Russia - threadbanned users in OP

I suggest you do your own research. But that's probably a bit much to ask isn't it.

Of course a stronger position on the battlefield gives you a stronger hand in negotiations. I personally don't think time is on Ukraines side so would think negotiations now would make more sense for them, but who knows maybe they'll push Russia back to its borders before it loses too many more men.

What is this historical revisionism already?

The Russian retreat out of Kherson was (sadly) with few casualties due to the Ukrainian advance not coming close to the Russians as they retreated over the Dnieper. There was no spearhead through defences forcing them to flee across, it was like a month long evacuation from Kherson, first they looted, then moved some civilians, admin, emptied the banks, etc, then finally pulled the troops across.

It was planned as a result of the excellent work of HIMARs making their supply lines too precarious, but it wasnt a combined arms epic success that spearheaded through their defenses and made them run with their tails between their legs.

Rather disrespectful language towards Belgium. A relatively small population, which has since Mar 2022 sent over 200 Anti armour weapons, and 5000 assault rifles. Heavy mortars, body armour, night vision systems, trucks, ammunition and, dare i say it in here, helmets.

Among other equipment. And financial and diplomatic support. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_foreign_aid_to_Ukraine_during_the_Russo-Ukrainian_War

Shameful to describe that as finally waking up.

Which is why aviation experts have being suggesting the rafale is more suited to Ukraine's needs.

Yes training take time, but if there's Ukrainian pilots without an aircraft are you gonna do the Russian thing and send them to the Frontline as cannon fodder or maybe start them training on airframes that they will eventually be flying. The days of Ukraine sourcing Russian arms is over.

And again you're back to this or that.

It's not like western countries have a list with a few columns and Ukraine can have one from this column or 10 from this column.

Oh you picked a fighter jets, no AA for you etc... They recently announced tanks for Ukraine.... Let's hope ATACMS were not in the other column.

Russia has ramped up production of weapons systems and in Feb will have the remaining 150,000 of their "mobilised" having finished their training and available for deployment. There may not be an appetite for handing over land to Russia and I don't blame them, and if they succeed in driving Russia out then obviously there is no need to. I suppose it comes down to at what cost is that victory considered worthwhile. If Ukraine succeeds but loses a million men to do it is that OK? 2 million? 5 million? The destruction of how many cities, towns and villages? That is an uncomfortable question that they I'd imagine the Ukrainian government must have already assessed. Of course the same is true of Russia, at what cost is "victory" in Ukraine no longer a victory, how many do Russia have to lose before it consider the war a failure regardless of what land they may or may not manage to hold on to. Is the death of 5 million Russian men a price worth paying for the successful annexation on Donbass? 8 million? Who knows what number they are willing to accept.

If nothing else, kudos for exploring a new angle on the Ukrainian invasion and Ireland's involvement that we haven't seen here before. I don't think religion of any flavour comes into it with Putin and his ilk. Although he's quite happy to manipulate those naiive enough, if it helps him to achieve his objectives.

I think we're going to see a lot more of this as the War progresses. The go-to tactic will be "The War must end now! Stop the killing", but the meaning is essentially "We've probably reached the limit of our likely gains, and now want to hold onto what we've got with a frozen frontline."

They're still getting bits of Donbas in the last few weeks, and probably will get bits more over time. But it does look like Ukraine is arming for a major assault, and if Solidar and their glacial creep towards Bakmut is the best they can pull off with their current human-wave tactics, then I think the Kremlin now know that they might need to move now to get some sort of "peace" before those losses are likely reversed.

So now we get Russian-backed Boardsies screaming for peace. When our current guest departs, several more will probably appear with a very similar message. Hell, they've even got Trump doing it too "truthing" about how easy it is to end the war. I expect this talking point to increase with urgency over time.

The F-16 wish is about the platform and the variety of US weapons it can carry and lob from 10,000m, not doing low altitude ground attack in range of manpads. Aerial warfare is all about energy, from how long the batteries in your DJI drone last to how far a glide bomb can travel depending on release height. Most of the battlefield danger from manpads is for low flying aircraft below 5,000m. For long range radars and SAMs, the F-16 can cary HARMs.

As a general rule of thumb, it seems pretty clear to me that the Ukrainian military are very smart, and are not asking for stuff as armchair warriors, that they can't use or don't need.

A significant current issue, recognised by all allied parties, is that Ukraine needs a capabiity to precision strike out to about 200km. The Orcs are now placing stuff like big ammo dumps 180km from the line of conflict. Ukraine needs to be able to hit these. The F-16 can carry a whole host of US weapons, and I think that's the big advantage - flexibility. Altitude is potential energy, so the higher you can release or fire a wepon at the ground, the further it's range

Maybe all this talk is a stalking horse for Ukraine getting Gray Eagles. 'Oh that's a relief, they only got Gay Eagles instead of F-16s'