Here we go again-Ukraine once again

[Skybird]

That Russian journalist, mother of two, is theatened by a high penalty fee and up to 10 days in prison for "organization of a prohibited event".

However, the new media "laws" recently released can also see her sentenced for "public dissemination of false information about the Russian military". That comes with up to 15 years in camp.

Also, her children can be used against her, and/or taken away from her.

It still is not known where she is being held, or even is still alive. Conditions and treatment during her captivity also are unknown.

Kremlin critic Navalny just hours ago saw another 13 years packed on top of the prison term he currently is beign kept in. Its clear that in both cases the laws are not about justice and civil code order, but enforcing state terror to intimidate and suppress the people.

[Armistead]

That Russian journalist, mother of two, is theatened by a high penalty fee and up to 10 days in prison for "organization of a prohibited event".

However, the new media "laws" recently released can also see her sentenced for "public dissemination of false information about the Russian military". That comes with up to 15 years in camp.

Also, her children can be used against her, and/or taken away from her.

It still is not known where she is being held, or even is still alive. Conditions and treatment during her captivity also are unknown.

Kremlin critic Navalny just hours ago saw another 13 years packed on top of the prison term he currently is beign kept in. Its clear that in both cases the laws are not about justice and civil code order, but enforcing state terror to intimidate and suppress the people.

https://punchng.com/just-in-protesting-tv-journalist-found-appears-in-moscow-court/

[mapuc]

No doubt-The Russian is protesting against the war-Doesn't look like they are demonstrating against Putin.

Is it implied that these demonstration against the war in fact is a demonstration against Putin ??

Markus

[Jimbuna]

@Sky

No idea how accurate it is but I never thought I'd see something like that written by the Express.

‘Too insane for us’ Kim humiliates Putin after Russia begs North Korea for help.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1580806/russia-news-kim-jong-un-vladimir-putin-begs-help-north-korea-ukraine

[Jimbuna]

That Russian journalist, mother of two, is theatened by a high penalty fee and up to 10 days in prison for "organization of a prohibited event".

However, the new media "laws" recently released can also see her sentenced for "public dissemination of false information about the Russian military". That comes with up to 15 years in camp.

Also, her children can be used against her, and/or taken away from her.

It still is not known where she is being held, or even is still alive. Conditions and treatment during her captivity also are unknown.

Kremlin critic Navalny just hours ago saw another 13 years packed on top of the prison term he currently is beign kept in. Its clear that in both cases the laws are not about justice and civil code order, but enforcing state terror to intimidate and suppress the people.

She should consider herself very lucky after receiving a fine of £213 in monetary terms :yep:

[UglyMowgli]

Next Alaska?


"We should be thinking about reparations from the damage that was caused by the sanctions and the war itself, because that too costs money and we should get it back. The return of all Russian properties, those of the Russian empire, the Soviet Union and current Russia, which has been seized in the United States, and so on."
“Are you including Alaska and Fort Ross?” the host asked.
“That was my next point. As well as the Antarctic," Matveychev continued. "We discovered it, so it belongs to us... Also, the return of all medals that have been unlawfully taken from our sportsmen during all Olympic games, as well as the extradition of [Grigory] Rodchenkov, along with the extradition of multiple other criminals we’ll want. I think we should start voicing all of that, so they understand what will be on the table. You didn’t want to talk to us about something small, like Ukraine’s neutrality, here’s what you get. And that’s not even all of it.”



https://www.rawstory.com/russia-alaska-uclear-strike/

[Skybird]

^I have better use for the frozen Russian funds. Take them and give them to the Ukraine as reparations.

[mapuc]

Next Alaska?


"We should be thinking about reparations from the damage that was caused by the sanctions and the war itself, because that too costs money and we should get it back. The return of all Russian properties, those of the Russian empire, the Soviet Union and current Russia, which has been seized in the United States, and so on."
“Are you including Alaska and Fort Ross?” the host asked.
“That was my next point. As well as the Antarctic," Matveychev continued. "We discovered it, so it belongs to us... Also, the return of all medals that have been unlawfully taken from our sportsmen during all Olympic games, as well as the extradition of [Grigory] Rodchenkov, along with the extradition of multiple other criminals we’ll want. I think we should start voicing all of that, so they understand what will be on the table. You didn’t want to talk to us about something small, like Ukraine’s neutrality, here’s what you get. And that’s not even all of it.”



https://www.rawstory.com/russia-alaska-uclear-strike/

Sorry but I have to :har:

From the article
"
Does your list include a tactical nuclear strike, or are we going straight for the strategic one?" the host asked.

“What for? We can take them down without it," replied Matveychev.
"

They can not even beat The Ukrainian army
They have huge problem with their logistics.
And then they will take on an organization who is way more better than Ukraine-When it comes to many thing.
:har:

Markus

[Bilge_Rat]

^I have better use for the frozen Russian funds. Take them and give them to the Ukraine as reparations.

That is undoubtedly what will happen since that is what happened with seized Afghan and Iran assets. The groundwork is already being laid for it by Ukraine.

Russian response as far as I can see would be to seize Western assets in Russia either as a bargaining chip or compensation.

Apparently, there are at least U.S. $400 Billion in western assets that Russia could seize, including U.S. $200 Billion owed to foreign banks/investors:

https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/stranded-assets-how-many-billions-are-stuck-russia-2022-03-03/

Russia has some debt repayments coming up this week and depending on what they do that would give us some idea on what they are planning. The amounts are due in U.S. Dollars but rumours are that Russia will offer to pay in Rubles.

[Jimbuna]

Russia has some debt repayments coming up this week and depending on what they do that would give us some idea on what they are planning. The amounts are due in U.S. Dollars but rumours are that Russia will offer to pay in Rubles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7UyiSZRzW4

[Armistead]

Any clue what weapon system this is,30mm?. Notice those Russians behind the tank... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ4Auwi7_FA

[Jimbuna]

BTR-4 "Bucephalus" 8x8. Its combat module (uninhabited) is armed with a 30 mm automatic cannon, a 7.62 machine gun, a 30 mm automatic grenade launcher and Barrier anti-tank missiles. This is the most common type of weapon, but there are other modules. Amphibious armored personnel carrier, can accommodate 6-10 troops.

[Skybird]

She should consider herself very lucky after receiving a fine of £213 in monetary terms :yep:
You are too early there. That fine is just for calling to demonstrate in another video that she prepared separately in social media.

State attorney still "considers" whether or not to sue her by that new media law for using the word "war" which is under ban in the USSR now (also, you are not allowed to mention "aggression" and "invasion" in context with the Ukraine war. The law fully affects foreigners/visitors in the country as well, including correspondents). And for that she can get a maximum penalty of 15 years in labour camp.

Her only hope is that they want to play down the affair and not attract further attention to it. If they decide instead for executing an example, she is done.

The USSR released sanctions against the US: Biden is not allowed to travel to the country anymore.

The UN say that now over 3 million refugees have fled formt he Ukraine. Half of them are children.

Odessa likely expects the beginning of the Russian attack on the city tonight, local authorities say.

[Jimbuna]

Yes, we are all far from out of the woods still.

[mapuc]

For once I hope I'm right.

Does anyone think that Putin could be so mad he would use weapon of mass destruction if he lose the war in Ukraine.

He may be aware he will face the wrath from rest of the world-if he does.

I say he wouldn't He only use words to scare the Ukrainian

Markus

[Otto Harkaman]

For once I hope I'm right.

Does anyone think that Putin could be so mad he would use weapon of mass destruction if he lose the war in Ukraine.

He may be aware he will face the wrath from rest of the world-if he does.

I say he wouldn't He only use words to scare the Ukrainian

Markus


Yes, I am increasingly afraid he will. He has used all kinds of banned weapons against civilians, what kind of a man is that? Not to mention all the assassinations of political opponents etc.

WAKE UP! This man IS just like Hitler!

With so much at stake for both sides, the conflict does not look like it will end any time soon. Casualties are set to rise sharply, Ukraine’s neighbors are already close to saturation point as refugees continue to pour over the border. The danger of escalation is ever-present as Russia struggles to maintain both its military offensive in Ukraine and also its grip on public opinion back at home. Vladimir Putin’s political survival is increasingly linked to a successful outcome for Russia in this war, the rising death toll and slow speed of its prosecution backing him steadily into a corner, and cornered presidents are dangerous.
Source: Al Jazeera

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/3/15/how-russias-tactics-are-evolving-in-ukraine

[mapuc]

^ I feared someone would correct me

You right he has used banned weapon type on the civilian in Ukraine.

I am and will never support Russia and/or Putin-My heart is with the Ukrainians. If there should be any doubt.

Markus

[Skybird]

I just searched for annual average weather statistics of the Ukraine. And on wind I found that for Aprils, 3.6 weeks in that month the wind is coming form a southern and southwestern direction.

That would mean that any fallout cloud from a nuclear explosion would get blown directly and straight towards Belarus and Russia.

In summer months, the dominant wind direction changes by almost 180 degrees, however.

Personally I think that the use of C.wepoaons agaiunst ciuvilkian areas and N-weapons of any kind is the overstepping of a red line where NATO must enter the war for mere self preservation. Becasue then Russia at the latest has turned into an unpredictable rabid dog running amok.

Before the war, Scholz stupidly spoke of "strategic ambiguity" and he was very proud of that clever terminology he had learned there, and he meant to not say what sanctions would be like if Putin attacks, so to "give Putin something to think". We see how intimidating that strateigc ambiguity was. Now NATO and the US say they do not want to reveal what consequences there would be if such weapons get used, only that there would be "severe" sanctions of any kind. Why is it that I find this attitude totally unconvincing like already the first time?

NATO/USA should use informal and unofficial contacts to tell their counterparts on the Russian side that NATO will enter the war in full strength and with all consequence, including bombing Russia, if they cross that red line.

I base on that there are many people who, if their very own surviuval and that of their own families is under imminent threat, will overocme their fear of Putin, and take care for him being removed from office one way or the other.

Its bad to get intimidated by Putin. But its much worse to let Putin even know that one is intimidated. Sometimes, a bit more Klingoness from our side might not be a problem, but the cure.

[mapuc]

From memory

- We will under no circumstances take part in the war

Can't remember who spoke those words.

I remember thinking-And if Russia use weapon of mass destruction ? Will NATO still stay out of it ?

Markus

[Eisenwurst]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSrlGFslgdM

[Skybird]

We cannot sit and watch while in a neighbouring country the Russkies go nukie-wild. Next they then turn berlin or Warsaw, Paris or Budapest into ashes.



If they start nuking around, we must go to war.



I think Putin'S suzrrodunign will not allow him to order that, will ntoi carry the orde rout, will assassinate him, whatever. However, hope is no strategy. I insist that we get ready to play hard ball if they prove me wrong and do it.



If they set others ablaze, they must burn with them. They better know it, they better get told that, and they better get told that in a way that they believe it. Subtelty is not helpful when bringing such messages, me thinks.


Klingoness. Whatever you think of it, it has one advantage: it leaves no doubt open. In principle it is what Kennedy did during Kuba when the Sovjet ships approached that line. They changed course not before it was the last of the last moments.

[mapuc]

^ You know the best thing would be if Biden said to the Russian

You fire one nuke - We fire one nuke against you
You fire 10 nukes - We fire 10 nukes against you
You fire 100 nukes - We fire 100 nukes.....

Now to a real life discussion

The bussdriver said something interesting to me yesterday.

- Do you remember this pilot who toke his life by flying into the mountain side and toke all these innocent with him.

I answered him

- I can't tell if Putin is thinking of taking his life- I've heard and read a lot about medical expert saying Putin is sick-Maybe cancer. But yes a person who decide to commit suicide can very well take others with them.

Markus

[Armistead]

^ You know the best thing would be if Biden said to the Russian

You fire one nuke - We fire one nuke against you
You fire 10 nukes - We fire 10 nukes against you
You fire 100 nukes - We fire 100 nukes.....

Now to a real life discussion

The bussdriver said something interesting to me yesterday.

- Do you remember this pilot who toke his life by flying into the mountain side and toke all these innocent with him.

I answered him

- I can't tell if Putin is thinking of taking his life- I've heard and read a lot about medical expert saying Putin is sick-Maybe cancer. But yes a person who decide to commit suicide can very well take others with them.

Markus

I know we gave up our intermediate/tactical nukes for battlefield use in the IMF treaty....that Trump wisely pulled us out of so we could play the nuke game on the battlefield, thus in theory a stalemate, but no clue how far we came with the program since.

[Armistead]

I just searched for annual average weather statistics of the Ukraine. And on wind I found that for Aprils, 3.6 weeks in that month the wind is coming form a southern and southwestern direction.

That would mean that any fallout cloud from a nuclear explosion would get blown directly and straight towards Belarus and Russia.

In summer months, the dominant wind direction changes by almost 180 degrees, however.

Personally I think that the use of C.wepoaons agaiunst ciuvilkian areas and N-weapons of any kind is the overstepping of a red line where NATO must enter the war for mere self preservation. Becasue then Russia at the latest has turned into an unpredictable rabid dog running amok.

Before the war, Scholz stupidly spoke of "strategic ambiguity" and he was very proud of that clever terminology he had learned there, and he meant to not say what sanctions would be like if Putin attacks, so to "give Putin something to think". We see how intimidating that strateigc ambiguity was. Now NATO and the US say they do not want to reveal what consequences there would be if such weapons get used, only that there would be "severe" sanctions of any kind. Why is it that I find this attitude totally unconvincing like already the first time?

NATO/USA should use informal and unofficial contacts to tell their counterparts on the Russian side that NATO will enter the war in full strength and with all consequence, including bombing Russia, if they cross that red line.

I base on that there are many people who, if their very own surviuval and that of their own families is under imminent threat, will overocme their fear of Putin, and take care for him being removed from office one way or the other.

Its bad to get intimidated by Putin. But its much worse to let Putin even know that one is intimidated. Sometimes, a bit more Klingoness from our side might not be a problem, but the cure.


As I said elsewhere, we didn't have a use of intermediate/tactical nuke doctrine on the battlefield per the IMF treaty, so we really had no way to respond if Putin did except a larger attack, which would go all out, so Putin in theory doesn't think we would. However, Trump pulled us out of the IMF so we could match nukes on the battlefield. I think we're gonna have to get involved at some point, but I think it should be focused, small and see if we can prompt Putin to leave or let him decide to escalate. Since they're doctrine is the use of nukes to combat overwhelming conventional forces, I'd prefer us using cruise missiles to take out bridges, infrastructure in Crimea and Belarus and a no fly over western Ukraine before they get ground forces and systems in we'd have to take out. If we went all in, knowing Putin tactical
nukes would come into play

[mapuc]

I know we gave up our intermediate/tactical nukes for battlefield use in the IMF treaty....that Trump wisely pulled us out of so we could play the nuke game on the battlefield, thus in theory a stalemate, but no clue how far we came with the program since.


I was convinced that tactical nukes wasn't stronger than 5-15 Kiloton.

According to this wiki page it's not so much how strong the nuke is, it's more where you use it.

If you use a 1.2 Megaton on the battlefield it's a tactical nukes. If you use it against military installation it's a strategic nuke.

There is no exact definition of the "tactical" category on range or yield of the nuclear weapon. The yield of tactical nuclear weapons is generally lower than that of strategic nuclear weapons, but larger ones are still very powerful, and some variable-yield warheads serve in both roles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tactical_nuclear_weapon

Markus

[mapuc]

I know the Ukrainian gave up their nukes in the beginning of the 90'ies.

Some minutes ago I saw a yt-viewer post following

they gave up their nukes and got a security guarantee from the U.S., the U.K. and Russia, known as the Budapest Memorandum.

I made a search for this Budapest Memorandum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest_Memorandum_on_Security_Assurances

Never heard of it.

Markus

[Armistead]

I was convinced that tactical nukes wasn't stronger than 5-15 Kiloton.

According to this wiki page it's not so much how strong the nuke is, it's more where you use it.

If you use a 1.2 Megaton on the battlefield it's a tactical nukes. If you use it against military installation it's a strategic nuke.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tactical_nuclear_weapon

Markus

It's both size and where you use it. You're not gonna use a large nuke to take out a square mile. I think it was H. Bush admin all our short range/tactical were basically taken out of service with the Russians, tho they I believe later ramped it up. Trump took us out of the IMF which was intermediate. I think a lot of this was China, N. Korea were building non strategical nukes. Russia, China and N. Korea have been developing nuclear weapons with "smaller yields, improved precision, and increased range for military or coercive use on the battlefield;" while our doctrine is strategic only.

"In December 2017, Bill Gertz reported, “Russia is aggressively building up its nuclear forces and is expected to deploy a total force of 8,000 warheads by 2026 along with modernizing deep underground bunkers, according to Pentagon officials. The 8,000 warheads will include both large strategic warheads and thousands of new low-yield and very low-yield warheads to circumvent arms treaty limits and support Moscow’s new doctrine of using nuclear arms early in any conflict - it is clear that these states have a monopoly on the deployment of both strategic and nonstrategic nuclear weapons and, critically, their capabilities are growing. Equally worrisome, they also have a monopoly on nonstrategic ballistic and cruise missile nuclear capabilities..”

"The United States has one type of nonstrategic nuclear weapon in its stockpile, the B61 gravity bomb. The weapon exists in two modifications: the B61-3 and the B61-4. A third version, the B61-10, was retired in September 2016. Approximately 230 tactical B61 bombs of all versions remain in the stockpile. About 100 of these (versions −3 and −4) are thought to be deployed at six bases in five European countries: Aviano and Ghedi in Italy; Büchel in Germany; Incirlik in Turkey; Kleine Brogel in Belgium; and Volkel in the Netherlands. This number has declined since 2009 partly due to the reduction of operational storage capacity at Aviano and Incirlik (Kristensen 2015, 2019c). The remaining 130 B61s stored in the United States are for backup and potential use by U.S. fighter-bombers in support of allies outside Europe, including northeast Asia."

So I guess we can and we may soon have to make it part of our doctrine.

[Rockstar]

https://youtu.be/QwIknv0eMQA

[Gorpet]

That sounds more like a radical position than a conservative one.

Of course the west is assisting as close as it thinks it can without direct conflict. It's still a power game and Putin made a really bad move for once. Belarus is his only allie.

The west must assist, The big question for the everyday joe in America.Is why?

[Gorpet]

Too bad the US won't quietly ship a couple thousand drones.

The best ending for this is Ukraine surrenders right now to save further lives and property. Then in the next Russian election, they get to vote, right? So, 20 million anti-Putin votes.

Damn Neal, You surprise me America and it's politicians for decades have been making the right decisions haven't they. So now you advocate the United States and all of its allies. Ramp up the conflict with Russia over a country that we know to be corrupt. The son of our current president was under suspicion of being bought.

[Buddahaid]

The west must assist, The big question for the everyday joe in America.Is why?

Is it really?

[Gorpet]

That sounds more like a radical position than a conservative one.

Of course the west is assisting as close as it thinks it can without direct conflict. It's still a power game and Putin made a really bad move for once. Belarus is his only allie.

Do i come off to you as a radical ? The people of United States has no interest in the Ukraine! Only our politicians.

[Gorpet]

Is it really?

Yes really, What the hell everyday Americans can't get out of this country and mingle with you Europeans.The great Ocean prohibits contact. And our government tells us your nothing but a bunch of people with hereditary problems. Ok i'm going to back walk that and in a few months we can circle back.

[Buddahaid]

Do i come off to you as a radical ? The people of United States has no interest in the Ukraine! Only our politicians.

Even if so the US would still be impacted by the war. How nice it would be if the US could just declare itself free from international, rather global, power games. It can't, and I don't see how it can be avoided, which is why post WW2 the US has devoted resources for defense aimed at a clearly globally dominant nature.

I simply don't think isolationism works because we don't choose our neighbors, but we do work at influencing them for self preservation.

[Gorpet]

Most every nation has Bio labs and they're 59 level 4 spread labs are around the world. The issue becomes of course gain of function, or worse, weaponizing. Russia has weaponized and stockpiled eleven bio-agents known. I think the expectation as Russia gets bogged down in cities is they will use chemical weapons, because they don't have the forces to hold a city. Ukraine's lab is well known in the world community and the World Health Organization has asked Ukraine to destroy any dangerous pathogens in its laboratories. Russia is creating a lot of propaganda from this and I think certain it will be used as some false flag to excuse their future of them if they really get mired up. How the world responds, many experts think NATO, rather than boots on the ground, would go to a full cyber attack. Course, that would result in Russia doing the same and it's just a matter of time before conventional war breaks out. Russia would quickly be devastated unless NATO tries a limited push to prompt Putin to leave. If not, then comes the moment would Putin use tactical nukes on the battlefield.. obviously, it only gets worse from there. Putin's in a spot even if he packed up and left tomorrow. Europe has woken up from globalism and will fully finance NATO, their own defense and detach from oil and economic ties from Russia. The only way Russia survives long term economically is to become a proxy state for China and China is gleefully hoping for that to happen. Course China could jump in fray and that's WW3, but China is too smart for that. Putin has put himself in a lose lose situation and he will choose for himself the course. Russia is showing its claws as they've done in the past, leveling cities with bombings.

