Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

That I can accept as it is not a positive spin it is quite the opposite and much less likely to be propaganda

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

And another, this time regarding Izyum.

https://twitter.com/francis_scarr/st...52164195737601

I think we can safetly say the Ukrainians are making huge advances ATM.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Reports coming in that the Russians have withdrawn from Izyum.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Apologies.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

This is fast turning into a rout of Russian forces. Yet frustratingly the BBC is still illustrating its reports using a map date-stamped 29 August, and unbelievably they’re still decorating their maps with red arrows marked “direction of Russian advance” even though there have been no significant advances in those areas for months.

Right from the outset the BBC has been in thrall to the idea of the unstoppable Russian army (remember how breathlessly they kept updating us on how long the convoy heading for Kyiv was, without ever once seriously asking why that convoy wasn’t going anywhere) and despite the fact that there have been verifiable reports coming from all across the southeast today they still can’t bring themselves to admit they might have been reading this wrong.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

The Ukrainian Twitter pundits seem to be getting very excited. Are Russia in complete collapse?

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Well it doesnt seem like they are doing particularly well atm.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Ukraine has been egging Russia on about an offensive in Kherson for weeks. This appears to have been because they believed they could more easily interdict Russian logistics there. So, draw them into a pocket west of the Dnipro river, cut off their supply lines at the rear, then grind them down. This is what they’ve been about for the past week or two. Russia has had no choice but to throw everything at it because Kherson controls the approach to Crimea (as well as Crimea’s water supply). Ukraine clearly has the will and is daily acquiring the means to go after Crimea, and arguably must do so because Russia’s presence there will always leave Ukraine vulnerable to another attempted invasion.

-but-

While shaping the battlefield around Kherson, the Ukrainians appear to have been outrageously successful at emptying out the occupied far east. So when they started attempting to push back a little around the area south of Kharkiv, they began to break through, and then to push forwards, with increasing speed. By several accounts their spearhead has pushed 70km into territory occupied since the start of the war. There are verifiable photos from the outskirts of Severodonetsk. That puts the whole Donbas in play, yet there’s seemingly little Russia can do to bolster defences there now, because Putin’s strategic interests demand that Crimea be held, and it’s the loss of Kherson that would threaten that.

If you want to know what’s really going on down there and how it’s likely to play out, then get on the Twatter and follow:

Mick Ryan (retired Aussie general) https://twitter.com/warinthefuture?s...pVrQjB4oX0AIjg
Phillips O’Brien (St Andrews based academic) https://twitter.com/phillipspobrien?...pVrQjB4oX0AIjg
Mike Martin (academic, author) https://twitter.com/threshedthought?...pVrQjB4oX0AIjg
Air Marshall Edward Stringer RAF (retired) https://twitter.com/edwardstrngr?s=2...pVrQjB4oX0AIjg

There are others, but these have been consistently willing to challenge the groupthink and have been quick to document credible information about the developing situation.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

I always wondered why Ukraine kept publising they were going on the offensive in Kherson, it now seems apparent. It was always to pave the way for the Kharkiv offensive which would cut off a major logistics hub for both east and south Ukraine. Adding to the destrction of the bridges suppling Kherson from the south this now could lead to the encirclement of Russian forces north of the river.

The Kharkiv operation has almost certainly led to a rout of Russian forces although Russian MOD have said they've been withdrawn to bolster the Donetsk.

I wonder if a rout in Kherson will now follow?

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

I had to smile the other day when reading a story about North Korea supplying Russia with weapons.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Kherson is less likely to witness an outright collapse because the Ukrainian strategy has been to draw in a lot of Russian personnel and equipment, then win a steady war of attrition for the city.

Ukraine has also destroyed or seriously damaged all the river crossings south and east of Kherson so if the Russians are making a run for it they are doing so on foot and leaving everything they can’t physically carry.

