Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Francie Barrett · 21-12-2022 1:12pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120020937#Comment_120020937

I had previously made a number of points similar to what General Zaluzhny made. There is going to be nothing easy about Ukraine liberating occupied lands. What really worries me is all the time that Russia have had for fortify and entrench themselves in Ukrainian territory. People here can laugh all they want, but there's going to be nothing easy about Ukrainian forces attacking multiple lines of Russian trenches with minefields, obstacles and strongpoints filled with machine guns and anti-tank fire.

This shouldn't need to be said, but the above isn't a hope/prediction of a Russian win.

opinionated3 · 21-12-2022 1:13pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120021381#Comment_120021381

Afghan "men" and their tribes are the reason Afghanistan is in the state it's in. Not to mention their cruel interpretation of Islam. The west gave them everything they possibly could materially, and they still chickened out of the fight, unlike the brave men and women of Ukraine. Your can't help those who don't want to help themselves.

Hobgoblin11 · 21-12-2022 1:22pm

Putin at the meeting of Russian military: all information about NATO forces and measures should be studied and used to develop Russian Armed Forces

https://t.me/bbbreaking/144171

Furze99 · 21-12-2022 1:26pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120021494#Comment_120021494

They can only occupy this fortified territory to the extent that they can keep their supply lines open to same. This is surely the Ukrainian political play, give us more destructive weapons with longer ranges, help us with intelligence and we'll do the job. They will need to put boots on the ground but only after they have severely depleted Russian capabilities & morale. The 'West' has to go along with this, having gone this far in rightfully supporting Ukraine. Isn't this how Ukraine has managed the war so far and it's getting results.

Beasty · 21-12-2022 1:43pm

Posts deleted

If anyone has an issue with moderation, PM a mod to discuss

And this is a thread about Russia and its war in Ukraine - not Afghanistan

cnocbui · 21-12-2022 1:55pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120021520#Comment_120021520

He continues to be a strategic genius, emphasising the study of a non enemy they aren't fighting, instead of the unwilling enemy they actually are fighting.

Rawr · 21-12-2022 1:57pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120021624#Comment_120021624

Also:

"all information about NATO forces and measures should be studied"

Are they actually suggesting that they haven't been doing this already?

Strumms · 21-12-2022 2:22pm

In my own opinion I think unless Putin was to drop dead / be taken out…. I genuinely think the world is on a path to WW3.

Putin has the backing of China, they’ve conducted joint military exercises this week and possibly the backing of India who have been tacitly supporting him for afar.

Also Medvedev and Xi met about three hours ago in Beijing.

So really, it’s maybe about time the heads were cut off the snakes… before the west finds itself so far behind the 8 ball.

problem is in Biden you have a guy who is proven as at best a ‘reactive’ president…a man who looks like he doesn’t always want to be there…preparing to make the odd tough decision im sure was his thinking but the most challenging era in world politics since possibly the start of WW2 in 1939. Fine and dandy kissing babies and shaking hands but he even avoids confrontation, avoids looking strong, shirks tough but pertinent questioning… the look of a man thinking … “ I didn’t sign up for this, can I not be opening a tennis court ? “..and brushing off serious questions form the press with humour.

No way in hell come November 2024 he’ll get re-elected…his approval ratings as of the beginning of this month are the second lowest for a post WW2 president.

I wouldn’t have any faith in him. He’s got the facade of a weak, doddery old reactive, do nothing dinosaur. I said it at the time though, the Americans were left with feck all in the way of choice, Trump, an unstable megalomaniac vs the above….

In Britain you have a 42 year old inexperienced Rishi Sunak and no real volume of nouse, experience or influence.

Gatling · 21-12-2022 2:27pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120021494#Comment_120021494

Drone's, HiMars, armoured vehicles will make it easier than what's been predicted,it was said about karkhiv, Kherson bakhmut,and kreminna,

And look how that's worked out for the highly entrenched russian soldiers,

Not sure those trenches being dug on the beaches of Crimea are going to help much other than predug mass Graves for Russians

Strazdas · 21-12-2022 2:39pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120021748#Comment_120021748

Russia is not an ally of China - it is a mere glove puppet for the Chinese. China is ten times bigger and simply doesn't need the fascist state. Even the Russian public are very wary of the Chinese and don't see them as friends or allies.

johnnyskeleton · 21-12-2022 2:40pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120021494#Comment_120021494

Well the strategy is to liberate Zaphorizhzhia by avoiding the fortified areas and use maneuver troops to encircle and cut off the fortified areas and towns such as Melitopol to force the Russians surrender. Russia does not have enough troops to have a properly fortified line from the Dnieper river to Donbas. I agree that there is nothing easy about the upcoming offensive, but what Ukraine want to achieve is eminently achievable and in many ways is seems more realistic than the Kherson offensive did at the start of same.