Are you crazy? The world wants to jump on Russia, When this virus that has claimed millions of lives came from china. And not one country has said they need to pay. I am just a blue collar worker so what do i know. Just an Ant that does their daily job right?

[Buddahaid]

The US has about a sixfold superiority to the PLA in aircraft although the PLA has cut two years off fighter pilot training by skipping the JL-9.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhn5S7uURhk

Top 10 Largest Military Branches in the World (by number of Military Aircraft) - Flight International 2022:
United States Air Force - 5,217
United States Army Aviation - 4,409
Russian Air Force - 3,863
United States Navy - 2,464
People's Liberation Army Air Force (China) - 1,991
Indian Air Force - 1,715
United States Marine Corps - 1,157
Egyptian Air Force - 1,062
Korean People's Army Air Force (North Korea) - 946
South Korean Air Force - 898

[Gorpet]

Even if so the US would still be impacted by the war. How nice it would be if the US could just declare itself free from international, rather global, power games. It can't, and I don't see how it can be avoided, which is why post WW2 the US has devoted resources for defense aimed at a clearly globally dominant nature.

I simply don't think isolationism works because we don't choose our neighbors, but we do work at influencing them for self preservation.

Well i would like to know how the american people can self preserve, if our politicians continue down this road.? Will it be the American Socialist party who want world Domination or will it be President Putin ? You do know Our Communist believe they are the smartest right? And for the edit Let the cards fall where they may.

[Buddahaid]

Well i would like to know how the american people can self preserve, if our politicians continue down this road.? Will it be the American Socialist party who want world Domination or will it be President Putin ?

I suppose it comes down to how much social service you think the government should supply. Roads, bridges, airports, harbors, schools, law and order.

President Putin? Russia is NOT a communist state. It is an oliagarchy dominated by a right wing dictator!

[UglyMowgli]

Slaughtering of people driving by (epsiode 2)



https://twitter.com/TheDeadDistrict/status/1503953864617193478?s=20&t=32ScWgFFYqssoi-TYGTU1g




And bystander

https://twitter.com/Haluk_SARIKCI/status/1503951897522327553?s=20&t=32ScWgFFYqssoi-TYGTU1g

[Gorpet]

That sounds more like a radical position than a conservative one.

Of course the west is assisting as close as it thinks it can without direct conflict. It's still a power game and Putin made a really bad move for once. Belarus is his only allie.

Well what is your country doing ?

[Buddahaid]

Well what is your country doing ?

Same as yours I suspect.

[Gorpet]

Same as yours I suspect.

Well our country is giving , Everyone that can get here the American dream, Im sorry, there is no dream. Just sign up for a vote .

[Buddahaid]

Well our country is giving , Everyone that can get here the American dream, Im sorry, there is no dream. Just sign up for a vote .

For many that is a dream in of itself.

[Gorpet]

I suppose it comes down to how much social service you think the government should supply. Roads, bridges, airports, harbors, schools, law and order.

President Putin? Russia is NOT a communist state. It is an oligarchy dominated by a right wing dictator!

Well we have the same oligarchy right here. Only our Oligarch's are Grandpas and Grandmas. Yes they know and only they know like you would know.I like the Chinese and North Korean social system.Every body works' doesn't matter it makes for a more productive population. And nobody loot's and steals and burns. in their country's.

[Buddahaid]

Oy vey?

I wish my grandparents were more active in my life.

[Gorpet]

Oy vey?

I wish my grandparents were more active in my life.

In America,People work all their lives pay into the great Social Security system. And this was promised to them. The scheme was you pay so much out of your paycheck.And at a certain age What the government took from your paycheck because they thought you when you got older and could no longer be a productive ant.

You would get ,Well they lied they took the money and created the American Welfare system.And to this day those who payed into that are the homeless Americans.

[tmccarthy]

Any clue what weapon system this is,30mm?. Notice those Russians behind the tank... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ4Auwi7_FA

It sounded like 30mm autocannon to me. Otherwise could only assume it's fairly modern because of the video targeting screen. I did notice the soldiers in the back and was sorry to see that they may have been killed and at least the 3 crew members inside were almost certainly killed.

[Onkel Neal]

Bad day for a tank crew. I'm beginning to think tanks are obsolete. :timeout:

https://youtu.be/UD8A18rM9oU

[Skybird]

Tanks are great for mobile defence, falling back while fighting. In urban areas in an offensive role they are no motre, obviously, especially not when the enemy has state of the art ATGM, mines, drones.

That lesson everybody can learn in SBP since 2006 when it was released. In hardly any other sim you can get killed so easily and not even knowing why, what, from where.

Every monkey can point and fire an RPG/PZF style weapon. And every tank'S additionally armoured underbelly can be defeated by a mine if simpy placing a bigger mine.

That the Russian tactical leadership seems to suck, obviosuly, does not make it better. This is what surprises me more than anything: their leadership incompetence, and lacking skill to orchestrate combined arms, inclusive air power. Some pages before I posted about the Ukrainian army big boss. What a difference he made by having radically turned his back on Sovjet era dogma and tactics and handing responsibility over to the field commanders in place, and copying Western procedures! The Russians porobanyl expected to meet an enemy they know well by their own drill, instead they ran into an enemy that has little in common with them and in principle is a Western fighting power. Also, the Ukrianians mostly are nattle-hardned after 8 years of war, while most of the Russians are young unexperienced conscripts.

What remains of the fear of the mighty Russian army is just this: they are still the artillery-heavy army they always were famous and feared for, from plenty of heavy shell and missile artillery on brigade and division level down to small rockets aplenty on company and platoon level.

---------------

Ukraine sources say by their estimations the Russians have lost 40% of their units. If true, that is a nightmare and a humiliation for Russia.

[mapuc]

^^ I guess you right when it comes to tanks driven by a human-I foresee a future where the tanks is about 1/3 of the size of todays mbt-The Abram and is unmanned.

Markus

[Skybird]

Automatted turrets are a first step in that direction. The Russian Armata tank has no crew in the turret. The crew is three and sits side by side, like in a truck's front bench, in the lowered hull.

In the long run, remote controleld drones or autonomous drones will take over, in the air, on land, and also on and under the seas. It spredicted since my school years already, but it takes much longer than was initially suggested. But it will happen.

The second line will always be formed by humans, however, becasue no platform is a sautonomosu and self-adapting has the Autonomous Human Platform MK-I.

[Skybird]

NZZ comments:

https://www.nzz.ch/meinung/geopolitik-zwingt-die-eu-sich-neu-zu-erfinden-ld.1674636


Geopolitics is back in Europe - and forcing the EU to reinvent itself

Moscow's invasion of Ukraine has made it clear: Europe's foreign policy must be more than enlargement policy. The return of hard power politics demands pragmatism and efficiency.

On September 11, 1990, U.S. President George H. W. Bush ("Bush Father") spoke for the first time before Congress in Washington of the dawn of a "new world order." This marked the beginning of what political scientists today call the unipolar moment. The thirty-year global dominance of the United States.

The non-violent decline of the Soviet Union had heralded the epoch. It passed its peak in the mid-noughties, when the Iraq War slipped away from the United States. Then the decline accelerated with the financial crisis of 2008, the end of the Arab Spring and the victory of the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2021. The abrupt end was marked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

To some observers, the new era is reminiscent of pre-World War I Europe. Back then, established and emerging powers formed rival alliances with Britain, France and Germany as anchor points. It was an order in which one's gain was always interpreted as another's loss: Politics as a zero-sum game.

More recently, a then-common school of thought has become more attractive again: geopolitics.

Geopolitics has a rather bad reputation in intellectual history, at least its German traditional strand. The concept emerged toward the end of the 19th century in close connection with a Darwinian view of history that propagates the right of the strongest. It sees peoples in an eternal struggle for supremacy and for "living space." A few decades later, Nazi Germany used this poisoned concept to justify its wars of conquest and extermination.

In the United States, a more abstract variant of geopolitical thinking developed and entered political science. It deals with the interrelation of geography and politics and draws conclusions for the relations between states in the "international system." At its core, it is concerned with how economic and military power are distributed in space. Indeed, this is how the global structures of international relations are formed.

It was two European migrants, Henry Kissinger of Germany and Zbigniew Brzezinski of Poland, who as advisors translated this school of thought, called "realist," into policy during the Cold War. The central role is played by the Eurasian continent, the vast landmass where 5 billion people now produce two-thirds of the world's gross national product. Eurasia, Brzezinski said in the 1990s, would continue to be the chessboard on which the struggle for global dominance would be fought.

Even after the demise of the Soviet Union, Kissinger was convinced that Russia would continue to play a decisive role because of its location in this "geopolitical heartland" and its imperial past. Like other representatives of the realist school, he saw early on that Ukraine would be the place where the Western sphere of interest would collide with that of Russia.

The country, he concluded, should therefore become neither the outpost of one power nor that of the other - otherwise it would be destroyed. Geography as destiny? Not quite, since the invasion of Ukraine is, after all, the act of an imperialist tyrant and is not simply dictated by its location. But the many conflicts in and around Ukraine, the dispute over its eastward or westward orientation, showed over many years that there is a dangerous geopolitical fracture here.

After the end of the Cold War, liberals rejected thinking in terms of power blocs, balances and buffer zones as outdated and unethical. They preferred to think of the common "House of Europe" from Lisbon to Vladivostok, which was to be based on common rules and values. The liberal social model seemed universally transferable. Only in retrospect does it become really clear that this vision was only possible as long as the USA kept its competitors in check.

How was this order undermined? And what comes next? Most obvious is the rise of China, which is growing into a fierce competitor to the United States. But for American political scientist John Mearsheimer, the end of the unipolar world is also inherent in its own contradictions: Overstretching, overtaxing and also overconfidence ushered in the end. The hegemon overestimated its ability to export its own values and to reconstruct states worldwide in its own image.

Resistance to this encroachment, whether nationalistically or religiously motivated, led to a series of bitter defeats. For example, attempts to win the war on terror with regime change and state-building failed. The Iraq war in particular became a turning point after 2005 and a disaster for the country and the region.

Around the same time, it became apparent that the intervention in Afghanistan had driven the Taliban from power but had not defeated them. Last year's traumatic withdrawal only confirmed that. In Syria and Libya, too, attempts to bring about a pro-Western transition of power failed. These countries are now destroyed. The threat posed by the Islamic State has been contained, but not banished.

A decade earlier, the Americans had successfully ended the Yugoslav wars, but 140,000 people had died there before that. The EU failed to build a stable, high-growth postwar order in the region over the next 20 years. In contrast, in East-Central Europe, the Baltics and the Black Sea, NATO and EU enlargement progressed successfully. It was not an imperial project, but was absolutely wanted by the countries under former Soviet rule. Here, U.S. and EU soft power was transformed into security and relative prosperity.

What comes next? For Mearsheimer, things are clear. A world is emerging dominated by two superpowers, the U.S. and China, surrounded by a ring of allies. Unlike during the Cold War, however, these blocs continue to cultivate economic exchanges. What will Russia's role be? A junior partner of China or its vassal? Will it democratize after Putin, or will the giant empire disintegrate? Almost anything seems possible now.

The EU, that "sleeping giant," should wake up now. With a share of 25 percent of global economic output, it certainly has what it takes to become a serious geostrategic player. But to do so, it must be able to defend itself independently. Higher military spending is not enough. It is much more important to finally coordinate defense between the countries. Europe does not need two dozen pocket-sized superpower armies, but European armed forces in alliance with the USA.

The EU must now also define its external borders. Vague promises of accession that do not lead to decisive steps towards integration are dangerous in the new age. Ukraine is now tragically experiencing this. In 2012, four years after NATO, the EU gave it an "accession perspective" that was never really serious. Brussels and its capitals entered into a great power competition with Russia with nothing in their hands but an enlargement policy that had already failed in the Balkans.

This strategy could work even less in Ukraine, a post-Soviet state with huge structural problems. New forms of connectivity are therefore necessary, flanked by security policy.

In the new geopolitical situation, the EU must be able to offer something to countries that are not ready for accession but are willing to join. This applies not only to Ukraine, but also to the six Western Balkan states. Otherwise, there is a real danger that the convulsions on the eastern periphery will be perpetuated there. The current crisis dramatically demonstrates that the "multi-speed Europe" needs to be thought of in much more fundamental terms.

In the new era, not only space but also time has become more important again. In order to become capable of action, a security policy-integrated "core Europe" should be created in which the participating states can decide quickly. Because what is needed now is adaptability: Only when the EU understands that geopolitics with its hard rules is back can it hold its own in the new world.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (http://www.DeepL.com/Translator) (free version)
Zelensky recently said in an adress to European heads of states that the Ukraine "has now understood that it cannot be a member of NATO" (mind you, two years ago they wrote NATO membership as a goal into the Ukrainian constitution). That is last but not least a message and concession adressed at Moscow, indicating readiness to negotiate about that. For years the Ukraine was encouraged to nevertheless think it had a "perspective", same regarding EU membership. Europe is not without guilt in the current desaster. It encouraged the Ukraine to take an additionally provocative posture.

All the more unbearable, then, is the blasé, arrogant propaganda speak of von der Leyen and her ilk who still drive their ideology-heavy businesses as usual. As long as such empty-headed idiots and speech automatons focused on their own appearance lead the EU deeper and deeper into madness, nothing better will ever come of it. Europea's worst enemy is not even Putin, or China, but the EU and its bigwigs and top kings themselves. The EU doe snot prioivde the big solutions to the bog probelms, but its very existence, as it is today, defines the basic fundament of the main problem.



A free trade zone. 3% (!) defence budgets of all members. No shared currency. NATO resurrected, within NATO Europe taking more and more capabilties from the Americans who focus more on the Pacific. Not more, not less I want. This gets my vote, and only this. But they still babble all-ideology goals and cultural revolution and re-education and mass-drills for the plebs to get wanted ideology-dripping wordviews into unwilling heads. For this I always will only wish the EU: its destruction, so to make room for a new construction that is more down to the ground, more realistic, less-ideology-drunk, left and woke.

[Jimbuna]

It sounded like 30mm autocannon to me. Otherwise could only assume it's fairly modern because of the video targeting screen. I did notice the soldiers in the back and was sorry to see that they may have been killed and at least the 3 crew members inside were almost certainly killed.

Answered previously here:https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=2798861&postcount=2262

[Jimbuna]

Quite an interesting take on the situation.

Vladimir Putin Has Fallen Into the Dictator Trap

In the span of a couple of weeks, Vladimir Putin—a man recently described by Donald Trump as a strategic “genius”—managed to revitalize NATO, unify a splintered West, turn Ukraine’s little-known president into a global hero, wreck Russia’s economy, and solidify his legacy as a murderous war criminal.

How did he miscalculate so badly?
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/editorpicks/vladimir-putin-has-fallen-into-the-dictator-trap/ar-AAV7Lky?ocid=mailsignout&li=AAnZ9Ug

[Jimbuna]

Russia sanctions Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and others

Russia's foreign ministry says it has imposed sanctions on US President Joe Biden and 12 other US officials.

The list includes Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, press secretary Jen Psaki and other members of the administration.

But it also includes two surprises: former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Mr Biden's son Hunter.

The measures block their entry into Russia and freeze any assets held in the country.

However, the ministry has said the sanctions will not impede necessary high-level contacts for the affected individuals.

Other names on the list are:

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan
Deputy National Security Adviser Daleep Singh
US Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power
Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo
President of the Export-Import Bank of the US Reta Jo Lewis
The ministry has said it is applying sanctions "on the basis of reciprocity".

Russia is now the most sanctioned country in the world.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-60754136

[Jimbuna]

President Volodymyr Zelenksy repeats his plea for a no-fly zone over Ukraine and calls for more sanctions on Russia in an address to US Congress.

US President Biden is expected to announce $800 million of military aid after Zelensky's speech by videolink.

Kyiv officials say Russian forces shelled an apartment block on Wednesday morning, as the city imposes a curfew during "a dangerous moment"

The US embassy in Ukraine says Russian forces shot and killed 10 people standing in line for bread in the northern city of Chernihiv.

Meanwhile, Russian troops are still holding 400 people, including doctors and patients, "like hostages" inside a hospital in Mariupol, the deputy mayor says.

Zelensky says peace talks with Russia are beginning to "sound more realistic"

Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak says there are "fundamental contradictions" during the talks but "certainly room for compromise"

[Rockstar]

Quite an interesting take on the situation.

“How did he miscalculate so badly”, are they kidding? It’s an interesting take alright when some are already talking like it’s over when Russian troops are still in Ukraine. From what I’m seeing things are far from over and appear to still be escalating.

Let’s keep on mind Putin did make it very clear he had considered all possibilities and was prepared for them. Not only do I think that referred to the use of WMD but sanctions as well.

[mapuc]

As the title of the article said in the Danish newspaper
(Part of it-behind paywall)

Can Putin withdraw from Ukraine without losing face ?

Markus

[Jimbuna]

“How did he miscalculate so badly”, are they kidding? It’s an interesting take alright when some are already talking like it’s over when Russian troops are still in Ukraine. From what I’m seeing things are far from over and appear to still be escalating.

Let’s keep on mind Putin did make it very clear he had considered all possibilities and was prepared for them. Not only do I think that referred to the use of WMD but sanctions as well.

On a personal note, I'm hoping he gets taken down from within but the other side of me worries how much damage he will create before that happens.

[Jimbuna]

Ukraine: Putin will search for a way to save face.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60756993

[Skybird]

“How did he miscalculate so badly”, are they kidding? It’s an interesting take alright when some are already talking like it’s over when Russian troops are still in Ukraine. From what I’m seeing things are far from over and appear to still be escalating.

Let’s keep on mind Putin did make it very clear he had considered all possibilities and was prepared for them. Not only do I think that referred to the use of WMD but sanctions as well.

Politically and regarding politicla and military reputation, its a Russian total defeat already now.

Militarily they cannot acchieve their claimed objectives. What they can do instead is to destroy targets that are defenceless - civilians, and civilian housing. Destroying what they cannot conquer and keep.

Scorched Earth policies.

Still, I cannot see them maintaining this endlessly, not with their logistical performance seen so far. And their supply situation can only get worse, not better.

Then their offensive must come to a full stop. And then they sit in the middle of a hostile country where they get fired upon from all directions at any time, all time long.

What did the Ukrainian commander in chief Salushny say before the invasion when asked what the Russians await in the Ukraine if they would invade? - "Welcome to hell". Ukraine says the Russians have - according to Ukrainian estimations - lost 40% of their units. That does not mean 40% of troops killed, it means that 40% of their units are no longer existent as combat-capable cohesive formations.

Lets keep them in good supply of ATGMs and MANPADs. No Ukrainian unit should save a single shot just because it has no more shots left.

[Skybird]

Negotiations between Ukraine and Russia on ending the war are apparently becoming more concrete. Documents are being drawn up for possible direct talks between Head of State Voloymyr Selenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian state agency Ria Novosti quoted Ukrainian presidential adviser Mychaylo Podolyak as saying in an interview with U.S. broadcaster PBS on Wednesday.

"The only way to end this war is direct talks between the two presidents. That is what we are working on in these negotiations," Podolyak reportedly said. Currently, he said, these documents are being drafted, which the heads of state can then agree on and sign. "This could happen soon."

Selenskyj had repeatedly offered to meet with Putin, but Moscow always responded with extreme reluctance.

According to the Financial Times newspaper, both sides are working on a 15-point plan. First and foremost are the neutrality and demilitarization of Ukraine demanded by Russia and the withdrawal of Russian troops demanded by Kiev. Territorial disputes were to be discussed later, according to the plan.

This agreement would mean that Kiev would abandon its NATO accession plans and thus also renounce maintaining foreign military bases in the country. Russian as well as Ukrainian negotiators had elicited such an agreement in full for the first time on Monday

FOCUS - Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)


------------------


According to the Hamburg legal scholar Otto Luchterhandt, the Russian army is committing genocide with the way it waged war against the port city of Mariupol. This was reported by Berlin's "Tagesspiegel" on Wednesday, citing a corresponding expert opinion. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov "belong before the International Criminal Court in The Hague," the expert demands.

