Eastern Europe/Ukraine [Feb 6th 2015]

[vijaykarthik]

I think 4-5 HDD of Naval ship plans were also accidentally stolen a couple years back. I wont be surprised if it feel into Chinese hands. It wont require Russia sharing it when its easier to steal HDD's / perform cyber attacks. We are years behind in these tech.

Lot of russian tech that Chinese claim to reverse engineer is under the table license transfers no need to steal any tech. Only matter time before Chinese are spitting S-400 which they somehow reverse engineered.

of course. Not just Russian. Even US. China spies and spies a LOT. And US and Russia know it. Matter of fact, Russia wasnt selling their top range items to China because they knew Chinese will not just reverse engineer but also start competing with them in the market with their own cheaper (of course also poorer performing) options. But lets face it, apart from 5-10 countries in the world which have a potential for war, most buy these items to only moth ball them and for projecting power aka deterrence for their perceived enemies from invading / attacking / threatening them. So, Chinese items will have a large market share in many of the countries where it can be allowed to moth ball.

[Vidur]

Yes India's vote in UN was indeed a lost opportunity - a lost opportunity to commit seppuku, अथवा कुल्हाड़ी पर पाओं मारना , becoming an American colony

Facts of the situation are

1. Ukraine has been hostile to Bharat
2. Russia has not and has supported us
3. Crisis is entirely of the US/NATO/EU making. NATO westwards expansion is an unacceptable security risk and provocation akin to Mexico/Canada joining Warsaw Pact. US can diffuse this today and declare that Ukraine will never be in NATO and will not be given arms
4. Ukraine has backed out of its agreements with Russia - commitment to not joining Nato or arming itself for example
5. Ukraine and Russia are the same people, religion, language, history, civilisation and nation
6. ''West'' has gone beserk because a non western power has taken offensive action. They forget what they did in Americas, Baharat, Mexico, WW2, Vietnam, Iraq, Bosnia
7. Bharat has nothing to gain from supporting west except their cultural and political hegemony
8. West will never support Bharat or appreciate her support
9. India has much to lose by going against Russia

[vijaykarthik]

This isnt going to end well.

Are you suggesting that there would be a few nucs flying from both east and west? That is unlikely given the supine position the west has assumed.

Nope, NATO or US has no role in this. So no nukes. But there is a feeling that I get that Uk is massing for an opportune time. And with the fog of war, difficult to see / hear what's happening currently. Every extra day the Russia spends inside is extra time for consolidating an opposition and building defense.

[Rakesh]

Yes India's vote in UN was indeed a lost opportunity - a lost opportunity to commit seppuku, अथवा कुल्हाड़ी पर पाओं मारना , becoming an American colony.

Fantastic post Vidur-ji

India's vote in the UN bothers a few people. WOW

[Pratyush]

Vidur Ji, Well said.

[UBanerjee]

This whole scenario played out because America and its lapdogs thought they could "Pakistan" to Putin's Russia.

The same playbook, every time.

Euromaidan 2014. Obama's State Dept overthrows the legitimate government of Ukraine because Yanukovych won't sign the EU trade deal.
Enter Victoria Nuland, picking the new "democratic Ukraine" government.
The "new and improved" Ukraine banned Russian language. Became a rentier state for the Americans.
Endless provocations.
Attempted color revolution followup in Belarus, 2021.
Kazakhstan, in January of this year!

Billions in weapons poured into Ukraine. Encouraging the puppets to shell Donbass and Luhansk and mass the army on the border.
The Anglos really think they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, and as long as all their little media flutes and trumpets and horns blare the same note, they will write the story of what happened.

You sow the wind, you reap the whirlwind, Europe and America, "The West".

Anyone watching this from India and cheering for Ukraine is, frankly, an idiot. This Ukraine is a reanimated puppet with Uncle Sam's arms shoved up its backside. This is the exact same playbook they used against us with Pakistan, the fake rentier state. Even against China, America will only use us a battering ram and nothing more. The minute they'll get a better deal somewhere else, they'll stab us in the back and drop us.

The Americans used Ukraine to enrich their personal coffers - see Hunter Biden as the tip of that iceberg - and then threw them into the bear's den. "Ukraine! We are with you!" they cried as they backpedaled furiously. Today Biden said he is standing up for Ukraine because that's what America does, but he's going to limit sanctions because it will make the price of gas go up. That's what you are worth, Ukrainians - the price of gas.

