Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Larbre34

Zelensky is a master of the media art.

A great leader but also one of the great communicators of our time.

And they scoffed at him for being a comedy actor and soft liver of the high life. It just goes to show, for every Trump there is at least one Reagan.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119725865#Comment_119725865

My son said Russia is acting like a small child.

EOQRTL

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119725982#Comment_119725982

He's wrong, they are acting like cruel predators. Couldn't be further from the innocence of a child.

RoyalCelt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119724414#Comment_119724414

No but giving them the ability to strike Russian bases in Crimea, Rostov etc would help. The Russian fleet linger in the black sea and Azov sea. Many of these missiles originate from ships stationed here or submarines that reload here. And also fighter jets that take off from there.

Ukraine have already striked some of these long range bases but their ability is limited. Give them the capability and Russia will clear out from the black sea making it much harder to launch these massive cruise missile strikes.

They won't change the course of the war but it will save civilian lives.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119725865#Comment_119725865

Certainly reported earlier that power grid infrastructure was targeted in Lviv.

Raoul Duke III

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119725965#Comment_119725965

I think he may well be as surprised as anyone.

The ironic thing is that Putin undoubtedly sees himself as a 'man of destiny', whereas Zelensky has had destiny thrust upon him and has risen magnificently to it. His background in entertainment may actually have served him well as he seems to be a master of communications who understands very well the power of the media and the leverage it brings him, internally as well as domestically. Putin by contrast looks exactly what he is - a grey, bitter, scared old man.

Boggles

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119725965#Comment_119725965

The Ukrainians are absolute masters of social media.

But again it wouldn't be hard, the Russians are the baddies from a 70s bad espionage movie and they have never really moved on from that.

Just take a look at the state of their latest offering.

If Dr. Evil fúcked Humpty Dumpty.

Absolute parody.

Run Forest Run

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119725965#Comment_119725965

He puts on a good show alright, a bit like Punch and Judy!

He's leading his nation during war, which is not an easy task tbf. But some observers of this conflict, would also say he possibly led his nation to war as well.

I get the feeling history might view him as somewhat of a polarising figure. But time will tell I suppose.

Gatling

108 cruise missiles and 24 Iranian drones were fired into Kiev this morning, that's enough to overwhelm most air defense systems ,

One was intercepted with a shoulder launched manpad ,

storker

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119724220#Comment_119724220

I wonder what kind of mental gymnastics one must engage in to present siding with the aggressor as "arguing for peace".

Wes M.

Serious question for the military enthusiasts: will Belarussian troops change the course of the war in Russia's favour ? That's quite a border Ukraine shares with Belarus. I ask this, not knowing how aligned Balarus is with Russia, and what state their military is in. I'm assuming ordinary Belarussians are fed the same rabid propaganda as Russians, but are they as obediant as Lukashenko is to Putin ?

briany

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119726090#Comment_119726090

Same logic as mobsters walking into a mom and pop shop and asking for a 30 percent cut, saying, "We don't want there to be no trouble. You don't want there to be no trouble. Make things easy on yaself..."

Invaders always claim to bring peace.

cnocbui

Cat picks the right side.

Gatling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119726086#Comment_119726086

Why bother posting utter drivel

Igotadose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119726131#Comment_119726131

Cats have the right idea. Too bad there's a few Boardsie's that don't.

Boggles

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119726086#Comment_119726086

 some observers of this conflict, would also say he possibly led his nation to war as well.

The Russians?

gandalf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119726115#Comment_119726115

They won't make a serious difference and there is serious questions about whether they will fight if Lukashenko orders them across the border.

They could even switch sides.

RoyalCelt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119726115#Comment_119726115

It would have a healthy mix of Russian soldier's mixed in with them. No way would they send Belarus by themselves they'd be crushed.

I've a feeling Poland could enter Ukraine defend it's nothern border from Belarus if they attacked. A third party country getting involved directly would be a major escalation from the Russian side and would justify it.

Poland would probably avoid invading Belarus directly as that would lead to far greater losses compared to embedding their soldier's within Ukraine to defend it.

Gatling

Drone or cruise missile interception with a manpad ,

Oddly enough I believe this is the first time it's ever been done in a real combat situation

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1579467284317605889?s=20&t=pg4Yy7Y8tpuvVm6Piyn97A

timmyntc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119725865#Comment_119725865

Have any of these strikes actually taken out any critical infrastructure? Any power plants? Any railway hubs? Any key bridges?

