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Comment by the_af | Hacker News Reader

> The problem with filming AA deployments is not about hiding the efficacy of AA deployments.

The problem is both, and Ukraine is arresting people who film them. It's martial law, both countries are at war and truth suffers (understandably).

> What is the purpose of arresting your missile scientists for treason? What’s your best case interpretation?

I don't know, I would guess:

- They said something about the Khinzal that downplays the importance of the weapon.

- They said something that would help Ukraine better counter them.

- They said something against Putin or the military invasion.

What they very likely didn't say is that the Khinzal is a hypersonic maneuverable weapon, which is the point of TFA you're commenting about.

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Putin said this about Kinzhal in 2018:

"This enables the missile to penetrate through all existing and projected air defense systems and deliver a nuclear or conventional warhead over a distance in excess of two thousand kilometers" - [1]

Either he overhyped it, or he was misled.

[1] - https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/defense/2018-03-02/p...

I agree Putin said false things about the Khinzal, I don't think anybody is disputing this... Russians are inflating and lying about their own capabilities, yes.

Each of three top scientists on the weapon said something treasonous? Or collectively as a group? Nah. Dumb theory.

They’re getting arrested because they promised Putin an unstoppable weapon and now he looks like a dumbass.

If making Putin look like a dumbass is a jailable offense, Putin needs to start by arresting himself—no one has done as much of that as he has.

Admitting you are wrong and made mistakes is sort of an impossible task for despot dictators though. He has spent decades killing or jailing anyone who told him something he didn't like, so everyone learned to tell him good news.

It's part of the reason why the initial invasion went so terribly; Putin's analysts told him Kyiv would bend over immediately, and that the public would welcome them as liberators.

Putin smells so much of his own farts that he bought it completely. The analysts were then shocked when Putin said "Okay, invasion today"

Putin is already in direct violation of article 353 of the Russian Criminal Code:

"Article 353. Planning, Preparing, Initiating, or Waging War of Aggression

1. Planning, preparing, or initiating a war of aggression - is punishable by deprivation of liberty for a term of seven to fifteen years.

2. Waging a war of aggression - is punishable by deprivation of liberty for a term of ten to twenty years."

Who admits to waging a war of aggression though? Putin is framing this as an act of defense, he says he is acting to prevent Russia's enemies from destroying it.

When in modern times has an aggressor ever framed the aggression in terms different from a righteous defense?

If Russia actually had separation of powers etc, it would be the courts finding that the war is indeed a war of aggression, of which there is of course ample evidence.

As things are, if he's still alive by the time regime in Russia changes, that will probably be (one of) the law he will be prosecuted under.

> They’re getting arrested because they promised Putin an unstoppable weapon and now he looks like a dumbass.

You are jumping to wildly unsupported conclusions.

Any of my guesses is more likely.

Officially they're charged with espionage. The beneficiary wasn't specified, which lead to speculation that it is China, since if it were US or any other Western country, the official propaganda would be running amok with it.

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