And really, that is the ultimate problem with this psychotic global "American empire". The empire is not, as Putin put it, "agreement capable".
Ordinary Americans are brutalized themselves. Trump was their attempt out.
We all saw what happened.

[rkirankr]

I could not believe the number of people on Social media, are not able to take a stance which is pro India. Even outside social media. They talk of Human rights etc. I ask them what about rights of Iraqis,total silence

[UBanerjee]

And the Americans have already used this same color revolution playbook in India! Are we so degraded, that we will look continue to look away when the hegemon reaches into our nation and animates his puppets? Organizes them on twitter, and summons his little angel Greta? What is our strategy - pretend like there aren't enough 5th column Indians and wannabe brown sahibs, that the Americans will run out of puppets?

[UBanerjee]

India can handle a multipolar world. A world where China, Russia, India, and perhaps the remaining shell of the United States compete and cooperate.

Russia and China band together today to deal with the hegemon. We have to realize the limited nature of their power. They have the guns, and they have some of the butter. What neither of them has, what the Americans have, is near total control over information- especially in English- and with that, men's souls. This is the vile American priesthood!

What India cannot handle is full spectrum dominance by the Americans, and having their best and brightest brainwashed by American universities to hate their own country and their own faith. Nothing is worth that price.

[Rakesh]

From India's Representative - Ambassador T S Tirumurti - to the United Nations.

https://twitter.com/ambtstirumurti/stat ... PgzkpDDKEw ---> In UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine today, India abstained on the vote on draft resolution. Our Explanation of Vote Below...

[UBanerjee]

Good vote.

Modiji, you have an excellent administration and foreign service. Now please God to grant you the power to corral your media. You saw how the Americans moved against you over the past two years. They will not stop, whether during your rule or, God willing, the rule of a worthy successor. You are just another "Putler" in their eyes as you well know, a "Hindu Fascist".

[Vayutuvan]

rooks rike someone is using Googre tlansrate fol mandalin to engrish. onree.

I, fol one, celtainry, berieve you ahalam chailman.

[Baikul]

Meanwhile just as a lighter aside (or maybe not given how serious the situation is), there is this too:

https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/world/sto ... 2022-02-18

I’m shaking my head…. Hope he’s ok.

[chetak]

this jehadin commie mistress of spin is notorious for her anti India spin and it is no coincidence that she "writes" for the china times paper put out by that charlatan "mount road mao"

take a gander at a sample of her outpouring.

[Pratyush]

This is an open threat from the western power's that they will encourage Pakistan and PRC to attack India.

Or perhaps conduct colour revolutions in any friendly neighborhood nation's.

Or perhaps within the boundaries of our nation.

[UBanerjee]

sounds like a threat. "it would be a shame if India couldn't defend itself in the future."

What are they going to do, subvert Indian democracy? Prop up a nuclear armed rentier state on our borders?

Oh, don't they already do that?

Or perhaps within the boundaries of our nation.

They already do. What was the "farmers revolt"?

These people, and I mean the Western elite, are shameless - they are pure power whores. They do it just because they can, and because who will call them to account? They have long since given up any idea of God.

[GShankar]

This is an open threat from the western power's that they will encourage Pakistan and PRC to attack India.

Or perhaps conduct colour revolutions in any friendly neighborhood nation's.

Or perhaps within the boundaries of our nation.

I see

1. delhi riots
2. farmer agitation
3. burqa agitation

as different rounds of color revolution. Don't think they are able to make much headway. The more they try, the more we unite.

[ManuJ]

India needs to be on the right side of history, staying ahead of the curve.
Putin is history, or will be soon. He is not going to recover from this debacle - it's the beginning of his end.

India needs to start planning for a post-Putin Russia and to start cultivating potential future leaders.
Publicly, while reiterating its status as a true friend and well-wisher of Russia with long-lasting and historic ties, it needs to start distancing itself from Putin.

[chetak]

India needs to be on the right side of history, staying ahead of the curve.
Putin is history, or will be soon. He is not going to recover from this debacle - it's the beginning of his end.

India needs to start planning for a post-Putin Russia and to start cultivating potential future leaders.
Publicly, while reiterating its status as a true friend and well-wisher of Russia with long-lasting and historic ties, it needs to start distancing itself from Putin.

why

at this moment in european history, putin and russia are politically and in the "affairs of state" sense, inseparable and also neither putin nor russia is going anyplace soon

our interests are best served by being aware and wary. We certainly do not have any friends in europe. the french have an agenda is all and at this point in time that agenda happens to be India inclusive.

