Saw a post on twitter few months back, emphasizing the logistical importance of Svatove-Kreminna, basically saying its as important as Kupyansk was (cant recall exact reasons). Expect russians to shelve some of their offensives to hold this line or they might get another Kharkiv style retreat.
Russian invasion of Ukraine | Fewer tweets, more discussion
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
Saw a post on twitter few months back, emphasizing the logistical importance of Svatove-Kreminna, basically saying its as important as Kupyansk was (cant recall exact reasons). Expect russians to shelve some of their offensives to hold this line or they might get another Kharkiv style retreat.
Very good article about the challenges of providing Ukraine with western 4th gen fighters
Really worrryingly, Moldova's PM has just quit.
Huh? Really?
@harms I guess they publish from outside Russia but I wondered how available it is within Russia:
https://verstka.media/
https://verstka.media/
Well, I read it. It’s blocked, I assume, but I always use VPN.
Those who read not government-affiliated media are aware of it, especially since most of them often collaborate and help each other (instead of genuinely competing) due to how the situation is for them at the moment. Verstka, Cherta, Meduza, TV Rain, Mediazona, BBC Russia (technically government-affiliated but not the government I’m talking about)…
Verstka is probably the biggest independent media that was created AFTER the beginning of the war (although, surprisingly, there are quite a few of those, despite the enormous pressure).
Perhaps not as worrying as I thought, as the President remains, but the PM apparently mentioned that it would be easier to govern if people within the country had as much confidence in them as their partners abraod did. That could be interpreted as meaning the people are less pro Western than the government is, and given that Russia stirred the pot by sending a missile through Moldovan and Romanian airspace today, things could be getting tetchy there.
No one reliable reported it so far
Yeh I can't find anything to back it up. Could be old training footage of some sort. No reputable reporter would spread word of a Ukrainian offensive that hasn't happened yet however, there tends to be strict media blackout on such things.
Interesting to see that scaled map they've created there though, whatever it relates to.
edit: ok Thomas now posting it. He's usually very careful. That Anna refused to comment further on the source and location in her comments and stated "only the video may be distributed".
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Something new.
Is there no shame in the Kremlin when they leave those clowns in charge? I know I would be fecking furious if I'm at least a 3-star general at the Pentagon and that I'm forced to see Erik Prince leaving the job to his useless minions in a theater of war.
Are these captions the correct translation? If they are, it is astonishing how crazy these people are. And he talks like he is serious. Are there any Russians who believe they can get to the ... English Channel? And give France and Italy to... Ukrainians??? What is this? Is this a comedy show like Saturday Night Live?
Yep, I keep on asking myself how many brain cells they keep on burning for every week of vodka they drink.
In any case, mercenaries are almost always a joke in a war. One would think that the notorious example of Blackwater would make major governments reject the idea of using mercs as the spearhead of any attack in a war. Between Prigozhyn and Erik Prince, I can't tell who is worse of a vile creature.
They don't have any yellow or blue color tape visible on them, which they usually do while they're fighting. I'm not sure if this indicates that it was likely a training video.
But then again, they might try to confuse the RA like they did with Kherson's first breakthrough. If so, posting the clip online may not be a wise thing to do.
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The man on the left of the still before you start has the flag and the crest of the Ukraine on his chest
That's not enough. In combat, they usually have big, visible tapes on their hats or arms . And the rest of them hardly had anything on them to identify who they were from a few yards away, especially from behind.
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Judging by the current situation it looks like those hypothetical 3-star generals are equally incompetent — the failure of the original blitzkrieg was on the army, Prigozhin wasn't really involved at that point.
Yes, those are correct.
He's a famous troll amongst many things and he thrives in chaos, I doubt that he personally believes that the Russian army can conquer Europe (especially since he's well aware of the situation on the ground) but any prolongation of this conflict means that his position in Russian politics becomes more and more influential. The part about the Ukrainians may be a reference to the idea that Ukrainians are actually Russians (so they'll join Russia once conquered and Russia will "generously" forgive them) or it may be a crude joke, it can be either way with him.
Well, this time, around two weeks?
"Russia also launched 106 missiles in “massive” waves of countrywide attacks on Friday, “particularly at civilian infrastructure,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a statement Saturday." - CNN.
Feckers are not exactly slowing down atm, kind of indicating that they still have a lot of necessary stuff to keep on making those?
Would people here think it would be counter productive if Ukraine covert forces blew up electricity grids? Im just thinking its not the same as blowing up Russian supermarkets full of civilians, but i just feel that Russians in Moscow need to feel they are actually at war and that their quality of life has to take a hit.
I think that would be counter-productive, for reasons I quote from my previous post.
