It wasn’t that long ago that Russia capturing Kyiv looked more likely than not.
https://www.rte.ie/news/ukraine/2023/0220/1357807-biden-ukraine-trip/
Another take on Bidens travel itinerary? Who knows?
It wasn’t that long ago that Russia capturing Kyiv looked more likely than not.
Indeed, just watching Ukraine from above with Russian army just 6 miles outside Kyiv, before school boys with drones gave AFU accurate coordinates to bomb them.
Also a stark contrast to Trump blackmailing Ukraine for dirt on Hunter Biden.
Not even Russia is daft enough to try anything with the US President in Ukraine, the whole world turns against them then.
It's just depressing that it's a year on and still no end in sight, the hope of some type of face saving way to let Putin end his 'special military operation' is looking less likely, and the higher the losses for Russia, the more risk they'll escalate even more.
Fascinating stuff! I love finding out the details of large events
the hope of some type of face saving way to let Putin end his ‘special military operation’ is looking less likely
It’s been impossible since he tried to take the capital city of Ukraine, and cities in the South West, and failed. That told his own people, and the world, that he was trying to subjugate the whole or the majority of Ukraine, and that anything less is a loss. The war can only end in failure now… which sadly means that it will not end. Not in the short term. This will now take years, and the suffering that the people of Ukraine have to endure in that time is directly proportional to the assistance we give their leaders (local and national) to defend them, supply them, house them, feed them, care for them… and we need to embrace them politically, economically, artistically, socially… they need to know we are with them. Biden and other world leaders (including UK PMs that I otherwise disagree with) have been doing the right thing putting themselves personally in the heart of Kyiv with their leaders. Physically there. With them. It’s important symbolism.
leaving reporters like me, who thought they were travelling with the president tonight, making a trip on an aircraft that will not be called Air Force On
I would have been shitting myself on that flight, you're perhaps one itchy trigger finger by a Western hating Wagner employee away from death...
How exactly they made the journey remains under wraps.
Pretty sure Biden was seen entering a DC pizzeria on Sunday ... then he pops up in Ukraine. Thus foolishly revealing that the world elite do indeed have a network of underground tunnels through which they travel.
By the time Americans woke up to the news, Mr Biden, now expected to resurface in Poland for the pre-announced part of his trip, was already tweeting: "Kyiv has captured a part of my heart."
Aha!
Aha!
Busted! Lol
It’s just depressing that it’s a year on and still no end in sight, the hope of some type of face saving way to let Putin end his ‘special military operation’
That was always a myth, the only way putin would end it is by declaring victory and that means capturing & overthrowning Kyiv at a minimum
the higher the losses for Russia, the more risk they’ll escalate even more.
Russia have dialled back the escalation rhetoric even as they lose several 1000s of soldiers weekly
pizzeria
I suppose he was attending a children's party, right ?
Makes me think
That was always a myth, the only way putin would end it is by declaring victory and that means capturing & overthrowning Kyiv at a minimum
Exactly. Putin has no interest in a peace deal. He breaks any agreement as soon as it suits his purposes. We've had 20 years to see exactly how unconcerned he is about human life and how totally untrustworthy he is, yet people still cling to the fantasy that he might call off the war if only he could "save some face." The war is continuing because he has no interest in ending it and living in peace with the rest of the world. Why should other countries be called on to make concessions to him when he could call his army home anytime it pleased him?
I think its Putins "speech" day, and what comes with that.
Expect large missile wave to Ukrainian cities & the odd crazy suicidal offensive attack to gain 3m2 of bog.
What to make of prigohrzins rant about the regular army denying him ammo?
And that he's apparently now finding it harder recruiting from prisons?
Maybe those sledgehammer executions weren't the morale booster he thought they were
https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1627623134382768128?t=XW_H00CCHpcyQay7-SOH5Q&s=19
What to make of prigohrzins rant about the regular army denying him ammo?
What to make of prigohrzins rant about the regular army denying him ammo?
If I was him I’d be making sure that spending time in buildings with lots of windows is entirely off the itinerary!
Interesting though. The only units who seem to have been making any kind of advance (albeit at huge and unsustainable cost) are Wagner ones. If they are cut off from logistics, what do the Russians have left?
The only units who seem to have been making any kind of advance (albeit at huge and unsustainable cost) are Wagner ones.
And they were doing that by basically shoveling thousands of prison convicts into the teeth of the Ukranian guns, which, apart from being horrific on every conceivable human level, was never going to be sustainable and would eventually generate some kind of backlash back home even in Russia in 2023.
I guess Wagner's command expected to have made a major breakthrough by now, making them instant heroes to he Russian public and deflecting any potential criticism of their methods. As it is they still haven't even taken Bakhmut and the Kremlin have clearly decided to clip their wings.
Prigozhin's clear attempts to position himself as an independent centre of power and to contrast his approach to Putin's by being regularly seen near the front and with is troops seem to be catching up with him, rule number 1 of being a thug for hire in an autocratic system... don't show up the boss.
