archer

Toyota Motor Corp will halt production at its Russian factory from Friday while vehicle imports into the country have also stopped indefinitely https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/honda-suspend-automobile-motorcycle-exports-russia-nhk-2022-03-02/ Honda Motor said it has suspended exports of cars and motorcycles to Russia - Reuters

Putin on Tuesday signed a decree that prohibits taking more than $10,000 worth of foreign currency in cash and “monetary instruments” out of Russia. Apparently trying to keep people who can afford it from fleeing. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/putin-signs-decree-to-prohibit-leaving-russia-with-more-than-10000-in-foreign-currency/ar-AAUu3Ha

Yeah, there's a lot of movies which are deliberately bad. Or which have tiny budgets and can't accomplish whatever they wanted to accomplish based on the money available. But The Last Jedi was just bad. And not in a way which had anything to do with not being able to afford good actors, good writers, good directors, or good special effects. It violated the universe's own rules about how the universe worked multiple times. And not only that but made those violations into major plot points. And not just how the Force works but also how hyperdrive works because apparently you can no longer go faster than light to get ahead of a starship you're very, very slowly chasing across realspace. It made no sense, objectively. The military leaders on both sides of the fight have less of an idea of how a military conflict should happen than 5 year olds playing with plastic soldiers. It stole scenes from the previous Star Wars movie as if the writer was too lazy to come up with new scenes.

News roundup ==== South Korea to honor sanctions. They export a lot of semiconductors. https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20220228005951325?input=red ==== Anonymous claims to have attacked and disabled railways in Belarus. And claim they will continue to keep the rail system disabled as long as the Russian aggression continues. Russia has been depending on that rail system to supply troops in its invasion corridor where that 40 mile long convoy is now stalled out. ==== Ukraine has received a new batch of Turkish Bayraktar TB2 attack drones (the kind which they'd used to destroy convoys in the first couple of days of the war). https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/30352-ukraine-says-it-received-new-batch-of-bayraktars-from-turkey Last year, the Ukrainian air force was known to have had 6 of them. But it had ordered 48 more and 12 new control stations for them from Turkey. That article says that the Ukrainians had upped the count of the ones they'd received to around 20 (presumably talking about "by the time the war began"). So apparently the rest of their order has at least started to arrive. They're really small, and really cheap, compared to a US-made Reaper drone. (The Bayraktar TB2 production cost is estimated at $1–2 million dollars but I couldn't find information on what Turkey is charging Ukraine per drone.) It's also supposed to be able to take off and land on roads rather than needing an airport. < singing > Send in the drones. Where are the drones? Don't bother, they're here. ==== Ukrainians are listing used Russian tanks on EBay. There was a T-72 listed with a Buy It Now price of $400,000 before Ebay took the listing down. Nice propaganda move but the delivery charge is likely prohibitive. And I doubt EBay will let any listing stay up long since selling active military hardware has to violate their terms of service. ==== Ukraine and Russia conducted their first prisoner swap yesterday. Ukraine is also offering to release any Russian prisoner whose mother comes to collect him. (Brilliant propaganda move.) https://censor.net/ua/news/3320764/ukrayina_viddast_rosiyiskyh_polonenyh_yakscho_za_nymy_pryyidut_materi_geraschenko ==== EU has removed RT (Russia Today) from its airwaves and cable. RT is financed by the Russian government and in the US has been forced to register as an agent of the Russian government. ==== Massive snowstorm forecast for southern Russia and eastern Ukraine over the next couple of days. Russia is forecast to get 10-30 inches with eastern Ukraine about 8 inches. That could impact Russian resupply efforts. And vastly complicate Ukrainian evacuation efforts. ==== Russian media now accusing Kazakhstan of “russophobia” and “ukrainization”, whatever that is supposed to mean. Not suggesting Russia will attack Kazakhstan but worth pointing out this is exactly how they built up their narrative about “Nazi Ukraine” (journalist Bakhti Nishanov showing tweeted images from Russian media.) Putin publicly asked Kazakhstan's government to join him in the invasion a few days ago but, surprisingly, Kazakhstan refused. ==== "According to U.S. officials speaking today, ~100,000 Russian troops inside Ukraine (~70% of its entire deployed force) are running out, or have already run out of fuel & food." - Charlie Lister, an expert who's shown up on a couple of US networks ==== A $1,000,000 bounty for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin was offered to military officers by Russian entrepreneur Alex Konanykhin https://www.jpost.com/international/article-699098 He doesn't live inside Russia at the moment. ==== U.S. believes Ukrainian troops are targeting Russia's stalled 40-mile convoy of tanks and artillery that is "stalled" miles from Kyiv city center: senior U.S. defense official. - Jack Detsch, a national security reporter ==== President Pedro Sanchez of Spain in a speech to his parliament promises to deliver offensive weapons to Ukraine. https://www.bayradio.fm/2022/03/02/pedro-sanchez-announces-that-he-will-send-weapons-to-the-ukrainian-resistance/ edit: other sources claim it's to be sending 1,300 anti-tank rockets and 700,000 rounds of ammunition. ==== The United States has delivered hundreds of stinger missiles to Ukraine this week, including more than 200 on Monday, according to two Congressional officials briefed on the deliveries. - NBC News ==== The World Health Organization says the first shipment of medical aid for Ukraine will arrive in Poland on Thursday. The shipment includes 36 metric tons of supplies for trauma care and emergency surgery that will meet the needs of 1,000 patients. It also includes other health supplies to meet the needs of 150,000 people. - NBC ==== 70% of Russian oil struggling to find buyers https://censor.net/ua/news/3320763/70_rosiyiskoyi_nafty_boretsya_za_te_schob_znayity_pokuptsiv_financial_times ==== Bank of China's Singapore operation has stopped financing deals involving Russian oil and Russian companies. At least two of China’s largest state-owned banks are restricting financing for purchases of Russian commodities. (At the same time China is assuring Russia that it stands with them economically, they're pulling back somewhat financially.) European banks Societe Generale and Credit Suisse Group have halted the financing of commodities, it was reported on Sunday. The two banks, key financiers to commodity trading houses, are no longer providing the money needed to move raw materials such as metals and oil from Russia. https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/banking-finance/bank-of-chinas-singapore-operation-stops-financing-russian-oil-trades-source ==== An image from part of that 40 mile convoy (near Bucha in the Kyiv Oblast).

