Forget no fly zones or boots on the ground. If our politicians do change their mind the only thing they can or would do is stop supporting Ukraine. If that happens peace will not come under any circumstances as the Ukrainians will continue to fight. They might loose eventually as they get ground down but they won't collapse like the Afghan army did. Blood will continue to be shed long after Russian troops start digging in on the Polish border.

I expect an answer like the one you gave me.

Reading the comment(links)Jim has posted, gives us the expression that our leader is very, very determent in their support for Ukraine.

Then I read in the Economist that up to 150.000 could die in Europe due to Putins energy war against us.

Which lead to this made up scenario

Markus

Dutch TTF Natural Gas Futures are lower than on Dec 22, 2021 same goes for electricity price I do not think analytics of the Economist are correct there are no energy-price increases, see it as fearmongering.

• Over the last three months, Russian forces in Ukraine have likely largely stopped deploying as Battalion Tactical Groups (BTGs).
  
• The BTG concept has played a major part in Russian military doctrine for the last ten years, and saw battalions integrated with a full range of supporting sub-units, including armour, reconnaissance and (in a departure from usual Western practice) artillery.
  
• Several intrinsic weaknesses of the BTG concept have been exposed in the high intensity, large-scale combat of the Ukraine war so far. BTGs’ relatively small allocation of combat infantry has often proved insufficient. Decentralised distribution of artillery has not allowed Russia to fully leverage its advantage in numbers of guns; and few BTG commanders have been empowered to flexibly exploit opportunities in the way the BTG model was designed to promote.

https://i.postimg.cc/pd3x10g5/Fitl3ud-WQAEw-Yp7.jpg

I forgot something-Those of my friends who is picking on Zelenskyj think Putin is one heck of a great leader. :o

Markus

Bet they will cry mommy in a day if they lived in Russia

bet they are plenty of ruskies that would trade places with them

Ukraine war: The surrender hotline for Russian soldiers

The Ukrainian government has said a scheme it created for Russian soldiers to surrender is getting up to 100 enquiries a day.

The "I Want To Live" project was started in September.

By calling a hotline or entering details through messenger apps, Russian troops can arrange the best way to surrender to Ukrainian forces.

Officials in Kyiv say they've had more than 3,500 contacts from invading personnel, as well as their families.

There's been an apparent increase since Russian President Vladimir Putin mobilised hundreds of thousands of Russian men, and since the city of Kherson was liberated.

The BBC has been given recordings from some of the calls.

As the dark hallways suggest, Ukraine's headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War isn't immune to the power blackouts which plague the country.

In a small office we meet Svitlana, not her real name, a Ukrainian call handler who speaks to Russian soldiers daily.

They can either get in touch over the phone or on most messenger apps, such as Telegram and WhatsApp.

She explains the evenings are busiest, when troops have more spare time and can sneak off and make a call.

"First of all, we hear a voice, mainly male," she explains. "It's often part-desperate, part-frustrated, because they don't fully understand how the hotline works, or whether it's just a set-up.

"There's also curiosity because many call not to surrender but to find out how they could if needed. It's different every time."

Svitlana isn't allowed to tell us how many Russians she's helped, or exactly how it happens. They're just told to share their location before being given further instructions.

Some Russian soldiers also get in touch to provoke them, she says, although she doesn't think all of them believe the Kremlin's baseless claims that Ukraine is run by Nazis.

"We can't judge an entire country," she says. "The majority of them are worried about their lives."

Svitlana also recalls a call from one man who lived in occupied Crimea and had been mobilised to fight against his own family, and country.

It seems Moscow has now blocked the phone numbers from being reached inside Russia. Calls from either a UK or Russian Sim card are greeted with an error message.

"Ask yourself a question - what are you fighting for?" says the dramatic voice-over in Ukraine's "I Want To Live" propaganda video aimed at Russian soldiers.

Explosions appear in sync with evocative music, and there are images of Russian soldiers apparently surrendering before two phone numbers are shown at the end.

They're even told to wave a white flag if they're too close to the front line.

This is, of course, part of the information war. The anatomy of Ukraine's attempts to weaken Russian morale.

