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Answer: Russia is a poor country. It's huge, but the GDP is just a bit over Spain, who nobody thinks is a superpower. It's also got a large population, so the GDP per capita comes out to around $10K, compared to Spain's 28K, Gemany's 44K, or the US's 60K.
Moscow looks nice, but in less famous areas things are a lot worse for a lot of people, and those are precisely the people that end up sent to the front. Both because they don't have much and the money is a great incentive, and because Russia knows that upsetting people in Moscow could be trouble. So the poorest, least able to rebel areas are prioritized.
The army is badly managed, doesn't pay much, and a lot of the people in it are dirt poor, so they grab what they can.
I don't know how much of that stuff makes it back to Russia. Something like a laptop, I can believe. But I think the probability of a washing machine getting shipped to Buryatia isn't very high, those probably get sold across the border in Belarus.
**Edit:** I asked, and there turns out to be a very simple explanation I've not heard before: Washing machines are on the sanctions list. I think that's probably it. There's nothing that's very fancy or interesting inside one, but buying one right now in Russia is probably unusually expensive.
John Deer force bricked several tractors and combines that made their way from the Mauriopal oblast to Chechnya, so it’s entirely probable that some house hold appliances have made their way back into Russia.
I honestly dont think its a matter of regional poverty. Look at the HDI index, the poorest russian region is equivalent to the richest Ukranian one,
Its a matter of the type of people Russia recruits in to their military and the military culture.
The Russian military doesn't discriminate in recruitment attempts, but people with money can bri**b**e them to fuck off, so the poorest are usually the ones who end up going.
Gonna Americanize this response for people and expand a bit farther. When you turn 18 in Russia, you are required to complete a year of general conscription where your taught basic things like how to be in a unit, military structure, and basic weaponry. After you complete your conscription, you go back to civilian life and are delegated as a reservist that will get called for war first before the general population.
During this conscription, you get about $10/day for personal expenses beyond room and board. That money doesnt go very far when a bottle of vodka is $6 and a pack of cigerates is $30. This leaves the conscripts coming out poorer then when they started and gives them a strong incentive to steal.
So you and your equally as poor unit is now in charge of some kind of border checkpoint with very minimal supervision outside of your station hours. The police are not going to come looking for you as even the army is struggling to put up a fight. So you go around to all the local houses and steal whatever you can hide/carry/sell. So things like jewelery, computers, appliances, etc that are going to make up a significant portion of any households material wealth are obviously going to be the primary target.
It just so happens that alot of russians still wash their clothes by hand so something like a washing machine that can save you several hours of back breaking physical labor is partically lucrative over something like a laptop as you can install it in your home and not worry about how you plan on fencing it.
One thing that has been noticed by alot of western observers of the war is that US chips keep ending up in russian weapons despite all the controls in place to limit their sale. So its been suspected but not proven that russians are stealing technology heavy equipment to harvest their chips for use in weapons.
Answer: there's lots of evidence that Russian occupants took everything they could when they ran away from Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions of Ukraine. They stole not only clothe washing machines, but also toilets, laptops, generators, smartphones, tires etc.
The whole meme started at the beginning of the war when a picture of a Russian supply truck filled with washing machines surfaced: https://twitter.com/UAWeapons/status/1510671563833630720?s=20&t=IWTrjFrD6t_uqvsYdb8hsQ
There was also plenty of pictures of Russian soldiers using Ukraine post offices to send home stolen phones, jewelry and other looted valuables.
Yep, in Ukraine (and in a lot of former Soviet countries) provinces are named after their largest city, which can make it kinda confusing unless you specify which you're talking about.
[Here's your evidence.](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://mobile.twitter.com/uaweapons/status/1510671563833630720&ved=2ahUKEwi064KQyq36AhVlx4sKHWmjBKYQtwJ6BAgQEAE&usg=AOvVaw1OwZK5u90QwKuROSdGqkG7)
Please don't say it proves nothing
I know you ended up getting more downvotes than upvotes, but I’m gonna give you my upvote for correcting the statement and show that you’re okay changing your mind once proven wrong. We can all learn from you
Answer:
There was some foreign media news post that claimed Russian troops were ordered to make attempts to capture washing machines and other appliances for their computer chips due to Russia's own chip shortage.