According to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, they are perpetrators of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression, "but also of the most serious crime known to international criminal law since 1948 - genocide," Luchterhandt said.

The legal scholar judged on the basis of six criteria of the UN Anti-genocide Convention. With the action to encircle and destroy the major city in eastern Ukraine, "the objective facts of the crime of genocide on the part of Russia's armed forces were fulfilled."

The jurist also considers the "subjective elements of the crime," the intention to destroy a population group, to be proven. The Russian army acted with "genocidal destructive intent" against "the citizenry of the city in its entirety" and not only against individual citizens who happen to be victims.

Proving genocidal intent "has long been considered an Achilles heel" in the practice of jurisprudence, he noted. International jurisprudence on ethnic cleansing in the Bosnian war has fleshed out the legal criteria for proving intent, he said.

Accordingly, they apply to the situation in Mariupol. "The situation of the citizens trapped in the destroyed, wintry Mariupol, cut off from the supply of essential, subsistence goods, temporarily vegetating in basements of ruins without electricity, water and heating, and exposed to constant shelling for weeks, is the proverbial 'hell' according to all the news leaking out of the city."

FOCUS - Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

[Jimbuna]

Russia's state TV hit by stream of resignations

When Marina Ovsyannikova burst into Russian living rooms on Monday's nightly news, denouncing the war in Ukraine and propaganda around it, her protest highlighted a quiet but steady stream of resignations from Russia's tightly controlled state-run TV.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60763494

[Commander Wallace]

Russia's state TV hit by stream of resignations

When Marina Ovsyannikova burst into Russian living rooms on Monday's nightly news, denouncing the war in Ukraine and propaganda around it, her protest highlighted a quiet but steady stream of resignations from Russia's tightly controlled state-run TV.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60763494


It has been reported that Marina Ovsyannikova has been fined the equivalent of £215 for her actions. Her release from incarceration was on the news yesterday. Marina reported she had been interrogated for 14 hours after her actions. Marina is one brave lady for her opposition to this stupid incursion into the Ukraine. Apparently, Marina feels a sense of obligation to journalism and reporting things accurately.

To be honest, when Marina was picked up by Putin's henchmen, I never thought to see her again. I was very happy to see she was physically alright.

[mapuc]

!!?? So I read Skybirds latest comment about the positive process in the ongoing negotiation between Ukraine and Russia.

Then I got a link and read this Ca 30 minutes ago-Makes one wonder if the right hand know what their left hand is doing.

President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia would achieve its goals in Ukraine and would not submit to what he called a Western attempt to achieve global dominance and dismember Russia.

https://www.reuters.com/world/putin-says-western-attempt-global-dominance-will-fail-2022-03-16/

Markus

[Jimbuna]

It has been reported that Marina Ovsyannikova has been fined the equivalent of £215 for her actions. Her release from incarceration was on the news yesterday. Marina reported she had been interrogated for 14 hours after her actions. Marina is one brave lady for her opposition to this stupid incursion into the Ukraine. Apparently, Marina feels a sense of obligation to journalism and reporting things accurately.

To be honest, when Marina was picked up by Putin's henchmen, I never thought to see her again. I was very happy to see she was physically alright.

https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=2798845&postcount=2255

:O::03:

[Skybird]

It has been reported that Marina Ovsyannikova has been fined the equivalent of £215 for her actions. Her release from incarceration was on the news yesterday. Marina reported she had been interrogated for 14 hours after her actions. Marina is one brave lady for her opposition to this stupid incursion into the Ukraine. Apparently, Marina feels a sense of obligation to journalism and reporting things accurately.

To be honest, when Marina was picked up by Putin's henchmen, I never thought to see her again. I was very happy to see she was physically alright.
https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=2798878&postcount=2263
You are too early there. That fine is just for calling to demonstrate in another video that she prepared separately in social media.

State attorney still "considers" whether or not to sue her by that new media law for using the word "war" which is under ban in the USSR now (also, you are not allowed to mention "aggression" and "invasion" in context with the Ukraine war. The law fully affects foreigners/visitors in the country as well, including correspondents). And for that she can get a maximum penalty of 15 years in labour camp.

Her only hope is that they want to play down the affair and not attract further attention to it. If they decide instead for executing an example, she is done.

[Skybird]

From low to lower: it gets reported that then Russians have taken hostage a hospital in Mariupol, hold 400 patients and doctors as hostage there, next installed artillery on the hospital campus and started shelling from there. Any Ukrainian counter battery fire would hit the hospital as well.

If true, this scum hides behind patients, civilians, doctors now. Like the Hamas did in the Lebanon war when it hindered civilians with weapons to escape into safety and hid behind them.

[Jimbuna]

From low to lower: it gets reported that then Russians have taken hostage a hospital in Mariupol, hold 400 patients and doctors as hostage there, next installed artillery on the hospital campus and started shelling form there. And Ukrainian counter battery fire would hit the hospital as well.

If true, this scum hides behind patients, civilians, doctors now. Like the Hamas did in the Lebanon war when it hindered civilians with weapons to escape into safety and hid behind them.

https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=2798976&postcount=2306 :O:

[Skybird]

https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=2798976&postcount=2306 :O:
The point is they seem to have turned the hospital campus into an artillery site to evade Ukrainian counter battery fire.

[Commander Wallace]

https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=2798845&postcount=2255

:O::03:


Didn't see that. My bad. :oops::yep:




https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=2798878&postcount=2263
You are too early there. That fine is just for calling to demonstrate in another video that she prepared separately in social media.

State attorney still "considers" whether or not to sue her by that new media law for using the word "war" which is under ban in the USSR now (also, you are not allowed to mention "aggression" and "invasion" in context with the Ukraine war. The law fully affects foreigners/visitors in the country as well, including correspondents). And for that she can get a maximum penalty of 15 years in labour camp.

Her only hope is that they want to play down the affair and not attract further attention to it. If they decide instead for executing an example, she is done.


I agree with your assessment . I hope that doesn't happen either.

[mapuc]

Now there will be peace in Ukraine

"The Russian Federation shall immediately suspend the military operations that it commenced on Feb 24, 2022 on the territory of Ukraine," judges at the United Nations' highest court said in a 13-2 decision
(And of course Putin will right as I write this-give order to ceasefire......NOT)

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/world-court-rule-emergency-measures-ukraine-vs-russia-case-2022-03-16/

Markus

[Jeff-Groves]

There are no military operations! That's a false news story!
The building fell down by themselves! There are no troops in Ukraine!
It's a humanitarian exercise. Nazi's!

Take your pick.

Fact is the Russian forces are getting their arses handed to them an a way that makes their Afghanistan episode look like a massive success!

[Otto Harkaman]

Take a step back, take a deep breath, clear your mind

What's Really Happening? Ukraine Fog of War

https://youtu.be/Igq2fqa7RY4

[Jimbuna]

Didn't see that. My bad. :oops::yep:



Not a problem matey...was meant tongue-in-cheek anyway :03:

[Armistead]

Saw some reports Ukrainian soldiers around Melitopol are not taking prisoners due to mass attacks on civilians.

[Jimbuna]

Saw some reports Ukrainian soldiers around Melitopol are not taking prisoners due to mass attacks on civilians.

As bad and sad as it seems, I think that is inevitable now.

[Jeff-Groves]

"Take a step back, take a deep breath, clear your mind"

So you expect us to listen to a Guy that is 'in it for the money'?
:doh:

[mapuc]

There are no military operations! That's a false news story!
The building fell down by themselves! There are no troops in Ukraine!
It's a humanitarian exercise. Nazi's!

Take your pick.

Fact is the Russian forces are getting their arses handed to them an a way that makes their Afghanistan episode look like a massive success!

Then imagine what they would get if the attacked a NATO member.

You could also say they are paying a lot for the lesson they get from the Ukrainians.

The top of the Russian military has huge task in front of them-Reorganize the whole system.

Markus

[Otto Harkaman]

"Take a step back, take a deep breath, clear your mind"

So you expect us to listen to a Guy that is 'in it for the money'?
:doh:

No I don't WANT you to do anything but if it looks of interest, your welcome :salute:

[Jeff-Groves]

Saw some reports Ukrainian soldiers around Melitopol are not taking prisoners due to mass attacks on civilians.

As a ParaTrooper? I was told under extreme situations there would be no prisoners. That meant I would not be a prisoner and those that surrendered could not be held so had to be permanently removed from battle.

War is Hell.

We have not moved so far distant from WWI or WWII as most want to believe.

[Jeff-Groves]

No I don't WANT you to do anything but if it looks of interest, your welcome :salute:

Well Thank You but I find that Guy just in it for the money and hits he gets.
I find his so called "Expert" look at things skewed and his presentation just show boat.

[Armistead]

It has been reported that Marina Ovsyannikova has been fined the equivalent of £215 for her actions. Her release from incarceration was on the news yesterday. Marina reported she had been interrogated for 14 hours after her actions. Marina is one brave lady for her opposition to this stupid incursion into the Ukraine. Apparently, Marina feels a sense of obligation to journalism and reporting things accurately.

To be honest, when Marina was picked up by Putin's henchmen, I never thought to see her again. I was very happy to see she was physically alright.

I thought the fine was for her prerecorded video and she still faces charges for her news show event..

[Jimbuna]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBpEOTtoThs

[astvitaliy1982]

Hi, I want to ask, has anyone among you fought in hot spots?
I'm sure it is. Then you know what is the power of correct and
timely information in the war and what is the power of the correct
presentation of information to the population of your country.

And what is the power of Disinformation?

I will not write much, I will give just one case.
(just concerning the conflict in Ukraine).

The day before yesterday, a Tochka-U missile struck the center of my city
of Donetsk (DPR) from the territory of Ukraine. 23 people were killed
and about 30 injured. Earlier I wrote about smaller victims,
but now they are exactly like that. The blow was struck from
Ukraine. (from the area of the city of Krasnoarmeysk).

An hour after the incident, I go to the social networks
of the Telegram application and watch the news.
- In Kiev! A missile strike was launched by Russia.
And attached are photos of dead civilians and a child from my Donetsk.

According to your news, it was not shown at all...

The next evening (yesterday), another Tochka-U rocket flew to us.
To the city of Makeyevka (you can say this is a continuation of the city of Donetsk)
Guess from where?) From Ukraine... People were killed and three children were severely injured...

You don't know anything about it either...

The missiles were shot down in the air but had cluster charges.
It was these remnants of cassettes that killed people.

P. S. Yesterday it was the sixteenth Tochka- U missile shot down over the city
For the last two and a half weeks...

[mapuc]

^ astvitaliy1982 I don't think anyone in here are questioning that it hasn't happened as you describe in your comment.

I made a search for this Tochka- U missile and found this page

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OTR-21_Tochka

Look at this section

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OTR-21_Tochka#2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine_(2022%E 2%80%93present)

As I see it, it's word against word.

I must say I have tendency to believe the Ukrainians-Why !?
The Russian is committing massive bombardment of cities where the percentage Russian population is high. Kharkiv is one of them-The Russian population in this area is high.

Markus

[Skybird]

Astvitaly1982,


^ Your word against theirs.


You imply to be directly affected by being in location, thus you tend to see the guilt for that incident with the other side. But fact is you have no evidence for your interpretation of the story either.



And you speak on behalf of a side that commits war crimes and genocide notoriously, and has done so already in the wars before the Ukraine war. In Syria. In Georgia. Intentional targetted shelling of civilian buildings. Intention: to spread terror, to demoralise the population, and make them stop supporting their govenrment(s).


Currently Russian troops hold hostage a hospital in Mariupol while shooting artillery from it. And in the news they say a theatre has been bombed by Russia that was serving as bomb shelter for several hundred civilians. I saw the film and saw a buolding that collapsed, if huindreds opf peopel were inside, than many of them must be dead. Great going, Russia! Mass killer for the last 100 years, still a mass killer today.



Russia has a long record to commit war crimes and genocidal acts. Already before the Ukraine invasion. A VERY long history.



In the bigger picture of these Russian-made atrocities and war crimes, your missile story is relatively irrelevant, a minoir event amongst thiosuands of others. After all it is not the Ukrainians' fault that msisiles are flying. Its Russia's.



Sorry to be rude but you raise your voice for the side that is clearly the villain in all this mess and commits one atrocity after the other and intentionally mass-kills civilians and intentionally targets them, and now even shamelessly hides behind them.



There is a simple way to end all this drama: have the Russian attackers moving out of the Ukraine and leaving it alone. Russia attacked the Ukraine and invaded it - its not the other way around. Opposing opinions hardly will be met with much sympathy here. Today is the first time ever the US president did no longer shy away from calling Putin a war criminal, the internal EU court has demanded Russia to stop its unjustified attack on the Ukraine, and international law experts have made it clear that Putin and Gerasimov fulfill the criteria to be brought to the Hague for genocide as defined by the anti-genocide convention of the UN.



For my own part, I think their names will be rightfully mentioned in one breath in the future with that of Hitler and Stalin. They do their best to boost their body counts, both friend and foe.


Man eaters and soul slaughterers they are. The gallow is still too good for them.

[Otto Harkaman]

Russian Navy Landing Ships Seen Approaching Ukrainian Coast Near Odessa

https://www.navalnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Russian-Advance-Odessa-Mar-15.jpg

https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2022/03/russian-navy-landing-ships-seen-approaching-ukrainian-coast-near-odessa/

[astvitaliy1982]

I wrote about Disinformation.
I just want to explain that you should not believe everything that is shown on TV.
Japanese youth also still think that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed by the USSR... Believe only Your eyes and check the information in different sources.

[Catfish]

You are right, in a way.

Disinformation and maskirovska were Russia's or Putin's forte, but it backfired, and right now the whole world sees what is going on.
You can load all kinds of apps internationally and see through Putin's bs everywhere.

This does not mean that Russia can not "win" in the end (though i now doubt it), but even if you will never be able to subdue the Ukraine's people, or make Russia a respected member of the world again, in centuries to come.

[Rockstar]

Damn Neal, You surprise me America and it's politicians for decades have been making the right decisions haven't they. So now you advocate the United States and all of its allies. Ramp up the conflict with Russia over a country that we know to be corrupt. The son of our current president was under suspicion of being bought.

Gorpet and everyone else here if you want a start answering “why”? Then I STRONGLY suggest a book published in 1997. Yes it was several years ago but it is not outdated as one might might think. It will help you get a grasp on what is going on globally and the importance of Ukraine.

The book The Grand Chess Board by Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzeziński you can pick it on Amazon for a few bucks. You need to search these things out for yourself only idiots rely on the latest Trump, Biden, Russians killing puppies headlines. If you want to know why the U.S. and U.K. send arms to Ukraine so they can defend their homeland read the book. There is much at stake.

[astvitaliy1982]

Yeah...Disinformation is a powerful thing...
the whole world remembers Colin Powell's test tube at the UN...

[Skybird]

Hehe, you are late, Rockie, I recommended that book already during the Gulf war 2003. :O:



Zbigniev and Kissinger. The twin oracles of DelphiWashington...


Well, this war is probably the best documented live war so far, thanks to social media and smartphone cams.


https://www.oryxspioenkop.com/2022/02/attack-on-europe-documenting-equipment.html


Russian losses:

Russia - 1378, of which: destroyed: 597, damaged: 20, abandoned: 211, captured: 550


Ukrainian losses:

Ukraine - 362, of which: destroyed: 135, damaged: 5, abandoned: 48, captured: 174


No, I do not think thes enumbers are compelte. These numbers are what they were able to verify so far.

[Catfish]

Yeah...Disinformation is a powerful thing...
the whole world remembers Colin Powell's test tube at the UN...
Oh we all know what to think about America, if you think that makes Putin better?
Remember his action falls back on whole Russia.

[Rockstar]

Yeah...Disinformation is a powerful thing...
the whole world remembers Colin Powell's test tube at the UN...

Touché :haha:

But just an FYI I already made that comparison. :salute:

https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=2798150&postcount=2067

[Armistead]

Russian Navy Landing Ships Seen Approaching Ukrainian Coast Near Odessa

https://www.navalnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Russian-Advance-Odessa-Mar-15.jpg

https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2022/03/russian-navy-landing-ships-seen-approaching-ukrainian-coast-near-odessa/


I don't guess we sent Ukraine any surface to sea Harpoon systems? Looks to be in range

[mapuc]

I don't guess we sent Ukraine any surface to sea Harpoon systems? Looks to be in range

They have this

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune_(cruise_missile)

Markus

[Rockstar]

I don't guess we sent Ukraine any surface to sea Harpoon systems? Looks to be in range

If true, I feel sorry for those Russians. IMO it’s outdated tactics, I mean assuming Ukraine has access to the weapon systems it will be like shooting fish in a barrel.

[Catfish]

Ukraine's coast has been heavily targeted by russian ships recently.

Time for Ukraine to target Sevastopol?

[mapuc]

If true, I feel sorry for those Russians. IMO it’s outdated tactics, I mean assuming Ukraine has access to the weapon systems it will be like shooting fish in a barrel.

My first wiki link was a dead end.

So here is another more reliable link

https://www.overtdefense.com/2022/01/26/neptune-analyzing-ukraines-anti-ship-missile/

Ukrainian has their own ASM.

Markus

[Commander Wallace]

I thought the fine was for her prerecorded video and she still faces charges for her news show event..


That may well be the case as well. She could face more charges for " her Crimes. "


It's really hard at this point to figure out how Putin and his cronies will act. I'm sure they are thinking it through. I'm sure it's safe to say that her journalism career is over. She has some nerve though, telling the truth on TV. Who ever heard of such a thing. :shifty:

[Armistead]

That may well be the case as well. She could face more charges for " her Crimes. "


It's really hard at this point to figure out how Putin and his cronies will act. I'm sure they are thinking it through. I'm sure it's safe to say that her journalism career is over. She has some nerve though, telling the truth on TV. Who ever heard of such a thing. :shifty:

I suspect she'll get some years for her other charges and suffer terribly in prison and finally done away with. Putin has no problem poisoning people

[Commander Wallace]

Hi, I want to ask, has anyone among you fought in hot spots?
I'm sure it is. Then you know what is the power of correct and
timely information in the war and what is the power of the correct
presentation of information to the population of your country.

And what is the power of Disinformation?

I will not write much, I will give just one case.
(just concerning the conflict in Ukraine).

The day before yesterday, a Tochka-U missile struck the center of my city
of Donetsk (DPR) from the territory of Ukraine. 23 people were killed
and about 30 injured. Earlier I wrote about smaller victims,
but now they are exactly like that. The blow was struck from
Ukraine. (from the area of the city of Krasnoarmeysk).

An hour after the incident, I go to the social networks
of the Telegram application and watch the news.
- In Kiev! A missile strike was launched by Russia.
And attached are photos of dead civilians and a child from my Donetsk.

According to your news, it was not shown at all...

The next evening (yesterday), another Tochka-U rocket flew to us.
To the city of Makeyevka (you can say this is a continuation of the city of Donetsk)
Guess from where?) From Ukraine... People were killed and three children were severely injured...

You don't know anything about it either...

The missiles were shot down in the air but had cluster charges.
It was these remnants of cassettes that killed people.

P. S. Yesterday it was the sixteenth Tochka- U missile shot down over the city
For the last two and a half weeks...

Luckily, we have you here to give us first hand information on events in the Ukraine. This beats news stories that may well be false or slanted or biased.

As far as military experience, there are more than a few here that have served in the military and fought in difficult times. One thing is certain, Russian seriously underestimated the amount of fight in the Ukrainian people.

[Armistead]

My first wiki link was a dead end.

So here is another more reliable link

https://www.overtdefense.com/2022/01/26/neptune-analyzing-ukraines-anti-ship-missile/

Ukrainian has their own ASM.

Markus

Hopefully they'll get to use them and send those ships to the bottom. Hear the water is really cold this time of year

[Catfish]

"One who wishes to fight, must first count the cost."

[Commander Wallace]

I suspect she'll get some years for her other charges and suffer terribly in prison and finally done away with. Putin has no problem poisoning people


I'm afraid you may well be right. I certainly hope that's not the case. I'm sure if she would leave Russia, she would be welcomed else where as a journalist. She has certainly demonstrated she has a conscience, strength of character and integrity not to mention being a tough cookie. That's rare in TV Journalism when usually it's about, how good you can look on camera.

[astvitaliy1982]

Oh we all know what to think about America, if you think that makes Putin better?
Remember his action falls back on whole Russia.


I have problems with translation. Can you put it in more detail?

