Assault on Kiev: Russian helicopters swoop above Ukraine's capital

[Virt]

34 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

Its becoming clearer that not only were the Russian forces vastly over rated but also the FSB have turned out to be just as incompetent. Putin even went on state TV to publicize this supposed assignation attempt and now its been unraveled as a sham. When agents broke into the house it seems they misunderstood the instructions of the set up and took things a little too literally...????

 

Russian Spies Hilariously Screw Up Putin’s ‘Assassination Plot’ Claim

 

Russia’s notorious FSB counterintelligence agency released a video of the arrests, as well as so-called “behind-the-scenes” footage of agents searching and seizing property allegedly found at the suspects’ apartment, which was posted in its entirety by state media outlet RIA Novosti on Telegram.

 

Social media users were quick to point that the SIMS game and “Signature unclear” could be signs that the arrest was part of an FSB hoax gone wrong, pointing out the directives for setting up the scene of the crime might have included planting three SIM cards and signing the book with an indiscernible signature—and that these instructions might have been misunderstood or taken too literally by the agents.

 

Perhaps realizing their agents have flubbed, official videos posted by the FSB on its YouTube channel excluded the book and blurred the images of the SIMS video games.

 

https://www.thedailybeast.com/russian-fsb-spies-hilariously-screw-up-vladimir-putins-assassination-plot-claim?source=twitter&via=desktop

 

 

I love the 3 SIMS games and the book with "signature unclear"

It's also amazing how brand new all the other stuff looks like.

Couldn't they at least have tried to find some used t shirts etc.

 

Maybe them ruskies need to write their SOPs so the standard agent actually can understand them ????

 

Ohh well, at least they didn't showcase 3 SIMS games still being wrapped in plastic ????

[Bkk Brian]

11 minutes ago, Virt said:

I love the 3 SIMS games and the book with "signature unclear"

It's also amazing how brand new all the other stuff looks like.

Couldn't they at least have tried to find some used t shirts etc.

 

Maybe them ruskies need to write their SOPs so the standard agent actually can understand them ????

 

Ohh well, at least they didn't showcase 3 SIMS games still being wrapped in plastic ????

I also like the wig they were asked to plant, they bought a green ladies one.....????

[LosLobo]

1 hour ago, Bkk Brian said:

Its becoming clearer that not only were the Russian forces vastly over rated but also the FSB have turned out to be just as incompetent. Putin even went on state TV to publicize this supposed assassination attempt and now its been unraveled as a sham. When agents broke into the house it seems they misunderstood the instructions of the set up and took things a little too literally...????

 

Russian Spies Hilariously Screw Up Putin’s ‘Assassination Plot’ Claim

 

Russia’s notorious FSB counterintelligence agency released a video of the arrests, as well as so-called “behind-the-scenes” footage of agents searching and seizing property allegedly found at the suspects’ apartment, which was posted in its entirety by state media outlet RIA Novosti on Telegram.

 

Social media users were quick to point that the SIMS game and “Signature unclear” could be signs that the arrest was part of an FSB hoax gone wrong, pointing out the directives for setting up the scene of the crime might have included planting three SIM cards and signing the book with an indiscernible signature—and that these instructions might have been misunderstood or taken too literally by the agents.

 

Perhaps realizing their agents have flubbed, official videos posted by the FSB on its YouTube channel excluded the book and blurred the images of the SIMS video games.

 

https://www.thedailybeast.com/russian-fsb-spies-hilariously-screw-up-vladimir-putins-assassination-plot-claim?

 

 

I had to laugh at this part of the Daily Beast article. 

 

"Putin alleged that the West’s failure to prevail on the information front of the war in Ukraine has prompted it to resort to terror, to arrange the killings of our journalists.”

 

Obviously Putin is enraged with jealousy as it is common knowledge that to arrange the killing of Russian journalists is solely his domain.

