9 votes

Weekly megathread for news/updates/discussion of Russian invasion of Ukraine - September 1

Automatically posted
Tags: russia, ukraine, military conflict, war, geopolitics, 2022 russian invasion of ukraine, recurring.weekly

This thread is posted weekly on Thursday - please try to post relevant content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Especially significant updates may warrant a separate topic, but most should be posted here.

If you'd like to help support Ukraine, please visit the official site at https://help.gov.ua/ - an official portal for those who want to provide humanitarian or financial assistance to people of Ukraine, businesses or the government at the times of resistance against the Russian aggression.

9 comments

  1. [3]
    cmccabe
    Link
    Another dimension of the response to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine: NAFO - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAFO_(group) … I think the whole shiba dog thing is kinda stupid, but the idea of this...

    Another dimension of the response to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine:

    NAFO - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAFO_(group)

    The North Atlantic Fellas Organization (NAFO; a play on NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is an Internet meme and an online phenomenon dedicated to countering Russian propaganda and disinformation about the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

    …

    In addition to posting pro-Ukraine memes, or ones mocking Russian war effort and strategy, and "shitposting," the group also raises funds for the Ukrainian military and other pro-Ukrainian causes. The representation of a NAFO "Fella" is a Shiba Inu dog, often used as an avatar and sometimes described as a "cartoon dog." According to The Economist, "NAFO's flippancy obscures its role as a remarkably successful form of information warfare."

    I think the whole shiba dog thing is kinda stupid, but the idea of this group countering state-level disinformation campaigns gets my two thumbs up.

    4 votes
    1. vektor
      Link Parent
      I mean, if your state-level disinfo campaign is a bunch of loosely coordinated dudes in a shed, then a bunch of loosely coordinated fellas in sheds seems like a viable counter play.

      I mean, if your state-level disinfo campaign is a bunch of loosely coordinated dudes in a shed, then a bunch of loosely coordinated fellas in sheds seems like a viable counter play.

      4 votes
    2. FishFingus
      Link Parent
      I love those guys, they're my favourite. As a result of their fundraising, there's at least one Ukrainian military vehicle driving around with little NAFO character artwork drawn on it.

      I love those guys, they're my favourite. As a result of their fundraising, there's at least one Ukrainian military vehicle driving around with little NAFO character artwork drawn on it.

      3 votes
  2. [4]
    patience_limited
    Link
    Apparently, gravity in Russia has become very toxic indeed. But it's also becoming more welcoming (YouTube and bad propaganda warning) to immigrants.

    Apparently, gravity in Russia has become very toxic indeed. But it's also becoming more welcoming (YouTube and bad propaganda warning) to immigrants.

    1 vote
    1. AugustusFerdinand
      Link Parent
      To give some headline info of the link: Top Russian oil official dies after fall from hospital window - sources The Lukoil chairman was (based on the tweets) mildly critical of the war:...

      To give some headline info of the link:

      Top Russian oil official dies after fall from hospital window - sources

      The Lukoil chairman was (based on the tweets) mildly critical of the war: https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1565234707587125250

      The chairman of the board of Lukoil, Russia’s biggest privately held oil producer and one of the few Russian companies to criticize the invasion of Ukraine, has died after falling out of a hospital window, Interfax reports

      https://interfax[ d o t]ru/moscow/860208 [reddit removes all ru links for some reason]

      https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1565234707587125250

      In March, Lukoil’s board called for “the soonest termination of the armed conflict,” expressed “sincere empathy for all victims,” and said “we strongly support a lasting ceasefire and a settlement of problems through serious negotiations and diplomacy.”

      https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1565235373160251393

      Mash, a media outlet with close ties to law enforcement, says Ravil Maganov was being treated for heart problems and had been diagnosed with depression.

      https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1565252940134219776

      2 votes
    2. [2]
      MimicSquid
      Link Parent
      Wait, is that propaganda or satire? I honestly can't tell.

      Wait, is that propaganda or satire? I honestly can't tell.

      1. patience_limited
        Link Parent
        Apparently, quite serious according to the Financial Times (I'd share, but I have limited gift links): I'd hesitated to share because it is released with propagandistic intent, but it's also a...

        Apparently, quite serious according to the Financial Times (I'd share, but I have limited gift links):

        The video is remarkable for more than brazen poor taste (the image accompanying the words “Russian literature” is of Nikolai Gogol, the 19th-century Ukrainian-Russian writer). My first instinct was that it must be a parody, yet its promotion on social media by several Russian embassies suggests otherwise. There is no official explanation from Moscow, though a fact-checking website run by Voice of America, the US state-funded broadcaster, says that a pro-Russian Telegram channel has taken credit for producing the video.

        I'd hesitated to share because it is released with propagandistic intent, but it's also a cautionary lesson about getting high on your own supply of bullsh*t.

        2 votes
  3. [2]
    skybrian
    Link
    Russia cuts off gas exports to Europe via Nord Stream indefinitely (CNN) [...]

    Russia cuts off gas exports to Europe via Nord Stream indefinitely (CNN)

    On Friday, Russian state energy giant Gazprom said it would not resume flows through the pipeline on Saturday as planned because it had detected an oil leak at its Portovaya compressor station. The pipeline has been shut since Wednesday for maintenance.

    It didn't give a timeline of when exports might resume.

    [...]

    Since June, Gazprom has slashed flows through Nord Stream 1 to just 20% of its capacity, citing maintenance issues and a dispute over a missing turbine caught up in Western export sanctions.

    It has also cut off supplies to several "unfriendly" European countries and energy companies over their refusal to pay for gas in rubles, as the Kremlin insists, rather than the euros or dollars stated in contracts. European leaders have described the demands as blackmail.

    Earlier this week, Gazprom said it would suspend all shipments to France's Engie (EGIEY) from Thursday, claiming that it had not received full payment from the company for the gas it supplied in July.

    Engie said the shutoff was the result of "a disagreement between the parties on the application of contracts."

    1 vote
    1. cfabbro
      Link Parent
      FT article with update on the situation (paywall avoided by following twitter link): Russia switches off Europe’s main gas pipeline until sanctions are lifted

      FT article with update on the situation (paywall avoided by following twitter link):

      Russia switches off Europe’s main gas pipeline until sanctions are lifted

      Russia’s gas supplies to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline will not resume in full until the “collective west” lifts sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin has said.

      Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, blamed EU, UK and Canadian sanctions for Russia’s failure to deliver gas through the key pipeline, which pumps gas to Germany from St Petersburg via the Baltic Sea.

      Although Moscow continues to claim technical faults have caused the cuts in gas supplies, Peskov’s comments were the starkest demand yet by the Kremlin that it wants the EU to roll back its sanctions in exchange for Russia resuming full gas deliveries to the continent.

      European leaders have said Russia’s technical issues are a ruse and have accused Moscow of “weaponising” its energy exports to retaliate against the western sanctions.

      3 votes