wantkitteh writes:
"The BBC is reporting that Russia has given Ukrainian military forces in Crimea a deadline of 3AM Tuesday morning to surrender or face assault. Moscow claims the position is to protect Russian civilians in Crimea following what it describes as the illegal coup in the past weeks. The Ukrainian Prime Minister has denounced Russia's actions as totally illegal and has called on it's allies to put pressure on Moscow. Russian military readiness in the area is very high with a blockade in place at Ukraine's naval headquarters and pre-positioned air and ground forces already in central locations around Crimea. Ukrainian forces are outnumbered and unprepared to face the threat. Demonstrations in the largely Russian-speaking area have supported Moscow's position while outside the area civilians are scared of what the future holds."
Russia's military has given Ukrainian forces in Crimea until dawn on Tuesday to surrender or face an assault, Ukrainian defence sources have said. The head of Russia's Black Sea Fleet Aleksander Vitko set the deadline and also threatened two warships, Ukrainian officials said. However, Interfax news agency later quoted a fleet spokesman who denied that any ultimatum had been issued. Moscow has said its troops are needed in Crimea to protect civilians. The Kremlin says people in Crimea have come under threat from "ultra-nationalists" since pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted last month. Russia is now said to be in de facto control of the Crimea region.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by r00t on Monday March 03 2014, @08:05PM
This is important news for places like bbc.co.uk and cnn.com. I thought SN was going to be a tech-news site, or have I mistaken that?
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday March 03 2014, @08:30PM
Why not try a tech discussion?
I have not heard of any "cyberwar" type stuff going on.
The Russians seem to be going in pretty low tech, boots on ground, APCs, that kind of thing, not so much high tech drones launching high tech missiles at wedding parties and journalists like the west would implement.
I've seen pics and none of them contained anything terribly new and exciting... so far. Would be interesting to hear if someone sees a beta test of a new tank or APC or who knows what. The best intel for this war might be dudes posting cell phone camera pix on reddit or similar.
Given that the eastern provinces, formerly Ukraine in name only, are like 90%+ ethnic Russians who speak Russian, its no great surprise there's no street fighting against the "invaders" who are after all their cousins. So far, anyway. But if fighting does break out, it was always a stereotypical excuse that 3rd world owners of .ru military equipment always failed because they had poor maint, no spare parts, etc. Well .ru isn't going to have that excuse so from a tech standpoint, if they do end up fighting, it'll be interesting to see how much more effective .ru weapons are when maintained and operated by trained .ru soldiers.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 03 2014, @08:33PM
The credo used to be "News for nerds and stuff that matters." I would argue that this stuff definitely matters. We're watching one of the major world powers provoke a war.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by allsorts46 on Monday March 03 2014, @08:40PM
Agreed. If tech-related news does not suffer as a result, what's wrong with additional stories on things that important? It's easy just to skip over them, if they're not of interest.
I thought the real point of moving here was to preserve the strong community that many feel is threatened by the changes going on over there. I for one would like to hear what people here have to say on a large variety of subjects, not only tech.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by crutchy on Monday March 03 2014, @09:00PM
because there are a lot of hot chicks in Russia
and because it's a breath of fresh air to see someone other the the USA kicking some other poor country's ass for once
(Score: 2) by mmcmonster on Monday March 03 2014, @09:24PM
Mistaken. ;-)
This is a discussion site for those who are geeks. Mostly tech-related discussions, but why say anything is off topic?
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 03 2014, @11:36PM
Slashdot, before it took a turn for the retarded was a good site for discussion on geopolitical topics - the "stuff that matters" part of the old tagline. There was the chance for people on the ground to post, some insights and in general information and discussion that you simply dont get on mainstream sites. And as well..... you avoid the comments sections of said mainstream sites if you do want to discuss said geopolitical topic. The intelligence level is still even on a betaized Slashdot soooo much better (even if there are some drooling morons infiltrating)
Thence, carrying on the "stuff that matters" in Soylent is a great thing. So far the comments here have been pretty good and I've learnt a couple of things that I would not have in bbc.co.uk or AlJazerra.
While I'm at it, one the bes tthings that I got from Slashdot was the recommendation to follow geopotical news on AlJazzera English. It's reporting is by far better than most mainstream sites, even exceeding the BBC at times. CNN is terrible these days so I would recommend BBC and AlJazzera English.
I also apologize for spelling AlJazzera wrong if I have.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday March 04 2014, @02:12AM
SN is mostly tech-related discussion. I cherish that. I also cherish the intelligent discussion on the momentous topics of the day. CNN and BBC do not offer that. Stratfor is the only other forum I've ever encountered that has a similar signal-to-noise ratio, but its readership's generally hawkish bent exhausts me. I prefer the baseline level-headedness of the engineers and scientists and geeks we are with assorted toppings of left, right, center, and Cthulhu.
Now, should articles about Oscar gowns and 3 surefire secrets to boosting your sex life or Awww! Cute kittens appear on the scroll, then it would be pretty clear that SN has gone permanently OT. But I do feel there is a little latitude for articles not strictly tech/science-related.
Washington DC delenda est.