Matt out and about - that badge is the us 1st Air Cav (cavalry). Maybe they’re intending to go in with Wagner playing Robert Duvall style…
On that point, after saving for six months Jnr just has Occulues Quest delivered, its very good and I found sitting in a virtual quiet beach resort for 5 mins very relaxing
Nice idea. Modern life is great at bombarding us with stuff the demands attention. NIce to use technology in another way
Runs off and presses buy
Nice idea. Modern life is great at bombarding us with stuff the demands attention. NIce to use technology in another way
Runs off and presses buy
In the meantime, if you can get YouTube on your tellybox, Google Deerfield Beach for sun and sand (and their underwater cam is great for fish!) - mute the telly, turn the tunes up. 🙂
Kryts - you were sat on a quiet beach and you only stayed there 5 mins?! I’d be living there at the moment!! 😀
@nickc Regarding Taiwan. Just to clarify that the cliff edged coast is on the east side of Taiwan (the furtheset away from mainland China). The west coast is mainly completely flat with marsh land. I know because I used to live there.
Not sure there’s a none paywall version out there?
I've just emailed the Telegraph asking them if they could drop the paywall on the Ukrainian articles. Seems worth asking.
Just listened to the bunker podcast. 30 mins with John Sweeney in Kiev right now. It’s quite encouraging and v v entertaining. He seems unbelievably chill as well
Thanks for that. I've been trying to avoid looking at any news report, not just because for example the tabloids are doom mongering with very unsettling and unhelpful descriptions of nuclear war, but also trying not to see how bad things are.
That's the first actual news report I've seen in days. And as you say, quite encouraging.
The BBC is taking me on an emotional rollercoaster, last night there was a 40 mile long line of tanks and artillery ready to flatten Kyiv and end everything in a single night. Now it is a rag tag collection of vans which can't make it down the road without braking down. Can't help wondering if these snippets are being orchestrated to maximise the level of support and feeling of urgency in getting supplies to Ukraine. Excellent job if so.
BBC live feed at 4:31 today:
Some clarity on that massive Russian armoured column heading south towards Kyiv.Close analysis of the latest satellite images by McKenzie Intelligence Services reveals the following:
The convoy is not 40 miles long, it’s a series of logistical ‘packets’ strung out along a major highway from the Belarus border, aiming to link up with Russian units on the northern outskirts of Kyiv.
The convoy appears to be hampered in several places by broken down vehicles.
The column consists of some armour (tanks) and infantry fighting vehicles but mainly logistical vehicles, implying plans for more than just a brief battle.
Separately, the imagery examined by McKenzie Intelligence Services shows a Russian parachute battalion dug in to the area of Hostomel airfield - Ukraine's most important international cargo airport and a key military airbase near Kyiv.But their artillery is assessed to be outside the range of most of the capital.
The analysts say they have noted very little Russian progress over the past 24 hours.
The balls on these people (and ovaries). On seeing some Russian tanks and soldiers do they run, or hide? No, they grab their car keys and some Molotov cocktails.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-molotov-cocktails-russia-tanks-b2025849.html
Ref the convoy - apparently it is not 40 miles long, but is a series of packets of vehicles - a significant number none the less. A large number are thought to be soft skinned logistics vehicles, suggesting a)they are anticipating a long stay b)not worried about air attacks…
So the question is when will the big assault come? I would imagine the Ukrainians are using their time to fortify the city. Further East one of the cities reports tramlines being chopped up and welded to make anti tank obstacles. Is it really 2022, or have we somehow gone back to 1942?
Fueled (appropriate name) beat me to it. As others have said though it is still very early days.
I just heard about a joke that is supposedly doing the rounds in Moscow:
'Have you read the book A Special Military Operation and Peace by Leo Tolstoy?'
Hope it's true 🙂
The balls on these people (and ovaries)
I saw that today on YT. Thought it incredibly brave.I'm a bit teary eyed over this TBH.
It's being reported that Russia is planning to lay siege to Kyiv.
Bombard/ starve them into submission magically.
I'm guessing that will please the hell out of I scoff cake.
A Russian businessman has put a $1million bounty out on putin.
I just heard about a joke that is supposedly doing the rounds in Moscow:
‘Have you read the book A Special Military Operation and Peace by Leo Tolstoy?’