Russia are the ones who are trying to prosecute WW1 style trench warfare which, to be fair to them, was working well around April-May last year. But then HIMARS was introduced to disrupt their supply lines, and they have been bogged down ever since. Ukraine are not planning any major offensives in the Donbas, because it would, as you say, be sending them into the heavily fortified areas. But without giving the game away, they are not planning to attack there.

The Russians seem to be using their training exercises in Belarus as a blocking maneuver i.e. it forces Ukraine to keep troops in or around Kyiv for its defence so they cant commit them to the South. But if they were to attack into Northern Ukraine, it would be a terrific Christmas present for Kyiv. In February, they invaded with a more professional and better equipped force, with the element of surprise and with a troop ratio advantage of up to 12:1. Now, they would be attacking where they are expected, with poorly trained and equipped conscripts and without the numerical advantage that they had in February.

Combined with stalemate in Donbas and the Ukrainians being able to withdraw and rest some of their major assault battalions from Kherson and Kharkiv, and agreeing with you that it won't be "easy", Ukraine are in a very good position to impose massive defeats on the Russians over the next few months.

johnnyskeleton · 21-12-2022 2:58pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120021638#Comment_120021638

Well they study it and try to replicate it, but in a very lazy and non-committal way. Russian military structures are more or less those of the Red Army in WWII. Their tactics are to amass huge numbers of men and artillery, blast forward in two unrelenting pincers to try to encircle them and then keep blasting until they surrender. Brutal, but it was effective at a time when they had millions of men but no advanced equipment. Such a structure does not have room for individual sub commanders making in field decisions, selecting targets or adapting to changed circumstances, and so the centralised commander issues orders and they have to be obeyed, or you get shot. This is the tactics of choice if you have to suddenly conscript a load of soldiers without proper training and favour large stockpiles of equipment over smaller amounts of the latest and best.

NATO by contrast rely on smaller, smarter units working towards an understood goal using their own judgment, maneuver tactics, speed and precision to achieve them. To do this, you need to have professional, long term, dedicated and smart soliders with modern equipment. You also need to have a much larger number of NCOs and officers who take responsibility rather than blindly following orders. Finally, you need to have a large number of support and logistics personnel and accurate intelligence.

Russia tried to adopt NATO tactics at the start of the invasion, but without providing the structural reforms and equipment necessary. They had a complete logistical and support failure, and their intelligence, while good by WW2 standards, was not sufficient for modern warfare. The result was that their attempt to mirror NATO tactics simply didn't work and they resorted to the old reliable - blast away until the enemy is all dead. It's brutal, and can be effective if you have several million equipped men, but doesn't work for the size of forces they have in Ukraine.

Incidentally, a significant ex post facto explanation from Russian supporters for their failures to date is that they never actually intended this to be a full scale invasion, and so they didn't fail to take Kyiv etc. The "evidence" for same is that if they did wish to carry out such an operation, they would have needed millions of men and they compare it to Barbarossa (3-5 million men) or the Battle of Berlin (1 million with more to follow). John Mearshimer repeats this line a lot. But what it misses is that this implicitly acknowledges that the Russian armed forces are still stuck in the WW2 era. What they don't mention is that Russia tried to recreate the 2003 invasion of Iraq where the US used a very fast combined arms invasion and had effectively destroyed the clunky old Iraqui army within a month, using similar numbers of ground troops.

odyssey06 · 21-12-2022 3:04pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120021457#Comment_120021457

That's a large part of the reason Russia is there, but really it is about not losing Ukraine from its orbit, even if it didn't have those resources. Something which it has no right to demand, especially in light of treaties it has signed with Ukraine.

It doesn't necessarily follow that's why the US and EU is giving so much support, for the reasons here.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120021434#Comment_120021434

astrofool · 21-12-2022 5:16pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120021829#Comment_120021829

Belarus attacking also brings Belarus itself into play, Ukraine will be able to retaliate directly against a non-nuclear armed country. Poland could have the tanks outside Lukashenko's office by the next morning.

It's why Belarus attacking won't happen and isn't being taken seriously bar a few wish-casters.

johnnyskeleton · 21-12-2022 5:19pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120022372#Comment_120022372

Well they attacked from Belarus in Feb, so can potentially do so again now, without it dragging Belarus into the war.

Hobgoblin11 · 21-12-2022 5:44pm

Reports of Liga(Wagner) mercenaries being deployed near Krupeyki village in Belarus to stage a provocation on the border

we may be looking at some sinister actions to....

https://twitter.com/HromadskeUA/status/1605588112972791808

Markcheese · 21-12-2022 5:54pm

To some extent the provocation stuff Is kind of bullshit ,

Ukraine and Russia are at war , Belarus has been assisting and allowing Russian attacks on Ukraine , Ukraine will have no problem going for a first strike if it suits them , it's not like in February when Ukraine was doing everything ( prob too much ) to not escalate and inflame the situation ,Ukraine wasn't mobilizing ,wasn't mining the borders ,wasn't deploying troops to the border..