[Skybird]

https://www.nzz.ch/international/ukraine-russlands-luftwaffe-erleidet-bisher-schwerste-verluste-ld.1674908
As recently as Tuesday morning, Russia's armed forces had spread the success story that they now controlled the entire province of Kherson in southern Ukraine. But by mid-afternoon, a different reality had emerged as an inferno erupted near the provincial capital of the same name. Several helicopters went up in flames at Kherson airport, which is used for military and civilian purposes. Details of the attack are not available, as the Ukrainian armed forces have not released any details other than aerial photographs. But it is clearly a major setback for the Russian occupiers.

During Wednesday, a clearer extent of the damage emerged thanks to new satellite imagery. The images, released by the private U.S. Earth observation company Planet Labs, show that at least five helicopters were destroyed in the attack, though probably more. In addition, other burned-out or damaged helicopters can be seen in other parts of the sprawling Russian military base. They are likely to have fallen victim to an earlier attack. There had already been reports to that effect a week ago.

Experts therefore speak of a total of at least sixteen helicopters, as well as missile sites and a double-digit number of military vehicles lost by Russia. This is the heaviest loss of Russian air forces so far in this war.

Meanwhile, a video said to have been taken immediately after the attack is also circulating on the Internet. It shows numerous Russian military vehicles on fire or otherwise badly damaged in front of the main airport building.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BgOJbPpWq4


The video was undoubtedly made at Kherson airport, as a comparison with pre-war footage shows. The military vehicles are also clearly recognizable as Russian due to their markings.

The large-scale attack sheds light on the inability of Russian troops to sufficiently secure a newly captured strategic object such as this airport. Kherson is the first and so far only Ukrainian provincial capital to fall into Russian hands in this war. The region serves as a key bridgehead for supplying the offensive on Ukraine's southern front, which runs from Crimea through Kherson toward Mikolayiv. Dozens of helicopters were stationed at the military base, lined up for easy attack.

If this was an air strike, it would be further evidence of the gaps in Russian air defense. However, it is also conceivable that the area is still within range of Ukrainian artillery and that parts of the province are by no means under Moscow's control. In any case, demonstrations against the occupiers occur almost daily in the streets of Kherson.

Regardless of the background, the recent losses of helicopters will complicate Russia's future operations. Attacks are currently aimed from Kherson in two directions - northeast along the banks of the Dnipro River on the one hand, and toward Mikolayiv, the capital of the neighboring province to the north, on the other. For days, the Russians have been trying in vain to capture it. Control of Mikolayiv is likely to be a prerequisite for the invaders to subsequently turn their attention to the large city of Odessa, which, apart from sporadic air attacks, has remained relatively unscathed by the war.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

[mapuc]

I have problems with translation. Can you put it in more detail?

Use deepl it is a wonderful translations tool and is more correct in its translation than google translate is.

https://www.deepl.com/translator

Markus

[Armistead]

With the spring planting season coming soon I wonder how the farmers are planning crops. Gonna be a mess longer this goes!

[Catfish]

I have problems with translation. Can you put it in more detail?
Europe knows exactly what it can expect from America, for better or worse.
Putin's own egomanic solely actions reflect back on the whole of Russia.

Does one wrong decision justify another one?
Powell obviously had second thoughts about his role in this war, but too late.
I never see any russian reports or opinions on what Stalin did was wrong, more than 70 years(!) after the war.

NATO did and does not threaten Russia. Ukraine did not threaten Russia. Some made-up ukranian "fascist dictator" threatening Donbas or Russia as a whole is a lie. Putin sent certain umm "influencers" like Wagner mercenaries and other trash and tried to instrumentalize other people in Donbas and Luhansk against the Ukraine.

What i really want to say is that i hope there is a difference between the Russian People and putin.
(upper and lower case letters were placed quite intentionally)

[astvitaliy1982]

[QUOTE=Skybird;2799106]https://www.nzz.ch/international/ukraine-russlands-luftwaffe-erleidet-bisher-schwerste-verluste-ld.1674908
As recently as Tuesday morning, Russia's armed forces had spread the success story that they now controlled the entire province of Kherson in southern Ukraine. But by mid-afternoon, a different reality had emerged as an inferno erupted near the provincial capital of the same name. Several helicopters went up in flames at Kherson airport, which is used for military and civilian purposes. Details of the attack are not available, as the Ukrainian armed forces have not released any details other than aerial photographs. But it is clearly a major setback for the Russian occupiers.

During Wednesday, a clearer extent of the damage emerged thanks to new satellite imagery. The images, released by the private U.S. Earth observation company Planet Labs, show that at least five helicopters were destroyed in the attack, though probably more. In addition, other burned-out or damaged helicopters can be seen in other parts of the sprawling Russian military base. They are likely to have fallen victim to an earlier attack. There had already been reports to that effect a week ago.

Experts therefore speak of a total of at least sixteen helicopters, as well as missile sites and a double-digit number of military vehicles lost by Russia. This is the heaviest loss of Russian air forces so far in this war.

Meanwhile, a video said to have been taken immediately after the attack is also circulating on the Internet. It shows numerous Russian military vehicles on fire or otherwise badly damaged in front of the main airport building.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BgOJbPpWq4


The video was undoubtedly made at Kherson airport, as a comparison with pre-war footage shows. The military vehicles are also clearly recognizable as ...


I read about 16 burnt-out helicopters at Kherson airport... Some of which were burned earlier than the specified date of the capture of the Kherson region by parts of the Russian Federation. The Ukrainian side did not give any comments, but there are American satellite images showing some helicopters... So what? What does helicopters and Putin's lies have to do with it...? Whose is the Kherson region now? And this is clearly not the scale of Colin Powell's lies...

[Catfish]

This is from february 26th, from the former president Petro Poroshenko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SOVTHjHjbw

[mapuc]

I'm watching this Livestream on yt and the comments especially from one who call it self for moko have given some interesting information during the time I have been watching.

I was away from the monitor for a few minutes when I return the Kharkiv camera was black. Hopefully it is the camera who is broken.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek1bqrms6ls

Markus

[Catfish]

[...]
As recently as Tuesday morning, Russia's armed forces had spread the success story that they now controlled the entire province of Kherson in southern Ukraine. [...]
The video was undoubtedly made at Kherson airport, as a comparison with pre-war footage shows. The military vehicles are also clearly recognizable as ... [...]
So what? What does helicopters and Putin's lies have to do with it...? Whose is the Kherson region now? And this is clearly not the scale of Colin Powell's lies...
Now i do not quite understand this.
Of course there are lies on all sides, but with all this "real" or made-up footage posted, the overall picture is that Putin is the aggressor, and he is losing this war.
And it IS a WAR. It is also an INVASION, not a "special operation". Make no mistake, thousands of civilians are dying beause of russian troops ordered to invade Ukraine by Putin. And there is no one to blame other than Putin.

Again, Ukraine did not threaten Russia. NATO did not the threaten Russia.
Now, if it comes to Putin i hope the whole world WILL threaten him after this stunt.

[mapuc]

From Danish news this evening

BIDEN PROMISES MORE ARMS TO UKRAINE
US President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that the United States will provide additional
800 million - to help Ukraine.

Among other things, the US will send drones and
anti-aircraft weapons to war-torn Ukraine as part of a comprehensive aid package.

- That includes 800 anti-aircraft guns to ensure the Ukrainian military
can continue to stop planes and helicopters, Biden says, according to Ritzau.

The US has also previously announced contributions to Ukraine. In total, US military aid amounts to more than a billion dollars

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Edit
Check flightradar24
End edit

Markus

[astvitaliy1982]

[QUOTE=Catfish;2799118]Now i do not quite understand this.



Good. Please answer me a simple question. Who's been killing me for eight years? And for what?

[Catfish]

^ What kind of answer is this?

[Catfish]

"Now most people don't really understand yet what is happening and going to happen but in 4 months to 2 years we will have 5-10 million refugees from Russia moving to Europe sadly. We have utterly destroyed the Russian economy and it is being kept on manual life support right now. There is a limit to this which will show its first cracks in 1 month and more severely in 4-6. After a year or two it will become probably unmanigable. It is already in free fall but in 1-2 years it should collapse to a stand still. I am not sure people understand this.

The last lifeline it has is the oil and gas exports. If we cut that then the whole country will have a literal famine and North Korea style starvation in 1 year."
This is not really funny nor good.

[Skybird]

Russia bombs theater used as shelter in Mariupol, council claims

Video emerged of the Mariupol Drama Theater in the Ukrainian port city after it was flattened by a Russian bomb.
Hundreds of people were said to have been sheltering there at the time. Video from a recent local television station broadcast in Mariupol showed many people had sought shelter in the theater.
Mariupol's city council claimed in a statement, "It is still impossible to estimate the scale of this horrific and inhumane act."
Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter, "Russians could not have not known this was a civilian shelter."

(Deutsche Welle)

Last news says the theatre was sheltering up to 1200 people.

Photography proves that before the attack the plazas before the theatre were marked with big letters reading "children". I assume that was why the theatre was targetted by the Russian - to maximise the psychological terror.
It goes without saying that this is a war crime, one amnognst so amny already, but certainly one of the worst so far. As is the hostage taking in that hospital.

A speaker of the local townhall said it was not artillery or missile fire that destroyed the theatre, but an aircraft overhead that dropped a bomb.


https://img.welt.de/img/bildergalerien/mobile237586303/3292505677-ci102l-w1024/A-satellite-image-shows-Mariupol-Drama-Theatre-before-bombing.jpg


https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/220316132157-01-mariupol-drama-theatre-bombing-exlarge-169.jpg

In other news it is confirmed that Russia once again put heavy artillery fire and missiles fire onto a trek of refugees trying to flee from Mariupol. A two digit number of refugees were killed, several more injured.



This is not military war. This is systematic and intentional mass murdering of civilians, or in other words: genocide.

[mapuc]

< Nevertheless according to Geneva convention this theater is a Civilian target and should not have been destroyed.

And it was used as a shelter, which makes the War crime even worse.

Will any of these Russian military people who commit these crime be prosecuted ?

Should there be some Ukrainian military people who have commit war crime-Then I hope they will be prosecuted as well.

Markus

[Skybird]

Interview with retired Gen. Patraeus.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/15/opinions/russia-ukraine-petraeus-bergen/index.html


Meanwhile Ukrainian takes out the fourth Russian general. It seems they resolutely hunt them down by overhearing the Russian communications.

[Rockstar]

It’s been been said Russia would have the advantage in open ground but couldn’t fight their way out of wet paper sack elsewhere.

Guerrilla warfare the tried and proven effective form of combat since 1776.

[Rockstar]

Worth considering. It’s not over ‘til it’s over.

https://youtu.be/Igq2fqa7RY4

[astvitaliy1982]

A letter from a subscriber from Kiev:

Andrey hello!
Kiev has been shelled by the AFU artillery from the D-30 or the Gvozdika self-propelled gun since March 14. Obolon was shelled from the National Guard Training Ground in Novy Petrovtsy (near Vyshgorod) there, the distance from 14 km to Kiev is just the range of the D-30 guns. Since the Anti-Fascist troops are located in Dymer 40 km from Kiev, it is clear that Russia is not firing guns at Kiev. Your subscriber from Kiev wrote to you about the shelling of a residential building near the Polytechnic Institute Metro station on March 16.
Focus on these attacks - you need to inform people that it was the Kiev Junta that gave the command to shell peaceful neighborhoods of Kiev in order to blame Russia! It's just that Russia is silent - and the ukro-propaganda broadcasts 24 hours a day that it's Russian troops shelling Kiev!

Here are the news coming to the telegram channel.

[Skybird]

The Jews were not gassed by the Nazis. They walked all by themselves into gardening festival camps and decided to commit collective suicide by inhaling toxic agents their wives brought in their perfume bottles.

The world needs to know that it all was a zionist plot to defame proud honourable Germany. There were no concentration camps run by Nazis.

:doh:

You are a Russian propaganda troll, Astvitalji1982. And nobody here believes you.

[Reece]

The Jews were not gassed by the Nazis. They walked all by themselves into gardening festival camps and decided to commit collective suicide by inhaling toxic agents their wives brought in their perfume bottles.
Really?? cripes, I never knew that Sky, thanks for the heads up! :D

[astvitaliy1982]

You are Russian propaganda troll, Astvitalji1982. And nobody here believes you.[/QUOTE]


I'm a Russian Ukrainian guys. If I'm a troll, explain it to me :
La Stampa in today's print edition posted an article about the "shelling of Kiev", accompanying it with a photo from Donetsk after the Tochka-U missile strike, the Italian readers of the newspaper shared on Twitter. - I can post a photo of this magazine, if necessary.

[Skybird]

Take your precious missile, paint it golden, put it on an altar and then dance naked around it.

You make mockery of the intentionally slaughtering of hundreds if not thousans of civilians by Russia. You ridicule the Ukrainian victims by reversing the roles of attackers and victims completely. You turn the intentional mass shelling of civilian buildings and the flattening of whole cities into a joke. You copy Lavrovs notorious lies. That is sick. That is inhumane. That is political fanatism. That is pro Russian propaganda.


That theatre in Mariupol had over 1000 people inside when the Russian air force bombed it. A dozen people got killed while standing in line waiting for bread. Dozens of appartment blocks in civilian areas get aimed at and shelled. Columns of fleeing refugees get artillery and missiles put down on them. Where the Russian army cannot engagd in urban fighting, it then desintegrates residential areas and deliberately takes out civilians, en masse.



And here you are now, posting endless relativizations and blaming the victim side that did not start this war, but got assaulted, and got attacked before, and saw three provinces taken away from it before by force and massive Russian assistance and directing. That is cynical. Thats typically Putin-like.
You make mockery of Russia-caused war crimes, genocide and barbarism.



You are sad for missle debris raining down on your head.? Well, dont start an unprovoked war of aggression then, dont invade an unprovokative neighbour country. On that one missile event, your word stands against theirs.

[astvitaliy1982]

[QUOTE=Skybird;2799155]Take your precious missile, paint it golden, put it on an altar and then dance naked around it.

You make mockery of the intentionally slaughtering of hundreds if not thousans of civilians by ...


Why didn't you write like that when the civilians of Donbass were being shelled for eight years? Or don't people live there? Here is more information to think about: A provocation in Kramatorsk is possible!
In Kramatorsk, local residents are outraged by the placement of the AFU headquarters in the buildings of educational institutions. In particular, the soldiers and part of the defense forces were located in the 6th school (Bolshaya Sadovaya, 71) and in the 91st kindergarten (School, 16). The soldiers react extremely aggressively to the comments of the townspeople.

Earlier, it became known from the documents obtained in the liberated Volnovakha that the practice of using educational, cultural and health facilities as shelters was introduced at the level of the AFU command. Videos from busy schools and kindergartens regularly appear.
This choice is based on the fact that such facilities have high-quality bomb shelters in which the military can hide.
Civilians are left to hide in the buildings themselves, which makes it possible for the Armed Forces of Ukraine to repeat a criminal provocation following the example of Mariupol. - There is also a photo.

[astvitaliy1982]

With regard to the explosion of the recreation center in Mariupol.

https://eadaily-com.turbopages.org/eadaily.com/s/ru/news/2022/03/16/masshtabnaya-provokaciya-pervym-o-vzryve-dramteatra-napisal-drug-ahmetova-taruta

[Skybird]

[QUOTE=Skybird;2799155]Take your precious missile, paint it golden, put it on an altar and then dance naked around it.

You make mockery of the intentionally slaughtering of hundreds if not thousans of civilians by ...

Why didn't you write like that when the civilians of Donbass were being shelled for eight years? Or don't people live there? Here is more information to think about: A provocation in Kramatorsk is possible!
In Kramatorsk, local residents are outraged by the placement of the AFU headquarters in the buildings of educational institutions. In particular, the soldiers and part of the defense forces were located in the 6th school (Bolshaya Sadovaya, 71) and in the 91st kindergarten (School, 16). The soldiers react extremely aggressively to the comments of the townspeople.

Earlier, it became known from the documents obtained in the liberated Volnovakha that the practice of using educational, cultural and health facilities as shelters was introduced at the level of the AFU command. Videos from busy schools and kindergartens regularly appear.
This choice is based on the fact that such facilities have high-quality bomb shelters in which the military can hide.
Civilians are left to hide in the buildings themselves, which makes it possible for the Armed Forces of Ukraine to repeat a criminal provocation following the example of Mariupol. - There is also a photo.
Donbass and Luhansk are regions the world still recognizes as part of sovereign Ukraine, same for Crimea. They fell away under massive Russian directing and help, and since then themsleves have been the base of constant and notorious agressive shelling into the Ukraine. The only world power that recognizes Donbas and Luhansk as (its vasall) states is the country that orchstrated the plot: Russia. Thats the Russia that now wants to turn all of Ukraine into a dependign vasall state like it had many of these when there was the Sovjet Union. A satellite.

Thats what it really is about, and the fascist in the Kremlin has said it clearly and loud. Its about de facto reinstating borders and conditions as during the Sowjet Union after WW2. Where the USSR repeatedly militarily intervened in Eastern European states to crack down on freedeom. seeking populaitons and keep Kremlin-loyal military regimes in power. Just that the wasr today is much worse in scale and ammount of destruction and deaths. Clearly, the Kremlin'S plan ambition aims clearly far beyond the Ukraine.

I wll not go into the events of 2013, 2014, Maidan and so forth, but you can safely assume that there is not just the pro-Russian narration to be told, but also a version that goes very differently.

Do not expect understanding from me or most of us people here. You reap what you have sown. And yet, the Ukraine gets the much meaner and harder share of the beating.

[astvitaliy1982]

Thank you for the honest answer. Time will judge us....

[Catfish]

Time may judge "us" or not, it is obvious how it already judges Putin.

Just because the latter only understands a dirct punch in the face,
the west should go all in, now. Including Germany and all the EU states.

What is anybody waiting for? Ukraine being bombed into oblivion?
Let the Ukrainians defend themselves alone just because they are not in the NATO? Wait until Russia is ready for the Baltic and Finnland? Putin has said it all openly in 2007, are 14 years not enough to understand?

[Catfish]

Civilians deliberately targeted by Russia, cluster ammunition being used.
War Crimes: "Could Putin be prosecuted over Ukraine?"
Only outside of Russia :har:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-60690688

[Armistead]

"But any people, the Russian people, especially, are able to distinguish true patriots from bastards and traitors and will spit them out," he said of those who did not back the Kremlin.

"I am certain that this necessary and natural self-cleansing of society will only strengthen our country, our solidarity, togetherness, and our readiness to answer any calls to action," Putin said.


Putin is sounding more like Hitler everyday

[Jimbuna]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fngPVC4V4Gk

[Jimbuna]

Russia has attacked a theatre sheltering civilians in the besieged city of Mariupol, officials say. Fresh BBC-verified pictures show the building in ruins.

Between 1,000 and 1,200 people may have been inside, the city's deputy mayor tells the BBC. The number of casualties is currently unknown.

A local MP tells the BBC that the basement where people were sheltering withstood the attack, with rescuers working to reach the site.

At least one person has died after the debris of a downed missile hit a residential apartment in the capital Kyiv.

Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova says she hopes her televised protest, holding a sign saying "no war", will lead people to question local media reports.

The UK will deploy the Sky Sabre missile system in Poland, along with 100 troops, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace says.

President Joe Biden calls Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” and UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says there is "very strong evidence" he is.

The Kremlin labels Biden's comments "unacceptable and unforgivable rhetoric"

[Skybird]

Russia - the "tenth of a state"


https://www.focus.de/politik/ausland/ukraine-krise/analyse-von-thomas-jaeger-weil-putin-sich-mit-ja-sagern-umgibt-zerschellen-nun-seine-illusionen-an-der-wirklichkeit_id_69413755.html



All the assumptions that led Putin to launch the war of aggression were wrong. All the war aims that Russia's ruler set for himself are unattainable. While Putin commits one strategic mistake after another, for Russia an increasingly powerful adversary emerges in the east.

President Putin has proven to be a poor strategist. He has turned an overall favorable situation for Russia into a disaster for the country through war. Before the war, Russia sold large quantities of raw materials and used them to finance the state, military, and economy. Before the war, President Putin expanded Russia's influence in the Middle East and North Africa. Before the war, EU countries were at odds among themselves and with the United States.

Before the war, China also thought Russia had effective armed forces. Before the war, Russia had an influence on parts of the population in Ukraine. Already during the war, all this is over - and after the war, the consequences for Russia's state and society will be international isolation, internal repression, and a significant decline in economic output. President Putin has turned an overall advantageous situation into a comprehensive evil. Why?

