Ukraine Watch...

[adam2]

Yes I do expect putin to be killed. Opposition to his war is growing, and sooner or later I expect his death.

[invalid]

Does anybody believe this war can end while Putin remains alive? By "end" I mean that the world arrives at a state where Russia's borders are internationally accepted to be in the same place Russia claims them to be (by which standard the Korean War has technically not ended).

They already are. What you really mean is accepted by the West and Nato, not 'internationally'.

[PS_RalphW]

Russia's annexation of Crimea, has been recognised by six countries, including Cuba, Syria, and North Korea.

Russia's annexation of the Donbas has been recognised by just one man, the dear leader of North Korea.

It has definitely not been recognised by the United Nations.

[Default0ptions]

I still think that this will end up in more or less the same state as the Minsk agreements set out - but with hundreds of thousands unnecessarily dead and Europe’s economies shattered by the self inflicted loss of cheap oil, gas and other idiotic self-sanctioning of cheap and available commodities

“Angela Merkel’s admission that the Minsk 1 and Minsk 2 peace protocols that sought to solve the problem of the Donbas region in Ukraine was not really meant for what it was supposedly intended to do: to have peace in that Russian-speaking populace. It was actually designed to rearm Ukraine.”

Well that plan worked out well for Europe Angela! Or did it?

So - I say again, as I have from the start, that this will end up roughly with Minsk - unless someone is dumb enough to raise the stakes to overt war between NATO and Russia

In which case all bets and hopes are off

But why would anyone want to kill Putin for coming to the rescue of ethnic Russians in Ukraine and being forced to fight a war not of his own choosing?

[Default0ptions]

You can, of course, put your own life on the line for the cause anytime:

“Want to go fight for Ukraine? Here’s what to do.”

https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoin ... hat-to-do/

[Default0ptions]

Does anybody believe this war can end while Putin remains alive? By "end" I mean that the world arrives at a state where Russia's borders are internationally accepted to be in the same place Russia claims them to be (by which standard the Korean War has technically not ended).

Have you been swallowing propaganda without chewing again?

“Do you approve of the activities of Vladimir Putin as the president (prime minister) of Russia?”

https://www.statista.com/statistics/896 ... ng-russia/

Does Putin’s approval rating look bad?

“ Vladimir Putin's approval rating in Russia monthly 1999-2024
Published by Statista Research Department, Feb 21, 2024
In January 2024, over eight out of ten percent of Russians approved of the activities of the Russian President Vladimir Putin. The popularity level was eight percentage points higher than in September 2022, when the figure declined following the announcement of a partial mobilization in the country. After Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February 2022, the approval rating increased”

[Mark]

But why would anyone want to kill Putin for coming to the rescue of ethnic Russians in Ukraine and being forced to fight a war not of his own choosing?

As I understand, before the fighting, the areas currently being fought over in Eastern Ukraine were a mix of Ukrainians, Russians and assorted others such as Tartars... After the country gained independence, and, by the turn of the 21st century, ethnic Ukrainians made up more than 75% of the population. Russians constituted less than 20%, but (some? all?) of them were unhappy with their lot and disliked being governed by Kiev....

If the land transfers to Russian control, the Ukrainian majority will then be unhappy with their lot...
Except that most of the Ukrainians will either have fled, or been killed, or transported into mother Russia...
Basically, Russia is trying to ethnically cleanse Eastern Ukraine...

Which is exactly what Hitler tried to do, in the name of 'protecting' ethnic Germans in countries where they were in the minority....
Putin = Hitler, which is why there are plenty of people who would like to kill him, even in Russia...

[UndercoverElephant]

Stuff which is totally irrelevant to the question UE asked.

Yawn.

The question you were supposed to be responding to was this:

Does anybody believe this war can end while Putin remains alive? By "end" I mean that the world arrives at a state where Russia's borders are internationally accepted to be in the same place Russia claims them to be (by which standard the Korean War has technically not ended).

If you are going to respond to my questions, please at least make some sort of an effort to actually answer them. What you actually did was try to defend Russian claims to sovereignty over the occupied parts of Ukraine. If you want to talk about that then ask your own question. Please stop spamming mine.

[PS_RalphW]

The last couple of days the Russian advances east of Avdiivka seem to have slowed. This is in part because Ukraine is throwing the kitchen sink at them to slow them down, but it might also reflect that the advance is running out of steam. A recent Russian attack was typical with 10 vehicles varying from a T80 at best, to a range of infantry vehicles, right down to a T54, all being destroyed.

Ukraine has been losing serious hardware too, Abrahams tanks and even a Himars finally confirmed destroyed.

No reports of aircraft lost for a few days. Maybe Russia has decided time for a change of strategy in the air too.

[adam2]

I watched the recent "state of the union speech" by president Biden. He seemed confident that military aid from the USA to Ukraine would resume very soon.
On a more general note, the speech seemed far more patriotic than would be allowed here.

[invalid]

These glide bombs are terrible weapons, and, for the moment, Ukraine has little answer to them. They're sitting ducks out there.

Edit: still trying to improve my English

[BritDownUnder]

These glide bomba are terrible weapons, and, for the moment, Ukraine has little answer to them. They're sitting ducks out there.

It's all down to bang for buck. If they cost little, they are plentiful and easy to make and achieve a good accuracy and cause damage out of proportion then it makes sense to use them. Maybe the West can learn about these and use them too with F16s with Ukraine then it would make sense to develop them. If Russia loses the planes that carry them in large numbers then they do not achieve a good bang for a buck.

From what I can see on Wikipedia the range is up to 70 miles if launched from high altitude.

Love your Freudian slip with the word "bomba". A bit like Tsar Bomba. Very Russian sense of humour.

I see the Pope has weighed in about Ukraine needing to negotiate to give bits of their country to Russia. A bit like when he wanted the Falklanders to negotiate to join Argentina. This guy needs to focus on kiddy-fiddling priests. I prefer the previous one who questioned the benefits of certain religions.

[invalid]

we shouldn't have gone into Ukraine

Mr Biden

Does anybody believe this war can end while Zelensky remains president of the Ukraine? He appears to be unduly influenced by, and closely wedded to, a saying as decaying world order.

[invalid]

Maybe the West can learn about these and use them too with F16s with Ukraine then it would make sense to develop them. If Russia loses the planes that carry them in large numbers then they do not achieve a good bang for a buck.

From what I can see on Wikipedia the range is up to 70 miles if launched from high altitude.

Yes, it's possible things change more once the F16s are deployed (if It happens).

[UndercoverElephant]

Does anybody believe this war can end while Zelensky remains president of the Ukraine?

Two reasons why that's a silly question. Firstly Zelensky can and may well be replaced by democratic processes. Secondly, Ukraine isn't the one trying to change international borders -- Ukraine's current borders are internationally recognised.