It will be interesting to see if Vlad gets the invite to London for the funeral. Stalin was invited to George's funeral but sent the ambassador. He'll be sat in the back row. Him, Meghan and Nicola Sturgeon.
A definite possibility.
He may be too deluded to even recognise or appreciate that it's either lost or about to be lost.
He may not even survive to witness such an event.
Sure, he's survived this long but things are changing faster now.
Doubt it .
Can't see anyone nuking anything
Maybe Putin sent Steven Seagal around to remind him of the Kremlin's dissatisfaction with the war.
Maybe up to now the Duma has been like this, but I can't see it being acceptable to make such serious accusations as treason against Putin.....that's beyond the pale.
I was going to say "I did not know that" but actually I did read something about it a few years back
Wasn't he sent by either Peter or Catherine to explore areas to fortify cities and towns for an advance into the Caucasus? A former British army officer?
Well Donetsk was founded by a lad from Wales so you never know... 😁
Yep. Ukraine 1900
Putin will have to rapidly stamp this out, before it reaches critical mass, because once that happens, he is done for. And maybe it has reached critical mass, we will soon see.
Like the first cracks appearing in the Volga river in the spring......☺️
Crimea was only Russian because it was ethnically cleansed of the Tartars. There is nothing about Crimea being 'Russian' that's natural.
Could not happen to a more deserving man.... Slava Ukraine☺️
Cometh the hour, cometh the Man.
Russia would nuke Crimea before surrendering it
The sound effects here are pure therapy
History should not confer ownership but people should be aware of how and why it was ceded to Ukraine. Regardless of how it became part of Ukraine, it should never have been taken by force by another country in this day and age.
Yeap, we must be one of the few with no claim although there would have been a fair few Irishmen there helping the Turks during the Crimean war
And like most parts of Russia, it belonged to someone else before them - They held it from 1783 onwards but it passed between many different empires before then.
It's tricky to pick any time in history and say that that confers true ownership.
It's not just about Putin though.
There is always the tendancy to make these conflicts about a certain cult of personality, but the reality is that a significant percentage of Russian society actually shares Putin's views on ukraine and the west. Experience would suggest that heavy sanctions will only deepen this sentiment and drive more Russians towards an ultra-nationalistic stance. This doesn't automatically mean Putin's popularity will remain high, but it could mean the creation of a whole raft of new potential leaders further down the line to continue the "fight against the west" so to speak.
Well it was Russian until it was ceded to Ukraine in in 1954 in an act of gerrymandering to shore up Soviet support in Ukraine.
Starting look like Ukrainians in the North should be more concerned about Gatso vans than Russians.
Sorry should have posted link
agree it’s quite possible they seen an opening and went for it, tho read somewhere the large ammo dump in Balakliya was not destroyed despite being in range so maybe there was a plan all along to move quickly and capture men and equipment
Where is that map from Darth? Looks like they'll be able to secure Shevchenkove considering the 2nd advance from the north. Whether they've got the logistics in place to secure any gains beyond that in the Kupiansk direction will be interesting.
It's conceivable this was opportunistic rather than planned. The NATO trained Ukrainian troops would have the freedom I think to take advantage of any opportunities that present themselves during the battle. They're allowed to use initiative rather than following a strict plan.
Ukraine forces are doing some great things alright, but it's a huge country, a massive battle front and the Russians hold a large chunk of it to the east and on the Black sea coast. They're only "on the run" so far in a couple of areas.
It's fantastic news so far, but IMHO a bit early to be calling the overall game. Remember when so many reckoned putin and his army were going to take Kyiv and his troops and tanks and artillery were only a few miles away from the capital? And then they weren't. He could choose to fight tooth and nail for the black sea coast and leave Donbas largely to the seperatists save for the bits with oil and gas under them.
Eitherway they are isolated for decades to come ,to be honest by West. Once more and more towns are liberated let alone cities ,I'm sure new war crimes will be uncovered, so will be a long way back for Russia from there.
In saying that there will always be countries that will do business with them and some other crisis will come up.
I think a battlefield tactical Nuke is on the table ,it would avoid conscription and bring Ukraine to the tabe.
Ukraine have them on the run. At this stage he must know he is a cornered rat
Has he shown any desire to protect his own troops, this is approaching what the yanks call a broken arrow for Putin's presidency...
Quite possible, if Kypyansk falls whole north eastern front collapses as it’s main supply hub
If you are a Russian soldier in Izum things must be looking bleak at thought of being cut off
this was from two hours ago
They may think that the use of it is more important than where it's targeted, seeing it as a psychological blow to put the frighteners on Ukraine and the west. They'd be right about the first part, that being a line that hasn't been crossed since 1945. Regarding the second...who knows, but it could well rebound on them badly.
That is incredible. That's 76km from Balakliya. The Russians have just melted in Kharkiv oblast.
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