War in Ukraine

Also: here’s a shovel that might afford us the best opportunity to bring down Mt. Everest.

 

doubt that these smoke screens would be effective vs gps guided rockets but if there are visual drones being deployed than maybe it helps.

Kerch Bridge Engulfed in Smoke as Crimea Comes Under Multipronged Assault (newsweek.com)

Video on social media has shown smoke engulfing the Kerch Bridge that links Russia and Crimea as Moscow-installed authorities said the annexed peninsula faced aerial attacks.

An air raid alert sounded for two hours and traffic along the bridge was stopped on Wednesday as footage on the Russian-language Telegram account Baza showed a smokescreen to obscure missiles or drones that might target the structure.

 

AS if the world was too stable right now

 

No, cowardice and fear will not get the job done. And no, the Russian military is not a Mt. Everest. Ukraine has already done half the work of bringing down the "mountain".

Russian military morale, motivation, training level, and leadership ability is already badly damaged, they have lost nearly 6,000 tanks, and probably the majority of its air defense systems.

Every piece of western military hardware provided to Ukraine has proven much better than the Russian equivalent, revealing Russia's military technology prowess to be a paper tiger.

The Russian air force is largely grounded.

The Russian navy has retreated to safer waters.

Russia's most successful offensive force, the Wagner criminals/mercenaries, has essentially been dissolved.

The Russian leader may or may not have had a heart attack.

This would not be the first time that a Russian/Soviet empire has collapsed during a war, as was demonstrated in the late 1980's and early 1990's. The Russian economy may be within a year of collapsing. They have been reduced to relying on North Korean munitions. With continued western support, it is highly likely that Ukraine wins this war.

You can keep shoveling your manure on this thread, but don't expect too many people to accept it.

 

Bearing in mind this is a Ukrainian source and I see no independent confirmation, if true, this would be a serious escalation that neither the extreme left nor the extreme right would be able to ignore. Ukraine is accusing Russia (if I understand the post correctly) of mining international waters. These are shipping lanes used by neutral powers, such as Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, and, yes, the United States. That is blatant interference with freedom of navigation. Would anyone who can’t remember their high school history care to hazard a guess what was the primary factor that brought the U.S. into World War I?

 

It’s almost as if it’s Russia’s aim to demilitarize the US …

 

This is Russia's "unrestricted submarine warfare"? An act of both necessity and desperation?

I agree with universal outrage if true, I just don't get why they'd do it. Unless my understanding is all wrong, Ukraine is being largely supplied over land.

 

Absolutely. And the analogy to unrestricted submarine warfare is apt. The Turks may raise the issue first

 

Well, the why would be simple enough: if you can’t hit the enemy where you must, then you hit the enemy where you can.

 

The Turks are in a strange position right now, threatening Israel. They might be willing to overlook this for the moment. I would think the Romanians would be the first to take issue. The Bulgarians still want to ride the fence as long as possible.

 

Years ago, which seems to have gone down the memory hole, Erdogan made a comment about Jerusalem (found it - ‘Jerusalem is our city,’ Turkey’s Erdogan declares )

“In this city that we had to leave in tears during the First World War, it is still possible to come across traces of the Ottoman resistance. So Jerusalem is our city, a city from us,” he told Turkish lawmakers during a major policy speech in Ankara. “Our first qibla [direction of prayer in Islam] al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem are the symbolic mosques of our faith. In addition, this city is home to the holy places of Christianity and Judaism.”

I think what he meant is clear - like Hafez had the old map he would show everyone showing the extent of Muslim rule, it's the old pining for Ottoman times (in Erdogan's case). They envision a Palestine in which Jews, Muslims and Christians live together in peace under benign Muslim hegemonic rule from Ankara (or Istanbul), paying the tax in accordance with their faith.

But he keeps going farther down this route, playing footsie with Islamic maximalists to maintain rule. I personally think he might be getting megalomaniacal with a steadily shrinking circle of honest advice, seeing Gulen coups everywhere. Who knows?

 

UK says Russia plotting to sabotage Ukrainian grain vessels with sea mines

 

a) What do we need ammunition for if Russia is destroyed? Any potential war with China is going to rely much more on missiles than artillery shells.

b) No, we do not need China to manufacture artillery shells. We have factories in the U.S. for shells and explosives to go in them. We'll be fine.

c) How stupid could Russia be to sacrifice its troops (and its weapons) to get an opponent (that it's not even fighting at the moment, and, in fact, has never actually fought) to run out of ammunition? I know you think that the Russians are imbeciles, but they aren't actually that stupid.

 

The Russians are winning though ? Zelensky’s aides think so …

TIME Magazine Profile Depicts Grim Führerbunker-Stage of Zelensky's Conflict

 

The domestic pressure in Russia is finally starting to turn up:

Putin delivered huge hammer blow as most Russians want end of Ukraine war now

 

Interesting how Muricans never trust Levada when it shows sky-high levels of trust for Putin.

 

The polls I've seen show that people in Moscow, who were mostly protected from participating in the war, are in favor of continuing the war, whereas the people from everywhere else are in favor of ending the war, even if they have to give up the captured lands.

 

The four oblasts voted to join Russia. Or are you one of those crazy MAGA-type election deniers ?

 

Calling yourself a crybaby? Interesting tactic . . .