This thread continues to provide fascinating insights on mass psychology. Nothing is off limits with regard to demonising the character of the enemy, even pure fantasy.
There has been an interesting change in social media as the COVID denier/anti-vax community has almost seamlessly transformed into a pro-Russian/anti-Western community.
I'm not sure whether it says more about the type of people who are vulnerable to Russian disinformation, or about who the driving forces within those 'communities' actually are.
This is the one I saw.
I'd say they do need to capture him because they will desperately need a veneer of legitimacy for whatever "peace treaty" ( partition/annexation) they force on Ukraine.
, to be fair, I'll humour you and your question:
No, that would be daft. I work. But, some of my work involves writing, so I'm working on a piece on Military aircraft operations leading up to and during this conflict.
I have a sort of app that alerts me when certain aircraft or aircraft types go active so, during the day, if I see movements pertaining to the Russia discussion on Boards, I'll post it.
I also have a PPL and a long love of aircraft. I actually took aerobatics lessons in a Russian Yak-52 ( trainer aircraft) and one thing that struck me about Russian aircraft: difficult to break, easy to fix. In comparison to Western aircraft, which are generally very sensitive.
As anyone that keeps an eye on FS24 or ADS-B will tell you, we are currently witnessing the greatest movement of military aircraft in Europe since WW2.
Anyway I need to get back to work....
They're just contrarian cranks, many of whom are upset where they are in their own lives and resent those around them. The resentment is so strong that they would rather argue against their own communities and Government and speak up in favour of the Russian Government instead, who most certainly doesn't give a toss about them. They know it's true too, deep down.
Certainly don't want to defend Russian military, but people in hostage situations will, understandably, say almost anything the enemy wants if the alternative is being killed
Want to bet millions of lives on that?
I think they would have planned to kill him initially, but when he became an unlikely hero, they probably decided it would be against their interest to kill him.
That is the dumbest thing posted on the thread so far. Why would western powers gain from killing Zelensky?
A rambling mess? Odd take.
Nothing was really expected at this stage but it does keep a dialogue of sorts going, even if it's just him ranting.
There was never any argument about Putin having the upper hand in terms of troop and equipment Nrs etc, so yes, he will more than likely take Ukraine, But taking it and holding it are two completely different things.....Opposition to Putin is growing daily, and not just on the battlefield, but at home in Russia and within the Military as well as the Russian people. Then we have world opinion and it now appears that Xi Jinpings total and endless cooperation, does have limits. So it seems that Xi is having doubts about Putin. And he is possibly the one man who could influence Putin, if that indeed is even possible. Plus the EU and the UK and US are ramping up military aid big time. Over the weekend in one day, 8 Russian aircraft have been shot down, and despite the views of some posters on here, they will of be easily replaced, and as for stranded convoys running out of fuel...bear in mind that fuel trucks are maybe the easiest of all to destroy. Its not going smoothly at all for Vladimir.
Away with the fairies. Ridiculous post.
The end of Putin will come from within Russia. It is what they do well, without any external help. The evidence of support for it from outside will be the easing of sanctions when Russia fully reverse course.
Captured soldiers appearing on video to denounce their side is nothing new. We have seen it in Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan. Iran has done it multiple times with UK and US sailors - forced confessions and apologies.
From a humanitarian point of view it should be condemned, it's potentially a violation of the Geneva convention. It should make any reasonable person question the morality of the side releasing the videos. Historically they have always been released by dodgy countries or regimes (incl Russia).
From an intelligence point of view it should be ignored. Anyone who thinks it provides useful intelligence on Russian morale, strategy etc. is naive.
The fact that you speak about 'rulers' rather than 'leaders' says a lot. These are all people (like Putin) who rule over people who are not free.