 

[LosLobo]

1 hour ago, Virt said:

Nice with some mobile artillery systems. In these days with the newest radar systems that can pinpoint the artillery positions very fast, it's important to have mobile artillery that can fire a few rounds and then move to new locations.

 

Denmark bought the French made Caesar 8x8 artillery systems a few years ago, that can link several systems together and hit targets 40 km away, and that system is capable of setting up within minutes,each system fire about 6 155mm rounds in a minute, and drive away  30 second later and be long gone before the enemy are capable of hitting the place they fired from.

 

A shell takes about 30 seconds to land 40km away afaik, so in theory it only give the enemy 30 second to pinpoint the artillery position and fire if they want to hit that exact position in time.

By the time the 6th round hit, the ceasar systems are able to drive to new positions.

 

It has the disadvantage that some of the crew has to stand outside the vehicle while it's operated, but if you are supposed to be gone by the time when the enemy retaliate, it might outweigh the negatives.

 

I wonder if those ceasar systems are part of any weapon packs sent to Ukraine from any country?

 

What I found impressive about the Panzerhaubitze 2000 was the accuracy when used with US M982 Excalibur extended range guided artillery shell.

 

"Ten Excaliburs were fired at ranges from 9 to 48 km. Shells hit within 3 m of their targets, with an average miss distance of 1 m at 48 km. The Excalibur may be accepted by the German Army in 2014."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzerhaubitze_2000
 

[2 is 1]

Latest intelligence update:

 

[LosLobo]

Lavrov is at it again!

Although he is into telling fairy tales seems he never read Aesop's Boy who cried Wolf.

Obviously ticket sales for the boss's May 9th extravaganza are slow.

 

Russia-Ukraine war: Lavrov warns of risk of nuclear conflict (msn.com)

[2 is 1]

41 minutes ago, LosLobo said:

Lavrov is at it again!

Although he is into telling fairy tales seems he never read Aesop's Boy who cried Wolf.

Obviously ticket sales for the boss's May 9th extravaganza are slow.

 

Russia-Ukraine war: Lavrov warns of risk of nuclear conflict (msn.com)

And answer to Lavrov:

 

[Bkk Brian]

36 minutes ago, LosLobo said:

Lavrov is at it again!

Although he is into telling fairy tales seems he never read Aesop's Boy who cried Wolf.

Obviously ticket sales for the boss's May 9th extravaganza are slow.

 

Russia-Ukraine war: Lavrov warns of risk of nuclear conflict (msn.com)

It was only a matter of time before this was parroted, its been the solid theme of Russian state TV for some time and we know that their rhetoric is shared by the Kremlin.

 

Perhaps Russia should not underestimate the abilities of the West and Nato as it did Ukraine.

[2 is 1]

Ukrainian law enforcers search for collaborators who helped Russians

 

https://kyivindependent.com/national/ukrainian-law-enforcers-search-for-collaborators-who-helped-russians/

[Bkk Brian]

Breaking: Germany to deliver “Gepard” anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine. According to several German media reports, the government has finally approved the delivery of such heavy weapons to Ukraine. The step will be officially announced at the Ukraine conference in Rammstein today.

[Bkk Brian]

Rumblings within the ranks of the Russian Military they want an escalation and all out war. Interesting article here:

 

Vicious Blame Game Erupts Among Putin’s Security Forces

 

Does this mean that the military or the FSB has concluded that the war, with its enormous casualties and incompetent direction, was a mistake? The short answer is no, quite the opposite.

 

Naturally, we’ll further increase air defense units on the border with Ukraine in order to cover our territory from ballistic missile strikes, but it is also clear that NATO countries have far more weapons than Russia.”

 

The author expressed optimism that the Russian air force will be able to staunch the flow of Western supplies, but warned that further Ukrainian victories “will almost certainly prompt the use of nuclear weapons” against targets in Ukraine.

 

https://cepa.org/vicious-blame-game-erupts-among-putins-security-forces/

[LosLobo]

A fitting encore for the Moskva.

 

If only Ukraine could find a few Tomahawks!
 

