Russia - threadbanned users in OP

is_that_so

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119229448#Comment_119229448

Before February we would have believed Russia could have walked the walk. As a result of all of this there are renewed questions over China's fighting ability. The so-called warmongering of the US/West over the last two decades or so does put them in a better position in any other conflict, one you'd hope China is not inclined to start.

Danzy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119229318#Comment_119229318

Russia have no interest in a ceasefire.

What benefit is there to Russia in negotiation or ceasefire as things now stand?

paul71

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119229698#Comment_119229698

That is true but that Aircraft carrier has always required tugs to pull it if it wants to go anywhere so all they have to do is target the tugs 🙂

Cordell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119229663#Comment_119229663

Even then that was all they did, they overwhelmed the already weakened nazis army with their sheer number of cannon fodder soldiers and very little else. And total war against everyone is what they did back then as well, after "liberating" they proceeded to pillage rape and murder and then plant their puppet communist regimes.

20silkcut

A herd of contrarians. They very much have their own herd mentality.

What about Iraq?

What about the Donbas genocide?

Russia are slowly but surely making progress.

Ukraine promised not to join NATO

Zelensky is a pain in the ass.

The west is losing interest.

Predictable and inevitable they seem to come in waves every two to three pages of the discussion.

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119229740#Comment_119229740

You are forgetting the massive amounts of artillery they had and still have.

Curious_Case

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119229725#Comment_119229725

Huge benefit in terms of preventing a bad situation from becoming worse.

But, they haven't reached that conclusion yet because they have simply crystallised a mindset that doesn't include defeat.

Putin's war may become something of a moment of realisation for the Russian nation as a whole.

is_that_so

Older April FT piece on Putin and where things were going, in their free "Ukraine War" section. Still an interesting read in June.

https://www.ft.com/content/63411b89-bf29-4865-b128-89c11870aeca

Loafing Oaf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119229677#Comment_119229677

Yes strong sense of

with these guys

Christy42

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119229722#Comment_119229722

You would hope China would see Ukraine as a warning that a small country can do a lot of damage to a bigger one. I would hope that they will be happy to simply claim Taiwan instead of risking a prolonged engagement actually trying to take it. Especially as until they actually take the island they would be admitting that they don't own it by invading.

20silkcut

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119229941#Comment_119229941

So Russia is going to conduct a low key campaign so as not to pique our interest in the west?

Lavrov said the other day he doesn’t care about opinions in the west.

Raoul Duke III

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119229986#Comment_119229986

Unless there was a mass desertion of Ukraine (ceasing of military aid, removal of sanctions) by Western governments, then who cares what social media-addled morons with the attention span of a gnat are clicking on in their Tik Tok and Twitter apps?

zv2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119230059#Comment_119230059

Popular opinion is not as important now as it was at the beginning of the war. Politics has taken over.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119229941#Comment_119229941

Surely Ukraine is still a hot topic in FSB headquarters 😅

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119230113#Comment_119230113

Tends to happen when government sock puppets have military on their TV shows showing Russia wiping out the UK (and Ireland). Kinda becomes a government policy issue. That Jacinta and Rupert are enthrall to Love Island is irrelevant.

fly_agaric

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119228619#Comment_119228619

Thanks again. Alot more "interesting" than Ireland I'm sure, in an apocryphal Chinese proverb kind of way. I only got the tail end of it as well, but I feel the Cold war mostly passed Ireland by (think we had some wealthy people from the continent coming to remote areas here to get back to nature, or in hope of escaping the nuclear fallout if the wind was blowing the correct way!).

No I don't blame Germans at all for winding down their military (but possibly it would be nice if they still had alot of the vast amounts of materiel from all those divisions mothballed + in good nick rather than scrapped/sold off etc!). They were right to reap that peace dividend IMO, its probably the decisions around energy/energy security where blame can be attributed. However there is an awful lot of hindsight and post-fact wisdom going around since this invasion and as I've posted before, the rubbish about Germany as somehow being this friend of Putin/Russia, or sanguine about a Putin "win" here, once things quickly go back to a pre-war "normal" annoys me.

It's offensive, and as well as that it is kind of stupid (when you think about what a clear win out of this for Putin, even at a great cost, is going to mean for Germany & for all of us in Europe), which makes me suspect motives of some people pushing it.

Wibbs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119230113#Comment_119230113

Yep and military/strategic considerations. Imperial Russia wants her empire and influence back and doesn't seem to understand or care about how they go about doing that, or indeed understand or care that they simply can't anymore. They are far down compared to their peak of the Soviet Union times as far as international and military clout and even then the Yanks were ahead of them by nearly every metric. Today they're not even playing the same sport. All they have are nukes and oil/gas and causing famine. But mostly nukes.