Hope it’s true
Ha! I'll bet it is.
There was a famous joke back in the 70s - "What do you give a Soviet cat for dinner? A mouse coupon..."
Lay siege to a city Kyiv’s size? That sounds hugely ambitious.
Jim nails it:
See twitter for the uncensored version.
Caher
Full MemberSome top review trolling of Moscow attractions on Google maps. People publishing grim photos as part of a restaurant review.
It's actually pretty clever, this stuff. Obviously news sites and social media can be blocked/censored but you can use any channel to get the message through. Kind of the equivalent of dropping pamphlets out of planes. Whether it's effective or not, who knows.
Woah- is that why we call them fliers?
Klunk
Free Memberbet there’s no side arms allowed in the Kremlin
Ice axe?
Was hoping this was old footage, but now seeing it from a few places
https://twitter.com/WW3updated/status/1498731035172954113
The balls on these people (and ovaries). On seeing some Russian tanks and soldiers do they run, or hide? No, they grab their car keys and some Molotov cocktails.
That's massively impressive
It makes me wonder what the Russian soldiers think of it all- who do they think they were sent to fight and kill when a blond girl in a beany hat is lobbing fire bombs at them from a Renault Clio?!?
It makes me wonder what the Russian soldiers think of it all- who do they think they were sent to fight and kill when a blond girl in a beany hat is lobbing fire bombs at them from a Renault Clio?!?
I thought they have been told they are there as a peacekeeping force to because Ukraine is being run by a Nazi government.
If they have had no access to any other information and a blonde girl in a beany hat is throwing petrol bombs at you from a Renault Clio , then I would imagine they think all hell has broken loose and they were there to help.
It has to **** with your head a huge amount.
It is also the nonchalance of the rebellious actions that is amazing too
Andrew Neil on Twitter suggesting that the big convoy is starting to surrender, deliberately sabotaging thier own vehicles. Source he claims is Pentagon/US intelligence...
Please be true.
https://mobile.twitter.com/afneil/status/1498735148128681986
Russia confirmed to be using cluster bombs on targets.
Fully verified by channel 4 with the help of a consultant looking at the discarded casings of them posted on the net in Ukraine.
Blanket bombing.
A Russian businessman has put a $1million bounty out on putin.
I'm sure we could crowdfund a much bigger bounty than that.
Lay siege to a city Kyiv’s size? That sounds hugely ambitious.
Erm... Leningrad?
I’m sure we could crowdfund a much bigger bounty than that.
I'm hoping that is just the start
Andrew Neil on Twitter suggesting that the big convoy is starting to surrender, deliberately sabotaging thier own vehicles. Source he claims is Pentagon/US intelligence…
Please be true.
No mention of the big convoy there sadly
I’d chip in. I’ve read this whole thread with equal parts interest, awe at what Ukrainian citizens are doing and sadness at the fact it is happening at all. I have no experience or knowledge of military tactics or the history of the area. Very naive of me but I just can’t understand the mentality of it all.
China wanting to claim Taiwan, Russia doing what they’re doing. Just madness. Doubly so when the planet is basically ****ed and we should all be working together to reverse the damage we have done as a species, not having nations compete in some sort of dick measuring contest to see who can scoop up the most land. It won’t mean shit when the planet warms by three degrees.
Sorry for the rant.
Please don’t see me as doing anything other than giving views on what we have done in recent times. There is a lot being made of the use of certain weapons, we’re also guilty of similar.
https://amp.theguardian.com/politics/2003/apr/04/uk.iraq1
If folk don’t want me to post this type of info feel free to say and I’ll stop.
@mashr Read his full feed:
https://mobile.twitter.com/afneil/status/1498732045559861252
Though we do need to be sceptical until more proof is provided.
Other commentators on twitter (who seem well placed) suggesting all sorts of issues for the Russians with troops not motivated and looking to not fight.
WOOdster
Certainly not going to argue with you on that, as far as i am concerns those incidences should be prosecuted too.
That being said it does not in any way excuse them being used in this instance
If folk don’t want me to post this type of info feel free to say and I’ll stop.
Very comfortable with it. Like the thermobaric stuff the Russians aren't the first. This thread is a good balance though so liking it a lot
FunkmasterP I 100% agree.
