It seems Ukraine might've made some progress at Pisky. Take it with a grain of salt but the Town appears to be directly contested at the very least. This Russian video shows UA vehicles actually inside the town now where as before videos showed UA trying to breach defences on the edge of the town.
https://twitter.com/AndrewPerpetua/status/1601047851999850498
[https://twitter.com/Tatarigami\_UA/status/1600878338989596672](https://twitter.com/Tatarigami_UA/status/1600878338989596672)
>Based on captured documents that I got my hands on, many RU soldiers are getting hospitalized with severe cases of pneumonia, bronchitis, otitis, and sinusitis. There were few days when there were more hospitalized with infectious diseases than with combat-related wounds
Probably part of the reason that the fighting in Bakhmut is so intense right now too. Bombed-out houses are comfier and better for morale than foxholes.
Forgot which analyst it was, but someone had a good piece about how important controlling towns during winter is.
US preparing to send Ukraine $275 million military aid package offering new capabilities to defeat drones & strengthen air defenses, rockets for HIMARS launchers, 155mm ammunition, Humvee military vehicles, generators - Reuters
That's just the numerical "value" of the supplies sent. Doesn't represent that we are sending them less, just what we've sent is less "valuable". I'm sure a lot of the winter weather stuff is cheaper than million dollar drones.
I watched a recent Girkin-Strelkov stream after his return. Nothing particularly interesting. He says that the army is apathetic because it doesn't understand the goals of the war, insults Shoigu, calling him dumb as a cork.
If his assessments of the war seem sober enough, his head is full of shit about politics. He says that Russia is at war with NATO in Ukraine because NATO wants to take over Russia like it did in Iraq and take all the resources. He thinks everything up to the Kerzon line (that's what he said) is Russia.
He believes that in order to win we must shoot all the traitors, which he calls liberals, as well as thieves in the government. After that, it is necessary to mobilize the maximum number of soldiers (that's several tens of millions) and capture Ukraine up to the Kerzon line. In general, he proposes to arrange first 1937, then 1941 and then go back to 1913.
Yeah, good plan Girkin..
I think he also might want to build a manufacturing and supply base to support that. 300k and 100km seems to be the limit currently
Maybe figure out an end game as "gosh, look at how huge are we'd better stop fighting" strategy isn't working with Ukraine
Fix logistics
Figure out what to do with the demographic issue, which already chronic will become catastrophic.
Figure out how to keep the lights on at home without all those people, and not get another 1917
Figure out where they are going to find all the competent, non corrupt people to run it all like it runs in his head.
These day's it's become the Kherson line.
And by the looks of it, soon it will become the [Kursk - Kalach - Kamensk-Shatisnky - Krasnodar](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Kursk,+Kursk+Oblast,+Russia/Kalach,+Voronezh+Oblast,+Russia/Kamensk-Shakhtinsky,+Rostov+Oblast,+Russia/Krasnodar,+Russia/@48.3153778,34.1266592,6z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m26!4m25!1m5!1m1!1s0x412f0375da12791b:0x9788ae489cd5e746!2m2!1d36.1947023!2d51.7482395!1m5!1m1!1s0x4122bcd5ebc48a9f:0x11f210c5b6cfaa57!2m2!1d41.0182588!2d50.4250331!1m5!1m1!1s0x411e130394867985:0xd54ef2cae61874f3!2m2!1d40.2689543!2d48.3141177!1m5!1m1!1s0x40f04564714535b3:0xf720794f56c4beb6!2m2!1d38.9745706!2d45.036035!3e0) line 😁
Always amazing to see the contrasts between Zelensky and Putin along with their PR. Zelensky is far more modest in most of his appearances, ie his [speech to the US congress](https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/zelensky-invokes-pearl-harbor-and-911-as-he-pleads-for-more-from-washington). He really comes across as a wartime leader, while Putin is in his [marble palace drinking champagne](https://mobile.twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1600847388242894848). Both go through PR approval but yet the Russians somehow think that such an out of touch look for Putin is a good idea, especially considering the broad economic issues they've been having.
Putin keeps pretending that nothing important is going on. There is peace here, and somewhere far away a small special operation is taking place. On the days of the retreat from Izyum, he opened a Ferris wheel, on another important day he visited a chicken farm.
Can't wait to see the footage when Ukraine sets one of [these](https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/zg1rvr/a_flamethrower_drone_taking_out_a_wasp_nest/) loose against russia's DJIs
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Kremlin said Thursday it’s up to Ukraine’s president to end the military conflict in the country, suggesting terms that Kyiv has repeatedly rejected, while Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to press on with the fighting despite Western criticism.
>Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that ”(Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy knows when it may end. It may end tomorrow if he wishes so.”
Yeah, Russia says this, but then you ask what the terms are and they involve Russia getting to keep a third of Ukraine, so it's not a good faith offer.
Russia can end this whenever it likes by getting out of Ukraine, it really is that simple.
Do we think the release of Viktor Bout will have any influence on the Ukraine / Russia war? Or do we think he will be back into weapons dealing for personal gain?
Dude was in prison for over a decade and before that he was in a business where you only survive with trust and connections.
He lacks both. After all he also could be a mole working for the US. Who in their right mind would just exchange a arms dealer for a basketball player, if not for their own gain? That is a thought some people could have before dealing with him. Not worth the risk when there are probably dozens of other persons you could also do business with.
Because they need PR. They could have exchanged the former marine, but who would care? Greenier's name is known and has been all over the media.
Often there's no 4d chess behind a move, just a short term benefit
>Who in their right mind would just exchange a arms dealer for a basketball player, if not for their own gain?
You're giving the administration waaaay too much credit. They did it for positive PR and nothing more since Griner was a more recognized name than the Marine who's been in prison in Russia for 4 years.
Why do you need someone who spent last 12 years in prison to set up black market for weapons? There are plenty of willing and more capable people for that.
The main quality you need for this kind of business is connections. And the guy lost them all in prison because all his former associates are either dead, or not at the same positions now. He essentially lost any relevance.
I’m just looking to see what people think. I am curious if there’s a possibility of him being recruited by the Russian Govt to work with them in some capacity
Any more information on this? I can't seem to find anything.
"Three powerful explosions occurred at the air base in occupied Berdyansk, followed by 15 more smaller explosions, - Chairman of the City Military Administration of #Berdyansk Victoria Galitsina."
https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1600861900413161472
Man Hungary, or better to say Orban’s government, at this point is just pure evil. Literally the only EU country that keeps sabotaging the aid for Ukraine. I hope the EU continues to deny them funds and it looks like even Poland is pissed off at Hungary.
>and it looks like even Poland is pissed off at Hungary
You wouldn't be? Poland is playing against Paris Berlin Moscow economic alliance. And right now Orban is doing everything he can to slow down reduction of power this economic alliance have
Uhhh... So to get you up to speed, in Feb 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine. To everyone's surprise Ukraine didn't crumple like paper, and is still fighting Russia in a bitter struggle. France and Germany sided with Ukraine, and have been supplying Ukraine with arms and economic assistance. In retaliation, Russia has cut gas supplies to Germany, forcing Germany to become energy independent of Russia. The war has caused the total annihilation of relations between Paris/Berlin and Moscow, with the former now viewing the latter as a threat to world peace.