"Crimea Flashpoint I Why Ukraine May Target Europe's Longest Bridge & Why Kerch Is Vital For Putin"

 

 

 

[nauseus]

17 hours ago, ozimoron said:

and 38 Australians. Maybe we should send all our useless Leopard tanks to Ukraine. They based them in Darwin for a while but it was too hot and the aircon systems couldn't handle the heat.

Darwin.....hot and sticky......only good for crocs....not leopards.

[ballpoint]

From Ukrainian TV.  Russian ineptitude is hilarious, and down right frightening:

 

[Virt]

4 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

Rumblings within the ranks of the Russian Military they want an escalation and all out war. Interesting article here:

 

Vicious Blame Game Erupts Among Putin’s Security Forces

 

Does this mean that the military or the FSB has concluded that the war, with its enormous casualties and incompetent direction, was a mistake? The short answer is no, quite the opposite.

 

Naturally, we’ll further increase air defense units on the border with Ukraine in order to cover our territory from ballistic missile strikes, but it is also clear that NATO countries have far more weapons than Russia.”

 

The author expressed optimism that the Russian air force will be able to staunch the flow of Western supplies, but warned that further Ukrainian victories “will almost certainly prompt the use of nuclear weapons” against targets in Ukraine.

 

https://cepa.org/vicious-blame-game-erupts-among-putins-security-forces/

Not sure russia want to fire nukes, but i wouldn't be surprised if they "accidentally" hit a nuclear power plant in Ukraine and tried to blaim it on Ukrainian missiles.

That would also give them a weak excuse to withdraw all troops

[tgw]

 

6 hours ago, LosLobo said:

Lavrov is at it again!

Although he is into telling fairy tales seems he never read Aesop's Boy who cried Wolf.

Obviously ticket sales for the boss's May 9th extravaganza are slow.

 

Russia-Ukraine war: Lavrov warns of risk of nuclear conflict (msn.com)

what happened to only using nuclear weapons when Russia is threatened in its existence ?

 

Lavrov is a lying scaremongering piece of fascist garbage. the Russkie orcs play this card to scare other countries into not supporting Ukraine.
it won't work. mass murderer Putin and his accomplices will lose this war.
the difficult thing will then to arrest all these scumbags who supported that regime. Russia needs a thorough de-fascistization program.

 

[thaibeachlovers]

On 4/24/2022 at 2:24 AM, Hellfire said:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10745115/France-Germany-sold-230million-military-hardware-including-bombs-missiles-Moscow.html
 

France and Germany 'sold £230million of military hardware including bombs, missiles and guns to Moscow' - likely used in Russia's invasion of Ukraine - despite EU-wide arms embargo in wake of 2014 annexation of Crimea

Germany probably needed the money to pay for Russian energy imports ????! I don't know if France also uses Russian energy.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, tgw said:

 

what happened to only using nuclear weapons when Russia is threatened in its existence ?

 

Lavrov is a lying scaremongering piece of fascist garbage. the Russkie orcs play this card to scare other countries into not supporting Ukraine.
it won't work. mass murderer Putin and his accomplices will lose this war.
the difficult thing will then to arrest all these scumbags who supported that regime. Russia needs a thorough de-fascistization program.

 

Don't hold back, say what you really think of them, LOL.

[placeholder]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Germany probably needed the money to pay for Russian energy imports ????! I don't know if France also uses Russian energy.

While the German government would have had to have given permission to a German armament manufacturer to sell to Russia, it would not directly profit from such a transaction. And in the scheme of things, 230 million pounds doesn't amount to much. In 2016, for example, that would amount to, at most, about  0.15% of all German and French exports. And it's not clear whether these exports took place over 1 year are several. Most likely, several. So this is a vanishingly small number in respect to the economies of these nations.

[tgw]

look at that Russian bad faith:

 

Russia threatens to attack Kyiv's 'decision-making centers' in case of strikes on facilities in Russian territory.