A rout here would be an abject disaster in its own right, not to mention bringing the future of Crimea into play. Russia won’t budge easily.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Depends how long they can last out. Practicall all logistic supply lines have been cut, ammo dumps have been destroyed (I doubt all). The Ukrainians could just encircle them and wait them out, or Ukraine could consolidate their gains in Kharkiv, set up defensive lines in the north and east and head south to Kherson.

Crimea will happen next year, I can't see anything happening in that direction this year.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Maybe they'll stop short of Crimea to try and give Putin an out? He can't lose Crimea and stay in office surely so the threat of it might convince him to try and find a way out of the war.

I also wonder if he'll go full mobilisation and the consequences of that domestically and for the war. Hopefully, Ukraine very quickly put up defences to be ready for any counterattack.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

That ship has well and truly sailed. Any cease fire that leaves Putin with any Ukrainian territory can be spun into a victory in Russia and leaves Russian armour on Ukrainian soil, from which it can launch another offensive next year, or in 10 years.

Sure there may come a point when Russia becomes interested in a negotiated settlement but what possible reason could Ukraine now have for negotiating away even an inch of its sovereign territory? Crimea is Ukraine and Russia must now get out, including from the bases it maintained there post-USSR.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Apparently this evening’s missile strikes on the Ukrainian power grid are being described on Russian TV as a “retaliatory measure”, though according to Russian TV nothing has happened this week so it’s unclear what they’re retaliating for.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Excerpt from a Zelensky speech aimed at Russia.

https://www.cableforum.uk/board/atta...5&d=1662931344

Ukrainian forces also reportedly heading in the direction of Mariupol.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Russians withdrawing from some settlements in Kheron Oblast according to General Staff Uk.

https://www.cableforum.uk/board/atta...7&d=1662940003

Is the end coming for Putin?

Moscow Times

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

It's good to see the tide beginning to turn, but I feel so sorry for the innocent civilians and the hoodwinked Russian conscripts caught in the middle of it.

Vlad needs to go and has done for quite some time. Ukraine couldn't or wouldn't be able to do it without our hardware, and we couldn't or wouldn't be able to do it without the Ukrainian manpower. The sooner Russia changes the better for the world.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

BREAKING: Ukraine 'retakes 500 sq km in south' as Russia suffers major setback in Kharkiv region following Ukraine “tricking” them. - Sky News.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

News of Ukrainian advances is coming in so fast it’s hard to keep up. Though the BBC has finally deigned to update its map (for the first time in about a fortnight, but better late than never).

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Debate on Russian TV has undergone radical change.

https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/s...70513909022720

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Where does Fox News get these idiots from?

Tucker Carlson's top Russia-Ukraine war expert Douglas MacGregor, on Friday night: "This entire war may be over" soon, "right now things are going very, very badly" for the Ukrainians and they're "desperate," "they're losing once again just south of Kharkiv."

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

It's disappointing Fox News is presenting him as a war expert and not more accurately as a spokesman for Putin's Russia, whose view of the invasion he supports regardless of the evidence on the ground.

Douglas MacGregor has previously been described as the Putin wing of the GOP by fellow Republican Liz Cheney. Trump's request to have him as ambassador to Germany was fortunately prevented by the Senate.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...isk/ar-AAUFurY

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Meanwhile for Tucker Carlson, apparently they are going to lose simply because Biden has backed them. Rape, pillage and murder is seemingly ok as long as it proves the Dems were wrong.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

More problems for Russia. Volunteer units are refusing to be deployed in Ukraine.

https://www.cableforum.uk/board/atta...1&d=1663013610

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

This isn't the first time Carlson has been concern trolling about Russia. I think it is partly because of the Biden backing Ukraine but also because Putin has been viewed as an anti-establishment figure in Western politics by virtue of opposing the west. It's also why you find the same useful idiots on some parts of the left as well. There are people on the left and on the right who are united in so much as they want to tear it all down and if that involves Putin inflicting a defeat on the West they'll take it.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Interesting article in the NY times about the background and planning for the latest Ukrainian offensives.

https://t.co/w9ieVNZnQn (Shouldn’t be behind paywall)

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Thanks for that Hugh. Interesting indeed and not paywalled.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

A stunning claim.
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...source=twitter

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Sad but unsurprising. This war was never motivated by realpolitik, but Putin’s quasi-messianic urge to reunite the peoples of greater Russia under one banner.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Still makes the 'NATO DID THIS' crowd look even more moronic than they already were

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Great 10-minute video from The Guardian's correspondent here. Includes some interesting history from centuries ago.
Why is Vladimir Putin so obsessed with Ukraine?

