patrick.net

Bd6r says

richwicks says

The US destabilized that to

Bullshit. Prove with links

The US follows a very consistent pattern. The US supports Islamic terrorists, always, that's why they are so adamant they don't.

https://www.russiamatters.org/node/20317

I don't know if that site is honest, but if you want more information, specific names, operations if I can get them, I can. I know my fucking government. You just don't. The US supports the PKK, despite also calling it a terrorist group. Who do you think our "Kuridsh allies" are?

The US created Al-Qaeda. Do you think it's just a coincidence that Osama binLaden is from the binLaden family, a family which the US has tight ties to. It was the US that supported the Taliban which is just the Mujahideen.

You know how the Proud Boys leader, Enrique Tarrio, turned out to be an FIB information? They always do this shit, including internationally. They control their opposition if they can.

So your source is claim by Vladimir Putin. Bullshit squared, he started second Chechen war to get elected.

richwicks says

When the USSR existed, there was secret police and people couldn't exit the Soviet Union. There were travel restrictions imposed on everybody, people were forcibly located into areas in order to control them.

They have travel restrictions in Russia now. I believe you have to carry a passport or national ID in certain areas of Russia based on what I read in the news and heard on various news outlets.

I know they do identification checks in Russia, as that is commonly done by the police there.

.

Bd6r says

So your source is claim by Vladimir Putin. Bullshit squared, he started second Chechen war to get elected.

Look, I cannot see that you've responded to me if you don't quote me.

I expect that you know that. Why do you do this?

Tell me how I'm incorrect, let me understand how I'm wrong. If you won't do that, I assume you can't do that.

I have a very open mind. It's my job, my job is critical thinking, I'm a fucking awesome engineer because I leave ego at home when I go to work. I've done this for decades. You show I'm wrong, I'll accept it and even more, I'll promote what I consider correct.

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richwicks says

When the USSR existed, there was secret police and people couldn't exit the Soviet Union. There were travel restrictions imposed on everybody, people were forcibly located into areas in order to control them.

They have travel restrictions in Russia now. I believe you have to carry a passport or national ID in certain areas of Russia based on what I read in the news and heard on various news outlets.

I know they do identification checks in Russia, as that is commonly done by the police there.

They might. I don't know. The point I'm making is we shouldn't ever be like the fucking USSR. That was a shithole.

I don't know what Russia is like today, but I full on know well what the US is today, and the US is my problem, not Russia.

Doesn't anybody but me see it a LITTLE disturbing to see the US adopt the same bullshit restrictions of the USSR?

Bd6r says

I lived in USSR for 20 yrs of my life

Where? When?

Just curious about your time under communism.

On exports Russia is about where it was pre-invasion in oil exports (quantity) prices are up since then.

Don't know about its ability to import. I am sure the black markets are swarming.

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/china-india-russian-oil-crude-moscow-war-ukraine-volumes-kpler-2023-4

Onvacation says

Bd6r says

I lived in USSR for 20 yrs of my life

Where? When?

Just curious about your time under communism.

@Onvacation

When?

1970 to 1991 when it collapsed.

Where?

Most of time in one of non-Slavic republics, and some time in Russia, mostly Moscow.

Latest nimbers on Soviet oil revenues:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5TyIkLniiQg

The Rubble is getting stronger ....

https://twitter.com/NatalkaKyiv/status/1661368251257954307?ref_src=patrick.net

Bd6r says

Onvacation says

Bd6r says

I lived in USSR for 20 yrs of my life

Where? When?

Just curious about your time under communism.

Onvacation

When?

1970 to 1991 when it collapsed.

Where?

Most of time in one of non-Slavic republics, and some time in Russia, mostly Moscow.

WHY did you live there?

My cousin was in Warsaw in the 1980's. He was studying physics there. He was there because my family split just before Poland fell to Germany in WWII. My great grandfather escaped.

Being an American, he told me he was under constant suspicion.

Perhaps we should troll Russia by sending them our excess Bud Light?

MOSCOW, July 5 (Reuters) - The Russian budget's oil and gas revenues fell by 47% to 3.38 trillion roubles ($37.4 billion) in the first half of the year from the same period in 2022, finance ministry data showed on Wednesday, as tax returns fell because of lower prices and sales volumes.

