(02-26-2022 10:33 PM)UofMstateU Wrote:  

(02-26-2022 10:07 PM)BigTigerMike Wrote:  

(02-26-2022 09:51 PM)UofMstateU Wrote:  

(02-26-2022 09:44 PM)BigTigerMike Wrote:  

(02-26-2022 08:07 PM)bullet Wrote:  They were within miles of Kiev when they started.

In WWII Patton sometimes went 30 miles a day. But then they would pull fuel from him to avoid him embarrassing Montgomery.

I just saw a retired US general state that Putin doesn’t want to destroy Kyiv as it’s an important Russian city and is also the key Russian Orthodox Christianity center and destroying it would turn his own supporters against him; so he’s just sitting outside the city to squeeze them into negotiations. Thinks that negotiations are already happening but the Ukrainian govt is saving face for as long as they can

lulz, so Putin did a very-multi-headed raid into Ukraine, but all he wants to do is negotiate?

If Putin is wanting to negotiate now, it means he is getting his ass handed to him both in Ukraine and back home.

I think the point he’s saying is that Putin has the upper hand wants to get what he wants without having to destroy Kyiv entirely

Thats not exactly matching reality though. Russia announced that they had knocked out Ukraines air defense systems within hours of the attack, only to be humiliated on the world stage when it was clearly not the case. Russia also took over the Kyiv airport, only to lose it, only to regain it back, only to lose it again.

This is looking more like a quagmire than Russia having the upper hand. And when the oligarchs start having their yachts, mansions, and money taken away, there will be hell to pay.

This is a really good strategy and I approve wholeheartedly. Putin will need to be removed from within, and this makes a lot of sense.

Ukrainian soldier blew himself up on bridge to block advancement of Russian tanks

Quote:Vitaly Skakun, who was part of a marine infantry battalion aiming to block the Henichesk bridge in the southern Kherson region.

As the tanks approached, Mr Skakun jumped in to carry out a mission to blow up the bridge.

“The bridge was mined, but he didn’t manage to get away from there,” the military said in a statement.

“According to his brothers in arms, Vitaly got in touch [with them] and said he was going to blow up the bridge. Immediately after an explosion rang out.”

“His heroic act significantly slowed down the push of the enemy, allowing the unit to relocate and organize defense.”

Officials said they were working on awarding Mr Skakun with posthumous honors.

The only thing Russia is losing is the PR war

(02-26-2022 01:29 PM)stinkfist Wrote:  

(02-26-2022 01:14 PM)BigTigerMike Wrote:  “First casualty of war is truth”

I don’t know what to believe as a lot of people on all sides are using social media and news agencies to propagate specific narratives.

believe this … your tax $$$ will line the elitists/defense contractors pockets … other than that, this conflict is meaningless …

Would I rather my tax $$$ go to defense contractors, pharmaceutical companies, or lazy people who refuse to work?

That's a tough choice.

Heck, let's just give them all money!!!

Mitt Romney, not exactly known for his devastating burns, unleashes a good one on Putin -

"We're seeing a small, feral-eyed man who was trying to shape the world in the image where, once again, Russia would be an empire, and that's not going to happen,"

https://thehill.com/policy/international...l-eyed-man

(02-26-2022 03:16 PM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote:  

The US is sending barrels of Ice Cream.

That's not completely true. We offered an Uber, too.

(02-27-2022 11:00 AM)Gamenole Wrote:  Mitt Romney, not exactly known for his devastating burns, unleashes a good one on Putin -

"We're seeing a small, feral-eyed man who was trying to shape the world in the image where, once again, Russia would be an empire, and that's not going to happen,"

https://thehill.com/policy/international...l-eyed-man

Romney is a loser.

(02-27-2022 11:05 AM)umbluegray Wrote:  

(02-27-2022 11:00 AM)Gamenole Wrote:  Mitt Romney, not exactly known for his devastating burns, unleashes a good one on Putin -

"We're seeing a small, feral-eyed man who was trying to shape the world in the image where, once again, Russia would be an empire, and that's not going to happen,"

https://thehill.com/policy/international...l-eyed-man

Romney is a loser.

