Ukraine Watch...

[mr brightside]

Are we building up to something like that?

Trump is making a lot of noise about ending the war, i'm hopeful he'll succeed

How would Russia respond?

Russia is having it's last hurrah before they agree terms with the US to end it

How would the US respond?

I don't think it will get that far.

[UndercoverElephant]

As has been mentioned many times, the UK military is deeply integrated with the US military. I do not know how much we could contribute to a war if Trump did not want us to. I suspect almost nothing.

That said, the US military is run by human beings, and as yet only the very top is run by Trump's minions. The US is quite used to covert operations and not all of these are reported all the way up the chain of command.

If what you are saying is true, and it might be, then the UK needs to extricate itself from the US military ASAP, and there's no use saying "it can't be done". It *must* be done.

This is by far the most dangerous situation there has been since the end of WW2. It is considerably worse than the Cuban Missile Crisis. We might be just weeks away from full-scale war.

[BritDownUnder]

I would have thought it would be easy for the UK to build small plutonium fission only warheads unless even that part of British industry has been gutted or they have let themselves be totally reliant on the US. What is happening at Aldermaston and Capenhurst these days? I see from Wikipedia that AWE was until 2021 owned by a US engineering company so maybe they gutted the place.

On the battlefront I hear that Russians are using horses to supply their probing attacks and using ballistic missiles to destroy a hotel where international aid workers were staying. Using ballistic missiles in WW2 didn't help the Germans much as their manufacture was often a greater use of resources than the things they destroyed. I like those Ukrainian anti-personnel drones. They kill someone for a cost of $900.

Apparently Russia will conquer all of Ukrainian territory in 118 years assuming they don't run out of people before then.

[Mark]

On the battlefront I hear that Russians are using horses to supply their probing attacks.

I saw that too - and donkeys and a camel !!!
If we do get involved at some point, think the combined European forces should be able to push a much weakened Russia out of Ukrainian territory, but there'd be a high body count, as the Russian leaders don't respect the lives of their own comrades.

[Ralphw2]

Social media has a lot to answer for, their rules on depictions or even descriptions of the brutality of war, and the Russian brutality and war crimes in particular, means that the vast majority of the public are totally unaware of what is happening, and the reality of the difference between life in Ukraine pre war, and life for the majority of non-elite Russians.

This is particularly true I suspect in the US, in Europe we have refugees in our midst to talk to.

[invalid]

On the battlefront I hear that Russians are using horses to supply their probing attacks and using ballistic missiles to destroy a hotel where international aid workers were staying. Using ballistic missiles in WW2 didn't help the Germans much as their manufacture was often a greater use of resources than the things they destroyed. I like those Ukrainian anti-personnel drones. They kill someone for a cost of $900.

'International aid workers' - also known as foreign mercenaries.

The donkeys seem to be a bit too much for Ukraine to handle, being, as they are, rapidly pushed out of Kursk. They are now, according to many people, effectively encircled in Sudzha.

[clv101]

... being, as they are, rapidly pushed out of Kursk. They are now, according to many people, effectively encircled in Sudzha.

Are you just going for the comedy angle now? "rapidly pushed out of Kursk" would describe a week at most. Ukrainian forces entered Kursk in Aug last year, over 7 months ago! That there is *any* tetorrity at all still held by Ukraine is a shocking failure of Russian forces.

[invalid]

Here is the link mate: https://x.com/EuromaidanPR/status/18979 ... LVl6Q&s=19

Why interrupt your enemy when they are making a mistake? The whole Kursk incursion has been a massive boost to Russia. That doesn't mean that they aren't rapidly pushing Ukrainian forces out now, though. And destroying a hell of a lot of equipment as they have drone control of all supply routes.

[UndercoverElephant]

BBC reports that Trump is now considering "large scale sanctions and tariffs" against Russia, in response to the latest attack on Ukraine's power infrastructure.

WTF?

There is no strategy here. We're talking toddler-level emotional responses rather than any sort of deep thinking at all.

[Ralphw2]

It appears that having failed to take Povrosk, and with Trump firmly on Putin's side, there has been a redeployment of Russian troops to Kursk, as the enclave has moved up the priority list. Putin is happy now with the Ukrainian territory smashed, and just wants to tidy up the front lines, whilst waiting for Trump to do the diplomatic dirty work.

Ukraine is retaking small areas in the south east.

Putin is also focusing on killing as many aid workers and civilians as he can, now that Trump has pulled the plug on the early warning alerts

[Mark]

'International aid workers' - also known as foreign mercenaries.

'So lucky to be alive': Aid worker describes escape from deadly Russian strike
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cedlvv4j1vjo

More lies invalid - just like your other 250 posts and the utterances from your Dear Leader...

[invalid]

https://www.politico.eu/article/russia- ... ut-kursk/

"The Ukrainian command must make a choice. Leave the Kursk region, completing the operation and preserving forces, or hold on, risking losing everything,” according to military analyst Yan Matveyev.

Writing on his Telegram channel, he said the battle has shifted radically in recent days.

“The only real reason to hold onto the Kursk foothold is to use it as a bargaining chip in future negotiations. However, losing a substantial number of experienced troops and advanced equipment in a drawn-out defense could severely weaken Ukraine’s military capacity in other regions,” he noted.

So what did they achieve, all this time
? Precisely zero. Though I remember a poster here being sure that Ukraine would hold all territory they had initially taken

[Ralphw2]

They achieved a major redirection of troops away from the south east front, and preserved a large amount of territory which would otherwise now be in Russian hands. I do not know the exact tactical situation in Kursk, but it seems clear that Trump's withdrawal of support has killed many Ukrainians directly.

I do not expect Putin to take any notice at all of Trump's threat to increase sanctions on Russia. Sanctions are a long term strategy and Trump wants a ceasefire yesterday.

More significant would be a European decision to appropriate frozen Russian assets. $250B will be a big hit to Putin, and can be used to quickly buy ammunition for Ukraine to begin a counter attack in the south east. I am sure US arms manufacturers would be happy to ramp up production for that kind of cash.

As I said many times here in the last year, only one man could win this war for Russia, and that was Donald Trump. I am sorry to say that that is exactly what Trump is trying to do. I really hope Europe comes together and gets stuck in. It is clear that both Ukrainian and European popular support for Zelinksi has risen sharply in the last couple of weeks. This war is not going to be over any time soon.

[Mark]

More significant would be a European decision to appropriate frozen Russian assets. $250B will be a big hit to Putin, and can be used to quickly buy ammunition for Ukraine to begin a counter attack in the south east. I am sure US arms manufacturers would be happy to ramp up production for that kind of cash.

Yup, the Ukrainians will be shopping for the latest weapons...
Whilst the Russians will be ringing Blackpool Council to see if they've got any donkeys going spare...

[Ralphw2]

One of the US satellite imaging companies has stopped selling images to the Ukrainian military at the request of Trump, to further help Putin win the war