Russia closed its stock market for the third day in a row. MSNBC tv reported that the value of the Russian ruble dropped even lower today than it was yesterday. I did see one graphic of a Russian bank which is listed on the London stock exchange. On Friday it had been valued around 5.5 per share (I assume pounds). On Monday it opened up at less than .5 per share, so about 1/11th of its previous price. Honestly I don't see how Russia can keep its stock market closed forever. But it's going to be really hard for them to pretend their economy isn't crashing after it opens.

That's a hilariously funny video. But it was made last year in Russia by a Russian girl. Just part of the TikTok community digging into archives looking for something to use as pro-Ukraine propaganda. But it's nice the Ukrainians can use it too.

Well, it was likely either an intentional leak or deliberate misinformation. Either way, intentionally mentioned to demoralize Russians about the war effort. And if it's true, there's likely a lot of FSB people who were ticked at Putin turning to mercenaries to do his dirty work. Professional pride and all of that. And about Ukrainian forces seeming particularly lucky, I had intended a couple of days ago to post a story about the EU sharing real time satellite intelligence with Ukraine collected by some base in Spain. I honestly don't remember if I posted it here or not. I've had way too many posts (in various places) and conversations to keep everything straight. But eyes-in-the-sky are a tremendous force multiplier. I know Ukraine is using TV to distribute intelligence to the public (which is why Russia targeted Kiev's TV tower today). And I know they're also using publicly-viewable social media posts and likely cell phones. They probably have some other way of communicating intelligence to their citizens. But western media is scrupulously avoiding talking about it, just as they're scrupulously avoiding showing the defensive works going up around Kiev's perimeter and throughout many of Kiev's streets. edit: Here's a story about the sharing of satellite data. It's not the one I read earlier but it at least mentions it. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-help-ukraine-with-intelligence-own-satellite-centre-eus-borrell-2022-02-28/

CNN's White House and national security reporter

That link didn't work for me but this one did https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/original-usfl-ex-owners-file-lawsuit-aimed-at-new-usfl-potentially-halting-start-of-spring-football-league/ By waiting until it's so close that the new USFL might lose money by not starting on schedule, it increases the pressure on them to throw money at the problem and settle immediately rather than go to court. At least, that's my take on it. And the original USFL owners definitely have a case, in my opinion, since the new league uses the same names and logos as the old teams.

