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The Russian Invasion of the Ukraine.

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There must a be a good number of Russian Generals feeling the need for a change at the top about now.
 
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BBC showing pictures of the aftermath of battle in Kharkiv.

Abandoned, destroyed and burning Russian APCs and Ukrainian Territorial Defence troops taking equipment from them and patrolling the streets.

Fuller translation of the statement by regional governor Oleh Synyehubov.

"The control over Kharkiv is completely in our hands! Armed forces of Ukraine, the national police, the territorial defence forces are working: they are clearing the city of the enemy.
The Russian enemy is completely demoralised. Right in the city, inside Kharkiv, a group of five to 10 people have surrendered to the Ukrainian army. As soon as they see at least one representative of the armed forces of Ukraine, they surrender.
As for the situation in the wider region, here’s what is happening now: Chuhuiv [another city] is completely under control of the Ukrainian army, Ukrainian flags are hanged on the administrative buildings.
The offensive of the Russian aggressor is ongoing in the following directions: from Lyptsi, Vovchansk, and Belhorod.
We see separate regiments of [Russian] military vehicles. The armed forces of Ukraine are in their positions in active fighting."
 
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Not really, Putin will simply keep coming back for more.

IMO he wants a puppet in charge in Ukraine. Nothing less will suffice.

A cessation of violence might give everyone enough time to get their **** together and maximise aid for the Ukraine in case of further hostilities.

But I am just playing arm-chair diplomat, so I can just hope everyone knows what they want from this meeting.
 
So if Putin uses chemical, biological and/or nuclear weapons in Ukraine, how does it change how the rest of the world should respond?
 
Peter Hitchens in his Mail On Sunday Blog says

'I write this as a British patriot. How was it in our interests to provoke a war we cannot win, and cannot even fight, against a country which is not, in fact, our enemy?'

The West acts tough with Russia because we’re just too feeble to stand up to our real enemy… China

https://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.c...just-too-feeble-to-stand-up-to-our-real-.html

It'd be very interesting what his brother would have thought and said. Sorely missed.
 
Not really, Putin will simply keep coming back for more.

IMO he wants a puppet in charge in Ukraine. Nothing less will suffice.
"Followed by running like hell to NATO" was implied. I assume they understand their odds for long-term peace with Russia are nil as long as Vlad's in power.
 
"Followed by running like hell to NATO" was implied. I assume they understand their odds for long-term peace with Russia are nil as long as Vlad's in power.

I'm pretty sure that Putin wouldn't accept any peace deal that didn't preclude NATO membership for Ukraine.
 
I'm pretty sure that Putin wouldn't accept any peace deal that didn't preclude NATO membership for Ukraine.
Not being a megalomaniacal dictator of a kleptocracy myself I can only guess at his thinking, but increasingly I think he'll accept any deal he can spin as the victory he meant to accomplish the entire time. He'll have buffer states, that's all he said he wanted at first. He can go "haha, NATO, I have fooled you once again!" and quietly seethe about it/murder some lackeys in his secret volcano lair.
 
In another world, far too close for comfort, truth is lies and black is white as white is black.

Four days into Russia's invasion and Kremlin-run TV is providing viewers with a parallel reality - holding the line that rebel forces from the east are advancing in Ukraine with the support of Russian forces carrying out "precision strikes" on Ukrainian military infrastructure.

Media outlets are required by the media watchdog to follow the official narrative, so most channels are sticking to TV series and entertainment shows.

But Channel One has been running a marathon political show justifying Russia's actions. "It was a tough, bad decision, but completely unavoidable as there was nothing else left," said host Anatoly Kuzichev.

There is no mention of any casualties as a result of Russian air strikes, and any civilian deaths are pinned on Ukraine's military or "nationalists".

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world...1b84edec502b53cd47ffa4&pinned_post_type=share
 
A cessation of violence might give everyone enough time to get their **** together and maximise aid for the Ukraine in case of further hostilities.

But I am just playing arm-chair diplomat, so I can just hope everyone knows what they want from this meeting.

It will also give Russia time to sort out their dispositions, logistics and resupply their front line units.
 