If anything the woke west and the amerikis will only redouble their efforts to destabilize the Modi govt because of economic and foreign policy incompatibilities

[ramana]

Subject: Kissinger on Ukraine

How the Ukraine crisis ends
 
By Henry Kissinger
 
 
PUBLIC discussion on Ukraine is all about confrontation. But do we know where we are going? In my life, I have seen four wars begun with great enthusiasm and public support, all of which we did not know how to end and from three of which we withdrew unilaterally. The test of policy is how it ends, not how it begins.
    Far too often the Ukrainian issue is posed as a showdown: whether Ukraine joins the East or the West. But if Ukraine is to survive and thrive, it must not be either side’s outpost against the other – it should function as a bridge between them.
   Russia must accept that to try to force Ukraine into a satellite status, and thereby move Russia’s borders again, would doom Moscow to repeat its history of self-fulfilling cycles of reciprocal pressures with Europe and the United States.
   The West must understand that, to Russia, Ukraine can never be just a foreign country. Russian history began in what was called Kievan-Rus. The Russian religion spread from there. Ukraine has been part of Russia for centuries, and their histories were intertwined before then. Some of the most important battles for Russian freedom, starting with the Battle of Poltava in 1709, were fought on Ukrainian soil. The Black Sea Fleet – Russia’s means of projecting power in the Mediterranean – is based by long-term lease in Sevastopol, in Crimea. Even such famed dissidents as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Joseph Brodsky insisted that Ukraine was an integral part of Russian history and, indeed, of Russia.
    The European Union must recognize that its bureaucratic dilatoriness and subordination of the strategic element to domestic politics in negotiating Ukraine’s relationship to Europe contributed to turning a negotiation into a crisis. Foreign policy is the art of establishing priorities.
   The Ukrainians are the decisive element. They live in a country with a complex history and a polyglot composition. The Western part was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1939, when Stalin and Hitler divided up the spoils. Crimea, 60 per cent of whose population is Russian, became part of Ukraine only in 1954 , when Nikita Khrushchev, a Ukrainian by birth, awarded it as part of the 300th-year celebration of a Russian agreement with the Cossacks. The West is largely Catholic; the East largely Russian Orthodox. The West speaks Ukrainian; the East speaks mostly Russian. Any attempt by one wing of Ukraine to dominate the other – as has been the pattern – would lead eventually to civil war or breakup. To treat Ukraine as part of an East-West confrontation would scuttle for decades any prospect to bring Russia and the West – especially Russia and Europe – into a cooperative international system.
  Ukraine has been independent for only 23 years; it had previously been under some kind of foreign rule since the 14th century. Not surprisingly, its leaders have not learned the art of compromise, even less of historical perspective. The politics of post-independence Ukraine clearly demonstrates that the root of the problem lies in efforts by Ukrainian politicians to impose their will on recalcitrant parts of the country, first by one faction, then by the other. That is the essence of the conflict between Viktor Yanu­kovych and his principal political rival, Yulia Tymo­shenko. They represent the two wings of Ukraine and have not been willing to share power. A wise U.S. policy toward Ukraine would seek a way for the two parts of the country to cooperate with each other. We should seek reconciliation, not the domination of a faction.
   Russia and the West, and least of all the various factions in Ukraine, have not acted on this principle. Each has made the situation worse. Russia would not be able to impose a military solution without isolating itself at a time when many of its borders are already precarious. For the West, the demonization of Vladimir Putin is not a policy; it is an alibi for the absence of one.
   Putin should come to realize that, whatever his grievances, a policy of military impositions would produce another Cold War. For its part, the United States needs to avoid treating Russia as an aberrant to be patiently taught rules of conduct established by Washington. Putin is a serious strategist – on the premises of Russian history. Understanding U.S. values and psychology are not his strong suits. Nor has understanding Russian history and psychology been a strong point of U.S. policymakers.
 Leaders of all sides should return to examining outcomes, not compete in posturing. Here is my notion of an outcome compatible with the values and security interests of all sides:
• Ukraine should have the right to choose freely its economic and political associations, including with Europe.
• Ukraine should not join NATO, a position I took seven years ago, when it last came up.
• Ukraine should be free to create any government compatible with the expressed will of its people. Wise Ukrainian leaders would then opt for a policy of reconciliation between the various parts of their country. Internationally, they should pursue a posture comparable to that of Finland. That nation leaves no doubt about its fierce independence and cooperates with the West in most fields but carefully avoids institutional hostility toward Russia.
 •It is incompatible with the rules of the existing world order for Russia to annex Crimea. But it should be possible to put Crimea’s relationship to Ukraine on a less fraught basis. To that end, Russia would recognize Ukraine’s sovereignty over Crimea. Ukraine should reinforce Crimea’s autonomy in elections held in the presence of international observers. The process would include removing any ambiguities about the status of the Black Sea Fleet at Sevastopol.
  These are principles, not prescriptions. People familiar with the region will know that not all of them will be palatable to all parties. The test is not absolute satisfaction but balanced dissatisfaction. If some solution based on these or comparable elements is not achieved, the drift toward confrontation will accelerate. The time for that will come soon enough.
• Kissinger was secretary of state from 1973 to 1977. The article was first published in Washington Post.

