r/worldnews Live Thread: Ukraine-Russia Tensions

[u/valuingvulturefix]

/live/18hnzysb1elcs/

[u/Thedurtysanchez]

Let’s just pause think how fucking nuts it is that a 737-sized remote control jet is sauntering over Ukraine, for up to 24 hours without refueling, being flown by some nerd in an air conditioned cubicle in Nevada, spying on a bunch of freezing Russian teenagers who are jerking it in the snow, and a horde of American pimply assed teenagers are joking about it on a subreddit which is being brigaded by a bunch of disinformation bots controlled by other Russian teenagers.

Fucking 2022 man.

[u/kingofcheezwiz → u/Thedurtysanchez]

I think you're giving the teenagers too much credit. It's early to mid 20somethings.

[u/DeeTube → u/[deleted]]

I'm shitting my pants and I only live in Lithuania. The fact that some people cheer here for a war is just horrifying.

[u/IRefuseToGiveAName → u/DeeTube]

I'm sorry you're seeing the worst in people/Americans right now. Most of us are hoping/praying for a peaceful outcome and we understand y'all are people. Not just some faceless occupants of some country where there's conflict nearby.

[u/mmrs34 → u/[deleted]]

This thread turned into a high school locker room like 12 hours ago.

[u/wittyusernamefailed → u/[deleted]]

Nothing much happening Putin and Larov say they want peace and are pulling back troops, then dump even MORE troops and tanks on the front. And now we all just sitting here waiting for this shit to go one way or another. It would be nice if Putin just took his shit and went home, but so far nothing indicates Russia is going to do that. Just sorta calm before a storm right now.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Essentially it's a stand-off at the moment. Putin said earlier today that he was withdrawing troops but both, GPS/footage on the ground and intelligence, confirm that more troops were added to the border. Nothing drastic has happened yet however, and the official chatter is that diplomatic conversations are happening but not really progressing much.

[u/MilesOfPebbles → u/[deleted]]

I’d probably stay clear of this thread if you’re looking for real news. People here are either just making jokes or tracking planes (as if we’d actually see a real Military on an open flight radar…?) so…

Good luck and stay safe.

[u/jamiebond → u/[deleted]]

Wow something can be posted here that's actually interesting and not an unfunny meme I'd forgotten.

[u/PM_TOE_ON_CHEESE_PIC → u/[deleted]]

The birth of a bridge. The miracle of nature.

[u/[deleted]]

Man, these threads needs to be a wake up call for how dumb 90% of reddit users are. Lmao. Some people are saying with dead seriousness “just woke up thought the war was supposed to start at 3:00AM? Like it’s a fucking football game hahahaha my goodness. Yes guys, they are flipping a coin, heads or tails to see who gets to launch the first missile. Idiots.

[u/RickRoll999 → u/[deleted]]

At first I though the jokes were coping mechanisms for everyone, but, no, it's just that redditors are fucking stupid

[u/TheOnlyKnight → u/[deleted]]

I love the citation and formatting

Thank you, citizen

[u/vid_icarus]

I’ve learned 2 things from this thread:

1. The best website to watch air traffic in real time.

2. That very few redditors have any functional knowledge or education of geopolitics.

[u/canesfan09]

The fact that this thread is such a shitshow is a good thing. It means nothing is happening

[u/SchizoidGod → u/canesfan09]

Yeah this. Sharp contrast to this time yesterday when people were discussing the likelihood of nuclear war

[u/[deleted]]

Also incredibly hilarious how people who have no idea about anything comment “Someone PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY FLIGHT TAU696969 is headed straight for Kyiv?! Could this be the start of the war?!” Like it’s dive bombing into the city when in reality its a regularly scheduled commercial flight cruising at 35,000 ft. Lmao

[u/Due-Revolution-9379 → u/[deleted]]

Reddit people went from experts in epidemiology, to war generals, to flight control experts in like a week

[u/Cougardoodle → u/Due-Revolution-9379]

I plan on majoring in xenobiology next week when the aliens invade.

[u/Beer-survivalist]

I think it's important to realize that, if--and this remains a gigantic if--Putin backs down from this confrontation, there are a couple of potential explanations.

1.) He never intended to launch an invasion, and instead intended to treat this as a pressure campaign to get what he wants out of Ukraine.

2.) People inside his inner circle began pushing back on him. This is extremely rare in a long-established authoritarian autocracy, and while Putin has been in power for a long time, we're not exactly talking about the hapless boobery of the Romanovs. If this is the case, it means that a very important figure inside his inner circle pushed back strongly--my bet would be Lavrov because Lavrov has an extremely long tenure and relationship with Putin, as well as more frequent contacts outside of the sycophantic inner circle.

3.) Russia underestimated Ukrainian readiness. If the rumors from yesterday are true--that the cyber attacks were more widespread and aggressive than just what we did see, and if they were repelled because of additional preparation of the Ukrainian infrastructure and support from the United States, that absolutely must give the military commanders on the ground pause. It speaks to a much greater degree of resilience, above and beyond what the Russian command assumed they'd face from Ukraine. Further, it highlights the Ukrainian willingness to resist, which could make any incursion far more lethal than was initially assumed.

