It also has this, which if true does actually show they expected victory in days
Which wasnt unreasonable at the time. There were quite a few in the west who believed the same thing
If you look back all the commentary was maybe there will be a war but if there is it would be over quick although it might then end up as a guerrilla conflict.
The weapons sent at the time seems to indicate even the western intelligence/defence departments believed this. It was all infantry weapons which could make things really unpleasant for an occupation army but could also be hidden away easily eg man portable rockets/missiles vs vehicle mounted weapons.
Is it just me, but my Twitter feed has a lot less UA stuff.
Something some hadn’t wholly believed in at times
To be fair, it was difficult to believe that the Russian commanders could be so utterly incompetent. It's obvious now, but the scale of corruption in the Russian military is stunning. It really is difficult to comprehend how badly led Russia is, there are people now who still seem to believe that this is all some grand strategic plan to attrit the Ukrainian army and then send in a huge reserve army that has been hoarding all the good equipment and food and will sweep the Ukrainians before it.
The railway from Svatove runs south from Kupyansk on the Oskil river, which was captured in the big push in September rendering it useless. The Donbas is now supplied using E-W train lines.
It will be interesting to see how effective the new line of fortifications the RF have built is.
Is it just me, but my Twitter feed has a lot less UA stuff.
Probably worth checking the key accounts you follow to make sure you still are, I "unfollowed" a few, without actually unfollowing them myself.
Is it just me, but my Twitter feed has a lot less UA stuff
Same, there's been a massive drop off
Same, there’s been a massive drop off
Yep, there are a lot of comments on twitter about it as well. The info still seems to be there but you need to hunt it out a bit more actively
Here's a worthy cause I thought I would share with you guys.
This bakery in Kyiv, originally set up to help people with learning difficulties, is now baking bread for free to give to the front line and areas devastated by the war. They are baking between blackouts and then literally risking their lives delivering it. Humbling stuff.
https://instagram.com/goodbread_fromgoodpeople
https://eng.goodbread.com.ua/
Right now they are crowdfunding for a generator so they can keep baking through power cuts.
https://send.monobank.ua/jar/8YPxVCi1RT
Zelensky addresses the defenders in Bakhmut, currently the location of the fiercest fighting of the war. This is what leadership looks like. Whilst Putler cowers in Moscow.
https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1605237743885459456?s=20&t=RFQX_XzAIVhSlSZLsZiPZA
Yep, there are a lot of comments on twitter about it as well. The info still seems to be there but you need to hunt it out a bit more actively
Musk is pro-Russia in all but name, so make of that what you will!
Grim reading
It's really hard to understand Putins thinking on this one. "We are not to blame"...
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64055018?zephr-top-banner
^^^ utterly deluded. Weapons grade cognitive dissonance.
Its just trying to reinforce the victim narrative for Russia whilst removing agency from former WARPAC members when it comes to NATO. Mostly for the internal market IMO. Playing the NATO is Imperialism card is doing the rounds, despite all members joining via elected representatives making a choice.
The only country pushing others to join NATO is Russia.
Ah, the Withnail defence.
(not mine BTW, plundered it from the first comment)
He just believes it's his divine right to own Ukraine and the rest of Eastern Europe, and subject millions of people into his crappy little oppressive regime, keep them poverty and allow them to only exist in nothing but a dull grey and depressed world where nothing works properly, just like the USSR did before it collapsed.
"For years, we tried to build good-neighbourly relations with Ukraine, offering loans and cheap energy, but it did not work.
Lol, I wonder why?
There's nothing to accuse us of. We've always seen Ukrainians as a brotherly people and I still think so
yeh right, 'cause everyone throws missiles at their brothers, it's normal isn't it.
President Putin added there was no limit to the amount of money Russia was willing to spend.
That's how/why the USSR collapsed.
he's such a massive 🔔🔚 it's beyond comprehension.
The only country pushing others to join NATO is Russia
Haha!
Thats pretty much the deal tho.
Given the choice, they chose the security NATO offers against Russia. There is no other reason for them to join, there are no other threats present in central and eastern europe that would warrant membership of a major military alliance.
Same for Finland and Sweden, they applied for membership as a result of Russias actions.
We’ve always seen Ukrainians as a brotherly people
...but I want to be their Big Brother.
It’s really hard to understand Putins thinking on this one.
Not really. Narcissist finds any way to justify his actions to get what he wants, plausible to people who want to believe it. Happens all the time on a smaller scale, and occasionally on this large scale. Classic dictator playbook material.
yeh right, ’cause everyone throws missiles at their brothers, it’s normal isn’t it.
It seems to be The Way in Russia.
President Putin added there was no limit to the amount of money Russia was willing to spend.
Theres a subtle difference between how much you're willing to spend and how much you've actually got to spend. Theres no limit to how much I'm willing to spend on really, really good medjool dates. But the amount of money I'm actually able to spend on dates is a much more finite sum.
still seams to be the case that Putin wants Ukraine and more.
Really the west has to stop Russian or Putins wishes to re shape Europe.
