There was one Ukrainian report that in one day alone last week,750 Russians were killed or injured. If those kind of losses are being suffered by the Russians, for sure, they will have a manpower problem and pretty soon at that. They did not mention the Ukraine losses for the same time frame, but presumably,( hopefully) it was not as bad as the Russian figure's.
Not a chance. We'll stop producing our own beef and instead buy cleared rainforest raised, Russian fertilizer fed, brazilian beef then ship it half way round the world on a carbon spewing ship guzzling Russian oil. Just so we meet some imaginery targets.
Basically, and in broad strokes for ordinary Russians, the everyday life is grim in almost every aspect. Rising cost of living, while the staples are available ( in most cases ) drop in the value of the Ruble is hitting people on fixed income very hard. Influx of people from Crimea etc. is causing shortages in accommodation, with the attendant price rises. ( now where have I heard that before?) Basically, in another Country, it would have people out on the streets. There's not much of an air of jollity about, with my friend anyway. Once I heard it said that if you want to gauge the mood of Russians, go on the Metro, and if there's lots of chatter and noise, all is well. But a sullen and silent crowd is an accurate measurement of Russians discontent. Apparently the Metro's are very quiet these days......
My point was more around the carrying through on the threat rather than the consequences of the announcement.
https://t.me/MishaDonbass/1048
It's very difficult to write, it's hard to find the words….. My name is Natalia, I'm a group administrator and Misha's right hand, best friend and helper. A lot of calls come in ... I publish official information from our channel. Friends, this morning, while performing combat missions near Krasnogorovka, the commander of the UAV group of military unit 41698 (5th brigade of the DPR of the Russian Federation) Mikhail Sergeevich Luchin died heroically. This is an irreparable loss for all of us. He died doing his civic duty with a smile on his face and love in his heart, defending our Fatherland from the enemies of Russia. Our Misha is no longer with us 😭😭😭 Let the ukry not rejoice!!!! We won't stop! We will keep going!!! Together !!! And the battle continues, we are advancing and moving forward!!!! Eternal memory to our dear and beloved Misha. I will post further information about helping our guys in the 5th brigade! Our group remains and we will not abandon our own!!!
A Russian mil blogger has died and could very well have been a victim of a cluster munition strike.
Never happen.
It's soya they excel and specialise in. Land is cleared to go in beef first and then goes to soya production. All that soy sauce etc in China. Feeds their poultry and pig sectors. BRICS.
Tariffing the living shite out of Brazilian beef might soften their cough, it's muck anyway.
Brazil are heavily, heavily tied to Russian and Belarusian fertilizer.
For a country the size of Brazil and supposedly farmers with good heads on their shoulders. You'd think they'd know better. But they are tillage with no thought of maintaining soil life Nitrogen. Heavily on the conventional buy as much fert as you can. Export the produce to China mantra. It's what they know.
Farmers out there want the fertiliser taps from Russian gas and Belarusian potassium kept fully open. The longer the war goes on. Supply gets disrupted and people start asking questions. The optics won't be as good as they were.
Given Lula is one of those old Lefties who think it's all NATO's fault, I'm not sure Brazil would be an honest broker in any peace talks
Lula in Brazil seems hopeful, wonder if Brazil is one of these countries he's talking about
They also have a heavily armed navy who can protect said ships something Ukraine can't do
Will have limited Impact I'd imagine. Russian State owned ships just use Russian State owned insurance companies.
The British-born Ukrainian marine Aiden Aslin, one of the Mariupol fighters released in a prisoner swap has released his book "Putin’s Prisoner: My Time as a Prisoner of War in Ukraine".
He's currently doing promos for the book. Some harrowing stories.
Here's a a good overview from the Aus national broadcaster:
If you prefer a video, interview with the Times.
Timed that well 😀
Possibly just mine the area. If a ship did break the 'blockade' and hit a mine, Russia will just point the finger at Ukraine and the rest of the world won't say or do anything other than condemn it and more than likely wouldn't publicly blame Russia.
Kinda like the dam that was blown up etc..
