Russian invasion of Ukraine | Fewer tweets, more discussion

[choccy77]

@AFP: Biden used the phrase "war criminal" to describe Putin for the first time today, and then deepened his attack, tweeting that Putin was "inflicting appalling devastation and horror on Ukraine -- bombing apartment buildings and maternity wards"

http://u.afp.com/wm4j

 

[TMDaines]

 

[GlastonSpur]

They would like to try to anyways. But the point is, you don't need to drive in a big convoy to distribute this weapons and the Russians won't be able to attack every truck crossing the border and driving somewhere through Ukraine. So it's quite safe to transport those through their own country. As long as they are driving through their own land they don't have any need to form convoys.

And you can be sure Russian intelligence would get to know about those deliveries anyway. While we have seen an exceptional case of filtering out unwanted negative information while moving reports through the ranks and therefore an epic failure to assess the strategic situation, that doesn't mean that such tactical information would go unnoticed. So at this point publicly announcing it is essentially just PR and propaganda, a show of support for the Ukrainian people.

Much of this stuff will also be coming in car boots and the like. You can stack a fair few boxed weapons inside with the back seat folded flat. Impossible to track it all. Impossible to stop.

 

[Carolina Red]

Very good. Hopefully the same thing happens to the guys who did this…

#Putin speaks of a special action in #Ukraine that is not aimed at civilians. However, a drone filmed a few kilometers west of Kyiv how a civilian was shot dead by apparently Russian soldiers. #ZDFfrontal exclusive, more about the war 9:15 p.m. @ZDF

Spoiler

 

[Frosty]

A tweet from Christo Grozev:

The last hospital in Mariupol, by the Associated Press. All others were bombed out by Russia. People doctors can't save are lined up in the basement, including infants. It's the most heart wrenching footage of this war.

There is a two minute video showing how the dead and the dying are being laid out in the building's basement. I am not even sure they have the morphine to ease their passing.

 

[Cheimoon]

Sure, they might do that. But they might also do that because of arms transports, transit points of foreign volunteers, and even sanctions (which they've already ridiculously claimed is a declaration of war). My point is just that the act of shooting down Nato planes outside of Nato territory (and the ocean) doesn't concern Article 5, no more than any of those other things. You might claim that's a literal reading, but there is no other way to read the article.

That doesn't mean a no fly zone is a good idea, of course. Whether or not Russians shooting down American pilots is going to start WW3, Americans shooting down Russian pilots probably is.

Yes, I agree with all that, sorry if I didn't express it well.

Also, I think literal is the way these texts should be read, cause it would be very undesirable for a multination military agreement to be ambiguous. That won't stop some people from trying creative interpretations, but that can't have been the intention of the language. So my use of 'literal' wasn't meant negatively.

 

[choccy77]

@spectatorindex: BREAKING: Panama's government says three Panama-flagged ships have been hit by Russian missiles in the Black Sea since the start of the war, with one of them sunk.

 

[Carolina Red]

This asshole woulda spoken out against aid to Britain in 1940.

 

[calodo2003]

This asshole woulda spoken out against aid to Britain in 1940.

‘Our enemies & our frenemies’

 

[groovyalbert]

This asshole woulda spoken out against aid to Britain in 1940.

God damn pacifists

 

[The Firestarter]

This asshole woulda spoken out against aid to Britain in 1940.

Feck that cnut. But not literally.

 

[Simbo]

Nothing almost one hour after the event, I think it's pretty safe to assume nothing exploded in Belarus.

Except officials are claiming it was military exercises, which means explosions. All a bit strange.

 

[GlastonSpur]

This asshole woulda spoken out against aid to Britain in 1940.

That asshole would have been a devout admirer of Hitler.

Neo-fascists band together, as ever. The alt-right Trumpian cultists hate democracy in the USA as much as they applaud Putin for trying to crush democracy in Ukraine.

 

[Carolina Red]

‘Our enemies & our frenemies’

Indeed.

God damn pacifists

Unsurprisingly, she only supports war when it’s against her own government

“In an interview with gun activist Chris Dorr on October 27, 2020, a week before election day, Greene told viewers: "the only way you get your freedoms back is it's earned with the price of blood."

Feck that cnut. But not literally.

Definitely not literally [shudders]

That asshole would have been a devout admirer of Hitler.

Neo-fascists band together, as ever. The alt-right Trumpian cultists hate democracy in the USA as much as they applaud Putin for trying to crush democracy in Ukraine.

Quite right. She’d absolutely goose step into dictatorship to save democracy from the Democrats.

 

[sport2793]

Feck that cnut. But not literally.

 

[sglowrider]

This asshole woulda spoken out against aid to Britain in 1940.

Who knew she was a peacenik.