On the walls of Svitlana's office are pictures of Ukrainian prisoners of war. They're all thought to still be alive, and this hotline is central to Kyiv's efforts to bring them home.

Once they surrender, Russian prisoners of war (PoWs) can be used as currency in future exchanges.

According to the Institute for the Study of War, the Kremlin is also carrying out more prisoner of war exchanges as it tries to soothe critics from inside Russia.

There are thought to be thousands of PoWs on both sides, but the exact numbers aren't clear.

"We especially want to target the partially mobilised who not only can't fight but are thrown in as cannon fodder," says Vitalii Matviyenko, who heads up the scheme.

"This project was created so their lives will be guaranteed if they surrender voluntarily."

For outnumbered Ukraine, it's also hoped it will soften the belly of their larger invader.

Additional reporting by Daria Sipigina, Hanna Chornous and Moose Campbell.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-63782764

:har::har: I love it!! :Kaleun_Applaud:

Antonovs with deactivated transponders seem to have established an airlift form China to Russia, from an industrial region in China that is known to be a hub for military production. It is to be assumed that Xi just spend cheap words on the summit, and in reality now actively supports and supplies Putin. Quelle surprise! The news made headlines in some German media this morning: and in record time were pushed down the site and disappeared from sight: such news is not wanted to disturb business relations with China, I think. The Ukrainians say this:

https://en.defence-ua.com/events/rus..._day-4974.html

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The American defense company Raytheon and MBDA want to enable production of Patriot missiles in Germany as well - the project would be historic. No Patriots have ever been built outside the USA. Production is even to be doubled. That is the plan. No German reaction so far. Wiuth the ukriane war most likly beign the primary intention, this is not without secondary intentions, I think: driving a wedge between European arms producers in their bid for future air defence missiles by luring Germany to buy Patriots from own production instead. Paris is already pissed by Berlin's (so far only claimed) decision to buy the F-35 instead of French airplanes or the future (just planned and currently unlikely to materialise) joint strike fighter project. American arms producers must like it when the Germans and French dont come together.

Nato is planning on sending Patriot to Ukraine are they also preparing to send instructors with these missile system ?

Why I ask is that in the news here I heard that Russia had said that these Patriot and the instructor is legit targets

It made me think--Just like Vietnam first weapon-then weapon+instructors....

Markus

European Commission proposes to create fund from frozen Russian assets to compensate for losses to Ukraine, - von der Leyen

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Wednesday that Brussels, together with its partners, will develop a plan to confiscate frozen Russian assets in order to transfer them to the reconstruction of Ukraine and to compensate for the damage caused by the Russian war.

As Censor.NET informs about this with reference to "European Truth".

"Russia must pay financially for the destruction it has caused. The damage caused to Ukraine is estimated at 600 billion euros. Russia and its oligarchs must compensate Ukraine for the damage and cover the costs of rebuilding the country.
And we have the means to make Russia pay. We blocked 300 billion euros of reserves of the Russian Central Bank and froze 19 billion euros of Russian oligarchs' money," von der Leyen said.

She noted that in the short term, the EU could, together with its partners, create a structure for managing these funds and investing them.

"Then we would use the received funds for Ukraine. And after the lifting of sanctions, these funds should be used to ensure that Russia pays full compensation for the damages caused to Ukraine," the president of the European Commission said.

She added that the EU will work on an international agreement with partners to make this possible in a legal way. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3383917

Over 100,000 Ukrainian defenders and 20,000 civilians died in war with Russia, - von der Leyen. VIDEO

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that Ukraine has already lost more than 100,000 defenders.

As reported by Censor.NET, she stated this during a speech in Brussels.

"Russia's invasion of Ukraine brought death, devastation, and untold suffering. We all remember the horrors of Buchi. It is estimated that more than 20,000 civilians and 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died to date. Russia must pay for its terrible crimes, in particular for the crime of aggression against a sovereign state," said the President of the European Commission.

It will be recalled that earlier President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia will suffer huge losses in the war against Ukraine. They are 10 times higher than the losses of the Ukrainian army. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3383923