Excerpt. Link below: September 20, 2022 NATO forces destroy seven mines adrift in Black Sea Shipping had been warned of risk of floating mines from the Ukraine-Russia war, with vital grain shipments also possibly threatened. By Richard Thomas Spoiler NATO member Romania has been active in the Black Sea region detecting and neutralising drifting sea mines from the Ukraine-Russia war. Credit: US Navy Drifting naval mines represent a threat to maritime traffic operating in the southwest region of the Black Sea, according to the NATO Shipping Centre (NSC), which earlier this month was moved to issue a direct warning to vessels transiting the area, with numerous instances recorded. Issued on 12 September, the NSC stated that drifting naval mines had been “detected and deactivated” in the western Black Sea by “coastal nations authorities”, while there had been a confirmed sighting of another mine adrift on the currents. An additional stray mine had been detected and neutralised on 8 September in the southwestern Black Sea region. “The threat of more drifting mines cannot be ruled out. Any sightings of mine-like objects should be reported to coastal authorities and shipping should remain well clear of the hazard,” the NSC warned at the time, advising ship masters to avoid floating objects, keep the forward area of the ship clear and use effective lookouts. Continuing, the NSC stated that the threat of collateral damage or direct hits on civilian shipping in what is termed the War Risk Area in the Black Sea “remains high”. Further, the threat of GPS jamming, AIS spoofing, communications jamming, electronic interference, and cyber attacks was also considered as high, while harassment and diversion of shipping in the area “cannot be excluded”. Speaking with Ship Technology on 19 September, the NSC said that a total of “seven stray mines” had been detected in the Black Sea and subsequently neutralised by the navies of NATO members Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey. The mines are almost certainly the result of munitions placed by Ukraine or Russia in the ongoing war in Ukraine, with both sides extensively using networks of sea mines for strategic effect. While the Black Sea itself remains closed to warship traffic due to Turkey’s enacting of the Montreux Convention and closure of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits to military vessels, NATO member states in the region (Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey) had set up “enhanced surveillance measures” to detect and track sea mines. “Allies in the Black Sea region have set up rapidly deployable assets and capabilities that allow them to very quickly react and neutralise drifting mines in a very timely manner,” said the NSC spokesperson. However, the threat of commercial shipping in the region posed by sea mines “cannot be completely eliminated”, the spokesperson said, with NATO prepared to deploy “the most appropriate assets when necessary” depending on “operational and technical parameters”. It had earlier been reported that a Romanian mine countermeasure vessel had been struck by a drifting sea mine on 8 September, however the at the time of publishing the Romanian Ministry of Defence had not responded to requests for comment into the incident. The western and southwestern area of the Black Sea are the prime locations for the Black Sea Grain Initiative’s (BGSI) transit corridor, a protected route to allow shipping to move grains and foodstuffs out of Ukrainian ports and into the global market. From the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February this year up until the beginning of the BSGI on 22 July, Ukraine had been unable to export any grain to vital markets, pushing up global prices of foodstuffs and raising the threat of food poverty in countries like Djibouti, a key recipient of Ukrainian grains. https://www.naval-technology.com/analysis/nato-forces-destroy-seven-mines-adrift-in-black-sea/
Mobilized Russians show off the high quality weapons they've been provided for training: Translation: ⚰️ "They gave out such a piece of s**t. F**k us!": Russian mobilized soldiers are given rusty automatic weapons The video was shot in Primorsky Krai. The "partially" mobilized are reassured that it is only for training, but with such a level of training, we can imagine what the level of "warriors" will be.
I'd like to see more time dedicated by world leaders to finding an end to this war. The energy crisis is putting Europe on the brink of financial ruin and has contributed to soaring cost inflation in the USA. Ukraine's ability to stay in the fight depends on billions upon billions of dollars of aid, with the lion's share from the USA. There is no battlefield path to victory for Ukraine against Russia -- this is unfortunate, but just being realistic. The path that we are on is currently unsustainable and a lose-lose scenario where the world's economy plummets and literally billions of people's standards of living will be significantly downgraded. There is no scenario in which that is a win. The media is doing their part to pump out propaganda to suggest that Ukraine and the West are winning, but there is no hard evidence of that whatsoever and they are doing so at a time when the war is causing economic ruin both at home and abroad. We need to be honest here -- the trajectory that we are currently on is disastrous.
Russians abandoning their tragically under equipped "100% totally Russian, honest" Luchansk and Donetsk People's Republic militia to die in Lyman by the Ukranian advance while the evacuate the regular that they actually trained and equiped... As a bunch of "ethnic Russians" that Russia "is very concerned about", the Russian governenment has no problem with using them as literally cannon fodder, exponentially more so than their regular army. New Russian law makes it a crime punishable by up to 10 years in jail for "surrendering to the enemy", so apparently these people don't even have that out. Time to die for the glory of Mother Russia! (Someone needs to report "mom" to CPS for child abuse.)
Let's be honest, we didnt pull out of Afghanistan or Iraq either despite it costing us trillions over 15years. So I don't think the public will strongly push for a US backed end to the war even if we feel the hit from energy weighted inflation and supply chain disruptions from the Russian war In the long run, seems likely O&G supply chain disruptions abroad will benefit Houston and pro-frackers, assuming we aren't nuked and we recover from economic worries here and EU survives their winter. If your economic concerns play through, it more likely the EU cries uncle first, then we react off that than actively push for peace by punting Putin down the line. His succesor is likely taking notes, so appeasement isn't a permanent answer either.
Special military operation totally going according to plan. This is what winning looks like! [BBC] Dmitry Bulgakov: Putin fires deputy defence chief amid supply failures Vladimir Putin has fired the general charged with managing the Russian military's faltering logistics operations in Ukraine.
You need to take a class in 20th Century European History, Trader_ J, a refresher. I'm sure Rice has a good one and would accept an alumni. Perhaps you could just sit in. Put your focus on the two world wars, particularly the 1930's and what led to the outbreak of war between Germany, her allies, and The United Kingdom, France, their allies, and ultimately the United States. You might find it educational and better understand the importance of standing up to Vladimir Putin, the Russian dictator, and against his attempt to absorb the independent democracy of Ukraine, one of the largest countries in Europe. A majority of Americans support the effort of President Biden and that of the European democracies to support Ukraine diplomatically and militarily as it struggles to defeat Putin's mad attempt to remake the Soviet Union. They understand what is at stake, apparently better than you, with all due respect.
Afghanistan and Iraq didn't cause global chaos like the Ukraine situation. There was still plenty of oil in the world to keep the machine moving. From what I am understanding, the world is in an energy crunch. While there is massive surpluses in some regions, there are significant deficits in others. If we could transport energy across the globe like we do data, we would see one of the greatest renaissances this world has ever seen. But that is fantasy, just like the dumbass narrative that the world can be run on only hydro, wind and solar in the foreseeable future. Instead countries are shuttering nuclear and refusing to invest in Gen IV Nuclear. We are instead focusing on Putin/Trump will become the next Hitler and CCP is trying to become like North Korea. Partisan politics running rampant across the global is getting in the way of taking care of the people of this planet.
How nice would it have been if Germans had focused on stopping Hitler from becoming the first Hitler back in the day? It's funny that you think it's *bad* to stop brutal dictators abroad and wannabe dictators at home and feel that's "partisan politics".
