Nobody seems to have addressed the problem of how this will be achieved
It will be achieved in three days, through superior tactics, weaponry and a more highly trained force of motivated soldiers.
DT78
Free Member
Not sure if its just media hype but zelensky has got to be the closest I’ve ever seen to a proper ‘leader’ or ‘hero’ in my time. I’m sure he has his bad points too which aren’t reported on.
I couldn't agree more it was a very emotional speech to congress, Putin & Russia are finished the US can get rid of an enemy without loss of personal.
Zelensky’s interview with David Letterman on Netflix is really interesting. Fully agree with the comments about his leadership, but we shouldn’t forget he is a trained actor and entertainer. I don’t say that to take anything away from his leadership and achievements, but more that he really does know how to present himself and his message in a way that most politicians have no idea.
He did come across to me as very Churchillian in his interview, but similarly I expect him to be a war leader and not a peacetime one once it comes.
the US can get rid of an enemy without loss of personal.
This is what the relatively small number of "we're giving them OOOOOOWWW MUCH!?" talking heads in the US are missing.
The USA is getting to see one of its most dedicated Geopolitical adversaries have their global diplomatic, economic and military standing obliterated in record time at a relative bargain price without having to place a single US soldier in harms way, all whilst holding the moral high ground, that almost never happens.
There may be unexpected consequences down the line but right now, as it stands, this is a win, win, win for the Biden administration.
Which is why, of course, some people are desperate to undermine support for it.
but more that he really does know how to present himself and his message in a way that most politicians have no idea.
Yeah that's exactly what's needed though. That's what Churchill was good at.
I'm sure there's a sizeable group in the US military and political infrastructure that consider this war to be the best thing that's happened to them. For (on US military spending terms) a relative pittance they're getting frontline access to Russian military comms & hardware, they're wiping out a significant proportion of the Russian army (and a bit of the navy) at a cost of close to zero lives and political consequence.
They also get to test out some of their kit on a real enemy, clear the decks of the old stuff and their financial donors at Lockheed et al get $billions of orders for newer shinier things.
It will be achieved in three days, through superior tactics, weaponry and a more highly trained force of motivated soldiers.
You are Darth Putin AICMFP (You master strategist you).
Not sure if its just media hype but zelensky has got to be the closest I’ve ever seen to a proper ‘leader’ or ‘hero’ in my time. I’m sure he has his bad points too which aren’t reported on.
Ahhh yes he has many bad points that the mainstream media dont EVER report on. just have a look into his dealings with offshore accounts that him and his inner circle of generals etc are involved in, Pandora papers etc etc.
Don't forget BBC say Putin bad , US good.....
Whilst the US do a deal last week to supply us with gas to "save us" after Putin ( cough cough US) blows up his own gas supply pipe .....................
The whole situation is totally f****** up
I can’t think of a single recent british pm which would have done what he’s done
With regards lining their own pockets I can assure you they probably have...
we shouldn’t forget he is a trained actor
Effective leaders are always actors to some degree. They need to persuade other people to follow them. Looking brave and confident is easy when things are going well. When things get difficult, a bit of showmanship helps a lot.
Don’t forget BBC say Putin bad , US good…..
Well they are at least 50% right wouldn't you say? I don't hear many rational people claiming that Putin is a misunderstood, salt of the earth chap doing a great job. We all know that no individual or country is purely 'good' or 'bad', but if you're forcing me to make a choice in the example quoted, I'll be choosing the US thanks very much - far from perfect though they are.
You can believe Putin is a good guy if you want, if you do, I know a Nigerian prince who needs a helping hand, just need some seed money to get started 😉
Keva
Free Member’cause everyone throws missiles at their brothers, it’s normal isn’t it.
Come round my brothers' place on christmas day at around 4pm, by that time we'll definitely be throwing things at each other.
https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2022/12/sudden-increase-in-russian-navy-activity-in-black-sea/
If anything comes if it, possibly revenge for the Washington trip.
Alleging a significant incease in Rus Naval activity
Alleging a significant incease in Rus Naval activity
If that increase equates to yet more Russian military carelessness with cigarettes in dangerous places - in this case their only aircraft carrier - then this is bob on 😃
Not that I’m rubbishing the report, but I would have thought that the RF moving their assets out of port would have the UA seeing an opportunity..