Proceeds from oil and gas sales are crucial for Russia's commodity-oriented economy and for the financing of what it calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine.

The oil and gas revenues declined by 26.4% in the month of June, year on year, to 528.6 billion roubles - less steep than the 36% fall seen in May.

Russia's energy revenues have been squeezed by a western price cap on its oil and by the closure of the Nord Stream gas pipelines to Europe that were blown up last September. Investigators have yet to establish who was responsible.

Russia's budget deficit hit $42 billion for the first five months of the year, already 17% above the plan for the whole of 2023.

June's oil and gas budget revenues were down 7.4% from May, mainly due to lower proceeds from a mineral extraction tax (MET) on oil and gas and from export duty on natural gas.

Proceeds from the MET fell to 631.6 billion roubles in June from May's 703.6 billion roubles, while export duty declined to 57.7 billion roubles from 66.1 billion roubles in May.

Budget subsidies to refining companies from an "oil reverse excise tax" declined to 73.9 billion roubles from 91 billion roubles in May.

Payments to refineries under the "damping mechanism" - introduced to stop companies from capitalizing on high fuel export prices and defend the domestic market - fell to 78.6 billion roubles from 103.5 billion roubles in May.

The finance ministry projects oil and gas revenues this year to decline by 23% to 8.94 trillion roubles, while the budget deficit is seen at almost 3 trillion roubles, or 2% of gross domestic product.

($1 = 90.5000 roubles)

Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya; writing by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Mark Trevelyan

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I believe you have to carry a passport or national ID in certain areas of Russia based on what I read in the news and heard on various news outlets.

This was even the case in Germany back when I studied there.

Everyone was required to carry official ID at all times. I think it's still true.

https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/succeeding-backwards-monday-august

📈 You won’t see this story in corporate media. After two years of Biden Sanctions, Russia’s economy has continued growing and is now larger than any other European country. Here is Friday’s headline from Russia Today:




Since I couldn’t source the story to any Western media, I checked the IMF’s website for myself. Russia Today’s story is accurate. Not only that, despite two years of “brutal” U.S.-led sanctions, Russia now ranks among the world’s top five largest economies, and the largest in Europe in terms of ‘purchasing power parity’ (PPP) as of the end of 2022.

Presumably, halfway through 2023, Russia’s numbers are up even more.

Instead of sanctioning Russia for invading Ukraine, if Joe Biden had set out to deliberately expand Russia’s economy, he could not possibly have done it any better. Does that seem weird to you? Meanwhile, here in the U.S., we are either in a recession or headed straight towards one, depending on who you believe. Here’s Bloomberg, from Friday:




Thanks Joe! If he sanctions Russia much harder, maybe it will help the former Soviet Union’s economy surpass America. Wouldn’t that be something.

Whole lot of surpassing recently:



GETTING RICHER EVERY DAY!!!

Gotta love that emergency 12% rate.

Patrick says

Thanks Joe! If he sanctions Russia much harder, maybe it will help the former Soviet Union’s economy surpass America.

Scale. If Russia grew its GDP by half, it would be on par with California.

HeadSet says

Patrick says

Thanks Joe! If he sanctions Russia much harder, maybe it will help the former Soviet Union’s economy surpass America.

Scale. If Russia grew its GDP by half, it would be on par with California.

Is growing your GDP by making more artillery shells to be immediately spent and refurbishing more 1960s tanks to be immediately burned in some unneccessary imperial adventure really the same as growing it by producing some useful gadgets and providing some useful services?

GDP grows either way but it's obvious which one is real growth and which one is BS.

Patrick says

Not screwing with domestic oil producers would be sufficient. Since US is a net oil exporting country, higher oil and gas prices are a net benefit and cutting off competitors such as Russia exports is an overall positive. Remember Trump and Russian gas.

Besides the above logic, as a Texan I welcome high oil prices, they benefit my Great State and it’s inhabitants. Let damned Yankees from NY heat their houses with mortgage based securities and Clownifornians eat iPads.

Steven Kotkin and two Russian economists assess the effects, lessons and the future of sanctions on the USSR:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8x-qmMgVN8c

MOSCOW, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Russia, one of the world's biggest oil producers, has faced shortages of fuel crucial for gathering the harvest in some parts of its southern breadbasket and the situation may get worse in coming months, market sources told Reuters.

