Russian invasion of Ukraine | Fewer tweets, more discussion

Frosty said:
I never knew this. I cannot even imagine to be asked to do something like that.
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Yeah, horrible stuff, i think they talked about it in their documentary, both got their start in boxing in the renowned soviet amateur system as well which im sure helped them quite a lot with their father being a supporting factor in their success.

Anyway they sure had interesting lives to say the least.
 
hellhunter said:
Not quite, he's a full on Russia shill and mates with Putin. feck that guy and do him for treason for all I care
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I know, posted about it already, the current sdp chancellor seems to be doing less than other countries as well, is sdp compromised?
 
Red the Bear said:
I know, posted about it already, the current sdp chancellor seems to be doing less than other countries as well, is sdp compromised?
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No, not at all. He's not governing alone, and it's more a mirror of the german political landscape. It's also a bit of realism, we know we're in a shit position because we fecked up our energy and defense politics, but we have to live with the consequences now and can't change our energy infrastructure over night
 
hellhunter said:
No, not at all. He's not governing alone, and it's more a mirror of the german political landscape. It's also a bit of realism, we know we're in a shit position because we fecked up our energy and defense politics, but we have to live with the consequences now and can't change our energy infrastructure over night
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Good to know, always thought Germany was in bed with Russia a tad too much, hopefully this debacle makes you correct course.
 
VorZakone said:
The selflessness from soldiers always amazes me. They could probably see people chilling right now in Kyiv etc on social media while they themselves are on the frontlines battling the Russians.
I couldn't do it.
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At least Kyiv (like all Ukrainian cities) has sirens blazing on the daily and is occasionally the target of cruise missiles. Life isn’t normal there.

But imagine being a Russian soldier and watching people in Moscow/St. Petersburg enjoy a perfect summer while you’re bogged down in the trenches in Ukraine for months on this “special operation” hoping you don’t become a lada-sized cheque for your parents.
 
Red the Bear said:
Good to know, always thought Germany was in bed with Russia a tad too much, hopefully this debacle makes you correct course.
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If we're talking about imports several European countries are spending more time in Russia's bed than Germany is, if we're staying with the metaphor, it's just a combination of Germany being a big country and that media attention begets more attention. No one cares about Greece or Finland, except when Finland wants to join NATO of course.
 
NotThatSoph said:
If we're talking about imports several European countries are spending more time in Russia's bed than Germany is, if we're staying with the metaphor, it's just a combination of Germany being a big country and that media attention begets more attention. No one cares about Greece or Finland, except when Finland wants to join NATO of course.
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I guess I'm saying that relative to their status and importance to the western block, they're supposed to be European union's corner stone for example which is obviously not the same in case of Finland and Greece as you said yourself.

For what it's worth they may have been trying to be too clever in their conduct with Russia for their own sake , im sure it's going to change.
 
This is taking a new turn now - missiles launched from Belarus overnight. Kiev hit.
 
Red the Bear said:
For what it's worth they may have been trying to be too clever in their conduct with Russia for their own sake , im sure it's going to change.
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The doctrine for a long time was "Wandel durch Handel" (change through trade) and it yielded some results. Without the trust build through early gas deals in the 70s etc the German reunification would likely have been much more complicated for example. Germany definitely missed the point to realize this isn't going to work any more, but it isn't like the good relations were always a mistake.
 
Dans said:
This is taking a new turn now - missiles launched from Belarus overnight. Kiev hit.
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What could be the Ukrainian response now? Belarus has been sitting more or less on the sidelines for months despite that bald fatty's big mouth, but now this is a very different kind of fish because Belarus is now an aggressor without a formal declaration of war.
 
Rajma said:

No losses apparently. Putin getting desperate as occupation forces are cracking down.
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That’s not what they’re saying in my opinion. He’s saying it’s at a new low i.e. it’s not ever been this bad due to losses in the war they are fast tracking (and not therefore not training) promotions.
 
Frosty said:
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And considering what History tells us about insurgencies and resistance movements during wartime, the Russian army and the Separatists should see this as merely the beginning as the resistance can yet take a course of actions that is both harsher and more systematic.
 
I wonder if Putin has an end goal in place?

He could have taken the East, take Odessa to landlock Ukraine and say mission over...but it just seems all over the place?
 
Tibs said:
I wonder if Putin has an end goal in place?

He could have taken the East, take Odessa to landlock Ukraine and say mission over...but it just seems all over the place?
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I think Putin is eyeing winter to force a breakthrough.
 
VorZakone said:
I think Putin is eyeing winter to force a breakthrough.
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Winter in Ukraine? Or colder weather to switch off the gas and stop grain exports to the rest of the world?

Is the goal to take all of Ukraine?
 
Tibs said:
Winter in Ukraine? Or colder weather to switch off the gas and stop grain exports to the rest of the world?

Is the goal to take all of Ukraine?
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Winter to put the pressure back on the Western countries is my guess. I think there was a great twitter thread posted here recently that outlined how Putin wants to exploit the winter months.

With regards to taking all of Ukraine, that's over. It's not happening. Their military can't do another full-scale invasion. I think they're now focused on keeping Ukraine out of the occupied territories.

I genuinely don't know how this will end. Putin can't afford a loss, it'd be the end of him politically (in Russia). But he also can't exactly order a mass mobilization because that would probably create huge resistance from the Russian population.

My guess is the end-game will be a Ukrainian formal agreement that Donbas is lost in exchange for Russian withdrawal. And the West will keep a lid on Ukraine to commit to that, for example by threatening to stop financial aid and such when rebuilding Ukraine.
 
Carolina Red said:
I wonder how much of the Russian Air Force you could take down with 6 F-22s.
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Since the F-22 has never been tested in air to air combat there is no way to know exactly how good they would do, but going by results from exercises, I wouldn't want to be an Russian SU-30 pilot trying to maintain air superiority against them.

"During Exercise Northern edge in Alaska in June 2006, in simulated combat exercises 12 F-22s of the 94th FS downed 108 adversaries with no losses. In the exercises, the F-22-led Blue Force amassed 241 kills against two losses in air-to-air combat, with neither "loss" being an F-22."
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"During Exercise Red Flag 07–1 in February 2007, 14 F-22s of the 94th FS supported Blue Force strikes and undertook close air support sorties. Against superior numbers of Red Force Aggressor F-15s and F-16s, 6–8 F-22s maintained air dominance throughout and provided airborne electronic surveillance. No sorties were missed because of maintenance or other failures; a single F-22 was judged "lost" against the defeated opposing force."
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VorZakone said:
My guess is the end-game will be a Ukrainian formal agreement that Donbas is lost in exchange for Russian withdrawal. And the West will keep a lid on Ukraine to commit to that, for example by threatening to stop financial aid and such when rebuilding Ukraine.
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The only thing is that an Ukrainian offensive on a strong scale may crush Crimea by then, especially as the Russian Black Sea fleet has already mostly left Sevastopol. Even if Donbas remains Russian, they will eventually lose their share of territories annexed back in 2014.
 
There is a very graphic video going around on Twitter showing Russian soldiers cutting off the genitalia of a Ukrainian POW, earlier today I watched part of it, before I realised what it was. Id suggest to anyone that comes across it not to watch it, it is a truely horrific video.

This soldier has been recognized from a propaganda video in Russian state TV and is believed to be the one responsible.
 
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