I would hazard a guess it would involve firing missiles rather than getting close to anything.
Alleging a significant incease in Rus Naval activity
Every risk provides an opportunity.
just have a look into his dealings with offshore accounts that him and his inner circle of generals etc are involved in, Pandora papers etc etc.
Would those be the offshore accounts in British tax havens,run by British businessmen, with British lawyers handling the legal aspects and ex British politicians and other members of the establishment working as part time directors ?.
I don't always agree with dyna_ti, but I share this sentiment:
Would those be the offshore accounts in British tax havens,run by British businessmen, with British lawyers handling the legal aspects and ex British politicians and other members of the establishment working as part time directors ?
Same British professional services companies that enable anyone with a few quid. Putin’s mates, whomever. One of the many modern day stains on our country (see Mone thread, NHS thread etc)
For a leader of a country bordering Russia, I can see why he would want to off shore a load of money. Imagine if they were invaded and you and you fell down some stairs in the panic. You want your family wealth accessible from anywhere. British politicians don’t have the same defence.
Just as an FYI in case no-one has seen it:
Zelensky Pandora papers: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/oct/03/revealed-anti-oligarch-ukrainian-president-offshore-connections-volodymyr-zelenskiy
TLDR:
This looks like its principally related to Kvartal95, the tv and film studio that Zelenzky and his friends set up in Ukraine back in about 2003 (point here is that was a very different time in Ukraine as it would have been during full-on state corruption). A lot of the team that set up and ran Kvartal 95 are now Zelenzky's advisors or are in some senior positions in the government. Not that surprising TBH as they were seeking to set up a completely new government and wanted to start from a a clean slate (Very interesting info on wikipedia about how they were running this, some of which looks quite smart/transparent for a new political party that is pushing an anti-corruption ticket TBH).
Interestingly as the Servant of the People party started to fully develop and moved toward gaining the govt and presidency, the assets were switched (not sure if divested) to friends and business associates plus one studio that still pays a dividend to Zelensky while he no longer owns shares in it. No info on how much though.
Probably the most important thing here is to remember that, while he was evidently a smart and successful businessman before becoming president (so the whole "he's just a comedian" jibe is not true) Zelensky opted to stay in the country when Russia invaded, rather than run and live a comfortable life in exile...
(note, thats a a life not at billionaire oligarch level: Kvartal 95's principle market outside of Ukraine looks to have been Russia and Belarus so its most likely taken a very big financial hit due to the war)
That tells you far more about the man, and the people around him, than what looks like a a bit of muck that is possibly being dragged up by some who what him out, now who could want that? Hmm....
Meanwhile, someone else spends 20+ years years skimming from the country he leads, engages in full-on corruption to breathtaking level and builds a secret $1Bn mansion...
Zelensky may have done a good job in the current situation, but he is not exactly Snow White.
https://twitter.com/trtworld/status/1392873058289995778?s=20&t=RpQFn7QDuKjRmdw_GnjQ3A
" he is not exactly Snow White."
Go and find someone who is. Might take a while...
snow white.....surely she was pretty show white?
As someone said in a comparison to Churchill above, he has a lot of faults. But he also appears to be the right man for the job just now.
Get the war dealt with and then work out if he's the right guy to be the peacetime leader afterwards
As someone said in a comparison to Churchill above, he has a lot of faults. But he also appears to be the right man for the job just now.
Exactly. The right person at the right time.
I lot of people love the get very excited about pointing out that the the world is all shades of grey and not simple black and white, as is they are the first to notice this. Well, guess what, we all know already, and have done for a looooong time.
Get the war dealt with and then work out if he’s the right guy to be the peacetime leader afterwards
Aah, ok, I hadn't realised that you were too busy digging a trench or manning a battery to have the bandwidth to consider the fuller picture of who our "allies" actually are. Maybe next time you're on leave....
Denis is a Russian expat in New York, doesn't hold out much hope for a post war Russia
https://twitter.com/betelgeuse1922/status/1606249858926612485?t=XHPkni91wV0sF8t0PBLjaw&s=19
I didnt see much verification of the gun crime numbers apart from this https://www.newsweek.com/russia-gun-crime-surge-police-kursk-ukraine-border-1761774
I guess both Ukraine and Russia ate going to have some severe PSTD issues. Theres a few here that are ex services, whats your take on how well (or not) western nations look after those with PTSD? Can't imagine anyone here has a good grip on how well set up Ukraine is?
