Russia-Ukraine War (continuing)

Armed forces of Ukraine's count of casualties in the forces of putin's terrorist state since attempting the full scale invasion of their country just passed the million mark:

I'll believe it if and when it happens, based on track record, Trump will just TACO out again and this is just blowhard nonsense.

it would be interesting to see what happens.
the US military is in joint exercises with European allies on an almost daily basis and are also very much a part of the NATO presence in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonian, Poland and Bulgaria.
it is hard to imagine those on the ground taking too kindly to being told to ignore their basic training and abandon their allies that they have trained with for decades because the CiC is a dick

Regarding an incursion into Lithuania/The Suwalki Gap, this is a very real concern in Lithuania, and its no wonder they are massively increasing their border defences, which I posted about a few weeks back… I flew into Palanga airport about 2 months ago and saw dragons teeth for the first time deployed around the airport which is about 80km from the border with Kaliningrad (an airport I've flown into about 30 times in the last 5 years). Also I'd never heard a sonic boom in my life until about a year ago… now I've heard at least 7-8!! The whole house shakes! I regularly see Eurofighter Typhoons coming and going from the local airport, as well as random American heavy metal..

However from talking to a neighbour in Lithuania, who is reasonably well connected to high office there, he seemed fairly confident (based on conversations he's had) that they could hold off any land incursion for as long as it took for NATO reinforcements to arrive (4-8 days)(bearing in mind there are already German & American forces in country).

I do also believe that Lithuania is possibly to be the first likely target given how close Vilnius is to the border with Belarus, and how relatively easy & quickly it 'could' be for a land invasion to reach the capitol… Vilnius is only about 90 minutes drive from Druskininkai (a beautiful spa town I have visited on many occasions, as recently as last summer), however it's pretty much all forest so no convoy of enemy troops would have an easy ride to Vilnius, but in the age of drones, everything changes!

My OH (she's Lithuanian) is quite concerned about it all, probably more so than me as I (probably misguidedly) refuse to let Russia dictate how I/we live, but I'm Irish, with no real clue… She was born into the Soviet Union.. her grandfather was in Vilnius at the TV tower in 1991 facing down the soviet tanks… The vast majority of Western Europe still don't grasp the severity of the Russia problem, Eastern Europe/The Baltics have been screaming it for years and no one listened or did anything…. then 2014 happened, then 2022 happened, and then 'some' of Western Europe woke up….

We are going (driving) in 3 weeks for about 5-6 weeks.. If the Suwalki gap is cut off, our only way out is via the Baltic Sea (luckily my neighbour above has a sailing yacht, but it's much closer to Kaliningrad than we are, in Klaipeda, Lithuania's only real sea port, so a likely initial target).

There are joint Russian/Belarusian military exercises planned for autumn close to the Lithuanian border..

When I arrive in a few weeks, I need to put some more stuff into the emergency 'grab bag'

I've a painting in the house, painted by my late father, so it's irreplaceable!! It's probably getting packed into the car when we leave this summer for home as I'd rather it wasn't there 'just in case'…

Fun Times!

FCUK RUSSIA.

youd have to wonder allright…cant really see donnie doing anything to his biggliest buddy…sure he wont even consider more sanctions against him!!

And just to point out (though I'm sure it absolutely doesn't need pointing out), but in Lithuania (and I'm sure the rest of The Baltics/Eastern Europe), they are extremely grateful for the foreign troops deployed in their countries.

4 U.S. servicemen tragically lost their lives in Lithuania back in March during a training exercise, and the public outpouring of grief was enormous. About €200k was collected from the public for their families, and Lithuania are looking to posthumously award them State Awards.

It's not lost on a lot of people from these countries that were it not for their NATO membership, as well as NATO troops deployed on their territory, they would have been 'liberated' by Russia long ago…

https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2527520/lithuania-holds-ceremony-for-dead-us-soldiers#:~:text=A%20fundraising%20campaign%20for%20the,at%20the%20Pabrad%C4%97%20training%20ground.

https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2529232/lithuania-considers-posthumous-state-awards-for-4-us-soldiers-president

https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2531692/four-fallen-us-soldiers-honoured-at-lithuanian-seimas

https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2527237/vilnius-to-hold-farewell-ceremony-for-deceased-us-soldiers

..and related to all of the above, and literally in todays news…

https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2588796/from-dragons-teeth-to-hedgehogs-lithuanian-cities-prepare-their-defences

One possible route for an attack on Lithuania is a direct thrust from Belarus into Vilnius, according to the country's military leadership. While inspecting the newly acquired engineering equipment, Mayor Benkunskas underlined a clear objective: the road to Vilnius must not resemble a highway – it must be riddled with obstacles.

“In 2022, the mayor of Kharkiv advised us: ‘Have your own counter-mobility infrastructure. That way you’ll help the army stop a physical invasion’,” said the Vilnius mayor.

Lessons from Ukraine are invaluble.

It's hardly real.

Another "beautiful, devastating, destructive" 2-week wait ?!

It's taking the p!ss out of Trump for being so weak with all his "deadlines"

Oh dear me.

I can hear Ronald Regan turning in his grave!

probably optimistic thinking, but Senator Lindsay Graham has been talking about a massive set of sanctions he wants to have placed on Russia. maybe that could be what Trump is referring to??

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/07/lindsey-graham-russia-sanctions-bill-trade-embargo-00393297

but like others have said, I’ll believe it when I see it

At the moment I don't see a solution. This will go on till either Putin or Zelensky is killed or removed in some other way and even that might not end it, just introduce a new phase. Neither side is capable of defeating the other side militarily unless something very radical changes. The situation looks hopeless and it's the Ukrainian population who will keep paying the price

That gives some cause for hope, though still sounds to me a long way off from potential economic collapse. Hopefully the bad will accelerate. We'll monitor what happens

@fly_agaric "I don't think he ever explained how he'd "end the war in 1 day""

He thought he'd say "I'm the big Trump. Now, knock it off" and they'd say "Yes Donald".

But it only works like that in his childish mind. He is a juvenile fantasist.

Ukraine's attempts to disarm putin's terrorists continue with a strike on an electronics manufacturing plant:

Also reported are strikes by Ukraine from the air on puitn's terrorists: