Where Do Things End With Vlad? (h/t romad1)

[romad1]

41 minutes ago, ewsieg said:

They are also doing this under marshal law and there are complaints that it's not just 'Russian elements' but rather some that are simply critical of Zelensky, albeit small complaints.  

Also I wouldn't so quickly assume everything bad and corrupt in that country was due to Russian influence and once they arrest those folks they'll be inundated with a surplus of completely honest brokers looking to lead Ukraine into the promised land.

I'm sure the Trumps are dying to get back to where they can openly receive funding from Russia.   All this sneaking around and going through Emirati cut outs has got to bum them out. 

If Ukraine wants to be solvent and on a sound financial basis they will work hard to solidify the rule of law and not be governed by oligarchs.  Then again, the United States and many western countries need to do that too.

[1984Echoes]

2 hours ago, romad1 said:

welp

 

DO it Dark Biden!!!

[romad1]

 

[romad1]

So, Prigozhin's people are working at INRA.  He may be sidelined or he may be just leveraging the lack of sanctions on Belarus (have we sanctioned them?) to travel to Africa to do Putin's bidding.

I have a VPN set to some location not my own.  Whatever the VPN thinks is my location, its sending me Indian twitter stuff and other Indian based junk.  Anyway, I get all sorts of pushed content regarding Quran burning in Sweden which smells very very INRA.  The initial burning incident was done at the behest/instigation of Moscow to slow roll Sweden joining NATO by causing Turkey to object. 

[romad1]

This is scary.   You'd have to think Russia would know that it would be an Article 5 violation. 

 

[gehringer_2]

2 hours ago, romad1 said:

So, Prigozhin's people are working at INRA.

the French Agriculture Research Institute?

[romad1]

3 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

the French Agriculture Research Institute?

The same!

Not to be confused with IHRA, one of the drag racing governing bodies, which is not to be confused with the 17th Street High Heel Race in Washington, DC. 

[smr-nj]

2 hours ago, romad1 said:

This is scary.   You'd have to think Russia would know that it would be an Article 5 violation. 

 

Jesus. This is , indeed, very scary. 

[pfife]

yeah that nuke plant thing is crazy, I just googled for more articles but doesn't seem updated with more info since the Russians evacuating.   I'm not super knowledgable about who to trust on twitter re deep Ukraine war info, interested to see more info when available

[gehringer_2]

17 minutes ago, pfife said:

yeah that nuke plant thing is crazy, I just googled for more articles but doesn't seem updated with more info since the Russians evacuating.   I'm not super knowledgable about who to trust on twitter re deep Ukraine war info, interested to see more info when available

For starters, they should tell Putin that if he screws-up Zaporizhzhia, NATO will close the Black Sea to Russia for as many years as any ground remains contaminated.

Edited July 1, 2023 by gehringer_2

[romad1]

20 minutes ago, pfife said:

yeah that nuke plant thing is crazy, I just googled for more articles but doesn't seem updated with more info since the Russians evacuating.   I'm not super knowledgable about who to trust on twitter re deep Ukraine war info, interested to see more info when available

To be fair...you can't trust the Ukrainians because their very survival is at stake and they are in "any means necessary" mode.   That said, you really can't trust the Russians because...well, what else do you need to see?

[pfife]

2 hours ago, romad1 said:

To be fair...you can't trust the Ukrainians because their very survival is at stake and they are in "any means necessary" mode.   That said, you really can't trust the Russians because...well, what else do you need to see?

Yeah I agree.   My understanding is Ukraine is very adroit to the internet information warfare thing too.  

[1984Echoes]

6 hours ago, pfife said:

yeah that nuke plant thing is crazy, I just googled for more articles but doesn't seem updated with more info since the Russians evacuating.   I'm not super knowledgable about who to trust on twitter re deep Ukraine war info, interested to see more info when available

They'll need to move multiple layers of air defense around the nuclear plant simply because...

Who knows what the **** these ****ing Russian Nazi's will do...?

[romad1]

Lots of movement in the Bakhmut battle. 

[romad1]

Bots are amplifying the nuclear power plant as a "disaster" for some reason. 

