Russian invasion of Ukraine | Fewer tweets, more discussion

Reports that Russia have been making some gains of villages in the Donbass - does anyone know how much we should read into this? I am assuming it isn't a strategic gain.
 
Frosty said:
Reports that Russia have been making some gains of villages in the Donbass - does anyone know how much we should read into this? I am assuming it isn't a strategic gain.
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Slow, plodding gains. Reports of being harassed along their supply lines and unable to take full advantage of their advances (see post 28484).

 
Frosty said:
Reports that Russia have been making some gains of villages in the Donbass - does anyone know how much we should read into this? I am assuming it isn't a strategic gain.
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It’s all about stalemating them while Ukrainian armed forces are undergoing the intense training in Nato countries on all the new western toys they’ll be delivered. Arestovich (one of Zelensky advisers) suggests the impact from new weapons will become more and more evident by the late Maye/early June.
 
NicolaSacco said:
I’d imagine that the media in a particular country focus mainly on threats to that country. We’ve already seen Russia cutting off gas supply to Poland and Bulgaria. It’s threatened to bring nuclear weapons close to the Baltic sea in response to Finland abs Sweden joining NATO. It’s trying to destabilise Moldova, and it’s definitely made threats against the US for providing weapons. By and large I think most of those threats are empty, but are designed to be quotable by the media of the affected country and hopefully (for the Russians) change opinions.
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For your information, their nuclear heads have long been stationed in Kaliningrad.
 
Frosty said:
Reports that Russia have been making some gains of villages in the Donbass - does anyone know how much we should read into this? I am assuming it isn't a strategic gain.
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Gaining and holding are two different things.
 
Rajma said:
For your information, their nuclear heads have long been stationed in Kaliningrad.
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I know! But it didn’t stop Russia claiming it would nuclearise the area, and probably leaked it to the Scandinavian press. As I said, empty threats.
 
Youtube thought it was a good idea to watch this again, miss this guy.




"He's quite clearly embarked on a course of 1 man and 1 party rule, this is extremely dangerous" Yeh....
 
rpitroda said:
I’m getting pretty fed up of this now. I am fully cognisant of the risks and potential global impact of escalating this, but to my mind the time has come to enforce our way of life. Every minute this goes on, the more we embolden Russia and the more we give away and erode that ethos. Ukraine might not be in NATO but this is now beyond that fact. History has told us that people like Putin don’t settle for a bit. The more we don’t do enough, the more he feels he can do. It’s time to take another step in support in my view, and that’s at least more significant equipment provision and a no fly zone. As I said I’m fully aware of what that means, but it’s time.
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Impatience is a bad reason to go to war.
 
The German news magazine Der Spiegel speculates that Germany is sending some models of Panzerhaubitze 2000 to Ukraine and is also training Ukrainian soldiers on them. That would be a different calibre than the Gepard flak tank.
 
ColoRed said:
The German news magazine Der Spiegel speculates that Germany is sending some models of Panzerhaubitze 2000 to Ukraine and is also training Ukrainian soldiers on them. That would be a different calibre than the Gepard flak tank.
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I think it has been confirmed that Germany will send 155mm ammo to Ukraine and will train Ukrainians on the PzH 2000 in Germany.

However so far only the Netherlands have confirmed to send some units to Ukraine, if Germany should add some and would include the SMArt 155 ammunition this could be huge against Russian convoys etc. And I have some hope that this ammo type will be included in the deliveries as Germany hasn't withhold rare/sophisticated systems when available (like the DM-22 anti tank mine I posted about yesterday). (SMArt 155 has a range of up to 28km, descends on a parachute and can automatically detect and attack tanks etc - you just need to fire precise enough to get in range, but you do not need to directly fire onto the vehicle as you would need to with classic projectiles).
 
I know people are dismissing it as just bluster but all this Russian talk of nuclear warfare is creepy as feck. I understand that it's a different mentality in Russia but you'd think their citizens would be scared by this too and there'd be more internal pressure.

and yes i'm aware that any dissent is quickly cracked down upon but if enough people did it....
 
Simbo said:
They seem to quite like their Starlink and Brit/Swe NLAW's.

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Was about to post that thread. The part about the callousness towards their own comrades is kind of bizarre.

Irwin99 said:
I know people are dismissing it as just bluster but all this Russian talk of nuclear warfare is creepy as feck. I understand that it's a different mentality in Russia but you'd think their citizens would be scared by this too and there'd be more internal pressure.

and yes i'm aware that any dissent is quickly cracked down upon but if enough people did it....
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I think they might just buy the propaganda and not know better. They might think nuclear war is something Russia does to others, not something that can be done to Russia.
 
MTF said:
Was about to post that thread. The part about the callousness towards their own comrades is kind of bizarre.


I think they might just buy the propaganda and not know better. They might think nuclear war is something Russia does to others, not something that can be done to Russia.
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I have real trouble understanding that in an age of nuclear weapons and interconnected economies. The Cold War for example was all about a mutual fear of nuclear aggression, it's hardly likely that anyone of that era has forgotten that threat.

I guess I just find it hard to believe that when their government talks about nuclear war that citizens don't think "hang on a minute, this is insane".
 