By HAK own admission Crimea was added to Ukraine by Nikita Khruschev as a good will gesture and is 60% is ethnic Russian.
So remerging wit Russia is right solution. No need for referendum.
In fact in Western Ukraine there was voluntary population transfers to create current Ukraine.

[UBanerjee]

This whole scenario played out because America and its lapdogs thought they could "Pakistan" to Putin's Russia.

The same playbook, every time.

Euromaidan 2014. Obama's State Dept overthrows the legitimate government of Ukraine because Yanukovych won't sign the EU trade deal.
Enter Victoria Nuland, picking the new "democratic Ukraine" government.
The "new and improved" Ukraine banned the Russian language. Became a rentier state for the Americans.
Endless provocations.
Attempted color revolution followup in Belarus, 2021.
Kazakhstan, in January of this year!

Billions in weapons poured into Ukraine. Encouraging the puppets to shell Donbass and Luhansk and mass the army on the border.
The Anglos really think they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, and as long as all their little media flutes and trumpets and horns blare the same note, they will write the story of what happened.

You sow the wind, you reap the whirlwind, Europe and America, "The West".

Anyone watching this from India and cheering for Ukraine is, frankly, an idiot. This Ukraine is a reanimated puppet with Uncle Sam's arms shoved up its backside. This is the exact same playbook they used against us with Pakistan, the fake rentier state. Even against China, America will only use us a battering ram and nothing more. The minute they'll get a better deal somewhere else, they'll stab us in the back and drop us.

The Americans used Ukraine to enrich their personal coffers - see Hunter Biden as the tip of that iceberg - and then threw them into the bear's den. "Ukraine! We are with you!" they cried as they backpedaled furiously. Today Biden said he is standing up for Ukraine because that's what America does, but he's going to limit sanctions because it will make the price of gas go up. That's what you are worth, Ukrainians - the price of gas.

And really, that is the ultimate problem with this psychotic global "American empire". The empire is not, as Putin put it, "agreement capable".
Ordinary Americans are brutalized themselves. Trump was their attempt out.
We all saw what happened.

I refer to this post when talking about the "morality" of the situation.

Some morality, these Anglos! Is endless, shameless deceit now the bedrock of the godly life?

By the way, "right side of history" is a core slogan of the American progressive Cathedral. Please don't repeat it here as if it means something?

[Baikul]

India needs to be on the right side of history, staying ahead of the curve.
Putin is history, or will be soon. He is not going to recover from this debacle - it's the beginning of his end.

India needs to start planning for a post-Putin Russia and to start cultivating potential future leaders.
Publicly, while reiterating its status as a true friend and well-wisher of Russia with long-lasting and historic ties, it needs to start distancing itself from Putin.

why

at this moment in european history, putin and russia are politically and in the "affairs of state" sense, inseparable and also neither putin nor russia is going anyplace soon

our interests are best served by being aware and wary. We certainly do not have any friends in europe. the french have an agenda is all and at this point in time that agenda happens to be India inclusive.

If anything the woke west and the amerikis will only redouble their efforts to destabilize the Modi govt because of economic and foreign policy incompatibilities

While I’m not convinced yet that Putinfall is inevitable I’d at least agree with the premise that he is in a precarious position. And if he goes, and if the next leader takes a different tack and: or distances the Russian state with actions under Putin, then India will be in an awkward position (at best).

[Pratyush]

I think that with this western blunder, it is now a foregone conclusion that Russia will align itself with PRC much more than what has happened until now.