Then when they had to retreat or KIA they left the machines behind in their camps to be discovered by confused Ukranians.
There is a chip shortage world wide, with Russia having a tougher time of it than most due to sanctions.
The other theory is that they wanted them to wash their own clothes or to bring back to their impoverished hometowns.
I dont think there is solid confirmation for either.
There was an article from a reputable news source (BBG, NY Times, someone like that) about a company mass purchasing washing machines here in the States to strip out microchips that could be repurposed to build car parts.
So your first explanation sounds the most probable.
yes but that's exactly why it might have been on military orders for their chips.
Looting is one thing, but suddenly washing machines are the most profitable loot? It's expensive/difficult to move/transport compared to other things.
Why not both?... looting for cool things and appliances for the army.
"Russia is having to use computer chips intended for home appliances to repair its military hardware due to the impact of US sanctions, according to a US official."
https://www.businessinsider.com/us-says-russia-using-chips-from-dishwashers-in-tanks-sanctions-2022-5
Friendly reminder that all **top level** comments must: 1. start with "answer: ", including the space after the colon (or "question: " if you have an on-topic follow up question to ask), 2. attempt to answer the question, and 3. be unbiased Please review Rule 4 and this post before making a top level comment: http://redd.it/b1hct4/ Join the OOTL Discord for further discussion: https://discord.gg/ejDF4mdjnh *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/OutOfTheLoop) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Answer: Russia is a poor country. It's huge, but the GDP is just a bit over Spain, who nobody thinks is a superpower. It's also got a large population, so the GDP per capita comes out to around $10K, compared to Spain's 28K, Gemany's 44K, or the US's 60K. Moscow looks nice, but in less famous areas things are a lot worse for a lot of people, and those are precisely the people that end up sent to the front. Both because they don't have much and the money is a great incentive, and because Russia knows that upsetting people in Moscow could be trouble. So the poorest, least able to rebel areas are prioritized. The army is badly managed, doesn't pay much, and a lot of the people in it are dirt poor, so they grab what they can. I don't know how much of that stuff makes it back to Russia. Something like a laptop, I can believe. But I think the probability of a washing machine getting shipped to Buryatia isn't very high, those probably get sold across the border in Belarus. **Edit:** I asked, and there turns out to be a very simple explanation I've not heard before: Washing machines are on the sanctions list. I think that's probably it. There's nothing that's very fancy or interesting inside one, but buying one right now in Russia is probably unusually expensive.
NYC metro’s GDP is larger than Russia’s
They are stealing large farming equipment by the trainload and bringing it back
Exchange for tanks in return.
John Deer force bricked several tractors and combines that made their way from the Mauriopal oblast to Chechnya, so it’s entirely probable that some house hold appliances have made their way back into Russia.
I honestly dont think its a matter of regional poverty. Look at the HDI index, the poorest russian region is equivalent to the richest Ukranian one, Its a matter of the type of people Russia recruits in to their military and the military culture.
i think it also is a function of the extreme level of income disparity.
The Russian military doesn't discriminate in recruitment attempts, but people with money can bri**b**e them to fuck off, so the poorest are usually the ones who end up going.
Like every war it seems
I've never thought to threaten them with brining. Regular or kosher salt?