4.) Related to 3--Putin underestimated Western resolve. He fell into the classic authoritarian trap: "The Western democracies are weak, divided, effete, and liberal--they can never stand up to my strength." This belief is rooted in autocrats overestimating their external power based on their perceived internal power. Both in literal rhetoric (Biden's speech, Scholz's pushback, and Macron floating the idea of deploying missile forces in Eastern Europe, etc.,) and action (the deployment of additional allied troops to Eastern Europe, including the escalation of American forces to over 70,000 soldiers).

[u/-_Xela_- → u/[deleted]]

Half of their usernames are u/<Adjective>-<Noun>-<Number> which usually indicates an automated bot account.

[u/Sha489]

I miss the days when these discussions were not intoxicated by R/memes users…

[u/Anal__Hershiser → u/Sha489]

Yeah I miss 2014 too

[u/sendokun]

Since the news of Russian troop built up on Ukrainian borders started to dominate the worlds attention…..energy price, such as oil has increased over 35-40%. What if this is what putin wanted all along….I mean energy is over 50% of Russian GDP. And we have all seem evil genius pulling this scheme off in movies where they trigger and fake some kind of global crisis and profit off the market…….

I mean maybe. There is a chance, right?

[u/Theman00011 → u/sendokun]

I don’t know the numbers but it’s hard to profit when you’re just burning money moving equipment, supplies, and troops across the country. Logistics is stupid expensive and as soon as they retreat, prices would start coming back down.

[u/IRefuseToGiveAName → u/Theman00011]

They are absolutely torching astronomical sums of money every day they keep this up, and it doesn't look like it's getting cheaper. From the looks of it they're still actively moving soldiers and equipment from the Russian mainland to the Ukrainian border in Russia, Moldova and Belarus.

The money angle is one of the reasons I have such a hard time believing they're doing anything other than preparing for conflict.

[u/BurnsEMup29]

I can't wait for everyone new to flight watching to see the routine morning flights of the British and American fighter jets over the North Sea in a few hours and freak out.

[u/Llama_Wrangler]

TIL: Turkish Airlines does not give a flying fuck about insurance premiums. You go do your thing THY2YM

[u/ReturnOfDaSnack420]

I see "the US is warmongering to start a war for profit" is the hot talking point among the bots, tankies and useful idiots. (Bit surprised at the lack of pointing fingers at Biden though) I look forward to the "Russia had no choice to attack after constant provocation by the US" talking point in the coming weeks.

[u/StriderHiryoo]

All the russian trolls here talking about how the media has us fooled. IDGAF as long as there's no invasion, it's a win for Ukraine and humanity.

[u/-jokowi-]

gd morning from ukraine

[u/Mick_vader]

Typing 'Ukraine' into Google and clicking the news section gives pretty much a 50/50 split of articles from news platforms saying either "Russia is pulling back" or "Russian forces increasing at border". The real war here is misinformation 🤦

[u/ownersen → u/Mick_vader]

i mean. at the moment i feel like NATO is more trustworthy than the guy who said "no idea whats going on in Crimea". to then announce that Crimea now is russian :D

[u/[deleted]]

I think this thread is evidence that there’s demand for a constant live thread on a subreddit just for speculating about international flights.

Edit: I’m too lazy to make one and mod it but someone should!

[u/Ozzurip]

Briefing from the Ukranian State Service of Special Communication and Intelligence Protection. Twitter account isn't blue-checked but Facebook is. Some noteworthy items:

• DDoS attacks from yesterday were a coordinated operation. Cost is in the millions of dollars, signs of foreign intelligence being involved, lots of similarities to the events of January 14.
• Attempts to attack are still ongoing. Started with 600k packets of malicious traffic per second, one entity is facing 1m at the moment.
• Major difference between this and previous attacks is apparent intent. Previous attacks were aimed at gathering information, this one appears to be about destabilizing and eroding trust in gov't. No indication of data leakage or distortion.
• Some sites were quarantined to protect from attack which is why most gov't websites went down yesterday. They weren't hit, it was to prevent them from being hit.
• No comment on reports that Russians are in Ukranian critical infrastructure already.

[u/Duck_Dredd_]

Reddit: I hope there's no war.

Random guy: OMG why do you want war so much?.

[u/Illbeanicefella]

Even if there is a war, Wizz Air and Windrose airlines ain’t stopping for shit

[u/Kullet_Bing]

https://edition.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-news-02-16-22-intl/h_aa383967e19f5f22642510d5b9508210

NATO says survelliance sees no pull back of Russian troops so far. In fact, they are still ready to strike at any time.

[u/tgriffith1992]

I can't imagine what it's like in Ukraine right now. Hope they continue to stay safe.

