along with other plans to transport the Ukrainian wheat through  Poland.

Anyone know how long it takes to clear land, build grain silos and all the other associated infrastructure?

[AvHdB]

It's being rumored that the United States will be building grain silos in Poland, along with other plans to transport the Ukrainian wheat through  Poland.

Anyone know how long it takes to clear land, build grain silos and all the other associated infrastructure?

This is a guess but a full sized silo such as you see in Canada or America from clearing the land to usage is 18 to 24 months. Once in Kansas I was given a tour of a silo complex, it is far more intricate and complex than some assume.

[Tom Cat]

It's being rumored that the United States will be building grain silos in Poland, along with other plans to transport the Ukrainian wheat through  Poland.

Anyone know how long it takes to clear land, build grain silos and all the other associated infrastructure?

This is a guess but a full sized silo such as you see in Canada or America from clearing the land to usage is 18 to 24 months. Once in Kansas I was given a tour of a silo complex, it is far more intricate and complex than some assume.

From what I had heard,  current grain would be transported through Poland for shipment . The silos would be for future storage that Russia would not be able to steal it, or restrict shipment.
It would seem a valid solution if done correctly

[dorbradavid]

Why don't you provide sources that say Russia isn't using food as a weapon? No Russian or Chinese sources.

Ok, this is known as "deflecting". The answer to using bad sources is not to challenge someone to provide better ones. I'ts to go back and provide credible sources.

[andrewfi]

Sadly, these silos, if they are constructed will be to contain Ukrainian grain to be taken as payment for the Lend-Lease program. It is rather unlikely that the grain will reach the people who most need it.

IIRC I discussed this briefly either upthread or elsewhere. I noted that this is very similar to the situation imposed on the USSR that was the base cause of the famines that ravaged the USSR during the early part of the 20th century.

So, no, it is not a solution.

Also, on a practical note, it is rather hard to use trucks to replace ships for the shipment of grains in bulk. it is why ships and barges are used.

[Lon]

this vid outlines some possible outcomes of the war for Ukraine
shortish 9 min vid
essentially, no good ones, even if they win the majority of their future counter attacks

[andrewfi]

And winning their counterattacks is not a thing that's going to happen.

Right now, Ukraine is following a foolish, nieve and rather evil strategy. They seem to be trying to fight for a stronger negotiating position. That comes from the Ukrainian leadership as well as statements from the foreign leaders who are bankrolling the conflict.

It's foolish because the strategy is not working. Nieve because unless they are wining there can be no improvement in negotiating position and if they were winning it would be foolish to negotiate from a position where giving up a degree if territory and political independence. Its evil because good people are being knowingly condemned to death or ruined lives for no purpose.

[dorbradavid]

Overall nicely done.