Putin's favoritism: the messenger is beaten for the bad news

The decision to go to war is one that requires special attention and consideration, even for authoritarian rulers. This is because history knows of numerous wars that left the aggressor as the loser. The order to attack must therefore be well considered, checked for all counter-arguments and balanced against the imponderables of dynamic situation development. This is a particular challenge for authoritarian rulers because they are insulated from contradiction even more than other people in government offices. The longer they are in office, the more sustainable the illusion of control over the course of events becomes. This is because they are increasingly surrounded by yes-men who do not dare to deliver unpleasant news to the ruler.

For the bad news, the messenger is beaten. This is already the case in liberal institutions; how much more so in a repressive system that turns fear of change into fear of one another. The public stagings of Russia's National Security Council, in which President Putin made the top state security agencies appear like lackeys, captured this moment of the ruler's information isolation in a comically tragic way.

Russian illusions shatter in the face of reality

Then it happens, as Carl von Clausewitz described 200 years ago, that "one news supports the other, confirms it, enlarges it, paints the picture with ever new colors, until necessity has pushed away from us in flying haste the decision, which - soon is recognized as folly, just as all news is recognized as lies, exaggerations, errors."

In an echo chamber, which does not tolerate the contradiction, in which the synchronization of the judgments ("Yes, we should recognize the people's republics") is virtually demanded, the presumed certainties strengthen to the misjudgment. Then the circle of decision-makers still basks in the optimistic assumptions, while in truth they are already shattered by reality:

"The war will be short, well-founded and victorious."
"The citizens of Ukraine will greet us as liberators."
"The West, in its disunity, will not be able to quickly agree to sanctions."
"The Europeans prefer economic benefits to a clear stance after all."
"Germany's Putin savants will fix it."
"We will not be ostracized internationally because of the quick victory."
"After that, Washington and Beijing will also know the clout behind Russia's claim."

One assumption after another, which must have taken root in the Kremlin's leadership circle, turns out to be an illusion.

The pinnacle of these illusions is the overconfidence of the ruler, whose actions have no limits at home and who does not accept them internationally. This overconfidence suggests that he is in control of situations. Any time, any place. It tempts to action.

Putin will not achieve any of his war aims

We do not know publicly with whom the Russian president consulted before making the decision to go to war. We do not know publicly whether he actually carried out all of the optimistic assumptions listed above before the order to attack was given. Or only some of them. Given the situation that has now arisen, however, it is plausible to assume that he did. For if the Russian president had known that the situation that had now arisen was to be expected, he would have had difficulty in taking the decision to go to war in order to achieve the objectives he had claimed.

These goals were proclaimed by the Russian government:

Ukraine and Belarus were to be brought into a particularly close relationship with Russia.
A belt of buffer states was to be created between the Baltic States and Bulgaria, without foreign armed forces in these states.
The security of the European NATO states was to be decoupled from the U.S., and deterrence in Europe was to be reduced.

None of this is being achieved. Ukraine will not become a Russia-friendly neighboring state for a very, very long time. The states on NATO's eastern border will not renounce deterrence by foreign troops, but will strengthen it. The U.S. has once again become the firm leading power of NATO. Because instead of the optimistic assumptions, the situation is developing like this: The advance in the war remains at a standstill, concealed only by reckless bombing. Russian casualties are higher than expected. The sanctions are tangibly constricting Russia's state and economy after only a few days: the ruble in free fall; access to state assets restricted; the stock exchange closed; major companies facing insolvency. No other authoritative state supports Russia's actions. Nor does China, which is what President Putin may have hoped for.

Xi's China weighs ten times more heavily than Putin's Russia.

This is because Russia has acted in parallel against important strategic interests of China. China is interested in ensuring that the U.S. and Europe do not develop a common China policy, but that Beijing can exploit their respective special interests in terms of trade policy. The coordination of the U.S., European and Asian states in the sanctions policy against Russia have produced the opposite here: the unity of the West, strong as it has not been for a long time. At the same time, China is interested in economic recovery after the pandemic, which is now at risk. This is because high oil and gas prices in particular are hurting China, the largest importer. This has been caused by Putin's decision to go to war.

Russia's actions are aimed at stitching Europe together as a third world power alongside the U.S. and China, which requires Russian leadership. President Putin stated this goal as early as 2001 in his speech to the German Bundestag. This was overheard in the excitement about Russia's democratic perspective. Twenty years later, he still pursued this goal with the war of aggression on Ukraine. But he failed to achieve it.

In terms of international law, the war of aggression is a crime; in terms of Putin's own purposes, it is a mistake. After that, Russia's only option is to seek a new relationship with China as a tenth of a state with a huge land mass. One tenth of China's population, one tenth of China's economic power (with a declining tendency), that is Russia's weight, from which no relationship at eye level will grow. Only a democratic Russia will be able to take a different place in the international order in the foreseeable future.
----------------
Prof. Dr. Thomas Jäger has held the Chair of International Politics and Foreign Policy at the University of Cologne since 1999. His research focuses on international relations as well as American and German foreign policy.


Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (http://www.DeepL.com/Translator) (free version)

[Onkel Neal]

You make mockery of the intentionally slaughtering of hundreds if not thousans of civilians by ...


Why didn't you write like that when the civilians of Donbass were being shelled for eight years? Or don't people live there? Here is more information to think about: A provocation in Kramatorsk is possible!
In Kramatorsk, local residents are outraged by the placement of the AFU headquarters in the buildings of educational institutions. In particular, the soldiers and part of the defense forces were located in the 6th school (Bolshaya Sadovaya, 71) and in the 91st kindergarten (School, 16). The soldiers react extremely aggressively to the comments of the townspeople.

Earlier, it became known from the documents obtained in the liberated Volnovakha that the practice of using educational, cultural and health facilities as shelters was introduced at the level of the AFU command. Videos from busy schools and kindergartens regularly appear.
This choice is based on the fact that such facilities have high-quality bomb shelters in which the military can hide.
Civilians are left to hide in the buildings themselves, which makes it possible for the Armed Forces of Ukraine to repeat a criminal provocation following the example of Mariupol. - There is also a photo.



Fair enough. I was not getting a lot on news and updates on the activity in the eastern Ukraine area, Donbass, etc until recently. It was generally known that this was an area where the Russians, Ukrainians, and various factions were actively hostile to each other. Other than that, not much was covered in the news as far as I knew. Is that a fault of news organizations? Possibly. Or it could be a consequence of so many regions in the world where people are squabbling over old grudges. I'm sure there are 100 similar stories in Africa and South America.

How much of my news is factual and how much is incorrect or "propaganda"? I don't know for certain, I do not trust many news organizations anyway, there is definitely a credibility problem with the media. But in general, I think I can get a true sense of what's going on.

Sometimes one can decide on what is true and what is propaganda simply by the scope of the claims. For example, Putin's insistence that the Ukraine govt is run by neo-nazis seems pretty absurd, even though there are issues with militia groups that use nazi imagery and culture (https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/ukraine-has-nazi-problem-vladimir-putin-s-denazification-claim-war-ncna1290946).

Far-right groups have also gained political currency in the past decade, none more chilling than Svoboda (formerly the Social National Party of Ukraine), whose leader claimed the country was controlled by a “Muscovite-Jewish mafia” and whose deputy used an antisemitic slur to describe Ukrainian-born Jewish actor Mila Kunis. Svoboda has sent several members to Ukraine’s Parliament, including one who called the Holocaust a “bright period” in human history, according to Foreign Policy.

Just as disturbing, neo-Nazis are part of some of Ukraine’s growing ranks of volunteer battalions. They are battle-hardened after waging some of the toughest street fighting against Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine following Putin’s Crimean invasion in 2014. One is the Azov Battalion, founded by an avowed white supremacist who claimed Ukraine’s national purpose was to rid the country of Jews and other inferior races. In 2018, the U.S. Congress stipulated that its aid to Ukraine couldn’t be used “to provide arms, training or other assistance to the Azov Battalion.” Even so, Azov is now an official member of the Ukraine National Guard.

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/ukraine-has-nazi-problem-vladimir-putin-s-denazification-claim-war-ncna1290946


Assuming that article is accurate, there are some concerns worth looking into. But, does that warrant a massive military invasion of the whole country? Does that justify the murder of thousands of non-combatants? Blowing up children indiscriminately with no effort to minimize collateral damage? Destroying peoples homes, cars, pets, cherished family heirlooms, books, hobbies, and everything that they live for? No, I think that's where it is pretty obvious the answer if NO.

The issues in Donbass should have been solved in Donbass. If Ukraine had the power to bomb the hell out of Moscow, then Putin would probably not bombed Kyiv.

Putin has this idea that the West is out to get him. Yeah, sure, me and my friends are always talking about the day when the US and NATO can launch a surprise attack on Russia and overthrow the govt, enslave the people, and get some free caviar. :O: The obvious truth is countries want in NATO to avoid the fate now in Ukraine. Russia is its own worst enemy.

What is propaganda and what is factual? What to believe? Well, one thing that is factual is that Russia has been under the control of a corrupt dictator, Putin, for 22 years. Fact. He has enriched himself and a select group of supporters illegally, at the expense of the Russian people. Fact. Putin has banned free media. Fact. Putin does not allow free speech, does not allow people to protest without going to prison, and routinely poisons and kills his opponents and does not allow them to get political traction to oppose him. All facts. So, when I am weighing the validity of Russia's claims about fighting in Donbass or motives for political actions, these facts definitely affect my thinking.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FK_iXWBXIAAemVZ?format=jpg&name=small

[Jimbuna]

Russia - the "tenth of a state"



Prof. Dr. Thomas Jäger has held the Chair of International Politics and Foreign Policy at the University of Cologne since 1999. His research focuses on international relations as well as American and German foreign policy.




Most interesting and I suspect, accurate.

[Skybird]

Time for a little time warp back.

https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=2232729&postcount=45


Who says it's not just about who has the longest Willy? The Russians seem to have a fixation there.

[Jimbuna]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1uOt7lD9wQ

[Jimbuna]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikK85vkZ2FM

[Otto Harkaman]

Trying to keep a jaded view of things. I think a lot of the destroyed vehicles we see with very bright painted Z or V are destroyed Ukrainian vehicles. The Z or V symbol painted on the Russian vehicles seem very washed out. :hmmm:

[Jimbuna]

This is definitely one of the main seeds of doubt when both sides have almost identical equipment.

[Armistead]

Good for her! With the brave woman that protested during the state news it appears the women have more balls than Russian men.https://www.cnn.com/style/article/olga-smirnova-quits-bolshoi-ballet-ukraine/index.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=fbCNN&utm_term=link&utm_content=2022-03-17T08%3A30%3A07&fbclid=IwAR1QkB1-vt_1VfC7gGVjXpKVGQ2YYVRBx7J7wcnw7v3uk2plxndzLBKznt g

[Skybird]

Trying to keep a jaded view of things. I think a lot of the destroyed vehicles we see with very bright painted Z or V are destroyed Ukrainian vehicles. The Z or V symbol painted on the Russian vehicles seem very washed out. :hmmm:
The Z and V on Russian vehicles stands for their military districts of origin, as far as the Easter, Asian district. Some may have improvised markings that were attached while beign transferred, others might have had these signs by default, and thus clearer paint.

[mapuc]

Have a few questions (I don't wanna start a new thread with polls)

Do you believe WWIII

1. Started when Russia invaded Ukraine
Or
2. Hasn't started yet-but it will come it's 100 %.
Or
3. WWIII what is that ?? Some national dish ?

Markus

[Skybird]

Good for her! With the brave woman that protested during the state news it appears the women have more balls than Russian men.https://www.cnn.com/style/article/olga-smirnova-quits-bolshoi-ballet-ukraine/index.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=fbCNN&utm_term=link&utm_content=2022-03-17T08%3A30%3A07&fbclid=IwAR1QkB1-vt_1VfC7gGVjXpKVGQ2YYVRBx7J7wcnw7v3uk2plxndzLBKznt g
Several prominent classical dancers and the TV studio and moderator team of state TV news have quit their jobs as well in protest, I red yesterday. Thje many wounded, the PIOWs, the dea din body bags, they all msooner or later must come home to Russia, so do many Russian tourists and travllers who were caught by events overseas. The state cannot prevent the information spreading around. The sdtate can prosecute who speak it out, but behidn closed doors, in hoimes and with lowered voices, it will make the rounds.



But considering that most of Russian history has run under these secretive conditions since centuries and where it ha sled them, I wonder what we should hope this will bring today.

[Skybird]

https://www.focus.de/politik/russlands-angriffskrieg-gegen-ukraine-westen-muss-putin-zermuerben-solange-ostgrenze-offen-ist-waffen-in-die-ukraine_id_69516015.html



Political scientist and strategy expert Maximilian Terhalle does not expect a peace solution in Ukraine with compromises from both sides. In an interview with FOCUS Online, he declared, "Putin will not stop until he is stopped!" The means: massive arms deliveries from the West and an embargo on Russian gas. Otherwise, Putin might even attack NATO territory.


Professor Maximilian Terhalle is a visiting professor at the LSE IDEAS think tank at the London School of Economics and a lieutenant colonel in the reserves. His most recent publication is "The Responsibility to Defend: Re-thinking Germany's Strategic Culture" (IISS 2021, with B. Giegerich).
------------
The current negotiations between Moscow and Kiev on an early end to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine will not lead to success. Political scientist and strategy expert Professor Maximilian Terhalle (47) is convinced of this. Instead, the West would have to tighten its grip on Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and "bring him to his knees" through economic sanctions and massive arms deliveries to Ukraine. Otherwise, he said, there is a danger that Putin's troops will also attack NATO countries.

In an interview with FOCUS Online, Terhalle said, "There will be no peace solution - to be enforced by anyone - that is based on compromises in the sense of: You withdraw a bit there and we withdraw a bit there and in the middle we put the UN." He is also skeptical about Ukraine's neutrality, which is currently under discussion. "From Ukraine's point of view, I wouldn't trust Putin one millimeter over," Terhalle said. "I assume this is just a feint on his part to get a breather, realign his military and then strike again."

The professor went on to tell FOCUS Online that Putin is "highly frustrated and angry" over the slow progress of the war he instigated. At the same time, he said, an "irrepressible hatred of Ukraine and the West" was driving him to ever greater acts of violence. Russia's president, he said, sees that his army is not penetrating as planned and is instead suffering sensitive losses. "Yet he wants to force victory." The logical conclusion for Terhalle: "Putin will not stop until he is stopped!"

To bring "Putin's war machine" to a halt, Terhalle sees only two means that the West should use much more consistently than it has so far. "One is for NATO countries to supply massive amounts of weapons technology and military hardware to Ukraine." The Russians would not be able to stop that, he said. "They are currently unable to stop the flow of fighters and military equipment across the Polish-Ukrainian border," Terhalle said. "That is Putin's sore point."

Terhalle to FOCUS Online: "As long as the eastern border is open, the West should deliver all the weapons it can to Ukraine!" For one thing, this would prop up Ukraine. For another, Russia would be "dramatically weakened." Putin must "lose his way" in Ukraine, Terhalle said. "We have to take away his power."

For this goal to be achieved, economic sanctions against Moscow should be drastically tightened. For example, "all Russian banks would have to be taken out of the Swift payment system," the geostrategist told FOCUS Online. In addition, an embargo of Russian oil and gas would have to be "the clear and near ultimate goal" of the West. Terhalle: "This could finally stop the Russian military machine, which is fed by us every day with around 800 million euros for gas and oil imports."

So far, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) have strictly rejected a rapid import stop of Russian oil and gas because they see Germany's energy supply in danger. Political scientist Terhalle counters, "If not even a country as rich as Germany can afford a small cut in its own prosperity - who can?" In this context, he recalled that Putin responds "only to coercion."

If the West does not understand this principle and acts accordingly, he said, this could have devastating consequences - including for Germany. "I don't think it's impossible that Putin will expand his war and also attack NATO countries. The West should absolutely take that into account and be prepared for it," Maximilian Terhalle said. It is true that the Kremlin ruler would first have to bring his troops to the eastern border of Poland or the southern border of the Baltic states. But that is only a question of time and the power reserves of Putin's army.

In an emergency, Putin would then encounter a "militarily extremely hardened eastern flank of NATO, which is conventionally highly armed," Terhalle said. "And then it's war!" The expert, who himself is a reserve lieutenant colonel, says, "Then Bundeswehr soldiers will be in the front line, opposing the Russians - and doing so by fighting." Already, he said, NATO has the "best combat troops the alliance can muster" stationed in Poland and the Baltics. "They have to repel a Russian attack when in doubt," he said.

Terhalle believes Putin has "vastly overestimated the fighting morale, the will to fight, and the actual fighting strength" of his army. "Putin is not getting through despite the brute force in many places in Ukraine, and the casualties and attrition are high."

Still, the expert strongly warns against underestimating Putin and his military. "We've been thinking for three weeks now: He's making so many mistakes, it's not going to work. But Putin will learn, he will adapt his strategy, he will use other weapons systems. His will is unbroken. He wants to achieve his goal and emerge from the war as a winner." In the process, he said, it is conceivable that Putin will also use chemical and biological weapons in Ukrainian cities.
Volodymyr Selenskyj, president of Ukraine, during a video conference with the U.S. Congress.
Ukrinform/dpa Volodymyr Selenskyj, president of Ukraine, during a video conference with the U.S. Congress.

The political scientist also does not believe that the recent losses among Russian combat units must automatically lead to a weakening. "Putin still has the Russian conventional army up his sleeve that he could send into combat." However, it is also clear that the course of the war, which is unsatisfactory from Russia's point of view, "falls back on Putin personally." Terhalle to FOCUS Online: "Putin is the war president. And if the war president doesn't live up to his own claim, it's very questionable in my view whether he'll still be Russia's head of state in six or twelve months."

No matter how the war develops, Putin will no longer play a leading role on the world political stage, Terhalle believes. "Putin, in my view, can no longer sit at a negotiating table in talks about the future of European security." The powerful Kremlin leader has proven he is unwilling to resolve certain issues peacefully, he said. "Instead, he has chosen the means of brute, brutal force to impose his will on another sovereign state. In doing so, he has permanently isolated himself in the world community."

Russia, on the other hand, will continue to be an international negotiating partner - but only "if it completely withdraws its war aims and completely revises its attitude toward Ukraine," Terhalle said.

The war is a frightening reminder of how dramatically the world situation has changed, he said. "We no longer live in a world where international treaties, international principles, institutions and cooperation can be considered the gold standard of world politics," Professor Terhalle said. "Putin's war shows that there are powers that want to and can destroy exactly this beautiful world. We have to prepare for that. The sooner we do that, the better."

Terhalle doubts whether the necessary rethinking has already begun in Germany. For example, he said, the German government has acted very hesitantly since the start of the war and has watched as other countries have jumped to Ukraine's side with military aid, first and foremost the United States and Great Britain. "Whether the sole delivery of Stinger and Strela defensive weapons is sufficient for the mentality required at the turn of the times is something everyone must decide for themselves," Terhalle said. "What is clear, however, is that Berlin was neither requested as a guarantor power of possible Ukrainian neutrality in the first place, nor did it willingly bring itself into play as one of the guarantors."


Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

[Catfish]

So Putin said the Ukraine and the US is executing experiments with african swine fever, Cholera and the Corona-virus in the Ukraine, trying to create biological weapons against Russia. Of course. He only forgot Godzilla.

Later he claims "the west" is conducting an economic war against Russia. But no not the west, it is the whole world sans North Korea, and Vladi this is not war but an economic special operation.

That the war in Ukraine and the killing of civilians goes "exactly according to schedule" will be an interesting statement in Den Haag.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEAEgDdUjkI

Seems he has a meltdown. Unpatriotic russians are scum and traitors, cleansing the land, every critic is an enemy. God help the russian people.

[Skybird]

Next he will threaten to activate Kampfgruppe Steiner.

[mapuc]

Ukraine are getting some really nasty weapon system from USA

As part of a massive military aid package announced Wednesday, the Biden administration is providing Ukraine with U.S.-made killer drones — cutting-edge guided missiles that could accurately target Russian troops from miles away — two congressional officials briefed on the matter told NBC News.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/ukraine-asks-biden-admin-armed-drones-jamming-gear-surface-air-missile-rcna20197

Markus

[Rockstar]

Ukraine are getting some really nasty weapon system from USA



https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/ukraine-asks-biden-admin-armed-drones-jamming-gear-surface-air-missile-rcna20197

Markus

And I presume advisors and other personnel to instruct how to use them effectively.