At this stage what are the Russians going to do that they're not already doing ,

At the most they allow the Belarussians to spread the we were attacked narative - theyll spread that anyway if it suits ,

If there are Russian troop and armour build ups near the Ukrainian border there'll be hi-mars strikes in response..

farmingquestion · 21-12-2022 5:57pm

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/12/21/russia-nord-stream-explosions/

But now, after months of investigation, numerous officials privately say that Russia may not be to blame after all for the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines.

“There is no evidence at this point that Russia was behind the sabotage,” said one European official, echoing the assessment of 23 diplomatic and intelligence officials in nine countries interviewed in recent weeks.

Some went so far as to say they didn’t think Russia was responsible. Others who still consider Russia a prime suspect said positively attributing the attack — to any country — may be impossible.

So no evidence the Russians blew up Nord Stream. It made no sense for them to do so. It makes far more sense that the US did it, they had far more to gain than Russia.

josip · 21-12-2022 6:02pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120022502#Comment_120022502

But the US also had far more to lose. So it doesn't make sense.

cnocbui · 21-12-2022 6:08pm

https://twitter.com/oleksiireznikov/status/1605495774690742273?cxt=HHwWgsCordP57scsAAAA

Fu*k.

cnocbui · 21-12-2022 6:15pm

⚡️The United States allocates $1.85 billion in additional military assistance to Ukraine, it includes Patriot air defense systems, - Blinken

Finally, great news.

Shout out to Israel for its consistency; 17 generators. The UK is only providing 900.

Gatling · 21-12-2022 6:28pm

So we all know about the forced deportations of Ukrainans especially Ukrainian children to Russia to be forcibly adopted,

Here's a report showing Russian soldiers searching orphanages to steal children from so they can be taken back to Russia to be indoctrinated to fight for Russia...

How the hell is the International community and the UN staying silent .

https://news.sky.com/story/cctv-shows-chilling-moment-russian-fsb-agents-and-soldiers-hunt-for-ukrainian-orphans-12772595

cnocbui · 21-12-2022 6:38pm

Russia's Oil Exports Collapsed Since G-7 Sanctions Began

Country’s volumes plunged by more than half in week to Dec. 16

(I'd post a link, but Bloomberg...)

Meanwhile, it looks like no one is brave enough to tell Putrid.

Putin Pledges Unlimited Spending to Ensure Victory in Ukraine

Russian president tells military to achieve results in Ukraine

Defense minister calls for expanding army to 1.5 million

Unlimited spending based on unlimited income, not to mention unlimited amounts of cannon fodder.

The cold war concluded with a ratcheted up arms race which the US could afford, but which broke the USSR financially. How's it go?: 'Those who fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.'

That applies equally to the west, this time we need to put the boot in and finish them off. They clearly aren't fit to run their country so it needs to be run for them, like Japan post WW2.

Gatling · 21-12-2022 6:39pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120022614#Comment_120022614

Imagine the look on Putins face if the Ukrainans went into Belarus and announced they were annexating half of Belarus to protect ukraine

cnocbui · 21-12-2022 6:50pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120022599#Comment_120022599

I think it's a matter of priorities and solving one problem at a time. It can only be addressed once the active fighting has ended and the return of the children can be made part of some agreement such as the kidnapped being used as currency to pay for the lifting of sanctions. Unfortunately I think it highly likely those children will mostly be abused in the meantime, such is the base nature of Orcs. I don't really want to to think about it as it's an utterly terrible situation where nothing can be done about the suffering at the moment.

Larbre34 · 21-12-2022 7:58pm

Stephen Fry and John Boyne 🤣

Nice one Vlad, you'll do wonders for their Kindle sales.

And yet '1984' is still the most read title in Russia at the moment. If Putin isn't worried, well, he ought to be.

He's probably banned Margaret Attwood as well, but I can see a scenario develop which ends with Putin hanging by his neck from the wall of the Kremlin by this time next year, just like in 'The Handmaid's Tale'.

Hobgoblin11 · 21-12-2022 8:06pm

President Zelensky arrived in U.S.

https://t.me/V_Zelenskiy_official/4477

Gatling · 21-12-2022 8:16pm

One president Meets an Amazing president

https://twitter.com/spook_info/status/1605642547258396675?s=20&t=V_falfjW9ZHVXeYp8ow1UA

https://twitter.com/cepa/status/1605642634470379520?s=20&t=zGK5Iii7fwWn_Vip5ExU-Q

roosterman71 · 21-12-2022 8:31pm

There'll be someone on shortly whinging about him not wearing a suit

Furze99 · 21-12-2022 8:32pm

I presume Solovyov has an escape plan too, for when inevitably he needs it.

