Ukraine Watch...

[Default0ptions]

My brother is dying of cancer.

So am I.

Does that mean you’re begging to be excused from trying to answer the questions?

Thank you for finally making a tiny bit of a genuine response.

[Default0ptions]

My questions remain unanswered though.

Four basic points remain.

Why are you unable to refute these?

If you’re certain that I’m wrong and you’re right and have the facts to back your position it should be simple for you.

[Ralphw2]

You should spend your remaining days doing something more productive. I have reached the stage of life where I no longer feel learning for the sake of learning is always a good use of my time. The internet did not exist when I was born and I suspect it will disappear in my children's lifetime. My father spent his life and greater intellect than mine doing work he felt was of national significance, and it might have been if events had gone differently. Now very few people alive remember him, and the one who understood his work best is now dying. If anything I have said or done will be remembered by anybody in 50 years it will be how well or badly I cared for my adopted children, and they have neither the intellect nor emotional strength to understand or cope with the issues discussed here

[kenneal - lagger]

Like Ralph, I have not wasted my time reading your four points, DefaultOptions, because I suspect that I am very well aware of them and would probably agree with the grain of truth in most of them. The difference between us is that I believe that the Ukrainian people voted for Zelensky as a protest against the corruption in their country and he was starting to address the issues of concern to his voters.

This was precisely why why Putin illegally and brutally invaded Ukraine. Putin couldn't countenance a free voting, corruption free and prosperous democracy right on his doorstep as this would have seriously undermined his hold on power. What made matters worse for him were the substantial cross border relationships that exist, or now formerly existed, from Russian migration into Ukraine and vice versa which would have spread the message that all is not right in Russia. That message will still be filtering through, albeit slowly, through the few russian troops who make it back home alive from the front with the news of the riches to be found in the Ukrainian homes that they are looting on an industrial scale!

Yes, there is still widespread corruption in Ukraine and it is harming the defence of the country. Is the government of the country acquiescing and joining in with this corruption as it is in russia? No, it is not.

Would the corruption have been substantially reduced by now if russia had not invaded? I would say a resounding yes as Zelensky is intelligent enough to know that the substantial reduction of the corruption was a condition of his holding office.

Has the war reduced action against the corruption? Yes, of course it has. The war provides a degree of chaos from which the corrupt can profit. During WW2 we had a large scale black market in this country. Did that mean that our government was colluding and corrupt? No, of course not and the same is true in Ukraine. Where corruption has been found in Ukraine it has been rooted out and will continue to be.

Should we stop our contributions to help Ukraine fight off a corrupt, murderous invader because a small part of that contribution has been diverted by corrupt means into the pockets of a few grasping and probably pro russian people? No, of course not! That is just what russia wants and is why they are spreading "information" about Ukrainian "corruption" as widely as possible to the extent that it becomes "disinformation".

Is DefaultOptions a troll for russia? Possibly, yes, although he might be a gullible and unwitting troll in spreading russian information to the extent that it becomes disinformation.

Does Ukraine deserve a chance to show that it can be a successful, independent, non corrupt, democratic nation? Certainly it does. Should we let russia have its way with Ukraine such that we will face a reinvigorated russian army, but this time with a boost of Ukrainian conscripts, in a few years time invading newly destabilised former Soviet countries, now NATO members, which have small populations of Russian speakers who need russian protection? Only if we ignore the historical parallels with 1930s Europe with Russia being the new Nazi invader. Unfortunately, DefaultOptions seems to be willing to ignore the lessons of history.

[Ralphw2]

Germany and France agree to Ukraine using their supplied munitions against limited military targets on Russian territory,

I suspect specifically Russian artillery and possibly military airfields

[clv101]

The list of counties that don't allow strike in Russia is now much shorter than those that do, the US and... Italy? Most supporters have given the green light.

[invalid]

Western countries panicking. Still, Z assures US that the Kharkiv Casualty rate is 1:8 in Ukraine's favour, so surely there's nothing to worry about.

[BritDownUnder]

Taking 8 of the invaders for every one of your defenders is a war winning move I think. Mind you the Finns were taking 10 or 20 to one and still had to come to terms - but the Finns did not get a lot of help I suppose. It would be nice to see a Russian 'motti' somewhere in Western Ukraine that gets gradually reduced. In the end the Russians can decide how much of a lost generation they want before the peace comes.

On a more humourous tone apparently Russia's newest tank suffers from a 'disco head' glitch when hit. This video from the Daily Mail has some very impressive video of a tank getting hit by multiple shots. Maybe the turret is rotated when hit to clear obstructions and to check that it still works properly.

[Ralphw2]

Sweden is donating two AWACS type aircraft, which will fill a big hole in their air defences, when combined with the 80+ f16s that have been pledged. Ukraine has begun counter attacking in the new northern front, but they are suffering from limited conscript numbers, training has been cut from 8 to 6 weeks

[adam2]

Latest reports state that Ukraine will be allowed to attack some targets within russia using American supplied munitions.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy770l9llnzo

[UndercoverElephant]

This looks like a war without end. If Russia starts to gain momentum, the West sends additional weapons or relaxes restrictions on their use, but not enough to dramatically reverse the momentum, because that would be "too much escalation rather than just enough". In other words NATO has a policy of doing just enough to prevent Russia from winning but not enough to give Ukraine a serious chance of winning. Russia is suffering vastly more losses of men and equipment, but has more men and equipment available to lose. This could continue for years.

[Ralphw2]

I commented that this seemed to be the wests strategy on this thread 18 months ago. Regardless of the morality of it, I now suspect it is not a good strategy, Ukraine may tire of their own human and infrastructure costs before Putin. All very Orwellian.

Sadly my brother died today.

[BritDownUnder]

I don't see a problem with that strategy. The aim should be to kill as many Russians as possibly for the minimum cost. Eroding their demographic stops them coming back in 20 years and making more trouble then. Demographic damage inflicted in WW1 stopped France being a major player in WW2.

In past wars the UK has made terrible sacrifices for European freedom. The UK should make a reasonable contribution based on relative GDP and get the chance to test new weaponry but not take the lead in anything. Others should take the lead. The so called European Union that extracted wealth from the UK for 40 years and accumulated it in its own industries might be a good start.

[emordnilap]

Sadly my brother died today.

My condolences, Ralph.

[kenneal - lagger]

Mine too, Ralph.