Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Maybe because then the effect would be lessened and the aircraft shape would again stand out.

But I think these are real tyres and not camouflage, performing a similar role to cope cages. I expect it's not a big job for them to remove them before they take-off and the Tu-95 should be sturdy enough to withstand the tyres/boots.

Based on this the tires argument looks stronger

Speculating about possible Ukrainian false flag ops to drag NATO into the fray? Leave the false flag stuff to the Russians: they are world champions at that, if at nothing else.

The area just to the north of that village became a greyzone on August 27th (according to and only according to Liveuamap), the same time as it was reported that Ukrainians made gains towards it.

It's worth pointing out that it's a major outlier on the map front (being 6 kms further south than the DeepState map for example. Still, another village has entered my daily word search. There'd be some serious rejigging of maps if it was close to accurate though 😂

Another KA52 helicopter gone. Russia confirmed it crashed in the sea of Azov and the pilots were rescued. These must be an endangered species by now.

Seen a lot of videos lately of Russians in the Novoprovka or whatever it's called getting hit hard by artillery and drones. It's pretty clear why Ukraine haven't just continued to advance. Russia has been sending lots of reinforcements and the place is infested like tics.

They're probably happy to pick them off in big numbers before going for another push.

Kind of like tanks in WW2 when they would place logs onto the sides of their tanks so might take a round from another tank or bazooka rounds. So I presume this is the same thinking.

With the KA52 imagine the increased activity is taking a toll on them. Together with smarter use of the anti aircraft assets on the part of the UAF. One suggestion was greater use of RBS-70s rather than over reliance on Stingers.

The KA52 would seem to be one of the more effective bits of equipment in the Russian arsenal. Can see even greater losses if the counter offensive ramps up its momentum.

"The sanctions, they do nothing"

Also it seems kind of pointless to have "camo" paint on a huge old bomber like that. They're pretty easy to see (and if they move, hear).

Not saying having a pile of tires on the wing is any less silly.

Maybe they're out of bombs and are just dropping the tires from height.

???

There are a lot of technicalities in the definition of genocide but the deportation of children and the attacks on the energy plants last winter seem to me like elements of genocide.

Genocide - Wikipedia

Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people[a] in whole or in part. In 1948, the United Nations Genocide Convention defined genocide as any of five "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group." These five acts were: killing members of the group, causing them serious bodily or mental harm, imposing living conditions intended to destroy the group, preventing births, and forcibly transferring children out of the group. Victims are targeted because of their real or perceived membership of a group, not randomly. Genocide - Wikipedia

Nothing new about this. Was it Bosnia where they found "acts of genocide" but it wasn't genocide ?

You're ignoring the operative word there which is "and". Genocide is an amalgamation of attrocities on civilians, I don't think it applies to individual subset of criteria.

There is another issue with officially applying terms like that to wars like this which is that it would probably have a cheapening effect on it's intentionally reserved use against regimes like the Nazis or the Turks for example who committed far greater mass attrocities in their time that meet every definition of genocide.

It would cheapen it because it would just be used over and over again for all sorts of actions which would debase the impact the term is supposed to have.