[fithah4]

I know all journalists & reporters want the latest whopper of a breaking story, but continuing needling and prying for info just remind me of..........
LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS!!!

Andrew J. May was responsible for a major release of highly confidential military information during World War II known as the May Incident. U.S. submarines had been conducting a successful undersea war against Japanese shipping during World War II, frequently escaping their anti-submarine depth charge attacks.

[Commander Wallace]

Time may judge "us" or not, it is obvious how it already judges Putin.

Just because the latter only understands a direct punch in the face,
the west should go all in, now. Including Germany and all the EU states.

What is anybody waiting for? Ukraine being bombed into oblivion?
Let the Ukrainians defend themselves alone just because they are not in the NATO? Wait until Russia is ready for the Baltic and Finnland? Putin has said it all openly in 2007, are 14 years not enough to understand?


This is about as accurate as it gets. As a former KGB agent, Putin understands nothing but force. We watch and see innocents being killed, waiting in line for bread. :Kaleun_Mad:

Civilians being targeted in their flats, in their respective beds. Does anyone really believe this despot will stop at the Ukraine ?

Putin's words and intentions are exactly the same. When will enough be enough ? It seems to me that the collective will in Europe is there. As for us, the U.S, how much money have we spent in years past to maintain and modernize our military forces to maintain a state of readiness.

[Otto Harkaman]

https://youtu.be/e2_EFJLWA6o

[Reece]

You like this link Otto? :D
https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=2798747&postcount=2216

[Otto Harkaman]

How dissent was crushed in Belarus

'Walking reminders of atrocities'
Survivors of state brutality in Belarus share their stories.

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/longform/2022/3/17/how-dissent-was-crushed-in-belarus

https://s.abcnews.com/images/International/belarus-protest_hpEmbed_20200816-181338_3x2_992.jpg

[Jimbuna]

But considering that most of Russian history has run under these secretive conditions since centuries and where it ha sled them, I wonder what we should hope this will bring today.

I suspect very little.

[Jimbuna]

What the US is sending Ukraine
$800 million in new military assistance, including...

800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems that can shoot down planes

2,000Javelins, shoulder-held anti-tank weapons that shoot heat-seeking rockets

6,000AT-4 anti-armor systems, a Swedish-produced, single-use, unguided anti-tank weapon

Source: BBC

[Jimbuna]

Putin has laid out his terms for a halt to hostilities in a phone call to Turkey's President, none of which are surprising and most are probably acceptable. The demand for neutrality is probably acceptable but to disarm? (Ironic as it is the Russians who have been the aggressor.) No mention of Russia paying reparations for the lives lost and the damage done.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60785754

[Jimbuna]

An aircraft maintenance plant close to Lviv has been hit with missiles, the city's mayor says.

It is the closest the war has come to the historic city in western Ukraine, which has been a safe haven for people fleeing fighting.

The mayor says no casualties have been reported so far and rescue workers are at the site.

Two million people have fled Ukraine to Poland since the war began, the Polish Border Guard agency says.

Ukrainian counterattacks and logistical woes are stalling Russia's offensive in Ukraine, according to a UK military assessment.

US President Joe Biden will urge China not to provide Russia with military equipment in a call with President Xi Jinping later.

Survivors are reported to be emerging from the ruins of a theatre in Mariupol that Ukrainian authorities say was bombed by Russia.

[Skybird]

What the US is sending Ukraine
$800 million in new military assistance, including...

800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems that can shoot down planes

2,000Javelins, shoulder-held anti-tank weapons that shoot heat-seeking rockets

6,000AT-4 anti-armor systems, a Swedish-produced, single-use, unguided anti-tank weapon

Source: BBC
Lets have a party! Right what they need, ATMs and ATGMs, and MANPADs If even every third warhead kills a target, this would translate into losses that break any offensive's backbone. They need to get these weapons to the fighting troops without the Russians taking the transports out, however. Should be diable. Ukraine is a bit bigger than Germany, and roughly comparable to the size of France. The border it shares with Poland is long.

Does anyone know whether there is any MANPAD existing that has a higher reach than Stingers?

[Skybird]

https://youtu.be/e2_EFJLWA6o
Good film, many details mentioned I never had heard of before.

[Reece]

Putin has laid out his terms for a halt to hostilities in a phone call to Turkey's President, none of which are surprising and most are probably acceptable. The demand for neutrality is probably acceptable but to disarm? (Ironic as it is the Russians who have been the aggressor.) No mention of Russia paying reparations for the lives lost and the damage done.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60785754

That'd be like suicide, throw down all your weapons and say welcome!! :k_confused:

[Commander Wallace]

Putin has laid out his terms for a halt to hostilities in a phone call to Turkey's President, none of which are surprising and most are probably acceptable. The demand for neutrality is probably acceptable but to disarm? (Ironic as it is the Russians who have been the aggressor.) No mention of Russia paying reparations for the lives lost and the damage done.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60785754


I seriously doubt Russia would have the money or the inclinations to rebuild what they have destroyed in the Ukraine. Considering how self serving Putin is, talking about cessation of hostilities would only be because it's in his own best interests.

[Skybird]

If Putin agrees to a seize fire, then there is the ver yhuge risk he only does to win time to move reinforcements in to compensate for the heavy losses.

Several loaded amphibous transport ships seem to be in transit for Russia's far East to the West, as somebody posted. What if they enter the Mediterranean - and head for the Bosporus? What if Putin challenges Turkey - that has closed the straits for warhsips of all nations - thinkling he can bully Turkey and NATO out of the way and enter the Black Sea, arguing maybe that transports are no warships?? Is Turkey and NATO really willing and prepared to stop the ships by force?

Its a speculative scenario, yes. But who dares to rule it out completely when considering the past 3 weeks?


------------

U.S. intelligence agencies apparently assume that China has also been providing military support to Russia since the start of the Ukraine war. According to a classified memo, the coordinator of the US intelligence services, Avril Haines, expressed this view in a NATO briefing. The paper has been obtained by "Business Insider."

According to the memo, Haines had briefed senior NATO officials on March 11 about U.S. intelligence findings on the situation in Ukraine. According to the memo, Haines accuses China of not being neutral in the conflict from the beginning "and still cooperating with Russia." Specifically, he said, China promised Russia military assistance in the war as soon as the invasion began. So far, China has tried to keep the assistance secret. Exactly what military support is involved is not clear from the memo. In fact, the Chinese government has so far officially denied supporting Russia.

FOCUS

[Skybird]

On Friday afternoon, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a speech in Moscow on Russian state television. However, the station suddenly interrupted the broadcast. Instead of continuing to broadcast his speech, the station then simply played old footage.

Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin has praised the "special military operation" in Ukraine as a "heroic" effort by the Russian army. All plans were being implemented, Putin told tens of thousands of cheering Russians at Moscow's Lushniki Stadium on Friday, referring to the war in the neighboring country. Shortly afterward, the broadcast on state television was cut short without giving a reason. The television showed recorded images. It was initially unclear what had happened. Instead, recorded material was shown.


FOCUS

[Armistead]

Does anyone know whether there is any MANPAD existing that has a higher reach than Stingers?

I think the UK is sending Starstreak systems

[mapuc]

^^ Any reason why this sudden interruption ?

^ They are sending these Starstreak system to Ukraine

Markus

[Skybird]

Ah, I had not counted Starstreak as MANPAD so far, since I so far I only saw images of the missiles being instaled on ground mounted poles, tripods, and additonally wired to some kind of control unit that is a separate large suitcase-sized box. But I just have learned it seems a shoulderpad version also is available!?

[Subnuts]

Putin Pleased As Plot To Ruin Russian Economy, Destroy International Standing Goes Exactly To Plan (https://www.theonion.com/putin-pleased-as-plot-to-ruin-russian-economy-destroy-1848667941)

[astvitaliy1982]

I hope Skybird or Rockstar will find time to read my post.
I don't want to fight with anyone here. I'm sure we have nothing to share with you.
On the contrary, I want to share information that is relevant in my country.
I would like to read your opinion.

I did not express my thoughts, but took information from Ukrainian sources
in order to be unbiased and there was no situation of "my word against yours".
I backed up all these words with Internet links.


Dynamics of the state debt of Ukraine.
(https://tyler78.livejournal.com/tag/госдолг)

It is necessary to distinguish between gross external debt and public external debt.
Gross external debt includes both state external debt (government and National Bank)
and non-state (banks, national and joint-stock companies, etc.)
Gross external debt is calculated in US dollars.

But why do we need a non-state debt? This is a problem of private owners, not citizens and
the government. Therefore, I focus on the state and state-guaranteed
debt of Ukraine. Here are the data from the website of the
Ministry of Finance - the national debt of Ukraine

https://index.minfin.com.ua/finance/debtgov/

Pay attention to the sign "State and state-guaranteed debt
Ukraine from 2010 to 2016 (in millions of US dollars)" (it is almost at the bottom of the page).
I compared the data for 01.01.2014 (i.e. the latest under Yanukovych) and the most recent
for 01.07.2016

https://i.postimg.cc/rs892NQ4/2010-2016.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

And this is the data for today (the Ministry of Finance has slightly corrected them. The data for 2014 are in
the column of 2013, then Yanukovych was standing at the door)

https://i.postimg.cc/5y3Vr3R3/2-2.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

What do we see? Formally, the total debt decreased from 73.1 billion.USD up to 67.1 billion .USD
(highlighted in red). But do not rush to rejoice. Look at the dynamics of external
debt (highlighted in blue): it was $37.5 billion, it became $44.2 billion. That is,
the external debt has increased by almost 7 billion

And what about the internal debt, you ask, has it decreased?
The internal debt, as a rule, is denominated in hryvnia, Therefore
it is logical to compare the dynamics of this debt in the national currency. What we see:

https://i.postimg.cc/Y0mWtcMR/593374-original.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

I do not want to manipulate the increase in total debt (highlighted in red),
we will limit ourselves only to internal (highlighted in green).

On 01.01.2014 it was 284 billion, on 01.07.2016 it became 571 billion UAH.

Consequently, the internal debt in hryvnia has doubled.
Let's try to roughly translate this debt into a dollar at the exchange rate
(rate 8 for 01.01.2014 and 25 for 01.07.2016): 284/8=35.5 billion dollars, 571/25=22.84.

As you can see, this calculation practically coincides with the data in the
first plate with the debt in dollars.

What does this mean? This means that the state has devalued the national currency and
devalued the domestic debt. That is, a debt to us. Of course, the devaluation was
necessary and did not come from a good life. This is a question for a separate discussion. But
to give the government and the NBU credit for reducing the public debt, which,
in fact, it happened due to the depreciation of domestic debt in the national currency - this
is manipulation and stupidity.

According to this logic, the weaker the national currency, the better.
If they give 100 UAH for a dollar, the state debt in dollars will decrease even more.
Do you want to? No? And why?
-------------------------------
At the same time, I draw your attention once again, the external public debt
in foreign currency is only
increasing, so there is no reason for joy in this regard at all -
only the internal debt in hryvnia, converted into dollars, is decreasing, and solely
due to devaluation - in the hryvnia itself it has doubled.
------------------------------

And in conclusion. Comparison of the dynamics of public debt and GDP. Manipulations with the exchange rate are already
impossible here - at least this way, at least that way, you will have to compare in one currency. The share of total
public debt in GDP on 01.01.2014 was 40%, and on 01.01.2016 it became 79.4%.
That is, the ratio of public debt to GDP has increased by 2 times in 2 years.

https://i.postimg.cc/8z33KMs6/3.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

And this is the data for today (the Ministry of Finance has corrected them again a little.
The data for 2014 are in the column of 2013, then Yanukovych was standing at the door):

https://i.postimg.cc/L4zLX1P3/3-2.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Of course, I'm not saying that Azarov and Yanukovych were great, everything is clear with them,
but I don't like God's dew

================================================== ==============================================


And here's more information for you, to which I took information only from Ukrainian sources

1) What requirements have been put forward by the IMF to Ukraine over the past 26 years.

(https://ru.slovoidilo.ua/2020/04/23/infografika/finansy/kakie-trebovaniya-vydvigal-mvf-ukraine-poslednie-26-let)

2) Life in debt: what to expect from Ukraine's cooperation with the IMF in 2019.

(https://ru.slovoidilo.ua/2019/01/10/kolonka/aleksandr-radchuk/jekonomika/zhizn-dolg-chego-ozhidat-sotrudnichestva-ukrainy-mvf-2019-godu)

3) The IMF has announced the main requirements for Ukraine

(https://ukraina.ru/news/20190212/1022666622.html)

================================================== ==============================================

And now I want to show you this information.

Look at the date of writing this article - 24.01.2022 17:46


Information cover of the West: pumping Ukraine with weapons continues.

(https://news-front.info/2022/01/24/informatsionnoe-prikrytie-zapada-nakachivanie-ukrainy-oruzhiem-prodolzhaetsya/?utm_source=yandex.ru&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=yandex.ru&utm_referrer=yandex.ru)

The main theses of the article:

These are official statements of NATO countries, and not "stuffing" through separate information channels,
but the thesis "Russia threatens to invade Ukraine" will remain in the minds of Western viewers.
It is surprising that this has been regularly talked about in the West for the last 2-3 months,
and the offensive never happened, but the tightening of NATO equipment and pumping
the development of Ukraine is already happening now. The information cover was successful.


An emergency statement was made by the official representative of the NM DNR Eduard Basurin.
He said that the republican intelligence revealed the facts of the transfer of military
equipment and personnel to the demarcation line. In the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine suspended
vacations, and drivers and gunners are discharged from hospitals. In addition,
crews were seen in places where, according to the Minsk agreements, equipment should be withdrawn.
In addition, Basurin said about the upcoming provocations on the front line

"Reliable information has been received about the arrival of 40
servicemen of the 3rd separate Special Purpose Regiment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,
who had previously been trained under the guidance of instructors from the UK at
the 142 training center of the MTR of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, to carry out provocations in the Avdiivka area," said the officer of the NM DNR.

What is currently known about the actions of NATO:

* Denmark sends a frigate to the Baltic Sea. Four F-16 fighter jets will be sent to Lithuania to support the NATO air policing mission.

* Spain is sending ships to join the NATO naval forces. The possibility of sending fighters to Bulgaria is being considered.

* France is ready to send troops to Romania.

* The Netherlands will send two F-35 fighter jets to Bulgaria from April to support NATO's air policing activities in the region, as well as prepare one ship and ground units for the NATO response force.

* The United States is considering increasing its military presence in Eastern Europe.



I am interested in your opinion. No insults to me.

[mapuc]

* Denmark sends a frigate to the Baltic Sea. Four F-16 fighter jets will be sent to Lithuania to support the NATO air policing mission.

* Spain is sending ships to join the NATO naval forces. The possibility of sending fighters to Bulgaria is being considered.

* France is ready to send troops to Romania.

* The Netherlands will send two F-35 fighter jets to Bulgaria from April to support NATO's air policing activities in the region, as well as prepare one ship and ground units for the NATO response force.

* The United States is considering increasing its military presence in Eastern Europe.

These steps has been taken due to your countries aggressive behaviour.
Depending your countries next step decide what measures NATO will take.

Markus

[Skybird]

Devaluation of currency has a name: inflation. Inflation serves a state's interest, that is: reducing the debt it has accumulated (by - in the end - expropriating those who need to pay in that currency, which mostly is the ordinary citizen in that state).

Thats the small 1-0-1 of inflation policy.

And it is being done - deliberately - across all the Western world and beyond, China, Russia, the US, everybody who is able to manipulate currency interactions to his advantage. Because ruthless politicians have spend the past 50 years to make sure their states are drowning in debts that were used to bribe the voters. Thats not meant to say its good. It just says that this is how things are, and I am criticising it in the economy thread and other postings since years. My economic orientation is mostly "Austrian", so what would anyone expect of me? Liking it?

Posting tables in Kyrillic will not help much in this forum, btw. We are international, yes, but the language all posters here understand, is English, not Kyrillic. If I understand it correctly the complaint is that the Ukraine has inflation, and debts, and does something with both thta oither natiosn also do, all the time. Well, where is the news? Every nation does that: manipulating the currency and state finances to win time and avoiding getting shot for delaying bancrupcty. Because that is what by definition all states on the globe are: bancrupt, broke. Germany has an explicit debt load of around 80% of its GDP last year, quoting by mind. However, the implicit debts are several times as high as the national GDP. Most other nations are even worse off. And the ECB manipulates the Euro to reward mismanagement and to finance states although it is forbidden to do so.

It will not end nicely.

On the story about who started to arm up when and why I do not comment, its would be a useless effort from beginning on.

[Otto Harkaman]

This is an older video from 2016 but still interesting, at least for me

https://youtu.be/l1WL2VJOn2A

[Aktungbby]

God bless ol' Vlad the Bastard Putin: he's certainly reunifying the NATO west: improving our military hardware economy...always good for the GNP!:salute: In the rarest eclipse imaginable, Joe Biden and Donald Trump are in alignment on one thing: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shouldn’t be allowed to pull us into World War III.:doh: Sen. Marco Rubio has chipped in the same portentous thought.
Beware wars to come is always a useful idea, but let’s hope America’s political leadership has a clearer view of what is happening in the here and now. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky does. Asked by NBC News Tuesday if he understood Mr. Biden’s concerns about World War III, replied: “”Nobody knows whether it may have already started.”
Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has already produced World War 2½. World War III is a decades-long Cold War concern. What we’re seeing now is something new—a spontaneous, crowd-funded world-wide effort to fight a war without springing the Armageddon tripwire. Within three weeks, virtually all the world’s democratic nations and peoples have committed to repelling Russia’s invasion. The size, speed and depth of the response is almost incomprehensible.
Countries that have sent modern weaponry or military equipment to Ukraine include not only the U.S. but also the U.K., Germany, France, Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Australia, Portugal, Romania, Denmark, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy and Japan. South Korea said Tuesday it will send nearly $1 billion of nonlethal equipment.
Responding to Mr. Zelensky’s Feb. 27 call for an International Legion of Defense of Ukraine, thousands of volunteer fighters, some combat veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, are pouring in from everywhere. International boycotts have made Russia a corporate, financial and cultural pariah. Overnight, the world’s best nonprofits created an infrastructure of support in Ukraine or on its border.

The post-Cold-War era has never seen anything like what has come to be called “Ukraine,” and it will take time to absorb its meaning and effects.

For starters, those of us who labor in the trenches of the culture wars tend to think tech and its media platforms on balance are corrosive and toxic. And they are. But we need to acknowledge that those same messaging forces—which quickly assemble group thinking on a massive scale—here put in motion something powerful and potentially good.

Will the response stop Mr. Putin? Who knows? But it might, if we posit that the solid building block for this broad effort to resist is Ukraine itself—the unexpected ability of the country’s military to counter the Putin blitzkrieg and its people’s refusal to surrender.

Modern media like YouTube and Instagram helps create tissue-thin celebrities and “influencers.” Here the platforms instantly elevated Mr. Zelensky, a professional comedian, into a heroic influencer motivating his own people and tens of millions outside his country. When is the last time every member of the U.S. Congress stood to applaud a president? The world’s behavior suggests, for the moment anyway, that we’ve decided that we’re all the North Atlantic Treaty Organization now, bound by a kind of global Article 5: A massive unprovoked attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.

Ukraine has put in motion two human impulses: to help and to defend. The first, to help, is a constant in our times. The second, to defend, is an impulse many of us thought had died, as with Germany’s miniaturization of its military capacity.

The help-Ukraine piece emerges paradoxically from the often reflexive, do-good sentiments that seem on tap everywhere today, such as the unfocused virtuousness of “save the planet.” With “Ukraine,” we seem to have arrived at an unlikely conjunction of virtue signaling and genuine virtue. The outpouring for Ukraine is the real thing. Perhaps many all along were seeking an authentic outlet for their better spirits, rather than the constant manufactured appeals—and lately coercion—to be on the “right side” of marginal causes like fur or pronouns. This flight from faux benevolence may not last, but for now it’s all good.

Ukraine’s more enduring effect could be to re-establish the legitimacy of national—and personal—self-defense. Extending baby-land into adulthood is over.

Mr. Putin’s indiscriminate bombing of civilians has restored a historical reality: Well-armed political messianists mean what they say, whether in Moscow, Tehran, Beijing or Pyongyang.

Defense against such threats has two forms: pre-emptive strikes, meaning war, or deterrence. The better default is deterrence.