There's no-one who a 'veneer of legitimacy' would benefit at this stage. The Russian people (at least the ones believing Putin's lies) probably don't care if Zelensky were beheaded and strung up. Everyone in the West is pretty clear on the positions of each leader, and nobody's buying Zelensky turning around and agreeing to be a part of any puppet regime. Everyone would know the barrel of the gun was being pushed fairly hard into his back on that one.
If the Russians want to take over Ukraine, they might as well go the whole hog and just parachute in a full-fledged pro-Russia regime and let the people of Ukraine battle against it for years to come. Mainly, the point of this whole invasion, anyway, is to destabilise Ukraine even further than it already has been. If Putin cannot have an obedient Ukraine, he can at least have one that is perpetually in chaos and unable to join those dastardly institutions of the West he so fears encroachment of.
We have never seen a POW speak like this
Every country in the world has a continuity plan in case their President/Prime Minister/Monarch/whatever head of government dies. There's someone who automatically steps into the role, at least temporarily (even in a democracy). They don't just leave a big vacuum and wait to see what happens.
The Ukrainian continuity plan may be of interest to us in the short term, however it's the Russian one that's of significant interest in the longer term.
TBH I don't disagree that a captive will try and say things normally that curry favour with their captors. From what we have seen the Ukrainians in general appear to be taking good care of any Russian troops they capture so I doubt very much that his life is in danger.
However when he gets back to mother RuSSia he could be in serious jeopardy from his own people.
There have already been reports of Ukrainian women being raped by Russian soldiers. Unfortunately it's common in war, it would be fantasy to think this doesn't happen
No more Levi’s jeans for the Russians. I wonder if the oligarchs will go back to the denim trade ? It is where most of them started.
It certainly looks uncoerced and honest. But at the end of the day, he is a captive and nobody knows what is going on behind the scenes. That is why it is not a good idea to be sharing videos of POWs. I'd be inclined to believe it but its impossible to ever really know.
Don't look at twitter etc. but it's quite weird to see here imo. Think there's a few of them who spent years/months raising alarm about the dangerous creeping authoritarianism in the West under guise of restrictions to deal with a fake or exaggerated (their terms) Covid-19 danger. Now an in the flesh tyrant is making a huge war in Europe again to try & do the ultimate (to me) in "taking freedom away" (conquering/laying waste to a nation), they decide, at best, to do a bit of "both-sides" and reserve their opinion on rights & wrongs of it!
I heard 30 aircraft but no specifics on what kind of aircraft thanks to Ukrainan marines.
Nothing verified yet
I thought you'd been threadbanned? (at least!)
Fair play to you.
What's your take on why the Russians haven't used their medium-long range strike aircraft or heavy bombers yet?
This is what RTE are saying
--------------------------------
To the surprise of many, Russia has so far failed to establish air superiority and Ukraine's air space remains contested. Although anti-aircraft missiles still pose a serious risk to Russian aircraft and Ukrainian air force fighters can still perform low-level, defensive counter-air and ground-attack missions, the Russian air force continues to pose a serious and growing threat to Ukraine.
The Russian air force has deployed about 300 modern military aircraft in the vicinity of the combat zones in Ukraine, but they have not flown many missions. The tactical reasons are unclear, although a commentary from the Royal United Services Institute suggests a lack of precision-guided munitions, the difficulties of deconflicting (avoiding friendly fire from ground-based Russian anti-aircraft missiles) and lack of flight experience by Russian pilots may be factors.
Surely the Russians got plenty of experience flattening Aleppo?
I think they don't want the bad PR that would come with a heavy aerial bombardment. It might also force NATO's hand. I also see a major change of tack once Kyiv is captured - I think the Russians will sue for a negotiated peace when they have captured Kyiv and possibly Odessa.
Compared to footage of prisoners forced to make video statements in the past, such American POWs in Vietnam or shot down British and American aircrew during Desert Storm, this guy looks positively relaxed. He's obviously not reading from a script and seems naturally talkative. Of course, the gist of what he was going to say would have been cleared with his captors first.
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