Word. Russians have been able to fortify for over a year - Western media are wild for talking about slow progress
Russia's Invasion of Ukraine (Official Thread)
- Thread starter newarkhiphop
- Start date
Word. Russians have been able to fortify for over a year - Western media are wild for talking about slow progress
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
The United States has supplied satellite-guided HIMARS rockets with a range of about 50 miles, but Ukrainian forces have a limited number of the launchers and, in an effort to protect them, prefer to keep them some distance back from the front line, limiting their reach. Ukraine’s forces this year have acquired Western missiles with much longer ranges, but they are even fewer in number.
Kyiv’s commanders are eager to extend the reach of rocket artillery and conventional artillery. Ukraine hopes to push all the way to the Sea of Azov shore, cutting the “land bridge” from Russia to Russian-occupied Crimea, but an advance even part of that distance would put the entire width of the bridge within range of Ukrainian artillery. The only other road or rail connection Russia has to move troops and equipment in and out of Crimea is the Kerch Strait Bridge, which Ukraine has attacked twice.
www.nytimes.com
Kyiv’s commanders are eager to extend the reach of rocket artillery and conventional artillery. Ukraine hopes to push all the way to the Sea of Azov shore, cutting the “land bridge” from Russia to Russian-occupied Crimea, but an advance even part of that distance would put the entire width of the bridge within range of Ukrainian artillery. The only other road or rail connection Russia has to move troops and equipment in and out of Crimea is the Kerch Strait Bridge, which Ukraine has attacked twice.
Ukraine Launches Rare Missile Strikes in Russia, Moscow Says
Kyiv did not take responsibility for the attacks, which could be a bid to broaden a war that has mostly rained ruin and death on Ukraine.
GnauzBookOfRhymes
Superstar
Putin will be out within a YEAR & West must prepare for the end, says ex-MI6 spy
VLADIMIR Putin’s 20-year iron fist reign will be over within a year, a former MI6 spy claimed. Christopher Steele, who ran MI6’s Russia desk between 2006 and 2009, said the West needs t…
www.the-sun.com
here they are back to ruining the thread. mods need to do their job. anyone talking about how we need to spend MORE on the military is just trolling at this point. this isn't the thread for trolling.
Last edited by a moderator:
military spending is near its absolute lowest as a percentage of historical GDP
ADevilYouKhow
Rhyme Reason
Sweden, Finland and Switzerland are considering security links with US National Guard, general says
Switzerland, Finland and Sweden are considering joining the U.S. National Guard’s security partnership program in a further expansion of U.S. military ties across Europe after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
apnews.com
ADevilYouKhow
Rhyme Reason
Elon Musk’s Unmatched Power in the Stars
The tech billionaire has become the dominant power in satellite internet technology. The ways he is wielding that influence are raising global alarms.
Ukraine needs to do this often. As long as they are not using western weapons...I see nothing wrong with it.....Putin sends the Iranian drones to kill Ukrainians everyday....about time he got a taste of his own medicine. The Wagner boss has already proven security inside Russia is dogshyt. They are coasting by the treat of no one daring to attack them because of nukes.
Spidey Man
Superstar
Ukraine shows off new sea drone that can wipe out Russian ships
The quick, deadly drones are designed to limit Russia's Black Sea Fleet. They are packed with explosives and can hit targets 500 miles away, per CNN.
www-businessinsider-com.cdn.ampproject.org
Sounds perfect for the Navy.
Subscribe to read
www.ft.com
Putin is looking for a bigger war, not an off-ramp, in Ukraine
New mobilisation law is part of a wider effort to maximise Russia’s firepower and blunt western support for Kyiv
14 hours ago
The writer is the director of Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin
“These amendments are written for a big war and general mobilisation. And the smell of this big war can already be scented,” Andrei Kartapolov, the head of the Duma’s defence committee, said this week as the Russian parliament rushed to adopt a new law. The legislation enabling the Kremlin to send hundreds of thousands more men into combat reveals a sad truth: that far from seeking an off-ramp from his disastrous war in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin is preparing for an even bigger war.
It is understandable that many in Ukraine and the west want to believe that Russia’s president is cornered. The Ukrainian army is gradually reconquering lands occupied by the Russians and has shown itself capable of striking deep into enemy territory — even into the Kremlin itself. The sanctions pressure on Russia is mounting.
For now, the west remains united in support of Kyiv, and streams of modern weaponry and money sustain the Ukrainian war effort. Finally, the mutiny staged by the Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin and visible conflicts among senior Russian military commanders add to hopes that the Kremlin’s war machine will break down.
Things likely look very different to the Kremlin, which believes that it can afford a long war. The Russian economy is forecast to record modest growth this year, mostly thanks to military factories working around the clock. Critical components such as microchips needed for the defence industry are arriving from China and other sources.
Despite sanctions, the Kremlin’s war chest is still overflowing with cash, thanks to windfall energy profits last year and also to the adaptability of Russian commodities exporters, who have found new customers and who settle payments mostly in yuan. If budgetary pressures were to become more acute, Russia’s central bank could further devalue the rouble, making it easier to pay soldiers, defence industry workers and the internal security forces who keep the Russian elite and public repressed and largely in line with Putin’s disastrous course.
When it comes to the war itself, the Kremlin still seems unperturbed by the Ukrainian counteroffensive. Even if Kyiv makes more advances, the Kremlin may brush them off as temporary. Putin is banking on the fact that the Russian manpower that can potentially be mobilised is three to four times bigger than Ukraine’s, and the only pressing task is to be able to tap into that resource at will: to mobilise many more men, arm them, train them and send them to fight. This is precisely the purpose of the new law, which should help the Kremlin to avoid another official mobilisation.
From now on, the government can quietly send draft notices to as many men as it deems necessary. The upper age limit for performing mandatory service will be increased from 27 to 30, and could be raised again in future. Once an electronic draft notice is issued, Russia’s borders will be immediately closed to its recipient in order to prevent a massive exodus of military-age men like the one Russia witnessed last autumn. The punishments for refusing to serve have also been ramped up. These moves, combined with massive state investment in expanding arms production, should help Putin to build a bigger and better equipped army.
A parallel tactic is the strangulation of Ukraine’s economy. Knowing that the Ukrainian budget is on life support provided by its western allies, the Kremlin wants to deny Kyiv all sources of revenue. Moscow has therefore not only pulled out of the grain deal that had enabled Ukrainian agricultural exports via the Black Sea, it has also launched massive air strikes against Ukrainian ports to destroy any possibility of reviving the agreement. The same logic underpins Russia’s air strikes against civilian infrastructure: they are aimed at making Ukrainian cities uninhabitable and preventing reconstruction efforts.
The Kremlin hopes that the rapid rebuilding of the Russian army and gradual decimation of the Ukrainian economy and armed forces will result in growing western frustration and a decline in material support for Kyiv. To speed up this process and break the west’s will, Moscow is using threats of escalation, including expansion of the conflict towards Nato territory via Belarus with the help of Wagner mercenaries based there.
Putin has made plenty of fatal mistakes. But as long as he is in charge, Moscow will dedicate its still vast resources to achieving his obsession with destroying and subordinating Ukraine. As western leaders think about policies to support Ukraine into the third year of this ugly war, any long-term strategy must take this reality into account.
Last edited:
Russia finna look like the balkans 