More here
I'm stating the facts: Russia illegally invaded a sovereign country and is massacring civilians and destroying whole cities because Putin, backed up by a brutal and incompetent military and large portions of an apathetic and/or embittered population, still can't accept that Russia lost the cold war.
European countries are helping Ukraine defend itself. No more, no less.
Those are the facts. If you insist on saying sanctions and blackmail are purely a matter of whose side your own, then obviously you are on Russia's side and no facts will change your mind.
But they remain facts.
I'm referring to your analogy.
Anyway.
The Russian intelligence agencies made some terrible assumptions and gathered incomplete data about how the Ukrainian population might react to a Russian occupation.
A cut from a piece from RUSI.org
"According to the polling data, Ukrainians in early February were, by and large, pessimistic about the future and apathetic about politics, and did not trust politicians, political parties or the majority of Ukraine’s domestic institutions. Their main concerns were overwhelmingly inflation and the cost of living, with both perceived to be rising.
Trust in the office of the president sat at 27%, with 67% distrustful of the presidency. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had poor approval ratings at −34
Any proof of that or just a personal opinion?
De-bunker Ryan McBeths take on the POW attack.
Highly recommend his channel.
Serbs are friendly to Russia. Russia armed the Serbs in the Balkans war.
War in Ukraine is not going so well for Putin.
Putin is calling in his dues. (If there is anything happening).
Whats your best guess on the ultimate end-game Wibbs?
Months or Years more of war? Total Russian retreat following Ukraine victory or eventual 'Peace' treaty negotiation with lots more Ukrainian soil ceded to Russia? Defeat for Ukraine with puppet government established?
The Russians trying to stir things in the Balkans
Their logic doesn't go very far - Russian POWs will be treated even more harshly because of these things.
Ah, I'm sure that its all accounted for, and when the time comes, Russia will have a very sizeable bill to pay. It will make a fair dent in the estimates 600 billion of Russian funds being held due to the sanctions.
That's absolute BS - are we talking about the same agencies that orchestrated chemical attacks on foreign soil killing innocent civilians? I could tell them myself that Ukrainians will hate them even more than they already hate them, and I could tell that after talking to a couple of Ukrainians around the first invasion in 2015. Surely they gathered more information than what I gathered just by discussing casually. The fkers started shelling Kyiv, how the fk would they assume that the Ukrainians will anything but hate them? No, the only mistake was that they underestimated them and overestimated themselves, they knew they will be hated, they knew they will kill mostly civilians because this is what they do, and they didn't care.
That's the speculation alright, that Russia are behind all this and their Serbian puppets are acting on their behalf.
That is not what RUSI think happened.
Of OSINT interest...
I've been looking around the docks in Sevastapol ( different satellite images), and a couple of things caught my eye. Looking further into it..
1. Russia has increased its submarine activity from Sevastapol, with its only Pump-Jet equipped Kilo-class submarine "Alrosa" conducting sea trials off the coast of Crimea at the moment after a spell in drydock.
I also spotted some dolphin pens at the entrance of the port....( they have been employed here for a while now, but normally in a semi-circular shape, guarding the port)..
There are also anti-diver/submersible nets around one of the subs ( an older Google earth image, but shows their use
I would highly recommend taking a look around the port on Google Earth, even street view, looking across the bay, to see the vast array of navy vessels still berthed in Sevastapol. Russia ain't going to let this go without a very, very large explosion, especially when the bottleneck at the top of Crimea is eventually cut off from the mainland.
Russian POWs are of no use to Putin, and disgraced themselves by being captured by inferiors - Putin will be glad if Russian POWs are mistreated. ‘That’ll learn ‘em’.
The Geneva convention May as well not exist.
But how recent is the Google imagery?
Google itself says some are monthly but on average images are 1 to 3 years old
No, sorry, what you're quoting there, the article called "Ukraine Through Russia’s Eyes", is Putin's propaganda used to justify the invasion. It's how the situation was presented in Russia, not the reality.
Yes exactly. As I said the Russian intelligence agencies made huge errors.
True but the people who tortured may get their turn if captured. Or their mates even.
No, they didn't. Propaganda is not intelligence. They knew exactly how the population will react and this is why they attacked civilian targets first.
Ukraine preparing to turn the screw in Donetsk just as they are doing in Kherson.
The intelligence agencies made huge mistakes.
People losing their mind over nothing. No evidence anyone is getting ready to go to war in Serbia.
You do realize those images aren't live right?
...
Great source you're using there. No chance anything happens in Kosovo serbia but keep posting drivel on here...
I don't think anything much is going to happen between Kosovo and Serbia, it's a distraction at best. Serbs are pretty well hemmed in by NATO nations.
Though the incident did provide an opportunity for this bit of mirth
Why assume they are Google images?
There's plenty of commerical satellites providing the paying public with daily images of Ukraine. The OSINT community are a little more advanced than the Russians with their 1960's maps of Ukraine!
Yes. Yes, I do.
I see things have changed around here since I've been away.
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