re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict.

Welcome to the party Leningrad.

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We should be sending troops to Ukraine for training.

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Delhi Sanctions have been around for a lot longer that this war.

India is ripping off Russia to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars over oil shipments, according to an angry Russian commentary. India will not pay for Russian oil in anything other than Indian rupees and Indian-made goods, which Russian companies don't want.

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"For several years, Russian officials proudly declared that Europe, by rejecting Russian oil, was only harming itself, while Russia continued to quietly sell its oil to other buyers and enrich itself."

3/ "It was claimed that India was happily buying up barrels at favourable prices. Public figures were aired about the colossal profits the country was supposedly receiving from redirecting supplies to the Asian market. The reality turned out to be far from these rosy reports.

4/ "It turned out that Russia not only failed to receive the promised superprofits but also suffered enormous financial losses.

5/ "According to estimates by independent analysts, the losses from the 'Indian partnership' have long been in the hundreds of billions of dollars, not just tens of billions. Accurate official data is still lacking, but the scale of the problem can no longer be hidden.

6/ "The main stumbling block is the still unresolved issue of settlements in Indian rupees. Billions of rupees earned from the sale of cheap oil have been frozen in Asian bank accounts for five years now.

7/ "India's strict currency controls prevent these funds from being freely transferred to other jurisdictions or converted into dollars, euros, or other freely convertible currencies.

8/ "They can only be used to buy Indian goods, but Russian companies, in most cases, simply don't need them. The Indian regulator periodically promises to find a "workable mechanism," but there's still no real solution. Russia has been fed empty promises for five years now.

9/ "While endless approvals and negotiations drag on, the rupee continues to weaken against the dollar. Pending amounts are rapidly losing value, turning virtual profits into real losses.

10/ "The oil was shipped long ago, taxes on it have been paid, and the money earned is simply vanishing from the currency charts.

11/ "The situation looks particularly grim when viewed against the backdrop of initial expectations. The shift to settlements in national currencies was touted as a breakthrough in de-dollarization and a way to circumvent Western sanctions. [that always works out well]

12/ "In practice, it turned out to be a trap: the resources were gone, but the money remained inaccessible. Exporters effectively gave India oil in exchange for worthless paper money that cannot be withdrawn or properly spent.

13/ "This case has served as a vivid lesson: changing the settlement currency without ensuring the free movement of capital turns trade into a form of hidden subsidisation of the buyer.

14/ "Russia not only lost revenue but also set a precedent where a partner can hold funds in their own currency for years while it depreciates, and the seller can do nothing about it.

15/ "Essentially, India, like Europe, froze Russian assets, only in this case, Russia prefers to remain silent and accept the Indian bullshite." /end

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LINK

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Busy night for Ukrainian drones/missiles.

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Edit: Reported to be fuel and lubricant storage burning. LINK

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Actually it’s because they’re not returning to Ukraine.

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All hat no cattle, wrong again....

From Claude

Q: Is there a problem with Ukrainian troops being sent overseas for training but not returning home?

The non-return problem is real, but smaller than you might think. There was always a percentage of troops who didn't return from overseas training — but according to Ukrainian veteran Yevhen Dykyi, the actual number was "truly very small." The New Voice of Ukraine. A separate report from late 2024 put a specific figure of 46 soldiers who didn't return from authorized leave abroad between 2022 - 2024. So it's a real leak, not a flood. The bigger problems were actually different.

Training mismatch. NATO training methods often fail to align with the realities of modern warfare in Ukraine. Ironically, Ukrainian soldiers — mechanics, tankers, artillerymen — were often teaching NATO instructors how to operate the very equipment being provided.

The Logistics waste. Sending entire brigades abroad — like the Anne of Kyiv Brigade to France — proved to be a luxury that didn't justify itself.

The fix: Ukraine's General Staff announced it will abandon sending troops abroad for training, moving all basic military training inside the country. The preference now is to invite Western specialists to Ukrainian training grounds rather than transport whole units overseas.

The broader desertion problem is far more serious. As of January 2026, Ukraine's Defense Minister estimated 200,000 soldiers AWOL and 2 million men avoiding draft notices altogether.

The overseas no-show issue is a rounding error by comparison.

Bottom line: the overseas training program was more inefficient than it was leaky. The desertion/draft evasion crisis is the real manpower story.

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From Claude

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I always knew you had good taste

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For God's sake, don't show this to Vol, it might mean that the Ukrainians are " developing warfare technology (and other things, like tactics) that will end up saving us more money (and lives) than we spent on them." (parenthesis mine)

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Oh ok so now it's "might" since you couldn't actually prove the claim. You're nothing if not subtle.

It is easily the best AI model available right now. The stuff it can do in a professional work environment is freaking awesome. I dropped 400K rows of data into last week and built a dashboard in one day that I've been waiting on IT to give me for 3 months now.