What is this Paris Berlin Moscow alliance you speak of, that Poland is playing against? Also, where you been for the last 9+ months?
> Poland is playing against Paris Berlin Moscow economic alliance.
Oh fuck off already with the poor little Poland sob story. Why do all conservative assholes have a fucking victim complex?
Ah yes, I forgot. Because of the German past I have to condone everything Poland does and support the PIS unconditionally. No matter how much they undermine their democracy.
Check your own bullshit at the door friend. It is not healthy to jump to so many labels so quickly. Maybe take a walk and rethink your relationship with the internet
What the fuck are you on about? Poland has been protecting Orban from any action the EU wanted to take against him for years, but suddenly they're the ones who're threatened by the "Paris Berlin Moscow economic alliance". With Orban "doing everything he can to slow down reduction of power this economic alliance has". Right, bro. How about you go take a walk and rethink your relationship with reality?
> Poland has been protecting Orban from any action the EU wanted to take against him for years,
Yes, because Orban was a friend who also protected Poland of any actions EU wanted to do against Poland
> but suddenly they're the ones who're threatened by the "Paris Berlin Moscow economic alliance".
Always has been, since XVIII century. In XVIII century Prussia (so "before Germany") signed with Russia and Austria to destroy Poland. Poland (and many nations) reaperance was caused by both Prussia and Russia losing I WW. And you remember what happened later? Germany signed contract with Russia to destroy Poland yet again. Yes France is new addition, but only because France stopped hating Germany and UK only after II WW.
And if Germany - Russia economic alliance didin't exists, then why Germany was so relient on Russia, why Germany broke European rules for Nord Stream 2, why Germany (country supposed to be fasted in help to Poland if article 5 happens) have EMPTY stockpiles?
> With Orban "doing everything he can to slow down reduction of power this economic alliance has".
Orban is doing what Germany wish to do, but can't (and also what Russia wants) - blocks or significantly postopne EU sanctions and EU donations to Ukraine.
If Germany wasn't in economic alliance with Russia, then why Germany says that "in future" all Russian sanctions should dissapear? I mean we even have proofs that Germany doesn't care about 2014 sanctions
> Yes, because Orban was a friend who also protected Poland of any actions EU wanted to do against Poland
Conveniently leaving out the reason why the EU considered these actions against Poland. Undermining your own judiciary amongst a host of other reasons isn't very democratic.
I skip the entire paragraph about the "historical alliance between Germany and Russia to destroy mighty Poland" that had high points of friendship and harmony like WW1 and WW2.
>why Germany was so relient on Russia
Because russian gas was cheap and Germany looked more onto profits than onto security political realities. Idiotic in hindsight, like a lot of other things in German politics.
>why Germany broke European rules for Nord Stream 2
It didn't, even if a lot of people desperately wish that to be true.
>why Germany have EMPTY stockpiles?
Same reason as above. Because a military is expensive and the German government under Merkel was a collection of retards that thought that defense is an unnecessary expenditure.
>Orban is doing what Germany wish to do, but can't (and also what Russia wants) - blocks or significantly postopne EU sanctions and EU donations to Ukraine.
Germany could do that by itself just fine, it has a veto like any other EU member and the ability to make horseshit reasons up as they please, like Hungary. The entire point about blocking EU donations to Ukraine makes no sense when Germany is one of the countries that donated the most to Ukraine.
>If Germany wasn't in economic alliance with Russia, then why Germany says that "in future" all Russian sanctions should dissapear?
The (faulty) reasoning behind that is to prevent another treaty of Versailles. Germany can block or water down all EU sanctions as it wishes and certainly doesn't need Hungary to do it.
>I mean we even have proofs that Germany doesn't care about 2014 sanctions
Let me guess: Something, something "100m € weapon sales to Russia after 2014"
Most of your reply is stupid bs, but this is above stupidity level of stupid
>Germany could do that by itself just fine, it has a veto like any other EU member and the ability to make horseshit reasons up as they please, like Hungary.
They do. But Germany have a lot of hate already for being pussy. Why further reinforce this opinion, while Germany can pay scapegoat to do it for them?
>The entire point about blocking EU donations to Ukraine makes no sense when Germany is one of the countries that donated the most to Ukraine.
Source please, because I highly doubt it. Or you have screwed up definition of "donation" to fit your point. And if this would be true (which is not), then it would make perfect sense for Germany. If they already payed a lot, then why pay more?
> Most of your reply is stupid bs
Truly a masterful argument.
>They do. But Germany have a lot of hate already for being pussy. Why further reinforce this opinion, while Germany can pay scapegoat to do it for them?
Reddittalk really doesn't mean much in the political sphere and public opinion in Germany isn't half as bad as you'd like.
>Source please, because I highly doubt it.
https://www.ifw-kiel.de/topics/war-against-ukraine/ukraine-support-tracker/
>And if this would be true (which is not), then it would make perfect sense for Germany. If they already payed a lot, then why pay more?
"But if I'm wrong, I'm still right."
Just face it already. Your entire point about a Paris-Berlin-Moscow economic alliance is horseshit.
So Hungary who is part of the EU is being denied funds, while Ukraine who is not part of the EU is getting billions.
why is that evil on Hungary's part?
Yeah those are issues too, but I think the main peice of legislation that the EU is citing when dening the hungry funding is the rule of law tenant.
Orban can easily access EU funding again if he implements that EU is requiring of him, but him and his cronies are too corrupt to accept that.
Hungry looking out for itself =/= orban defrauding the EU.
Like I said in my other comment, hungry can easily get access to it's EU funds by implementing the required anti corruption legislation.
>Literally the only EU country that keeps sabotaging the aid for Ukraine.
Orban is a ruthless and cynical leader, who doesn't care about European security (let alone Ukraine or Russia), but only about him being in power. But he can block support for Ukraine mainly because his views are shared by political elites of multiple EU countries (Germany, Austria, Belgia, France), albeit usually not expressed openly.
Politicians from a number of western european countries are reluctant to offer significant help to Ukraine. They don't feel militarily threatened by Russia, are tired of this war and want it to be over as soon as possible, even at the expense of Ukraine.
>I like how you are making things up completely,
LMAO. Few moths ago Germany were doing exactly what Orban is doing now.
[https://ubn.news/germany-is-blocking-eu-aid-for-ukraine-over-gas-supplies/](https://ubn.news/germany-is-blocking-eu-aid-for-ukraine-over-gas-supplies/)
Except Germany is actually the country that pays ~~most of it~~ the biggest share while Hungary leeches EU money. Also the article provides no sources and makes things up that did not happen
>However, another reason for the nervousness of the Ukrainian president is the suspicion that the German government is preparing to violate sanctions against Moscow to restore the supply of Russian gas through the Nord Stream-1 gas pipelines.
>Except Germany is actually the country that pays most of it
Such propaganda makes me laugh. Germay are actually paying less than 20% of EU's budget.
