How Russia Took Over Ukraine's Internet in Occupied Territories (nytimes.com) 54
Several weeks after taking over Ukraine's southern port city of Kherson, Russian soldiers arrived at the offices of local internet service providers and ordered them to give up control of their networks. From a report: "They came to them and put guns to their head and just said, 'Do this,'" said Maxim Smelyanets, who owns an internet provider that operates in the area and is based in Kyiv. "They did that step by step for each company." Russian authorities then rerouted mobile and internet data from Kherson through Russian networks, government and industry officials said. They blocked access to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, as well as to Ukrainian news websites and other sources of independent information. Then they shut off Ukrainian cellular networks, forcing Kherson's residents to use Russian mobile service providers instead.
What happened in Kherson is playing out in other parts of Russian-occupied Ukraine. After more than five months of war, Russia controls large sections of eastern and southern Ukraine. Bombings have leveled cities and villages; civilians have been detained, tortured and killed; and supplies of food and medicine are running low, according to witnesses interviewed by The New York Times and human rights groups. Ukrainians in those regions have access only to Russian state television and radio. To cap off that control, Russia has also begun occupying the cyberspace of parts of those areas. That has cleaved off Ukrainians in Russia-occupied Kherson, Melitopol and Mariupol from the rest of the country, limiting access to news about the war and communication with loved ones. In some territories, the internet and cellular networks have been shut down altogether.
What happened in Kherson is playing out in other parts of Russian-occupied Ukraine. After more than five months of war, Russia controls large sections of eastern and southern Ukraine. Bombings have leveled cities and villages; civilians have been detained, tortured and killed; and supplies of food and medicine are running low, according to witnesses interviewed by The New York Times and human rights groups. Ukrainians in those regions have access only to Russian state television and radio. To cap off that control, Russia has also begun occupying the cyberspace of parts of those areas. That has cleaved off Ukrainians in Russia-occupied Kherson, Melitopol and Mariupol from the rest of the country, limiting access to news about the war and communication with loved ones. In some territories, the internet and cellular networks have been shut down altogether.
can they bill them and drain the banks acounts? (Score:2)
can they bill them big fees and drain the banks accounts?
Say the rented hardware costs big bucks and bill them for war damage?
This is only temporary (Score:5, Informative)
Most likely those Ukrainians are in death camps somewhere (e.g. work camps where you're underfed until you die). I can't imagine they'd be resettled since they'd be a huge danger to Russia. Pretty much guaranteed to become insurgents. So off to some kind of prison camp they go. It's legit terrifying that we're not tracking those people better.
Re:This is only temporary (Score:5, Informative)
Exactly and this certainly isn't new for them in Ukraine. They always make a big stink about protecting the "native Russian speakers" in Ukraine but the question is why there are so many native Russians there?
Because they enacted a system of genocide, imprisionment and replacement of the citizenry in the country over the decades of Imperial and Soviet rule: Russification of Ukraine [wikipedia.org]
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It's a strategy that goes back to the Mongol era in Russia. Russians are Mongols.
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I literally have no idea what you are talking about.
The Russians spent a couple hundred years under Mongol rule, and they picked up a lot of their fighting techniques culturally. War crimes, etc.
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It's kinda speaks in your favor that you don't know what I'm talking about and I'm tempted to keep it that way, but then again, I'm a firm believer that if you don't know why something is better buried in the sand of times, you're bound to repeat it. So here [wikipedia.org] is an explanation of the double entendre [wikipedia.org] here.
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So here is an explanation of the double entendre here.
From your Wikipedia article:
While the term mongoloid (also mongolism, Mongolian imbecility or idiocy) continued to be used until the early 1980s, it is now considered unacceptable
Ah yes. More "you can't say this" from the same generation that tries to redefine "woman".
Fuck y'all. Downies have been referred to as mongols as long as I can remember. They only thing that's unacceptable is you fucking P.C. assholes trying to redefine language (oh, except, of course, if it's "he dindu nuffin"; then it's "vernacular English").
And downvoting doesn't change the truth.
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If you have to explain the joke... it wasn't funny.
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Well played.
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With the difference that this is more a 19th century thing there. But I know, Russia is a wee bit behind...
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Re: This is only temporary (Score:2)
History doesn't mean you can safely make up todays news because you know what happened 50 years ago, and because history repeats itself it must be happening again.
