Re: Ukraine on the verge of civil war!
 

Well it would have been quick for you.

Re: Ukraine on the verge of civil war!
 

Interesting; the war games I'd seen were focused around the premise of a tactical nuclear war followed by potentially a strategic one after NATO forces were overrun by Warsaw Pact forces.

---------- Post added at 22:23 ---------- Previous post was at 22:22 ----------

Same kind of story for most of us.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-minute_warning

Brr.

Re: Ukraine on the verge of civil war!
 

It was a very interesting read, chillingly plausible to, iirc he did do a version in which Germany was totally destroyed by nuclear weapons. The novel aspect of the book left a bit to be desired but as a text book it was excellent, possibly due to the amount of experts that contributed to it, the dates were almost perfect, mid eighties and the soviets are on the verge of collapse economically so launch an invasion of western Europe, France joins in and it's all over in three weeks, might have been Minsk not Kiev that was destroyed to. We are so lucky gorbachev and not someone like Putin took over then.

Re: Ukraine on the verge of civil war!
 

I'd always imagined the US cavalry would ride in to save us... :)

---------- Post added at 08:20 ---------- Previous post was at 07:56 ----------

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26641217

Last I heard they were 'laughing' at sanctions, now it seems they're worthy of 'retaliation'. I reckon a very dangerous bunch of lunatics are running the show in Russia and anything could happen. :erm:

Re: Ukraine on the verge of civil war!
 

US Air Cav, with A10 Warthogs and Apache helicopters with Hellfire missiles - they were specifically designed to mitigate* the overwhelming Soviet tank numbers.


*mitigate - 'blow the crap out of'.....

Re: Ukraine on the verge of civil war!
 

Yes the good ole 'tankbuster' I remember it well. All very well if the Yanks are inclined to a) get involved and b) stay involved. I expect their Nato obligations might be called into question if all hell broke loose in E. Europe. Let's hope their commitment isn't tested.

Putin's playing a very dangerous game of chess and you have to wonder if he'd back down in the event that his bluff was ever called or whether he'd see his destiny as the leader of some glorious Soviet anti-western crusade...

Anyway I reckon defence sector shares could well be on the rise shortly...

Re: Ukraine on the verge of civil war!
 

Putin isn't as secure as some think. Russia is connected to the global economy now and I doubt it's citizens would sit still if they saw it sliding back to the bad ol' days.

Re: Ukraine on the verge of civil war!
 

The Russian people are well used to government oppression and Russian governments are well used to dishing it out. I don't see Putin and his cronies being overthrown by a 'people's army'. Bring back Gorby!

Re: Ukraine on the verge of civil war!
 

"The Soviet Union? I thought you guys broke up?"

"That's what we wanted you to think!"

http://vimeo.com/87939821

Re: Ukraine on the verge of civil war!
 

Makes any tanky on the enemy side have bowl movements :D

Re: Ukraine on the verge of civil war!
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26652399

And therein lies the problem - the EU rarely agrees about anything of significance without thrashing it all out for years. Putin knows it and he's warning the West to keep off his turf.

Re: Ukraine on the verge of civil war!
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26659578

Meanwhile:

The treaty's almost done and dusted while the west is still deciding what to have for lunch during their various meetings...

Re: Ukraine on the verge of civil war!
 

Let's just say Russia decides to take all of the Ukraine by force. What are we in Europe or the US going to do about it? Anything involving the military has the possibility of escalating to a full on war with Russia and that's not a war that anyone will win. All sides would lose. It's all well and good going on about how ineffective this or that is but at the end of the day rolling over is the only sensible option, at least for now, IMO.

The Chinese government must be rubbing their hands right now. They've politically distanced themselves from Russia during all of this and worst case scenario they have the capability to mop up after the fact.

Re: Ukraine on the verge of civil war!
 

I don't think attempting to take the rest of Ukraine by military force is an option for Putin. The consequences at home and abroad are too high a price to pay. Poltical destabilisation will be his modus operandi, as it has been doing since the orange revolution.

What will be interesting is whether or not the Americans will cease to restrain the Saudis (via the CIA) from funding and cultivating Chechen separatists/terrorists.

Re: Ukraine on the verge of civil war!
 

@ Kabaal - Military action would of course be a last resort but until the west is seen to have a credible plan for a prompt and painful response to acts like this all the pontificating in the word adds up to so much hot air. Who do our leaders think they're kidding? We don't believe they have the stomach for meaningful economic sanctions and neither does Putin. Until that changes he can be pretty sure that another land grab will go equally unpunished. What better way to encourage him to try?