Ukrainian troops are making gradual advances of several hundred metres to the south and southeast every day.
Source: Military Media Centre, quoting Colonel Mykola Urshalovych, Deputy Director of the Department of Application Planning of the Chief Directorate of the National Guard of Ukraine
Quote: "In extremely difficult conditions of mined terrain and enemy fire... our assault groups, supported by tanks and artillery, continue to gradually move south and southeast, pushing the occupiers out of Ukrainian land. Our soldiers and officers are literally tearing through the enemy's defences.
Every day we advance by several hundred metres."
Ukrainian troops advance hundreds of metres every day in the south | Ukrainska Pravda
There's that alright. I wonder will the Russians carry out their threat?
nice
Ukraine need to be careful on this one as Russia have no qualms about packing a boat full of passengers and sailing it out there to draw fire. Sinking a passenger ship would do some serious PR damage to Ukraine whilst if it happened the other way the Russians wouldn't give a toss.
Quit the bickering or threadbans will follow
Depressing read.
Ruble is steadily sliding, sanctions are having a long-term impact, the effects of which are kicking in, their war-chest is heavily depleted, they have lost their most lucrative income (European energy market), their leadership (for the first time) has openly admitted having supply issues with material and munitions, their troops have low morale and are fighting purely for money, all with an economy smaller than that of the state of Texas
They can certainly keep going, possibly for years, but all the cracks are there and it's impacting them on every level.
I don't expect any quick end to this conflict, and I am fully aware of the massive challenges facing Ukraine, but the Russian military now is not the same as the one that invaded, and the Russian military in a year's time? They don't seem to be improving, put it that way
Not sure if this was posted already; A pretty negative assessment of the counteroffensive from an analyst who is one of a team of "experts" who are just back from the front lines talking to soldiers and commanders. While he doesn't rule out the possibility of a breakthrough, he thinks it's likely to remain an attritional conflict with little progress on either side. The main takeaway is that the faltering counteroffensive isn't due to a single problem like lack of ammunition or limited supply of NATO hardware, but can be attributed to a multitude of shortcomings on the Ukrainian side; "lack of progress is often more due to force employment, poor tactics, lack of coordination btw. units, bureaucratic red tape/infighting, Soviet style thinking etc. & ...Russians putting up stiff resistance."
Can Russia really sustain this war for several more years? While the propaganda of them running out of material looks to be wide of the mark, there is going to come a point where they are outgunned by Ukraine. Also they are going to run out of money to pay for the war at some point. My guess is Putin is hoping for a stalemate going into this winter and that the West will push Ukraine to start talking, If that's his calculation I think he's mistaken.
Ukrainians are resourceful. I'm sure they'll put them to good use.
@jmreire "At this minute, I'm talking to a Russian friend, an the conversation makes for grim listening to."
Tell us more?
What do you want from USA? Send Superman in?
What he's clearly indicating there is a negotiated settlement, which Ukraine categorically state they refuse. If they refuse, I'm sure he'll call them ungrateful and cut military aid immediately.
Negotiated settlement means Putin will keep part of the east and trump will call himself the great peacemaker. Trump will not tell Putin: get out of the country and give up all stolen territory. We all know Putin has dirt on Trump and that gives him leverage.
A Biden victory is vital for Ukraine
That's what some of us were predicting since last summer but always the small crew in here telling us Russian ammunition runs out in two weeks, Russian defences will collapse like cards as soon as the counteroffensive starts, book the flight to Crimea for the big party when it's reclaimed in July....
The reality is still a bloody war of attrition with thousands dying for minor victories one way or another... I still say the only real hope is change from within Russia, but where it'll come from I don't know ...
I was laughing at what you correctly identified as sacrasm when you said.
Someone in Ukraine thinks sarcasm will help in this situation, at the end of the day Russia has shown they will target civilian shipping in and near Ukraine
Your first response implied that Ukraine actually poses a threat to civilian ships when you said
Of course they do ,why do you think the international community has refused to get involved, they can do a lot of damage to civilian shipping in the area from they have already shown earlier on in the war they will attack civilian ships
You read it wrong.
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