Railway hubs hit in several locations

Power plants and substations hit extensively. Most of Ukraine is without power or operating with severe demand shedding. Several cities were in blackout, but backup generators brought stuff back online.

Many diesel-electric trains across Ukraine are now operating exclusively on diesel as of this morning.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ukraine-latest-russian-missiles-hit-091656031.html

Ukrenergo Starts Rolling Blackouts in Four Ukrainian Regions (3:14 p.m.)

Ukraine’s national power grid operator set up a plan for emergency power cuts for consumers in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy and Zhytomyr regions, the company said.

...

Ukrainian Officials Urge Energy Cutbacks After Strikes (1:52 p.m.)

The strikes knocked out power in five regions: Lviv, Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv and Ternopil, while there are partial disruptions everywhere else in Ukraine, the nation’s Emergency Services said. Ukrainians should use as little power as possible Monday evening, with the situation particularly bad in the city of Lviv, according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of Zelenskiy’s office.

Tymoshenko said authorities were working to restore power and urged people to conserve energy from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. A lawmaker from Zelenskiy’s party, Andriy Gerus, said the evening would be “one of the most difficult” for Ukraine’s power sector.

“Some regions have electricity blackouts, some have a scheduled rolling blackout,” Gerus said. “Tonight it is worth minimizing the use of appliances.” Infrastructure facilities were hit in eight Ukrainian regions, the spokesman of the state emergency service Oleksandr Khorunzhyi said on television.

They have done quite a bit of infrastructural damage - though I'd say by end of week most of Ukraine will have stable power and water again

briany

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119726173#Comment_119726173

Imagine Polish troops and British SAS stationed across the Belarusian border as part of a joint peacekeeping operation...

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119726136#Comment_119726136

It's a living.

timmyntc

Ukrainian authorities say Russian ships carrying cruise missiles have reloaded and re-entered the black sea

Ukrainians expecting a 2nd wave...

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119726271#Comment_119726271

An independent Russian journalist says these bombings are primarily aimed at the hard line hawks in Russia and the media (guys like Solovyov), Putin trying to reassure them after the bridge attack that the regime is not impotent and is not losing the war.

Economics101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119726089#Comment_119726089

At that rate surely Russian cruise missile stocks will not last very long. We have heard stories of limited Russian advanced missile stocks before.

Wes M.

This day has been something of a shock for me, for the past few weeks I've been in good form as I watched the UA skrink Russia's theatre of war and torment the propagandists back in Moscow, but it seems like the Kremlin are now intent on destroying Ukraine and its people with open maliciousness. Perhaps the Kremlin has finally realized that the hearts and minds of Ukrainians cannot be turned (just last week Putin said he had great respect for them), so let's just kill 'em all instead. What happens next ? Western support seems dependant on Ukraine following a defensive strategy, but will Ukraine send a grand gesture back to Moscow in response to this morning ? Seems like Russia is saying, What you gonna do about it ?

Run Forest Run

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119726211#Comment_119726211

I would guess it's only the beginning of what's about to go down.

Medvedev said back in July I think it was, that there will be a "judgement day" for Ukraine if Crimea was to be attacked. This is assuming they consider the bridge to be part of Crimea, which it's likely they probably do. "Judgement day will come fast and hard" was the full remark.

I did say earlier in this thread, that Ukraine would take out that bridge only when they were going "all in". Or possibly if they think Russia are doing likewise. So assuming it was Ukraine, then we should probably expect things to get pretty ugly in the next few weeks. It's possible that Ukraine have intel from their own sources or the US, that Russia are planning something huge and it would make strategic sense to take out that bridge to hamper their efforts. But it's still a very dangerous move.

Gatling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119726219#Comment_119726219

On that this popped up , expect fake news claims

https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1579425805922635776?s=20&t=pg4Yy7Y8tpuvVm6Piyn97A

Raoul Duke III

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119726349#Comment_119726349

After Bucha, Irpin, Severodonetsk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia et al, you only think now that Russia wants to destroy Ukraine as a nation?

timmyntc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119726297#Comment_119726297

Could well be - although it coincides with the new leader of the war SMO being appointed - the same man who oversaw Russia's bomb them into the stone age policy in Syria

This has echoes of the Shock and Awe policy in Iraq - destroy the infrastructure from afar and then move in to mop up. Except of course theyve already "gone in" and it didnt go so well for them. New russian leadership trying to start the invasion from scratch?