[gehringer_2]

I'm wondering if we are aren't now getting close enough to F16's in theater that the AFU is content to keep running primarily shaping operations for the time being -  enough offense to keep the Russians tied down yet keeping back most of their force.

[ewsieg]

18 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

I'm wondering if we are aren't now getting close enough to F16's in theater that the AFU is content to keep running primarily shaping operations for the time being -  enough offense to keep the Russians tied down yet keeping back most of their force.

Last week I heard an assessment that their best trained fighters are basically waiting in the wings and right now they are just testing lines to determine the best places to strike.

[romad1]

EXCELLENT!!!!

https://twitter.com/noclador/status/1676720201696509959

The US needs to be bound to it European allies and vice versa.

The commitment is not the same as during the Cold War but the Russian military is not the same as during the Cold War. 

The real need for force structure is in the Western Pacific but heck yes.  Each action is symbolic and each symbol moves the ball a little bit.

[digitalpigsmuggler]

The Ukrainian Army Apparently Downgraded Its New 32nd Brigade, And Deployed It Somewhere Quiet

Quote

The preparations included the formation of at least a couple dozen new brigades: at least nine of which Ukraine’s NATO allies would equip and train. As recently as this spring, the Ukrainians had planned out which brigades would get which Western weapons.

 

But the plan changed. For at least one brigade, The new 32nd Mechanized Brigade was supposed to ride in American-made armored trucks supported by some upgraded Czech tanks. But now it seems the brigade has ex-NATO M-113 armored personnel carriers and locally-made T-64 tanks.

32nd Brigade apparently has deployed to the front line just west of Svatove in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk Oblast. It’s a relatively sleepy sector

It’s a curious disposition for a brigade that U.S. officials once listed alongside the best-equipped, best-trained new Ukrainian units.

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2023/07/05/the-ukrainian-army-apparently-downgraded-its-new-32nd-brigade-and-deployed-it-somewhere-quiet/?sh=7c5b077d185f

[digitalpigsmuggler]

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/05/world/europe/zelensky-ukraine-counteroffensive-weapons.html

 

Quote

In the CNN interview, Mr. Zelensky made a familiar plea for even more advanced weapons, and for American-made F-16 fighter jets.

“In some directions we cannot even think of starting” the counteroffensive, he said, “as we don’t have the relevant weapons. And throwing our people to be killed by Russian long-range weapons would be simply inhumane.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/05/world/europe/zelensky-ukraine-counteroffensive-weapons.html

[digitalpigsmuggler]

Quote

Many of the countries that are supporting Ukraine’s war efforts are struggling with high inflation, rising interest rates and sluggish growth. Their leaders – some of whom are facing elections in the next year and a half – need to justify the huge amount of resources they’ve poured into Ukraine when their own voters are struggling to make ends meet. That can become difficult if there isn’t much battlefield success to show for it.

According to an assessment by the Washington-based think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW), some of the most strategic sections of the front line are guarded by multiple lines of defense, making it very difficult for the Ukrainians to break through.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/04/europe/ukraine-counteroffensive-slow-progress-intl/index.html

[digitalpigsmuggler]

Former U.S. officials have held secret Ukraine talks with prominent Russians

 

Quote

A group of former senior U.S. national security officials have held secret talks with prominent Russians believed to be close to the Kremlin — and, in at least one case, with the country’s top diplomat — with the aim of laying the groundwork for potential negotiations to end the war in Ukraine

On the agenda of the April meeting were some of the thorniest issues in the war in Ukraine, like the fate of Russian-held territory that Ukraine may never be able to liberate, and the search for an elusive diplomatic off-ramp that could be tolerable to both sides. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/former-us-officials-secret-ukraine-talks-russians-war-ukraine-rcna92610

 

[romad1]

Imagine being Putin's troll

[romad1]

YES

[1984Echoes]

42 minutes ago, digitalpigsmuggler said:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/05/world/europe/zelensky-ukraine-counteroffensive-weapons.html

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/05/world/europe/zelensky-ukraine-counteroffensive-weapons.html

In other words:

Give Ukraine their F-16's already...