At the same time, Putin Urges Businesses to Back Russian Innovation as State Funding Shrinks.

Moscow universities face higher competition for tuition-free university spots as paid seats are being eliminated while military quotas expand.

And Russia’s healthcare crumbles amid Putin’s war with Ukraine, one of the biggest consequences being a massive exodus of skilled specialists from the medical profession, as the number of doctors has declined from 800 000 to less than 600 000 from 2014 to 2026.

Russia spends more on military and disinformation campaigns than it spends for education, science, healthcare.

Yes, and Russians have been doing that already this entire year as you may know. The cash held outside banks reached 19 trillion roubles (+200 billion euros) in Russia, a new peak never seen in this century, according to the Russian Central Bank. It already puts pressure on banks which rely on deposits to fund themselves.

Japan does support Ukraine, not Russia like China does. Japan doesn’t bully its neighbours with war games, China does. Just to name two examples.

The threat that a situation like the Ukraine invasion happens doesn’t come from Japan. It comes from China.

Do you agree with that?

Can you stop hyperfocusing on that?

I am not ‘hyperfocusing.’ The topic here is the threat that posed by China, Russia, NK. They are a threat not just to Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific region, but to the entire world. We see that now as China, through its decisive support for Russia, is a threat to Ukraine and, therefore, Europe. And the same could happen in Asia, which is what this article is about.I am fully on topic.

Don’t know why you bring up ‘conservatives’ Japan, the threat comes from somewhere else.

… xenophobic and completely divorced from the reality …

What exactly do you mean? The threats are very real, and they come from China and its ‘allies’ in the first place.

China’s military build-up over the last three decades - the larges in history during peace time - and its war games in the region are well-documented. Some of its diplomats even openly threatening officials and citizens of foreign countries.

China and North Korea are also heavily supporting Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.

Don’t know why you distract from these simple facts.

I think Japan (and all its partner countries in the Indo-Pacific and beyond) understand very well the danger coming from these three state actors.

I get your point and fully agree in principal, and my knowledge about Senegal is next to zero. The point I want to make is that many of these workers are facing harsh economic conditions at home with little prospects, and they are lured by false promises. But that’s just my opinion based on many reports I’ve read and a couple of first-hand reports by people in my wider environment who work for NGOs the field. But my experience with this stuff is zero, so I may be mistaken.

In addition to what @Curiositymonger@reddthat.com has said, there is also the issue of working conditions under which these cameras have been produced, supposedly with forced labour/slavery-like conditions.

Fights are breaking out at Russia’s gas stations as the fuel crisis spreads

Russian media have been reporting on a surge of conflicts at gas stations across the country. The fuel crisis, triggered by Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil facilities, has forced people to wait for hours at gas stations. Some drivers try to cut the line, which has at times led to brawls. The situation is compounded by the fact that some stations have taken a liberal interpretation of the requirement to give priority to official vehicles. As a result, local officials in some regions have begun jumping the line, and in Chita, participants in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and their family members were added to the list of those exempt from waiting. All of this has fueled widespread public anger.

The linked article is citing incidents from the regions where the fuel shortage has led to conflicts.

This may be true for consumer electronics, but not for all the components that are of importance in this context.

Thanks for this. I didn’t know this, but so I’ll archive the BBC when posting from now on.

Thanks,but it’s strange. Here all is freely accessible. I was not aware that the BBC has paywall.

The Kremlin appears to have settled on an official explanation for Russia’s fuel crisis, blaming it not on a gasoline shortage stemming from Ukraine’s ongoing strikes against the country’s oil refining infrastructure, but Russians themselves, as reported by the Insider:

… Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said one of its [the fuel shortage’s] causes was “completely unfounded panic buying,” comparing it to the mass purchasing of the staple grain buckwheat at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Peskov’s statement came at the start of June, and governors and ministers have been repeating the claim since. Official Russian narratives to explain long queues at gasoline stations are that drivers had started buying gasoline “just in case" and to prevent “speculative demand,” while the same officials say restrictions on fuel purchases were necessary in order to prevent “artificial panic buying.”

At the same time, though, the Russian State Duma deputy accuses government of concealing scale of fuel crisis, warns it could cost certain officials their seats in September elections. The deputy doesn’t say whether or not Putin is one of these officials.

