SpaceX has enabled Starlink service in Ukraine and says more terminals are on the way.
These tweets from last September are relevant.
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Coincidence?
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The Swiss Federal Council (seven-person executive branch of the Confederation government) announced today: “Switzerland adopts EU sanctions against Russia”. Excerpts follow (emphasis in original).
Bern, 28.02.2022 - In view of Russia’s continuing military intervention in Ukraine, the Federal Council took the decision on 28 February to adopt the packages of sanctions imposed by the EU on 23 and 25 February. The assets of the individuals and companies listed are frozen with immediate effect; the financial sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are also to be implemented with immediate effect. Switzerland reaffirms its solidarity with Ukraine and its people; it will be delivering relief supplies for people who have fled to Poland.
At its extraordinary meeting on 28 February, the Federal Council took the decision to adopt the EU sanctions against Russia and thus strengthen their impact. The Federal Council has instructed the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) to modify the existing ordinance based on the EU measures. Switzerland will implement the sanctions in coordination with the EU. These are primarily goods and financial sanctions. The assets of the persons and companies listed in the annex to the ordinance are frozen with immediate effect; the ban on entering into new business relationships remains in place.
Switzerland is also implementing the financial sanctions imposed by the EU on Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov with immediate effect. In so doing, Switzerland is responding to the serious violations of international law for which these individuals are responsible. The ban on imports, exports and investments concerning Crimea and Sevastopol, which has been in place since 2014, has been extended to the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, which are no longer under the control of the Ukrainian government.
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In addition – in line with airspace closures in other European countries – Swiss airspace will be closed to all flights from Russia and to all movements of aircraft with Russian markings from 3pm on Monday with the exception of flights for humanitarian, medical or diplomatic purposes.
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In reaching its decisions, the Federal Council took Switzerland’s neutrality and peace policy considerations into account. It reaffirmed Switzerland’s willingness to actively contribute to a solution to the conflict through its good offices. Russia’s unprecedented military attack on a sovereign European country was the deciding factor in the Federal Council’s decision to change its previous stance on sanctions. The defence of peace and security and respect for international law are values that Switzerland, as a democratic country, shares with its European neighbours and supports. As before, Switzerland will examine each further package of sanctions imposed by the EU on a case-by-case basis.
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Is Beijing (China Communist Party) the “Neutral Nation” in World War III ???
More likely Beijing is the master of Soros’ and other puppets.
For the moment, all is quiet on the Western front …
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I have long thought Putin’s game was to provoke a nuclear war between China and the US and then pick up the pieces. I think Xi outplayed him.
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One of the many peculiarities about the current situation is the almost total absence of any effort by the “International Community” to broker a cease-fire. Instead, the Internationals are mostly talking about feeding weapons into the conflict – almost like they want the conflict to spread.
My guess/hope is that China will step forward at some point – presumably after the Russians have achieved their military objectives – and offer to broker a peace settlement. Really not such a wild idea, since China is one of the Ukraine’s main trading partners, and the Ukraine is a key element in China’s Belt & Road scheme, and China has lots of spare dollars to invest in rebuilding the Ukraine.
As part of the deal, the Ukraine would have to foreswear ever joining NATO, and China would have to guarantee the neutrality & security of what is left of Ukraine. That would require Chinese troops to be permanently stationed in the heart of Europe. President Xi might see that as a good down-payment on retribution for the Century of Humiliation China experienced at the hands of Europeans.
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Plan included amphibious assault on Odessa to use as staging area to link up with Transdnistria:
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Biden: “Putin may circle Kiev with tanks, but he’ll never gain the hearts and souls of the Iranian people.” [0:20]
Notice vice president Bad LPC mouthing the intended word after president Ficus misreads the ’prompter.
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Ukrainian National Agency for the Protection Against Corruption: “No need to declare captured Russian tanks, other equipment of invaders as income”.
Have you captured a Russian tank or armored personnel carrier and are worried about how to declare it? Keep calm and continue to defend the Motherland! There is no need to declare the captured Russian tanks and other equipment, because the cost of this … does not exceed 100 living wages (UAH 248,100).
Speaking by the letter of the law, combat trophies are not subject to reflection in the declaration for the following reasons: they were acquired not as a result of the conclusion of any type of transaction, but in connection with the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation on February 24, 2022 against the independent and sovereign Ukrainian state as a continuation the insidious attack of the Russian Federation on Ukraine launched in 2014. Thanks to the courage and victory of the defenders of the Ukrainian state, enemy military equipment usually comes to you already destroyed and disabled, which makes it impossible to evaluate it in accordance with the law On the valuation of property, property rights and professional valuation activities in Ukraine. Therefore, it is also impossible to find out how much such property costs.