Mini-news roundup since I nearly wrecked myself trying to install a new mailbox post and can't do anything now but sit in a chair. Mise. ==== Nord Stream 2, the company behind the controversial pipeline that was halted amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has officially filed for bankruptcy and laid off all its employees. Not surprising considering Shell pulling out, Germany putting a hold on the approval process, and sanctions against Russia in general. But welcome nonetheless. ==== Ukrainian ambassador to attend Biden's State of the Union this evening. ==== EU agreed to exclude seven more Russian banks from SWIFT. Slow-rolling it to keep ramping up the pressure. ==== Ford is suspending operations in Russia until further notice. Mostly they built commercial vans in Russia and sold other Ford products through local car dealers. ==== Ukraine and Poland open two additional border crossing locations. ==== The world’s three biggest container lines (Maersk, CMA, and MSC) on Tuesday suspended cargo shipments to and from Russia except for medicine and humanitarian aid. MSC is a Swiss company. Maersk is in Denmark. CMA is in France. Singapore-headquartered Ocean Network Express and Germany’s Hapag Lloyd had already done this so this effectively cuts off Russia from all the world's biggest shipping companies. On the other hand, all those containers which might have otherwise been used for Russian shipments are now available to ease supply chain issues elsewhere. (Maersk also owns 31% of Russian port operator Global Ports, which runs six terminals in Russia. They haven't yet announced how they're planning on dealing with that.) ==== Ukrainian's State Border Service states 80,000 Ukrainians have returned to the country from abroad since the invasion began. Most returned to join the Armed Forces, other military formations and Territorial Defense Forces. (Presumably the rest are things like doctors, nurses, and aid workers.) https://t.me/mvs_ukraine/8991 ==== Russian-owned and registered ships banned from Canadian ports and their waters https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-russian-ships-banned-from-canadian-waters/ ==== Eight Kiev TV stations are back on the air after a Russian attack earlier today on Kiev's TV tower. https://www.facebook.com/kirill.timoshenko/posts/5073347172709026 The attack on the TV tower killed five people. ==== Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of UkraineAlexey Danilov spoke today during a telethon about the elimination of the" elite " Kadyrovites (Chechen's who work for Putin) who planned to kill the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky. You might remember the stories a couple of days ago about the 400 mercenaries who were sent to assassinate Zelensky. This is apparently what happened to them. He said the Ukrainian government were tipped off about the assassins' location by members of Russia's FSB (the successor to the KGB) who oppose the war. https://translate.yandex.com/translate?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.unian.net%2Fwar%2Fplanirovali-ubit-zelenskogo-likvidirovany-elitnye-kadyrovcy-danilov-novosti-donbassa-11724325.html&lang=ru-en https://www.unian.net/war/planirovali-ubit-zelenskogo-likvidirovany-elitnye-kadyrovcy-danilov-novosti-donbassa-11724325.html

UK government announces sanctions against Belarus government, organizations, and individuals. ==== EU officials are considering offering asylum and refugee status for soldiers who want to desert the Russian army, as long as they have not committed war crimes. (I still think my idea of offering Russian pilots $1,000,000 plus US citizenship if they surrender themselves and their aircraft is something which should be seriously considered. I tried getting that started as a rumor through contacting Ukrainian media and government sources plus Anonymous but no one has bitten on it as of yet. I think getting the rumor out there if nothing else would be devastating.)

It's a case of the blind leading the morons....

Apple has confirmed that it has paused all product sales in Russia. That includes ApplePay. MSNBC had fun interviewing Russians in Moscow not able to get on the subway because they usually use ApplePay. GooglePay has also stopped working in Russia. So there were backups trying to get on the subway from people trying to come up with cash at the turnstile. Included in that Apple announcement is that RT News and Sputnik News, two state media sources, are no longer available on their App store.