Traders said that the fuel market has been hit by a combination of different factors including maintenance at oil refineries, infrastructure bottlenecks on railways and the weaker rouble which incentivises fuel exports.

Russia has tried to tackle diesel and gasoline shortages over recent months, contemplating export curbs as the last-ditch attempt to prevent a serious fuel crisis - which is sensitive for the Kremlin ahead of a presidential election in March.

A government decision to cut subsidies for refineries is likely worsen the availability of fuel in the world's biggest grain exporter.

Regional oil product depots in Russia's southern regions have had to cut or even suspend fuel sales, while retail filling stations were forced to limit fuel sale volumes to customers.

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"The Ai-92 gasoline is not available for retail sales in Krasnodar region, Adygea and Astrakhan, there is hardly any Ai-95 gasoline and diesel," a trader in Russia's south said.

Another trader said there have been no diesel sales at oil depots and there is no diesel on retail markets for the second week running in the whole Samara region, located in the Volga river region.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday that there were no fuel shortages.

But he also said government was working on measures to ensure a stable supply of it on the domestic market, including increasing levels of mandatory sales on exchanges and limiting the number of exporters.

FUEL CRUNCH

Traders said the shortages on the retail market followed by a sharp rise of wholesales prices. The state caps the retail prices, ordering the sellers to raise prices of gasoline and diesel only in line with official inflation.

Some farmers also complained about scarcity of fuel.

"There are shortages of fuel ... oil products prices rose in the range of between 10% and 20%," Andrei Neduzhko, director general of agricultural holding Step said in written comments.

His company operates in Russia's southern regions of Rostov, Krasnodar and Stavropol. He said, however, there are no risks to the autumn sowing campaign for his holding.

Wholesale diesel prices started to sharply rise in July. For the past two months commodity exchange diesel prices jumped on average by more than a quarter to 67,000 roubles ($700) per ton.

"We do not buy. The prices are crazy," an owner of a fuel depot said.

...

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-faces-domestic-fuel-crunch-braces-more-shortages-2023-08-31/

PS. This reminds me of an old joke: "What will happen if USSR occupies Sahara? -- Shortages of sand."

Ministry of Agriculture fears disruption of field work due to fuel shortages in a number of regions

Moscow. September 6th. INTERFAX.RU - Russian Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev called the screaming problem of providing farmers with fuel in the most crucial period of agricultural land and expressed concern that fuel shortages could stop field work.

"We have problems with availability ( grumbling - IF ), we will stop the harvesting now, and we will not cut off according to the winter. This will be a disaster, "Patrushev said at a meeting of the State Duma control and agricultural committees on Wednesday.

"And the second - well, these are thoughts out loud. Maybe in general now temporarily block the export of petroleum products until we stabilize the situation in the domestic market? "he suggested.

According to him, a week ago it was said that "the fuel and lubricants is needed at some reduced price, because the price has risen greatly". "Now it's about something else. We need fuel and lubricants available. We are really working very closely with the Ministry of Energy, we will communicate directly with oil refineries and look for the necessary volume for each region so that it is agricultural producers who receive it, "the minister said.

"You need to solve this problem - ( provide fuel - IF ) available to make it appear, "Patrushev said, referring to the first deputy minister of energy Pavel Sorokin.

Sorokin, in turn, confirmed that work with the Ministry of Agriculture is "daily in terms of bringing the necessary volumes to agricultural consumers".

According to him, the Ministry of Agriculture stated the need for 500 thousand tons of fuel to complete field work before November. Currently, issues of ensuring the necessary volumes are being worked out with oil companies.

"Tomorrow is most likely going to a quadripartite meeting with Novak ( Vice Prime Minister Alexander Novak - IF ), to it ( agreements - IF ) fix it, "said Sorokin.

"The problem with fuel is screaming, everything needs to be dealt with," Patrushev concluded.

https://www.interfax.ru/russia/919452

Russian gas stations have been suffering losses for the third month due to rising exchange prices for fuel.

About it writes Russian edition of "Vedomosti" with reference to the data of the research group "Petromarket".

"Gasoline trade has been in a negative zone since mid-June, diesel fuel - since mid-August," the study said.