Yeah i would say counter-productive, legitimizing Russia's war against the "terrorists from Ukraine". Also, i would assume Moscow and the bigger citys in general are more anti-war than the rest of Russia, but im not sure.
Russia should remain isolated pariah state until the citizens start asking themselves why no one wants to trade with them, why they don't have access to this and that, why Russian economy is sinking. Hopefully the question leads them back to Putin.
Yeah, it’s probably going to put Russians (even more) against Ukraine rather than make them question the idea of this war. I mean, if mobilization didn’t do it…
And the rest of the world would most likely be less eager to help if Ukraine was going to attack civilian infrastructure like Russia does.
I just saw the specific machine gun model the Ukrainians are using in the video. If the sound of that thing was enough to scare grandfathers or great-grandfathers in their younger days, how stupid can Prizhogyn and the military brass be to hope for success through human waves against a number of those?
For those who don't get that reference: We see a German MG3, which is based on the MG42 used in WW2 (the famous "Hitler's buzzsaw")
Has there been any talk on how Ukraine are going to cope with the cost of all of the assistance in weapons and equipment?
Surely the US etc are not doing this for free?
Plus the cost of rebuilding the country's destroyed areas will be massive.
Surely the US etc are not doing this for free?
Plus the cost of rebuilding the country's destroyed areas will be massive.
They have an abundance of resources in Ukraine which is why Russia wants it in the first place.
So far almost all weaponry has been either directly donated or was bought by Ukraine, but refinanced by funds from the EU or US. Some small stuff was likely directly bought by Ukraine (think of all the COTS drones they repurposed for dropping grenades etc), possibly also ammunition and small weapons, especially if it came from countries who are not really supporting Ukraine (think of Iranian artillery ammo that somehow appeared in Ukraine possession), but that isn't the biggest share of the costs for the war. The financial part of the actual war is so far pretty straightforward - Ukraine fight, the West provides weapons to do that. It is much more a political or military decision what is provided than a financial question.
Rebuilding the country and covering the ongoing costs due to the destruction, loss of workers due to having to fight or having left the country etc is a different and more complicated topic and one area where Ukraine definitely will struggle, unless a massive programme will be created, similar to the Marshall plan after WW2.
Always with that right hand gripping something
Cheers. The level of destruction might require something like the Marshall plan. The threat of Russia doing this all over again might make it very complicated
For comparison, the UK only finished paying its WW2 debt to the US on 31 December 2006. Most the Russian debt was written off because of the cold war basically, they were never going to pay it.
In this instance, the US and others sending aid aren't doing it just for the benefit of Ukraine, its for their own benefit and security also. Leaving Ukraine with crippling debt leaving them weak and vulnerable is not an option. The US won't burden them with that, even from a completely selfish point of view.
Russians killing those who refuse...
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/02/12/europe/wagner-convicts-eastern-ukraine-pleitgen-intl/index.html
Exactly right. The West will benefit hugely from a weakened or even defeated Russia. Especially if it leads to the end of Putin in whatever way or form that may be. It's also of huge benefit with regards to seeing how our equipment works in places like this and also the Intel gained from seeing the Russian forces in action.
I'm absolutely certain that most of the world thought Russia had a far bigger, more capable and modern military.
Ultimately the US, UK and rest of Europe want peace in the region. They want Ukraine back whole, and they want a Russia they can work and trade with. From what I've seen and read, a large percentage of Russians want a fairer democracy too.
I think it's only Russia (Putin) that have a different goal. You can absolutely guarantee if Russia did retake Ukraine, or huge areas of it, then they (he) wouldn't stop there. He's made it more than clear countless times, hence aiding Ukraine to weaken or even defeat him is absolutely the best option for everyone. It's only the Republicans that seem to have an issue with that, and I'm certain that's because most of them are in Putin's pocket or have shady large campaign donations from Russia.
Ignore the awful music but this it is pretty insane footage from few days ago:
I think all the aid coming from the US has been paid for (or at least guaranteed) by the US federal government...
Regarding Europe, a big part of the weapons coming from different EU countries in the 2022 was paid for by the EU (from the EPF and other items in the EU budget)... Some countries even gifted their weapons without systematically asking for compensation from EU's funds (Germany and even Baltic countries -not the richest- did this repeatedly have I heard).
Some heavy weapons will however be sold by big firms to Ukraine directly. Those weapon manufacturers are no heroes. They want their money (and they also need it to boost production or keep it up), and they will get paid by loans guaranteed by the EU. Which means the EU will pay them if Ukraine can't pay in time (Orban has been trying to block this, but most spending within the budget can be done with qualified majority, no need for unanimity).