Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Not at all. The simple truth is, we don't know. Ukraine and NATO intelligence assets are incredibly good at keeping their mouths shut with respect to troop movements, Ukranian losses, aviation operations ( the fact that Ukranian aircraft are still allowed to operate is still a mystery to me. I would have thought that their Forward Operating Bases and subsequent support infrastructure would have been vapourised by cruise missles in the first months of the war) and Special Forces operations. Only NATO and Ukranian commanders really know what's going on. Remember, the West began training and establishing NATO compatible secure Data-links just after the 2014 invasion, turning what was essentially a paramilitary organisation into a NATO-spec, asymmetrical fighting force far removed from what the Russians were used to fighting in Syria and elsewhere. I was in Syria in 2010 and 2009 and I can tell you, even then the infrastructure in every aspect was a shambles well before Russia arrived after the Arab Spring. Russia is fighting Nato-lite and Putin should have known this prior to the invasion. He also knows that if things get out of hand, and NATO have to finally step in, then Russias military will he reduced to a token defence force. Everything that is currently flying, driving or sailing outside of mother Russia will be fair game. I certainly would not like to be a sailor in the Black Sea. Special mention goes to the Starlink system that proved to be invaluable, un-hackable, completely modular and independent of a ground-based network and fits in the backpack of any soldier, running on batteries. I'm not a fan of Musk, the person, but he and his engineers knocked it out of the park with this one!

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@greenpilot

He should have, but he didn't. How much of that was down to a failure in military intelligence and how much was down to a failure in Putin's sanity will be another one of those things that can be endlessly picked through in historical military documentaries (presuming we don't all get blown up).

Seems strange that the only people posing for photos in Lyman are Ukrainian soldiers, and no residents are to be seen anywhere.

In the west we get a simplistic narrative that most of the populations in the Eastern and southern regions are committed Ukrainians trapped in an open air prison by the Russians but it's much more complicated than that.

There'll be some places with mostly Ukrainians and others mostly Russian leaning.

Probably something like Northern Ireland in 1922. To outsiders who are mostly ignorant it looks simple, a country having part of it's territory stolen and annexed.

Of course, it's not that simple once you get in to the weeds.

Wasn't Cyprus joining the EU part related to the UNs Annan Plan to try and end the conflict (and obviously it failed to do so)? It certainly wasn't considered the status quo anyway.

It is also the reason why the EU adopted the Protocol (No. 10) on Cyprus and the Green Line Regulation due to joining as a de facto divided island.

I never said it was a legal procedure or made any legal arguments to that effect, I acknowledged the Study was the agreed position made by members of NATO and can be changed by concession of all members of NATO and of course that means it is purely political, it is however equally important to note that any change in requirements to be met in joining must be unanimous.

As noted above I never said it was a legal requirement to join NATO and I never said it was a contract or any sort of treaty requirement, rather as I noted (probably more than once) it was a collectively agreed and published document of the unanimous requirements for membership, any change even for something as simple as policy still requires concession from all states, the requirements for joining NATO are no different, anything else would be contrary to the provisions of the Washington Treaty.

I think you're conflating 2 different things.

Ukraine IS having part of its territory stolen from it. Hopefully not for long. Nobody but pro Putinists can dispute this.

But you are right that the populations in the east are very split in their allegiances and the comparison to NI is not without validity. Which is why lasting peace, no matter what happens, is probably a long way off.

Maybe-

It's like when America went to Afghanistan and Iraq. They just couldn't understand why "freedom and democracy" weren't universally embraced. But some people, rightly or wrongly, have other values that matter more to them (ethnic, religious, national) and will cling to them even if from the outside it seems like a self destructive decision

They are waiting for the champs to arrive before they start. After all , one needs only the best to celebrate such a victory. What such a naive and inappropriate question to ask. Get up the yard will you and don’t be annoying us with your attempt at deflection , etc, etc, etc, etc ,etc

Not sure how true this is?

There has been a few rumours about that all right. On the 1420 Youtube channel, they interviewed someone who said soldiers are expected to pay about $1500 to get a uniform and other equipment.

Rumour is getting louder.

Not sure how many defensive lines that is but looks like they've certainly broken through two.

Looks like it true. Ukrainian soldiers with the Ukraine flag in the Khreshchenivka village, Kherson front.