All war is unnecessary. Unfortunately human greed and ego means it will always be this way.
This is brilliant.
A Russian colleague was in tears on a teams call earlier. He said they consider Ukraine to be relatives and friends and can't believe this is happening. He said that protesting against it will result in being jailed.
Hoping many of the Russian soldiers on the ground are feeling the same and that will turn the tide against Putin.
China wanting to claim Taiwan, Russia doing what they’re doing. Just madness.
Absolutely, but I think the two are not linked at all.
China's expansionism is driven by economic needs while they Ukraine war is driven purely by one man's desire for the return of the USSR.
And I believe China are constructing 'islands' not as platforms from which to launch an attack but much more as a way to claim territorial rights over vital (to them) access for shipping traffic.
There have been reports of desertion and logistics failures for a while now. Not sure it’s enough to make much of a difference.
uh oh...... new 'intel' coming that other nations are under attack
https://twitter.com/i/status/1498657446851751937
I personally wouldn’t hold out hope of the actual Russian infantry surrendering. Maybe some of the less trained conscripts, but I don’t see it with the professional soldiers. Being in a war zone 100% focuses your thoughts on the job at hand, this includes thinking about your own safety and that of your colleagues. The officers and Senior NCO’s will be keeping a very close eye on the moral of the troops and ensuring they are completely focused.
I hope I’m wrong.
Kind of ironic I'm sure some of you will think but my mum dropped the bombshell that I stayed in Bulgaria with this MAN during the Bulgarian revolution in 1989. I was only 9 but went on a protest march in Sofia. His job at the time was live translating films in a cinema.
He taught me some swear words in Bulgarian! I ate spaghetti with honey/sugar at his parents house. I loved Sofia even as a 9 year old. It was so ****ing cool!
Absolutely, but I think the two are not linked at all.
Both just fuelled by greed or some variant thereof. I honestly think we over think these things and it boils down to breaking rule one on a truly epic scale. Makes me extremely sad for the future of our species.
Leningrad was indeed a similar size…the siege lasted what, 2 years? And it failed. Not saying the same would happen but I imagine they’d want to assault and capture to get it over with.
A Russian businessman has put a $1million bounty out on putin.
I’m sure we could crowdfund a much bigger bounty than that.
I’m hoping that is just the start
I have visions of a John Wick 3-esque underground Hitman league, with a bounty being updated regularly, and people literally fighting each other for the opportunity to take him out!
Or at the very least the CIA will fund a Russian Mafia based takeover of the Kremlin...
🤔
Andrew Neil on Twitter suggesting that the big convoy is starting to surrender, deliberately sabotaging thier own vehicles. Source he claims is Pentagon/US intelligence…
Without wishing to sound like the Scoffer, my Bullshit-o-meter is being pushed quite high with this one... Not that it wouldn't be superb propaganda for Ukraine of course, but this is Andrew Neil citing Pentagon intelligence FFS... Bastions of the truth they are not!
Lay siege to a city Kyiv’s size? That sounds hugely ambitious.
Erm… Leningrad?
Serious question now... Which would last longer, Kyiv under siege from the Russian Military forces, or the Russian economy under siege from the rest of the worlds financial institutions? There's a very real possibility that the outcome of this war could come down to that!
Fully verified by channel 4 with the help of a consultant looking at the discarded casings of them posted on the net in Ukraine.
Just watched Channel 4 news for the first time since this War started. They are very definitely doing a much better analytical job than the BBC, who are focussing rather more on the "hearts and minds" element of warfare. Don't get me wrong, I see where the BBC are going with their Comic Relief/Live Aid style approach which definitely appeals more to anyone wishing to avoid a conflict, but I am keen to hear actual news and analysis (good or bad) on the subject which Chanel 4 seem to be better at providing.
WOOdster
Certainly not going to argue with you on that, as far as i am concerns those incidences should be prosecuted too.
That being said it does not in any way excuse them being used in this instance
wOOdster, the reason we're in the shit right we're in globally right now is the proliferance of misinformation and peoples hidden agendas being glossed over. Shining a light on our own military indiscretions is a very valid exercise I would say, and might even help those of us for whom Global Warfare is a totally inconceivable concept to begin to understand what drives Putin to behave in the way that he does.
But two wrongs definitely don't make a right!