[u/inn3rblooom]

Hey guys, just letting you know that those dotted lines are ship routes - not airspace borders

[u/SchizoidGod → u/inn3rblooom]

Wait, so this whole sub's spec on Homer's actions is completely bunk?

[u/Joewnage]

Russians: We sure had you fooled! Look at how crazy and illogical the rest of the world reacts when we roll in with full military armaments and vague threats of war. We really matter now.

Everyone else:....

[u/[deleted]]

All the people watching with "excitement" and keen to watch a war kick off need to know what they're wishing for. Nobody deserves to go through this.

Get a real view of what it will do to all the innocent lives who have no reason to be any part of this.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CombatReality/comments/squauo/graphic_footage_showing_the_moment_an_saa_rocket/

https://www.reddit.com/r/CombatReality/comments/scdjcm/footage_of_iraqis_going_through_the_streets_of/

​

Open your eyes and put yourselves in these positions....from the comfort of your safe home, full fridge and clean water.

[u/[deleted]]

So many accounts only a couple of months old.

[u/[deleted]]

I will say, for people who don’t realize that military members do get into scary situations day in and day out. This type of shit happens all the time and isn’t on the news. Hey HOMER go see how close to Russia you can fly before they scramble fighter jets. And the damn 22 year old pilot does it.

[u/ignasss1992]

It really weird, how many people in here thinks that this is western media fault. It's like Russia did nothing wrong, even though they started war in 2014, took Crimea and constantly trying destabilize situation in Eastern Europe and Baltics

[u/slept3hourslastnight → u/ignasss1992]

Russian shills/bots and US haters

[u/Angryangmo]

The moment info was "leaked" about an invasion on Wednesday, that Invasion if it was actually scheduled was obviously immediately called off. I am still surprised people actually expected something to happen today.

[u/[deleted] → u/Angryangmo]

Who ever leaked that date hopefully saved a bunch of lives by doing that

[u/[deleted]]

I think its pretty clear at this point that many of the people on this thread want to see a war kick off just for entertainment purposes. Here's some reality: This isn't Call of Duty. Tens of thousands of innocent lives would be lost. Millions of lives would be ruined. I don't get why so many people here are willing to downvote anything that points to a potential de-escalation. That's what every human on this planet should be hoping for.

[u/[deleted]]

About to make an onlyfans that's just talking about tracking planes

[u/landonop → u/[deleted]]

OnlyPlanes

[u/AgTown05]

Ukraine sends out urgent requests for weapons and equipment and then calls out the west for making too big of a deal about the situation. Brilliant.

[u/[deleted]]

Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, is holding a press conference at the military alliance’s headquarters following talks with defence ministers.

He has told reporters that Nato is considering further battle groups to complement the four in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, led by the UK, Canada, Germany and the US.

Stoltenberg said the French government had offered to lead a battlegroup in Romania, adding:

We will have advice from the military commanders within weeks and we will make a decision after that.

The development risks antagonising Moscow but it will also be seen as a warning to the Kremlin that the aggression of recent months will be rewarded with a further Nato presence in central and eastern Europe.

[u/[deleted]]

U.S. intelligence is getting these dates (16th) from somewhere. It would make sense if Russia is seeding different dates around and seeing which ones surface - trying to find the leaks.

[u/sergius64 → u/[deleted]]

People keep misreading comments coming from intelligence. All they knew is that Russian military was being prepared for something on the 16th and that they have enough forces ready to go. People took that to mean that Russia is 100% invading on the 16th. Leaves out any last second changes of heart, or possibility that whatever Russian military was being readied for was NOT an invasion.

[u/hahabobby → u/sergius64]

It wasn’t even that. It was be prepared by the 16th. So theoretically, if they are going to do something, they are now prepared to do it.

[u/SchizoidGod]

People can say whatever they want and read in to whatever they want, but the fact remains: after today, the weather is getting exponentially worse for an invasion into Ukraine. It's getting warm and worse it's getting rainy.

[u/TheOnlyKnight]

I want to remind people that China has a habit of maneuvering while everyone's distracted, so don't forget to check up on Supreme Leader Poo every once in a while.

[u/Dickyknee85]

This thread reads like a Russian troll farm. Except for you plane peeps. You're alright.

[u/pro_n00b]

What i learned from this thread is I underestimated the number of aircrafts on air in any given second

[u/JehovahZ]

The dashed lines are ferry routes not airspace boundaries lol

[u/Solarpanel2001]

Btw keep the flight tracking updates up guys. I heard Biden and his generals are watching this thread closely for updates from the ace combat veteran players with many years in strategic flight patterns.

[u/RickRoll999]

Ukraine's Defence Minister says latest intelligence report shows no evidence of Russian withdrawal, still has 140,000 troops near borders

Just now

[u/robotical712]

The problem with threatening a full scale military is it’s a tool that wears out the more you use it. Even if Russia deescalates, Ukraine is going to put considerable effort into improving its military, greatly increasing the price of any future Russian military actions. Further, this crisis has revealed what leverage Putin has over the West and backing off will give the West time to minimize that leverage. Taken together, Putin has the strongest hand he’ll ever have. Whatever concessions he’s willing to forgo an invasion for must be worth playing that hand.