At least ordinary Russians appear to maintain a sense of humor as they are posting horse videos on social media.

In possibly related news, it is said that record numbers of Russians are searching the internet for when the war in Ukraine will end

Hard to stay in the loop these days …

Russia prepares mass gasoline imports from India to cover 25% production plunge, and eyes diesel export ban

Russians are searching ‘how to siphon gas’ ten times more often than three months ago

In late March, Russians were searching Yandex for instructions on “how to siphon gas” roughly 4,000 times a week. Over the past week, that figure reached nearly 44,000.

Google data shows that Russian interest in the query stood at 8 to 10 points in March. Last week it climbed to 43 points, and in the current week — only just begun — interest has already hit 100 points, the maximum possible score.

Amid this, Russians have been posting on social media about strangers draining gas from their cars or from vehicles belonging to people they know. Some of these incidents have been caught on video.

A fuel crisis has begun in Russian regions following Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries and fuel depots.

The media outlet Meduza has asked ordinary people in Moscow about what they think about Ukrainian strikes. I don’t know whether that is representative for the whole of Russia (maybe someone with more knowledge of Russia’s society can comment):

Some quotes:

All these years I felt sympathy for Ukrainians as I read the news about attacks by our “brave” special-military-operation [sic] boys … I’m sorry about what’s happening. And I’m very sorry that people are dying on both sides of the front line because of one man’s imperial ambitions.

We tried to find shelters, and there simply aren’t any in the area: everything’s been turned into car washes, private shops — anything at all except shelters… We’re cannon fodder in this pointless war, statistical casualties.

What shocked me most about this attack was that there was no alert, no warnings of any kind. I woke up to the buzzing of drones and explosions. The only information I could find about the scale of the attack was on Telegram and Instagram. I’m very worried about my family — if attacks like this keep up, I may be forced to leave Russia with them.

My attitude toward the war hasn’t changed. I don’t approve of the war, and I’m waiting for it to end.

What did anyone expect — that by year five of a full-blown war, drones just weren’t going to reach Moscow? An eye for an eye: our guys are hitting apartment towers in Kyiv and the Pechersk Lavra, and Ukrainian drones are flying straight into factories. The only thing I hope for is that as few people as possible are hurt, and it seems to me that the Ukrainian armed forces do less harm to civilians than our troops do.

My attitude toward the war is only hardening into intense hatred of what’s happening, of how everything is being taken away from people. Instead of space, new technology, and breakthroughs in medicine, we’ve got gas at nearly 100 [rubles], rising prices, constant fear for ourselves and our loved ones, and no visible future.

The war is returning to where it began. We should be grateful that Ukraine, unlike Russia, is hitting military targets, not residential buildings and cultural landmarks.

On the contrary, I support it [the strike by Ukraine], even though […] it’s scary. Because how else, except by force, are you going to open the eyes of those who blindly believe an old senile man who’s already started talking about a new term, and make that usurper of power in Russia sit down at the negotiating table?

I didn’t manage to take a photo. But that image will stay in my memory. A quiet Moscow morning. The familiar silhouette of the city. And a drone, flying calmly over the capital of a country that for decades told its citizens about its own omnipotence. That, I guess, is exactly how great illusions end. Not loudly. Not with trumpets blaring. But in the moment when you suddenly see the difference between the backdrop and reality.

[…]

This mathemachristian is just a 15-year old propaganda parrot. I don’t understand why this is allowed here, such comments add nothing of value.

Russia doesn’t seem to be heading for a fuel crisis, it’s already there …

Reuters reports that Russia is set to import fuel by sea in June as it seeks to manage a gasoline shortage following extensive drone attacks on ‌its refineries,

In a rare move for one of the world’s largest exporters of oil and refined products, Russia is expected to receive a cargo of gasoline via one of ​its western ports in June … It will be shipped from Asia, ​one source said, without providing details on volumes or suppliers.

And Russia’s state railway monopoly announced Wednesday [June 17] the creation of a specialized task force to manage fuel transportation across the country, according to the Moscow Times:

An increasing number of regions implement rationing measures amid a coordinated Ukrainian drone campaign against oil refineries and supply lines … In a statement, Russian Railways said the new task force will focus on maintaining steady deliveries of petroleum products while navigating a volatile “operational environment” — a standard euphemism used by officials to refer to the fallout from Ukrainian attacks.