Seeing as you've mentioned me...
I'm fully aware of nuclear launch protocol but you're forgetting one important thing - Putin rules Russia with an iron fist and has done for 20 years. He's surrounded himself with "yes" men, and they, as well as everyone else, are absolutely terrified of him.
The chain of command in Russia for nuclear launch is likely peopled by those he trusts most. If you can get 15 years for waving a placard in a street then I would imagine death by a thousand cuts, or something similar, awaits anyone daring to refuse his direct order. It's a scary situation that's for sure.
Not even maidens playing harps ?
Nuclear annihilation is probably one of his ways out without humiliation
Lol: https://lansinginstitute.org/2021/02/18/russia-enhances-its-spy-hub-in-ireland/
Germany are preparing for the collapse of the ICE car market and probably need Russian raw materials to evolve into the next generation of motor
.
Too politically charged. They were going to suggest it but the Ukrainian fella misheard and thought they were talking about Maidan. (The square where they had the protests/revolution)
Donald trump replying to a post about Irish maidens playing harps on runways 😂😂
also iron maiden were due to play Ukraine
Chechen mercenaries kill Russian regular soldiers over difference in opinion.
Iron Maiden is what I call Melania whenever she gives me a belt for asking whether a ride would be out of the question
And to think they are considered bad guys by some ,
There absolute legends ,out manned ,out gunned , surrounded , bombarded day and night from the air , ground,sea , demanded to surrender .cut off
And 56 days in and they are still fighting and killing orcs
Don't think we can attribute this one to Putin.
Or can we......
It's not a movie.
Being 'good guys' doesn't always equate with an effective and efficient war outfit. In fact the opposite.
Your right it's not a movie ,
But no doubt it will be
Putin will drag this war out until he is dead.....
Hopefully the sooner the better......
True; although a number of potential issues with the Kvitnyk:
The Copperhead (also laser guided) and Excalibur (or other NATO equivalents) are likely to be available in much larger numbers and the Excalibur for example uses GPS guidance and can still be fairly accurate even in the presence of GPS jamming. Also potential for much greater ranges depending on systems supplied. Excalibur rounds in particular are expensive though; some $100k.
I suspect even the possibility of Excalibur rounds in Ukraine might cause Russian forward units to change their behaviour and reduce their effectiveness.
"In Kharkiv region, the SBU exposed a conspirable warehouse with ammunition and components for military equipment for $ 200 million
All this equipment has already been transferred to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to preliminary data, the parts available there were intended for the downed equipment of the Russian Federation, which the enemy was going to repair during the offensive.
However, thanks to the resistance of Ukrainian defenders, Kharkiv was not in the teeth of the invaders. And through the efforts of the SBU, all seized batch of weapons will be used to protect our state.
During the searches, the SBU seized and handed over to the Ministry of Defense:
▪️60 fully complete tank engines
▪️a large number of spare parts and components for armored vehicles.
In addition, 26 air-to-air guided missiles were found in separate premises.
The SBU found that the equipment available in this warehouse was previously stolen from military arsenals. And on the eve of the invasion, the owners of the warehouse intended to cooperate with the occupation troops and provide equipment for the needs of the enemy."
Fighting the enemy within, and without.
That's a lot of expensive equipment to leave behind lol.
I don't think such a thing exists.
The only "independent" tally I've seen is from the US and they say: "Russia has approximately 75% of its pre-positioned combat power available for the Ukraine war."
However it's not clear how combat power is defined: they have stated that it refers to everything from personnel to ammunition to vehicles to aircraft etc.
Another metric often quoted by the US and others is the number of BTGs (Battalion Tactical Groups) in and around Ukraine. There were some 130 or so before the invasion and current estimates are somewhere in the 90s remaining.
But BTG is also not very well defined: it could be anywhere from 600-1200 or more personnel, could consist of all kinds of vehicles, etc.
Another thing that's not well understood is how the DPR/LPR troops are counted and/or whether they're included in the BTG or combat power calculations at all. Coupled with the fact there are numerous reports and countless pieces of evidence to support the claim that Russia is using DPR/LPR troops as cannon fodder in many areas and things are even muddier.
Fair enough.
Kind of sums up the thread really.
A bunch of Irish fellas, looking at their screens, imagining a far off war.
No need to imagine. The footage, the reports, the eye witnesses are all real.
Most of us are just disgusted by what the Russians are doing in Ukraine.
looks like the game is up for Mariupol
He fell out of a window while drinking tea and committed suicide with 13 gunshots to the back, allegedly.
The rouble has recovered and Russia could switch to China/ India. AFAIK, it's a country that can survive without EU. EU has insufficient oil and gas, ailing industry and tons of debt. The workshop of the world moved to China.
I may be wrong but Western hegemony seems on the decline with China/ India the ascendant stars. USA benefitted a lot from educated emigrants especially around WW2 e.g. Einstein but that intellectual exodus ended. Maybe it'll grow again but last time I was there it struck me as old fashioned.
Over 80% of the world population are not sanctioning Russia. I don't think they need us. I think the euro is in trouble.
i think fiscal policy in the EU needs a kick up the backside. How much money can be printed with no repercussions?
Apologies, by food, I meant Ukraine. Russia has severely hampered the bread basket of Europe
And you're here doing what exactly.
Not a 'surrender' though. They've been talking for several days about how they might get the civilians of Mariupol out of the city safely. I don't think Ukraine is overly bothered about the military situation at this point in time - they probably feel they have the forces to retake Mariupol as a territory within a few weeks or a couple of months.
I think it's valid in the context that our media appears to be uncritically repeating what the USA/ UK says. Neither of whom are exactly reliable commentators, e.g. Iraq weapons of mass destruction and more recently biden mistaken assassination of a family in Afghanistan (still no apology).
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