Form an Indian POV it is no longer advisable to develop deeper relationship with United States. Keep it transactional. No more largest democracies BS.

Because, regardless of what it claims openly about quad or AUKUS. By Its own stupidity, and treason within the government and businesses, it will no longer be able to project an independent foreign policy. Or even be a reliable partner for a nation like India.

If I am optimistic beyond any reasonable measure. Then in the next few days the US will say to Russia that Ukraine will never become a member of NATO.

Withdraw any intervention from the government of Ukraine. In exchange for "generosity" from Putin. In it that Ukraine will be allowed to remain a neutral country. In a completely disarmed state.

That will give Russia some confidence about the west and reduce the dependence on PRC.

With the end of US stupidity it can genuinely focus on the Asian pivot. With Russia as a partner.

[ramana]

The fact Putin acted means they want to survive.
Any way that's in the future.

[vijaykarthik]

There was a difference last time though. Saakashvili took troops to overrun Tshkinvali and that was a recipe and a decent enough reason for Putin to allow Russian troops to enter and liberate. This time is a lot different. Unprovoked.

Not really. There was a steady rise in ceasefire violations (as measured by OCSE monitors) since Jan. Mostly from the Ukrainian side. Putin was being provoked by the Ukrainians, who thought NATO would deter him from acting.

I look at it a bit more realistically, perhaps. I consider it as par course when there is some skirmish and ceasefire violation in border / disputed areas. Happens most times in our LoC too. Wont call that a particularly provocative under the circs.

[vimal]

I think that with this western blunder, it is now a foregone conclusion that Russia will align itself with PRC much more than what has happened until now.

...

With the end of US stupidity it can genuinely focus on the Asian pivot. With Russia as a partner.

I agree with most of what you wrote but partnership with Russia is something I doubt will ever happen.

[Thakur_B]

The Ukrainian propaganda efforts are falling face first into concrete.

'Ghost of Kyiv'
'Snake island Guards'
and other tear jerking stories that 200 IQ Western media is gobbling like Monica did to Bill Clinton.

[rkirankr]

The Ukrainian propaganda efforts are falling face first into concrete.

'Ghost of Kyiv'
'Snake island Guards'
and other tear jerking stories that 200 IQ Western media is gobbling like Monica did to Bill Clinton.

The ghost of Kyiv appears to be a made up story in this day and age of BVR

[Cyrano]

Looking at the numerous videos on Reddit etc of low flying Russian attack choppers, it seems they aren't worried about MANPADS at all. They use chaff and flares but seem to fly so low that even machine gun fire could hit them. Heck in one video an attack heli fired rockets from close range on an AD system positioned next to a highway. I'd have thought UA would be using their AD systems a lot more effectively and MANPADS too. At least now when they are trying to put up some resistance and the Russian tactic of inserting SF troops by heli dropping them near important locations is well known. Surprising !

[Cain Marko]

Seems like there is total news blackout from Russian side.... And no recent developments are being shown on any channels. It seems Internet services are disrupted.
Only thing bring posted on western media is that the fighting in Kyiv is very intense and huge numbers of Russian troops have been killed, not to mention Il 76 transports brought down by ukr s300.
And it seems the Russians are not getting desperate and killing civilian targets in a big way.
Total fog of war.

[Prem Kumar]

Got this via WA:

Until 1990: NATO had 16 members
Russia: Don't expand further
America: Okay we will not expand (verbally, not written)

1999: Poland, Hungary and Czech republic joined NATO
Russia: But you said you won't expand!
America: Where is the written document?

2004: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia joined NATO
2009: Albania and Croatia joined NATO
2017: Montenegro and North Macedonia joined NATO
2021: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Ukraine will join

Russia: Enough is enough, you are betraying us since 1990s, if we allow you, you will deploy missiles on our borders.
World: Russia is so aggressive, they are evil, they don't think about humanity, Russia is expanding. Putin is being unreasonable......

[Cyrano]

Worth a look: Especially the Budapest Memorandum.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_w ... nd_Ukraine

[Cyrano]

France, in its role as leader of NATO defensive response, volunteered to position a battalion of 500 soldiers with protected vehicles in Romania ASAP - Chief of Armies Gen Burkhard on TV - France24 channel last night.

[Raja]

I am not sure why some people are reading a great Russian victory after 3 days. This is not going to be decided in days, weeks or maybe even few years. Whether or not this was a success for Russia will be decided over many years.