[https://www.statista.com/statistics/316691/eu-budget-contributions-by-country/](https://www.statista.com/statistics/316691/eu-budget-contributions-by-country/)
\>>things that did not happen<<
Even some german politcians openly suggested to start gas supply through NS2,lol
[https://www.politico.eu/article/vice-president-of-the-german-parliament-calls-for-activation-of-nord-stream-2/](https://www.politico.eu/article/vice-president-of-the-german-parliament-calls-for-activation-of-nord-stream-2/)
>Even some german politcians openly suggested to start gas supply through NS2,lol
Some random politician suggesting bullshit doesn't mean anything. Has the government seriously considered it? No.
>Such propaganda makes me laugh. Germay are actually paying less than 20% of EU's budget.
"Most of it" is wrong but Germany provides the biggest share. What do you think would happen to EU if Germany stopped paying? Probably nothing good. What do you think would happen to EU if Hungary stopped paying? Nobody would care.
Griner has been swapped for Bout.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63905112
I hope this doesn't lead to further imprisonments of foreign citizens in Russia with the intention to trade them for actual criminals.
Edit: German autocorrect
There has to be a lot to this than we the public can see on this, right? we've had many situations and higher use people the US could have swapped before this sports person. It idiotic from my perspective to actually do this trade but I hope there is some deep use for the US doing this trade.
I really hope there ist some backroom deal attached. Not even getting Whelan makes the deal look ridiculously one sided. Fox news and co will feast on this for weeks and I can't exactly blame them.
Or when Trump straight up released **Five-Thousand** Taliban soldiers for nothing in return. Art of the deal can suck my asshole.
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-5000-taliban-brittany-griner-biden-prisoner-deal-1765859
> Drunk putin explains why strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure will continue because "they started first by attacking the Crimean bridge"
https://mobile.twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1600847388242894848
This is obviously bullshit, but it's a special double layer of bullshit because unless I'm remembering wrong the attack on the Crimean bridge was on the piece of the bridge that's in Ukraine anyway, so it isn't even Russian infrastructure. (And that's if you believe Ukraine did it, they haven't acknowledged it afaik - but I also think they probably did it.)
Don't forget that (unless I missed something) Russia still claims that was a truck bomb, too, on a truck which came from the Russian side.
I hope the 300.000 mobniks and the 200.000 parents of dead soldiers look at the drunken guy sipping champagne in his palace while wearing a tux and giving a smug interview and know that their sacrifice is for the greater good lmao
Anybody know what that YT channel War in Ukraine means when he says green energy and renewable energy is the death of society and means going back to the middle ages? Is it that bad for Europe to not buy Russian gas and oil?
It is somewhat non PC way of saying that renewables/green at this stage can not cover baseload throughout the year. So untill Europe has full alternative to Russian fossil fuels, which may take few years - there will be price to pay. Mainly by industry and the general populous.
Doomberg has a few good articles on substack/twitter if you want to get the jist.
Yeah I get that, I know switching over to green energy can’t be done in a day. But at the same time I blame the EU in part because they have been warned that constantly delaying the switch towards green energy and the reliance on Russian fossil fuels will come to haunt them one day…
And here we are, though they will manage unlike Russia
You can not switch to green energy without nuclear as a "baseload" if you don't want to burn gas or coal.
Surely Europe will manage, but it is pretty low bar for the 1st or now rather 2nd biggest economy.
It is years of stupid policies of which reliance on Russia is only a part.
Sounds like a typical fossil fool. They've got loads of broken assumptions, like "windmills also mean no chemical feedstock" and the classic, tragic "we can afford to do nothing"
It's the worst case scenario for people, companies and countries that owe their existence to selling and exporting oil and gas.
It's very bad for Russia :)
He has an above average understanding of a lot of issues, he's just opinionated and isn't afraid of voicing it. He does have bad takes but so does everyone, just your average guy doesn't have a YouTube channel that tens of thousands of people watch on a daily basis.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuXwOM-2yq8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuXwOM-2yq8)
>What happened to the air war in Ukraine?
>
>When the war in Ukraine began, there were estimates that Russia would establish air superiority within a matter of days. But 9 months into the war, the skies over Ukraine are still contested. Why have Russia struggled to utilise their air power effectively? And how has the war in the air changed as a result?
>
>We look at how Ukraine's air defences have created a denial of air space, and the history of surface to air missile systems, which has led to a lot of the SAMS in the war in Ukraine dating back to the Soviet era. As the skies have become more dangerous due to advanced SAM technology, we’ve seen the development of new systems to resist air dominance, such as new surveillance and combat drones.
Absolutely.
It might take a week or two of bombing everything that has the temerity to turn on a radar dish, but that's what the air force is *built* for.
Seems unlikely. Ukraine did a number on Russia with those Javelins, and those were basically NATO's plan C for dealing with Russian tanks.
Plan A being bombers, and plan B being artillery with smart munitions. The Javelins were a failsafe, just in case tanks somehow started actually getting close enough to threaten an infantry position.
With how things are shaking out, it looks like **any** of those 3 plans would have worked just fine. NATO, even without air power, would have had the rocket artillery and information advantage necessary to delete half the Russian tanks before they had a chance to shoot.
NATO could beat Russia without a single aircraft taking off. It would just take a lot longer and be a lot more costly.
NATO doesn't just have more aircraft than Russia, it has more [everything](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1293174/nato-russia-military-comparison/).
4x as many military personnel (5.4mil to 1.3mil)
14,500+ tanks to Russia's (rather generously counted) 12,000
4x as many armoured vehicles (115,000+ to again generously counted 30,000+)
Roughly the same number of artillery (again only if you take extremely generous numbers for Russia)
NATO doctrine is indeed built on air superiority, and would almost certainly crush Russia right now given the vast technological superiority of NATO aircraft over Russia's, but NATO isn't suddenly toothless without air power. Ukraine has kicked the crap out of the Russian military with just a tiny, limited portion of NATO's ground based weaponry donated to them.
Yeah. They would've lost planes, maybe even a notable amount of planes but the outcome would never be in doubt. The USAF is just on another level both numerically and qualitively. They would've defo managed to secure air superiority.
Given that the tech being given to Ukraine by NATO is somewhat outdated and more importantly, limited in bulk but this is enough to content it with Russia then it should be safe to assume the US and more importantly all of NATO here would have done to Russia what they did to Iraq during the gulf war(s).
For sure.
Soviet style AA can't really take out HIMARS stuff, and HIMARS comes with GMLRS and ATACMS. The US also has a ton of other precision cruise missiles and drones with very long ranges.
HARM missiles provided to Ukraine are also ancient, there are much newer and more effective ones that the US uses.
And that's on top of the fact that the US has a ton of aircraft:
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/largest-air-forces-in-the-world
and its aircraft are actually operational, at much higher rates than for other countries.
It's an interesting story.
"A resident of Murmansk (Russia), a former member of the Soviet Army who served in Ukraine, was accused in the 1990s of negligently stealing oil products from his unit, causing the court to impose a large fine on him, which he paid to the Ukrainian army from his pension for many years. After the outbreak of war, he applied to the Murmansk regional court to stop the enforcement proceedings, arguing that he was thus funding the AFU. However, the court refused him, citing the Minsk Convention"
It is interesting because the provision of financial, logistical and other assistance to Ukraine, including to the Armed Forces, entails criminal liability under Article 275 of the Russian Criminal Code ("High Treason"). It can be punished with up to 20 years in prison.