Kremlin-controlled media Ria Novosti reported, citing Russia’s Defense Ministry, that Moscow sees the U.K. Minister of the Armed Forces James Heappey’s comments about Ukraine’s right to strike at facilities such as fuel and ammunition depots in Russia as a provocation that “will immediately lead to our proportional response.”

 

from https://www.kyivindependent.com

 

"provocation" huh ?

 

[Meat Pie 47]

3 minutes ago, tgw said:

look at that Russian bad faith:

 

Russia threatens to attack Kyiv's 'decision-making centers' in case of strikes on facilities in Russian territory.

Kremlin-controlled media Ria Novosti reported, citing Russia’s Defense Ministry, that Moscow sees the U.K. Minister of the Armed Forces James Heappey’s comments about Ukraine’s right to strike at facilities such as fuel and ammunition depots in Russia as a provocation that “will immediately lead to our proportional response.”

 

from https://www.kyivindependent.com

 

"provocation" huh ?

 

who invaded who?

[Virt]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Germany probably needed the money to pay for Russian energy imports ????! I don't know if France also uses Russian energy.

All of the EU countries use russian energy and has been for a long time.

Which is sadly why we just can't shut off all oil, gas and coal from russia.

Many factories in Europe would have to stop production and that would mean tens of millions of lost jobs,

and the economy would go south and the inflation would explode even more.

 

In 2020 40% of the EU gas came from russia.

25-30% of all oil used in the EU in 2020 came from russia.

 

Several politicians in Europe has warned for years about being dependent on russian energy,

but many EU politicians simply just closed their ears and said it was scare mongering.

 

Now we learn what it means to be dependent on russian energy.

 

In the future EU might stop importing russian energy, and that energy will instead go to China, India and Asia,

but for now EU are pretty much painted into a corner when it comes to russian energy.

[heybruce]

1 hour ago, Virt said:

All of the EU countries use russian energy and has been for a long time.

Which is sadly why we just can't shut off all oil, gas and coal from russia.

Many factories in Europe would have to stop production and that would mean tens of millions of lost jobs,

and the economy would go south and the inflation would explode even more.

 

In 2020 40% of the EU gas came from russia.

25-30% of all oil used in the EU in 2020 came from russia.

 

Several politicians in Europe has warned for years about being dependent on russian energy,

but many EU politicians simply just closed their ears and said it was scare mongering.

 

Now we learn what it means to be dependent on russian energy.

 

In the future EU might stop importing russian energy, and that energy will instead go to China, India and Asia,

but for now EU are pretty much painted into a corner when it comes to russian energy.

It will take a few years for Europe to build the facilities to import energy from other countries, and it will take Russia a few years to build the pipelines to export energy in significant quantities to Asia (probably with Chinese money that will come with significant conditions attached). 

 

At the end of that time Europe will have diversified its energy sources to prevent future dependence on Russia, and Asian countries will know better than to become overly reliant on Russian energy.  Russia's ability to intimidate the world will be greatly reduced.

 

Nice job Putin; shooting Russia in the foot today and for years to come.

[LosLobo]

23 hours ago, Virt said:

I wonder if those ceasar systems are part of any weapon packs sent to Ukraine from any country?

 

Finally: France's Most Lethal Caesar Self-propelled Howitzers Arrive in Ukr4ine
 

 

[Bkk Brian]

9 hours ago, tgw said:

look at that Russian bad faith:

 

Russia threatens to attack Kyiv's 'decision-making centers' in case of strikes on facilities in Russian territory.

Kremlin-controlled media Ria Novosti reported, citing Russia’s Defense Ministry, that Moscow sees the U.K. Minister of the Armed Forces James Heappey’s comments about Ukraine’s right to strike at facilities such as fuel and ammunition depots in Russia as a provocation that “will immediately lead to our proportional response.”

 

from https://www.kyivindependent.com

 

"provocation" huh ?