Thus, the margin of refueling on gasoline Ai-92 and Ai-95 at the beginning of September averaged minus 3 rubles./l, on diesel - minus 2 rubles./l.

Negative margin on the sale of A-95 gasoline is confirmed in the Russian Independent Fuel Association.

The Central Bank of Russia raised its key lending rate by one percentage
point to 13% on Friday, a month after imposing an even larger hike.
Concerns about inflation persist and the ruble continues to struggle
against the dollar.

“Russia has introduced a temporary ban on fuel exports.

To stabilize the situation in the domestic market, Russia has introduced a temporary ban on the export of gasoline and diesel fuel.

The corresponding resolution was approved by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishutin and immediately from today, September 21, came into force. However, how long it will last is not yet specified.

The day before, the Government really noted that new measures are being prepared to stabilize the situation in the domestic fuel market and that options for limiting export supplies are being worked out.

From the previous statements by the Ministry of Energy, it could have been assumed that they were talking about restrictions on the number of companies that will be allowed to sell fuel abroad, and not, in principle, about a ban on sales.

However, the Government decided to take a more radical step.

Thus, from today, September 21, and for an indefinite period, the export of gasoline and diesel fuel from Russia is prohibited.

Of course, the ban does not apply to fuel in the tanks of vehicles, as well as to the volumes that are exported by individuals for personal use.”

Source: https://trans.ru/news/v-rossii-vveli-vremennii-zapret-na-eksport-topliva

yeah, it lost value to its main trading partner also .... however with oil and gas going up in price, this should not be as much a factor...
.



.

The Euro is less than 1.06. The dollar is crushing everything not just the Ruble.

Misc says

The Euro is less than 1.06. The dollar is crushing everything not just the Ruble.

Yeah rising dollar is not helping mutual funds that invest in foreign countries like Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund

Everything cycles so perhaps that fund as well as the Total Bond Market Fund ETF (ticker: BND) will provide better returns within a couple of years when the dollar retreats and interest rates decrease

.

Yep, thanks for pointing out that you gotta try and time the markets.

A bond fund that's lost money since inception 16 years ago. - Sure do it for diversification for the long term. Lying financial firms.

https://www.google.com/search?q=bnd+performance+history&sca_esv=572136157&sxsrf=AM9HkKlrF4N_EDdav2Ybza1OJt4U0I2cNA%3A1696923412017&source=hp&ei=E_8kZcz7OuXKkPIPk-OWgAk&iflsig=AO6bgOgAAAAAZSUNJL-CjEMTMBdOssIL2n5OdyhXTjuj&oq=bnd+performance&gs_lp=Egdnd3Mtd2l6Ig9ibmQgcGVyZm9ybWFuY2UqAggBMgoQABiABBhGGPoBMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBhAAGBYYHjIGEAAYFhgeMgYQABgWGB4yBhAAGBYYHjIGEAAYFhgeMggQABiKBRiGA0jAWVDgD1jOMnABeACQAQCYAaICoAHiDaoBBTguNi4xuAEByAEA-AEBqAIKwgIHECMY6gIYJ8ICDRAuGMcBGK8BGOoCGCfCAgcQIxiKBRgnwgIEECMYJ8ICCBAuGLEDGIAEwgILEC4YigUYsQMYgwHCAhEQLhiABBixAxiDARjHARjRA8ICCBAAGIAEGLEDwgIREC4YgwEYxwEYsQMY0QMYgATCAgsQABiABBixAxiDAcICCxAuGIAEGMcBGK8BwgILEC4YgAQYsQMYgwHCAg4QLhiABBixAxjHARivAcICCxAAGIoFGLEDGIMBwgIHEAAYgAQYCsICCBAAGBYYHhgK&sclient=gws-wiz

Click on the mac time button.

Oil & Gas Revenues Fall 65% & USSR Posts Net Loss of R1.7 Trillion:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p2HmW_ZLZD4





GETTTNG RICHER EVERY DAY!!

What a load of BS.

Russia is going around the bullshit $60/barrel cap via third parties, which isn't reflected here.

