Ukraine (Mod Note & Threadbanned Users in OP)

kravmaga

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118701993#Comment_118701993

Germany new Prime Minister Olaf Scholz is weak and he only offered 3,000 Helmets and no military aid to the Ukraine before the war kicked off.

Its not very statesman like of Germany and the new govt, all Germany care about is having to pay for higher fuel/ gas prices as Nord Stream 2 has been knocked on the head now. Me, me, me even though a war has kicked off on their doorstep.

Its selfish behaviour and Scholz has done his reputation and Germany's in the world standing no favours.

Thats what the Ukranian Ambassador to the UK meant , its too little too late from Germany. The Ukranians are obviously not going to refuse any military equipment / assistance from Germany.

Its the logistics in getting the equipment via Poland to the Ukranian border is the issue now, time will tell.

Only offering military at the last minute has shown Germany and its government to be very weak.

The British , Czech Republic and the US govt respectively gave military aid weeks and months ago to the Ukraine Armed Forces.

AbusesToilets

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118703144#Comment_118703144

If I was Biden, I would make a spectacle out of it. Ensure that they're only humanitarian items, no weapon or the like. Invite journalists to inspect and accompany the flights, make it as transparent as possible. Use the now empty planes to fly people out of the country. Which would of course necessitate continuous coverage by escort aircraft for defensive purposes.

peterofthebr

I wonder as Putin is going fully crazy..if west give him enough rope he might hang himself

kravmaga

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118702219#Comment_118702219

I don't think that's really relevant now tbh.

Ce he sin

I'm baffled by the Russian tactics here. Earlier today we saw images of Russian lightly armoured vehicles trundling through Kharkiv as if they owned the place. You don't do this in a place awash with anti tank missiles unless you're absolutely sure all defence has been eliminated. Now we hear that they've been wiped out and there's a video taken elsewhere which allegedly shows a Russian column which has been totally devastated. Is there something going on that we don't know about - incompetence by the Russian army, intelligence available to Ukraine from American satellites, anti tank weapons which are far in advance of what the Russians thought the Ukrainians had or all of these?

Ce he sin

Cancelled...

AbusesToilets

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118703231#Comment_118703231

I'd say that the US and West are absolutely providing real time intelligence to the Ukrainians.

Brussels Sprout

Germany new Prime Minister Olaf Scholz is weak 

He most certainly is not. In the last few days he's overturned policy that's been around since the second world war toward lethal weapons and policy toward Russia that's been around for the past 30 years. He has trashed deeply held policies of his own party toward defence. Anyone who knows Germans know that they are a methodical people. They are suspicious of people who move quickly as they see it as reckless. Scholz's actions have been extraordinarily radical by German standards.

MFPM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118702745#Comment_118702745

Quite provocative, but that's the US!

amacca

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118703231#Comment_118703231

I'm a bit baffled at what I'm seeing too.

The russians can't be this incompetent.....and if they are it's a different kind of worrying.

Pete_Cavan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118701541#Comment_118701541

I think this is set in motion, reports of Russians emptying ATMs.

Denny61

To all intents and purposes.and in the eyes of putin .the west and USA may as well be fighting the Russians now if they are helping out ukraine with real time imagery and arms..this could totally derail putin and send him in to a spiral of events which could eventually lead him to unleash nuclear weapons

XsApollo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118703281#Comment_118703281

They must be incompetent and it is quite surprising really, they have big weapons , seems outside of that they have nothing.

considering they haven’t taken any cities that are that close to their own border yet pretty much shows this.

lulublue22

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118703270#Comment_118703270

In todays world everybody wants to do / have everything now- right now. SWIFT will be interesting in terms of how it will impact domestic economies - I freely admit I don’t know much about it but it seems it will as well as sanctioning Russia have blow back on the West. If I’m totally off the mark here I’m open to being corrected - explained in more detail.

AbusesToilets

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118703273#Comment_118703273

Or a measured action to ensure that the peace is kept and China doesn't get notions about trying to exploit a crisis.

amacca

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118703320#Comment_118703320

I would be worried about them feeling the need to unleash some of the big weapons

On top of thermobaric they have tactical nukes before they even get to the bigger stuff....low yield etc but enough to be devastating and provoke retaliations/escalation

I hope they don't get used......

