re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

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If Ukraine survives more or less intact with the same government in place they will be at the top of the pyramid in terms of political corruption.

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Do not the Russians have tactical air

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Prior to this Russian Civil War, Ukraine was regularly listed among the 30 most corrupt countries on the planet, along with Russia.

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SoFla Tideroller

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quote: If Ukraine survives more or less intact with the same government in place they will be at the top of the pyramid in terms of political corruption. Fixed

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I don’t really get the people that bash Ukraine for corruption

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US submarines…in the Black Sea.

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I believe the standard Navy response is: “It Never Happened. We Were Never There.”

You can bet there’s at least one on station in the eastern Mediterranean at the southern end of The Dardanelles 24/7.

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Rostov-na-Donu will transit Bosphorus tomorrow morning and enter the Black Sea. Following the deployment of Rostov-na-Donu, the Russian Black Sea Fleet will have four improved Kilo-class submarines equipped with Kalibr land-attack missiles in the Black Sea. According to the OSINT reports, the Black Sea Fleet’s other two Project 636.3 submarines (B-262 Stary Oskol, B-265 Krasnodar) are currently in Russia’s Tartous Naval Base in Syria.

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On 29 January 2021, three US naval vessels entered the Black Sea for the first time in three years.[71] On 1 February, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky argued for NATO membership for Ukraine.[72] On 19 March, another significant US naval deployment to the Black Sea took place, as cruiser USS Monterey and destroyer USS Thomas Hudner entered the sea on 19 and 20 March respectively.[73][74] Prior to the scheduled deployment, on 12 March Russian cruiser Moskva made an exit to sea and on 19 March all six submarines of the Black Sea Fleet went to sea, which was an unprecedented event.[75][76]

Russian ground forces also started a buildup on the border with Ukraine. On 2 April, Zelensky had his first telephone conversation with Biden, and on 6 April he called NATO's Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg pressuring NATO to speed up Ukrainian path to the membership.[77] On 8 April, Russia started moving ten of its Caspian Flotilla warships to the Black Sea. Six amphibious and three artillery boats of Serna and Shmel classes, as well as a hydrographic boat GS-599, were reported in transit, while Black Sea Fleet frigate Admiral Essen conducted an artillery exercise, usually done to raise the readiness for the amphibious landing.[78][79][80][81][82] The same day, the US decided to send two warships to the Black Sea.[83]

On 9 April 2021, tensions rose further and Ukraine promised not to attack the separatists, while Russia considered intervening to prevent bloodshed.[84][85] On the same day, two Black Sea Fleet corvettes, Vishny Volochyok and Gravoron, conducted an exercise.[86] The two US destroyers were clarified by Turkey to be USS Roosevelt and USS Donald Cook, while Putin stressed the importance of the Montreux Convention in a telephone conversation with Turkish president Recep Erdogan.[87][88] On 14 April, the deployment of the two US destroyers was cancelled.[89] On 17 April, amphibious ships Aleksandr Otrakovsky and Kondoponga of the Northern Fleet and Kaliningrad and Korolyov of the Baltic Fleet strengthened the amphibious warfare capabilities of the Black Sea Fleet.[90] On 30 April, the cruiser Moskva fired a Vulkan anti-ship missile for the first time.[91]

In November, further tensions started amidst the build-up of Russian ground forces on the Ukraine border. On 2 November, the destroyer USS Porter[92] entered the Black Sea, followed on 25 November by the destroyer USS Arleigh Burke.[93] In late October, the Russian Black Sea fleet held a large exercise with a cruiser, a frigate and three corvettes.[94]

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