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2022/24 Russian-Ukrainian War



Why is the Sunflower the National Flower of Ukraine?​

From link.

IMG_2610-720.jpg

Ukrainians have always loved flowers. Flowers fill the yards of village houses, and are woven into wreaths (venki) for girls to wear at celebrations. They’re embroidered on fabrics and painted on walls, wooden furniture, and household items in a folk art called petrykivka, added to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
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Sunflowers (sunyashniki) are especially loved in Ukraine, where golden fields of them face the sunrise in the east. They are Ukraine’s national flower, and in folk imagery represent the warmth and power of the sun, which was worshipped by pre-Christian Slavs.
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Sunflowers made their way to Ukraine through the efforts of the early explorers of North America, where it was one of only a few native food crops (along with squash, blueberries and pecans). Seeds were brought back to the old world, and found to grow well in hot, dry places with rich soil, such as the “Black Earth” regions of Ukraine.
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The Orthodox Church comes into the story because during Lent, believers were not supposed to use butter or lard for cooking. Since sunflower oil was a fairly recent arrival, there were no specific restrictions on its use. Sunflower culture took off. By the 1800s, there were big fields of them all over Ukraine and western parts of Russia, and people were chewing the seeds and spitting out the shells.
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Last edited:
Northern Light said:
German dependence on Russian being a question in this thread, I thought this image might be of utility to some:

1280px-Energy_mix_in_Germany.svg.png

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_Germany#/media/File:Energy_mix_in_Germany.svg


Note the growth in gas usage, almost entirely from Russian supply; but also what it offset, reduced usage of coal (GHG/smog reduction); and reduced use of Nuclear as well, as per Germany policy (popular w/the public)
to shift away from nuclear and not replace aging reactors as they are retired.

Assuming one is fine w/the premise of the shift; understanding that Germany has few alternatives in terms of hydro-electricity and has pushed solar/wind quite aggressively, the question then really
becomes, could they obtain the gas elsewhere? (not from Russia)

***

On that note, I would commend this article which explores that very question:

www.reuters.com

How dependent is Germany on Russian gas?

Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Thursday, sending European gas prices higher and increasing the focus on gas supply in countries including Germany, which is Europe's largest economy and imports most of the gas it consumes.
www.reuters.com www.reuters.com

Note that Canada can't be a direct supplier as we lack an LNG terminal on the east coast (one was proposed as part of the 'Energy East' proposal.

In point of fact, Canada exports no LNG at all.

To be clear, I'm not necessarily arguing for that; it would be an expensive endeavour; its not without some risks, and it won't be profitable forever; but would one of the more likely suppliers if we had the requisite infrastructure.
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Compare and contrast with France, with a robust nuclear programme:

1645803969989.png


Forget about exporting LNG to Asia - in the short-medium term we should definitely rethink the national priorities and do what is necessary to export gas to Europe during this energy-transition period.

AoD
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
Compare and contrast with France, with a robust nuclear programme:

View attachment 381882

Forget about exporting LNG to Asia - in the short-medium term we should definitely rethink the national priorities and do what is necessary to export gas to Europe during this energy-transition period.

AoD
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Germany might also want to think about their, too hasty, decision a couple of years ago to shut all their nuclear reactors. Of course, I am all in favour of renewables BUT .......
 
DSC said:
Germany might also want to think about their, too hasty, decision a couple of years ago to shut all their nuclear reactors. Of course, I am all in favour of renewables BUT .......
Click to expand...

You can thank their Greens for that - though it must also be said that Germany had never committed to nuclear like France did. In any case, what's done is done - you can't just jump back to nukes given the extremely long lead-time needed.

AoD
 
DSC said:
Despite the invasion, Russia will, apparently, still be able to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest in May. (Which Ukraine won last year with a song about the Stalinist deportation of Tartars.) See: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-60514388 CORRECTION. They did NOT win (Italy did) but their song was about the Tartars and was in the finalists.
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THIS should put the fear of god into those Ruskies!

Russia kicked out of Eurovision Song Contest​

Russia has been banned from entering the Eurovision Song Contest, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said.
A statement from the body, which produces the competition, said the decision “reflects concern that, in light of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine, the inclusion of a Russian entry in this year’s Contest would bring the competition into disrepute”. See:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1497243831112122368
 

'I don't know what to do': fleeing Ukrainians start arriving in central Europe​

From link.

O5HLHAKOEZIQHFEEJKRWMQQ2LU.jpg

Thousands of Ukrainians fleeing war with Russia started arriving in neighbouring central European countries on Thursday and the region braced for many more, setting up reception points and sending troops towards the borders to provide assistance.

The countries on the European Union's eastern flank were all once part of the Moscow-led Warsaw Pact and are now members of NATO. Among them, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania all share land borders with Ukraine.

Russia has launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea, the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War Two. It has fuelled fears of a massive flood of refugees fleeing Ukraine, a nation of 44 million people.

At the usually quiet border crossing at Medyka in southern Poland, dozens arrived from Ukraine on foot on Thursday morning, carrying luggage. A line of cars waiting for passage grew longer during the course of the day.

A Polish woman, Olena Bogucka, 39, said she had been waiting for four hours while her Ukrainian husband and child were stuck on the other side.

"You can't get through," she said. "I can't reach them on the phone... I don't how to get my child out... I don't know what to do."

To facilitate border crossings, Poland lifted quarantine rules on Thursday for people arriving from outside the EU without a lab-certified negative COVID-19 test.

