Apps and booklets are offering advice on how to build a bunker, stockpile food and live without electricity in case the worst happens

Germany is developing an app to help people locate the nearest bunker in the event of attack. Sweden is distributing a 32-page pamphlet titled If Crisis or War Comes. Half a million Finns have already downloaded an emergency preparedness guide.

If the prospect of a broader conflict in Europe seems remote for many, some countries at least are taking it seriously – and, in the term used by Germany’s defence minister, Boris Pistorius, taking steps to get populations kriegsfähig: war-capable.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has dramatically raised security tensions across the Baltic region, prompting Finland and Sweden to abandon decades of nonalignment and join Nato. Military capability, however, is not all: citizens have to be braced too.

  • Sam_Bass@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    5 hours ago

    Bet the orange is sitting back in his diaper wringing his hands in avaricial glee

  • RizzRustbolt@lemmy.worldEnglish
    121·
    11 hours ago

    I hate it when video games turn real.

    Although… Generation Zero is a pretty fun game…

  • BetaBlake@lemmy.worldEnglish
    64·
    16 hours ago

    Smart, since Trump is Putin’s No. 1 fan, America can’t be relied upon anymore to do the right thing

  • antihumanitarian@lemmy.worldEnglish
    241·
    14 hours ago

    Important context: Sweden and especially Finland have long had a defense model based around literally everyone contributing to defending against an occupation. The real change is they don’t consider that enough of a deterrent anymore, hence joining NATO, after seeing Russia bloody itself against Ukraine for several years.

  • gigachad@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    17·
    16 hours ago

    Germany is developing an app to help people locate the nearest bunker in the event of attack.

    Why would you develop an app for bunkers that do not exist? Peak German

    • leisesprecher@feddit.orgEnglish
      30·
      15 hours ago

      Because it’s not about bunkers in the traditional sense, but shelters. Subway stations, parking garages, etc. can be used as shelters, but are not bunkers.

      Nobody prepares for a thermonuclear war, but having bombs rain on our cities is unfortunately not impossible.

    • fairchild@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      6·
      14 hours ago

      Had the same thoughts on this. Other countries in Europe take this responsibility a bit more serious, for instance Finland.

      Also why an App? I’m sure checking my phone is very far down in my priorities list in such a case. I prefer Swedens approach, better to have info material printed out and ready with a bunch of other important documents.

      • gigachad@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        6·
        14 hours ago

        Because the German federal administration thinks they can simultaneously address the issue of missing digitalization with an app

        • fairchild@sopuli.xyzEnglish
          21·
          14 hours ago

          Too true. In case of war, this is pretty much counter-intuitive.

          Next they implement a paid version, where the more privileged people will get notified of the even better shelters.

          If there’s one thing I want in my life it’s less Apps.

      • Melchior@feddit.orgEnglish
        1·
        11 hours ago

        Because you can send an alert on the phone, get the coordinates and the person to the next shelter. There are early warning systems, so that is somewhat possible. Ukraine and Israel use such apps very successfully.

        EDIT: Obviously it should not be the only option.

  • Kallioapina@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    11·
    15 hours ago

    Fuck, good reminder, gotta check my AwwShitHereWeGoAgainRusskies -bag and eat out the stuff going old and replace it with new foodstuffs.

    Also, I’m kinda scared about this canned cream chicken stuff that I bought in 2021 and its supposedly good for 09/2025. I want to believe, but… How. How on earth can it last so long. It’s delicious though, no denying that.

    Edit: Oh and the “again” stuff is because both sides of my family lineage lost their farms and lands to the russkies in WW2.

    • Saleh@feddit.orgEnglish
      8·
      14 hours ago

      As for your canned food question:

      The main factors of spoilage are Microorganisms -> Oxygen -> Light

      If canned properly a can takes care of all of these. If the can is undamaged, chance is your cream chicken is perfectly fine to eat for many more years.

      • Kallioapina@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        5·
        11 hours ago

        Thanks for the info, both of you. Though it is so delicious that I decided to eat it on the coming weekend on a real meal.

        • Nougat@fedia.io
          2·
          5 hours ago

          Dates on foodstuffs are generally “use by” dates, which means that the manufacturer says it will be up to their quality standards to that date. After that, the taste may be off, but generally speaking, if it doesn’t have mold growing on it and it doesn’t smell funny, it’s very unlikely to do you any harm.

          Canned and jarred foods are sealed in the can, and then brought up to a high temperature for a sufficient period of time to kill any pathogens inside. If a can is bulging, it is indicative of pathogen growth. Avoid cans which are rusty.

    • greenshirtdenimjeans@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      8·
      14 hours ago

      It’ll probably still be good after 9/2025. As long as the can isn’t dented or bulging out, the food should still be good. It might not taste as fresh as opening it now, but there shouldn’t be anything wrong with it because it’s a sealed can. A quick search will explain it better than me.

    • Successful_Try543@feddit.orgEnglish
      32·
      19 hours ago

      TBF, the introduction of the new uniforms was already decided in 2018 by the prior government under the MoD Ursula von der Leyen, and the new uniforms will be implemented step by step until 2032.

      Er erläuterte, dass die Modernisierung der Dienstbekleidung 2018 entschieden, dann aber zurückgestellt worden sei, um vorher wichtige Kampfbekleidung und -ausrüstung zu erneuern und zu modernisieren. Dies sei in den letzten Jahren geschehen, so dass nun auch das Vorhaben bei der Dienstbekleidung weiter umgesetzt werde.

      Zudem erstrecke sich die Finanzierung des Gesamtvorhabens bis 2032.

      https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/innenpolitik/bundeswehr-ausgehuniformen-100.html

      • morgunkorn@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
        171·
        18 hours ago

        Yeah, it’s just striking how everything has so much inertia. Ukraine has been holding the fort for 3 years now, and we’re looking at those immense budgets for useless stuff.

        Same with the bunkers, let’s make an app to see where you can take refuge in one of the bunkers … let’s see… that can hold short of 500 thousand people country wide. That’s fine, 1 citizen in 160.

        • timestatic@feddit.orgEnglish
          8·
          11 hours ago

          New uniforms aren’t useless. If the Bundeswehr wants to be an attractive employer they need modern uniform. I read online that people who served find the current ones very outdated. We just need to invest more in the military in total

        • ramirezmikeEnglish
          6·
          17 hours ago

          it’s not like the money just disappears, it goes into the economy, right?

    • boredtortoise@lemm.eeEnglish
      32·
      19 hours ago

      Germany is also adding reliance of China, which is basically the proxy war handler of Russia

  • Tar_Alcaran@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    221·
    20 hours ago

    The netherlands have decided to ignore the problem of civil defence till it goes away. But at least we’re investing in the military again, and we won the allied-military geographic lottery, so I do see the logic.