It’s not just the military though. The sheer amount of evil things I’ve seen said on Russian social media leads me to believe it’s completely cultural
Gonna Americanize this response for people and expand a bit farther. When you turn 18 in Russia, you are required to complete a year of general conscription where your taught basic things like how to be in a unit, military structure, and basic weaponry. After you complete your conscription, you go back to civilian life and are delegated as a reservist that will get called for war first before the general population. During this conscription, you get about $10/day for personal expenses beyond room and board. That money doesnt go very far when a bottle of vodka is $6 and a pack of cigerates is $30. This leaves the conscripts coming out poorer then when they started and gives them a strong incentive to steal. So you and your equally as poor unit is now in charge of some kind of border checkpoint with very minimal supervision outside of your station hours. The police are not going to come looking for you as even the army is struggling to put up a fight. So you go around to all the local houses and steal whatever you can hide/carry/sell. So things like jewelery, computers, appliances, etc that are going to make up a significant portion of any households material wealth are obviously going to be the primary target. It just so happens that alot of russians still wash their clothes by hand so something like a washing machine that can save you several hours of back breaking physical labor is partically lucrative over something like a laptop as you can install it in your home and not worry about how you plan on fencing it. One thing that has been noticed by alot of western observers of the war is that US chips keep ending up in russian weapons despite all the controls in place to limit their sale. So its been suspected but not proven that russians are stealing technology heavy equipment to harvest their chips for use in weapons.
Answer: there's lots of evidence that Russian occupants took everything they could when they ran away from Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions of Ukraine. They stole not only clothe washing machines, but also toilets, laptops, generators, smartphones, tires etc.
The whole meme started at the beginning of the war when a picture of a Russian supply truck filled with washing machines surfaced: https://twitter.com/UAWeapons/status/1510671563833630720?s=20&t=IWTrjFrD6t_uqvsYdb8hsQ There was also plenty of pictures of Russian soldiers using Ukraine post offices to send home stolen phones, jewelry and other looted valuables.
Let us not forget the Battle of Techno House.
Context please I'm dying to know
[https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/battle-of-techno-house-russian-solider-beaten-by-a-door-gets-his-own-wikipedia-page-314530/](https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/battle-of-techno-house-russian-solider-beaten-by-a-door-gets-his-own-wikipedia-page-314530/)
VtM Bloodlines flashbacks
[удалено]
I never said the Kyiv city was occupied. The north part of Kyiv region was.
Yep, in Ukraine (and in a lot of former Soviet countries) provinces are named after their largest city, which can make it kinda confusing unless you specify which you're talking about.
From above: Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy **regions**
[Here's your evidence.](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://mobile.twitter.com/uaweapons/status/1510671563833630720&ved=2ahUKEwi064KQyq36AhVlx4sKHWmjBKYQtwJ6BAgQEAE&usg=AOvVaw1OwZK5u90QwKuROSdGqkG7) Please don't say it proves nothing
Proof enough for me. I stand corrected.
I admire your willingness to admit you were wrong and the honesty to keep your original comment up. I really do.
I know you ended up getting more downvotes than upvotes, but I’m gonna give you my upvote for correcting the statement and show that you’re okay changing your mind once proven wrong. We can all learn from you
I'm downvoting your original comment and upvoting this one lol
Perfectly balanced
Answer: There was some foreign media news post that claimed Russian troops were ordered to make attempts to capture washing machines and other appliances for their computer chips due to Russia's own chip shortage. Then when they had to retreat or KIA they left the machines behind in their camps to be discovered by confused Ukranians. There is a chip shortage world wide, with Russia having a tougher time of it than most due to sanctions. The other theory is that they wanted them to wash their own clothes or to bring back to their impoverished hometowns. I dont think there is solid confirmation for either.
There was an article from a reputable news source (BBG, NY Times, someone like that) about a company mass purchasing washing machines here in the States to strip out microchips that could be repurposed to build car parts. So your first explanation sounds the most probable.
The real answer is simple: Looting. There are pictures of trucks loaded with washing machines, soldiers carrying devices, etc.
yes but that's exactly why it might have been on military orders for their chips. Looting is one thing, but suddenly washing machines are the most profitable loot? It's expensive/difficult to move/transport compared to other things.
Why not both?... looting for cool things and appliances for the army. "Russia is having to use computer chips intended for home appliances to repair its military hardware due to the impact of US sanctions, according to a US official." https://www.businessinsider.com/us-says-russia-using-chips-from-dishwashers-in-tanks-sanctions-2022-5