The sanctions are hurting only those 'imposing' them.

anuary 26, 2024 2:26 PM UTC
Exclusive: Russia struggles to sell Pacific oil, 14 tankers stuck - sources, data

More than a dozen tankers loaded with 10 million barrels of Russia's Sokol grade crude oil have been stranded off the coast of South Korea for weeks, so far unsold due to U.S. sanctions and payment issues, according to two traders and ship tracking data.
The volumes, equating to 1.3 million metric tons, represent more than a month's production of the Sakhalin-1 project, once a flagship venture of U.S. major Exxon Mobil, which exited Russia after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Difficulties in selling Sokol pose one of the most significant challenges Moscow has faced since the West imposed sanctions and one of the most serious disruptions to Russian oil exports in two years.
Washington has said it wants sanctions to reduce revenues for President Vladimir Putin and his war machine in Ukraine but not to disrupt the flows of Russian energy to global markets.
Last year, the United States imposed sanctions on several vessels and companies involved in transporting Sokol.
As of Friday, 14 vessels with Sokol were stuck around South Korea's port of Yosu, including 11 Aframax vessels and three very large crude carriers (VLCCs), according to LSEG, Kpler data and traders.
The volume stored in tankers represent 45 days of production from Sakhalin-1, which averages output of 220,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Shipments of Sokol to the Indian Oil Corp (IOC.NS) have been delayed by payment problems, forcing India's biggest refiner to draw from its inventories and buy more oil from the Middle East.
A source close to IOC said the company did not expect to receive any Sokol shipments soon due to a disagreement over which currency would be used to pay for it.
IOC is the only state refiner that has an annual deal to buy a variety of Russian grades, including Sokol, from Russian oil major Rosneft (ROSN.MM).
IOC and Rosneft did not reply to Reuters requests for comment.

Midair Fires and Malfunctions Surge on Russia’s Planes as Sanctions Bite
Story by Benjamin Katz  •  1d

When Ural Airlines Flight 1383 to the Siberian city of Omsk suffered a technical fault with its hydraulics last September, the pilots decided to divert to a different airport. Then they discovered the defect meant the aircraft was rapidly running out of fuel and needed to land quickly.

The aircraft, with 165 people onboard, eventually made a successful emergency landing in a stretch of farmland in southern Russia. The Airbus A320 jet remains there, fenced in and under 24-hour security, with its operator having recently agreed to pay rent to the land’s owner.
The episode is among a surge in aviation-safety incidents recorded in Russia last year, and an indication of how Western sanctions are hindering the country’s ability to source spare parts and conduct proper maintenance.

Some 74 safety incidents were logged among local operators in Russia last year, up from 36 in 2022, according to Jacdec, a German aviation database that tracks safety incidents across all aircraft with 19 seats or more.
The data show a safety incident occurred about 9.9 times in every 100,000 departures in 2023, compared with five in 2022 and 4.5 in 2019, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis based on scheduled flight records from aviation-data company Cirium.

While most of the incidents avoided serious injuries or catastrophes, safety specialists warn that persistent mechanical issues represent a major risk to passenger safety and increase pressure on pilots in a way that could lead to more severe events.

The aviation industry has been closely watching Russia’s skies amid expectations that safety conditions could deteriorate. Sanctions imposed after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine have cut off Russia’s access to Western aircraft manufacturers, banning the provision of spare parts, maintenance support, critical software updates and more.

“The sanctions imposed on Russian airlines have significantly impeded the maintenance of aircraft airworthiness and their technical condition,” said Oleksandr Laneckij, chief executive of Lithuania-based aviation consulting firm Friendly Avia Support. “The accumulating challenges are posing safety concerns.”

Russia’s aviation regulator has repeatedly insisted that the safety of its skies hasn’t been compromised by Western sanctions. Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Moscow has introduced new laws that allow Russian companies to perform heavy maintenance on their aircraft, manufacture their own components and cannibalize parked aircraft for replacement parts. Regular maintenance intervals have also been prolonged or deferred.

Those measures haven’t been approved by Western manufacturers such as Boeing and Airbus, or by the Federal Aviation Administration and European Union Aviation Safety Agency.

Not all of the safety incidents recorded last year can be linked to sanctions. The Jacdec data include the downing of the jet that carried Yevgeny Prigozhin, the then-leader of the Wagner paramilitary group, for example. The data also capture bird strikes and an incident when an aircraft abandoned its approach because a dog found its way onto the runway.