Gamenole

(02-27-2022 11:11 AM)shere khan Wrote:  

(02-27-2022 11:05 AM)umbluegray Wrote:  

(02-27-2022 11:00 AM)Gamenole Wrote:  Mitt Romney, not exactly known for his devastating burns, unleashes a good one on Putin -

"We're seeing a small, feral-eyed man who was trying to shape the world in the image where, once again, Russia would be an empire, and that's not going to happen,"

https://thehill.com/policy/international...l-eyed-man

Romney is a loser.

Gamenole

You're half right! I did change social media profiles for the 2 causes on the left (the mask & vaccine), didn't for the 2 on the right (BLM & Ukraine).

Here's some more encouraging news, Turkey is asserting its rights under the Montreux Convention and appears to be solidifying its stand with the West in this crisis -
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...9c41a74481

(02-27-2022 11:00 AM)Gamenole Wrote:  Mitt Romney, not exactly known for his devastating burns, unleashes a good one on Putin -

"We're seeing a small, feral-eyed man who was trying to shape the world in the image where, once again, Russia would be an empire, and that's not going to happen,"

https://thehill.com/policy/international...l-eyed-man

I thought Romney thought Trump was crude.

The Dems and never-Trumpers are more obnoxious than Trump ever was. Its just that they limit their denigration to Republicans and Russians.

Putin's Back Is Against the Wall, and He's Forced Into Peace Talks

Quote:While Kyiv is still under attack and great threat, it’s still standing yet another day, and that’s bad news for Vladimir Putin’s ambitions.

As we noted on Saturday, Putin is reportedly furious. He thought he was going to walk in, Zelensky and the people would flee in panic, and then he’d install a puppet government. While he was right about Joe Biden and the EU being slow to the table on sanctions, the Ukrainian people’s resilience is what has turned the tide against him. Reports are that the Ukrainians have in just four days killed over 4,300 Russian troops. The losses are staggering, if the numbers are accurate.

Just to put that in perspective, in 20 years in Afghanistan, more than 2,400 Americans were killed.

Putin hadn’t even outfitted his soldiers with sufficient food or fuel to go more than a few days, according to reports. According to some of the soldiers, they didn’t even know they were coming to fight in Ukraine, and others are conscripts being forced to fight. Not the force you need to fight people like the Ukrainians, who are fighting for their country and their lives. Ukraine even managed an attack on a Russian airbase just over the border in Russia.

The losses and being stalled on his objectives already have forced Putin to offer “talks” in Minsk, which would have been in Belarus — basically on his territory, since Belarus has shown they are in his pocket, letting him launch attacks from there. Ukraine has countered with talks at the border, and the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said they will be meeting there, “without preconditions.”

“We agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet with the Russian delegation without preconditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, near the Pripyat River,” Zelensky announced on his official Telegram.

Zelensky admitted he wasn’t thinking much would come out of it but he needed to take every shot at peace he could.

“I do not really believe in the outcome of this meeting, but let them try so that later not a single citizen of Ukraine has any doubt that I, as President, tried to stop the war, when there was even a small, but still a chance.”

It may have more of a shot than he thinks, if Putin is trying to think of a way out of the mess he’s made for himself. I’m not sure there’s a face-saving way out of it at this point. He’s put himself in a box, and that may be a dangerous thing if he thinks that he needs to show “strength” to get out of it. That may be the reason for the nuclear alert action that he took, as we reported earlier.

One of the reasons talks may be underway is that Putin was pushed by the Chinese President Xi to negotiate.

Xi said on the call with Putin that it is important to “abandon the Cold War mentality, attach importance to and respect the reasonable security concerns of all countries, and form a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism through negotiations”.

China has been aligned with Russia on this, and hasn’t condemned their invasion of Ukraine, in part because they have their ambitions on Taiwan. They’ve been carefully watching everything – evaluating how everyone is reacting here – with that thought in mind.

They may have looked at the weakness of Joe Biden, and that was likely giving them lots of ideas. We saw China make threatening comments and send more warplanes over Taiwan. They even said Ukraine is the future of Taiwan.

But looking at how Ukraine has responded and how the world has come together from many corners to condemn Russia, China has to be rethinking that thought. They don’t want to be cut off and made a pariah like what is happening to Russia. So, it’s just possible Ukraine may not only save themselves but they may help save Taiwan in the bargain.

A massive armored column with artillery and logistics support is parked about 40 miles outside of Kyiv. Its about to get tougher for the defenders.