Deterrence requires a willingness to spend national wealth on defense, as Ukraine chose eight years ago—as NATO, it appears, is willing to do now. Congress in the past week more than doubled Mr. Biden’s proposed percentage increase in the U.S. defense budget. Two months ago, Australia and Japan signed a defense agreement. “Ukraine” has leveled the field of debate between spending on national security and domestic needs.

Invocations of World War III by public figures as prominent as Messrs. Biden and Trump sound like excuses now to revert later to the passive pre-Ukraine status quo. The global support of “Ukraine”—a recognition that suddenly we are in World War 2½, with tough choices ahead—suggests people will be looking for much more than the Cold War status quo from their national leaders. In 2-daze' WSJ: Putin has accused Biden of "personal insults" for labelling him a "war criminal"!!?? dead children and raped women notwithstanding.... :timeout: :hmmm: even as Russian artillery has shelled the Baba Yar Holocaust monument outside Kiev! :oops:

[August]

$10 American bucks says the Peoples Republic of Donetsk, never sees a day of actual independence but rather is absorbed by Russia, at most as a vassal state but more likely just a backwater province of Russia. You're destined to be on the wrong side of the new Iron Curtain that Putin will be putting up once he is kicked out of Ukraine.

I remember patrolling the free side of the last Iron Curtain many years ago when Putin was just a low ranking KGB assassin. I also remember the black wreathes the Germans would put up wherever someone died trying to escape that communist paradise. There were a lot of wreaths.

So what will you do with the 70% or so of the regions population who are Ukrainian and don't want to be severed from their mother country? Drive them out, kill them, send them to some Siberian Gulag? What's the plan or has your new master not told you yet?

[astvitaliy1982]

Thank you for the interesting answers.

[Catfish]

^What do you think what Putin did with Russia's economy?

For 20 years and more western elites engaged in a money fest by outsourcing production and importing stuff from tyrants, empowering them while filling their pockets. After all the end of history had arrived and nothing bad could happen.
Now the party is over and we have Putin to thank.

Russia was bankrupt before Putin started the war, guess what happens now?

The bottom line is that Putin broke some rules of modern warfare.
1st you need money, real money. Money that is worth something on the international market.
2nd don't underestimate the power of your enemy.
Number three, when you target the civilian population, everyone in the country is your sworn enemy.

You are in for a ride.

[Catfish]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XirErZnp51o

[Skybird]

^What do you think what Putin did with Russia's economy?

For 20 years and more western elites engaged in a money fest by outsourcing production and importing stuff from tyrants, empowering them while filling their pockets. After all the end of history had arrived and nothing bad could happen.
Now the party is over and we have Putin to thank.

Russia was bankrupt before Putin started the war, guess what happens now?

The bottom line is that Putin broke some rules of modern warfare.
1st you need money, real money. Money that is worth something on the international market.
2nd don't underestimate the power of your enemy.
Number three, when you target the civilian population, everyone in the country is your sworn enemy.

You are in for a ride.
I stick to my former statement: the ukriane wins this war by preventing Putin to achcieve all his objectives. Ptuin can destroy much of th eukriane, grind it down, chew on it and spit it out, and siutll will not gain what he wnats, plus for the rets of the bplanet, probbaly aoso China, he is done for the rest fo his time. The sanctions will sta yin place for years to come, and when they are done with Russia, nothing of it will be left, just the agricultural supply of the population.

A quagmire. Afghanistan was a fun event compared to it.

I just googled a bit. The Afghanistan war lasted from 1979 to 1989. The Red Army had 120 thousand troops stationed there. In thodse ten years it suffered aroudn 50 tousand casualties, around 13-14 thousand were KIAs. Follow-on kills due to traumatized veterans committing suicide not counted.

In three weeks in the ukraine, The Russian Army is estimated to have suffered already 7000 KIAs (New York Times), 4000-7000 (various US sources), or maybe even up to 13-14 thousand (Ukrainian numbers). In just a fraction of the time the Afgjanistan war lasted.

Vehicle losses already sum up to be in the range of 20% of those lost in Afghanistan.

10 years. 3 weeks. Do the math. This war will cost Russia, in financial , economic, political and human levels, for decades to come.

The Ukraine suffers breathtaking devastation and destruction. But it will have rebuild its cities and houses when Russia still has years and years to live witht he fallout of the war. There is no production economy in Russia compatabile on global level, it only has ressources and energy. The energy is being bought less and lesser by the West in coming years, and what then is left for Russia to make money with once the banking sanctions have ended in some years?

Putin screw his country up for many decades to come. Maybe even threw it out of the Grand Jeux for the remaining century - who knows. The Russians will need to live another couple of decades in Sovjet-style darkness. Since they refuse to demonstrate in the streets of cities by the many millions (the militia cannot arrest them all then), my sympathy is limited. A people not even willing to seek freedom but prefering to live with its heads in the past (that was militaristic and brutal and not at all that glorious as claimed by propaganda), has not really my utmost respect, I must admit. I criticise Germans and others for it as well, in c ontext with their local political conditions - why would I save Russians from these reproaches then?


Lets install a never-ending flow of ATMs, ATGMs and Manpads and drones into the Ukraine, the rest the Ukrainians will do themselves.

[Catfish]

Meanwhile Russia seems to target only civilians, and the russian home propaganda looks like a full scale Nazi copy.

[Skybird]

Germany promised the Ukraine 2700 old Strela MANPADs.


Of which 500 got delivered.



:shifty:

[Catfish]

International Judo Federation suspends Putin as honorary president

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220227-international-judo-federation-suspends-putin-as-honorary-president

[Catfish]

Germany promised the Ukraine 2700 old Strela MANPADs. Of which 500 got delivered. :shifty:
Most is scrap anyway, due to storage and lacking maintenance. I hope that those 500 at least work :nope:

[mapuc]

One of the main task in a war is to prevent the enemy from getting resources to the frontline.

With this in mind I have been thinking
When will Russia start to bomb these places where our weapon comes into Ukraine with a massive bombardment. ?

They have so far send some missiles against Lviv and some other place near the Polish border.

For your information I'm 110 % for Ukraine supporting them 110 %

Could it be so that the reason why they haven't started this massive bombardment is the fear of hitting Polish ground and it's only therefore they have send a few ballistic missiles away.

Markus

[Reece]

Putin Pleased As Plot To Ruin Russian Economy, Destroy International Standing Goes Exactly To Plan (https://www.theonion.com/putin-pleased-as-plot-to-ruin-russian-economy-destroy-1848667941)

:har::har::har:

[Otto Harkaman]

The media's "Zelensky's NATO concession" I didn't take his words to mean Ukraine didn't want to join NATO. I took it that he was presenting hard facts to his people, "don't expect NATO to let us join in the middle of this crisis".

[Gorpet]

For many that is a dream in of itself.

I'm not sure where you are from.There is no american dream.The future is a socialist welfare system ran by the government for the government. Look after a certain period of time the Washington bean counters will say enough is enough.And the government itself has created enough division between all the cultures then they will take total control.There will not be any more migration to the U.S Look at America's past wars, Our government has been involved in many overthrows of other world governments. Don't you think after all these years America can't overthrow its own government.

[Gorpet]

I suppose it comes down to how much social service you think the government should supply. Roads, bridges, airports, harbors, schools, law and order.

President Putin? Russia is NOT a communist state. It is an oliagarchy dominated by a right wing dictator!

I suspect that President Putin has seen what the woke has done in America and he doesn't want it to destroy Russian culture.And only Europeans are close enough to know Russians.Blue collar everyday Americans will never be able to leave our country in an affordable way to meet you people across the sea.And we have our own Oligarchs that do not want working Americans to meet working Europeans. ya know, we have the internet to talk and communicate but the covid is a sure stopper of world travel except for the shakers, movers and the elites.They sure seemed to get around and none of these Old Politicians or their families have died.But millions of everyday people of their age and younger have discovered whether there is a heaven or is the world we live in today just Hell.

[Gorpet]

Even if so the US would still be impacted by the war. How nice it would be if the US could just declare itself free from international, rather global, power games. It can't, and I don't see how it can be avoided, which is why post WW2 the US has devoted resources for defense aimed at a clearly globally dominant nature.

I simply don't think isolationism works because we don't choose our neighbors, but we do work at influencing them for self preservation.

Choosing neighbors ? The United States doesn't choose neighbors.If you want to be a neighbor bring something to the table for our political families and accept Dominance.Then you can be a neighbor. Mansions will be fine overlooking the sea would be a start. How many American politicians and hollywood actors own or have been given the best properties in your countries. You do know every Hollywood actor is leaving America depending on who wins an election here. And their coming to your country, that should tell you something about their real character, But you will love them anyway cause you believe they are the most intelligent people on this planet.

Even tho the cemeteries are littered with their bodies.

[Gorpet]

^What do you think what Putin did with Russia's economy?

For 20 years and more western elites engaged in a money fest by outsourcing production and importing stuff from tyrants, empowering them while filling their pockets. After all the end of history had arrived and nothing bad could happen.
Now the party is over and we have Putin to thank.

Russia was bankrupt before Putin started the war, guess what happens now?

The bottom line is that Putin broke some rules of modern warfare.
1st you need money, real money. Money that is worth something on the international market.
2nd don't underestimate the power of your enemy.
Number three, when you target the civilian population, everyone in the country is your sworn enemy.

You are in for a ride.

Don't worry America will be there. We have just hauled ass out of a 20yr war and our Communist want to be the de facto power and show the whole world that we have the better Ideology . Even though these old Hippies have lost every war and their ideas for the future have collapsed within their own country.

[Gorpet]

^What do you think what Putin did with Russia's economy?

For 20 years and more western elites engaged in a money fest by outsourcing production and importing stuff from tyrants, empowering them while filling their pockets. After all the end of history had arrived and nothing bad could happen.
Now the party is over and we have Putin to thank.

Russia was bankrupt before Putin started the war, guess what happens now?

The bottom line is that Putin broke some rules of modern warfare.
1st you need money, real money. Money that is worth something on the international market.
2nd don't underestimate the power of your enemy.
Number three, when you target the civilian population, everyone in the country is your sworn enemy.

You are in for a ride.

Don't worry America will be there. We have just hauled ass out of a 20yr war and our Communist want to be the de facto power and show the whole world that we have the better Ideology . Even though these old Hippies have lost every war and their ideas for the future have collapsed within their own country. And now they are looking for a world war for to cover up for their sins and stupid decisions.

[Buddahaid]

Don't worry America will be there. We have just hauled ass out of a 20yr war and our Communist want to be the de facto power and show the whole world that we have the better Ideology . Even though these old Hippies have lost every war and their ideas for the future have collapsed within their own country. And now they are looking for a world war for to cover up for their sins and stupid decisions.

I guess I'm smoking what you are but that doesn't make any sense from where I'm parked.

[Aktungbby]

The International Judo Federation has stripped black-belt Putin of his titles and jobs within the organization. His honorary president and Ambassadorship of the International Judo Federation as well as oligarch and close associate Arkady Rotenberg are ended. https://www.lawfareblog.com/sites/default/files/Ccza31zBwNfO8XdcZOPJw1sTKIlYQfRJ.jpg

International Judo Federation suspends Putin as honorary president

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220227-international-judo-federation-suspends-putin-as-honorary-presidentAs usual U R a fortnight behind in the thread...try to keep up cómpadre!:O:

[Gorpet]

I guess I'm smoking what you are but that doesn't make any sense from where I'm parked.

Where are you parked?

[Gorpet]

As usual U R a fortnight behind in the thread...try to keep up cómpadre!:O:

I don't when that picture was taken but i don't think Anyone from our President thru congress and our house of representatives could face him on a 1on1 match. Now it may be possible Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez could straddle his chest with wide open thighs. And new relations between Russia and America could reach an all time high for a year.

[Buddahaid]

Where are you parked?

Behind the Safeway on 33rd St. :Kaleun_Salute:

[Buddahaid]

I don't when that picture was taken but i don't think Anyone from our President thru congress and our house of representatives could face him on a 1on1 match. Now it may be possible Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez could straddle his chest with wide open thighs. And new relations between Russia and America could reach an all time high for a year.

Well that works for, nobody?

[Gorpet]

As a ParaTrooper? I was told under extreme situations there would be no prisoners. That meant I would not be a prisoner and those that surrendered could not be held so had to be permanently removed from battle.

War is Hell.

We have not moved so far distant from WWI or WWII as most want to believe.

But Jeff, Didn't you see all the Iraq troops ? Isn't that the way all army's are supposed surrender ? Unfortunately for the troops that have to be the First Ones, well that is a different reality.Isn't it.

[Gorpet]

Well that works for, nobody?

Well.We don't know that .And Kamala nobody wants her but her husband and he's getting more on the side than he ever had in his entire life.

[Gorpet]

Behind the Safeway on 33rd St. :Kaleun_Salute:

Are you off 33rd street Jacksonville Fla. ? You do know u could just answer by country.Or would that be to embarrassing ? I can understand if you tell me that it would be easy to find and see what kind of Nato member you have been. Before Putin and i suspect there is a cancer in Nato. And the European Union for that matter. The biggest question for the blue collar workers of America that will pay for this **** is this.

Why can't the European Union and Nato there in Brussels they do have such a beautiful command post.And the so-called President of that union and the so-called Head of Nato work their differences out with Russia? Without America's involvement. I do hope your government knows your not ****ing around with Obamas Varsity team running around in flip flops. Are you doing the WOKE thing or have your leader's lost their minds to.? Not everyone on this planet wants to submit to the new world order and their reset.Why don't we ask China where they stand ? After all they supply the so called Western Powers and the European powers with everything their populations need. One of Joe Biden's security advisers had a phone call with Chinese, It didn't go so well. He was told they would stop sending tampons' to the U.S. now i don't how the women in your country would receive that news.

But in America cities would burn.We have millions of people dependent on tampons.Everybody in the Alphabet and this is the Power of China.No politician wants to face that.��

[Buddahaid]

Are you off 33rd street Jacksonville Fla. ? You do know u could just answer by country.Or would that be to embarrassing ? I can understand if you tell me that it would be easy to find and see what kind of Nato member you have been. Before Putin and i suspect there is a cancer in Nato. And the European Union for that matter. The biggest question for the blue collar workers of America that will pay for this **** is this.

Why can't the European Union and Nato there in Brussels they do have such a beautiful command post.And the so-called President of that union and the so-called Head of Nato work their differences out with Russia? Without America's involvement. I do hope your government knows your not ****ing around with Obamas Varsity team running around in flip flops. Are you doing the WOKE thing or have your leader's lost their minds to.? Not everyone on this planet wants to submit to the new world order and their reset.Why don't we ask China where they stand ? After all they supply the so called Western Powers and the European powers with everything their populations need. One of Joe Biden's security advisers had a phone call with Chinese, It didn't go so well. He was told they would stop sending tampons' to the U.S. now i don't how the women in your country would receive that news.

But in America cities would burn.We have millions of people dependent on tampons.Everybody in the Alphabet and this is the Power of China.No politician wants to face that.��

i'll buy the next round. Do go on, I don't quite get it yet.

[Gorpet]

i'll buy the next round. Do go on, I don't quite get it yet.

Well my friend ,You don't have to get it right now.My ramblings only make sense to those who are Starriders.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ey2HyYi4qY

[Buddahaid]

Well my friend ,You don't have to get it right now.My ramblings only make sense to those who are Starriders.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ey2HyYi4qY

While I think we will never agree to a meaningful degree (rhyme?), I appreciate how we can argue without coming to blows about it. Peace and health.

[Gorpet]

While I think we will never agree to a meaningful degree (rhyme?), I appreciate how we can argue without coming to blows about it. Peace and health.

Peace and health to you my friend, And if the Americans allow it. Live long and prosper.

[Gorpet]

Yes, Here we go again,This time i would like to see every Nato country starting with the lowest in the block.Tell their citizens it's time to step up to the plate.It may not be in their hemisphere but as a 1 world tribe. America has just stepped out of the 20 year war that has protected the entire world.
From evil so now it's up to the members of the European Union and every goddamn member of Nato East of America on their side of the Atlantic Ocean.To rally and fight for Ukraine.It's your responsibility to stop aggression in your backyard.Not Americas.What America builds in our country now is wheelchairs and prosthetics. Let someone else carry the burden for this war.

You want to see this stop ? Demand your Politicians son's and daughters lead the way and see what happens.And if you don't a mushroom cloud could boil up
in your neighborhood.

[tmccarthy]

The media's "Zelensky's NATO concession" I didn't take his words to mean Ukraine didn't want to join NATO. I took it that he was presenting hard facts to his people, "don't expect NATO to let us join in the middle of this crisis".

Yes, just adding that it also means that they and probably NATO will be signing an agreement, Russia's demand, that Ukraine never join NATO.

[Skybird]

Jan Fleischhauer for FOCUS:

An acquaintance of mine has founded an association whose purpose is to rename the street Unter den Linden in Berlin. Not the whole street, only a small section, namely the one between the house numbers 63 and 65, which is the part where the Russian embassy is located. In the future, this section will be called "Wolodymyr Selenskyj Platz", after the Ukrainian president. The official address of the embassy would then be Volodymyr Selenskyj Square 1.

On all letterheads and business cards, the address would have to be changed accordingly. Anyone searching for the embassy on Google Maps would be given the new address. When one of the embassy employees gets into a cab to be taken to his workplace, my acquaintance imagines that the following dialogue could ensue:

Passenger: "To the Russian Embassy, please." Cab driver: "Don't know it, where is it?" Passenger whispers: "Wolodymyr Selenskyj Platz 1.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (http://www.DeepL.com/Translator) (free version)


:D

[Skybird]

The Russian Air Force has destroyed a missile arsenal in the Ivano-Frankivsk region with the "Kinschal" (Dagger) hypersonic missile in its war against Ukraine, according to Moscow. The Ukrainian Air Force's underground ammunition depot in Delyatyn in southwestern Ukraine was destroyed by the ballistic missile on Friday, it said. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konoshenkov said on Saturday. In the Odessa region on the Black Sea, two bases of military reconnaissance were destroyed, he said. The information could not be verified.

It is the first time since the beginning of the war that Russia has reported the use of its new "Kinshal" air-to-surface ballistic missile. It was the first use ever in combat, it said. So far, the weapons have been used mainly in maneuvers - most recently a few days before the invasion of Ukraine, which began Feb. 24.

Launched by MiF-31 fighter jets, the "Kinshal" missiles can hit targets up to 2,000 kilometers away - bypassing all air defense systems, according to Russian data. Hypersonic missiles exceed the speed of sound several times over and fly at more than three kilometers per second.

-------------------------

Russia is reported to have evacuated its forward air base at Kherson International Airport. This is reported by Finnish journalist Petri Mäkelä, among others.

The reason is apparently that Ukraine managed to destroy the corps headquarters of the Russian army around Kherson, which was established there. For counterattacks and an announced recapture of the city, this is an enormous help, it is said.

-----------------------

According to several reports, the Ukrainian army has already killed the fifth Russian general since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. According to the report, Lieutenant General Andrei Mordvichev was killed in the south of Ukraine. This information has not yet been verified.

Already in the past days the reports about dead Russian generals increased, four are supposed to have been it before Mordwitschew. Since the beginning of the war, there has been no information from the Russian army about any dead generals.

-------------

The Ukrainian military reported early Saturday morning that it had destroyed another group of Russian military helicopters. This is reportedly the sixth strike in recent weeks against Russian helicopters at Chernobayevka airport.

According to reports, the Russian army continues to transport helicopters there, which are then easily destroyed.


FOCUS

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (http://www.DeepL.com/Translator) (free version)

------------------

Vicous street fighting prevents/delays rescue works at the Mariupol Drama Theatre where still hundreds are suspected to be trapped under the rubble. Depuzty mayor of the city gave the number to be "1200-1300".

North of Kiev, on both sides of the Dnjepr, the Russian army has stalled apparently, all assault corridors possible have been blocked, claim the Ukrainians. The Russian are seen to have started digging themselves in. It seems they prepare for besieging and shelling the city, but much of their artillery currently is being kept at a distance where it cannot strike the city - claim the Ukrainians. The city apparently still can be supplied because its southern borders are still open. The defenders say about themselves that they are well prepared and well dug in.

Where the famous Russian long convoy was ten days ago, the Russians are seen to install what appears to be fuel pipelines - which seem to reach back as far as into Belarus. :o Tap fuel...?

It seems that the seocnd echelon of the Russians, atr least in the North, ha sbigged down, too. Whcih means Putin can extened the war, he can do a lot of devastating damage - but he cnanot win anymore, cannot meet his objectives. The Ukraine still needs to have a long breath, but can win this by preventing the Russians to achieve the objectives on the ground. In the south however the Russians slowly advance. Slowly, and interrupted. If this is enough depends on hwo the ukrainains will react to this in the forseeable couple of days.