Dropping DirectTV then using YouTubeTV (non-premium), Disney+, HBOMax, and a couple of others my wife buys turned out to save us a lot of money per month. Of course, she keeps track of it all so I don't have to deal with it.

That's good news. I have Disney but not Netflix. My Disney+ package includes Hulu and National Geographic. I thought that was standard.

News roundup I'm not providing links to every story this time since finding links which mentioned all of the information which I found relevant proved to be very time consuming. So instead, I'm writing up the information and throwing in links when the link would be more helpful than confusing or incomplete. ==== MSNBC tv's daily Meet the Press show on Monday revealed how removing Russia from SWIFT was accomplished: there's a carve out for Italy and Germany to continue making their energy payments to Russia using SWIFT, even to banks which are sanctioned from SWIFT for other purposes. That sidesteps the concerns that Russia's own payment communications system would get a huge boost and also the concern that it would lead to stabilizing the ruble and devaluing the dollar, like I discussed a couple of days ago. Really a genius compromise that no one, including myself, had ever publicly considered or discussed. ==== Shell Oil is following BP's lead in divesting itself of investments in Russian energy companies. Shell's investment in Russia's energy sector is about $3 billion. In particular, Shell operates in conjunction with Gazprom, which is Russia's largest state-owned oil company. Notable investments 1) it was one of the partners in providing funding for Nord Stream 2 2) the Salym Petroleum Development which is the development of three gigantic oil fields in Siberia. It is a 50/50 owner of that project with Gazprom (Russia's largest state-owned oil company) and presumably Shell had provided most of the technical expertise. 3) the huge Sakhalin 2 LNG plant (Shell holds a 27.5% stake) which exports primarily to China and Japan. Japanese trading houses Mitsui & Co and Mitsubishi Corp, which own stakes of 12.5% and 10% in Sakhalin 2 respectively, said separately that they are examining Shell's announcement. Norway's Equinor, majority owned by the Norwegian state, said earlier on Monday that it would start divesting from its joint ventures in Russia. (Equinor has been partnered with Rosneft searching for oil in several parts of Russia. You might remember that Rosneft is the Russian oil company which BP just dumped. So Rosneft has lost two of its major western partners. But it's still the largest publicly-traded oil company in the world.) https://news.yahoo.com/shell-exit-joint-ventures-russias-180818488.html ==== Russia’s stock market will remain closed on Tuesday, Russia’s central bank has confirmed. (Gee, I wonder why?) ==== FINLAND on Monday announced it will donate 2,500 assault rifles, 150,000 cartridges for the rifles, 1,500 single-shot anti-tank weapons and 70,000 combat ration packages to Ukraine. Also 2,000 composite helmets and 2,000 bulletproof vests, 100 stretchers and equipment for two emergency medical care stations. They're basing their donations on Ukraine's wish list submitted to the EU and on what Finland has immediately available to send. https://www.helsinkitimes.fi/finland/finland-news/domestic/21099-finland-to-send-assault-rifles-anti-tank-weapons-and-ammunition-to-ukraine.html ==== The United States announced Monday it is expelling 12 members of the Russian Mission at the United Nations, accusing them of being intelligence operatives engaged in espionage. White House press secretary Jen Psaki responded to the Russian ambassador’s characterization of the expulsions as a “hostile act” by saying: “I think the hostile act is committing espionage activities on our own soil.” According to the U.N. diplomatic directory, Russia has 79 diplomats accredited to the United Nations. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/u-s-says-it-is-expelling-12-russian-diplomats-for-engaging-in-espionage ==== Switzerland and Monaco have both decided to honor the sanctions against Russia. ==== Cyprus, ‘haven for Russian money laundering’, supports excluding Russia from SWIFT banking and all the other EU sanctions (Cyprus is not in NATO but is in the EU). It's a notorious haven for Russian money, the official home of several companies owned by Russian oligarchs and the second biggest bank in Cyprus is Russian. So banning them from access to Cyrus hurts more than keeping oligarchs from vacationing on the French Riviera. So if they're serious about actually enforcing the sanctions rather than letting things slide, it's significant. https://theprint.in/world/cyprus-haven-for-russian-money-laundering-supports-excluding-russia-from-swift-banking/850757/ ==== Canada Trudeau announces they're supplying Ukraine with anti-tank weapons systems and upgraded ammunition. This is in addition to our three previous shipments of military equipment – and it’s on top of the night vision goggles, body armour, gas masks, and helmets we announced yesterday. “Canada will continue to deliver support for Ukraine’s heroic defense against the Russian military,” he said, according to Reuters. “We are announcing our intention to ban all imports of crude oil from Russia, an industry that has benefited President Putin and his oligarchs greatly.” ==== German warplanes are flying armed air patrols in the skies over Poland, the German air force said on Tuesday. “Safeguarding the skies over Poland,” the air force said on Twitter, above a picture of a starting fighter jet, without giving details. A military spokesperson told Reuters the Eurofighter jets were flying missions out of Germany over Poland. Germany is also refueling allied jets over Romania with an A400M tanker and supporting a multinational refueling mission over Poland, according to the spokesperson, on top of having deployed six Eurofighters to Romania where they fly armed air patrols for NATO. On Monday, Germany announced it would send Tornado warplanes and a maritime patrol aircraft to the Baltic Sea area. My Commentary: This looks like pure intimidation to me. It's obvious by the way that Putin has dribbled his forces into Ukraine that he was worried that NATO would respond in force and annihilate whatever he sent in...but leave alone whatever he didn't send in. So he started off sending in less than a third of the forces he'd assembled. When those weren't successful