On a side note, when it comes to sending Ukraine any mid range truck mounted all-in-one anti-aircraft system---we really dont have one to send. Basically, all our mobile single unit systems are just vehicles with mounted Stingers. I wish we had something that was very mobile, like a truck mounted RIM-116 CIWS. That would be something a bit more robust that could down most any ground attack aircraft or drone that got within 5 or 6 miles.

Thank goodness we didn't elect Romney. He's a loser.

(02-27-2022 04:10 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  A massive armored column with artillery and logistics support is parked about 40 miles outside of Kyiv. Its about to get tougher for the defenders.

On a side note, when it comes to sending Ukraine any mid range truck mounted all-in-one anti-aircraft system---we really dont have one to send. Basically, all our mobile single unit systems are just vehicles with mounted Stingers. I wish we had something that was very mobile, like a truck mounted RIM-116 CIWS. That would be something a bit more robust that could down most any ground attack aircraft or drone that got within 5 or 6 miles.

Just send over the ones we have at Bahram.....oh, wait.

https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/russia...ve-updates

Quote:European Union vows to send weapons to Ukraine's armed forces: 'Matter of life and death'
High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell Fontelles published an op-ed in the Guardian outlining the reasons the bloc will send weapons to Ukraine.

"What Putin is doing is not only a grave violation of international law, it is a violation of the basic principles of human coexistence," he said. "With his choice to bring war back to Europe, we see the return of the 'law of the jungle' where might makes right. The target is not only Ukraine, but the security of Europe and the whole international rules-based order, based on the UN system and international law."

"With this war on Ukraine, the world will never be the same again. It is now, more than ever, the time for societies and alliances to come together to build our future on trust, justice and freedom. It is the moment to stand up and to speak out. Might does not make right. Never did. Never will."

Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk

(02-27-2022 10:28 AM)GoodOwl Wrote:  Ukrainian soldier blew himself up on bridge to block advancement of Russian tanks

Quote:Vitaly Skakun, who was part of a marine infantry battalion aiming to block the Henichesk bridge in the southern Kherson region.

As the tanks approached, Mr Skakun jumped in to carry out a mission to blow up the bridge.

“The bridge was mined, but he didn’t manage to get away from there,” the military said in a statement.

“According to his brothers in arms, Vitaly got in touch [with them] and said he was going to blow up the bridge. Immediately after an explosion rang out.”

“His heroic act significantly slowed down the push of the enemy, allowing the unit to relocate and organize defense.”

Officials said they were working on awarding Mr Skakun with posthumous honors.

So are we going to hear tomorrow that he is still alive, never even existed, or that, if dead, had his own gun malfunction and blow up in his face?

(02-27-2022 04:10 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  A massive armored column with artillery and logistics support is parked about 40 miles outside of Kyiv. Its about to get tougher for the defenders.

On a side note, when it comes to sending Ukraine any mid range truck mounted all-in-one anti-aircraft system---we really dont have one to send. Basically, all our mobile single unit systems are just vehicles with mounted Stingers. I wish we had something that was very mobile, like a truck mounted RIM-116 CIWS. That would be something a bit more robust that could down most any ground attack aircraft or drone that got within 5 or 6 miles.

The way I've seen some of the russian conveys laid out in a straight line, they would take a massive blow if Ukraine had a couple of A10's fully loaded that was able to make a pass or two over them.

(02-27-2022 04:54 PM)UofMstateU Wrote:  

(02-27-2022 04:10 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  A massive armored column with artillery and logistics support is parked about 40 miles outside of Kyiv. Its about to get tougher for the defenders.

On a side note, when it comes to sending Ukraine any mid range truck mounted all-in-one anti-aircraft system---we really dont have one to send. Basically, all our mobile single unit systems are just vehicles with mounted Stingers. I wish we had something that was very mobile, like a truck mounted RIM-116 CIWS. That would be something a bit more robust that could down most any ground attack aircraft or drone that got within 5 or 6 miles.

The way I've seen some of the russian conveys laid out in a straight line, they would take a massive blow if Ukraine had a couple of A10's fully loaded that was able to make a pass or two over them.

The thing with this war is Ukraine doesnt have long range cruise missiles, only a minimal air defense, and no real air power---and Russia is still running into tough resistance. Thats why Ive said the Russians sending forces against NATO would be an absolutely horrifically bad idea. An offensive operation requires movement. Movement pretty much requires control of the air and solid logistics at the rear. NATO cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and air power would make all of those things almost impossible to do.