Ukraine Watch...

[BritDownUnder]

Vladimir Putin will announce the need to "mass mobilise the Russian people", Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, has said.

"He is probably going to declare on May Day that we are now at war with the world's Nazis and we need to mass mobilise the Russian people",' Mr Wallace said on Friday morning.- Daily Telegraph

Well, I hope the armchair bullet buyers will enjoy the coming conflict.

This is clearly a US-inspired attempt at regime change and/or resource grab ... Ukraine is sadly a proxy war being used to justify this.

You could argue all wars are resource grabs. I am guessing you are trying to say that Putin is trying to grab the wheatfields, shipyards and iron ore resources of Eastern Ukraine and change the Ukraine regime as inspired by US attempts in ... I don't know ... places like Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Italy, Hungary, the list is quite long but you get the idea. Mr Putin is certainly a good student in some US policies.

With regard to another one of the UK's possible responses to a Russian attack there is about 100 tonnes of Plutonium sitting around the UK but probably mostly at Sellafield. I hear that one microgram can cause cancer. It would be terrible, and a clear violation of the Nuclear non-proliferation treaty, if some of this just happened to be scattered over Russia after a Russian attack on the UK. Could use some low-tech methods such as weather balloons taking advantage of the jetstream etc.

[PS_RalphW]

Not much to report on actual fighting except unverifiable propaganda from both sides. The war of words gets ever more morally outraged, and it is up to the reader to decide who has the moral high ground.

Ukraine is acknowledging that petrol and diesel shortages are happening as a result of refineries being bombed. The US and UK assessments are that Russia is making limited gains on the ground. Casualties are hard to measure.

[Vortex2]

100 tonnes of Plutonium sitting around the UK

Much of this is now stored in the SPRS at Sellafield - a relatively new, and well-armoured vault.

That said, a heavy attack on Sellafield would release a stack of muck - especially from the physically vulnerable HALES and other stores.

[automaticearth2]

Vladimir Putin will announce the need to "mass mobilise the Russian people", Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, has said.

"He is probably going to declare on May Day that we are now at war with the world's Nazis and we need to mass mobilise the Russian people",' Mr Wallace said on Friday morning.- Daily Telegraph

Well, I hope the armchair bullet buyers will enjoy the coming conflict.

This is clearly a US-inspired attempt at regime change and/or resource grab ... Ukraine is sadly a proxy war being used to justify this.

You could argue all wars are resource grabs. I am guessing you are trying to say that Putin is trying to grab the wheatfields, shipyards and iron ore resources of Eastern Ukraine and change the Ukraine regime as inspired by US attempts in ... I don't know ... places like Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Italy, Hungary, the list is quite long but you get the idea. Mr Putin is certainly a good student in some US policies.

With regard to another one of the UK's possible responses to a Russian attack there is about 100 tonnes of Plutonium sitting around the UK but probably mostly at Sellafield. I hear that one microgram can cause cancer. It would be terrible, and a clear violation of the Nuclear non-proliferation treaty, if some of this just happened to be scattered over Russia after a Russian attack on the UK. Could use some low-tech methods such as weather balloons taking advantage of the jetstream etc.

Plutonium? Nah. Just use Anthax and/or botulinum instead. Bye bye Rissian food production. Saying that, probably bye bye Eastern Europe food production. Great scorched earth policy though, all without using nuclear weapons....

[PS_RalphW]

Ukraine has accused Russia of stealing the grain reserves in the areas they have invaded, hundreds of thousands of tons. Fears of food shortages in the rest of Ukraine as a result.

[Vortex2]

Ukraine has accused Russia of stealing the grain reserves in the areas they have invaded, hundreds of thousands of tons

Irrespective of conflict or side, isn't this standard procedure in any conflict?

[BritDownUnder]

Plutonium? Nah. Just use Anthax and/or botulinum instead. Bye bye Rissian food production. Saying that, probably bye bye Eastern Europe food production. Great scorched earth policy though, all without using nuclear weapons....

Nothing like being down and dirty with a bit of surplus plutonium. Nuclear explosion not required. A bit like crop dusting really.

Read about the interesting use of balloons the UK did during WW2 to short circuit German power lines (Operation outward). It got the Huns furious because the prevailing winds did not allow them to reciprocate.

[Mark]

Plutonium? Nah. Just use Anthax and/or botulinum instead. Bye bye Rissian food production. Saying that, probably bye bye Eastern Europe food production. Great scorched earth policy though, all without using nuclear weapons....

Nothing like being down and dirty with a bit of surplus plutonium. Nuclear explosion not required. A bit like crop dusting really.

