Ukraine

At the risk of sounding like I have to check under the bed every night to see if Putin is hiding there, I think he’s been moving all the pieces into place for a long time.

That’s because he has.

Blokeuptheroad, I was a wheelbarrow technician for 321 back in 2003. Best posting I ever had.

Just spent 2 hrs walking around Thursley Common with an ex colleague. He reminded me that 2 weeks ago that I said “pootin would have nothing to gain from invading so I can’t see it.” He disagreed.

At the end of the walk the only thing we agreed on was that all the recruits that were patrolling about the common had better kit than we did…….

You’ll need a crew, I’m happy to put up a van to drive over a pick it up. Game?

I had a cap gun, cowboy hat and bow’n’arrow.

Blokeuptheroad, I was a wheelbarrow technician for 321 back in 2003. Best posting I ever had.

I did many postings in 321, as a no 2 and an operator. Well before your time though! I created a fair bit of work for the wheelbarrow techs. I started on the Mk 7b and finished on the 8b.  Cutlass was just coming in.

Just to sorta lighten things a teeny bit, there’s a clip just surfaced of our favourite Ukrainian President taking a call from Angela Merkel about Ukraine’s application to join the EU:

In old comedy skit, Zelenskyy plays Ukraine’s future president—himself!—getting a call from Angela Merkel about its application to join the European Union

I loved working on it to be fair and spent most of my time just driving between the dets getting fed bacon sandwiches by you lot. I think it was guilt because of the state they ended up in! Got me away from a mechanised Bn for 6 months and i wore uniform twice. Once for my arrival interview and the other for my end of tour interview!

The poster who slated the thread asking how anyone can even begin to say that they have any knowledge of the subject has hopefully learnt a lesson.

STW actually does have some qualified/ or even experts on here in about every subject you can think of!

That doesn’t include me,I might add.

Just watching the latest news. Looks like Kherson (important port) may be gone, but not entirely clear. Kharkiv holding out, for the moment. Mariupol sounds appalling with mass civilian casualties. Some odd things though – the Kyiv convoy seems to be stuck, and the Russians don’t seem to be making much progress in Luhansk and Donetsk which seems surprising, although maybe the defences were better prepared having been at war for 8 years.

Poopscoop
Full Member
The poster who slated the thread asking how anyone can even begin to say that they have any knowledge of the subject has hopefully learnt a lesson.

STW actually does have some qualified/ or even experts on here in about every subject you can think of!

That doesn’t include me,I might add.

I’d take that with a pinch of salt, there’s a lot of folk who know stuff relevant to this, but in relation to this actual invasion, i think there’s few on the planet who understand what the hell is going on and for why, a lot of it just defies military doctrine, tactics and common sense!

moab – yep, that’s me!

I reported it – also if anyone clicked on the link to see what it was, you should delete your recent browsing data so it’s off your computer just to be safe.

That’s armed conflict in a nutshell.

a lot of it just defies military doctrine, tactics and common sense!

Tango with Putin, half way through on BBC FOUR now, is worth a watch on iPlayer.

Luhansk and Donetsk

Thanks to Russia’s efforts in liberating these provinces, around 500,000 normal Ukrainians have at least some military experience/training/skills. Ukraine still has conscription and the majority of these conscripts have been active in defending these provinces.

I reported it – also if anyone clicked on the link to see what it was, you should delete your recent browsing data so it’s off your computer just to be safe.

Oh great, the post, not just the link has been removed. So when the knock comes I can’t even show them it was a post on here with a non-obvious link to explain why it’s on my browsing history at GCHQ

What tyres for Guantanamo?

Oh great, the post, not just the link has been removed. So when the knock comes I can’t even show them it was a post on here with a non-obvious link to explain why it’s on my browsing history at GCHQ

What tyres for Guantanamo?

What did I miss? I’ve no idea what Moly is referring to …

^^I didn’t see it but I’m guessing it’s a certain handbook that is illegal and loved by terrorists or freedom fighter on a budget….

What, I never said anything.

Can I report my own post saying I reported it and then this one talking about it?

I shared a house with a guy who had a photocopy of it. I wanted to see it so he let me borrow it. I sat down with it one night and thought ‘wtf do I want to read this for?’ so I gave it straight back.

And no, GCHQ spies, I can’t remember his surname and weirdly not even the address I lived at (I remember all the others). I wish I did remember it though cos he was a decent mate at the time.

Regarding the AC, pretty sure that the original banning never took into account the internet and it’s ability to let anyone who’s interested find a copy if they really wanted to, and those who do will almost certainly have it by know. Genie, bottle, etc.

I posted a link to a famous book used by anarchists to create anarchy.

In my defense, I left the UK long before the book was banned in the UK.

Russia MREs with Feb 2015 use by dates
I know most of it is sealed and I’m using a bottle chilli oil I found which is dated 2009 and I haven’t died yet but even so

molgrips

And no, GCHQ spies, I can’t remember his surname and weirdly not even the address I lived at (I remember all the others). I wish I did remember it though cos he was a decent mate at the time.

Yeah, yeah, they’ve heard the amnesia defence loads of times.😉

He’s gone several steps beyond that and:
a) Giving away somewhere between £1.5 and £3 billion
b) Calling it a war (which won’t go down well at home).

OK so reading up a bit more on Abramovich, I’m going to back down a little here… I’m sure the decision to walk away from $2Bn of loans is probably the smallest of his worries right now, and whether or not I believe the line about it “never being about the business” and that it was always about his “passion for the club”, something else has cropped up…

Abramovich was born and grew up in Russia, but ethnically he is half Ukrainian (his mother’s side), and has lots of family still in Ukraine…

I am detecting the world’s largest dose of buyers remorse going on right now, with his decision to ally himself quite so unilaterally (albeit very quietly so as to be plausibly deniable to the outside world) to Putin for the last 2 and a half decades, the man who is now remorselessly bombing many of his friends and relatives, probably consuming him right as we speak!

They’ve not been seizing, they’ve been freezing assets.

Yes apologies, wrong terminology, I definitely meant to say freezing…

Abramovich is the dead cat.

It’s those in to the UK who enabled him and his ilk to corrupt our country that need holding to account.

Dear GCHQ

we’re both technically mtbers, and thus share interests but please don’t make me share a cell with Molgrips.

I shared a house with a guy who had a photocopy of it

I’d a mate who had the book itself. I read it a couple of times, but tbh most of the pics looked too amateur to be serious. Obviously not thinking back now.

Alpin is currently scrubbing his computer with bleach :lol: :lol:

Russia MREs with Feb 2015 use by dates
I know most of it is sealed and I’m using a bottle chilli oil I found which is dated 2009 and I haven’t died yet but even so.

I think you’ll be fine.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2I6Et1JkidnnbWgJFiMeHA/videos

Current 2021 Ukrainian rations.

He eats rations going back decades. Actually eats stuff 50 years out of date :shock:

There are probably current GCHQ workers on the thread, there are a lot of ’em and definitely a few are cyclists (the ones I met were more mad “oh what a lovely dual carriageway!” road cyclists than MTB-ers tho). They will be the ones saying they do a dull office job…

If or, hopefully, when this is over what lessons will be learned and policies adopted to prevent thus happening again?
This rams home the truth of…absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Putin is the living embodiment of that.
There’s been much talk about Abramovich – why does his yacht have a military grade air defence system and a submarine capable of 50 mtr submersion?
That’s got to be for Putin, not a footie club owner.
I see that Usmanov’s £600mill yacht has been impounded in Germany; predictably he’s making noises about it being illegal, damaging to his reputation, intending to fight this yadda yadda.

There are probably current GCHQ workers on the thread

One of my classmates at school, I learned a few years back, was recruited by GCHQ as an analyst, to my immense surprise. He was retired by 50, or so I believe. All right for some.

They’ve not been seizing, they’ve been freezing assets.

Not in this case, they’re not…

I see that Usmanov’s £600mill yacht has been impounded in Germany; predictably he’s making noises about it being illegal, damaging to his reputation

Seeing quite a few reports now about more shoulder launched missiles, both anti tank and anti aircraft, arriving in the country. If they can get them to the right places I’m sure they will make a real difference. Reports of a cruise missile being downed by Ukrainian air defences in Kyiv, so they are at least partially operational.

Not sure if the Russians are holding back. Also a lot of speculation that only a tiny proportion of their tanks have been committed.

If the Russians were hoping for this to be over in a week then they have got it badly wrong. Will it be over in 5 or 6 weeks though? Seems unlikely on the evidence so far.

Tango with Putin, half way through on BBC FOUR now, is worth a watch on iPlayer.

Media is totally controlled by the govt but I hope they will be able to continue.

Russia has just began its own forever war but as well as losing personnel day in day out to a ruthless, well motivated enemy they will also be suffering on the home front from sanctions.

I get the whole “if NATO engages, Putin threatens nukes, therefore NATO’s keeping out of it”, but what happens if he takes Ukraine? Is he just gonna say that’s it? I lean slightly towards Kasparov here…

Putin's war on Ukraine has entered its next phase, one of destruction and slaughter of civilians. It is also a part of Putin's World War, a war on the civilized world of international law, democracy, and any threat to his power, which he declared long ago. 1/13

— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) March 2, 2022

Prolly GCHQ who took the site down for a laugh/warning

Prolly GCHQ who took the site down for a laugh/warning

Good point.  Is alpin still around?

@blokeuptheroad did you ever find yourself on Foulness?

Glad I clicked on Alpin’s link now….

Waiting for a knock at the door

Tango with Putin, half way through on BBC FOUR now, is worth a watch on iPlayer.

Viewership for BBC News in Russia has tripled in the last week from >3 million to >10 million

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2022/millions-of-russians-turn-to-bbc-news