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Erdogan: 'Lands which were invaded will be returned to Ukraine'

I'll believe this when I see it.

https://kyivindependent.com/news-fee...200-po-ws-swap

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

I’m highly sceptical that Putin would negotiate away Crimea. I’m less sceptical that he’s at least open to negotiations because his army (not really an army, more a murderous rabble) is getting its ars3 handed to it on the battlefield at the moment.

However, I am pretty confident that within the next 12 months Ukraine will retake Crimea by force. And no, that won’t result in a nuclear exchange, and Western commentators should really stop doing Putin’s nuclear terror psy-ops for him by opining otherwise.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Russia could go into total-war mode. Might be damaging for him domestically but Russia might just throw more and more people at Ukraine.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

To what end? Surely you must see by now that the myth has been busted. Russia is not the second military power in the world. It is a third rate power that has spent a ton of money on equipment it doesn’t know how to use, and doesn’t even work reliably when they do use it.

It is incapable of manoeuvre; it is incapable of combined arms operations. If (and it’s a mighty big if) Putin declared war and general mobilisation, all he would achieve would be to send larger numbers of inadequately trained and equipped Russians to die, wherever the front line happened to be at that time.

Russia took many weeks to claim the ground Ukraine took back in just days, because once Ukraine was suitably equipped it had the willingness and the strategy to use it effectively.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

I think the saying that sums it up is that Russia's gone from being seen as the second strongest army in the World to being seen as the second strongest army in Ukraine.

Moving from war to special operation would be Putin's final throw of the dice to try and save his position. I don't think it would work but we're not dealing with a rational actor here.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

This war is lost, no point in getting more young Russians killed, they should pack up and go home while it's an option.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

not going to happen.

The Ukraine offensive is just another chapter in this conflict, it's not the end nor the beginning of the end. This will continue well into next year, if Putin is still in charge.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

The only thing that will end this war any time soon is if the russian generals decide they have had enough, and remove him.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

BREAKING: Vladimir Putin expected to address Russia at 6pm tonight (Imminently). The Russian leader will reportedly give a rare address to the nation this evening. The last time he gave a live address was on 24 February, when Russia invaded Ukraine.

He is expected to introduce a new martial law and impose further military conscription mobilisation. - Sky News.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

And here comes the uprising

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

NEW: Putin's address to nation delayed until tomorrow, president's former advisor says
Sergei Markov, a Russian political scientist who is a former close advisor to Vladimir Putin, says the president's national address has been delayed until tomorrow.

He announced the news on his official Telegram channel. This would appear to have been confirmed by a statement posted by the editor of Russian state media news outlet RT, Margarita Simonyan, who simply wrote "go to sleep" on Telegram. - Sky News.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

From Dr Mike Martin, as originally recommended by Chris
https://twitter.com/ThreshedThought/...36804174278658

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Threshed thought, Dr Mike Martin, is who I recommended to Chris. :p:

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

:angel:

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

lol, thanks for the original recommendation to Chris, Mick. :tu:

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

BREAKING: Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin has addressed his nation this morning & issues a nuclear threat to the west, says “I am not bluffing” and orders 'partial mobilisation' in Ukraine as he calls up military reservists - Sky News.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

NEW: Ben Wallace UK Defence Secretary of State responds to Putins address in last hour:

https://www.cableforum.uk/board/atta...1&d=1663754249

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

After Russian President Vladimir Putin's morning address on Sept. 21, in which he ordered the immediate call-up of 300,000 reservists, one-way flights out of Russia started to sell out quickly, Reuters reports.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

If it's one thing the oligarchs and the mafia do not like is loosing money which i expect is happening. If Putin is topped it will be via one of those groups.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Full (english) transcript of Putin's speech.

http://en.kremlin.ru/events/presiden...8:Wvp,8:33:41G

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

BREAKING: U.S President Joe Biden speaking at the United Nations summit in New York just now says Russian president Putin has made "reckless nuclear threats" and called the referendum plans in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine a "sham".