I honestly don't think Poland would stomach Russian military being so close.
Once this Ukraine thing is done and dusted, it’ll be a long, long time (if ever) before Russia will be able to present a credible, military threat to NATO. Its conventional army is essentially kaput & even before sanctions it didn’t have an economy capable of spending what would be needed. Now the need is many, many times greater and the ability to fulfil that is hugely degraded.
In other news, more and more chatter that Kreminna is in danger of going the same way as Lyman, with the UA pushing NE from Bilohorivka and ESE from Zhytlivka. This would effectively mean the end of Russia in Severodonetsk and would allow the UA to hit the flank of the Donbas frontline. No wonder Vlad said that things were tricky right now. He’s a dead man walking, and I think he’s finally starting to understand that..
I honestly don’t think Poland would stomach Russian military being so close.
Itll be interesting to see if theres any longer term change to how Europe (EU) is led following this, the Visegrad group in particular is taking no sh!t.
I have a feeling the Zelensky/Biden meeting has been choreographed to make a big announcement.
Its just trying to reinforce the victim narrative for Russia whilst removing agency from former WARPAC members when it comes to NATO. Mostly for the internal market IMO.
This, but also, he's been extremely isolated for years and he dismisses any advisors who give him advice that he doesn't like. He's surrounded by people who just tell him what he wants to hear, I'm pretty sure that he really was surprised that Ukrainians resisted the invasion.
This, but also, he’s been extremely isolated for years and he dismisses any advisors who give him advice that he doesn’t like. He’s surrounded by people who just tell him what he wants to hear, I’m pretty sure that he really was surprised that Ukrainians resisted the invasion
This.
The staged advisory meeting just before they ‘officially recognised’ the breakaway republics is fascinating because there’s one guy there even more nervous and jittery than the rest. He even gets quietly chastised by Vlad for getting it wrong after he stumbles over his words. Apparently he was a senior guy in the FSB, responsible for creating, training and arming a fifth column in Ukraine and particularly Kyiv. Said column would rise up when the RF crossed the border, seize control of key infrastructure in Kyiv (and other cities), arrest Zhelensky and others and suppress any internal resistance. An important component of the invasion plan.
This was a large, well organised, well equipped cadre of Russian supporters - who in turn represented a large portion of the population sympathetic to Russia - who were ready to leap into action.
Except they didn’t exist.
Our man in the FSB had created a fake network, and all the money needed to recruit, train, equip and support this large network was resting in his account.
Hence his nerves as he is about to be well and truly rumbled.
He disappeared a week or so after the invasion.
Obviously he wasn’t the only military / security services apparatchik robbing the army blind, but it does illustrate just how Putin could easily be living in a rosy world of quick wins and victory being just round the corner.
But even he now knows at least some of the extent to which he’s in the soup and he’s clever enough to be scared
But even he now knows at least some of the extent to which he’s in the soup and he’s clever enough to be scared
He's building his public defence and buying time. In May, Sergei Lavrov said that Sweden and Finland joining NATO wasn't a problem https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russias-lavrov-says-finland-sweden-joining-nato-makes-no-big-difference-2022-05-17/ This wasn't the first such announcement by senior Russians
Sergey Shoigu announced yesterday in Russian media that they're responding to counter the threat posed by an expanding NATO by forming a new force in NW Russia
He also announced plans to expand Russian forces massively, change the organisation and recruit 695,000 volunteers. They're basically announcing a return to the 20th century, which will appeal to many of those critical of the current appalling state of their military and its performance in Ukraine that became obvious in the summer
Nobody seems to have addressed the problem of how this will be achieved given sanctions, the economy, the loss of their most experienced troops in battle and the mobilisation that chased 100,000 Russians into Georgia.
When the smoke and mirrors clear, expect prominent Russians to be on a plane to somewhere sympathetic
But even he now knows at least some of the extent to which he’s in the soup and he’s clever enough to be scared
The thing to remember is, like all bullies, he's worried about being found out, not the fact he is a violent bully.
Nobody seems to have addressed the problem of how this will be achieved
Step 1. Announce the plan completed.
Step 2. Announce that the plan is being implemented.
Step 3. Announce that the plan has been successfully completed.
Step 4. Obtain residence in safe countries for your children so they can enjoy all the money you siphoned off from the project.
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 can't think of a single recent british pm which would have done what he's done
War either makes or breaks people, Winston Churchill's political career was essentially over when Hitler's rise to power gave him a new lease of life. That's not to say he wasn't the right person in the right place at the right time, he absolutely was, but without WW2 he'd be a historical footnote.
Prior to February Zelensky could well have ended up as the guy semi-famous for being shaken down by Trump for dirt on the Bidens, his popularity at home was on the rocks and he was unlikely to get a second term.
Now they'll be building statues of him, quite the turnaround.
For all the cynicism surrounding politics I still feel that, faced with a true clear and immediate existential threat most democracies and their leaders would react in a similar fashion.
Fortunately here in the UK we are lucky enough that we are unlikely to be placed in that situation.
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.
