Russian invasion of Ukraine | Fewer tweets, more discussion

Ukraine’s counteroffensive has made ‘notable progress’ in the last 72 hours, the White House says.

Ukrainian forces have made “notable progress” in their counteroffensive over the last 72 hours, notching wins against the second line of Russian defenders, a White House spokesman, John F. Kirby, said at a news conference on Friday.

The United States, Mr. Kirby said, will not discuss Ukraine’s war plans, or how its forces would exploit their gains. But, he added, the U.S. expects Ukraine to continue to push further south, requiring “tough fighting ahead.”
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https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/0...ess-in-the-last-72-hours-the-white-house-says
 
VorZakone said:
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It's not just a logistical hub for Russia. If Ukraine could secure the area enough to bring up their big guns they can cut off Russia's land route between east and west. They don't need to take Melitopol.
 
stefan92 said:
I just listened to the beginning and NONE of the things they say match what I have seen on all other sources.

The numbers of Ukrainian losses are about 10 times higher than anywhere else reported.
The claim of Russian technological superiority is definitely false.
The claim of an unready US army is questionable at best.

At best these are the ramblings of an old man that claims everything was better in his days.

I only noticed one true statement, that the US for a long time did not fight an equal enemy instead of an insurgency. But I think he just doesn't realize that a war US/NATO vs Russia would be exactly that at this point - devastating massive air strikes on Russia would quickly turn Russian resistence into an insurgency.

Also interestingly typical for this kind of commentator that guy is ignoring logistics (which Russia is terrible at) but focussing on their ammo stocks and production (which might indeed be quite well).
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Yeah, well, the US was "winning" the Vietnam War until the last helicopters were evacuating from Saigon, and we were led to believe that there were WMDs in Iraq, and we presumably spent billions building up the Afghan army until it collapsed like a house of cards the moment we left Kabul and Taliban took over Kabul within minutes of US retreating.

Which is a long winded way of saying that official sources DO lie all the föcking time when it serves their purpose
 
Sir Matt said:
:lol: Mike Flynn was a three star general. Doesn't mean he's not a stone cold moron. MacGregor used to go on RT regularly and is clearly still on the Russian payroll. There's a reason he's showing up on Tucker's youtube channel and Fox News. MacGregor was saying that Russia was on the verge of defeating Ukraine three days into the war and that they'd be annihilated if they didn't surrender. Why would anyone take him seriously?
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The official view from Pentagon seems to be that Ukraine had more leverage militarily last winter, and should have pressed for peace talks then.... which seems to imply that that they're LOSING on the ground since then. Congrats to all who waved the Ukraine flag and invoked its people as they attacked and smeared diplomacy.

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/national-security-daily/2023/08/18/milley-had-a-point-00111878

The conversation about Ukraine’s counteroffensive has shifted from one of excitement to disappointment, as Kyiv’s slow gains lead some U.S. officials and insiders alike to whisper: Should we have listened to Gen. MARK MILLEY?

In November, the Joint Chiefs chair said Ukraine’s strong military position and upcoming winter season combined to make a good time to consider peace talks. Plus, operations to expel Russian forces out of the whole of Ukraine –— which VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY demands — had a slim chance of success. Administration officials immediately scrambled to assure their counterparts in Kyiv that Milley was riffing and not reflecting a secret sentiment in the White House.
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Of course the Admin is pressing on with fighting Russia until the last Ukrainian
 
Suedesi said:
The official view from Pentagon seems to be that Ukraine had more leverage militarily last winter, and should have pressed for peace talks then.... which seems to imply that that they're LOSING on the ground since then. Congrats to all who waved the Ukraine flag and invoked its people as they attacked and smeared diplomacy.

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/national-security-daily/2023/08/18/milley-had-a-point-00111878



Of course the Admin is pressing on with fighting Russia until the last Ukrainian
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You need to do so much better than "seems to imply" when all the official, unofficial, and osint sources say the exact opposite.
 
Suedesi said:
The official view from Pentagon seems to be that Ukraine had more leverage militarily last winter, and should have pressed for peace talks then.... which seems to imply that that they're LOSING on the ground since then. Congrats to all who waved the Ukraine flag and invoked its people as they attacked and smeared diplomacy.
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:lol:

I hope you're joking. What leverage did they have then they don't have how?

You do realize Russia won't stop, and if Ukraine agreed to stop the war that Russia will restart it as soon as they feel ready.

I know because Putin already broke the Minsk Agreements. They already agreed to leave Ukraine alone.
 
Looks like they're still holding back and wait for the breakthrough.
 
Suedesi said:
The official view from Pentagon seems to be that Ukraine had more leverage militarily last winter, and should have pressed for peace talks then.... which seems to imply that that they're LOSING on the ground since then. Congrats to all who waved the Ukraine flag and invoked its people as they attacked and smeared diplomacy.

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/national-security-daily/2023/08/18/milley-had-a-point-00111878



Of course the Admin is pressing on with fighting Russia until the last Ukrainian
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You seem to be making the assumption the Russians had some intention of negotiating. Not sure it's valid. Or that it would have been a remotely good idea for the Ukrainians to take them up on it.
 
Negotiate, with Putin, someone who breaks every deal ever?

Yeah, right.
 
It is hard to imagine how Ukr can trust Putin after all of it.

But negotiation would be the aim to end this war in the favor of UKR? How else can this war end instead realistically unless Putin is dead?
 
Suedesi said:
The official view from Pentagon seems to be that Ukraine had more leverage militarily last winter, and should have pressed for peace talks then.... which seems to imply that that they're LOSING on the ground since then. Congrats to all who waved the Ukraine flag and invoked its people as they attacked and smeared diplomacy.

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/national-security-daily/2023/08/18/milley-had-a-point-00111878

Of course the Admin is pressing on with fighting Russia until the last Ukrainian
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You really do have such a low opinion of Ukrainians, don't you? To you they're just an object to be toyed with by the greater powers, with no free will to act.
 
The United said:
It is hard to imagine how Ukr can trust Putin after all of it.

But negotiation would be the aim to end this war in the favor of UKR? How else can this war end instead realistically unless Putin is dead?
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Well they'll be hoping to force the Russians to retreat out of Ukraine fully. Whether it's realistic or even possible well time will tell but they want to try and so far they're gradually progressing towards that goal.
 
TwoSheds said:
Well they'll be hoping to force the Russians to retreat out of Ukraine fully. Whether it's realistic or even possible well time will tell but they want to try and so far they're gradually progressing towards that goal.
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Its definitely going to take a lot of time, how long until mud season starts in southern Ukraine, 1 month or so?
 
Morty_ said:
Its definitely going to take a lot of time, how long until mud season starts in southern Ukraine, 1 month or so?
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They were still fighting in (and liberating) Kherson up to mid-November last year, so hopefully we have at least that long.
 
Embarrassing for Russia. After this, they'll probably tail every pilot from now on.
 
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