---------- Post added at 18:03 ---------- Previous post was at 16:38 ----------

NEW: More than 100 detained in protests across Russia A rights group has said more than 109 people were detained across Russia at protests against mobilisation today.

Detentions have been reported in at least 15 different cities, the independent OVD-Info protest monitoring group said.

Footage emerged on social media today of small groups of protesters holding signs and gathering to push back against Vladimir Putin's orders for partial mobilisation. Under Russia's anti-protest laws, unsanctioned rallies are illegal. Russia has also cracked down on those questioning its invasion of Ukraine. - Sky News

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

BREAKING: Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov walks out of UN Security meeting after speech from UK Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly calls out on their plans for sham referendum on Ukraine territory and their complete fabrication of the truth.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Putin prepares more meat for the grinder, kiss em good by girls they aint coming home

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-families.html

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

It’s beginning to look like they’re conscripting rapidly and in large numbers in their non-Russian ethnic republics, especially in the Far East, and hardly at all amongst the ethnic Russians around st Petersburg and Moscow.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Yes, I suspect few MPs' sons in Moscow are being troubled by this call-up.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62996212

Am I the only one finding themselves short on sympathy for Russians fleeing conscription now the consequences of passively supporting Putin are coming home to roost? Similarly, I’m not inclined to celebrate the ‘bravery’ of those who are demonstrating against conscription today, having been content to say and do nothing about the genocide being waged by their brothers, fathers and sons in Ukraine since February.

The ones protesting, and the ones fleeing, are scared of getting caught up in the war because they *know* what’s been happening. And only now it’s getting a little close to home are they bothered by it.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Thing is though they are ruled by an oppressive regime and the consequences of speaking out would likely be severe. They are now seeing the consequences of running/protesting less than the consequences of being forced into uniform and having to fight in Ukraine

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Yes, I get that there are risks to protesting the regime. But it’s telling that they’re only willing to protest to save their own skins when the utter horror of genocide has been wrought in their name since February.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

That is human nature though isn't it. Very easy to say "I would stand up against them" when sat in an ivory tower in a country that is mostly free

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

A bit.

But we should remember it's likely that these initial recruits are likely those with the lowest social/political power. Ethnic minorities in more rural regions, political opponents and the poorest members of Russian society.

I might be wrong but I suspect the middle to upper-class residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg will be the lower down the priority list.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

I remember full well in the 1st Iraq war thinking to myself I hope they do not start conscripting then went back to watching TV and smoking pot without protesting about us waging war in a foreign land

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Now we know how Russia treats POW's. Before capture and after release photos of Ukrainian Soldier.

Reminds me of Japenese POW's after WWII.

https://www.cableforum.uk/board/atta...7&d=1663965909

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Well, now it's horror facing them either way, so they haven't got much to lose.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Newly mobilized Russian men are showing the rusted AK's they were given. If this is the outside what are the inner components going to be like?

https://www.cableforum.uk/board/atta...9&d=1664033806

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Thats as likely to kill its operator as anyone else.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Yeah I wholeheartedly believe they are sending out conscripts with weapons like that. It is not like weapons in that condition would have been disposed of or recycled by the army and you would never ever find a weapon like that buried on some old battle field would you

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

BREAKING: Putin grants Former U.S Citizen and Intelligence Contractor, Edward Snowden, Russian citizenship after going in to exile in the country in 2013. - AFP News Agency

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

I wonder if he'll get called up? ;)

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Unlikely, they're very simply built and generally highly reliable regardless of condition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUCeRCozXgY

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Nordstream 1 & 2 have both sprung major leaks this morning. Why both should start leaking simultaneously is still officially unexplained, however Swedish news sources are now reporting that seismologists recorded significant seabed explosions at the leak sites this morning.

