this post was submitted on 14 Feb 2025
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Europe

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[–] [email protected] 62 points 6 days ago (2 children)

In other news, Putin is a pissmidget.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 days ago (3 children)

At what point will NATO grow the balls to drone strike Putin?

What's he gonna do? Star a nuclear war in which he will instantly die? Try to invade the rest of the EU when he can barely control a small strip of Ukraine after 2 years of war?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

Even a cornered rat will bite. If that rat understands its death is near, it will have nothing left to lose. Those bites become more frequent, more damaging, and more chaotic. The rat cares not for its surroundings, as it already understands that it is dead. You can see why you might not want to back that rat into a corner, as the risk of damage to yourself or another person is too great.

The point of contention is about efficacy. There is capability to remotely neutralize such a person, but how effective would it be? Anything less than 100% efficacy leaves risk for escalation.

Everyone wants that rat gone, but anything less than a direct hit from HRB (edit: hypervelocity-rod-bundles) would be ineffective.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago

Who would replace Putin is also a question. Right now the answer is someone just as evil. (I don't know which person, but all the choices are just as evil)

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 days ago
[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

That's a very clear casus belli probably to even the more anti-Vlad Russians.

You don't just flagrantly kill heads of state and expect the country to thank you.

Even those in the military who probably understand Putin is a very shit influence on Russia in every regard would have problems with the US just bombing the shit out of Putler.

I'm not against him dying or getting bombed, but the reality is that killing the head of a state is pretty much the casus belli.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago
[–] [email protected] 28 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Is it only me or is this extremely scary? Like, what the fuck are they trying to do with this?

[–] [email protected] 20 points 6 days ago

No, it's just fearmongering. Stupid as hell ofc.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Not really scary, probably wasn't even intentional and shitty drone just lost itself.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 6 days ago (3 children)

I think it highly unlikely a drone just happened to fall out of the sky and hit the sarcophagus. The ones that fall out of the sky rarely hit anything. Ukraine is vast.

I think it also incredibly unlikely that this is a false flag from the Ukrainians. Poland already said in the early days that any nuclear fallout that enters their territory from the Zaporizhzhia plant when there was concerns about an act of terror from the Russians would be considered an act of war and that they would trigger article 5 based on it.

Ukraine could have false flagged the shit out of that to drag NATO in and chose not to so this is definitely Russian.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 days ago (1 children)

The ones that fall out of the sky rarely hit anything. Ukraine is vast.

By definition they hit something, it's just not considered important when said something is a patch of grass or a medium sized rock.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 days ago (2 children)

The chances of a drone "losing itself" and "just hitting" something like that are zero. Even if it magically happened somehow, it's still Russia's fault for waging war on a neighbor, and they would deserve 100% of the response.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I mean... not 0 but pretty damn close to it (semantics, I know)

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

I just did the numbers for shits and giggles.

Ukraine is 635,000 square kilometres = 653 billion square metres. The "New Safe" that was hit is roughly 43000 square metres.

To randomly hit it (not realistic I know, but it gives an interesting result) as I understand it would be just shy of 1 in 15 million.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago

So you're telling me there is a chance

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 days ago (2 children)

But to be fair,Tyou shouldn't count all of Ukraine's territory, but the Russian controlled ground and the front line plus maybe 50km or so deep into Ukraine's territory.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

I did consider that, but many (most maybe?) of the Shaheds would be launched from well behind the front lines so would be traveling over occupied Ukraine was my thinking. I have no idea on the actual stats there.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 days ago

To be fair you should count Poland territory too, since apparently drones have been flying and crashing in there too.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago

Wait so you mean I'm still on the hook if I launch a bunch of ordinance harmlessly at my neighbor's porch, but I accidentally hit their child's bedroom? Well shit.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 6 days ago

Everyday close to third of shahed drones get lost due to e-warfare, with more than hundred of these drones used every day it is probable that one of those that was intended for Kyiv ended up in Chernobyl.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 6 days ago

Considering E-warfare; and drones designated to continue on their already prescribed path - it isn't that unlikely; if there was fighting in the area...

The more likely option is terrible communication I'd wager

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago

The fact that there is doubt whether or not it was even intentional is itself very concerning. None of us would really struggle to believe they might do that deliberately, the only question is whether or not they did do it deliberately.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago (2 children)

I like to imagine that it was an accident. What kind of next level stupidity does it take to do this intentionally? Well, humanity is known for reaching absolutely epic heights in stupidity, so I guess it’s still possible.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago

What kind of next level stupidity does it take to do this intentionally

Could it really be called stupidity, if they know nothing of consequence will happen because of it? Because I doubt there will be any.

With that knowledge and assuming it wasn't intentional, it is imo closer to indifference than stupidity.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Even if it was intentional nothing will happen. First, it's really fucking massive, and 50 kilo of tnt that drones are equipped with won't do anything. Second, there is old confinement underneath the newer one which is massive as well and needed like half a million cubic meters of concrete. So you are as safe as you can be and no scary radiation will leak from there. Third, personally I expect russians to use tactical nuke on either chernobyl or zaporizzha this year (expected them to do it earlier to be honest), now with full support from US they will feel a lot more confident.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago

I wish there was a RemindMe! function on Lemmy. I guess I’ll just save this and come back to it when the sirens go off.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 days ago

Prove that not completely destroying russias current regime as soon as possible is the dumbest thing the free world could do.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 6 days ago

Russia has denied any claims it attacked Chernobyl, stating its military does not strike Ukrainian nuclear infrastructure and "any claims that this was the case do not correspond to reality".

You heard em, guys. Russia says they didn't do it, must have been a Ukrainian false flag that risked re-poisoning their own territory, right? Because surely Russia would never LIE. I mean yeah they drone strike nuclear disaster containment, and stored ammunition inside a nuclear power station they had occupied, but LIES? Never.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 days ago (1 children)

'just impacted on the surface'.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago

"Just the tip"