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

[anyone]

Meanwhile, Ukrainian prostitutes have reduced their prices to $6 ????

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/31/world/europe/sex-workers-ukraine-health.html

[tgw]

2 minutes ago, anyone said:

Meanwhile, Ukrainian prostitutes have reduced their prices to $6 ????

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/31/world/europe/sex-workers-ukraine-health.html

perfect illustration of "ethics": the article is behind a paywall.

[bannork]

Now I understand why Russian soldiers steal Ukrainian washing machines.

 

[bannork]

 

[bannork]

WW1 style fighting. 

 

[Social Media]

Ukrainian troops on the front lines in the Donbas have told the BBC that Russian forces are "learning every day and changing their strategy" as they continue to gain ground around the heavily contested town of Bakhmut. But the soldiers also insisted that morale remains high, despite growing exhaustion after almost a year of war.

The two Ukrainian soldiers swept into the room, still visibly flushed with adrenalin, having just driven straight from the furiously active front lines along the rolling, snow-covered hills further south. Peering over a giant map at their brigade's temporary headquarters, they jabbed at the spots where Russian forces were inching forwards towards a key road.

[rudi49jr]

Things are becoming weirder and weirder in Russia: Stalin Monument Unveiled to Mark 80th Anniversary of Stalingrad Victory.

 

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/02/01/stalin-monument-unveiled-to-mark-80th-anniversary-of-stalingrad-victory-a80113
 

It does make sense, though, that Putin would advocate the revival of worshiping one of the most vicious dictators ever. 

[thaibeachlovers]

On 1/30/2023 at 11:30 PM, billyo said:

NATO seems unshakeable of no boots on the ground and for good reason.

For extremely good reason. There are obviously reasons for the west supporting the war in Ukraine ( follow the money ), but I'm sure they understand that putting NATO troops into the conflict is game over for themselves as well as Russia. MAD ensures caution.

[thaibeachlovers]

7 hours ago, Black Ops said:

Ukrainian troops on the front lines in the Donbas have told the BBC that Russian forces are "learning every day and changing their strategy" as they continue to gain ground around the heavily contested town of Bakhmut. But the soldiers also insisted that morale remains high, despite growing exhaustion after almost a year of war.

The two Ukrainian soldiers swept into the room, still visibly flushed with adrenalin, having just driven straight from the furiously active front lines along the rolling, snow-covered hills further south. Peering over a giant map at their brigade's temporary headquarters, they jabbed at the spots where Russian forces were inching forwards towards a key road.

I've been saying that for a while on this thread. It's good to see that my opinion is somewhat validated.

Fighting a war after many years of inactivity always takes a while to weed out the incompetents in command, and to re learn the lessons of previous wars that were forgotten.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 2/1/2023 at 2:43 AM, transam said:

Which reminds me of the Polish pilots that made a big difference protecting the GB about 80 years back.........

Agree about the Polish pilots, but a bit different flying a Hurricane or Spitfire compared to a high tech modern fighter plane in the length of training required. To decide that it is worth it to train Ukrainian pilots to fly them is to admit the war will last a very long time.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 1/31/2023 at 8:23 AM, Black Ops said:

BBC News

 

Poland has announced a sharp increase in defence spending, saying the change is needed because of the Ukraine war.

It is the latest European country to say it is increasing military spending as a result of the conflict.

Poland has a military budget of just less than 2.5% of its GDP, but the prime minister says he wants to increase the figure to 4% this year.

Last week, Mateusz Morawiecki urged Germany to allow his country to export Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine.

"The war in Ukraine makes us arm ourselves even faster. That is why this year we will make an unprecedented effort: 4% of GDP for the Polish army," Mr Morawiecki said.

LOL. IMO Mr Trump will be laughing when he hears about that. I understand that was what he was trying to do when he was berating the Europeans for depending too much on the US and not spending enough on their own military forces.

I remember him getting a bit of opposition for doing so.

[Social Media]

Ukraine's defence minister has said Russia is preparing a major new offensive, and warned that it could begin as soon as 24 February.

Oleksii Reznikov said Moscow had amassed thousands of troops and could "try something" to mark the anniversary of the initial invasion last year.

The attack would also mark Russia's Defender of the Fatherland Day on 23 February, which celebrates the army.