The country is home to the region's largest Ukrainian community, numbering around 1 million, and is the easiest EU country to reach from Kyiv.

Warsaw called for the "fiercest possible sanctions" against Russia.

Elsewhere in the region, Czech President Milos Zeman, long sympathetic to Moscow, called Russian President Vladimir Putin a "madman." Prague stopped issuing visas to Russians and ordered the closure of two Russian consulates.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has also forged good ties with Putin, condemned Moscow's actions, too. He said Hungary would prepare humanitarian aid for Ukraine and was ready to receive refugees.

Groups of people fled into Hungary via the Beregsurany and Tiszabecs crossings, some coming from as far as Kyiv, a Reuters eyewitness said. Some arrived by car but many pedestrians were also hauling suitcases across.

"No one wants to get conscripted, no one wants to die," said Tamas Bodnar at the border with Hungary. "It's clear that those who can, they flee."

Several hundred people also left Ukraine from a sliver of its territory sandwiched between Moldova and the Black Sea, crossing into Romania by ferry over the Danube river, local authorities said.

Slovak customs officials said passenger cars were having to wait up to 12 hours at the busiest of Slovakia's three road crossings with Ukraine.

Tens of thousands of Ukrainians work in Slovakia and Hungary, which has a large ethnic minority of around 140,000 living just inside Ukraine's border.
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HOSPITALS ON STANDBY

Poland was preparing a medical train to transport wounded Ukrainians and drew up a list of 1,230 hospitals that could admit the injured, the health ministry said. The Polish army raised the level of preparedness of some units.

"We will do everything to ensure that every person who enters the territory of Poland has access to healthcare, including hospitalisation," the ministry said.

Poland set up reception points for refugees near border crossings.

Slovakia also said it was ready to help refugees.

"Please let's have compassion and understanding for them," Prime Minister Eduard Heger said.

Slovakia will send up to 1,500 troops to its border with Ukraine and additional crossings will be set up, said Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad. Hungary has also said it will send troops to its border to help process refugees.

The governor of Slovakia's eastern Kosice region, Rostislav Trnka, told Reuters around 2,000 beds and some 60 gyms had been prepared to help house refugees.

The Czech Republic, which does not border Ukraine but is home to 260,000 Ukrainians, also said it was ready to help refugees. Czech Railways offered rail cars with 6,000 seats and beds to help evacuate people if necessary.

Romania is ready to grant humanitarian aid if needed, President Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday, while Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said his country was preparing to evacuate by land more than 4,000 ethnic Bulgarians from Ukraine and was ready to host other Ukrainian refugees.

A Polish government spokesman said Polish diplomatic missions in Ukraine would remain open "as long as possible" but the foreign ministry urged all Polish citizens to leave Ukraine.

Hungary also said its embassy in Kyiv remained open. The Czech Republic closed its Kyiv embassy but its consulate in the western city of Lviv remained open.

Germany offered humanitarian help to countries bordering Ukraine. German media have cited estimates that between 200,000 and one million people may flee to the EU from Ukraine.
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gabe said:
Russia just threatened Finland and Sweden with military and political consequences if they join NATO.

thehill.com

Russia threatens ‘military and political consequences’ if Finland, Sweden try joining NATO

Russia threatened “military and political consequences” against Finland and Sweden on Friday if they attempted to join NATO.Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova warned against othe…
thehill.com thehill.com
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All the more reason to join - those who are willing to use military threat against you aren't going to stop using it after you acquiesce.

AoD
 
*Cross Post from European News thread*

thehill.com

NATO activates response force for first time in history

NATO, for the first time in its history, is activating its NATO Response Force (NRF) in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “We have activated NATO’s defense plans to prepare ourselves t…
thehill.com thehill.com

NATO activating 40,000 member response force for the first time in its history. (not yet deployed)
 
gabe said:
Russia just threatened Finland and Sweden with military and political consequences if they join NATO.

thehill.com

Russia threatens ‘military and political consequences’ if Finland, Sweden try joining NATO

Russia threatened “military and political consequences” against Finland and Sweden on Friday if they attempted to join NATO.Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova warned against othe…
thehill.com thehill.com
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Interesting. If Russia decided to invade Finland tomorrow, would the West once again stand idly by and watch it happen like they are with Ukraine?
 
Watching on BBC the Ukrainian women in a city park making Molotov cocktails, the civilians lining up for weapons, you can’t help but wish them well. As for the Air Force, fog of war and a lot of wishful thinking, but I’d like to think this is accurate.


https://twitter.com/x/status/1497164782952239104
 
Towered said:
Interesting. If Russia decided to invade Finland tomorrow, would the West once again stand idly by and watch it happen like they are with Ukraine?
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Hard to say. Finland has a vastly smaller military than Ukraine and its population is also more than 10x smaller I believe. Finland would be a wayyyy easier country to capture, which means it would also probably be harder to defend because by the time we got there the country would already have fallen, even if we acted almost immediately.

That said, Finland is apart of the EU, which is also an alliance, albeit a significantly less powerful one than NATO in the absence of US, UK and Canada. There is no EU army (though it's an issue that's continuing to get pushed more and more) but there are some EU member states with reasonable militaries. Again I don't know if any could stack up against Russia without the help from UK or north america though.

That's a long winded way of saying I'd wager they'd let Finland fall like Ukraine, but the risk of an all out conflict would grow significantly if Finland was attacked.
 
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