Ukraine Watch...

[Mark]

I know nothing of Ukraine kidnapping unwilling men off the street, but it wouldn't surprise me if that's true...
Bad things happen in war - both sides will be doing what's necessary...

At the end of the day, Russia wouldn't be weakened if they hadn't been the aggressor....
You're not going to get any sympathy or understanding from me...

[invalid]

General 200 Himself:

Syrskyi is Ukraine’s new commander-in-chief. His unenviable task is to defeat a bigger Russian army. Two and half years into Vladimir Putin’s full-scale onslaught, he acknowledges the Russians are much better resourced. They have more of everything: tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, soldiers. Their original 100,000-strong invasion force has grown to 520,000, he said, with a goal by the end of 2024 of 690,000 men. The figures for Ukraine have not been made public.

“When it comes to equipment, there is a ratio of 1:2 or 1:3 in their favour,” he said. Since 2022 the number of Russian tanks has “doubled” – from 1,700 to 3,500. Artillery systems have tripled, and armoured personnel carriers gone up from 4,500 to 8,900. “The enemy has a significant advantage in force and resources,” Syrskyi said. “Therefore, for us, the issue of supply, the issue of quality, is really at the forefront.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/artic ... nst-russia

Was that a 'massive degradation of military capability', or a weakening you mentioned? Ukraine's top Commander disagrees. FABs only came into play within the last year or so, they have completely changed the Battlefield dynamic. Really you're obviously not playing attention at all.

[kenneal - lagger]

Having a geopolitical goal of stopping a murderous dictator from invading a peaceful neighbour is an admirable thing. Supporting a murderous dictator in his invasion of a peaceful neighbour is not an admirable thing, rather it is like supporting Hitler in 1939.

The invasion of Ukraine very much parallels the 1939 invasion of Poland and if Putin is allowed to get away with that invasion, even allowing him to retain his current gains in Ukraine, will mean that he is quite likely to attack the rest of Ukraine and possibly even the Baltic republics and Poland in a few years time.

Any peace would be temporary and western countries would need to rearm and build their militaries in order to repel what would be to come. Defeating Russia now is by far the cheapest option for both Ukraine and the West as much of Russia's modern equipment has been lost and Russia cannot replace it at the current rate of loss.

Much of the "new" equipment Russia is being forced to use is badly stockpiled equipment from the 1950's and 60s and it is estimated that Russia has lost between 60% and 70% of that stockpile. It is thought that much of the rest of the stockpile has been stripped in order to rebuild what has gone to the front and is unusable. Much of what is left is unusable because of the outside storage in very wet conditions with no cover. Also the ever present Russian corruption means that much of anything that can move has been sold off.

The US has vast stockpiles of weapons and vehicles but these are stored in desert conditions so have degraded very little. Much of the equipment is in usable condition and there has been very little corrupt pilfering of the type that has decimated Russian stocks.

As to the age of Ukrainian troops, this is a deliberate policy to allow their young to procreate and keep the birthrate up. They are not calling up younger people which explains the older average age. Russia is either killing off its youth or driving the more intelligent ones abroad to avoid the killing machine that is the Russian army. Unfortunately for Russia, their killing machine is designed to kill their own men by sending them forward, largely unsupported, into the guns of the Ukrainians to be slaughtered en masse. Their most competent officers who complain about these meat wave tactics seem to disappear for some reason.

The Ukrainian army has developed into a killing machine but they are killing Russians at a rate of over 1000 per day! And the slow, pathetically slow and attritional advance of the Russian army is because Ukraine would rather give ground to safeguard their troops while killing incredible numbers of Russian cannon fodder. Russia is getting so desperate for troops that they have sent the crew of their practically defunct aircraft carrier to the front to act as infantry.

[Ralphw2]

A Russian operated cargo ship carrying 20 thousands of tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertilizer has been wandering around the north Sea, close to oil rigs, naval ports and other sea and shore critical infrastructure in Norway, Denmark and trying to enter the Baltic Sea for some weeks, and is now moored of the Kent coast. It first claimed to have run aground, then repeatedly reported engine failure, then changed its declared destination from the atlantic to the baltic sea.

It has been refused port access and moved on by multiple countries. It is widely being seen as a sub-nuclear threat from Putin to blow up a NATO city if they get too involved in Ukraine.

It contains 7 times more explosive power than devastated Beirut a few years ago. It is beginning to be reported in the UK media

[Vortex2]

As to the age of Ukrainian troops, this is a deliberate policy to allow their young to procreate and keep the birthrate up. They are not calling up younger people which explains the older average age.