 

Like their other threats this is the response from the west and Ukraine:

 

8:58 BREAKING Explosions reportedly heard in Russian city

Multiple explosions have been heard in the Russian city of Belgorod, about 40km (24 miles) north of the Ukrainian border, according to a local official. Gladkov later said preliminary reports indicated an ammunition depot was on fire in a rural settlement, and "no casualties among the civilian population" had been reported.

 

UK to call for world to supply Ukraine with warplanes

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will announce on Wednesday that Britain and other Western powers should give warplanes to Ukraine as part of their long-term military support. Ukraine has repeatedly asked for combat aircraft, particularly Soviet-era fighters with which their pilots are familiar. 

But as Nato members step up their support for Ukraine with longer range weapons, Truss will say they should go even further.

 

[Bkk Brian]

I'm sure Canada will be followed by other countries doing the same, good job!

 

Canada giving itself power to turn over seized assets to victims

 

As Russia’s assault on Ukraine enters its third month, the Canadian government says it plans to give itself the power to sell off assets of foreigners seized under sanctions law, and then turn them over to affected victims or pay for rebuilding war-torn countries.

This could mean, for instance, that funds or property seized from Russia could be paid out to help reconstruct Ukraine or to compensate those affected by Moscow’s military assault on its neighbour.

 

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-canada-giving-itself-power-to-pay-out-compensation-from-sanctioned/

[tgw]

1 hour ago, Bkk Brian said:

I'm sure Canada will be followed by other countries doing the same, good job!

 

Canada giving itself power to turn over seized assets to victims

 

As Russia’s assault on Ukraine enters its third month, the Canadian government says it plans to give itself the power to sell off assets of foreigners seized under sanctions law, and then turn them over to affected victims or pay for rebuilding war-torn countries.

This could mean, for instance, that funds or property seized from Russia could be paid out to help reconstruct Ukraine or to compensate those affected by Moscow’s military assault on its neighbour.

 

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-canada-giving-itself-power-to-pay-out-compensation-from-sanctioned/

I certainly expect that all seized assets of the Russian central bank and and of all Russian state companies will be used this way. They will never make their way back into Russian pockets.

[2 is 1]

 

[tgw]

looks like Moldova's next.

 

Moldova is not a NATO member and similarly to Ukraine, its Eastern part has been occupied by Russian soldiers for years.

 

Now it seems there is some action in that usually sleepy area.

https://www.rferl.org/a/transdniester-tiraspol-security-attack/31820545.html

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/26/moldova-holds-security-meeting-as-tensions-rise-over-breakaway-region-transnistria

 

 

 

Russia bombed the bridge linking southernmost continental Ukraine.

 

Moldova has a very small military.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armed_Forces_of_the_Republic_of_Moldova

Quote

 

By 2006-7, the Moldovan Ground Forces had been reduced to a strength of 5,710, including three motor rifle brigades, one artillery brigade, and independent Special forces and engineer battalions, plus an independent guard unit. Equipment and weaponry included 44 BMD-1 AIFVs, and 266 APCs, including 91 TAB-71s, as well as 227 artillery pieces.

 

As of 2006 all the MiG-29 fighters had either been sold or scrapped, and the Moldovan Air Force had only 2 An-2 Colts, 1 An-26 Curl, 2 An-72 Coalers, 8 Mi-8 Hips, and 12 SA-3 'Goa' SAMs in service, manned by 1,040 personnel.

 

what do you think?

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, tgw said:

looks like Moldova's next.

 

Moldova is not a NATO member and similarly to Ukraine, its Eastern part has been occupied by Russian soldiers for years.

 

Now it seems there is some action in that usually sleepy area.

https://www.rferl.org/a/transdniester-tiraspol-security-attack/31820545.html

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/26/moldova-holds-security-meeting-as-tensions-rise-over-breakaway-region-transnistria

 

 

 

Russia bombed the bridge linking southernmost continental Ukraine.

 

Moldova has a very small military.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armed_Forces_of_the_Republic_of_Moldova

what do you think?

Sounds like it will be involved if Ukraine is trying to involve the country.