https://mobile.twitter.com/IrisovaOlga/status/1510596423334694920?cxt=HHwWkMC4vbHc2_YpAAAA
CNN isn't a Russian state media outlet.
"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for more weapons and for Europe to close its sea ports to Russia in an address to the Norwegian parliament on Wednesday.
Zelensky asked for anti-ship missiles, Harpoon rockets, anti-air missile systems and anti-tank guns." https://edition.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-putin-news-03-30-22/h_f6d3e78e06b3946f22b8d26ccc3f562e
You literally copy-pasted a Russian state media outlet's article to support your post; but yes I can see now that Zelenskyy asked for anti-ship missiles when he spoke to the Norwegian Parliament on March 30th. And again; my point remains that they need anti-air much more than they need anti-ship capabilities.
Excellent article in the WSJ drawing on the similarities of the war in Chechnya and the current situation in Ukraine:-
Likely stuck behind a pay wall for many so I've quoted a few paragraphs which stand out to me:-
"The brutality of Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine carries terrible echoes of Russia’s war in Chechnya. Boris Yeltsin launched that conflict in 1994 and paused it in 1996; Mr. Putin prosecuted its second phase from 1999 through 2009. By 1996, as many as 50,000 people had already lost their lives in a republic of little more than one million. A large and once prosperous city lay in ruins. Chechnya was devastated, wounded, radicalized—and has never recovered from the trauma. In today’s Mariupol and Kharkiv, mainly Russian-speaking Ukrainian cities destroyed by Russian power, we see the ghosts of that conflict and seem condemned to relearn its lessons."
"The circumstances are far from identical. Chechnya is small and was always recognized as being part of Russia, even when the rebellious Chechen leader, Dzhokhar Dudayev, declared its independence from Moscow in 1991. Ukraine, on the other hand, has been a functioning, peaceful sovereign state for 30 years. It could be faulted for corruption and poor governance, but it posed no threat except to Mr. Putin’s fantasies of history."
"Nonetheless, Russia entered both wars with similar assumptions. Mr. Putin’s inner circle, we are told, believed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his government would be toppled in three days. In 1994, Yeltsin’s defense minister Pavel Grachev boasted that Chechnya could be captured “in two hours with one parachute regiment.” In both places, Plan A failed, and the Russian government’s Plan B was total and indiscriminate warfare"
"Russia never paid a price for its total war in Chechnya. Western leaders gave priority to a good relationship with Moscow over their commitment to human rights. In Moscow in 1996, Bill Clinton bizarrely compared Yeltsin’s war for Chechnya to the U.S. Civil War, citing “the proposition that Abraham Lincoln gave his life for, that no state had a right to withdraw from our Union.” In 2000, Tony Blair’s spokesman described Mr. Putin’s war as one to put down “a terrorist insurrection.”
"If a smaller country, one without a UN Security Council veto, had prosecuted such a brutal war, its leaders would surely have been forced to stand trial in The Hague, as Bosnia’s war criminals did. But Moscow got a pass, and its way of war—evidenced not only in Chechnya and Ukraine but in the civilian neighborhoods of Aleppo that the Russian air force razed in 2016—has remained remarkably consistent"
"The tactics likely originate in a kind of false memory of the Red Army’s victory over Adolf Hitler in 1945, through total warfare, the pulverization of Berlin and the loss of millions of lives. For a generation of ordinary Russians, the unspeakable losses of that war were an argument for peace at all costs. But the Russian elite—Mr. Putin most recently—instead drew the lesson that the end justified the apocalyptic means."
And finally:-
"Chechnya’s lessons for Ukraine are grim. They tell us that the Russian leadership is likely prepared to pay a huge human toll to attain impossible objectives. A full Russian occupation of a country of 40 million people is simply unachievable, and Ukrainian resistance will surely prevail in the end. But as one Ukrainian officer reportedly told a Russian journalist, Ukraine’s tragedy is that “they measure time in days and weeks, and we do so in human lives.”
And a Tweet from the author who wrote the piece just before the news coming from Bucha:-
These horror stories about Russian atrocities keep on coming.
Oh for a world where the pricks didn't have nuclear weapons...
Sadly, there will be many more minutes of silence required going forward for the inevitable further deaths.
RIP
I can't believe you still can't grasp what happens to this world if that prick in the Kremlin fires nuclear weapons. That's the only reason he can hold the world to ransom, but sadly and tragically it's a bloody valid one and no amount of craw thumping emotionals can change that.