Think you're getting a bit carried away - hate to break the news to you both, but we're not at war with Russia - and hopefully it stays that way...
Plus, I can't see any benefit from polluting vast tracts of arable land for decades/centuries to come...
Remember, the UK is still a net importer of food, and is likely to remain that way.
Also, don't forget that the Russians are fully capable to retaliate...

[Vortex2]

but we're not at war with Russia -

... the US certainly is ...

Check out : https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/lib ... mgov01.htm

Apr 22, 2022

As the conflict in Ukraine continues, the Biden Administration is working around the clock to fulfill Ukraine's priority security assistance requests.
Russia's unprovoked invasion has highlighted the importance of frequent, direct dialogue between industry and commercial partners and the Department of Defense to ensure that we are able to support three strategic objectives:

* Delivering critical commercial and military capabilities to Ukraine;
* Enhancing the preparedness of our own forces; and
* Supporting our allies and partners in bolstering their defense capabilities.

In particular, the Department is exploring options which would accelerate production and build more capacity across the industrial base for weapons and equipment that can be rapidly exported, deployed with minimal training, and that are proven effective in the battlefield

To that end, the Department seeks information from across industry on weapons systems or other commercial capabilities related to air defense, anti-armor, anti-personnel, coastal defense, counter battery, unmanned aerial systems, and communications (e.g., secure radios, satellite internet).

[PS_RalphW]

No nation ever declares war formally except through the UN these days. Ukraine has asked for military assistance and many countries are providing it. It is a slippery slope and there is no doubt that the western Mic is having a field day. The era of war Casualties being primarily among combatants ended a century ago, but Russia does seem to veiw civilians as legitimate targets for the purpose of demoralising enemy troops, and otherwise as target practice for his troops

Putin will do anything to stay in power, but that does not include Mad as then he would be ruler of smoking ruins. Russia is dialing back on the nuclear rhetoric. I suspect he is prepared for the long haul and is prepared to kill as many people Ukrainian or Russian as it takes to hold on.

[Vortex2]

Liz Truss said in her Mansion House speech this week:

"The war in Ukraine is our war – it is everyone’s war... because Ukraine’s victory is a strategic imperative for all of us,
We are doubling down. We will keep going further and faster to push Russia out of the whole of Ukraine.".

With those words, the Foreign Secretary made it official. Britain may not be directly at war with Russia in Ukraine, but indirectly it is most certainly in a Cold War, a proxy war.

For the first time, Britain, and by extension the wider Western alliance, is publicly committed to Kyiv’s own war aims. It is a dramatic shift.

D.Telegraph

[BritDownUnder]

Plutonium? Nah. Just use Anthax and/or botulinum instead. Bye bye Rissian food production. Saying that, probably bye bye Eastern Europe food production. Great scorched earth policy though, all without using nuclear weapons....

Nothing like being down and dirty with a bit of surplus plutonium. Nuclear explosion not required. A bit like crop dusting really.

Think you're getting a bit carried away - hate to break the news to you both, but we're not at war with Russia - and hopefully it stays that way...
Plus, I can't see any benefit from polluting vast tracts of arable land for decades/centuries to come...
Remember, the UK is still a net importer of food, and is likely to remain that way.
Also, don't forget that the Russians are fully capable to retaliate...

I was assuming the Russians had already attacked the UK with nuclear weapons as they seem to brag about a lot recently. The UK should have a means of retaliation and if that means scattering radionuclides on the agricultural land of the country that has just destroyed you then sounds like a good plan to me. I understand Russia has a similar means of dead man's retaliation. Nothing like a bit of MAD to make expansionist dictators see sense.

[Mark]

I was assuming the Russians had already attacked the UK with nuclear weapons as they seem to brag about a lot recently. The UK should have a means of retaliation and if that means scattering radionuclides on the agricultural land of the country that has just destroyed you then sounds like a good plan to me. I understand Russia has a similar means of dead man's retaliation. Nothing like a bit of MAD to make expansionist dictators see sense.

We do have a means of retaliation - I'm sure that our nuclear subs are out at sea on high alert...
If Russia fires first, it will be MAD...., end of story...

[PS_RalphW]

UN mediated evacuation from the steelworks appears to be underway, presumably for civilians, and stopping at Russian held village. Not clear if transfer to the west will follow.

[Vortex2]

UN mediated evacuation from the steelworks appears to be underway, presumably for civilians, and stopping at Russian held village. Not clear if transfer to the west will follow.

Today I came across a YT channel "Patrick Lancaster".

He appears to be a Russian-supporting American filming from warzones.

Sheesh, if genuine, his videos of Mariupol are horrific .. the place is smashed to bits ... and dead bodies are EVERWHERE.