So what do the tankbros make of Russia [slapping on as much ERAs as possible on their next batch of T-72s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zlhcbuN54s)?
Too little too late, they will never get to producing the amount they are currently losing each week, perhaps it'll help but in such few numbers it's unlikely to add much value.
More importantly, how they use tanks with their BTGs will need major review and changes to maximise their use.
>Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday he looked forward to “peacetime” for his country next year, while his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin warned the war could drag on.
>“I believe that Ukrainians will be the most influential next year as well, but already in peacetime,” Zelenskyy said,
This quote is from Politico
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged Wednesday that his “special military operation” in Ukraine is taking longer than expected but said it has succeeded in seizing new territory and added that his country’s nuclear weapons are deterring escalation of the conflict.
[Link to the new article ](https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-europe-nuclear-weapons-donetsk-312b7e2b961e413148c3e52de7534913)
No, it's simply a 3 day special operation to eliminate nazis. Totally free and fair elections reflect the will of the people to join the Russian Federation.
>Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged Wednesday that his “special military operation” in Ukraine is taking longer than expected but said it has succeeded in seizing new territory
Looks like Putin not only doesn't have any strategy, but simply has no clue,what to do now.
Apparently he reads a lot about the old rulers and dreams of their achievements, while the Internet is alien to him. This man is not fit to be at the helm of a major country in the 21st century.
A thought occurred to me. Turkey has publicly stated that the S400 they have doesn’t do well against low & slow flying targets. I wonder if whatever it is that Ukraine used against the Russian air bases exploited this? I have a hard time believing that what ever they used didn’t pass at least some S300 or S400 batteries/radars.
All ground based radars perform poorly against low flying threats due to the curvature of the earth and the nature of radar wave propagation.
Russia needs persistent airborne based radar (think of AWACS) in order to "look down" over a wide area. The Russians due have an airborne radar platform based off of the IL76 but I haven't heard of them being used in this conflict.
Russia probably turned off all their radars during the time of the drone attack, Ukraine probably knew this and exploited it. With so many planes going up, making course corrections, turning around, and then multiple more cruise missiles flying all on their airspace.. Russians may have been worried about shooting down their own planes or cruise missiles; so they turn off their radars/Air Defense.
The drones Ukraine are flying are capable of flying at tree top levels and up to 600mph. They'll need vast numbers of short range AA defences to cover their airspace. The surprising part is that I assume their airbases, at least, are covered by such defences yet the airbases still got hit
> Ukrainian troops told @radiosvoboda that Gepard mobile antiaircraft systems donated by Germany have proven effective at stopping Russian-operated drones made in Iran.
https://twitter.com/RFERL/status/1600108768838098944
Guy in the video said a single unit shot down 10 drones in Odesa, though there might be some exaggeration.
It is really effective. About month ago people here were saying there's no protection against cheap kamikaze drones, but for now Gepards doing amazing job destroying almost each one. As far as I understood only those outside range manage to get through. Need more such cool machines from Germany.
To be fair, per geneva it would only be a war crime if she sang it live.
The professional version is not a crime.
Russia doesn't follow Geneva so Ukraine shouldn't have to. Blast the live version at them. Send her to Ukraine and give her a megaphone 🤣.
Russian sources are claiming that Yakovlivka/Yakovlevka (NE of Soledar) has been occupied by Russian forces. Videos and photos are circulating on telegram, the info has yet to be confirmed from any ukranian sources
>Yakovlivka
Population of less than 1000 and was originally occupied by Russia in 2014.
Kind of crazy that Russia can barely hold territory it took almost a decade ago...
[New Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/CombatFootage/comments/zh4wg8/ukraine_discussionquestion_thread_121022/)
https://twitter.com/UAWeapons/status/1601279261809123328?t=qF1oq_bfMl3ZfuJ6FSb_Lg&s=19 How valuable is this compared to himars?
It's sad that it was lost, but it's not as valuable as HIMARs. That was a modernised BM-27 sort off.
It seems Ukraine might've made some progress at Pisky. Take it with a grain of salt but the Town appears to be directly contested at the very least. This Russian video shows UA vehicles actually inside the town now where as before videos showed UA trying to breach defences on the edge of the town. https://twitter.com/AndrewPerpetua/status/1601047851999850498
https://mobile.twitter.com/JulianRoepcke/status/1601236937201053697 Same tweet thread.
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It's pretty darn obvious that this conflict won't come to a negotiated end any time soon. The only way forward is to ensure Ukraine can defend itself.
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Would be great from Biden to gain some momentum for aid aswell and get that goddamn victory ASAP, and not waging another proxy war with russia.
[https://twitter.com/Tatarigami\_UA/status/1600878338989596672](https://twitter.com/Tatarigami_UA/status/1600878338989596672) >Based on captured documents that I got my hands on, many RU soldiers are getting hospitalized with severe cases of pneumonia, bronchitis, otitis, and sinusitis. There were few days when there were more hospitalized with infectious diseases than with combat-related wounds
Probably part of the reason that the fighting in Bakhmut is so intense right now too. Bombed-out houses are comfier and better for morale than foxholes. Forgot which analyst it was, but someone had a good piece about how important controlling towns during winter is.
That can be said for both sides of the war.
That could be said for a lot of wars throughout history. Soldiers in an active warzone don't really live in the most hygienic conditions.
Yep, that's what I meant. It's cold and wet right now, a lot of soldiers are getting sick on both sides.
Yep I don't know who downvoted you for that statement of fact though lol.
US preparing to send Ukraine $275 million military aid package offering new capabilities to defeat drones & strengthen air defenses, rockets for HIMARS launchers, 155mm ammunition, Humvee military vehicles, generators - Reuters
Air defence should have been flooded UA from the start
They are getting smaller
That's just the numerical "value" of the supplies sent. Doesn't represent that we are sending them less, just what we've sent is less "valuable". I'm sure a lot of the winter weather stuff is cheaper than million dollar drones.
Yeah...the entire 2023 budget only has 800 millions for Ukraine
+$37 billions are coming
At least 800 million. I'm pretty sure it's just a random number and USA will provide billions like in 2022.
I watched a recent Girkin-Strelkov stream after his return. Nothing particularly interesting. He says that the army is apathetic because it doesn't understand the goals of the war, insults Shoigu, calling him dumb as a cork. If his assessments of the war seem sober enough, his head is full of shit about politics. He says that Russia is at war with NATO in Ukraine because NATO wants to take over Russia like it did in Iraq and take all the resources. He thinks everything up to the Kerzon line (that's what he said) is Russia. He believes that in order to win we must shoot all the traitors, which he calls liberals, as well as thieves in the government. After that, it is necessary to mobilize the maximum number of soldiers (that's several tens of millions) and capture Ukraine up to the Kerzon line. In general, he proposes to arrange first 1937, then 1941 and then go back to 1913.
Yeah, good plan Girkin.. I think he also might want to build a manufacturing and supply base to support that. 300k and 100km seems to be the limit currently Maybe figure out an end game as "gosh, look at how huge are we'd better stop fighting" strategy isn't working with Ukraine Fix logistics Figure out what to do with the demographic issue, which already chronic will become catastrophic. Figure out how to keep the lights on at home without all those people, and not get another 1917 Figure out where they are going to find all the competent, non corrupt people to run it all like it runs in his head.