Well, whilst we’ve been taking time off over Xmas, seems our Ukrainian friends have been very busy.
Lots of fairly horrific pics and videos circulating showing massive Wagner losses around Bakhmut, precipitating a ‘tactical’ retreat by all accounts. Given the importance the RF have placed on taking it, this is fairly serious from their point of view. So sorry for the poor sods who’ve been conscripted into that particular hell.
Perhaps more importantly lots of activity around Svatove and Kreminna, with some saying that advance UA units have entered both. That’s uncorrobarated as yet, but certainly UA are advancing, taking high ground to the west of Svatove and putting Kreminna into a box (or three sides of) with a real risk of it being cut off within days (or even hours). If these two fall it means Severodonetsk will be next. The whole Donbas line will be compromised, as will Luhansk (apparently all admin personnel have been evacuated from Svatove to Luhansk in the last couple of days..)
And the Russians keep on allowing their airfields to take a pasting.
Anyone fancy a sweep on how long it’ll be before Vlad falls out of a window..
I've never actually served in air defense, but surely it would be better to shoot down the drones over open countryside than to wait until they're over the target?
https://twitter.com/christogrozev/status/1607290086806425601
What air defense doing?
surely it would be better to shoot down the drones over open countryside than to wait until they’re over the target?
I'd assume the issue is that you have to concentrate your air defence around the obvious targets. Otherwise you need thousands or tens of thousands of AA missiles scattered around open countryside, as you never know where a drone is going to come from, or what direction its heading. And the crews would probably mostly be drowsing as a result of boredom.
An update from Mike Martin, who is in an optimistic mood:
https://twitter.com/ThreshedThought/status/1607311824566849537?t=MM3JDLTLF8CaRmMkwO1u6Q&s=19
We have two Russians for boxing day dinner today - SIL's wife (so you can understand why she has been ostracized from RU) and her younger brother. He works in IT for a US company and has fled to Serbia to avoid the draft.
We have two Russians for boxing day dinner today
Chianti? Fava beans?
Chianti? Fava beans?
I'll ask my SIL - she's eaten at the downstairs restaurant plenty of times....
anyway...RU wife was saying one reason there isn't an uprising against Putin is that everyone hates each other. Where in the UK/Europe - gay/lesbian/trans etc etc are supportive of each other in RU where homosexuality isn't supported lesbians hate gays and vice versa. Coupled with hatred class divides then there is just no unity. Putin still isn't enough to unite the populace due to his 20years of dividing people.
eaten at the downstairs restaurant
*s*****
😂
RU wife was saying one reason there isn’t an uprising against Putin is that everyone hates each other
This, I think, is the standard way that autocrats hold onto power. They ensure that other groups have to compete with each other, preventing anyone from becoming powerful enough to challenge the leader. Problem is, it weakens the country overall because everyone is battling for survival, not working together.
eaten at the downstairs restaurant
Took me a while, but I got it in the end.
Impossible to know what's going on on the ground, but I don't think the attempted offensive in Bakhmut achieved anything positive for Russia - just wasted thousands of lives and equipment that they will struggle to replace.
https://twitter.com/PhillipsPOBrien/status/1607337910079979521
Even the Wagner mercenaries must be down to battle fodder convicts by now. Wonder what happened to that Chechen leaders sons he sent down to play soldiers?
Wagner are saving their best for the Central African Republic, apparently. They can make a lot of money there by plundering the CAR economy. They don't want to waste good troops in Ukraine so they are sending conscripts and paroled criminals there to get slaughtered.
https://twitter.com/KenRoth/status/1607404078044254209
An update from the Kyiv bakery I mentioned a couple of pages back. On Christmas day they reached their crowdfund target for a new generator!
https://twitter.com/GoodBreadKyiv/status/1607325821471162368
On the subject of Bakhmut, they have been delivering bread there recently. That is 700km from Kyiv...
https://twitter.com/GoodBreadKyiv/status/1592461173043388417
I think the Wagner mercs are there simply to force thousands of conscripts to attack the town repeatedly
Its back to WW1 human wave tactics, WW2 commisars who will shoot you if you retreat.
The only way this works is if the defender runs out of ammo or melts their breaches.
Utter stupidly and the number killed is shocking, although we will never know just how many thousands it is.
