france is sending very little money, marcon is hedging his bets, alltho i believe the eu are pushing him hard
Russia does not recognise Ukraine's right to exist if it is a Ukraine that would have the temerity to pivot away from Russia politically. We can see this in how they have been conducting their invasion. They pound towns and cities to rubble when those towns will not simply surrender. They attack hospitals, they attack residential areas, they attack schools, they attack critical general civilian infrastructure like water and power. Everything. They're completely brutal and indiscriminate.
Anyone who's grown jaded of the war would do well to watch something like 20 Days in Mariupol to remind themselves of Russia's evil. Dead children, dead parents, family homes smashed to bits, pregnant women bleeding out in improvised maternity wards because the Russians blew up the actual maternity hospital. Rubble everywhere, horrific injuries, shellshocked people with nowhere to go, people lying dead in the streets. That's what encroaching Ruski Mir looks like for the people of Ukraine. And if Ukraine simply surrendered, we can only guess at how Russia would conduct its 'denazification' programme, but we can be sure that the hell of it would be blanketed by a thick layer of Russian propaganda and Twitter's useful idiots and outright trolls. You wouldn't want to be a Ukrainian who still wants to be so in occupied Ukraine, that's for sure. Bucha's only a taste of that. So, we can understand in this way why Ukraine fights on, and does not simply surrender for peace sake, because it would be a 'peace' similar to what the 'untermensch' felt in Nazi occupied Europe - ghettoisation, stripping of rights, mass deportation and summary execution of those who continued to resist.
I don't think any excavators are manufactured in Ireland, but we do make cranes. German company Liebherr produces cranes in their Killarney plant and has exported to Russia in the past. Liebherr have an extensive presence in Russia and continue to do a roaring trade there, according to their own website.
As I understand it, Western Ukriane includes Donbas and Crimea. Eastern Ukraine, by contrast, is areas like Belogord, Rostov, Krasnodar almost up as far as Kursk which are currently under Russian occupation.
I do not support Ukraine trying to retake Eastern Ukraine, and I dont think they should. But I agree with you that they should be able to settle for just Western Ukraine.
That's mad considering they are a US company, hopefully no JCB equipment made here is ending up there
But not so good. The sooner those independent's who continue supply Putin's war machine get hit with sanctions the better/
And on the home heating situation....
They have Increased attacks on Russia proper, but neither side has the ability to break through each other's lines, Russia is still attacking on multiple fronts,but not making much headway,the Ukrainians said a new A50 was active flying today,they didn't learn anything
Is it just me, or has there been a significant uptick recently in the number of Ukrainian attacks on the Western Russian regions - those on other side of the historical border (Bryansk, Kursk, Belgorod and Voronezh)?
Given the level of creativity applied by the Ukrainians to this conflict, I could well believe that this winter will see them move the effective frontline back onto Russian territory, with the poor mobiks on Ukranian soil left increasingly isolated. Way back in time, when Twitter was still Twitter, I read suggestion that the best negotiated settlement would be one that saw those four Russian regions being dimilitarised as a guarantee of any Kremlin promise to behave in the future.
In any case, I would imagine that Ukraine will do everything possible to create a continuous stream of unburiable bad news for Putin between now and his re-election in the sprin. Another A50 (or similar) being taken out of the sky over the Azov sea and/or the sinking of another major battleship would be on my bingo card.
I'd say also that Putins mass conscription is playing a part too. You simply cannot take key workers out of the system, and still expect it to work This has already been raised in the Duma, but only got the smart-ass response to make the remaining workers work longer hours, increase the 5-day week to a 6-day week, but without any corresponding increase in salary. Add rusting and rotten pipework, electrics etc, and you have the perfect storm, as can be seen in Russia today. The Country is pretty much the same condition as its electrical and heating / water systems, rotten to the core.
I don't know what a ''tankie'' is. For me, it's just a geographical term.
I suspect there is a tacit agreement between Ukraine and Russia this year not to target each other's electrical systems. Russians would be colder.
Thanks, Pixelburp, yes, I've been unbelievably lucky!! And regarding the "artisanal" episode, that was only the tip of that particular iceberg!! It happened on the way to work!!! LOL 😂
Can't blame them for trying to keep warm, when Putin shipped all the heating engineers off to Ukraine, causing mega heating problems. Serves them right. that was what they were wishing on the west in 2022.
Need to do it properly. West of the Ukraine.
Could never figure that out either it was a real own goal
Prior to Putins invasion of Ukraine, he held massive war games too on the border of Ukraine (while adamantly denying any plan to invade) Given his twisted mind, I wonder what his thinking on these war games are? No doubt we will soon find out via RT's presenters,Skabeyeva, Solovyov , and Lavrov.
And just to re-iterate for whoever might be new to the whole thing -- Putin does not honor any agreements. "Peace" for Putin means grabbing as much as possible now, so that he can start the war again in a few years from a better position.
Pre-2022, some Ukrainians criticized Zelenskyy for trying to please Putin, for trying to reach some agreement before the war. Zelenskyy knows, as well as anyone can, that Putin is not looking for any compromises. Any compromise for Putin is a sign of weakness to be exploited.
Putin is a coward and a bully. He even brought a large dog to a meeting with Merkel who is known to have been bitten by a dog. And Merkel wasn't his opponent really, if anything, she was the greatest Putin appeaser. He just saw a weakness and it pleased him to bully someone.
Thats Putin's dream all right, and the amount of "discussion" articles now flooding the media space, even Putin himself is doing it now with his " Right to keep conquered territory" speech, but it is not echoed in Ukraine, they know only too well what Putins "peace" is like, they have plenty of samples. IE, Boucha and other places as well. Seems like Putin's $1.5 billion propaganda machine is working flat out spreading lies.
I think it's the one account arguing with each other and not for the first time,new account number 1 pro Ukraine, new account number 2 Pro Russia ,
Seems to be a regular thing in this thread new or zombie accounts suddenly start posting
So in a week where Russia propaganda starts shifting its narrative about how "the west of Ukraine" simply can't be taken ... suddenly a new user appears talking about how the West of Ukraine can hold back Russia, and we should settle for "stalemate".
Hmm ...
Hmmmmmmmm ...
That's the thing. If there's a negotiated settlement, I would expect part of the Russian demands would be the west accepting the occupied area as officially belonging to Russia, lifting of sanctions and return of assets seized. Putin can't show the war as a success without those 3 items.
That's just the Russian side. No doubt the Ukrainian side's demands would be unpalatable to Russia (paying restitution etc...)
This is the latest vocabulary - "west of Ukraine", "Western Ukraine" .... tankies pushing it hard.
Probably, in the west of Ukraine.
Sooooo... they can "hold off" Russia???!?
Can't negotiate with gangsters and bad actors. Russia needs to be bled white.
Bound for stalemate, with a negotiated settlement.
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