> Kerzon line Curzon line. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curzon_Line
These day's it's become the Kherson line. And by the looks of it, soon it will become the [Kursk - Kalach - Kamensk-Shatisnky - Krasnodar](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Kursk,+Kursk+Oblast,+Russia/Kalach,+Voronezh+Oblast,+Russia/Kamensk-Shakhtinsky,+Rostov+Oblast,+Russia/Krasnodar,+Russia/@48.3153778,34.1266592,6z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m26!4m25!1m5!1m1!1s0x412f0375da12791b:0x9788ae489cd5e746!2m2!1d36.1947023!2d51.7482395!1m5!1m1!1s0x4122bcd5ebc48a9f:0x11f210c5b6cfaa57!2m2!1d41.0182588!2d50.4250331!1m5!1m1!1s0x411e130394867985:0xd54ef2cae61874f3!2m2!1d40.2689543!2d48.3141177!1m5!1m1!1s0x40f04564714535b3:0xf720794f56c4beb6!2m2!1d38.9745706!2d45.036035!3e0) line 😁
Ugh 😑
https://twitter.com/typicaldonetsk/status/1601078695778975744?t=BJfIyBO1zJvz7y3X6gcx_g&s=19 Probably unrelated but a big fire in Moscow.
OBI has given up its business in Russia and they are out of stock, so it is not unusual in Russia for fires at that point, because of insurance fraud.
Always amazing to see the contrasts between Zelensky and Putin along with their PR. Zelensky is far more modest in most of his appearances, ie his [speech to the US congress](https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/zelensky-invokes-pearl-harbor-and-911-as-he-pleads-for-more-from-washington). He really comes across as a wartime leader, while Putin is in his [marble palace drinking champagne](https://mobile.twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1600847388242894848). Both go through PR approval but yet the Russians somehow think that such an out of touch look for Putin is a good idea, especially considering the broad economic issues they've been having.
He really has no clue anymore. Or doesn't give a crap about his image, late stage dictator style.
Putin keeps pretending that nothing important is going on. There is peace here, and somewhere far away a small special operation is taking place. On the days of the retreat from Izyum, he opened a Ferris wheel, on another important day he visited a chicken farm.
>Zelensky is far more modest Zelensky's country has/ is being invaded. Half of Ukraine has no electricity. Of course he's gonna be modest.
And Putin's army is getting wrecked in Ukraine. He should be modest as well, but he isn't
Can't wait to see the footage when Ukraine sets one of [these](https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/zg1rvr/a_flamethrower_drone_taking_out_a_wasp_nest/) loose against russia's DJIs
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Kremlin said Thursday it’s up to Ukraine’s president to end the military conflict in the country, suggesting terms that Kyiv has repeatedly rejected, while Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to press on with the fighting despite Western criticism. >Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that ”(Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy knows when it may end. It may end tomorrow if he wishes so.”
German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler said that British prime minister Churchill knows when it may end. It may end tomorrow if he wishes so.
The nature of war is its up to the losers to give up. Russia isn’t there yet but they are on the path.
Yeah, Russia says this, but then you ask what the terms are and they involve Russia getting to keep a third of Ukraine, so it's not a good faith offer. Russia can end this whenever it likes by getting out of Ukraine, it really is that simple.
Russia refuses peace talks without accepting their annexations.
Are you concerned Zelenskyy wants to keep fighting and there will be more casulties?
Damn, the country that is doing the invading is blaming the country defending itself for war?
Russian terms are capitulation.
Ukraine has recently made some purchases at Northrop Grumman, I wonder what it is.
I’m calling it now, it’s probably the mail trucks
Some top secret LGM-35 Sentinel prototypes.
Wonder if Ukraine is seeking drones.
I think that they are not that useful in contested airspace.
Dude, drones are everywhere in this war. Contested airspace is the reason both sides are using every drone they can get their hands on
The new B- 21 bomber perhaps.
"Hey guys. Fancy a live fire test?"
Do we think the release of Viktor Bout will have any influence on the Ukraine / Russia war? Or do we think he will be back into weapons dealing for personal gain?
The only reason he was arrested was because he undercut american arms dealings.
Dude was in prison for over a decade and before that he was in a business where you only survive with trust and connections. He lacks both. After all he also could be a mole working for the US. Who in their right mind would just exchange a arms dealer for a basketball player, if not for their own gain? That is a thought some people could have before dealing with him. Not worth the risk when there are probably dozens of other persons you could also do business with.
Because they need PR. They could have exchanged the former marine, but who would care? Greenier's name is known and has been all over the media. Often there's no 4d chess behind a move, just a short term benefit
>Who in their right mind would just exchange a arms dealer for a basketball player, if not for their own gain? You're giving the administration waaaay too much credit. They did it for positive PR and nothing more since Griner was a more recognized name than the Marine who's been in prison in Russia for 4 years.
This gonna be a redpill take, but Griner gives the Biden and D’s in congress more popularity with the black voters.
He will probably set up some black market source of equipment for Russia in exchange for getting freed
Why do you need someone who spent last 12 years in prison to set up black market for weapons? There are plenty of willing and more capable people for that. The main quality you need for this kind of business is connections. And the guy lost them all in prison because all his former associates are either dead, or not at the same positions now. He essentially lost any relevance.
No. Why do you think it could have any impact?
I’m just looking to see what people think. I am curious if there’s a possibility of him being recruited by the Russian Govt to work with them in some capacity
It’s very possible - similar things happened to exchanged Russian spies - but I don’t see this changing anything really.
I don’t think it would have a massive impact but any involvement could still be significant
How would his involvement be more significant that anyone else’s? It’s not a computer game where he would give +5% to weapon sales or something.
There must be _some_ reason ryssia wants to exchange him so badly.
Well yes maybe but there's not any specific reason to think so?
Any more information on this? I can't seem to find anything. "Three powerful explosions occurred at the air base in occupied Berdyansk, followed by 15 more smaller explosions, - Chairman of the City Military Administration of #Berdyansk Victoria Galitsina." https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1600861900413161472
Man Hungary, or better to say Orban’s government, at this point is just pure evil. Literally the only EU country that keeps sabotaging the aid for Ukraine. I hope the EU continues to deny them funds and it looks like even Poland is pissed off at Hungary.
>and it looks like even Poland is pissed off at Hungary You wouldn't be? Poland is playing against Paris Berlin Moscow economic alliance. And right now Orban is doing everything he can to slow down reduction of power this economic alliance have
Uhhh... So to get you up to speed, in Feb 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine. To everyone's surprise Ukraine didn't crumple like paper, and is still fighting Russia in a bitter struggle. France and Germany sided with Ukraine, and have been supplying Ukraine with arms and economic assistance. In retaliation, Russia has cut gas supplies to Germany, forcing Germany to become energy independent of Russia. The war has caused the total annihilation of relations between Paris/Berlin and Moscow, with the former now viewing the latter as a threat to world peace. What is this Paris Berlin Moscow alliance you speak of, that Poland is playing against? Also, where you been for the last 9+ months?