Mr Reznikov said Moscow had mobilised some 500,000 troops for the offensive.

[heybruce]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

LOL. IMO Mr Trump will be laughing when he hears about that. I understand that was what he was trying to do when he was berating the Europeans for depending too much on the US and not spending enough on their own military forces.

I remember him getting a bit of opposition for doing so.

US President's have been trying to get other NATO countries to increase defense spending for many years before Trump.  However other President's used diplomacy, Trump used threats and name-and-shame on international news. 

 

Trump was no more effective in getting actual defense spending increases, but he did a good job of undermining the alliance. 

[thaibeachlovers]

40 minutes ago, Black Ops said:

Ukraine's defence minister has said Russia is preparing a major new offensive, and warned that it could begin as soon as 24 February.

Oleksii Reznikov said Moscow had amassed thousands of troops and could "try something" to mark the anniversary of the initial invasion last year.

The attack would also mark Russia's Defender of the Fatherland Day on 23 February, which celebrates the army.

Mr Reznikov said Moscow had mobilised some 500,000 troops for the offensive.

IMO that sounds more likely than a spring offensive when Marshal Mud takes over.

Tanks and vehicles work better on hard ground.

[Bkk Brian]

Giving them away, $1 each, the catch being they are very expensive to maintain and it still needs the Biden administration to sign off as they may be worried about the tech getting into Russian hands if shot down. They are able to stay in the air for 24 hours at a time and can also carry weapons.

 

U.S. Company Offers Advanced Drones to Ukraine for One Dollar, With Some Costs

A U.S. weapons maker is offering to sell the Ukraine government two Reaper MQ-9 drones for a dollar to help the country defend itself as it prepares for an expected Russian offensive.

The deal would require Kyiv to spend about $10 million to prepare and ship the aircraft to Ukraine, and about $8 million each year for maintenance and sustainment of the older model drones, which currently aren’t being used in Ukraine.

The proposal would include a ground control station to operate the drones almost anywhere, according to a letter reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. 

https://archive.ph/SuFTi

https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/u-s-company-offers-advanced-drones-to-ukraine-for-one-dollar-with-caveat-11675203260

wiki image source

[Bkk Brian]

Fighting Wagner is like a ‘zombie movie’ says Ukrainian soldier

Southwest of the city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian soldiers Andriy and Borisych live in a candle-lit bunker cut into the frozen earth. For several weeks they have been confronting hundreds of fighters belonging to the Russian private military contractor Wagner throwing themselves against Ukrainian defenses.

Disguised in a balaclava, Andriy recounts one seemingly endless firefight when they came under attack by a flood of Wagner fighters.

“We were fighting for about 10 hours in a row. And it wasn’t like just waves, it was uninterrupted. So it was just like they didn’t stop coming.”

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/02/01/europe/ukraine-soldiers-fighting-wagner-intl-cmd/index.html

[bannork]

Russian officer reveals the torture of Ukrainians by fellow Russian soldiers.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64470092

[rudi49jr]

1 minute ago, bannork said:

Russian officer admits torturing Ukrainians.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64470092

There is plenty of evidence of torture by Russian troops, hundreds of accounts of victims, and plenty of intercepted phone calls from Russian soldiers to their loved ones back home.

At least the Russian guy in this video has the decency to apologize.

[rudi49jr]

This is, among other things, what Putin said today in his speech in Volgograd (Stalingrad until 1962):

 

"Unfortunately we see that the ideology of Nazism in its modern form and manifestation again directly threatens the security of our country," Putin told an audience of army officers and members of local patriotic and youth groups.

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-expected-channel-stalingrad-victory-key-moment-ukraine-war-2023-02-02/

[nauseus]

17 hours ago, heybruce said:

US President's have been trying to get other NATO countries to increase defense spending for many years before Trump.  However other President's used diplomacy, Trump used threats and name-and-shame on international news. 

 

Trump was no more effective in getting actual defense spending increases, but he did a good job of undermining the alliance. 