As it is they still haven’t even taken Bakhmut and the Kremlin have clearly decided to clip their wings.
It's also possible that they genuinely can't supply them with the quantities of ammo that they are demanding.
Putins is going on a bit isn’t he…
Has Medvedev passed out drunk again?
Putins is going on a bit isn’t he…
Is he naming all the people who have died for his stupidity?
Good summary of the last 12 months.
And, allegedly, another take on Bidens travel in Ukraine
https://twitter.com/AKamyshin/status/1627957152408125440?t=oNJrOEARm_CkKjZbwXVT9A&s=19
(Actually doesnt say much tbf)
Like the comment about having to hold up other trains for "Rail Force One" so they only had 90% of journeys on time. Southern Rail can only dream about that level of service and they don't have a madman bombing their infrastructure.
Like the comment about having to hold up other trains for “Rail Force One” so they only had 90% of journeys on time. Southern Rail can only dream about that level of service and they don’t have a madman bombing their infrastructure.
Haha! Good point!
FB-ATB
Full Member
Like the comment about having to hold up other trains for “Rail Force One” so they only had 90% of journeys on time. Southern Rail can only dream about that level of service and they don’t have a madman bombing their infrastructure.
The 'Beast From The East' apparently brought every single London bus to a stop.
Not even the Luftwaffe ever managed that!
https://ig.ft.com/russias-war-in-ukraine
Interesting analysis by FT of Russia’s resources to continue fighting. Bottom line - they are facing difficulties now but they aren’t finished yet.
paywalled
they are facing difficulties now
That would explain why the war isn't going Russia's way.
but they aren’t finished yet.
That would explain why they haven't retreated back to Russia.
I'll bet putin was raging that his nuclear threat meant to coincide with his speech failed embarrassingly
https://twitter.com/russianforces/status/1627691327864336387?t=OlqDXprmwHJ1UD0bgs8bWA&s=19
paywalled
Have you tried using a ladder, one around 12 feet high?
Or a bit further along you might find an archive…
Have you tried using a ladder, one around 12 feet high?
Or a bit further along you might find an archive…
What does any of that mean?
Show me a 10ft paywall, I'll show you a 12ft ladder.
12ft.io
Cheers. Doesnt work, "access denied"
edit: shortened URL and working now, thanks
edit2: no it doesnt, nevermind..
paywalled
hmm. That’s odd as I’m certainly not a subscriber!!
Does this help?
https://twitter.com/christopherjm/status/1627913835108610048?s=46&t=G3vzGeILIRr9RKiVnpgD4A
Can see the article now on the above link, more depressing stuff, there is no let up with Russia, they'll just keep throwing poorly equipped and poorly trained soldiers at it and hope, reality is Ukrainians are dug in and fortifying their positions with every passing day of this war, which in turn means the outlook is almost as grim as WW1 if the Russians do mobilise in numbers again.
I've been enjoying the pictures on Twitter (and elsewhere) of people falling asleep during pootin's rant. I wonder how many of them will be snoozing next to an open window in days to come?
Excellent article from RUSI about what Europe needs to do rebuild effective air power. TLDR - stop trying to do everything everywhere, spend money, develop a Suppression / Destruction of Air Defence capability that doesn't rely completely on the USA.
Same sort of thing goes for the Army and Navy.
Politicians need to stop using the armed forces for optional expeditionary war and to cover for strikes.
https://carnegieendowment.org/politika/88753
Interesting piece from Carnegie institute largely looking at the possible scenarios around the 2024 presidential elections due March 2024, primaries for which I think need to happen Autumn this year.
Does this help?
Thanks
The latest thinkings from Mike Martin
https://twitter.com/ThreshedThought/status/1628376681793699840?t=8iITAfP5ZP8aSPEf2LOQhA&s=19
Interesting piece from Carnegie institute largely looking at the possible scenarios around the 2024 presidential elections due March 2024, primaries for which I think need to happen Autumn this year.
cheers, interesting read
assumed this was about American presidential election! Because thats going to be a big issue too, Ukraine would really want to have Russia beat by end of 2024, because a republican president could be Putins best hope.
Meanwhile China seem to be getting more involved in one way or another
China supplying Russia with arms could be bad
https://twitter.com/business/status/1495215961145851905
Prigohrzin now sharing grim picture of scores of Wagner corpses along with his apparently ignored request for more ammo
About that ammo...
Last night himars took out ammo dumps in mariupol that has Russians upset
https://twitter.com/PStyle0ne1/status/1628281987625631746?t=nQ16dPyN0e7AUdWj4SlEYg&s=19
I wonder how much ammo Russia has, how much its wi military is happy to risk in himars range & how much is to do with prigohrzin bad mouthing the Russian generals
They'll have a lot of ammunition, it's how much of it is in a decent condition, they're not giving much confidence in their storage facilities and lifing of assets.