Be interesting to see how far from the Russian official line (drone shot down but 3 killed-the explosion looked big)
The actual damage to Engels airbase is,
Satellite images should reveal more
https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1607672850839642112?t=zl9J3Okw_92H2pir9W5l-g&s=19
Fire seems to have been right where aircraft are usually parked.
https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1607244139686404097
https://twitter.com/FriskChristian/status/1607315698648494081
Got any more links?
Links sausage magnate🤣🤣🤣
It's not funny if you have to explain it... 😜
I thought it might need explaining to a non-Scot.
Or is a link sausage just a Borders thing?
I'm new here, much more familiar with Lincolnshire pork sausage (which I initially assumed link sausage was an abbreviation for)
Anyway,
Ah. Maybe it would have been a bit flat.
I'll try not be too ..
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much more familiar with Lincolnshire pork sausage (which I initially assumed link sausage was an abbreviation for)
AFAIK, it's just a chain of sausages. Very common in North America.
I'm actually vegetarian as well as English so trying to make jokes well outside my area of expertise
I’ll try not be too ..
That, was, terrible. How long did it take you to find four in the same photo
Nope, I grew up with links in Cumbria
And again, Ukrainian's demonstrating that brain will overcome the brawn of Pootin's rabble.
Nope, I grew up with links in Cumbria
Scotland lite (runs for cover) 😉
It was the sausage king and his mate that went on an unscheduled flight.
2x window failure.
Bungalows must be a hitman's hardest challenge right now.
They are not even trying to cover them up.
Ah. Maybe it would have been a bit flat.
I’ll try not be too ..
I wonder if he landed on the Lorne
I wonder if he landed on the Lorne
Was he frozen?
I have a suacispision he was pushed.
suacispision
That is not easy to say
I have a suacispision he was pushed.
None of the puns have been great, but that is the wurst
Where was the health and saveloy officer?
Not just those two in India either. Ex head of the Russian ground forces - General Alexei Maslov - died suddenly, as did a navy official in charge of their submarine program. They’re lashing out at anyone who could be perceived to be a threat..
They’re lashing out at anyone who could be perceived to be a threat..
Good. Hopefully one of the threats will decide to act before he gets bumped and manage to do for Putin. I know the risk is getting some other nutter in charge, but we can live in hope.
They’re lashing out at anyone who could be perceived to be a threat..
Paranoia? Or are there genuinely plots afoot? Even if there only one or two plots actually being plotted it would make the top brass a little paranoid about the other three hundred the rummor mill is on about
That's basically the plot of spectre isn't it
Or Putin has his own tower with a massive eyeball
That’s basically the plot of spectre isn’t it
I was thinking a little...
Omg it looks genuine!
The big shipping re-insurers are unlikely to continue cover for ships in the Belarus/Russia/Ukraine/Moldova areas in 2023.
Shipping re-insurance usually runs from 1st Jan each year and insures the insurers against extended risks, e.g. coastal clean-up, because a single insurer couldn't cover the expense of every risk
Turkiye had earlier insisted on proof of insurance to navigate the Dardanelles and Bosphorus to protect them from the cost of damage to their coastline, so expect this announcement to complicate supply to and from the affected countries until alternatives are arranged https://www.reinsurancene.ws/major-ship-reinsurers-to-cease-covering-key-war-related-risks/
reports of yet more missles being fired. sanctions aren't working if russia can still fire hundreds per day. they need to stop the supply
Yep, so much for Russia's stocks being depleted
It looks like Russia has started pounding Ukraine again or at least used it as dumping ground for obsolete ammo. In a long run, if no peace is available, Ukraine will turn into "an experimental" state for both NATO/West/EU and Russia.
Probably most of the arm manufacturers will see this as a good opportunity to test out new weapons and technologies. (I always wonder if someone will come up with "Predator" technologies)
Benefits to the arm manufacturers will be an increased in share prices. Plenty of investors will invest in this sector for good return, especially in the US. Looking back to the history of WWII, US was/is the powerhouse of manufacturing with commercial firms investing heavily in the war efforts.
Not sure whether this is overly optimistic or asking for trouble as it could be worse
https://twitter.com/christogrozev/status/1608380339168366592?s=20&t=alCGrIgOCs6JBERYtoQC8Q
Curious suggestion mind you.