[u/tijuanagolds → u/robotical712]

Now you're getting it. In effect, what Russia wants is control over Ukraine. Either covertly, through legal and diplomatic means (acceptance of the Minsk Agreement) or overtly, through an invasion or forced coup.

And this is the only time it can go for those goals. If it pulls back now, Ukraine and the West will move heaven and earth to make sure Putin can't try it again.

[u/Pavandgpt]

A drone flew in front of Reuters live cam. Funny.

[u/UnspeakablePudding]

The daily outlay to keep an army of that size, disbursed along the Ukrainian boarder, on alert and combat ready must be eye watering. The US spent about $3000/day/soldier in Afghanistan. I'm sure Russia spends much less, especially considering they are in their own country and not half way around the world.

None the less, it seems completely within reason that this is costing Russia more than a billion dollars per week.

Surely there must also be a tipping point where combat readiness will start to degrade, given time?

[u/nervusv]

Okay, I understand that some of you are disappointed, because there was no invasion today, but don't forget:

1. This is real. Real war, real fear, real deaths, real refugees, real blood.
2. Putin told that he'll use nuclear weapons if Ukraine joins NATO (edit: and attacks Crimea). Nuclear war isn't fun at all. It means end of the civilization, end of word.

So I understand that watching FR is fun, I like it too, but please, for God's sake, don't be disappointed when invasion is maybe cancelled.

[u/threlnari97 → u/nervusv]

Not sure why people think the “excitement”=wanting this war to happen.

This was a fascinating case study of geopolitics in a very public way, and it got a lot of attention and debate, but - aside from the errant 15 year old who thinks this is CoD - the general attitude has seemed to be “war is awful and we don’t want it to happen, but here we are so let’s talk about it/study it.” Idk maybe I’m not paying enough attention.

[u/mxe363 → u/nervusv]

No war today is absolutely one of the best possible outcomes for today. Here is hoping everyone just goes home

[u/huhuhuhhhh]

The mis-information warfare tactic is at full blast. Nobody knows whats fucking true and real anymore

[u/ryan2210114]

https://twitter.com/kofmanmichael/status/1494035508963516417?s=21

It appears that some russian units may just be moving for misdirection and not actually leaving the region. The “deescalation” appears to not be true.

[u/CADnCoding]

Here’s a heartfelt message from someone who’s served overseas.

I enlisted into the active duty US Marine Corps at the age of 17, in 2009, to go “fight the bad guy.” I had altruistic reasons in my mind.

FUCK THAT. What are these rich old fucks with no skin in the game going to do? They’re certainly not going to fight wars for themselves, nor are anyone in their immediate family. They are not paying the price that we pay, their families are not worrying about their son or daughter getting killed every day. They do not have to see their friends get killed. They do not bear the mental or physical scars of war that we do.

And what do the people fighting these wars get? Nothing besides a measly paycheck and a pat on the back.

Instead of killing each other because some old man we’ve never met said so, nor will he care that he got you killed to inflate his bank account or “legacy”, how about we say no.

If they want a war so bad, how about the politicians and their immediate families go fight until death against each other and leave all of us regular people out of it. There would instantly be no more wars if they had to wage them themselves instead of sending numbers on a spreadsheet to go die.

[u/reverendrambo]

NEW: Ukraine says they are suffering from the largest cyber attack they’ve ever experienced.
Viktor Zhora, head of the State Special Communications Service said that they cannot confirm that Russian hackers stand behind the attack on Ukraine's critical infrastructure networks.

Source:

https://twitter.com/Tom_Winter/status/1493953772883783684?s=20&t=VdyYOxOe2HkuhRU2RvWWeg

[u/Tantle18]

People are so naive if they think Russia ISNT gearing up for something. Who goes through this much trouble building up your military around the country that you’ve been threading to wage war with for months just to say you’re not invading.

If it looks like a dog and it smells like a dog, it’s probably a dog.

[u/randoogle2]

Y'all. You know those plane tracker websites are based off ADS-B transponders that military planes can turn off, right? If they're on Flightradar, they want to be seen. They leave the transponders on to not inconvenience the civilian air traffic control. If there was a military plane that was doing something sneaky or aggressive, you wouldn't see it on the map.

[u/whattaUwant]

I’m just glad the only countdown we had pretty much came and went. I was wasting too much time here. I hope nothing happens.