[Atmavik]

This is just the beginning of a new geo political shift

This is ‘Anchulus’, claim to sudetenlands comes next.

The west will not get involved unless Anglo saxons are attacked the Baltic states must be very worried right now

[kit]

UN Security Council voting on resolution condemning Russia.


No

- Russia

Abstain

- China
- India
- United Arab Emirates.
https://twitter.com/spectatorindex/stat ... 65345?s=21

take it by the population they represent., half the world is not against !

[chetak]

The fact Putin acted means they want to survive.
Any way that's in the future.

they should not have cornered him to the point where he was left with no options but to do what he did.

decades ago, they had previously cornered germany too and the consequences were disastrous.

the gaping cracks in the idea of the EU cannot so easily be papered over now.

putin's replacement, whenever that happens will not allow the dismantling, defanging, and disintegration of the russian state.

the west can have their red lines but will not permit others to have them. The deterrence of the unspoken but very real threat of a bloody war in the heart of europe is what putin was banking upon. In the end, neither the amerikis nor the europeans had the cojones to follow through.

If trump was running the US, matters would not have come to a head like this and more importantly, putin would not have dared to do what he did.

Feel sad for the US military though, from afghanistan to ukraine, they have been emasculated, neutered, and left bereft of decisive leadership

the pampered europeans have lost the will to fight on their own homelands whereas the russkis are still willing to risk it all.

Now, everyone in the world realizes what we in India have known for decades... when the music stops and the shooting starts, you are always alone on the jang ka maidan because the cheerleaders have all packed up and gone home.

going forward, the taiwanese will not sleep nights so easily after this little practical lesson in geopolitics and realpolitik

[John]

BBC-France seizes Russian cargo ship in Channel

The French navy has intercepted a cargo ship in the English channel bound for the Russian city of St Petersburg, the BBC has learned.

French officials told the BBC that the ship was intercepted in line with new EU sanctions and say it has been redirected to the northern port of Boulogne-Sur-Mer.

“A 127 meters long Russia cargo ship called the 'Baltic Leader' transporting cars has been intercepted overnight by the French Navy in the Channel and escorted to the Port of Boulogne-Sur-Mer in Northern France," the official said.

[chetak]

BBC-France seizes Russian cargo ship in Channel

The French navy has intercepted a cargo ship in the English channel bound for the Russian city of St Petersburg, the BBC has learned.

French officials told the BBC that the ship was intercepted in line with new EU sanctions and say it has been redirected to the northern port of Boulogne-Sur-Mer.

“A 127 meters long Russia cargo ship called the 'Baltic Leader' transporting cars has been intercepted overnight by the French Navy in the Channel and escorted to the Port of Boulogne-Sur-Mer in Northern France," the official said.

here is the reality


Russian gas flows to Europe via Ukraine reportedly jumped nearly 40% on Thursday, underscoring the continent's dependence on Putin's energy

FEB 25, 2022,

Russian gas exports to Europe via Ukraine spiked nearly 38% Thursday, Bloomberg reported, citing data from Ukraine's grid operator.
European natural gas prices soared as much as 62% on the same day.
Natural gas exports flowing from Russia to Europe through Ukraine ramped up on Thursday, jumping by nearly 38% from a day earlier, according to data reported by Bloomberg.

Figures from Ukraine's grid operator further showed that these flows were expected to rise by around 24% on Friday compared with Thursday's levels, per Bloomberg.

Western Europe is heavily reliant on Russian gas supplies, and the increased flow Thursday underscored that continuing dependency. Some 41% of the European Union's gas imports come from Russia, more than twice as much as Norway, the next-largest supplier, according to the most recent EU data.

The increased gas flows from Russia to Europe on Thursday came after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine. World governments hit Russia with sanctions in response but the US defended a decision not to include the energy sector in its measures.

Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom said Thursday that gas flows to Europe via Ukraine were as expected.

[John]

I am not sure why some people are reading a great Russian victory after 3 days. This is not going to be decided in days, weeks or maybe even few years. Whether or not this was a success for Russia will be decided over many years.

Kremlin advisor Andrey Kortunov did few interviews with media he told BBC Kremlin expected the conflict to end in 2 weeks and currently surprised by reaction in Ukraine to Russian forces.

I believe there was some expectation of local uprising in other parts of Ukraine against Kyiv and that didn’t quite materialize.