The Russia/Ukraine War Thread

[Playoff Beered]

12 hours ago, Sharpshooter said:

I could use a gif of this for…site purposes. 
 

 

 

[Playoff Beered]

 

Quote

 

THE SCAM OF THE SECOND LARGEST ARMY IN THE WORLD

 

We always hear that Russia, the main heir to the powerful USSR, had a gigantic stockpile of weapons and ammunition, capable of standing up to any country or coalition in the world. In fact, they always made a point of propagating that they had the largest number of artillery pieces, the best surface-to-air missile systems (S400), the largest number of tanks (compared to any other country) and even the most well prepared professional army of history.

 

In Brazil there is a saying that says: “ADVERTISING IS THE SOUL OF BUSINESS”.

 

In fact, these months of Russian invasion have demonstrated that everything was just a bluff. In fact, the economic collapse that Russia has experienced in recent decades has caused its much-vaunted military power to disintegrate. Today what we see is an army that uses poorly trained prisoners and conscripts to try to hold a front line that is gradually collapsing.

 

Every day we see the remains of tank stocks arrive in Ukraine, most of them built in the 1960s, which are easily destroyed by Ukrainians using modern laser-guided weapons, against which Russian heavy vehicles have no chance.

 

The Russian artillery propagated, in fact, is imprecise, slow and easily tracked. Thus, easily destroyable. Men on the front line often complain about the lack of support from their artillery. This happens not due to lack of interest or disorganization, but mainly due to a lack of ammunition.

 

The ammunition, when it arrives, is practically useless, with several cases in which it is so rusty that the chance of it exploding upon launch is greater than that of killing any Ukrainian soldier. Even those intended for low caliber weapons are few and often arrive in poor condition.

 

We have already seen Russians improvise kamikaze drones with explosives made from soda bottles in a desperate attempt to attack Ukrainians. Its famous anti-aircraft defenses cannot even defend themselves against Ukrainian missiles.

 

The Russian Army is dying, and with it, its farce.

 

 

[Playoff Beered]

 

[Playoff Beered]

 

Edited October 4, 2023 by Playoff Beered

[Honky Cat]

15 hours ago, Sharpshooter said:

I could use a gif of this for…site purposes. 
 

 

 

 

The UA has a decisive advantage over RUZ in the use of thermal imaging/nightvision. A lot of these operations occur during the night.

[Honky Cat]

 

[Honky Cat]

 

[Warhippy]

14 minutes ago, Honky Cat said:

 

Wanna make some $$

 

Look towards chemical and arms manufacturers over the next 5 years.  Restocking levels will be higher than they've been in the US since the Vietnam war.  Something tells me that the conflict is only going to drag on and spill over.  We've seen more sabre rattling and expansionist direction from China since at any point in time in their history and Xi might very well start debating a US style conflict to deflect from growing economic pressures at home

 

War is awful and sadly the usual suspects will always profit from it

[Muscatel Marauder]

 

[Muscatel Marauder]

 

[Canuck Surfer]

"I'm here until Berlin": Russia's war video sends chilling message

 

Russia has launched a new advertising campaign for its unlawful war of aggression against Ukraine, which Moscow refers to as a "military special operation."

This was reported by Anton Herashchenko, the former Deputy Interior Minister of Ukraine.

 

On the social medie X, formerly known as Twitter, he writes,

"Russia has posted another ad for its 'special military operation,' stating that Russian soldiers will receive free land in Odessa after capturing it."

 

'The actor says, 'I'm here until victory, until Berlin, just as my grandpa told me.'

 

In the comments, people are writing, 'So we have to take Berlin too! Great!'"

 

Herashchenko also posted the relevant clip he is referring to. The video, which is Russian propaganda, is available in link.

 

 

Put yer cookie blocker on before dagens, but...

https://www.dagens.com/news/do-you-remember-the-russian-journalist-that-protested-against-putin-on-live-tv-she-just-got-a-long-prison-sentence

[Optimist Prime]

12 hours ago, Sharpshooter said:

 

I was very happy to see the first notes of this happening again..Crimea is definately being prepped for a larger landing, or at the very least to try to draw trooops to the coastal defenses away from the front lines elsewhere, but then i saw some russian videos of one of the landing party who was captured. Apparently his Sea-do had engine issues when they were exfiltrating and he was captured alive. 

[Jack Gordon]

 

[Satchmo]

9 minutes ago, Jack Gordon said:

 

Thanks for this photoshopped image from a Russian Wagner supporter. 

 

Your source:

@Wagnersfamily

Russian | Cousin of a Wagner PMC artilleryman | My Pronouns: fck/WEF | You can donate to bitcoin wallet linked in profile.

[Jack Gordon]

Edited October 5, 2023 by Jack Gordon
lol

[Canuck Surfer]

9 minutes ago, Satchmo said:

Thanks for this photoshopped image from a Russian Wagner supporter. 