 

[Beans]

Seems to be something going on in Belarus, apparently Lavrov's plane just turned around mid flight to China to go back west.

 

[Carolina Red]

Who knew she was a peacenik.

Certainly not the militia groups she’s been associated with

 

[calodo2003]

Except officials are claiming it was military exercises, which means explosions. All a bit strange.

Insane that a country would have military exercises next door to an active conflict.

 

[Carolina Red]

Seems to be something going on in Belarus, apparently Lavrov's plane just turned around mid flight to China to go back west.

Belarus has already said this was military training exercises.

 

[Simbo]

Belarus has already said this was military training exercises.

…Which would suggest a coup

 

[GlastonSpur]

 

[GlastonSpur]

 

[sglowrider]

Certainly not the militia groups she’s been associated with

She is working her Gandhi message with them. It will take time.

 

[GlastonSpur]

 

[sglowrider]

I bet AD/DC don't have the balls to ask them to take down the video or remove the music!!

 

[stefan92]

I'm surprised to see this. Artillery hits on a supply/command post shouldn't really be possible, as those shouldn't be too close to the frontline to prevent exactly that. So what's going on here? Russians retreating, being stupid or too optimistic when setting it up?

 

[Carolina Red]

Urban armored combat amateur hour

 

[Carolina Red]

I'm surprised to see this. Artillery hits on a supply/command post shouldn't really be possible, as those shouldn't be too close to the frontline to prevent exactly that. So what's going on here? Russians retreating, being stupid or too optimistic when setting it up?

This kinda goes along with the fact that 4 Russian major generals have been killed by Ukraine now. Russian logistics & communications have been struggling during this invasion. That’ll push what should be rear areas & personnel farther forward towards the front.

 

[Carolina Red]

 

[GlastonSpur]

U.S intelligence now conservatively estimates 7,000+ Russian troop deaths. The general rule is to assume 3 times as many wounded or out of action for other reasons (captured etc), which would make a minimum total of 28,000 now out of action .... or 15% of the invasion force, if that numbered 190,000 troops.

Pentagon officials say a 10% casualty rate, including dead and wounded, for a single unit renders it unable to carry out combat-related tasks .

 

[sglowrider]

would pay to see Klitschko in the same room as Putin.

 

[Carolina Red]

would pay to see Klitschko in the same room as Putin.

Yes please. Man who walks out gets Ukraine.

 

[sglowrider]

Yes please. Man who walks out gets Ukraine.

Barekuckle Klitschko versus Macho Topless Man Putin.

 

[RedDevilQuebecois]

Watch them break off peace talks and say they won't restart till biden apologises

Putin can go suck democracy's cock for all we care.

That bald cnut and his minions have done about the same kind of stuff that other Milosevic allowed to fester under his rule in the Balkans.

 

[Sir Matt]

The music is a huge improvement over the weird electronic stuff that's been used as background for most of these videos. Ukraine should just use AC/DC on all of them, and everyone would know they were winning.

It may be compression artifacts, but there are a few things that look like tracer bullets being shot at the drone. It's incredible how drones, even off-the-shelf DJI drones or others have revolutionized asymmetric warfare. I'm surprised the Russians haven't used their electronic warfare capabilities more effectively. Many American experts rate their EW capabilities higher than the US when it comes to radars, jamming, etc. but it's completely MIA in this fight.

 

[Sir Matt]

 

[LDUred]

If shipments of arms are being 'slated' or 'considered' then most likely Ukrainian bases have their hands on them already. It's a way of taunting the opposition by telling them indirectly that the weapons have already safely arrived at their destination under their noses.

As others have said, there's no real need for them to release the information because the shipments could be intercepted en-route.

It's just a diversion technique and the Russians will realize that to, but the prospect of Switchblades being introduced increases the fear factor.

 

[Raoul]

would pay to see Klitschko in the same room as Putin.

His brother had his chance a while back

Spoiler

 

[Sir Matt]

If shipments of arms are being 'slated' or 'considered' then most likely Ukrainian bases have their hands on them already. It's a way of taunting the opposition by telling them indirectly that the weapons have already safely arrived at their destination under their noses.

As others have said, there's no real need for them to release the information because the shipments could be intercepted en-route.

It's just a diversion technique and the Russians will realize that to, but the prospect of Switchblades being introduced increases the fear factor.

I would assume that most, if not all of it, was already there or very close to it. Publicly supporting Ukraine is good for Ukrainian morale since it demonstrates that the world thinks they can win. It also , as you said, negatively impacts the Russians. You see all makeshift the bird cages on tanks meant to stop Javelins and NLAWs so obviously there is already fear of more advanced weaponry.

Hearing the buzz of a drone and not knowing if it's a DJI or Switchblade though would be disconcerting.