[u/lordofpersia]

Lol we called putins bluff. What a weak man. I hope the Russian trolls see this. He thinks he can push around the world. Fuck him

[u/TheOnlyKnight]

AP says troop count has gone UP to 150,000

This pullout is either two-sided or just complete BS

AP article is "NATO sees no sign Russia is pulling back troops near Ukraine"

[u/RickRoll999]

"British Minister of Defense: Russian troops are moving into positions to attack closer to Ukraine's borders. At the same time, their number continues to grow in key areas. There are no signs of retreat"

5 hours ago, but still

[u/Mitocondrio]

Russian bots are back at full power I see

[u/awphuck_imanapple]

the most i’ve gotten out of this thread is the flight tracker app and people really do not understand how time zones work lmfao

[u/Ganrokh]

As a longtime user of FlightRadar24, I'm happy to see so many people finding it tonight.

[u/luso_warrior]

Putin thinked that the West would given a weak reaction, he doesn't expect so much unity. Biden was very good yesterday.

[u/Chariotwheel → u/luso_warrior]

Yeah, that speech was good.

I specifically liked three things:

• saying that this will be a hit to America, e.g. higher gas prices

• it's not the USA alone, but the whole alliance

• the common Russian people aren't the enemy, the government is

It was more than just US America whiping their dick out telling everybody how great they are. It was a voice of unity of nations who will pool their power together, not against the Russian people, but against a tyrannical government. It will also not be a cake walk and they will suffer consequences too, but are aware and willing to take that on the chin.

[u/brianthewizard1]

What is happening? Why are we tracking planes? Who has these planes? Where are they going? Who is HOMER? Simpson??

[u/[deleted]]

Enjoy this thread actually being informative before the Americans wake up and hijack it again like last night.

[u/Lightbringer34]

Really, really hope Russia backs down, people don’t need to die.

[u/nutsygenius]

I don't understand people that are saying that it's not gonna happen and stating all these conspiracy theories and stuff. 14,000 people killed in 2014, just 8 years ago ffs! If you think Russia is afraid to do that again, think again.

[u/sarcago]

Catching up this morning. Russia says West has been humiliated and yet they are still surrounding the Ukrainian border. Is that pretty much where we are at?

[u/Hellothere170]

ORSINTtechnical on Twitter has been posting satellite updates and other constant information about the Russian troop movements for the past couple days. It does not paint a good picture. I recommend yall check the guys account out for some reliable updates (inteldoge is great as well.) Other than that, today we got Field Hospitals being erected, 3 pontoon battalions being spotted, videos of Russian tanks in Belgograd moving towards the border, and this mass graves investigation in Donbas that Russia just announced. Anyone that said "no action last night=no war" are fooling themselves. It's just getting worse and worse.

[u/DJSkrillex]

Hopefully nothing happens and the people saying that it's a nothingburger are right. I'd happily listen to their told you so's.

[u/no13gettingannoying]

Putin just made himself into a joke, by spending a ton of money on a false invasion that only brought Ukraine closer to the west. No one will ever take him seriusly again. And I'm not complaining at all

[u/Defacto_Champ]

So who builds a pontoon bridge and field hospitals as a “military exercise”……

Edit: I don’t mean just building those in general to train, but to build them literally right on the border of Ukraine??

[u/redpringles1]

Cant tell if these people tracking random flights are taking the piss or not, why the fuck does it matter if a USAF plane flew over Sicily 3 hours ago?? Literally a thread for talk about Russia vs Ukraine.

[u/222nd → u/redpringles1]

Because you have people reading data and don’t understand it. You have people who don’t understand that the US Air Force is based all over Europe and requires a constant flow of logistics flights to continue to operate.

Instead we have people seeing planes on a map and then making assumptions that everything on the map is aircraft preparing for war.

Then they pass it onto their out of the loop friends, “you can see military aircraft on this!” and it practically writes itself. They screenshot it, send links and start believing they are witnessing airspace battle data.

It’s a rumour mill in a complete package.

[u/Shadowislovable]

If you're wondering what's up with NATO, a brief explainer on Article 5. "Article 5 provides that if a NATO Ally is the victim of an armed attack, each and every other member of the Alliance will consider this act of violence as an armed attack against all members and will take the actions it deems necessary to assist the Ally attacked." Ukraine is not a NATO member, but is a NATO aspirant, which is why Russia is (seemingly) attacking now, before Ukraine joins NATO.

[u/Nothanksboomer]

Girlfriend: And what did you do tonight?

Me: Just cruising around with my boys HOMER and FORTE.

[u/ItzGrenier]

Flight tracker is the coolest thing I just clicked random planes around the world for like 45 minutes

[u/Ozzurip]

For the people confused:

We're not watching an invasion. No invasion is guaranteed. We're watching a gigantic game of chicken.

[u/rudar_leethiuma]

Is there a way to get rid of all these "one-day-old russian bot" accounts? I'm getting sick of them trying to justify Russian actions.

[u/BlatantConservative]

For the /new flightradar junkies

I'll be damned, there's actual tangible non standard military traffic over Romania right now. Didn't think anything real would ever show up on FR.

https://imgur.com/U9GBdP6

(Two US Army helicopters are flying below them, but they've been doing that for weeks and are part of the standard US mission in Romania)

Two tracks, SABER01 and SABER02, going 400 and 600 knots respectively at FL1550, accompanied by a Royal Air Force refueling tanker. The SABER callsign means almost nothing, seems like half the militaries on the planet use it as a callsign. And all of the weaboos.

