Russia - threadbanned users in OP

i think Ukraine are looking for the weakest part of the russian lines and when thats worked out we'l see a fairly big push back but at the same time id doubt they'l commit all their different brigades,keep some in reserve...

as an aside,the wagner boss is doing a lot of talking lately youd have to wonder,is he doing it for himself?is he pushing for the cappo di tutti cappo role? or is there some one else that hes fronting for?just seem strange to me..

Wtf! those little green men weren't carrying flowers and chocolates

It's so rare that politicians acknowledge the mistakes they made. There are loads of examples I can think of off the top of my head:

• Tony Blair & George Bush on the invasion of Iraq
• Bertie Ahern on his government's policies turbo charging the Housing Bubble and subsequent crash
• George Osbourne on his austerity policies
• David Cameron on his calling of the Brexit referendum

They're all obsessed with their legacies. Even years later when the narrative has already been formed that they messed up they'll cling to their bad decisions and claim that they were right.

@Brussels Sprout "Wtf! those little green men weren't carrying flowers and chocolates"

I listened to that this morning in dismay. Obama is a smooth talker with a forked tongue. Always was.

Yeah, Prigozhin seems to be pushing for more power, but what has he got in terms of support among Russia's oligarchy and the civil service? What's his friend/enemy ratio?

Having a private army of thousands may help. Also, and this is purely speculation, but he could be beneficial to Putin. He's attacking Shoigu and co for "providing Putin with false info". If the war fails further, Putin can say he was fed false info and can blame members of that inner circle. On top of that Prigozhin has maneuvered himself into the media spotlight and does his talking from the actual war as opposed to inside bunkers, something that can't be hurting his image among normal Russians.

He's manoeuvring himself into an actual replacement for Putin , explains why he's not been thrown out of an aircraft over ukraine without a parachute,

Trying to make himself a man of people who stood on the front lines and didn't hide in bunkers selling lies to the Russian public he's just an honest soldier who's followed the orders of the entitled elite

I wasn't convinced either a while back tbh. I viewed as a kind of wishful thinking. Kind of like the claim that he has cancer or some awful terminal illness. It's certainly possible but there was little more than conjecture and speculation fueling it IMO. Not conspiracy theory level but still.

With the recent meeting of the mil bloggers I've become convinced. The milbloggers have spoken about how they had to go through days of isolation before they could meet him due to his Covid paranoia. There isn't a fucken hope in my mind that that man sitting half a kilometer away at the end of his table from the peasants or even his own generals,demanding everyone do covid isolations is the same person out and about in occupied Kherson shaking hands and smiling.

I could still be wrong I guess. But I'd place good money against it.

neither do i...just idle speculation,only thing id be a bit certain about is the oligarchs and gangsters couldnt be too happy,they want their villas,yachts,jets etc and money...

Why not just have one embassy in , say, Brussels representing all EU members. It should be more than adequate for the little ‘business’ that will now be conducted for the foreseeable future and also in case Russia come up with some realistic idea about being brought back in from the ‘cold’. Re the above Ru cannot accuse any EU member of ignoring it - it’s just a case of a number of countries have. Decided to restructure its system of diplomatic engagement because of the significant downturn in ‘business and related matters’

Reports of Wagner and RU forces engaged in fighting (as in much more intense fighting)

Anyone get some reliable sources for this yet?

Edit: RU may have and still is launching missile strikes at Wagner positions.

Unconfirmed, but reports coming out of Wagner telegram accounts

https://twitter.com/GirkinGirkin/status/1672307832736153601

Prigozhin might be about to make his move.

Crimea is one complicated region, and understandably so. I came across this article last year when trying to understand how Russia had rolled in and set up shop so easily:

the long and short of it was, lots of the Crimean military higher ups had served in the USSR/Russian military, and still felt strong bonds to it. So when the opportunity came along to re-join, they took it gladly. The loyal Ukrainian forces had to abandon their bases and posts, as in a lot of cases, half or more of their units swapped to the Russian side (a lot of which had actually been pre-arranged). Between that, and the pro-Russian civilians assisting in the storming of bases and civic buildings, the Ukrainian forces were left in an impossible situation

We know Prigozhin is mental.

But how mental must he actually be, to think he has a chance against Russia's regular Army?

I know Russia have been rubbish in Ukraine, but they still have plenty of cruise missiles and drones and long range artillery. Its members deployed within occupied Ukraine would not survive a assault from their undefended flanks by Russian stand-off weapons.

One or two good attacks would cause panic and pretty quickly Wagner would disintegrate.

Prigozhin is already a dead man walking. His operatives will probably be offered a simple choice - join the Russian regulars, or die.

Strelkov, Girkin and Prigozhin all getting uppity together. This could get interesting.

That's all going to change when Ukrainian armor enters Crimea see how many rats flee across the kirsch bridge,it will bring an end to Crimea being a Kremlin retirement village