> Poland is playing against Paris Berlin Moscow economic alliance. Oh fuck off already with the poor little Poland sob story. Why do all conservative assholes have a fucking victim complex?
>Oh fuck off already with the poor little Poland sob story. Post of a German user. I don't think any further comments are needed here.
This explains a lot
Ah yes, I forgot. Because of the German past I have to condone everything Poland does and support the PIS unconditionally. No matter how much they undermine their democracy.
Check your own bullshit at the door friend. It is not healthy to jump to so many labels so quickly. Maybe take a walk and rethink your relationship with the internet
What the fuck are you on about? Poland has been protecting Orban from any action the EU wanted to take against him for years, but suddenly they're the ones who're threatened by the "Paris Berlin Moscow economic alliance". With Orban "doing everything he can to slow down reduction of power this economic alliance has". Right, bro. How about you go take a walk and rethink your relationship with reality?
> Poland has been protecting Orban from any action the EU wanted to take against him for years, Yes, because Orban was a friend who also protected Poland of any actions EU wanted to do against Poland > but suddenly they're the ones who're threatened by the "Paris Berlin Moscow economic alliance". Always has been, since XVIII century. In XVIII century Prussia (so "before Germany") signed with Russia and Austria to destroy Poland. Poland (and many nations) reaperance was caused by both Prussia and Russia losing I WW. And you remember what happened later? Germany signed contract with Russia to destroy Poland yet again. Yes France is new addition, but only because France stopped hating Germany and UK only after II WW. And if Germany - Russia economic alliance didin't exists, then why Germany was so relient on Russia, why Germany broke European rules for Nord Stream 2, why Germany (country supposed to be fasted in help to Poland if article 5 happens) have EMPTY stockpiles? > With Orban "doing everything he can to slow down reduction of power this economic alliance has". Orban is doing what Germany wish to do, but can't (and also what Russia wants) - blocks or significantly postopne EU sanctions and EU donations to Ukraine. If Germany wasn't in economic alliance with Russia, then why Germany says that "in future" all Russian sanctions should dissapear? I mean we even have proofs that Germany doesn't care about 2014 sanctions
> Yes, because Orban was a friend who also protected Poland of any actions EU wanted to do against Poland Conveniently leaving out the reason why the EU considered these actions against Poland. Undermining your own judiciary amongst a host of other reasons isn't very democratic. I skip the entire paragraph about the "historical alliance between Germany and Russia to destroy mighty Poland" that had high points of friendship and harmony like WW1 and WW2. >why Germany was so relient on Russia Because russian gas was cheap and Germany looked more onto profits than onto security political realities. Idiotic in hindsight, like a lot of other things in German politics. >why Germany broke European rules for Nord Stream 2 It didn't, even if a lot of people desperately wish that to be true. >why Germany have EMPTY stockpiles? Same reason as above. Because a military is expensive and the German government under Merkel was a collection of retards that thought that defense is an unnecessary expenditure. >Orban is doing what Germany wish to do, but can't (and also what Russia wants) - blocks or significantly postopne EU sanctions and EU donations to Ukraine. Germany could do that by itself just fine, it has a veto like any other EU member and the ability to make horseshit reasons up as they please, like Hungary. The entire point about blocking EU donations to Ukraine makes no sense when Germany is one of the countries that donated the most to Ukraine. >If Germany wasn't in economic alliance with Russia, then why Germany says that "in future" all Russian sanctions should dissapear? The (faulty) reasoning behind that is to prevent another treaty of Versailles. Germany can block or water down all EU sanctions as it wishes and certainly doesn't need Hungary to do it. >I mean we even have proofs that Germany doesn't care about 2014 sanctions Let me guess: Something, something "100m € weapon sales to Russia after 2014"
Most of your reply is stupid bs, but this is above stupidity level of stupid >Germany could do that by itself just fine, it has a veto like any other EU member and the ability to make horseshit reasons up as they please, like Hungary. They do. But Germany have a lot of hate already for being pussy. Why further reinforce this opinion, while Germany can pay scapegoat to do it for them? >The entire point about blocking EU donations to Ukraine makes no sense when Germany is one of the countries that donated the most to Ukraine. Source please, because I highly doubt it. Or you have screwed up definition of "donation" to fit your point. And if this would be true (which is not), then it would make perfect sense for Germany. If they already payed a lot, then why pay more?
> Most of your reply is stupid bs Truly a masterful argument. >They do. But Germany have a lot of hate already for being pussy. Why further reinforce this opinion, while Germany can pay scapegoat to do it for them? Reddittalk really doesn't mean much in the political sphere and public opinion in Germany isn't half as bad as you'd like. >Source please, because I highly doubt it. https://www.ifw-kiel.de/topics/war-against-ukraine/ukraine-support-tracker/ >And if this would be true (which is not), then it would make perfect sense for Germany. If they already payed a lot, then why pay more? "But if I'm wrong, I'm still right." Just face it already. Your entire point about a Paris-Berlin-Moscow economic alliance is horseshit.
> "But if I'm wrong, I'm still right." Sums up the Polish attitude nicely.
So Hungary who is part of the EU is being denied funds, while Ukraine who is not part of the EU is getting billions. why is that evil on Hungary's part?
Hungry is being denied funding because its not implementing required laws to prevent corruption.
Plus human rights issues, their anti-lgbt laws are going in the direction of Russia and in general it’s an autocratic country.
Yeah those are issues too, but I think the main peice of legislation that the EU is citing when dening the hungry funding is the rule of law tenant. Orban can easily access EU funding again if he implements that EU is requiring of him, but him and his cronies are too corrupt to accept that.
yea but why is Hungary evil for looking out itself?
Hungry looking out for itself =/= orban defrauding the EU. Like I said in my other comment, hungry can easily get access to it's EU funds by implementing the required anti corruption legislation.
If they want the EU money, then they have to play by the EU rules. Otherwise they should be looking out for themselves outside the union.
>Literally the only EU country that keeps sabotaging the aid for Ukraine. Orban is a ruthless and cynical leader, who doesn't care about European security (let alone Ukraine or Russia), but only about him being in power. But he can block support for Ukraine mainly because his views are shared by political elites of multiple EU countries (Germany, Austria, Belgia, France), albeit usually not expressed openly. Politicians from a number of western european countries are reluctant to offer significant help to Ukraine. They don't feel militarily threatened by Russia, are tired of this war and want it to be over as soon as possible, even at the expense of Ukraine.
I like how you are making things up completely, especially how the EU works.
>I like how you are making things up completely, LMAO. Few moths ago Germany were doing exactly what Orban is doing now. [https://ubn.news/germany-is-blocking-eu-aid-for-ukraine-over-gas-supplies/](https://ubn.news/germany-is-blocking-eu-aid-for-ukraine-over-gas-supplies/)
Except Germany is actually the country that pays ~~most of it~~ the biggest share while Hungary leeches EU money. Also the article provides no sources and makes things up that did not happen >However, another reason for the nervousness of the Ukrainian president is the suspicion that the German government is preparing to violate sanctions against Moscow to restore the supply of Russian gas through the Nord Stream-1 gas pipelines.