BBC report, although it’s already out of date: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-63044747

So, qui bono? Is Russia proving it’s willing to sabotage other infrastructure, or is Poland trying to prevent Germany backsliding on its commitment to sever its dependence on Russian gas? Or something else?

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Kremlin to hold back on illegal annexation of Ukrainian territories.

According to independent Russian media outlet Meduza, the annexation will be postponed as it now won't have the desired "PR effect" on the Russian population that is dissatisfied with mobilization.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Not as thick as Putler thinks they are then

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

BREAKING: Four occupied areas of Ukraine will become part of Russia on Friday, the Kremlin has announced. It comes after so-called referendums, widely dismissed as a sham by the West, were held in recent days.

Russia is now expected to claim that efforts by Ukrainian forces to recapture these areas are an attack on the motherland and potentially lead to Putin ordering a nuclear strike, albeit a lower yield tactical warhead in Ukraine to shock Ukrainian resistance, the U.S has warned Russia that such an attack would be catastrophic for them.- Sky News, guardian CBS News.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Ukraine latest news: Putin 'faces imminent defeat' in area he's about to declare part of Russia - Sky News.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Let's hope so! The more ground Ukraine takes before the winter the better.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

BREAKING: Ukraine latest news: Putin delivering speech as Russia officially annexes regions - with leader facing 'major embarrassment' after city reportedly surrounded; Zelenskyy appeals to Russians to 'stop' their president - Sky News.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Been watching on TV no one in that room looked impressed at what putin has just done, they just gave the mandatory don't get yourself shot clap when necessary.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

I saw, to say this was meant to be a celebration, they all looked downbeat and unimpressed.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

I think they have had enough of him but are afraid to do something about it.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

BREAKING: U.S President Joe Biden has tonight, issued a strong warning to Russian President, Vladimir Putin.

"The United States is prepared to defend every inch of NATO territory," he said, hours after Mr Putin made another veiled nuclear threat.

The Russian president had pledged to defend the annexed territory of Ukraine by any means necessary. But Mr Biden appears to have matched his strong words, saying: "Mr Putin, don’t misunderstand what I am saying." - Sky News.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Ukraine has formally applied for fast track membership of NATO https://www.politico.eu/article/ukra...ion-join-nato/

This literally would put the world at war if Russia continues. My ring is twitching a little

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

BREAKING: Putin ally calls for Nuclear strike on Ukrainian soil, after they retake one area, illegally annexed by Russia. - Sky News.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Dr Mike Martin (@ThreshedThought) believes Ukrainian advances northeast of Kherson this evening represent the early stages of a complete Russian collapse in the area:

https://twitter.com/threshedthought/...iDrYAwLmMJurIA

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Hopefully, they can claim Kherson before the winter 'freezes' the conflict as expected.

Putin seems to be getting more unhinged though. I am getting concerned he may use a smaller-scale nuclear weapon at this point, he longer seems to be rational. Ukraine doesn't pose an existential threat to Russia but it may be so for him. Putin doesn't seem to face the internal challenge we need to take him down and what high-level criticism does exist appears to be that he isn't going far enough. The propaganda on their television is talking of holy war.

If/Once Ukraine gets back all that is theirs then how do we get out of this?

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Ukraine has to join NATO, or at the very least have a tangible US-backed security guarantee. The only way to prevent future invasion is for an invasion to entail direct conflict between Russia and the West (by which I mean actual direct conflict, not the confected ‘war against the West’ Russian propaganda is feeding the masses right now).