As child, I remember commercials for Radio Free Europe, where they broadcast western music and news into east Berlin and beyond the "Iron Curtain". Surely we have the ability to send TV signals into Russia today, just as we did 5 decades ago. That and some kind of unfiltered internet access would put a real dent in their propaganda machine, I'd think.
 
Admiral Akbar has some advice about attending that!

There is a long history of Soviet/Russian governments inviting people for negotiations or offering safe passage and then arresting and killing them such as Hungary in56 and Poland in 45.

I don't think the Pres himself will go.
 
From the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-60542877

"Iskander missiles were launched from Belarus into Ukraine around 17:00 (15:00 GMT), an adviser to Ukraine's interior minister says.

It comes after President Zelensky's office announced today that Ukrainian and Russian officials are due to meet for talks on the Belarusian border with Ukraine - although they have not said when".

(more at the link)
 
Video of destroyed Russian convoy vehicles reportedly from Bucha outside Kyiv, near the Hostomel airbase, some of those not destroyred are abandoned
and the engines are still running.

https://twitter.com/shaunwalker7/status/1497946816087789569

Soundtrack is ostly swear words. But among them: This is there technical equipment. So that they all burn in hell. I won't regret my life for these beasts. This all is near my house. It’s Kadyrovtsi. As they came, so they went to the next world. See, what’s left from them – only spare parts

Here is a video taken from inside one of the houses of the vehicles arriving.
https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1497838808104116227

No spacing between the vehicles, guns down/not at the ready, terrible situational awareness, packed in narrow street with no visibility.
They have no training on securing a position, dispersal, patrolling or conducting operations in enemy or contested territory, they got destroyed

People are sending the locations of Russian vehicles to the military to organise strikes against them!
 
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Christo Grozev Bellingcat exec director say that he's been receiving messages from Chechen sources that after huge losses of Kadyrov's personal "army" (in particular 70 of them were reported charred alive after a single Bayraktar strike), most of the rest returned across the border.
 
I have little hope that Ukraine will end up surviving without major debilitating concessions. The sheer size of the Russian military means they just can't keep it up.

The sheer size of the Russian military may not be everything you think it is.

First, the current Russian military is a lot smaller than it used to be. Assuming it was ever even close to its Soviet-era on-paper size in the first place, which is dubious.

Second, Russia can only afford to commit a small fraction of its total military size to this conflict. It has to maintain security forces in other regions. It also has to maintain a credible deterrent force in the east, facing China. And it has to hold a substantial force in reserve, in case of NATO counterattacks and other contingencies.

Third, a larger military requires a larger industrial base and a larger logistics base. Having tons of troops doesn't mean much if you can't move them around or supply them with food and ammo. Having tons of tanks doesn't mean much if you can't keep them fueled and in good repair. Etc.

Fourth, guerrilla insurgencies are notorious for increasing an occupier's operational costs and draining their resources, while also reducing their efficiency and slowing their advance. The Russian military's size advantage is worth a lot more if it can bring its full weight to bear in a decisive battle against the smaller Ukrainian military. It's worth a lot less when Russia has to keep trickling troops into a guerrilla quagmire.

Right now it really seems like, for all its size advantage, the Russian military lacks the equipment, supplies, logistics, and morale to force the outcome they want. There's already talk of peace negotiations. A week in, and Putin's aggression is already slowing down.

The longer this drags on, the better Ukraine's chances are, I think.
 
From the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-60542877

"Iskander missiles were launched from Belarus into Ukraine around 17:00 (15:00 GMT), an adviser to Ukraine's interior minister says.

It comes after President Zelensky's office announced today that Ukrainian and Russian officials are due to meet for talks on the Belarusian border with Ukraine - although they have not said when".

(more at the link)

That's kind of scary. The Iskander is a short-range ballistic missile that can carry a nuclear warhead. It can also carry a variety of conventional warheads. Obviously, the missiles fired today had conventional warheads (otherwise the news right now would be entirely different). But firing nuclear-capable ballistic missiles into a war zone raises questions about what's going to be the payload of the next salvo.
 
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