But the data include many incidents that experts say are likely linked to sanctions. Those include repeated instances of engines catching fire or otherwise becoming inoperative during a flight, rubber landing-gear tires bursting during landings, and malfunctioning flaps leading to diversions.

In December, a Boeing 737 operated by S7 Airlines returned to an airport in Siberia after both of its engines, manufactured by CFM International, emitted flames and a series of bangs were heard from inside the cabin. In July, pilots landed an Embraer jet in Moscow without its front landing gear after being unable to lower the wheels under the aircraft’s nose.

“They do not have access to the parts, there’s only so much they can do,” said Henry Gourdji, director of safety strategy and policy for the Flight Safety Foundation, an advocacy group. “They’re doing what they can, but it’s starting to have a major impact.”

Russia is particularly exposed to shortages of landing gear and brakes, and has had to send aircraft to Iran for maintenance, according to experts tracking the impact of sanctions. They also say a lack of technological know-how in welding tires when repairing wheels and separate issues with low-quality deicing chemicals have led to safety incidents. Meanwhile, a shortage of parts for simulators has raised concerns about Russia’s ability to train new pilots and run required refresher courses.

After losing access to Western manuals needed to conduct inspections, some Russian airline engineers have developed their own repair and maintenance programs, Laneckij said.
“These improvised approaches raise concerns about potential consequences and safety implications,” Laneckij said.
The deterioration of Russia’s aviation safety record is undoing decades of work by Russia’s airlines to modernize their fleets after the end of the Cold War and turn around a reputation for questionable safety.
That effort started in force in the early 2000s, when Russian airlines, including flag carrier Aeroflot, spent billions of dollars buying brand-new Boeing and Airbus jets to replace aging and less-reliable Soviet-era commercial aircraft.
The splurge left Russia with one of the biggest aircraft fleets in the world. A total of 1,031 aircraft with 19 seats or more are currently registered in Russia, almost two-thirds of which are built by foreign manufacturers including Airbus and Boeing, according to Cirium data.

The remainder of Russia’s fleet is made up of aircraft manufactured by legacy Soviet-era aerospace firms. The Sukhoi Superjet, a new Russian-built regional jet, makes up the majority of the country’s homemade aircraft. That jet, though, uses engines built by a Russian-French joint venture that withdrew its support after sanctions started.

“One solution is to move away from Western-built aircraft to domestic ones, but when will we see that? Probably not until 2030,” said Karl Steeves, chief executive of TrustFlight, a specialist firm in aircraft maintenance.

Russia’s total operational fleet is forecast to more than halve by 2026, according to consultants at Oliver Wyman, a blow for the world’s largest country by territory, where air travel is crucial to keep the economy ticking.
S7, Russia’s largest private airline, plans to reduce its presence in Moscow. Local business media recently reported the carrier was struggling to maintain its services with about 20% of its aircraft grounded. The company said it was downsizing because of route changes.

Already this year, the industry has contended with a string of new safety incidents. Within the space of seven days last month, three separate aircraft skidded or rolled off the runway during landing, including a Kosmos Airlines three-engined jet that ended up in the snow.

Meanwhile, about five months after landing in a field with 159 passengers and six crew aboard, the Ural Airlines jet isn’t going anywhere soon.
Ural Airlines has said part of the plane’s hydraulic system failed, and that it has paid compensation of 100,000 rubles a passenger, or around $1,100. The airline said it can’t provide further comment as the investigation of the incident by Russian authorities continues.

The airline initially intended to attempt a takeoff when the ground had frozen, providing a solid enough surface to recover the aircraft. Those hopes have dimmed, with a local official telling Russian media that the airline had agreed to lease the land for a year—and reports the jet could be harvested for parts.

Write to Benjamin Katz at ben.katz@wsj.com and Georgi Kantchev at georgi.kantchev@wsj.com

Flying is overrated. They have that 7-day sleep train from Moscow to Hǎishēnwǎi (temporarily known as Vladivostok), don't they?

RWSGFY says

The aircraft, with 165 people onboard, eventually made a successful emergency landing in a stretch of farmland in southern Russia.

Bet the pilot was no diversity hire, and that saved lives.

What ???? - They bought a Boeing ????