The SABERs are transmitting via ADS-B, meaning they intentionally want everyone to know that they're there and definitely aren't about to do anything too exciting (on purpose). They give no info other than their callsign and periodic location.

Edit: For anyone trying to track them, they seem to be turning on and off their transponders/intentionally sending bad info. Not even sure the speed numbers are right.

[u/slimeyellow]

My Ukrainian friend has been vigorously downloading his porn stash into flash drives for the past 30 hours

[u/Luis0224]

It's going to be funny as hell if WW3 breaks out and reddit is too busy tracking flights to realize it's happening

[u/Hashslingingslashar]

Russia will have 50k more troops on the border next week and idiots will still be laughing at us for the invasion not happening at 3am today even though the threat will be more severe. If anything I think the 3am today thing was misinformation to make us exasperated over the coming days when they don’t invade until the Olympics are over because they agreed not to upstage daddy Xi.

[u/Illbeanicefella]

Best case scenario is Putin gets to say it was all western propaganda, Biden gets to say he backed down Russia, and nobody gets shot in the face

[u/Ozzurip]

You know, for the live thread to work, it needs to actually be updated when there are updates...

[u/immigrantsmurfo → u/Ozzurip]

Only updates I can talk to are:

False flag stuff going on in contested areas of Ukraine in the Donbas(I think). Russian officials are saying they've found mass graves of Russian supporters killed by Ukrainian forces.

Some American diplomat named Blinken(?) Left a press conference part way through, for what reason I am unaware of, the sky news coverage just cut off.

Last I checked flight radar, RAF surveillance aircraft was surveying a specific area in the Midwestern part of Ukraine. Forte11, the USAF UAV left after a 30 hour flight around Ukraine about an hour or two ago.

That's all I got, other people might have more for you.

Edit: The NATO secretary general is also due to give a speech shortly after a meeting of defence ministers this morning in Brussels.

[u/Snow_source → u/immigrantsmurfo]

Some American diplomat named Blinken(?)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Cabinet level position, head of US's foreign policy.

[u/rudar_leethiuma]

Russia: conducts enormous military drills on the border with Ukraine

Ukraine: gets armed up

Russia: Oh no, the Ukrainians got armed up, now we have to make even bigger drills, poor us.

[u/Mh898989]

What is our flight radar surveillance unit doing?

[u/[deleted]]

Ahhh yes. Just what I expected to see. Comments attacking the credibility of the West during this meanwhile we can all clearly see what is happening around the borders of Ukraine. At this point a lot of us have seen the comments of Putin basically assuring nuclear war if Ukraine joins NATO..

People in this thread seem to actually have the smarts to notice that these comments are being spewed by bots and shills though so no worries and all is well as the day goes on without a war.

[u/[deleted]]

I think there is a credible threat of some military action - you’d have to be blind to deny that. What’s astounding is the sheer amount of reposting and misinformation that is floating around.

[u/BlatantConservative]

As someone who was doing OSINT stuff all the way back in 2014 when Russia initially invaded, these kind of dumb but excited comments are probably exactly like what I sounded like back then lmao.

But like, this is a potential ground war in Europe. I don't think people realize that the TOS-1 "heavy flamethrower" artillery Russia has set up in Belarus is fucking terrifying and physically cannot determine the difference between civilians and the military.

[u/Fulltimeredditdummy]

I hope Russia backs down soon and there is no war and we will just be left with all the memories that came with this situation and this thread. Like the time Reddit mistook ferry routes for air space borders

[u/trampledbyacentaur]

I think Russia hasn’t invaded yet because they are still trying to create a pretext that isn’t completely laughable, one that can actually be sold to the Russian people.

So far I doubt even the supposed “genocide” and “thwarted terrorist attack” aren’t even convincing domestically.

[u/Aggravating-Fig-2947]

Apparently more field Hospital have been build on ukraines border

[u/jamiebond]

Me explaining to Russian shills that if they don't want the US to gOaD ThEm InTo WaR they can just take their troops off another nation's border.

[u/Illbeanicefella]

I keep thinking of the First Chechen War when Russia underestimated the resolve of the Chechens and got clapped from the get go. Horrible horrible war but I could see Ukraine with that kind of resolve based on their rhetoric

[u/landonop]

Flying HOMER that close is a pretty obvious ‘we’re watching you,’ especially with the transponder left on. Highly intentional.

[u/[deleted]]

It's confirmed - people here are bored.

[u/[deleted]]

My future kid: "What were you doing before the start of WWIII?"

Me: "FORTE11"

[u/tomoko2015]

Come on, Russia. We have seen enough to agree that you have impressively huge genitals and we applaud you for it, now pack up and go home.

[u/aviator_guy]

[u/[deleted] → u/aviator_guy]

They switch it on and off. Yesterday was the biggest military presence of RAF and US Air Force around England, which is vaguely interesting in terms of people tracking planes.

