the battle for Odessa is next after Mariupol falls and then the battle for the Dnieper Valley all the way to link up with the armies attacking the North in Kyiv.....but if China steps in Putin will be happy to just take Mariupol, Kherson and a few other cities in order to take the whole of the coast to the sea of Azov and have a constant flow of water from the Dnieper river to Crimea through the pre-built canal that Ukraine had switched off since 2014
I really hope all these promised western weapons are coming through thick and fast and into the hands of professional Ukrainian soldiers otherwise all the clapping in the European Parliament and state of unions speeches look like false dawns. I know we can’t engage directly but god let’s throw the kitchen sink at this weapons wise.
It was tongue in cheek trying to inject a bit of light relief into a bleak situation. No offense intended.
Granny is a national security threat. Off to the Siberian gulag with her. Putin has stressed that Russia needs security, so this goes some way to achieving that.👍️
Yes I would take anything that sees zelensky as leader and Russian troops out. But whether its next week or months down the line I want to see putin dead end of.
But if he stays in Ukraine, he's looking at years of crippling sanctions and Russia remaining banned from everything (including the flights, the banks, sport etc). He has created the most almighty mess for himself.
Shouldn't have invaded during winter. If anyone knows about Russian winters....it's the Russians. Putin should have waited for a nice spring offensive. Less mud means less embarrassment for the 'super power'.
In a conversation with Nigel Farage, Rear Admiral Dr Chris Parry argued that Putin wouldn't press the nuclear button - even in extremis, as there are too many people in the line, and that Putin would effectively have to press the button himself.
Sometimes we forget that people like Putin are just human. Can you imagine what he must be thinking now? He was a near uncontested leader for over 20 years and leader of a marvelous country with incredible history, prestige and wealth and now because of his ego, that all could go up in smoke. I'd imagine the pandemic gave him pause to think and ponder about what he will be remembered as. This was his chance. Better to live 1 day as a T Rek than 100 days as a lion(this is nowhere near as catchy as the actual saying haha)
To stop a snake as big as Putin you need more bodies on the ground. One (Ukraine) is not enough.
The Putin nuclear threat will always be there and could happen at any time, now or in the future.
Do we wait until he's massacred tens or hundreds of thousands more?
So unshackle the military might of the free world, and send his murdering army to hell.
Actually, there's more mud in the Spring. The spring rains turn the rural areas to mush. They call it the Rasputitsta.
"Putin may encircle Kyiv with tanks but he'll never gain the hearts and souls of the Iranian people..."
-Joe Biden
And this ladies and gentlemen, is why fighting in the social media age can be even deadlier. Silly thing to instagram a war and give your location away. God bless these heroes. RIP
Absolute nonsense. Putin has his interests and everyone who opposes his regime will get an unwanted early retirement.
yes its a soundbite i used, but Mad Vlad is a commie, true and true though no idealogical commie would dare claim him
It is my hope it would be none, but we already have civilian casualties.
Here's a question for you: how many Ukrainian kids were killed from 2014 up to 2022? Those are children in the war torn Donbass killed by the Ukrainian Government and Russian-backed Rebels. I can find data only from 2017 up to 2020: https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/f/b/469734.pdf
This is on page 4:
Casualties by year
• 486 in 2017; 238 in 2018; 148 in 2019; 74 in 2020 (1 January to 15 September)
Casualties by type of incident
• Shelling: 66 killed and 452 injured
• Small arms and light weapons: 11 killed and 96 injured
• Mines, unexploded ordnance and other explosive objects: 81 killed and 231 injured
• Other: three killed and six injured
Civilian casualties by region and control
• 750 in Donetsk region and 196 in Luhansk region
• Government-controlled areas: 223 in Donetsk region and 47 in Luhansk region
• Non-government-controlled areas: 513 in Donetsk region and 144 in Luhansk region
• Areas not controlled by either side: 14 in Donetsk region and five in Luhansk region
Casualties by sex and age
• 531 men; 315 women; and 100 children (73 boys and 27 girls)
• 72 per cent of adult civilians killed or injured by mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) were men; among minors, 90 per cent were boys
• More than 40 per cent of cases where men were killed or injured by mines and UXOs were due to mis-handling or attempting to dismantle these objects; this amounted to 87 per cent of cases among boys
• Over 70 per cent of civilians killed or injured by mines or other explosive objects along riverbanks were men
The war was going on in Donbass since 2014. Personally I think it did not get many headlines till 2022, but I have no statistics to prove it. You can also see looking at these casualties that each side can legitimately hate one another.
European/US/Ukrainian/Russian 8-year efforts led nowhere to finish this war. That is why one of the objectives of this 'invasion'(I'll use this word going forward to avoid any outrage among forum members) was 'defence of Donbass' per Putin's speech. When diplomacy ends, war begins.
I don't justify what Putin did because I have no idea about his objectives. I certainly did not expect this scale 'invasion'. I thought only about some small-scale operations aimed at securing a ceasefire in Donbass if it cannot be achieved differently.
did you find any proof that you are resident in Ireland. Maybe I missed it. Can you just write your boards name on a piece of paper and put a coin on it with a harp facing upwards, photograph it and share it on thread.
Actually the timing was chosen as the ground would still be frozen and therefore allow the tanks to go off road. Climate change aka a mild winter meant the ground became softer, sooner
Given that would be a significant and terrible escalation of their current invasion, how can the West proportionally respond?
What additional sanctions are left that can be imposed?
Just going to throw this out there, but would Sergei Lavrov be an appropriate alternative to Putin?
I know Lavrov is going behind this invasion, but Peter Hitchens argues that Lavrov didn't even know about the invasion until a few hours before it was about to happen - and so he had to abide by it.
The windows in the hall look different to the picture of the attacked building. Not saying it didn't happen but I'd be skeptical that its those specific photos.
Russian version of equipment losses so far.
(I won't link to Tass here as it's just bad fan fiction)
---
MOSCOW, March 2. /TASS/. A Russian tank participating in the special operation in Ukraine has been attacked with a US Javelin anti-tank missile, the crew suffered a concussion but did not stop fighting, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Wednesday.
"A Russian tank was attacked with a US Javelin anti-tank guided missile during the battle. The crew sustained a concussion, but did not abandon the battle," he said adding that after making sure that the vehicle was in good working order, the tank crew destroyed two more enemy tanks with accurate fire.
Konashenkov added that the Russian Defense Ministry would continue to inform about Russian service members’ heroic acts.
I understand the sentiment and there'd be times when I feel like agreeing, but overall, I think it would be better if he faced trial, if anything. To someone like him who's essentially ruled Russia for 20 years, the humiliation of that would be worse than death.
Total ban on trade (gas is still flowing). Prohibit all EU companies to do any business in Russia. Same for USA. IAnyway the only thing that would stop the invasion is not something that can be done with a pen. OK, maybe with this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pen_gun
Ask yourself - would you trust this guy if you were to sit with him at a negotiation table? Looks like the group that kenw about the war was very small, but the rest signed up for it.
Another Russian serial liar? No thanks.
Russians possibly still probing any remaining air defence systems.
Were any of the commentaries stating that 10 days was maximum length of time the Russians could afford to pursue this War (before the sanctions) close to accurate?
Absolutely! I would imagine the back channels between the west and Moscow are discussing putins demise as we speak.
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