The age of patients in Ukrainian hospitals at the start of the war was in the 20s.
It's now in the 40s.
Make of that what you will.

[kenneal - lagger]

Some people were really born yesterday.

You've never even began to question the western propaganda that you've continously swallowed during this conflict? Its increíble really.

I'm more inclined to believe western propaganda than the Russian propaganda that you spew. Our journalists aren't reporting the Putin line under threat of imprisonment or falling out of a window or being fed polonium tea. Your propaganda is completely invalid. The name is on the tin.

[adam2]

A Russian operated cargo ship carrying 20 thousands of tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertilizer has been wandering around the north Sea, close to oil rigs, naval ports and other sea and shore critical infrastructure in Norway, Denmark and trying to enter the Baltic Sea for some weeks, and is now moored of the Kent coast. It first claimed to have run aground, then repeatedly reported engine failure, then changed its declared destination from the atlantic to the baltic sea.

It has been refused port access and moved on by multiple countries. It is widely being seen as a sub-nuclear threat from Putin to blow up a NATO city if they get too involved in Ukraine.

It contains 7 times more explosive power than devastated Beirut a few years ago. It is beginning to be reported in the UK media

This I view with considerable concern, the potential for significant destruction is clear. And the appetite for a military response to an "accident" is probably limited. AFAIK the ship is near our coast at present.

[BritDownUnder]

A Russian operated cargo ship carrying 20 thousands of tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertilizer has been wandering around the north Sea, close to oil rigs, naval ports and other sea and shore critical infrastructure in Norway, Denmark and trying to enter the Baltic Sea for some weeks, and is now moored of the Kent coast. It first claimed to have run aground, then repeatedly reported engine failure, then changed its declared destination from the atlantic to the baltic sea.

It has been refused port access and moved on by multiple countries. It is widely being seen as a sub-nuclear threat from Putin to blow up a NATO city if they get too involved in Ukraine.

It contains 7 times more explosive power than devastated Beirut a few years ago. It is beginning to be reported in the UK media

This I view with considerable concern, the potential for significant destruction is clear. And the appetite for a military response to an "accident" is probably limited. AFAIK the ship is near our coast at present.

I think there is still a WW2 sunken ammunition ship in the Thames estuary somewhere. Maybe should be moored together. I think an explosion at sea will be of lower impact to London than the Beirut land based explosion. Might cause a small Tsunami though. I expect it is a mischief making show of strength from Russia.

[Ralphw2]

reading the reports it might be a genuine ship breakdown, albeit combined with typical Russian headless chicken response to crisis. It is, none the less, a major risk of either serious pollution and major economic disruption if it sinks, or explosion if they attempt welding repairs out at sea, or in port. No self regulating port will let it dock in its current condition, and with autumn storms it would be very risky to try to return to Russia. maybe the best option would be to tow it north to the deep ocean and scuttle it.

exploding in current position would be a hazard to nearby shipping and the sunken WW2 munitions ship, probably not big enough for significant tsunami, unless it moved closer to the Thames estruary. the munitions ship would not significantly increase the total damage, being 10 times smaller.


I expect Russia to do nothing to help, and accuse any nation which intervenes of piracy.

[Mark]

Some people were really born yesterday.

You've never even began to question the western propaganda that you've continously swallowed during this conflict? Its increíble really.

I'm more inclined to believe western propaganda than the Russian propaganda that you spew. Our journalists aren't reporting the Putin line under threat of imprisonment or falling out of a window or being fed polonium tea. Your propaganda is completely invalid. The name is on the tin.

invalid, you might as well give up posting your Russian tripe on here...
You've been doing it for 2yrs now and nobody has changed their stance on the conflict...
Unusually for PowerSwitch, pretty much everyone apart from you has the same views.

[invalid]

Vuhledar has been liberated

[adam2]

Please keep on the topic of Ukraine. Allegations of mental illness, and personal insults do not belong here. And are liable to be deleted.

[Ralphw2]

I have not heard it confirmed that the smoking ruins of Vuhledar have finally been captured but I have seen direct evidence of the literally hundreds of armoured vehicles destroyed and presumably tens of thousands of Russians dead over two years they have taken to cross the 10 or so miles from the pre invasion front line, to capture a town of only a few thousand inhabitants. In the end WW2 levels of carpet bombing with 1500kg bombs can be hard to resist.

By the way, Chasiv Yar which you claimed "liberated" a month ago is still in Ukrainian control

[invalid]

Please show me where I claimed that Chasiv Yar was liberated from the banderites?

[Catweazle]

Vuhledar has been liberated

Sadly not, it's apparently under Russian control for now.