The former Essar refinery at Vadinar is majority owned by Rosneft, so its hardly surprising they are buying Russian oil. That refinery has historically imported crude from Venezuela, so they don't have any qualms regarding the morals of their suppliers. The obvious route would be Black Sea - Med - Suez - Red Sea-Indian Ocean - Biden could perhaps lean on the Turkey and Egypt to close the Bosphorus and/or Suez Canal to all Russian ships but I cant see it happening.

Or via Iran .................

Coincidentally I was talking about that with someone just the other day. Our IT department is basically reliant on Indian contractors, so it would be interesting to see if there were sanctions on India how that would affect visas for those workers, the contract with the supplier and any differences between the offshore and onshore workforces

I'm sure we're not the only one

I assume you have a source to confirm both Nazi-sympathisers and tossers? If not, wind your neck in. Oh, I forgot; as a civilised society, we allow free speech.

On the contrary; Russia seems to have massively stepped up its export of fertiliser and (scrap) metal over recent weeks . True it is mostly going to Ukraine, but possibly there will be some left over for us.


Sure. The Nazi sympathisers who elected a Jewish president. Makes sense!

Go easy on him, he's only saying what his handlers told him to say.

It does appear the west is starting to regurgitate McCarthyism, where anyone who has had any dealings with Russia are being sought in a glorified witch-hunt

Well, judging by the crap you have been spreading, it appears Russia is awash with the stuff. :)

Well we know Putin is full of it ;)

Considering that Russia's leadership, apparently supported by most of its people, have abandoned civilised behaviour in favour of barbarism I think it's entirely justified.
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Decoy darts being reported in the Daily Telegraph this evening
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-ne...vilian-attack/

No, it's (probably) not only Russia that's lying. The difference is just about everything Russia says is a lie, and at least we have access to information about Ukraine's statement to make an informed decision for ourselves.

Let us take a closer look at the real problem :ok:


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....326fea969.jpeg

That Chinese bot Wun Foo Tin?

The thing about Propaganda is, IMHO, the context. In WW2 it was a useful tool that galvanized the populace into compliance or at the very least, all pulling in the same direction. All sides used it. The problem is de-toxing from it. My Mother, after being a child sheltering in a basement during the blitz, never forgave the Germans. My In-Laws the same with the Japanese, although without a first hand impression.

Putin needs the propaganda to spin his narrative. He needs the folks back home to believe it in order to justify an invasion & keep his troops committed & focused. He needs the World to believe his reasoning, although that ship may have sailed.

What does Ukraine need from propaganda? Very little IMHO. The populace is focussed on defending their Homeland. They have the sympathy of the World & a few dedicated souls that want to actually help on the ground.

So, in context, I would agree that they are both using propaganda, but I don't think they need it equally which tends to make the Ukraine reports more believable for me.

My freinds grandfather lives in odessa, russian descent, considers himself true russian, speaks russian, hates putin even before this. Another good friend of mine (ex military) spent about an hour or so on skype with him early on giving a 101 on urban warfare / molotovs. The guy is 86 and going to fight russia if they land

Russian helicopters believed hit at Kherson on the ground, 4 reported as destroyed and three possibly damaged.



https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....ba44c8ef4.jpeg

I am wondering how long it will be before the magnitude of Russian losses makes it back to the home population. They may well have exceeded their losses in Afghanistan by now. How long before we see mothers demonstrating in Russian cities?

On another hand, NATO is collecting vast amounts of Russian military communications, all the same time while the Ukrainians are depleting Russian armor and aircraft, along with quite a few senior officers that are no longer available for making trouble in Baltic and East Europe - for the price of several Stingers, Javelins, NLAWS, Bayraktars and other undisclosed items.

Really it's quite the bargain for NATO, even given the Putin Premium on oil and gas that will be with us for quite some time.

Yep - my thoughts exactly.
Predictions in the last 24 hours that the Russians might be able to last another 10 days - then they start to run out of fuel, ammo, food and money.
So - keep the weapons pouring into the Ukraine, and substantially cruel Russia's military capability without directly having to engage them.
Putin - you're a genius.
Quite happy to pay A$7 for a coffee and $3 a litre for petrol to see the pr!ck run into the ground.