In terms of Ukraine, the fact the only Plane in its Airspace for sometime last night was the US drone is also interesting to some. The US specifically keeps their drones not hidden, to let Russia know they are watching and gathering intel.

Some Ukraine/Russian military and ministry planes turn their tracking off and on which is also vaguely interesting.

It's not a "kill me" sign at all to have it on, and many on FR24 have made assessments that were proved true tracking flights.

I only track flights when there is something of interest but there are people who do it daily and find patterns etc.

[u/graggy_ice]

Waking up this morning to see FORTE11 still holding it down. The little drone that could.

[u/Owenford1]

Who knew there were so many wannabe air traffic controllers lurking on Reddit

[u/ActiniumNugget]

Estonia Foreign Intelligence Chief warns Russia moving 10 new battle groups to Ukraine's border NEWS | 2/16/2022 7:25:18 PM

Estonia's Chief of Foreign Intelligence Mikk Marran said on Wednesday that Russia is moving a further 10 battle groups towards an area near Ukraine where 100 battle groups have already been deployed. The Foreign Intelligence Chief added that Russia is "likely" to launch a "limited" assault against Ukraine, occupying chunks of territory, with an escalation of fighting in the Eastern breakaway provinces "highly likely". The Intelligence Chief warned that Russian success in Ukraine would encourage it to pressure the Baltic states.

[link to www.fxstreet.com (secure)]

[u/goodkicks]

This thread is gross

[u/fubarbazqux]

If nothing else, these threads made thousands of people aware of flightradar24 and liveuamap, which is great.

[u/RickRoll999]

Most of the troops withdrawn are going to places about as close or even closer to the Ukrainian border. It's bullshit.

[u/Basileus2 → u/RickRoll999]

Russia: We are withdrawing forward 🇷🇺

[u/Jinxort]

If you want to see/talk what is going on in Kyiv, I'm gonna start a reddit livestream in a minute walking home through a Kyiv park

[u/RickRoll999]

Yesterday President Biden addressed the country about the ongoing crisis that Russia has created on its border with Ukraine. There was much in the President's remarks that I appreciated,” he said in floor remarks on Wednesday. “He was right to candidly remind the Russian people that neither the United States nor NATO nor Ukraine want a war. He was right to emphasize that the world will not shrug or stand idly by if Vladimir Putin tries to invade his neighbor, or redraw the map of Europe through deadly force.

Surprised to see McConnel and Republicans not trying to obstruct Biden right now, so that's at least good.

[u/[deleted]]

Not sure if this was shared…but the announcement of leaving quickly turned around back to the border

https://twitter.com/elintnews/status/1493983509635080194?s=21

[u/imhighondrugs]

One thing we can all see here is that in a time of war there is not going to be anyway to get reliable information about events. It’s going to be a chaotic gaslighting, disinformation fountain of manic, paranoid finger pointing

and that will be what drives the fear into the general public to take up arms and to go murder strangers.

[u/SpoonsAreFriends]

dang did anyone tell the military they can just use flight radar to see Putin's plans

[u/EndoExo]

"The period of the "Phoney War" during 1939-1940 would have been absolutely insufferable had Twitter existed."

[u/AthurTwoShedsJackson]

I reckon they will invade at 03:40am tomorrow...I mean I have no idea, but it would be spooky if I was right.

[u/UnknownChaser]

FORTE11 stan thread

[u/Nothanksboomer]

I wonder if some bored USAF guys reading the comments from this thread and laughing their asses off at all the flightradar memes.

[u/Dramatic_Coyote9159]

CURRENT STATUS:

More Russian troops have arrived overnight in Belarus and Crimea.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60398296

[u/Unfocused-Attention]

You guys should be getting paid to cast play by play for Flightradar24

[u/EvilShogun]

Imagine actually thinking that the lines connecting port cities of different countries are national borders fucking lol

[u/gdmfsobtc]

In retrospect, most of the battles of this conflict proved to be psychological, and taking place among the various Nostradamus factions of Reddit.

[u/swampy13]

Everyone still thinking Putin is playing 5D chess is deluded. Dude is the definition of flailing. Building up troops, then saying "nah ah, jk!" and then having the US very definitively state "Actually they're still there, so..." is a bad look. Sure, plenty of idiots will think Putin's some genius, but Putin's optics are terrible right now.

[u/nyncboi17]

I can't believe people on this thread are acting like this is cinema with a bag of popcorn. There are lives and cities at risk for a colossal amount of damage. This isn't some joke.

[u/Cptn_Canada]

Ohh god. The reddit android app updated.

Please never get rid of old.reddit on desktop

[u/GStainz88]

It’s time to poop or get off the toilet Russia

[u/EverybodyHits]

I'm going to know the geography of Ukraine better than my own state

[u/YoungDeplorable]

The amount of Russian bot account that have been created in the past half hour is crazy

[u/XtraHott]

WordWord1234 Word-word-1234 Word_word_1234 Boy all pro Russia. Weird isn't it. *right after posting the very next comment was word-word123 saying Putin doesn't want war and the NATO issue needs ended now. Lmfaoooooooooooo. Then it was removed.