With how it is going for the Russians I cannot see how they could even reach the Dnjepr in full length to divide the Ukraine as possibly was intended.

If they now dig in at Kiev, it mans they sit still in cluntry where the population is hostile and where they must expect 24/ to get clubbed from any direciton at any time. - Welcome to Ukraine holiday park - have a nice stay. :arrgh!:

[Jimbuna]

Street fighting is stopping rescuers reaching hundreds of survivors trapped beneath a shelled theatre, Mariupol's mayor tells the BBC

Mayor Vadym Boychenko says Ukrainian forces are doing their all to hold off a larger Russian force inside the southern port city.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky calls on Russia to come to the negotiating table "without delay"

He urges Russia to limit its own losses, saying it's time to restore "territorial integrity and justice" for Ukraine.

Russia's Vladimir Putin accuses Ukraine of stalling peace talks with "unrealistic proposals" in a call with the German chancellor.

Elsewhere, fierce fighting is continuing more than three weeks after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

The UK says Russia has been “surprised by the scale and ferocity of the Ukrainian resistance” since it attacked its southern neighbour.

[Jimbuna]

Russian cosmonauts have arrived at the International Space Station wearing Ukrainian colours, in what appears to be a statement opposing the invasion.

The three men were the first new arrivals since Russia attacked its eastern neighbour last month.

They were warmly welcomed on board, hugging and greeting their fellow American, Russian and German crew.

The trio wore bright yellow space suits with blue accents, instead of their standard-issue blue uniform.

[Jimbuna]

Russia said it had used hypersonic missiles to target an underground weapons storage unit in western Ukraine.

But what type of weapon are they?

Hypersonic missiles can fly in the upper atmosphere at more than five times the speed of sound.

They are considered more manoeuvrable than conventional missiles and are more capable of avoiding interception from air defence.

Russia's defence ministry said the missile used to target the arms depot in Ukraine was capable of reaching targets at a range of more than 2,000km (1,242 miles)

Last year, Russia said it had successfully test-fired a hypersonic missile from a frigate in the White Sea off its north-western coast.

It said it aimed to include the weapon when arming Russian cruisers and submarines.

Along with Russia, China, the US, and at least five other countries are working on hypersonic missile technology.

[mapuc]

Russian internet joke: “We are now entering day 24 of the special military operation to take Kyiv in two days.”
Garry Kasparov

Made me laugh when I read it.

Markus

[Skybird]

After Russian cosmonauts docked at the International Space Station wearing yellow inflight suits with blue accents — the national colors of Ukraine — cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev denied it was a signal of support for Kyiv.
He said that the suits were made up to six months before the Friday flight.
"You shouldn't look for secret signs and symbols in our uniforms," Artemyev was quoted as saying by the Russian space agency Roskosmos. "The color is just the color, it is in no way related to Ukraine."


Deutsche Welle

[Catfish]

^ too bad it was not intentional, but maybe it saves their a$$es after return to Putin's new Russia.

[Catfish]

Wounded Russian soldiers fill Belarusian hospitals

"There are KGB or FSB employees on the staff. All buildings are under surveillance. Many doctors, who could, in theory, have said something, have been removed from the hospitals and replaced by Russians," a spokesperson said, adding that many doctors and hospital employees were afraid to talk about what they had seen or done. The spokesperson that since hospitals in Belarus were overwhelmed, "when possible, the wounded are being brought to Russia by train" and confirmed that there were also many dead soldiers."

https://beta.dw.com/en/wounded-russian-soldiers-fill-belarusian-hospitals/a-61181434

[Aktungbby]

^ too bad it was not intentional, but maybe it saves their a$$es after return to Putin's new Russia.That's aßes; please don't insult the almighty buck!:O:

[Catfish]

^ nope, if used in plural there are always to SSes, never a ß. And it is an sz not an "eszett" :shucks:

If i knew a proper description of what i think about the almighty buck it would probably destroy this world :O:

[mapuc]

Is a false flag operation on it's way with the use of chemical weapon ?

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday that Ukraine’s security service plans to carry out a chemical attack on civilians and then blame it on Russia.

"We know for sure that with the support of Western countries, the SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) is preparing a provocation with the use of toxic substances against civilians.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/russia-ukraine-war/russia-accuses-ukraine-of-preparing-provocation-with-chemical-weapons/2537712

The Russian will use this as an excuse to use chemical weapon in the war.

Markus

[Aktungbby]

^ nope, if used in plural there are always to SSes, never a ß. And it is an sz not an "eszett" :shucks:

If i knew a proper description of what i think about the almighty buck it would probably destroy this world :O:I'm such an aß! What do I really know of Teutonic punctation!:doh::wah:

[Catfish]

Putin has already lied about chemical, biological and whatnot weapons developed in Ukraine, i guess this is why he shells it so much so all of it will be blown towards Russia :haha:

Just a pretext to have a "reason" to use all of this on the Ukranians. Lies as usual.

[Aktungbby]

Russian internet joke: “We are now entering day 24 of the special military operation to take Kyiv in two days.”
Garry Kasparov

Made me laugh when I read it.

MarkusDay 24 of a 2 day plan is nuthin'; they're also in year 94 of their first 5 year plan! (OCTOBER 1928):nope::oops::dead::huh:

[mapuc]

Day 24 of a 2 day plan is nuthin'; they're also in year 94 of their first 5 year plan! (OCTOBER 1928):nope::oops::dead::huh:

Off topic comment

I had and have my own 5 years plan. When I celebrated my 20'ies birthday I said within the next 5 years I will have saved 1 million-When I was 25 I had not manage to do so-so I continued with my 5 years plan and on this day today I haven't manage to save these 1 million

Markus
End of an off topic comment

[Skybird]

The war interrupts exports of wheat from both the Ukraine and Russia, the quesiton is not whether there will be a global food crisis - we alreadsy are in the midst of it due to bad harvests and Corona - , but how bad it will become. We all will feel it, we all will pay much more. In other parts of the world the people will fight for survival.

This is an excerpt from an interview with Werner Baumann, who is the boss of Bayer.

Will there still be a significant harvest in Ukraine, and will Russia continue to export grain?

We have the same problem now as we once had with the pandemic. When the pandemic broke out, each government looked first to national interests and in some cases stopped the export of masks and the like. Such political interventions disrupted logistics chains that were still functioning. Now we are seeing similar things. Some states want to keep their grain stocks in the country. By doing so, they are exacerbating the crisis instead of managing it well through international cooperation at the global level. We are trying to work toward not repeating these mistakes.

Which regions are most affected by the grain shortage?

For us in Europe, it's getting more expensive, but for many others, especially in North Africa and the Middle East, it's getting too expensive. People there can't afford a doubling or tripling of the price of bread. That's where social explosives build up. When food security is no longer a given, social peace is in jeopardy. There is a direct correlation between food shortages and violence.

Yields per hectare are lower in organic farming than in conventional farming. Do the EU and Germany need to rethink their agricultural policies aimed at "more organic"?

Sometimes scientific findings are still negated for ideological reasons. But it is also clear that we must not play one form of agriculture off against the other. One thing is certain: the challenges facing the food supply can only be met by finding innovative solutions. In the case of animal feed, food and renewable raw materials, the current scale of agriculture already far exceeds the regenerative capacity of our planet. Now comes the additional problem that, according to forecasts, the number of people on earth is expected to rise to 10 billion in the next 25 years.

So we need to reduce resource consumption and feed 25 percent more people. The only way to do that is to intensify agriculture in a sustainable way, i.e. to reduce land consumption and at the same time increase crop yields. Organic farming tends to produce products that many cannot afford.

(...)

Nutrition through meat requires much more agricultural land than that through cereals. Should we all become vegetarians?

Take it to the people who have not yet reached our prosperity. Also with us it was a long way from the time, when there was a Sunday roast once a week, over a several times meat consumption per day up to the today's voluntary renouncement. In addition, many people here can afford to pay 30 percent more for an organic sausage. But worldwide, the majority cannot afford it. The renunciation culture in Europe is growing, but it is at a low level in relation to a world population that first wants to enjoy it. That's why we will continue to see a global increase in meat consumption for many years to come.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (http://www.DeepL.com/Translator) (free version)


As always, the issue of nutrition values of various meats compared to cereals gets ignored, and the issue of ATI-sensitivity related health problems when eating wheat, rye, barley, and quite some other questionable "healthy foods" as well. "Eco" labels trump health arguments every time these days, and wrong claims on whats healthy get propagated to push people into accepting "eco". Eat yourself ill to save the planet - thats pretty much what many of these messiahs want people to do. But we are not herbivores, nor are we pure carnivores. We are omnivores. And no political or social ideology or religion can change that.

But he indicated that the populaiton size is the underlaying problem here. Most people talkign about these things simply ignore that problemo numero uno.

[Armistead]

Putin has already lied about chemical, biological and whatnot weapons developed in Ukraine, i guess this is why he shells it so much so all of it will be blown towards Russia :haha:

Just a pretext to have a "reason" to use all of this on the Ukranians. Lies as usual.

Well, Putin has help from several in the GOP to my disgust and I hear Tucker Carlson is getting a lot of air time in Russia.

[August]

Well, Putin has help from several in the GOP to my disgust and I hear Tucker Carlson is getting a lot of air time in Russia.


You hear huh?

[Otto Harkaman]

Well, Putin has help from several in the GOP to my disgust and I hear Tucker Carlson is getting a lot of air time in Russia.

:har:

"Pants are such a problem when you are on crack" from money you got from corrupt energy deals from Ukraine, with the help of the "Big Guy"!

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/04/09/12/41456780-9452479-Biden_seen_in_a_photo_which_was_found_on_his_lapto p_joked_on_Thu-a-10_1617967582310.jpg

[Jimbuna]

^ too bad it was not intentional, but maybe it saves their a$$es after return to Putin's new Russia.

My thoughts exactly :yep:

[Jimbuna]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO4RgAYefSU

[Jimbuna]

An art school in Mariupol, where about 400 people were sheltering, was attacked, the city council says.

Officials say the building has been destroyed and people could be trapped under the rubble.

Ukraine's president says Russia's attacks on the southern port city of Mariupol will be remembered for centuries.

Volodymyr Zelensky alleges that Russia committed war crimes in the city, where heavy fighting has now reached the centre.

It comes as officials there allege thousands of residents have been forcibly taken to Russian cities. The BBC is yet to verify the claim.

The UK defence ministry, meanwhile, says Russia had failed to gain control of the air and is relying on weapons launched from its own airspace.

Ukraine's military says Russia paused offensive operations on Saturday, instead replenishing supplies and repairing equipment.

More than 3.3 million people have fled the conflict, which has been raging for more than three weeks.

[Catfish]

Old news, but ..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaBwER7P0Gw

[Skybird]

Russia claims to have fired several hypersonic missiles from the airspace over the Crimea, also cruise missiles of the tpye "Kalibr" were fired, they say.



Ukrainian regional governors/mayors say they cannot warn the population against these attacks, since they run so fast that there is no time left to get the word out.



Which is obviously the intention of this fascit scumbag in the Krmelin: he wants to have his daily bloodbaths amognst civilians to terrorise them and let them pay for not loving him.



There is no military need to attack civilian targets, and even less so to do it with weapons that leave no warning time to civilians to bring themselves into safety. And so the obvious intention is just this: to leave civilians no chance but to kill them in as big ammounts as possible to spread terror.



An arts school sheltering over 400 refugees, has been bombed.



If the Russians could, they would walk into hospitals and shoot patients in their beds. To spread terror and fear.



I see no difference there betweee the crimes committed by the Nazis, and those committed by Putin and his amok-running hordes.



This all now gets as bad as it can get. Syria and Aleppo was the test run for committing these kind of atrocities. The Russian military obviously has a big love for slaughtering civilians. They are scum.



IMO it is the duty of every soldier and officer worth to be called that to reject carrying out orders that lead to events like this. That is what discmrinates a soldiers from just an ordinary street criminal committing random murder or a terroprist putting poison into the sweet water. And every pilot and every artillery officer doing this, is an accomplice in war crime, commits a war crime, and cannot seek escape by claiming he "just carried out orders." The Nuremburg trials gave an answer to this foul excuse.



After the big staium rally two or three days agao, there cna be nomd oubt, I thinl, that Putin has no intention to seriously negotiate a seize fire or lasting peace treaty of any kind. If he does, its only a trick to win time to prepare his next attack.



------
In Germany, I just red, during a TV talkshow that had Ukraine'S ambassador as studio guest, somebody (I think the moderator) asked him how many losses and killed people the Ukraine accepts to get a negotiated deal with Putin. Well. The lack of niveau and the reaidness to ever increase shame shouldn't surprise anymore. The ambassador almost lost his contenance, and rightly so, i read. Unbelievable.



Germany still has not managed to seriously implement sanctions against oligarchs and sack their properties and yachts. Instead, a thousand instances and offices fight over legal nuances and responsibilities, and its also the states against the central govenrment. And so, more and more oligarchs had th etime to save biog ammounts of their fortunes and get away. All according to the praragrpahs. In office working times only. Paperwork must b correct, right. Its all correct. Correctly inefficient. According to the rules. Rules are rules, even if they do not match reality. Rule trumps reality.


I tell you, you better do not expect too much of Bubble-Olaf's announcements on how Germany will change and those 100 bn for the Bundeswehr. Mind you, he is a natural opportunist and ducker who only moves when relaity presses utmost pressure on him and leaves him absolutely no other chance than to move. And he possibly will not even complete his term, that weak the coalition is, it has given a classical false start. Right now the first warners alrready stepped onto the scene and reason about why we should not let Russia down and should not sanction them too hard and should aim at stabilising economic ties and investments in Russia by end of this year and that we should not... and better don't... and get back to normal.... and bla... and bla... and blablabla. So far most of this is coming from the SED opposition party, but first small parts and individuals of the government coalition parties SPD, Greens and FDP as well as the oppsition CDU also have started to give first signs in these directions. Siongle voices, small groups, but I bet money on that at the end of this year it will not have stayed there. Disgusting. And much of thta special budget for the BW will again be incompetently burnt for nothing. The dfeenc eminsjtress alreeayc has relatives the BW readiness, objectin her generals and the generla inspecteur . As if that old granny knows anything about the military. She did not even wanted the post, but was pressed and talked by Bubble-Olaf into taking the post. So far a total miscast. Once again.

[Skybird]

As the Ukrainian newspaper "Kyiv Independent" reports via its Twitter channel, Ukrainian military intelligence is said to have information that Russia's elites are planning to overthrow Putin.

This plan, it says, is aimed at restoring economic ties with Western countries. It is important to note that the information provided by the Kyiv Independent cannot currently be verified. There is no verifiable evidence of such a plan to overthrow Putin.

The tweet goes on to say: According to Ukraine's intelligence service, Alexander Bortnikov, head of Russia's military intelligence service, is to be considered as a successor in the event of Vladimir Putin's overthrow.

FOCUS
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)


Another secret service man as Putin's successor. What a surprise.

[mapuc]

There's a heavy fire outside Lviv

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek1bqrms6ls

Markus

[Aktungbby]

Germany still has not managed to seriously implement sanctions against oligarchs and sack their properties and yachts. Instead, a thousand instances and offices fight over legal nuances and responsibilities, and its also the states against the central govenrment. And so, more and more oligarchs had th etime to save biog ammounts of their fortunes and get away. All according to the praragrpahs. In office working times only. Paperwork must b correct, right. Its all correct. Correctly inefficient. According to the rules. Rules are rules, even if they do not match reality. Rule trumps(<not Donald!) reality.
That's how Germany lost 2 World Wars! and its "place in the sun:O:" Teutonic chronic anal retentiveness and Bad praragrpahs!:timeout:

[Skybird]

At least the tax payer does not have to pay me for producing an endless output of typos! :D

[Aktungbby]

At least the tax payer does not have to pay me for producing an endless output of typos! :D In English 'Mericanese, 'taxpayer' is one word... kinda sorta like 'damnYankee' is to Southerners, Russian, and Chinese slaveocracy malcontents of the New World Order currently being promulgated by brute force, rape and pillage.:shucks:

[Jeff-Groves]

[COLOR="Lime"]In English 'Mericanese, 'taxpayer' is one word

It's only printed that way on paper cause it saves the one little space!
I'd imagine some bean counter figured out how much paper was wasted with a space left in!

[Jimbuna]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has addressed the Israeli parliament (Knesset) and urged lawmakers to abandon Israel's neutrality following Russia's invasion.

He quoted the late Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, in his video message, with the words "we intend to live, but our neighbours want to see us dead"

Zelensky says Israel has the best air defence in the world and says "you can definitely help our people, save the lives of Ukrainians"

The United Nations estimates that the conflict has driven 10 million Ukrainians from their homes. The UN said they had either been displaced within the country, or fled abroad.

Turkey's foreign minister, who is mediating peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, has said the two sides are close to an agreement.

[Jimbuna]

Russian officials have confirmed that the deputy commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, Captain 1st Rank Andrei Paly, died in combat in Mariupol.

Earlier reports claimed that Ukraine claimed to have killed him. Heavy fighting continues in Mariupol, a port city battered by Russian shelling.

Paly's death was initially confirmed by the secretary of the Nakhimov naval college, Konstantin Tsarenko, on social network Vkontakte (VK).

Later, a Russian senator from Sevastopol - the Black Sea Fleet's base in Russian-annexed Crimea - said in a VK post that "Sevastopol has suffered a heavy, irreparable loss... Paly died in the battles for the liberation of Mariupol from the Nazis". President Vladimir Putin has spoken of Russia's campaign to rid Ukraine of "Nazis".

Sevastopol governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said in a Telegram post that "Andrei Nikolaevich chose to defend the Motherland as his life's work and died for our peaceful future".

Ukrainian sources have reported the deaths of five Russian generals in the fighting which erupted with Russia's invasion on 24 February. Russia has only officially confirmed one of these casualties - Gen Andrei Sukhovetsky.

[Catfish]

Russian troops beating civilians who protest against being occupied in Berdyansk, Ukraine Mar 20, 2022

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYnyjqtrjbc

[Jimbuna]

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is going to be very busy over the coming years.

[mapuc]

Take a look at flightradar 24. Study the planes in Poland and other countries around Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.

Markus

[Jimbuna]

The Game of Sanctions

It has now become blindingly obvious that a sufficiently strong response to the russian aggression against Georgia would have prevented today’s war against Ukraine.

There is little doubt that largely symbolic sanctions for the occupation of Crimea and the Donbas region became an impetus for the full-scale invasion. Unfortunately, against the backdrop of dead Ukrainian soldiers and civilians, the world is still playing at sanctions.

Instead of sanctioning putin’s criminal ruling class in full, with its entire oligarchy and each branch of government root to stem, the Western powers continue to tacitly offer safe havens to some of the ruling elite, who are then able to extend access to this curtesy to many more like themselves.

One such glaring omission is Andrey Guryev – a billionaire, a former senator for the Murmansk region, and another high profile member of the Mordor Judo Club. Together with his adult son and daughter, he is main beneficiary of PhosAgro, one of the world’s largest fertilizer producers.

While Mr. Guryev was recently added to the EU sanctioned persons list, he was quietly forgotten by the US and the UK. Whatever the reason for this may be, it is certainly not his low profile – Mr. Guryev happens to be the proud owner of Witanhurst, London’s second largest residential home after Buckingham Palace. Judging by the pictures, Witanhurst could house quite a few Ukrainian refugees.

The current selective approach to sanctions significantly undermines their overall effectiveness. A blanket strategy is what is needed, today. The list of people to be covered is common knowledge – names of senior employees of the executive, judicial and legislative branches of the russian government, both at the federal and regional levels, are a matter of the public record, and so is the Forbes’ top 200 of the russia’s richest people. There is no excuse not to act.

By Ex-member of Parliament Senchenko Source: https://censor.net/en/r3325015

[mapuc]

When they mentioned in the News here some days ago that Ukraine would get advanced AA and AAA I came to think of this type of AA

It's from a game armA 3 this video but the weapon SPAAG does exist in real

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkyxJUdtD4k

In a livestream from Ukraine someone wrote that something called JSOF Special forces was on the ground in Ukraine-I doubt this very much.

Markus

[Catfish]

Russian navy commander killed today

"Post-Captain Andrei Paliy, deputy commander of the fleet, died during fighting in the eastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said on the messaging app Telegram."

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-russia-navy/russian-navy-commander-killed-in-ukraine-idUSKCN2LH0GL