I also hope ots not a long protracted drawn out conflict where yhe end result is a whole country trashed and a whole region even more destabilised for a generation.

kravmaga

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118703270#Comment_118703270

Absolutely disagree with you 100%, look at the German media and TV recently, he has been slated in the ratings polls by the German public.

See link:

https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/short_news/german-government-scholz-suffer-drastic-approval-rating-drop/

lulublue22

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118703281#Comment_118703281

I feel they are holding back a bit - if you look at pics of Grosny it was levelled to the ground comparable to pics from WWII. I think he misjudged the Ukrainian situation and thought he would capture Kyiv and install a puppet gov fairly quickly so wanted to leave infrastructure as intact as possible to get puppet gov up and functioning asap. This is not going to happen so I wouldn’t be surprised to see more intense shelling. Also Russia still does not have air control - It’s a constant ask of the Ukrainians - a no fly zone is what we need. I feel the WEST are supplying the Ukrainian airforce intell to help retain air space control.

Maybe not holding back anymore -Reports that Belarus is being used as launching ground.

https://twitter.com/phildstewart/status/1497964986555150340?s=21

https://twitter.com/deitaone/status/1497960390554267648?s=21

Just adding there are multiple reports on twitter- not sure if they are true or not.

kravmaga

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118703317#Comment_118703317

No one wins in a Nuclear war.

If Putin tries that option, its game over for the entire planet, no one wins.

liamtech

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118702452#Comment_118702452

fantastic move - really hoping Putin has bitten off more than it can chew

liamtech

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118703299#Comment_118703299

that could be massive - very decisive if it happens -

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118703407#Comment_118703407

True, but my concern is the rumour that he is terminally ill and the impact that potentially has on his decision making.

However, I really wonder what would happen if he gave the order. Would those tasked with the launch really do it, knowing that it would kill everyone they care about?

Brussels Sprout

Regarding the calls for a no-fly zone:

https://twitter.com/zackbeauchamp/status/1497955785564950529

AyeGer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118703552#Comment_118703552

It’s hard to imagine launching humanity ending nuclear weapon just because he can’t win Ukraine. Nobody has directly attacked Russia. I don’t see any senior General agreeing with him to launch the weapon, they’d be more likely to shoot Putin and take over the country themselves as part of a coup.

peterofthebr

agree, remember the special forces in middle east. British intelligence is well on the ground their too . US says Putin has used 2/3 of his combat energy to date in the conflict.

peterofthebr

some speculation...about a clip of a russian solder getting into jeep wearing a hazmat suit. implying hes travelling with chems

Brussels Sprout

Nuclear War & Russian expert Tom Nichols has an interesting piece in The Atlantic about Putin's latest move.

His read on it is that it was for the domestic audience primarily and he finishes with this:

What should the U.S. do?

For now, the sensible, and confident, American answer should be to do nothing. This might seem counter-intuitive: The Russians have gone to an alert, and it would seem only prudent to answer this with a reciprocal raising of U.S. alert status. But this Cold War reaction is, I suspect, exactly what Putin wants. He’s in a jam and he’s trying to look strong, and part of the way he can do that is to turn his hare-brained scheme in Ukraine into a gigantic Russian-American confrontation. Putin would like nothing better than to take everyone’s mind off Ukraine and focus us all on a game of nuclear chicken.

We should not take this bait. There’s no good strategic reason to give Putin what he wants and we should hope that President Biden will pointedly ignore this obvious provocation.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118703611#Comment_118703611

I think that's the paradoxical power of the nukes. If all you care about is having power, status and influence, even legacy, launching a nuke is a surefire way to destroy all of those things. What use is power if all you have to rule over is irradiated ashes?

liamtech

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118703611#Comment_118703611

TBH i suspect that if he gave the order - he would be signing his own death warrant - would immanently end up in the Lubyanka Basement with a Bullet - and i would also suggest that this may ultimately be what happens - He is now rattled. I begin to think the 'nuclear threat' is the act of desperation. He has bitten off more than he can chew; He knows this, and his close colleagues know this too.

If there is a run on Russian banks (which is being speculated on) then quite literally, Putin has destroyed his own country -

AyeGer

Perfect chance for a coup too if he did give the order. The 2nd in command could blame Puting for the invasion and say he thought it wasn’t the right move and that Putin is unhinged wanting to launch the nuclear weapon. A new leader is a way out of mess for Russia.