 

Your source:

@Wagnersfamily

Russian | Cousin of a Wagner PMC artilleryman | My Pronouns: fck/WEF | You can donate to bitcoin wallet linked in profile.

He said Potata?

 

You said Potato. Lets call the whole thing off!

[Playoff Beered]

3 minutes ago, Jack Gordon said:

 

 

 

 

[Jack Gordon]

[Playoff Beered]

This is really important to have if you want to have any chance of surviving the coming war with AI and its robot war machine's....

 

 

[Boudrias]

12 hours ago, Optimist Prime said:

I was very happy to see the first notes of this happening again..Crimea is definately being prepped for a larger landing, or at the very least to try to draw trooops to the coastal defenses away from the front lines elsewhere, but then i saw some russian videos of one of the landing party who was captured. Apparently his Sea-do had engine issues when they were exfiltrating and he was captured alive. 

I doubt a large scale landing in Crimea can be supported well enough. Focus on a breakout towards Tokmak makes more sense. 

[WeneedLumme]

8 hours ago, Playoff Beered said:

This is really important to have if you want to have any chance of surviving the coming war with AI and its robot war machine's....

 

 

Absolutely perfect for winter warfare. If it protects you from thermal imaging, it must be toasty warm, while the Russians are shivering in whatever clothes they can round up, fully visible to any generation of night vision.

[Optimist Prime]

2 hours ago, Boudrias said:

I doubt a large scale landing in Crimea can be supported well enough. Focus on a breakout towards Tokmak makes more sense. 

agreed, I believe they will keep feigning to the coast and if an opportunity arrises to create a beachhead, they will. The east push vs south push is working very well at 'ping-ponging' russian troop concentrations, it just makes sense to try to pull more to a 'third front' which can be accomplished just like they are doing it, 20 man units or 16 man units raiding the coastline could be just as effective as a full on landing by a battle group. THing is if Russian DOESN"T reinforce the beaches in Crimea, then really the Ukraine authorities should land some thousands at once and force the issue of the third front. Just my opionion. prepping the region as they ahve it is now very easy for them to simply keep dusting the important units and equipment via skyshadow's et cetera.  

[King Heffy]

https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/10/5/7422803/

 

Hopefully the traitor is caught and never sees the outside of a prison cell again.

[Playoff Beered]

What’s the Point Now, Russia?

 

Dylan Combellick

 

Russia has floated many justifications for the invasion of Ukraine, each targeted at a different audience. In my own experience, pro-Russian supporters tend to stick to a single justification narrative, perhaps because switching between them creates too much of a cognitive dissonance.

 

First, there is the “Ukraine was always just part of Russia, it’s called ‘Malorussia,’ and we are simply taking back what is already ours.” This goes hand in hand with the narrative that ‘Lenin created Ukraine,’ which has recently been scaled back to ‘Lenin gave Donbas to Ukraine’ and runs alongside the ‘Khrushchev gave Crimea to Ukraine.’ So Russia is just ‘correcting historical mistakes.’

 

Second, there is the whole nazi narrative. As I’ve addressed many times in many articles, this is an absurd argument. 

One, every country with white people in it has neo-nazis, and Ukraine has fewer than most and far fewer than Russia. 

Two, Ukrainian neo-nazi movements have no political power. 

Three, there is more to ‘nazism’ than simply not wanting to be part of Russia. Russia calls everyone who rejects Russian domination a ‘nazi.’ 

Four, nazism is a political movement, and any objective comparison of Russian and Ukrainian politics reveals that Russia is much closer to nazism than any other country right now. Persecution of Jews, LGBT, and ethnic minorities is enshrined in law and enforced in Russia. Political opposition is imprisoned, and, of course, the obvious — the nazis are the invaders. Journalists who suggest that Russia should not have invaded Ukraine are imprisoned, but those suggesting to use of nuclear weapons against Ukraine or even NATO are free to speak on the state-controlled media.

 

Third, ‘protecting ethnic minorities.’ This is perhaps the most nonsensical of all the false justifications. There were no events prior to Russia’s 2014 invasion that involved large-scale violence against ‘ethnic Russians’ living in Ukraine. Russia’s invasion has been resisted most fiercely by ‘ethnic Russians,’ including the Azov battalion, which is almost all ‘ethnic Russians’ and Volodymyr Zelensky, who, while having a Jewish grandparent, is as ‘ethnically Russian’ as anyone can be. Nearly all of the refugees from occupied areas are ‘ethnic Russians,’ and nearly all of the tens of thousands of civilian casualties are ‘ethnic Russians.’ The city of Mariupol was mostly ‘ethnic Russians’ and was destroyed by Russian forces, even if they had constructed a Potemkin village to impress gullible Westerners. The truth can be seen on satellite photos.