Other President's failed. However, Trump was effective in getting defense spending increase pledges across NATO, particularly from Germany,

[rudi49jr]

40 minutes ago, nauseus said:

Other President's failed. However, Trump was effective in getting defense spending increase pledges across NATO, particularly from Germany,

Maybe he got pledges, but most of the actual spending didn’t really come about. That only happened when Russia invaded Ukraine. But hey, whatever floats your boat. 

[heybruce]

2 hours ago, rudi49jr said:

Maybe he got pledges, but most of the actual spending didn’t really come about. That only happened when Russia invaded Ukraine. But hey, whatever floats your boat. 

You beat me to it:  Trump got pledges that weren't kept.  It's only fair, Trump routinely gives pledges that he doesn't keep.

[nauseus]

3 hours ago, rudi49jr said:

Maybe he got pledges, but most of the actual spending didn’t really come about. That only happened when Russia invaded Ukraine. But hey, whatever floats your boat. 

The spending was increasing too, but not from all.

 

https://www.heritage.org/defense/commentary/nato-allies-now-spend-50-billion-more-defense-2016

 

Nothing to do with my boat. All Trump wanted was for NATO members to contribute the 2% that they agreed to spend themselves (2% of GDP on defense).

[Salerno]

7 minutes ago, nauseus said:

All Trump wanted was for NATO members to contribute the 2% that they agreed to spend themselves (2% of GDP on defense).

So predicting the future is another of his talents is it?

 

The 2% pledge was was 2% by 2024. The garbage spouted by Trump was basically debunked years ago, why bring it up again?

 

https://www.npr.org/2018/07/11/628137185/fact-check-trumps-claims-on-nato-spending

[nauseus]

27 minutes ago, Salerno said:

So predicting the future is another of his talents is it?

 

The 2% pledge was was 2% by 2024. The garbage spouted by Trump was basically debunked years ago, why bring it up again?

 

https://www.npr.org/2018/07/11/628137185/fact-check-trumps-claims-on-nato-spending

In 2006, NATO Defence Ministers agreed to commit a minimum of 2% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to defence spending but most NATO members did not follow that guideline. By the Wales Summit in 2014, NATO Leaders agreed to reverse the trend of declining defence budgets. Even after Russia annexed Crimea, several members were still deficient contributors by the time of the 2022 Ukraine invasion. The fact is that several NATO members relied on the USA to provide and pay for European security for decades - Trump decided that that was not fair - and I agree with him on that. 

 

https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_67655.htm

 

[bannork]

RT panellists deride Trump's claim to stop the war in 24 hours.

 

 

[Saanim]

17 hours ago, placeholder said:

When it comes to killing their own people in their own country, I think Hitler, Stalin, and Mao all have a big edge over Churchill.

Warmhearted having a lower score than Hitler, Stalin, Mao... 

[Saanim]

16 hours ago, bannork said:

Russian officer reveals the torture of Ukrainians by fellow Russian soldiers.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64470092

That would be the first deserter in the human history if spoken in favour of his fellow soldiers... 

[LosLobo]

3 hours ago, nauseus said:

The spending was increasing too, but not from all.

 

https://www.heritage.org/defense/commentary/nato-allies-now-spend-50-billion-more-defense-2016

 

Nothing to do with my boat. All Trump wanted was for NATO members to contribute the 2% that they agreed to spend themselves (2% of GDP on defense).

"All Trump wanted was for NATO members to contribute the 2% "?

 

Yet at a later NATO "summit meeting, he (Trump) surprised the leaders by demanding 4 percent — a move that would essentially put the goal out of reach for many alliance members

I would suggest that his end game was to withdraw from NATO as was his playbook with other US partnerships/agreements. 

"The president has repeatedly and publicly challenged or withdrawn from a number of military and economic partnerships, from the Paris climate accord to an Asia-Pacific trade pact".

 

"He has questioned the United States’ military alliance with South Korea and Japan, and he has announced a withdrawal of American troops from Syria without first consulting allies in the American-led coalition to defeat the Islamic State".

 

Obviously, this was part of Putin's plan for the US to become isolationist, as it was before WWII.

 

Also,  it was the reason for sponsoring Trump in the 2016 and 2020 US Elections and for continuing to do so.

 

Trump Discussed Pulling U.S. From NATO, Aides Say Amid New Concerns Over Russia - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

[bannork]

It's not just Putin. Sadly it's the mindset of most Russians.