in the first two days, he gradually ramped it up to half over the following couple of days. But now Putin has gone up to a solid 75% of his forces committed. So Germany starts flying cap over Poland (with Germany's military being the "monster under the bed" of Russian fears). There's no particular military reason to be over Poland at this point since Putin already committed his forces elsewhere. But by putting them there, it's an intimidation move to try to keep Putin from committing the rest of his forces and putting them at risk (since NATO forces would be much less likely to attack Russian forces which actually remained on Russian soil as opposed to being involved in an invasion of Ukraine). It's a pretty smart move. ==== YouTube has blocked channels linked to Russian state-owned media outlets RT and Sputnik across Europe – including the UK – amid the invasion of Ukraine. (The EU had been talking about turning off both media outlets for the duration anyway. So this might be just YouTube rushing to the head of a parade and pretending to lead it.) ==== The 17 mile long convoy of Russian military forces on their way to Kiev grew to 40 miles over the last few hours. British military intelligence is saying the Russians are having logistical problems (likely fuel and breakdowns), So rather than the forces moving along in an orderly fashion, they're backing up along the road back to Belarus. The satellite photos on TV show the forces almost bumper-to-bumper for miles. If the Ukrainians had significant air-to-mud aircraft available, this would be a very target-rich environment (and likely vehicles detonating other vehicles). Makes me wonder if part of the financial military assistance to Ukraine is being devoted to buying more of those Turkish-made drones which have proved so effective against convoys. ==== Belarus troops enter Ukraine to assist Russian invasion. https://t.me/verkhovnaradaukrainy/6789 They're entering along the same invasion route as that 40 mile long convoy so I'd assume that they're mixed in with the Russian traffic jam. ==== Australia’ commits $70m to provide Ukraine with missiles and ammunition. ==== UK bars Russian ships from its ports. This includes chartered, controlled, operated, or owned by Russians. https://www.facebook.com/andrew.guck1/posts/5359593077398270 ==== A breakdown of the aircraft the EU is providing to Ukraine. Ukraine’s Air Force said on March 1 that Bulgaria will provide 16 MiG-29s and 14 Su-25s, Poland will provide 28 MiG-29 units, and Slovakia – 12 MiG-29s. 70 total. (I nailed the identities of the three countries providing the aircraft: small personal victory!) https://www.facebook.com/kpszsu/posts/324628826371739 (And remember Poland had just donated a large number of air-to-air missiles for such jets as I mentioned in my last compilation post.) edit: to give some context Before the war started, Ukraine had 37 MiG-29s 12 Su-24s 17 Su-25s 32 Su-27s So that's 98 total fighters if I did the math right in my head. And the EU just gave them another 70 fighters plus the ammunition to make them effective. I read reports before the war started that Ukraine had more trained military pilots in service than they had aircraft. So it's entirely possible, especially with calling up their reserves and retired military pilots, that they could put those aircraft to use immediately. ==== EU interior ministers asked EU home affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson to prepare proposals to trigger the EU temporary protection directive, drawn up after the 1990s war in the Balkans. If approved, that would allow Ukrainians who flee the war the right to stay and work in the EU for up to three years. ==== Taiwan has sent 27 tons of medical supplies to Ukraine, Reuters reports. Taiwan has joined with Western allies in putting sanctions on Russia. Honoring the sanctions is notable because Taiwan is a major source of the world's semiconductors. ==== Ukrainian ambassador to the US claims Russia used a fuel-air explosive (aka thermobaric weapon, aerosol bomb, or vacuum bomb) in an area with civilians and not on a military target. If true, that's a violation of the Geneva Convention. The international criminal court’s prosecutor is seeking the court’s approval to investigate alleged war crimes. Fuel-air explosions can be made large enough to be the next worst thing in size to a nuclear explosion. Russia previously was alleged to use such weapons in first and second Chechen Wars during battles over Grozny (the Chechen capital city and previously the most populous city of the disputed area). Amnesty International has condemned Russia’s reported use of cluster munitions (a different weapons system) on civilian populations and say the use of them on a pre-school may be a war crime. ==== Russian troops based in the country’s far east are heading for maneuvers closer to Europe, the Interfax news agency quoted Russia’s eastern military district as saying on Tuesday. === An open letter "We, the Presidents of the EU member states: the Republic of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Poland, the Slovak Republic, and the Republic of Slovenia strongly believe that Ukraine deserves receiving an immediate EU accession perspective. Therefore, we call on the EU Member States to consolidate highest political support to Ukraine and enable the EU institutions to conduct steps to immediately grant Ukraine a EU candidate country status and open the process of negotiations." === Religious figure and former presidential candidate Pat Robertson says that Putin is being compelled by God to invade Ukraine. (video available at the link) https://deadstate.org/pat-robertson-putin-is-being-compelled-by-god-to-invade-ukraine-and-bring-on-the-end-times/ ==== Ukrainians are posting drive-by firebombing videos as they drive normal cars like minivans by Russian vehicles on the highway and toss a Molotov cocktail out onto them. They use a chase car to catch usable video. Armored personnel carriers seem to burn well. ==== A poll shows that 74% of Americans oppose Putin's invasion of Ukraine. The other 26% think Trump is President. — Henry M. Rosenberg ==== Edited the section on "the donation of 70 fighter aircraft" to compare it to the size of the already-existing Ukrainian air force so as to give you the idea of just how huge of a contribution that was to the war effort. Ukrainian pilots started moving those aircraft from Poland back home yesterday.