Ranged against them is every nation and trading block on earth that matters. Even China are largely keeping their powder dry in this. They have their own issues economically and politically and this dragging out isn't helping them. India's their only large supporter and even there the Indians are playing it safe with both sides for the most part. Just like they did throughout the Cold War. Russia gets some support from African nations who see this as Russia against "The West" while failing to cop on that Russia is a White Christian imperial European power and part of the same West. What they really mean is "anti America". The Islamic world tends to sit on the fence as they've been fecked over by both America(and previous European powers) and Russia. However they're significantly more linked into the West economically and politically.

So while eejits on Twatter and Arsebook will move onto the next cause de jour, those in charge of economies, politics and militaries won't take their eye off the Ukrainian ball any time soon, no matter how much Russia and their fanboyz hope they will.

Dr. Bre

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119230330#Comment_119230330

They can’t afford to send it

AbusesToilets

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119229578#Comment_119229578

Russia would have to tow their carrier into the Black Sea, no guarantee it wouldn't sink on its own volition

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119229588#Comment_119229588

I've heard a theory that Putin supporters in the West are often conspiracy theorists, which makes them very susceptible to Kremlin propaganda ("We're not getting the real story here, only what the Western media wants you to believe" etc).

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119230609#Comment_119230609

I've heard the theory they are utter gobshítes... would struggle to disprove that.

paul71

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119230605#Comment_119230605

Did you know they actually almost managed to sink it in the drydock!!!

They had diesel generator pumps to pump sea water out of the floating drydock and following the example of those higher up the command chain in Russia the manager of the drydock sold (stole) the diesel. Happened in 2018.

Fighting Tao

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119230804#Comment_119230804

They’re at that about a month now.

rob316

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119229941#Comment_119229941

We are selfish we think of ourselves and when our pockets are been squeezed worse than ever that hits home harder than anything. There is a podcast on the spotify, the gaurdian do about daily updates in Ukraine, its a worth a listen if anyone feels like they are falling out of touch with this war. Its going to be a long protracted war provided the west keep pumping in the weapons.

BorneTobyWilde

I don't think Russia has all these amazing war heads that can reach UK in 3 seconds. I think they are a pack of liars, best they have is a Lada with a boot full of Coke and Mentos

Yurt2

Mearsheimer back at it again. Gave a speech at the Robert Schuman Centre. It's on YouTube.

Won't give it all that much oxygen here, but safe to say he's burying his academic reputation.

Using terms like "mainstream media" and actually coming to the defence of Putin's raison d'etre for invading in many ways. "Putin does not have a record of lying to foreign leaders or audiences".

Sad and pathetic end to a career.

Dubh Geannain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119230804#Comment_119230804

It's been a bad past 48hrs for Ukraine in terms of territory lost in the East. The sheer volume of the Russian push looks to have ground them down. The salient out of Popansa is also adding pressure to that particular area with a few pockets of Ukrainians troops at risk of encirclement unless they fall back a little. Hopefully I'm reading it wrong and they can continue to chew up Russian troop numbers in the area. But they also need to decimate the Russian artillery positions but again sheer volume is on Russia's side in that regard also.

Dubh Geannain

Speaking of artillery though -

https://twitter.com/IAPonomarenko/status/1539240601752940550?s=20&t=mKxTQC5B1tush_uaap7FGg

zv2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119230168#Comment_119230168

This book could be used to swat nuclear bombs.

thomil

Multiple media reports that 7 German PzH-2000 self-propelled howitzers have arrived in Ukraine. There is no clear consensus whether or not they're on the front lines already, but at least they're in country.

PzH-2000 (PzH=Panzerhaubitze, literally armored howitzer) is a modified and vastly improved version of the M-109 self-propelled howitzer which is already deployed in Ukraine. That should be a rude wake-up call for some Russian soldiers.

In other Germany-related news, the Federal Government has just published a list of all the equipment that has been delivered or is still scheduled to be delivered. I haven't found an English version of the list, so if your browser has an integrated translator, I recommend using that:

Militärische Unterstützungsleistungen für die Ukraine | Bundesregierung

The first part of the list, up until the "Spare parts for MiG-29" item, shows the equipment and supplies that have been delivered. Anything below that lists the equipment that is still being prepared for shipping, including the IRIS-T SAM system, 3 MARS MLRS launchers and other stuff. All items marked with an asterisk* are either newly-built equipment straight from the factory or are currently undergoing refurbishment.

Stand-outs for me are the sheer level of logistical support that is coming from Germany. Transport vehicles, fuel, medical supplies, all of that is just as crucial as weapons. And in my opinion, the 78 Toyota Pickups, 178 lorries, minibuses and SUVs 360000 field rations and 500 large scale ration packs are likely to be just as crucial as the weapons systems. The same goes for the supply of diesel and gasoline, which is listed as "continuous". Doesn't sound like the Ukrainian armed forces are going to run out of fuel anytime soon.

EDIT: Actually, there is one more item underneath the MiG-29 spares before we get to the future deliveries. "Sondergeschützte Fahrzeuge" translates as "specially prodected vehicles" and likely refers to MRAPs or other similar armored utility vehicles.