Sadly, I feel this Tweet will turn out to be correct (though I would hope it is way off the mark) that Mariupol and Izyum could be on par or worse than what we have seen in Bucha:-
However my point remains: they badly need (and have repeatedly asked for publicly) more aircraft and/or anti-air capability.
Anti-air capability they may get, aircraft they won't as it leads naturally to a Russian claim that NATO is directly involved. That's a path that is being avoided. Putin in his obsession with Ukraine has at least spotted where the limits are.
Theie average AvtoVAZ may cost more than our average Audi, Mercedes or BMW soon enough?
Even with this new phase you'd wonder whether the Russians can carry it out effectively without just bombing the hell out of places.
Part of Irish Defence Forces war scenario preparations during the Cold War back in the '80's was concerning an attack on SW Ireland & the Shannon region.
Thatcher supposedly got upset when Ireland bought Exocet anti ship missiles to counter any potential land assault by Soviet Union Naval Amphibious Forces. Britain claimed the use of Exocet's was contrary to the terms of the Anglo Irish Treaty.
Government files still closed until 2080's.
Some discussion on IMO. https://forum.irishmilitaryonline.com/forum/defence-forces/air-corps/26737-defending-the-irish-airspace/page73
Entire WSJ article here: https://archive.ph/GG5Ry. archive.ph ftw
Yes, I fear what we've seen already is but the first bitter taste of more horrific things to come in Russian held areas in the south and east of Ukraine. They have far more control of those areas and for longer and can do their vile work with far fewer eyes on them.
It looks like the Zelensky criticism of Orban might have backfired in the election there yesterday. It's a risk when you 'straight talk' unfortunately that you might just get rankle people, especially prouder types, instead of shaming them into helping you.
It's done now though, so the next point should be: can we force Hungary out of the EU and bring in the Ukraine instead? I'm not exactly sure what Hungary contributes except contrariness and obstacles and yet they are more than happy to take EU funding, which could go to a far more deserving cause.
If it's Zelensky or Orban I think the whole EU will be united in their choice, and anyone not should be viewed pretty suspiciously.
Hopefully there is no way back ever for that fu*cling horrible country,
cesspit of misery that place is.
all bets should be off with them, never be allowed back ever. Ban them all, no visas ever , no renewing of visas nothing.
Hungary and Orban in the EU has long puzzled me. It always smacked of the idea, and one applied to Russia and putin too, that it is somehow better to have them engaging than not.
It's not an either or. Hungary will continue to back sanctions, the bare minimum expected by the EU. Otherwise Orban will suit himself as much as he can.
And the end of his military! He's not that deranged, 40 days not to capture very much is a poor show.
He was never losing the "election".
Appears that Anonymous has found the brigades that did the murdering in Bucha and has produced a list of names. I've only seen this Telegram link (in Russian) that has some pictures.
"One of the gangs that tortured, raped and killed people in Bucha"
It's laughable the idea that he could invade the Baltics after this **** show. Can't see it happening now. Going to take a long time for the Russian rebuild and I'm sure NATO will will be shoring up defenses in the interim.
It should be an either or though. They are a financial drain, very much opposed to many of the basic ideas of the EU, and Orban is far too close to Putin.
The worst part is that we're essentially paying 3-5 billion per year for Orban to cement his control over the country (since he changed the rules on how EU funds are distributed within Hungary, only through his own government employees rather than EU employees as before). I can think of far better uses for that money in the coming years.
I think it was essentially tolerated to avoid upsetting the Visegrad Bloc, but maybe now it can finally be properly addressed.
It's the EU's own fault they have been glacial in dealing with this particular cancer.
Time to cut him out now or you'll be looking at the next Belarus in 2-3 more elections.
Not a cent more.
Urban warfare is extremely difficult for an invading force and with modern weapons (RPGs etc) it is near impossible. That's why they stayed out of Kyiv. Even in a ruined city the ruins become ready-made bunkers.
<snip> just seen the photos out of Bucha ... apologise for my post, very insensitive...
Sorry, is the reporting of war crimes, rape of children and blowing the **** out of Ukraine disrupting your weekend entertainment. The heartless b@stards.
Oh no, Germany and France ARE Europe, they're all that us Irish aspire towards being, the pat on the head from our greener, more liberal betters
It's the evil Poles and Brits who bring shame on Europe with their carry on.
It's just a coincidence that the Poles and Brits are Ukraines staunchest allies in Europe, while the Krauts and the Frogs are still playing footsie with Putin,
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