I wouldn’t lose too much sleep over the likes of Olga Skabayeva. They’re regime sycophants. There are certain voices close to the centre of power that are starting, carefully, to be critical. It’s worth following Steve Rosenberg on the twatter so you can get his daily round-up of what the Russian papers are saying. It’s always very interesting.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

It's not just that though. It's how their propaganda are ramping things up rather than trying to craft a narrative that allows Putin to sell any withdrawal as a success.

This Tweet from Konstantin Kisin: https://twitter.com/KonstantinKisin/...26809993011205

For example is concerning

As was Putin's speech. He always seemed to be trying to test Western resolve as much as he could get away with, now he doesn't seem to care about that.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

I think you’re giving them too much credit. They just aren’t the formidable organised machine we’ve been conditioned to think they are (by their own shills, incidentally, who have been drip-feeding the narrative into Western media for years).

The sycophants in the media are following the last instructions they were given and they’re not being given anything new vis a vis strategic withdrawal because the ‘top’ is paralysed. Putin is making many decisions personally and those around him who ought to be able to attend to these issues themselves simply can’t for fear of finding themselves near an unsecured 3rd storey window.

Putin himself is not the master strategist we (again) have been conditioned to believe he is. He prevaricates in the face of big decisions and ultimately tends to stick unimaginatively to the old Soviet doctrine of ‘escalate to de-escalate’. He’s doing this because some dusty old manual once told him he should, not because he’s following some well drawn plan.

Putin cannot ‘use’ a nuclear weapon of any size because it’s not his finger on the trigger. Even if he gives such an order it has to pass through various other hands, some of which are connected to heads that still have some sense of self preservation and will be aware of exactly what threats the US and its allies have made, should things get that far.

There *is* disaffection with the regime in Moscow and sooner or later it will boil over. I think we will have to see a much greater Russian collapse in Ukraine before that happens, but I also begin to think that collapse is closer than we have allowed ourselves to believe.

(Edit) The Red Square rally is pure theatre from a desperate regime that needs (1) its own people not to turn on it and (2) the West to stop arming Ukraine because Ukraine is winning the war. Seriously, stop falling for their mind games.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

This is rather interesting (if true)

ChrisO
@ChrisO_wiki
With thanks to @JayinKyiv for posting it, here's a list of what newly mobilised Russian soldiers are reportedly being told to provide for themselves (they or their relatives have to buy this all of this - good luck when 300,000 others want it too). Translation follows.

https://www.cableforum.uk/board/atta...2&d=1664813296


Backpack 60 litre
Backpack 18 litre
Sleeping bag
Foam mat
Tactical vest
'Gorka' suit or camouflage clothing
Boots
Thermal underwear
'Verto' waterproof suit or poncho
Socks
Briefs
Penknife or multitool
Flashlight
Spare batteries
Powerbank
Chargers
Push-button phone (clean, no contacts stored)
Food set for a day
Mug, metal spoon
Miniature gas burner for cooking food
Lighter
Washing accessories
Slippers
Armoured helmet (ATLAS , OMNITEC, 6647)
Bulletproof vest or plate carrier (with plates of protection class 4-5)
Medical kit: 2 tourniquets, 2 IPP (or bandages), sterile wipes, scissors, marker, iodine, brilliant green, chlorhexidine, sodium sulphacil (eye drops), baby powder, roll-on bandage, pills (individually)
Thread, needles
Adhesive tape

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

It is missing Body Bag from the list

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Sounds like a bad camping trip

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

If Putin orders you to push the button and you refuse, what happens?

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Will they work if the button is pressed, I have my doubts the nuclear arsenal has ever been maintained to a workable standard.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Mutiny ?

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

I am not worried about a conventional attack or even war breaking out. Just them using either nuclear weapons and/or low-level terrorism against the West. I.E Attacking our energy supplies or using a nuclear weapon against a small area of Ukraine.

If they do that how do we respond without escalating the nuclear risk? I am just hoping China and India join the West in opposition.


Which is what we hope will happen but what of smaller nuclear weapons? Will that be opposed to enough extent to stop Putin?

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Agreed, would probably cause more damage in Russia as outside it!