I bought a book on the sunk cost fallacy. It's not very good but I'm halfway through, so I thought I might as well finish it. I thought for sure you'd make a joke about the rain in the UK. You know, the Ukraine.

I told the man: “It’s not how many times you fall down, but how many times you get back up that matters.” He said: “That’s not how DUI tests work, sir.”

What is the difference between a dollar and a ruble ? A dollar.

What do the colors in the Ukrainian flag represent? Blue is for the sky. Yellow is for wheat. Red is for the allies who fight beside us.

In a nuclear war, they say the only thing to survive will be cockroaches. Which means most countries will still have functioning governments.

What does 50 Cent call himself in Russia? 50,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Rubles

Russia Hikes Interest Rates to 20% on Monday in a dramatic attempt to stabilize the country’s financial markets (the previous rate was 9.5%). Russia’s Finance Ministry also said it would mandate companies to sell at least 80% of their foreign currency earnings on the domestic market — a move that will force them to buy rubles, thus creating demand for the under-siege currency. Russia’s exporters brought in close to $600 billion in 2021, meaning the forced sales could provide more than $1 billion to the market a day. Economists said the move was designed to replace the Central Bank’s typical role in stabilizing the currency, which was hit by the freezing of its assets held in the West. The regulator also banned non-Russians from selling shares in companies listed on the Russian stock market https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/02/28/russia-hikes-interest-rates-to-20-a76642 I must say that I never really expected a significant meltdown due to sanctions....

BREAKING: Russia's whole economy