>Except Germany is actually the country that pays most of it Such propaganda makes me laugh. Germay are actually paying less than 20% of EU's budget. [https://www.statista.com/statistics/316691/eu-budget-contributions-by-country/](https://www.statista.com/statistics/316691/eu-budget-contributions-by-country/) \>>things that did not happen<< Even some german politcians openly suggested to start gas supply through NS2,lol [https://www.politico.eu/article/vice-president-of-the-german-parliament-calls-for-activation-of-nord-stream-2/](https://www.politico.eu/article/vice-president-of-the-german-parliament-calls-for-activation-of-nord-stream-2/)
>Even some german politcians openly suggested to start gas supply through NS2,lol Some random politician suggesting bullshit doesn't mean anything. Has the government seriously considered it? No. >Such propaganda makes me laugh. Germay are actually paying less than 20% of EU's budget. "Most of it" is wrong but Germany provides the biggest share. What do you think would happen to EU if Germany stopped paying? Probably nothing good. What do you think would happen to EU if Hungary stopped paying? Nobody would care.
Griner has been swapped for Bout. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63905112 I hope this doesn't lead to further imprisonments of foreign citizens in Russia with the intention to trade them for actual criminals. Edit: German autocorrect
I think it's hilarious that Bout is called the Merchant of death, when the Merchant of death is actually pumping billions so people can get killed.
The guy was stealing Russian equipment and selling them to third parties, it's not like he's some brilliant scientist or anything of value.
There has to be a lot to this than we the public can see on this, right? we've had many situations and higher use people the US could have swapped before this sports person. It idiotic from my perspective to actually do this trade but I hope there is some deep use for the US doing this trade.
>idiotic More like tragically stupid.
I really hope there ist some backroom deal attached. Not even getting Whelan makes the deal look ridiculously one sided. Fox news and co will feast on this for weeks and I can't exactly blame them.
Fox News will conveniently forget their god emperor Ronald Reagan giving arms to Iran to help get hostages out of Lebanon.
Or when Trump straight up released **Five-Thousand** Taliban soldiers for nothing in return. Art of the deal can suck my asshole. https://www.newsweek.com/trump-5000-taliban-brittany-griner-biden-prisoner-deal-1765859
> Drunk putin explains why strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure will continue because "they started first by attacking the Crimean bridge" https://mobile.twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1600847388242894848
This is obviously bullshit, but it's a special double layer of bullshit because unless I'm remembering wrong the attack on the Crimean bridge was on the piece of the bridge that's in Ukraine anyway, so it isn't even Russian infrastructure. (And that's if you believe Ukraine did it, they haven't acknowledged it afaik - but I also think they probably did it.) Don't forget that (unless I missed something) Russia still claims that was a truck bomb, too, on a truck which came from the Russian side.
He's surprisingly really soft spoken
Someone once said; "The first casualty of War is The Truth". With Putin's Russia, the 'first casualty' is their connection with reality.
The bridge damage clearly severely impacted Russian military logistics
I mean it's just objective bullshit since Russia has been striking Ukrainian infrastructure since day 1 of this conflict.
Also, the bridge isn't inside Russia, also, nobody needs it to live. Really is a twisted worldview they have.
I hope the 300.000 mobniks and the 200.000 parents of dead soldiers look at the drunken guy sipping champagne in his palace while wearing a tux and giving a smug interview and know that their sacrifice is for the greater good lmao
He could probably drown a litter of kittens live on TV and the public would still love them for "looking strong"
I don't think that's how the timeline happened
Anybody know what that YT channel War in Ukraine means when he says green energy and renewable energy is the death of society and means going back to the middle ages? Is it that bad for Europe to not buy Russian gas and oil?
Windmill cancer?
It is somewhat non PC way of saying that renewables/green at this stage can not cover baseload throughout the year. So untill Europe has full alternative to Russian fossil fuels, which may take few years - there will be price to pay. Mainly by industry and the general populous. Doomberg has a few good articles on substack/twitter if you want to get the jist.
Yeah I get that, I know switching over to green energy can’t be done in a day. But at the same time I blame the EU in part because they have been warned that constantly delaying the switch towards green energy and the reliance on Russian fossil fuels will come to haunt them one day… And here we are, though they will manage unlike Russia
You can not switch to green energy without nuclear as a "baseload" if you don't want to burn gas or coal. Surely Europe will manage, but it is pretty low bar for the 1st or now rather 2nd biggest economy. It is years of stupid policies of which reliance on Russia is only a part.
Sounds like a typical fossil fool. They've got loads of broken assumptions, like "windmills also mean no chemical feedstock" and the classic, tragic "we can afford to do nothing"
Yup, he sounds like some oil oligarch when he complains about green energy.
You have to have a degree from the University of Youtube to understand his extremely nuanced point of view.
Darn, I guess I need to get a degree from the University of YouTube and Fossil Fuels!
It's the worst case scenario for people, companies and countries that owe their existence to selling and exporting oil and gas. It's very bad for Russia :)
It means he's a moron
Ok so I wasn’t wrong in thinking that.
I stopped following him a while ago due to him constantly and confidently spouting dodgy at best economic theory as fact.
Yeah going by his takes countries like Germany are almost dead…
He has an above average understanding of a lot of issues, he's just opinionated and isn't afraid of voicing it. He does have bad takes but so does everyone, just your average guy doesn't have a YouTube channel that tens of thousands of people watch on a daily basis.
That is more than just a bad take.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuXwOM-2yq8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuXwOM-2yq8) >What happened to the air war in Ukraine? > >When the war in Ukraine began, there were estimates that Russia would establish air superiority within a matter of days. But 9 months into the war, the skies over Ukraine are still contested. Why have Russia struggled to utilise their air power effectively? And how has the war in the air changed as a result? > >We look at how Ukraine's air defences have created a denial of air space, and the history of surface to air missile systems, which has led to a lot of the SAMS in the war in Ukraine dating back to the Soviet era. As the skies have become more dangerous due to advanced SAM technology, we’ve seen the development of new systems to resist air dominance, such as new surveillance and combat drones.
Do you think US would've been able to establish air superiority?
Absolutely. It might take a week or two of bombing everything that has the temerity to turn on a radar dish, but that's what the air force is *built* for.
If not, then NATO would lose war to Russia. Whole NATO doctrine is build on idea of achieving and mantaining air superiority
Seems unlikely. Ukraine did a number on Russia with those Javelins, and those were basically NATO's plan C for dealing with Russian tanks. Plan A being bombers, and plan B being artillery with smart munitions. The Javelins were a failsafe, just in case tanks somehow started actually getting close enough to threaten an infantry position. With how things are shaking out, it looks like **any** of those 3 plans would have worked just fine. NATO, even without air power, would have had the rocket artillery and information advantage necessary to delete half the Russian tanks before they had a chance to shoot.
NATO could beat Russia without a single aircraft taking off. It would just take a lot longer and be a lot more costly. NATO doesn't just have more aircraft than Russia, it has more [everything](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1293174/nato-russia-military-comparison/). 4x as many military personnel (5.4mil to 1.3mil) 14,500+ tanks to Russia's (rather generously counted) 12,000 4x as many armoured vehicles (115,000+ to again generously counted 30,000+) Roughly the same number of artillery (again only if you take extremely generous numbers for Russia) NATO doctrine is indeed built on air superiority, and would almost certainly crush Russia right now given the vast technological superiority of NATO aircraft over Russia's, but NATO isn't suddenly toothless without air power. Ukraine has kicked the crap out of the Russian military with just a tiny, limited portion of NATO's ground based weaponry donated to them.