Interview with a former Trump (and Bush/Obama) advisor
Touches on a few interesting things (in her view) including how this conflict likely end, some gas pipe thing, past mistakes (slight curve ball), Russia not being interested in negotiations,
Because Nato has become a red herring in many respects. It’s the thing that everybody looks at. But Vladimir Putin — when he was working in the mayor’s office in St Petersburg in the Nineties, before Nato expansion was even a thing — was part of a group who thought that Ukraine shouldn’t be an independent country and that the Soviet Union should be put back together. So, his views about Ukraine were not shared by Nato early on.
Looks like Wagner aren't being picked on
Ammo problems across the front
https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1628354732053131265?t=XOsW6Vb4d9yd2tHcwDX6VQ&s=19
Really interesting insight into the Ukrainian drone reconnaissance units. It shows the level of coordination with artillery, ‘kamikaze’ drone units and infantry. It seems there is a level of competition amongst the executive arms to act on the intelligence provided by the recce drones, and hit the most significant targets first.
https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1628546751677300736?t=tPXPBO21gM4htJX_4YEPdg&s=19
Laser Pig update
Russian AWACS type jet attacked by a drone in Belarus. Attack carried out by Belarusian partisans apparently. Jet cost $300,0000,0000! And they only have roughly 9 of them.
Did they destroy the jet? Do you have a link?
Has Elon been on the bottle? All my Ukraine twitter stuff has gone AWOL.
Again.
Good thread on the problems Russia is facing.
https://twitter.com/TheStudyofWar/status/1630211010698125312
Only 3 of those jets in active service, now down to 2 👍
This war is such a mixture of high and low tech! Two side shelling each other from trenches, but also drones attacking other drones in the sky! So weird
Apparently the Taliban used carpets to disable Soviet tanks by throwing them over where the operators looked out from. Gives me hope for when ChatGPT decides we're a threat.
Apparently the Taliban used carpets to disable Soviet tanks by throwing them over where the operators looked out from
Ballsy!
Hint here that Ukraine's preparing for an offensive.
https://twitter.com/noclador/status/1630296428655390720
Apparently the Taliban used carpets to disable Soviet tanks by throwing them over where the operators looked out from. Gives me hope for when ChatGPT decides we’re a threat.
*Mujahideen
Apparently the Taliban used carpets to disable Soviet tanks by throwing them over where the operators looked out from.
Which is why, as well as infantry needing armoured support, armour needs infantry support.
scotroutes
Full Member
*Mujahidden, surely?
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Mujahidden, surely?
Which is what I thought as the Taliban didn't fight the Soviets. But on the other hand the Afghan government would undoubtedly have had a lot of Soviet tanks.
Although the Taliban never really got to power by fighting. Most of it was by winning (buying) the loyalty of war lords, forming alliances, etc.
As the name suggests the Taliban were young with very little if any experience in fighting.
Apparently the Taliban used carpets to disable Soviet tanks by throwing them over where the operators looked out from. Gives me hope for when ChatGPT decides we’re a threat.
This features in Adam Curtis’ Traumazone (mentioned a while back), when the troop carriers take on protestors outside Moscow parliament building back in the Yeltsin era.
Don't read of you have high blood pressure.
Ukraine war: Viral conspiracy theories falsely claim the war is fake
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64789737
Ukraine war: Viral conspiracy theories falsely claim the war is fake
That ^^ BBC headline doesn't need to use the word "falsely".
The fact that the claim is false is self-evident, by emphasising that it is false they are simply giving some credence to the possibility that the war might be fake.
I don't think it effected my blood pressure btw, although it might have peaked slightly when I chuckled.
That BBC article is yet another reason (as if it was needed) for getting off twitter and leaving it to Musk and his far right wing pals like Yaxley.
Although if you use Twitter selectively, it’s an excellent source of first hand news about the war.
Exactly. Ruthlessly block shitposters, starting with Musk himself. Follow sensible commentators and reputable new outlets and Twitter is pretty useful.
Ukraine war: Viral conspiracy theories falsely claim the war is fake
Apparently there isn’t enough video footage of the the war? Possibly the most ludicrous thing I’ve ever heard 🤣🤣🤣
This war has had the most video coverage in history 🤷♂️
Apparently there isn’t enough video footage of the the war? Possibly the most ludicrous thing I’ve ever heard
The thing with conspiracy theories is that whatever evidence you present to debunk them will just get twisted to confirm the conspiracy theory.
"Look, here's thousands of hours of video of the fighting."
"That's obviously fake video. The high quality and vast range of media outlets reporting it just proves how all-encompassing the conspiracy to fake the war is."
Overnight drone strike far behind Russian lines
Coupled with the attack on the airfield in Belarus
Either there are some very long range drones flying about or Russia does have a problem with partisans
is partisan what we call special forces these days?
I am curious as to what would be the masterplan behind setting up this fake war.
Almost as much as how they persuaded Putin to go along with even a fake arse kicking.