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Today, 2022-03-02, Roscosmos rolled out a Soyuz 2.1b launcher for the scheduled launch of another batch of OneWeb Internet satellites contracted through Arianespce. The satellites were scheduled to be launched on 2022-03-04 at 22:41 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Here is a pre-flight preview of the mission from Everyday Astronaut.
Shortly thereafter, Roscomos posted the following tweet.
SpaceNews reports, “Rogozin puts poison-pill conditions on OneWeb Soyuz launch”.
The Soyuz-2.1b rocket will be removed from the pad unless OneWeb guarantees by 1:30 p.m Eastern Standard Time March 4 its satellites will not be used for military purposes, the Russian space agency tweeted March 2.
“There’s no negotiation on OneWeb: the UK Government is not selling its share,” U.K. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng tweeted just hours later.
Meanwhile, Roscosmos director Dimitry Rogozin says workers are painting over offending flags on the OneWeb payload fairing. (Click tweet to play video.)
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Serpentza on CN social media take on the war:
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Quite probably. But then, Xi has already outplayed the “leaders” of the West – although it was not really much of a match. An expression which Obama used about JV teams comes to mind.
It is rather embarrassing when the woman who is supposed to lead the UK’s efforts on the diplomatic side mistakes the Baltic and Black Seas, and when the man who is supposed to lead the UK’s efforts on the military side seems to be fixated on the 1800s Crimean War – the one where Russian guns decimated the Charge of the Light Brigade.
We may be watching the ultimate failure of “Woke”. The West deploys lawyers & accountants in a Financial War; Russia deploys tanks & fighter jets in a Military War. Is the pen really mightier than the sword?
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https://twitter.com/OneWeb/status/1499317405029437447
This confirms that the OneWeb Soyuz launch from Baikonur, originally scheduled for 2022-03-04, is now cancelled.
SpaceNews reports, “OneWeb leaves Baikonur Cosmodrome after Roscosmos ultimatum”:
OneWeb on March 2 ordered staff to leave Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan amid an impasse over the planned March 4 launch of its latest batch of satellites on a Soyuz rocket, an executive for the U.K.-based company said.
Chris McLaughlin, OneWeb’s chief of government, regulatory affairs and engagement, told SpaceNews it decided to leave the Russian-controlled launch site after Roscosmos issued an ultimatum on the mission.
In addition,
Widening sanctions and worsening relations between Russia and the West also pose manufacturing questions for OneWeb.
Although OneWeb builds its satellites in Florida under a joint venture with Airbus, it uses spacecraft thrusters imported from Fakel, a Russian propulsion company.
With OneWeb’s other previous launch option, Soyuz flights from French Guiana, also indefinitely suspended, it appears they’re without a ride until and unless they adapt their payload to another rocket and arrange launch services with its operator.
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Re: Savage Video clip: Michael Savage and I talk on the telephone & email about this. He just sent me this Pandora Papers: Ukraine leader seeks to justify offshore accounts | Pandora Papers News | Al Jazeera
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The Wall Street Journal has a Heard on the Street piece today, 2022-03-03, “If Russian Currency Reserves Aren’t Really Money, the World Is in for a Shock” which explores the potential consequences of the central banks of the U.S., Japan, and EU countries blocking the Russian central bank’s access to the US$ 630 billion of foreign exchange reserves they hold on its behalf. (The column is not, at this time, behind a paywall—this may change by the time you try to retrieve it.)
“What is money?” is a question that economists have pondered for centuries, but the blocking of Russia’s central-bank reserves has revived its relevance for the world’s biggest nations—particularly China. In a world in which accumulating foreign assets is seen as risky, military and economic blocs are set to drift farther apart.
After Moscow attacked Ukraine last week, the U.S. and its allies shut off the Russian central bank’s access to most of its $630 billion of foreign reserves. Weaponizing the monetary system against a Group-of-20 country will have lasting repercussions.
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If currency balances were to become worthless computer entries and didn’t guarantee buying essential stuff, Moscow would be rational to stop accumulating them and stockpile physical wealth in oil barrels, rather than sell them to the West. At the very least, more of Russia’s money will likely shift into gold and Chinese assets.
Indeed, the case levied against China’s attempts to internationalize the renminbi has been that, unlike the dollar, access to it is always at risk of being revoked by political considerations. It is now apparent that, to a point, this is true of all currencies.
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What can investors do? For once, the old trope may not be ill advised: buy gold. Many of the world’s central banks will surely be doing it.
Here is a Trader University video on the big freeze, which it calls a “financial nuclear bomb”.
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