Man, you hate to see that. A Russian ammo dump. Blown up.
Thoughts and prayers.
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We may see similar events around Texas if the power goes out and some people’s houses overheat.
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Those HIMARS are doing work.
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Russia quitting the International Space Station at the end of 2024. I’m guessing they have a cash crunch for some reason.
They say they’re building their own station.
Hey Ivan, wanna come in?
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Hahahahahahahahaha.
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So, the Russian space program, in its current form, is legit and has the skill to pull this off. And, competing space stations in orbit are a massive threat to the relative neutrality of orbital space. Additional resources pouring into expansion of the Russian space program would be exceedingly beneficial to their military industrial complex. No one should take this lightly.
With blackjack and hookers?
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I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t know where those resources are going to come from. Maybe I’m underestimating Putin’s willingness to impoverish his citizenry.
“I don’t know where those resources are going to come from.”
China.
Outside a few major cities, Russia is impoverished and rotting from within from violence, rampant alcoholism, and a general state of futility. Putin can only make things worse for those people living in places like Moscow and St. Petersburg which is why he’s throwing Tuvan and Buryatia conscripts at his problems while recruiting from former Soviet states like Kyrgyzstan.
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Russian autocrats have been treating their people as a natural resource asset to be exploited for 400+ years. Especially as their tenure lengthens and they try to hold on to autocratic power or cement their legacy. Putin would be one of the first not to do so if he did not.
I doubt that China is any more interested in seeing Russia establish an independent space station than we are.
But they may cooperate with Russia to build one…
China will use them up and toss them aside first chance they get.
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Russia had - pre-war - an economy the size of Italy. But that is with more than double the population and lord knows what multiple of land mass. Its position on the world stage is a combination of history, nukes and that it has a lot of hydrocarbons (that it is terrible at producing).
Russia’s reputation is shot - notably that of its scary military, which has turned out to be the Keystone Cops with prehistoric equipment. Its economy is worse because of the war and Europe is going cold turkey on its oil and gas. It has found other buyers temporarily - notably China - but it has been a failed state propped up by oil money since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
There’s no way they have the time, energy or money to sustain a space program, especially now that they are on the verge of losing all that sweet, sweet NASA money for ferrying our astronauts to the ISS; thanks to Space X and/or Boeing.
Good luck with that.
Roughly 56.76.
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China probably stands to gain more from a failed Russian state than as an ally. Probably buy up some Siberian forest territory for cheap.
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Poland just bought 1,000 K-2 Black Panther tanks, 600 K9 Howitzers, and 48 FA-50 fighter jets from Korea. Me thinks they’re going to make sure Russia doesn’t get far.
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