Irwin99 said:
I know people are dismissing it as just bluster but all this Russian talk of nuclear warfare is creepy as feck. I understand that it's a different mentality in Russia but you'd think their citizens would be scared by this too and there'd be more internal pressure.

and yes i'm aware that any dissent is quickly cracked down upon but if enough people did it....
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Don't worry, it becomes less creepy when you know that Russia changes its message depending on the audience. To the West they're using nuclear threats to scare us but they're saying different things to India for example.

(According to a former diplomat I listened to)
 
Irwin99 said:
I guess I just find it hard to believe that when their government talks about nuclear war that citizens don't think "hang on a minute, this is insane".
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Thinking??? Thinking might get you in trouble. Better trust the Leader... leave all thinking to him.



(I am joking, but it happens in many authoritarian societies. That's why people loved Stalin, and he was sending them to the gulags by the millions. )
 
Simbo said:
They seem to quite like their Starlink and Brit/Swe NLAW's.

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Who was it again who said Chechen soldiers were real life James Bonds? Was it the guy who recently had this break down claiming Russia is clearly winning the war?
 
Zehner said:
Who was it again who said Chechen soldiers were real life James Bonds? Was it the guy who recently had this break down claiming Russia is clearly winning the war?
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Yes. Though the Chechen reputation wasn't entirely without merit. I believe they were regarded as pretty good jihadist fighters in conflicts outside Chechnya such as Syria.
 
Irwin99 said:
I know people are dismissing it as just bluster but all this Russian talk of nuclear warfare is creepy as feck. I understand that it's a different mentality in Russia but you'd think their citizens would be scared by this too and there'd be more internal pressure.

and yes i'm aware that any dissent is quickly cracked down upon but if enough people did it....
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People are too scared to say anything against Putin or the government. 100 years of dictators have broken them in to submission.
 
The BBC reports:

"Western officials have been briefing on the latest in the war and they say Russia has continued to build up forces in and around the Donbas and are making minor gains.

"But when they come up against genuine military objectives, they are finding it difficult to overcome the staunch Ukrainian resistance and they are suffering losses," an official said.

Heavy rain is also hampering Russian progress. "Russians don't like to fight in the rain,” an official said, adding that the Russians have poor tactical awareness and continue to suffer from logistical difficulties.

They have the ability to operate off road, but officials say it’s surprising that they still choose not to do so.

Even in places where Ukrainian forces have found themselves encircled, they have managed to resupply their forces "for a surprising length of time". (Mariupol being the most obvious example).

Officials noted that even in places where Russia has taken ground, Ukrainian forces have shown a “remarkable” ability to counter-attack - sometimes doing it so fast that the Russians quickly find themselves on the back foot.

Ukrainian special forces, operating behind Russian lines, are exploiting the vulnerability of long supply lines, which helps to buy time for Ukraine."
 
rpitroda said:
I’m getting pretty fed up of this now. I am fully cognisant of the risks and potential global impact of escalating this, but to my mind the time has come to enforce our way of life. Every minute this goes on, the more we embolden Russia and the more we give away and erode that ethos. Ukraine might not be in NATO but this is now beyond that fact. History has told us that people like Putin don’t settle for a bit. The more we don’t do enough, the more he feels he can do. It’s time to take another step in support in my view, and that’s at least more significant equipment provision and a no fly zone. As I said I’m fully aware of what that means, but it’s time.
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Who knew that nuclear armageddon was going to be decided by some guy on a football forum.
 
Irwin99 said:
I know people are dismissing it as just bluster but all this Russian talk of nuclear warfare is creepy as feck. I understand that it's a different mentality in Russia but you'd think their citizens would be scared by this too and there'd be more internal pressure.

and yes i'm aware that any dissent is quickly cracked down upon but if enough people did it....
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US Intelligence basically admitted in the past couple days (I don't know why they did but they did) that they were able to advise the Ukrainians exactly when and where the Russians were going to strike when the war started, which helped the Ukrainians move equipment like war planes to safety. If they know such specific details, they probably have multiple sources of intel from inside Russian command. If those sources are willing to give up this sort of intel, they'll definitely have a bullet ready for Putin if he ever decides to take it to a nuclear level, if I were to guess.
 
The expanded sharing is intended to help Ukraine defend and potentially retake territory in those regions, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity about the sensitive matter.
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Frosty said:
Ironically this statement could have been made by the US, UK or NATO.
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The funny thing is that the likes of Russia, China and North Korea would always be the first to moan and bitch in public whenever a Western power flexs its military muscles so blatantly.
 
Referring to Britain specifically:

" ... Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, suggested that strikes could be authorized against NATO states who provide arms to Ukraine.

She warned: 'Do we understand correctly that for the sake of disrupting the logistics of military supplies, Russia can strike military targets on the territory of those NATO countries that supply arms to the Kyiv regime?"

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/worl...ites-in-pro-ukraine-nato-countries/ar-AAWE2OK
 
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GlastonSpur said:
" ... Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, suggested that strikes could be authorized against NATO states who provide arms to Ukraine.

She warned: 'Do we understand correctly that for the sake of disrupting the logistics of military supplies, Russia can strike military targets on the territory of those NATO countries that supply arms to the Kyiv regime?"

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/worl...ites-in-pro-ukraine-nato-countries/ar-AAWE2OK
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Not much of a surprise that they are less than happy about the current situation.

Also, good fecking luck with that
 
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