 

Fourth, NATO expansion. Before 2022, NATO was weak and almost forgotten in European and American politics, but Russia’s actions have resulted in Finland joining NATO, increasing Russia’s direct border by over a thousand kilometers. Every nation in NATO is giving their old weapons to Ukraine and purchasing new armaments, many of them from the United States, most notably HIMARS and F-35’s. Ukraine has fewer than forty HIMARS launchers that are causing Russia major headaches on the battlefield, and Poland is buying 486 in the coming decade. The F-35 is lightyears ahead of anything Russia possesses, and they are flying off the shelves. Over 3,000 units are expected to be sold to multiple countries, including most of NATO. Russia’s entire complement of all types of combat aircraft is less than 3,000, and most of those are old, Soviet-era, and in questionable states of readiness. Russia’s inadequate, senile, and paranoid Putin made perhaps the largest blunder in political history since Russia assisted Germany in World War II.

 

Midjourney imagines …

Fifth is the ‘multipolar world.’ China is certainly taking baby steps at solidifying trade alliances based on the Yuan, but the ruble is nowhere to be seen. Even Russian-Chinese trade is being conducted using the Yuan, much to the detriment of Russia and the benefit of China. The BrICS Development Bank will not loan to Russia, and Russian trade with its largest partners other than China is disappearing. Russia’s allies include North Korea and Iran, neither of which are exactly economic superpowers.

 

Sixth is direct or indirect control over Ukraine. Neither is going to happen. Kyiv is not going to be taken, and the political leadership in Kyiv is now enjoying broad support and is vehemently and justifiably anti-Russian. Russia will never again find sympathetic voices in Ukraine, and there is a good chance that the border will be closed or severely limited after the war is over. Europe is more anti-Russian than it has ever been, and being pro-Russian is a political liability in most countries.

 

Seventh, asserting itself as a superpower. That myth has been debunked. The vaunted ‘second army in the world’ fell apart when confronted with barely trained teachers and accountants armed with insurgency weapons. Most of Russia’s major combat failures occurred prior to Western intervention, and Russia remains the number one supplier of tanks and armored vehicles to the Ukrainian armed forces. Being a superpower is more than having a big, scary army and nuclear weapons. It requires industry, alliances, diversification, and technology. Yes, congratulations, Russia, you put the first man in space over sixty years ago. I can’t believe how often they bring that up. What have you done lately?

So, What is the Point?

Every day, Russia has an opportunity to reverse its fortunes. Just leave. Russia will still probably survive if it leaves Ukraine today or in the near future, but if the war drags on another year, I can see the chances of Russia’s further disintegration increasing.

There is absolutely nothing to gain for Russia by continuing the invasion except for a few things. Their stated goals at the outset are absurd at this point, and continuing the war will only make them harder to achieve.

 

First, territorial expansion. Russia doesn’t need more territory, but it was important to take over Donbas to prevent Ukraine from becoming too independent of Russian energy supplies. Had Russia not invaded in 2014, the Western oil companies would have started extracting gas and oil from the Crimean sea basin and Donbas, which could have threatened Russia’s monopoly on fossil fuels in Europe — not totally, but perhaps to a great enough degree as to limit Russia’s influence.

 

Second, corruption and profit for the oligarchs. Nothing is so profitable as war because war is chaos, and in war, it is easy to enrich oneself at the expense of the state. Any cost is justified, and with Russia spending some 40% of the government budget on the war, there is enough for every oligarch to deepen their pockets. Yes, this happens in the West, too, but at least in the West, the super-weapons actually get delivered eventually.

 

Third, terrible intelligence, both of the spy kind and the brain kind. It was largely due to Russia’s corrupt intelligence apparatus that the war began in the first place. I have trouble believing that Putin would have invaded if he could have seen the state of affairs that exists now for Russia. I saw it, why didn’t they? Corruption. Russia relied on paid informants in Ukraine to form its policy and war plans, and those informants were only paid if they delivered news that Putin wanted to hear. Thus, they would tell Putin things like ‘the Ukrainians have no will to fight’ and ‘the silent majority of Ukrainians support Russia.’ These two things were proven wrong in retrospect and were easy to see even before 2014, but why did Russia miss them? Because Putin is a man elevated above his competence.

The Point Is…

The point is not to be proven wrong. Russia’s and Putin’s worldview is under attack. Accepting defeat in Ukraine would shatter the Russian view of itself, and Russians would be forced to accept a couple of deep truths.

 

First, Russia is not a superpower.

Second, Putin is not a great leader. 

Third, Ukrainians don’t want to be ‘little Russians.

 

These are hard truths. We are all paying the price for them.

Edited October 5, 2023 by Playoff Beered

[Playoff Beered]