A few actual facts would be highly appreciated. And yes, Ukrainians are getting trucked out to Russia, but quite a few are making their way to the Ukraine again, it just takes them a few weeks to months. And not everyone is all that anxious to go back into a war zone, patriotic flagwaving notwithstanding.
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think it's racist when white people express concern about demographic replacement of whites in the west?
Can't know what's in peoples heads but the people who tend to express concern about such things tend to say other racist things or justify this concern with reasons generally considered racist.
Do you think it's not happening, or do you think it *is* happening? If so, is it a good thing? (More democrat voters = better chance at saving the planet)
Is it happening? Yes but this is just natural progression. Is it good or bad? Neither, it just is. Why do you naturally assume new children are automatically democrat? Is the republican platform that out of touch that toddlers are already against it? If you are talking about immigration, well maybe you don't know,
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This is not new to Russia. Russification was practiced by the czars as well as the soviets. This is a major reason that former "ally" neighbors greatly distrust Russia, because of the intentional attempt to destroy local culture, language, and even people. China does this too and gets a lot of blame for it, but many overlook the long history of this with Russia as well.
But it is almost surreal to see this happening in the moment, and in the way it is going. So capture a place, but maybe hold it and regro
Re: This is only temporary (Score:2)
To be fair, IP laws are really important to the lizard committee in charge of daily US affairs.
Edge networking would be a huge value here (Score:3)
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You'd need to establish a community of people willing to run that network. And as the technology would have to be accessible to the public, that community would be infiltrated. Russia doesn't need to out-tech the activists, it just needs to intimidate them.
Stop random people on the street. Demand to see their phone. If they refuse, beat them. If they accept, check the phone for the app. See the app? Beat them, then drag them off to the police station and charge them with distributing misinformation. Make su
Standard Occupation MO (Score:2)
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Confiscate weapons, take control of communications, restrict travel, etc.
I'm glad no one is trying to do these things in the US!
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The more I hear about this god dude, the more he comes across like a giant douche.
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Agreed.
https://thehill.com/homenews/a... [thehill.com]
I love you for posting that link, my new favorite AC.
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Heh. He can confiscate a gun without due process (how his 2A supporters would twist that around as a good thing would be amusing), and use it to shoot someone in Times Square without consequence (oh, I see).
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Like everything else about Trumpism devouring the Republican party, it's goddamned embarrassing.
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Mmm. Cult of Personality. A failure mode of democracies.
Re:Standard Occupation MO (Score:5, Informative)
You are confused, when the U.S. went into Iraq it didn't restrict communications or Internet access, it expanded it. This is a sharp contrast with stopping Ukrainians from using social media or viewing non-Russian news. It's the exact opposite in fact.
Of course you are right that war is always bad, it is sometimes necessary however.
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you say...
https://freedomhouse.org/count... [freedomhouse.org]
and the USA likes more the monitor the communication, to later raid the users, instead of simply blocking them, those blocked sites are usually based in the USA, so they have direct access to them... after all, Russia isn't blocking access to their sites too
Remember how Snowden show how deep the USA spies everyone, even their own!
usually war can be avoided (not always, i know, but most times because of past errors), problems need to be solved with both sides, inste
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Precision missiles vs. artillery barrages. Build a school rather than flatten it. Russians have reverted to type. They love having a dictator.
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Precision Missiles cost money, both the USA and Russia use them when needed... but artillery is much cheaper, cause terror and if you don't care, they can be "better"
During Iraq invasion, many buildings were destroyed... sure, Iraq army could be using them, other were mistakes... and later USA help rebuild those
While Russia care less about side damage, As recently noticed Ukraine is using civil buildings for military bases or storage, so if Russia destroy them, it is fuel for the western TV to show how bad
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Lots of good points.
About dictators, "He made the trains run on time" comes to mind.
Could have been a great nation (Score:1)
It's too bad because Russia has well-educated people who could make it an economic powerhouse without being a big dick. I realize that "capitalism" happened too fast in the 90's and shocked a lot of citizens, but perhaps Norway or Denmark is a better model for them than USA.
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Not really. The monarchy has very limited actual power.
There's always a way. (Score:2)
So how many Starlink terminals are operating in the region now? Anyone know?
Sounds like Soviet Union to me (Score:4, Insightful)
Starlink and other sats (Score:4, Interesting)
They marched in backwards... (Score:2)