Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Here’s the original article (that everyone else appears to be promulgating) on the author’s substack.

https://weapons.substack.com/p/franc...ops-to-ukraine

The link in his post supporting his assertion appears to be non-viable..

http://first%20units%20of%20the%20fr...o%20slavyansk/

Strangely enough, a similar story was published by TASS, the Russian state-owned news agency, on the same day - I wonder if that was the source of Stephen Bryen’s article?

https://tass.com/politics/1769801

Point of information - the French 3rd Infantry Regiment are Jungle Warfare specialists, based in Guiana, South America - what value would there be in attaching them to the Ukrainian 54th Independent Mechanized Brigade, which is mainly Tanks, Artillery, and MLRS?


I am sure it is pure coincidence that this article appears just as President Xi is visiting President Macron in France…

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

None of whom have been invaded, and all of whom would get better resourced than Ukraine.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Still cant work out what your point is :confused:

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

My point has been consistent throughout - Ukraine are only in this war because of the West who will ultimately let them down.

The Mujahadeen
Saddam
Gaddafi
Afghanistan second time round

Useful allies at one point but disposed of when it ceased to be cost effective. But hey trust America, they mean it this time, I’m sure.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Gosh, and there I was thinking they were in a war becasue Russia invaded them. I'm sure the president would be proud of you comrade.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

There’s no need to throw “comrade” or similar around for pointing out objective facts.

Similarly anyone should be allowed to suggest a negotiated settlement without being called “appeasers”. What Russia may (or may not) do in 5, 10, or more years ignores the ability to resource Ukraine (or neighbouring countries) or develop their armed forces or the United States to develop a slush fund to dip into (like seemingly Israel has).

This can be done without Zelensky getting the begging bowl out for Europe to deport men aged 18-60, or the newly eligible for conscription HIV positive, cancer patients and people with learning difficulties. I’m sure everyone appreciates why, as Ukraine retreats despite a “10 to 1” kill ratio I’m sceptical about the figures given by Ukraine.

If Ukraine in NATO (ha ha) is the answer then defining a “Ukraine” now at 80% of 2022 borders is surely advantageous than spending 1, 2, 3 more years battling on retreating front lines.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

But what about the Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian, & Finnish conscripts?

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz994d6vqe5o

Time to reassess then? With Ukrainian men of fighting age, hiding from Press Gangs?

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

As always with BBC reports from Ukraine, it’s difficult to get a sense of what’s actually going on because their correspondents have an unfortunate habit of generalising the particular. See, for instance, last month’s THE SKY IS FALLING reportage from the border region near Kharkiv when the Russian offensive began there, which forewent any attempt to assess events strategically in favour of hard-hitting footage of exhausted Ukrainian solders on the very localised sections of the front accessible to BBC reporters. Of course, as has happened numerous times in the last 2 years, the Russian advance halted for almost no Russian gain and at an extreme cost in Russian manpower and equipment. Such reports do not however give Jeremy Bowen the same opportunities to put on his flak jacket and helmet and frown earnestly into the camera while things go bang in the distance.

Likewise, I’ve no doubt it is distressing for young Ukrainian men who wish to avoid the draft, but such things always happen in countries that turn to conscription to continue existential conflicts, and the BBC has been characteristically uninterested in contextualising what’s happening in terms of broader population support (which so far as I can see, remains strong), or even whether draft dodging is prevalent across the country as opposed to just the one place they have reported from (Odesa).

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

I think being made to fight for a country you don’t want to die for is probably more than “distressing”.

The BBC are preparing the keyboard generals wanting Ukrainian men to die for every inch, plus Crimea, for inevitable disappointment sold as a sensible outcome.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/06/...s-kyiv-claims/

Oh dear, oh dear.

Still, this time next year Rodney we will be sunning it up in Crimea.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

This isn’t new.

There’s what you might call an ‘escalation management’ faction in the White House, led by Nat Sec advisor Jake Sullivan, who are wonkish academic types that have all along been advising Biden that the world will end if Russia loses this war too badly. They have been slow-walking aid to Ukraine from the outset. The 2023 summer offensive failed because Ukraine was trained for manoeuvre operations that no Nato country would attempt without air superiority, except of course they weren’t provided air superiority fighters to go with it.

The US has provided tons of military aid useful for preventing Russia advancing but has only ever provided serious offensive firepower, such a long-range tactical missiles, (HIMARS and ATACMS) when they have been shown up by European allies who have been more willing to supply similarly lethal arms (principally, SCALP/Storm Shadow cruise missiles from France and the UK). Similarly, the US only began publically to change its position on the use of American missiles to attack positions within Russia when its European allies made a nonsense of their position by loudly declaring Ukraine should be able to do so.

It’s not that Sullivan et al want Russia to win this, so much as they are terrified of what happens if Russia loses. They have self-moderated themselves into not doing everything they can to help Ukraine because they don’t want to see Russia actually deploy tactical nuclear weapons (which Russia regularly threatens to do, but has shown absolutely no sign of actually doing) and, worse, they don’t want a defeated Russia suffer an uncontrolled fracture the way the USSR did in the early 1990s.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

https://www.cableforum.uk/board/atta...6&d=1718704266

;)

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Meantime, Ukranians getting conscripted (against their will) to the front line meat grinder is an acceptable price to pay while America at best resources at stalemate and at worst a managed defeat?

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

Farage also out doing his bit to end the Parliamentary consensus on this.

Ultimately the clock has run out on Ukraine ever regaining its territory lost in 2022, never mind 2014. There’s only bogging down Russian resources for longer. This may well suit some of Ukraine’s neighbours, the USA and wider NATO objectives but as ever in the absence of democratic accountability for the Zelensky regime there’s no voice for the men being marched to their deaths or the refugees in the west.

If we levelled with them that much of the rhetoric from 2022 was merely lies and that their objectives and ours only coalesced within a short timeframe I suspect the Ukrainian support (within and outside it’s borders) for the forever war would be minimal.

---------- Post added at 11:18 ---------- Previous post was at 11:17 ----------

At least Ukraine are winning the meme war I guess.

Re: Russia has invaded Ukraine
 

Well, instead of memes, the Russians have you…