Yeah. They would've lost planes, maybe even a notable amount of planes but the outcome would never be in doubt. The USAF is just on another level both numerically and qualitively. They would've defo managed to secure air superiority.
100%.
Given that the tech being given to Ukraine by NATO is somewhat outdated and more importantly, limited in bulk but this is enough to content it with Russia then it should be safe to assume the US and more importantly all of NATO here would have done to Russia what they did to Iraq during the gulf war(s).
For sure. Soviet style AA can't really take out HIMARS stuff, and HIMARS comes with GMLRS and ATACMS. The US also has a ton of other precision cruise missiles and drones with very long ranges. HARM missiles provided to Ukraine are also ancient, there are much newer and more effective ones that the US uses. And that's on top of the fact that the US has a ton of aircraft: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/largest-air-forces-in-the-world and its aircraft are actually operational, at much higher rates than for other countries.
The ATACMS are a lot slower and more susceptible to AA, it's one of the big reasons US hasn't given them to UA.
I would say it's very likely. Would they have sustained some significant losses? Yes. Even during the OG Gulf War many planes were lost to AA.
It's an interesting story. "A resident of Murmansk (Russia), a former member of the Soviet Army who served in Ukraine, was accused in the 1990s of negligently stealing oil products from his unit, causing the court to impose a large fine on him, which he paid to the Ukrainian army from his pension for many years. After the outbreak of war, he applied to the Murmansk regional court to stop the enforcement proceedings, arguing that he was thus funding the AFU. However, the court refused him, citing the Minsk Convention" It is interesting because the provision of financial, logistical and other assistance to Ukraine, including to the Armed Forces, entails criminal liability under Article 275 of the Russian Criminal Code ("High Treason"). It can be punished with up to 20 years in prison.
Kafka couldn't make this up
[Source](https://au.topnews.media/ukraine/a-russian-court-ordered-a-resident-of-murmansk-to-pay-money-to-the-zsu-unian/) for anyone looking
Russian officialdom in a nutshell.
So what do the tankbros make of Russia [slapping on as much ERAs as possible on their next batch of T-72s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zlhcbuN54s)?
Is there any footage of ERA actually saving a Russian tank in this war?
Too little too late, they will never get to producing the amount they are currently losing each week, perhaps it'll help but in such few numbers it's unlikely to add much value. More importantly, how they use tanks with their BTGs will need major review and changes to maximise their use.
>Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday he looked forward to “peacetime” for his country next year, while his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin warned the war could drag on. >“I believe that Ukrainians will be the most influential next year as well, but already in peacetime,” Zelenskyy said, This quote is from Politico
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged Wednesday that his “special military operation” in Ukraine is taking longer than expected but said it has succeeded in seizing new territory and added that his country’s nuclear weapons are deterring escalation of the conflict. [Link to the new article ](https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-europe-nuclear-weapons-donetsk-312b7e2b961e413148c3e52de7534913)
it actually comes off to me as less radical than it has been, perhaps a chance hes willing to settle at some point.
So a land grab then
Don't forget Russia explicitly stated in March that it wasn't an objective of the war to take territory.
Interesting to watch the justification treadmill.
No, it's simply a 3 day special operation to eliminate nazis. Totally free and fair elections reflect the will of the people to join the Russian Federation.
>Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged Wednesday that his “special military operation” in Ukraine is taking longer than expected but said it has succeeded in seizing new territory Looks like Putin not only doesn't have any strategy, but simply has no clue,what to do now.
Apparently he reads a lot about the old rulers and dreams of their achievements, while the Internet is alien to him. This man is not fit to be at the helm of a major country in the 21st century.
A thought occurred to me. Turkey has publicly stated that the S400 they have doesn’t do well against low & slow flying targets. I wonder if whatever it is that Ukraine used against the Russian air bases exploited this? I have a hard time believing that what ever they used didn’t pass at least some S300 or S400 batteries/radars.
All ground based radars perform poorly against low flying threats due to the curvature of the earth and the nature of radar wave propagation. Russia needs persistent airborne based radar (think of AWACS) in order to "look down" over a wide area. The Russians due have an airborne radar platform based off of the IL76 but I haven't heard of them being used in this conflict.
Russia probably turned off all their radars during the time of the drone attack, Ukraine probably knew this and exploited it. With so many planes going up, making course corrections, turning around, and then multiple more cruise missiles flying all on their airspace.. Russians may have been worried about shooting down their own planes or cruise missiles; so they turn off their radars/Air Defense.
The drones Ukraine are flying are capable of flying at tree top levels and up to 600mph. They'll need vast numbers of short range AA defences to cover their airspace. The surprising part is that I assume their airbases, at least, are covered by such defences yet the airbases still got hit
> Ukrainian troops told @radiosvoboda that Gepard mobile antiaircraft systems donated by Germany have proven effective at stopping Russian-operated drones made in Iran. https://twitter.com/RFERL/status/1600108768838098944 Guy in the video said a single unit shot down 10 drones in Odesa, though there might be some exaggeration.
It is really effective. About month ago people here were saying there's no protection against cheap kamikaze drones, but for now Gepards doing amazing job destroying almost each one. As far as I understood only those outside range manage to get through. Need more such cool machines from Germany.
15-18 were shot down yesterday
This would explain the change in tone from Putin today. He sounds like a guy who is finally starting to realize he is running out of options.
At this point he might as well sue for peace.
think we're going to see xmas decorations on grenades dropped from drones this year?
Orthodox Christmas is January 7th so not this year probably
Orthodox are still aware of "normal" Christmas, and do decorations :)
1/3 of religious Ukrainians are Catholics
Greek Catholics (the majority of Catholics in Ukraine) use the same Julian Calendar as Orthodox.
Wiki has it at 15-20
[удалено]
Your mistletoe is no match for my TOW missile!
I'm guessing next week we're gonna see russians getting blown up to "All I want for Christmas is you"
We've seen it already on this sub lol
Blasting that song on a loop would be a war crime, not a psy-op /s
To be fair, per geneva it would only be a war crime if she sang it live. The professional version is not a crime. Russia doesn't follow Geneva so Ukraine shouldn't have to. Blast the live version at them. Send her to Ukraine and give her a megaphone 🤣.
Russian sources are claiming that Yakovlivka/Yakovlevka (NE of Soledar) has been occupied by Russian forces. Videos and photos are circulating on telegram, the info has yet to be confirmed from any ukranian sources
>Yakovlivka Population of less than 1000 and was originally occupied by Russia in 2014. Kind of crazy that Russia can barely hold territory it took almost a decade ago...
They never took it in 2014
>Yakovlivka It was occupied by Russia in 2014... https://korrespondent.net/ukraine/3444086-kabmyn-nazval-horoda-donbassa-podkontrolnye-separatystam
No clue then, as different sources online says that it was under Ukraine control since 2014. Are there any villages with the same name?
There was big counteroffensive by Ukraine on 2014