EDIT: Yes, Russia limited by law the amount of RUB to USD you can exchange: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/03/08/ruble-dollar-exchange-barred/

So they've been living in Ukraine for years, enlisted with Ukrainian military, but because they're British citizens they are sentenced to death instead being treated as prisoners of war like the rest?

Let's not forget Russia did not send Kamikaze passenger planes into these buildings, but rockets, which cause a totally different type of destruction.

Democracy, developed or not, hysterical or not - all this cannot deny corruption. Corruption did not appear under Scholz or Merkel. The historical connection between Germany and the USSR / RF has been very intertwined since the beginning of the 20th century. From the October Revolution, to the Hitler-Stalinist alliance and the unleashing of the Second World War by them - this was the beginning. Then, in the 20th century, the USSR, having both agents and a very "thick" collection of compromising evidence on high-ranking officials of the FRG and the GDR, continued the "game". Realizing that in the 60s of the 20th century, Germany became the leader of Europe, not to put her on a drug in the form of gas and oil would be an omission for the USSR, which always needed currency. And it is precisely the convenient contracts that give the status of almost a monopolist, and the strongest lobbying for the interests of the USSR and then the Russian Federation, that everything was built on bribery, and it is possible to intimidate those who were compromised. Tell me - was the prime minister of Gabon offered a place at the very top of Rosneft or Gazprom? Or maybe Spanish? Or Mongolian? No. To the one who, in fact, "planted" key European countries on Russian gas. There are a lot of materials about the corruption of the German top leadership. I really hope that Frau Merkel will go to trial and will be forced to testify. Well, if she suddenly does not die unexpectedly immediately after the announcement of suspicion to her, having gone on a "business trip to the Russian Federation"
And your answer perfectly demonstrates precisely the complete dependence of Germany on Russian resources. But ... Germany will have to go through the "breaking of a drug addict" in order to become a really independent Germany, and not be a hand-me-down Kremlin terrorist!

Putin might have enough sway in Donetsk to convince them to commute the sentences to life.

Maybe if Zenensky and Bojo went to Putin, hat-in-hand, and asked Mr. Putin nicely he would see what he could do.  If Zenensky and Bojo don't care enough about their own nationals (and people who fought on their behalf in coke-head's case) to even try that simple thing then there will be that much more blood on their hands.

Seriously for a minute, I'm curious if there are strong indications that the trial was either fair or unfair on the part of the DPR.  A non-partisan analysis of what is know of the proceedings would be of interest if anyone (serious) runs across such a thing.

False. The embargo is real. The oil bought by those countries is 10% of the total and does not make any difference. Hungary is as close as a country can get to being expelled from the EU for failing to follow the rule of law, implementing one state of exception after another. They are already excluded from the EU funds for those reasons. Let them buy from Adolf Putin, eventually they may only be able to buy from him.

There is no lack of refining capability in Europe, there is no lack of heavy crude oil in the world. Unfortunately, the RF citizens are going to have a though time in the next decade.

US and EU are avoiding what is called "secondary sanctions" to India and China, but India will pay a price for this eventually.

It is a chain reaction. In the long term, the price of olive oil can't remain at the same level as that of sunflower oil. As people start replacing sunflower oil with olive oil, the price for the latter would go up. Sunflower oil prices have already gone up by around 50%, and we can expect the olive oil prices to rise by a similar level. The equilibrium in the market is disrupted. And it will have an impact on all the commodifies, and not just on the commodities that are mostly sourced from Russia and Ukraine, such as wheat, sunflower oil, barley and oats.

Why don't these western idiots realize that even if Venezuela, Iran and all the GCC nations come onboard, still they won't be able to replace the output from Russia? And I am flabbergasted by this sudden love for countries such as Venezuela. If I am not wrong, the Americans seized a few tons of Venezuelan gold reserves some time back. Since the relations have now warmed up again, are they going to release those reserves? And maybe Biden administration will go up one step further and recognize Nicolás Maduro as the legitimate ruler of Venezuela?

Seems like a lot of people don't get what I was saying. The military might that the US is sending into the Ukraine is going to Russia as Russia gradually conquers. Any body who thinks that US leaders don't know this has to be pretty slow on the uptake.

So, why is the US giving its military wealth away to Russia? I suggest it is being done under secret agreement, that Russia will use much of it to antagonize China if China decides to attack Taiwan. This will take the Chinese focus off Taiwan.

The fact that the Ukraine is the method through which the transfers are made - Russia conquers more and more of the Ukraine on a regular basis, just to get the US armament that Ukraine has been given - is a ploy to hide the secret agreement from the eyes of the world... and particularly China.

Why doesn't the US simply threaten China directly rather than going through Russia? To many trade agreements with both China and Taiwan. Using Russia to protect Taiwan from China lets the US have its cake and eat it too.

The answer is extremely simple - a corrupt, corrupt, or mired in compromising evidence, European lobby like Merkel, Sarkozy and other Orbans. These are people who have made the most of their efforts to ensure that Russia gains a foothold in the European oil and gas market, and gas and oil have become, in fact, levers of influence on entire countries! And many continue to do so to this day. Honor, conscience, moral and ethical principles, universal values, for many European politicians - is an empty phrase. And they are even proud of the status of a Kremlin prostitute! I think that Britain did not just leave this "union"

Ok, now I know you don't know much about what is happening in Ukraine.

Has anything happened yet? The whole world turned against Russia and it didn't affect Russia. However - now EU is in trouble because of oil and gas.
The sections are not going to have a single effect on the Russia - but dont you think whoever has done boycott with Russia is now in troublesome condition

Methodically?  Jesus, you need to stop watching whatever you are watching. Donetsk does not know there is/was a war in Ukraine.

Have you seen pictures of Donetsk and Mariupol?

Which one looks like it was bombed?

re: This is not to mention the regular shelling of residential areas of Donetsk by the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Ukrainian army shelled Russian positions in response to attacks on their positions.

It is time for you to go home.

As for this current war, other than just a land grab I see no other justification. Historical revisionism at its best. All the talk about NATO expansion, 'denazification', 'demilitarization', and 'genocide of the Russian peoples' are just empty propaganda points.

This war started with the aggression, occupation, and annexation of Crimea in Feb 2014. Followed up by the Russian invasion of Donbas in March 2014.

Putin sells this war as a defensive war against the 'Russian peoples' but it is a war of conquest, plain and simple. There were no Russian people in Ukraine before 2014.

Just because someone speaks Russian as their first language, it does not make him Russian. Many Canadians speak North American English
but are not Americans, or speak French, yet are not French, they are Canadians.  The same goes for Russian-speaking Ukrainians. They are Ukrainians. Many became Russians, no doubt. But to bomb and level the country? How nuts does someone has to be?

Nazism or more precisely imperialism 101. I think Russia poke the wrong wolverine. They will have their ass handed to them.
Sooner or later. It will be 100 times worse for them than Afghanistan and in the end, they will go home empty-handed.

BTW, I'm a bit confused by wheat shortage...Ukraine is producing
24 out of 750 million tonnes of world production...that is around 3%...
how can such tiny number have such big influence on price

I am saying that I consider the treaty signed under threats and it was never fully followed by ANYONE.

It actually depends on the country. There are cases that such WMDs are completely useless.
For example Pakistan has nuclear weapons but nobody takes them seriously. US just toppled their government and over the past 2 decades has been invading their territories even bombed some places when they were occupying Afghanistan. Or Israel is a terrorist regime that has a lot of nuclear warheads and nobody gives a shit since the land they occupy is already surrounded by armed forces, so essentially they would have to detonate the warheads inside their silos due to the close proximity which is impossible!