clv101 wrote: ↑27 Jun 2023, 18:05
My view is that Ukraine is spent as a fighting force. We've seen all we're going to see from their 'counter offensive'.
The next escalation is going to involve closer NATO involvement.
I think the big question for the coming weeks is what will trigger the closer NATO involvement? How can Ukraine draw us (US/UK & possibly Poland) deeper into the conflict? I suspect something significant is going happen in the coming weeks.
Reports that Ukraine has started targeting the Crimea bridge with S200 Sam missiles, so far without success. Also Russian reports that two senior generals targeted by the Wagner rebellion have been quietly demoted and one replaced by a soldier promoted by Wagner. Given that Prigozhin has reportedly met Putin, and is still in Russia and not in exile, and Wagner is still recruiting openly in Russia, then reports of Prigozhin*s demise (including mine) may have been premature.
The Ukrainian advances have mostly slowed to a crawl, but the targeting of Russian logistics seems to be accelerating. Some analysts are promoting cluster munitions as the wonder weapon to break the Russian defences, but that seems optimistic, and cover for a morally questionable choice. That said, it is Ukraine who will need to do the post war clean up, and Russia has had no qualms about using similar munitions.
I am surprised that the Russian Admins are permitting comments about Ukraine anymore.
In my view the Ukrainians are wasting their resources on frontal assaults. Better just to maim and kill the invaders where they are with advanced weaponry including cluster bombs if necessary. Effective clearing of Russian minefields seems to be an issue. Perhaps the UK should send some more modern versions of Hobart's Funnies?
I think the Wagner leader will probably just disappear at some time probably in the near future.
Well I lasted two minutes and then I went on to the video on why people in China are fixing stones to rebar stuck in the ground and then painting the stones green.
Looks like that Russian submarine commander got to know the meaning of karma after his missiles killed a few Ukrainian children that, according to the Russian government, were attending a military meeting .
Just a waste of time to carry on with the same old stuff but I did skip view it just for you. I particularly liked the near infra-red light advert - a sign of great journalism. I guess Moscow Centre just don't pay the bills like they used to in the times of Robert Hansen.
When you have more incisive videos and comments that add to the discussion don't forget to post them wont you.
I hear Russia is threatening to bomb nuclear power plants in retaliation for Ukraine getting F-16s. As far as I know sending weapons to Ukraine is still not against UN sanctions - not sure about the bombing of nukes. Maybe NATO should send more air defences to Ukraine just in case.
Reports of an explosion on the Kersch bridge, roadway damaged and 2 people in a car killed. No reports of damage to the rail bridge. Presumably a missile strike by Ukraine. Unlikely to have caused significant damage, like the previous truck bomb.
Russia has pulled out of the Ukraine grain shipping deal. Turkey has mulled providing warship escorts to protect shipping convoys, but that risks dragging a Nato country into direct military conflict, and if Russia mines the sea lanes they can claim plausible deniability. Expect world food prices to rise, and more people in Africa to starve
Russia is systematically bombing the grain exporting infrastructure in and around Odessa, and has caused some damage and destroyed 60,000 tons of grain. This is very much nihilism and more boat burning, as it will anger African and other nations such as South Africa, who have remained neutral until now, and who need Ukrainian grain to feed their people.
Putin will not attend the BRICS conference in South Africa.
Russia threatens to attack any ship approaching Ukraine
Ralphw2 wrote: ↑19 Jul 2023, 13:56
This is very much nihilism and more boat burning, as it will anger African and other nations such as South Africa, who have remained neutral until now, and who need Ukrainian grain to feed their people.
You mean bridge burning, I assume.
The whole thing is looking more and more horrible and desperate. The Ukrainians just about have the upper hand, but the are reports of 100,000 Russian troops massing for an attack on Kharkiv. I am not expecting a major Russian offensive breakthrough, and we will probably see a bloodbath far in excess of anything we've seen so far in this war. The cluster munitions will be used defensively, to halt a tidal wave of Russian conscripts. At the end of it the front line won't have moved very far, but another 50,000 Russians will be dead or maimed.
"We fail to mandate economic sanity because our brains are addled by....compassion." (Garrett Hardin)