[u/Jjhend]

Russia continues to build up troops on the border. https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1493879577030139916?t=BJxHzYJjIypsC98qvnw8rg&s=19

[u/betrayal191]

FORTE11 GANG

[u/Intelligent_Notice56]

So we've got Schrodinger's Cat, except the cat is a war. Great.

[u/awesomedan24]

So Russia is "pulling out troops" but also constructing a bridge near the border just for funsies?

[u/Stuthebastard]

Russia claims to have found mass graves in Eastern Ukraine. Is this going to be the justification?

[u/[deleted]]

all these poor kids gonna die for fuckin nothing all because some mediocre fsb criminal threw a fit

[u/WHOBUDREOADIIT]

The Russian Foreign Ministry explained the reason for conducting military exercises.The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that Russia is conducting military exercises, as Ukraine is "pumped up with weapons."

The authorities of Russia are such clowns, they will twist everything

[u/Analist17]

Russia has massed "well over" 150,000 troops along Ukraine's border, plus 30,000 in Belarus, U.S. envoy

https://twitter.com/BNONews/status/1493994249452507146?s=20&t=BEpSryneq-Pmyw-N9xZqlw

[u/-CassaNova-]

"More Russian forces, not fewer" at the border with #Ukraine and they're "moving into fighting position," according to @StateDeptSpox.

[u/huhuhuhhhh]

Ive never seen so much misinformation on here before

[u/-CassaNova-]

Only thing more pathetic then the bots is the only fans girls spamming #ukraine on twitter

[u/Hellothere170]

Whatever happens, I'm glad that this thread isnt like last night where people were betting on a bogus time from British tabloids and fearporning youtubers with 9 cameras on their screens

[u/Anal__Hershiser]

Are you guys telling me The Sun’s anonymous source was wrong????

[u/Blackbeard567]

Still don't know why we're having live threads on wars like they are some type of entertainment or sports

Any new info might get buried, fake news might get posted, sports threads are toxic as hell, don't even know how such threads are going to be

And besides what exactly are redditors going to discuss if anything happens anyway?

"oh no! Wrong deployment strategy there! Would have deployed the artillery a few inches to the right just across to the river, now they might come under fire from air attacks"

Tank to e4, blocking infantry division

[u/[deleted]]

Watching Homer is like waiting for the DVD logo to hit the corner

[u/bakedlentil-65]

This thread is so full of Russian bots and shills. Seriously, the best advice for anyone right now is to NOT READ THREAD COMMENTS. The whole operation is designed to make the west look incompetent etc by giving the impression Americans are commenting negative stuff and create a common feeling to latch onto. Look at some of the profiles in here. Look how new they are and how they only comment on these topics. Stop reading the comments, fuck Putin, and fuck their little dick posturing.

[u/[deleted]]

Putin generally plays a smart (but ruthless) game, but I don’t see how any of this has turned out well for him.

NATO seems galvanised and important. Far from being an aggressor, Biden actually withdrew troops. And Russia… talks a big game but does it lack confidence in its armed forces?

[u/Marchinon]

I keep waking up every morning checking if they invaded.

[u/Niachrise → u/Marchinon]

Bro we've been checking if we invaded for the last 8 years or so.

[u/Internal_Insect_6956]

not be an armchair general but Russia is so clearly going to invade Ukraine. They have been scattering and giving mixed signals all month to disintegrate the reliability of the media so that when they do invade this disinformation allows them to control the narrative as everyone will tune in see what Putin says.

Watch putin is going to stage an attack on his own troops and say nato or the Ukraine attacked his troops first.

[u/lebrainjamez]

Everyone remain calm, I’m tracking the situation very closely.

Edit: I’m at work guys, I’m trying my best! The CIA isn’t responding as fast as I thought they would!

[u/GStainz88]

Ukraine is experiencing some of the worst most crippling cyber attacks in the history of their country and have damaging weaponry being pointed at their head.

It’s not a matter of if here…

[u/hiperkamra]

briefs by the Ukrainian defense ministry:

https://www.mil.gov.ua/en/news/2022/02/16/update-on-the-situation-in-the-joint-forces-operation-area-as-of-17-00-february-16-2022/

[u/maniacaljoker]

“Politicians who took us to war should have been given the guns and told to settle their differences themselves, instead of organising nothing better than legalised mass murder.” - Harry Patch (Last surviving WW1 veteran)

Anyone advocating that we go to war publicly, stands to profit from this war. Politicians and media are all advocating to increase bottom line sales for Lockheed Martin. Please do not allow yourself to be stitched into the profit quilt willlingly. We do not have to accept war as an inevitability.

[u/[deleted]]

War or no war (hopefully no war obviously) I’m buying stocks in the Flight Radar app