Headshot · 21-12-2022 8:37pm

I feel a tear or two listening to Zelensky at the moment

Larbre34 · 21-12-2022 8:50pm

Joe Biden failing to know that Time Magazine is a global publication is peak Grandad Joe.

But you're right about Zelensky.

It occurs to me, that all these windbags around the World spend their lives ass-kissing and shilling and working grimey junior jobs, with the aim of leading their Countries. When in fact, all it takes, is for a person to be utterly selfless, to put the people first, to put the Constitution and the integrity of the Country first and to never say die.

Slava.

Gatling · 21-12-2022 8:58pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120023047#Comment_120023047

Probably the first time in 300 + days he's felt safe from attacks and assassinations

Crocodile Booze · 21-12-2022 8:58pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120022932#Comment_120022932

Right...... so they can't take a few dusty towns a few km from their own borders and they're going to take Paris. I imagine the French are trembling alright.

Gatling · 21-12-2022 9:02pm

I love how they flew him to American via a US airforce aircraft from Poland,

No chance anyone would have interfered with that flight and it's likely escort of US F22 fighters

Hobgoblin11 · 21-12-2022 10:51pm

Biden receiving Zelensky: Putin has escalated his attacks against civilians and is trying to use winter as a weapon

Putin is the ultimate white walker, the night king

https://twitter.com/AJABreaking/status/1605648192405704708

Gatling · 21-12-2022 11:10pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120023606#Comment_120023606

Same old story from 3 months ago so nothing has changed,bar the mass influx of generators and floating power stations

Gatling · 21-12-2022 11:14pm

...

jmreire · 21-12-2022 11:47pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120022642#Comment_120022642

And to add salt to the wound, the Belarussians would welcome them with flower's and kisses'.

TheValeyard · 21-12-2022 11:59pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120023606#Comment_120023606

Good thing the Night King was slow as **** and an easy kill

Say my name · 22-12-2022 12:20am

https://twitter.com/MilHistNow/status/1605447977325035522?t=uZ4MKa4YW3sakMSfar6mHQ&s=19

No wonder Putin takes his rent a crowd at rallies very seriously and has the dubbed applause and cheering added in for the broadcast version.

Francie Barrett · 22-12-2022 12:23am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120021829#Comment_120021829

I talked about this just over a week ago.

I said Melitopol is a clear hinge for the Russian defence in the south, but that the Russians aren't completely stupid and have realised this. I even drew a silly map. You can see I highlighted a few locations of the strategic road intersections where it's known the Russians are entrenching for months now. Some will laugh and joke about the Russian trenches, but at no stage during this war have heavily entreched enemy positions proved easy for the opposing force.

This is not Kharkiv where Ukraine managed to break the single line of Russian defence and charge to Kupiansk with minimal resistance. There are multiple lines of defence here, there won't be an already shattered army defending it, and most importantly there will be no benefit of surprise. I don't think what is expected will be at all easy. I fear that what is expected might not even be possible. I especially worry that sending Ukrainian forces into an offensive in BMP1's and T-55's is not going to give them the best chance of success either.

Unfortunately, I can easily see us being here this time next year talking about the next wave of fighting.

Jinglejangle69 · 22-12-2022 12:25am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120023899#Comment_120023899

How’s Bakhmut going?

Gatling · 22-12-2022 12:35am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120023910#Comment_120023910

Still waiting for the Russians to turn up and the Ukrainans to start retreating 🤣🤣🤣

johnnyskeleton · 22-12-2022 12:42am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120023899#Comment_120023899

You drew a map with entrenchments around a few key towns. The strategy would not be to take those towns, but to go around them. It is not necessary nor desirable to take these towns. Instead, they will cut these towns off from resupply.

You say the Russians arent completely stupid and have realised that the attack will be in the south and thats true. But their stupidity comes from the assumption that they will be happy to engage the Russian troops in towns in the same manner that they have engaged the Ukrainians holding positions in Donbas.

They simply dont have enough troops there now to hold the area, hence they want a ceasefire until they can move more of the mobilised troops in.

Ukraine wont charge head first into battle in old tanks. They will use technicals to cut off their supply lines and force a retreat, or a surrender, or a bith of both, from the garrisoned troops.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.businessinsider.com/ukrainians-turn-personal-vehicles-into-technicals-to-fight-russia-2022-9%3famp

If they dont surrender or retreat, Ukrainian troops can ignore them until they leave their positions.

Obviously with the usual caveats that who knows what the actual plans are etc, but that has been their preferred tactic to date and it works well for them. Russia either hasnt learned or cant effectively counter it, hence the retreat in Kherson city. Removing them from tge rest of Kherson and Crimea will obviously be much more difficult

Francie Barrett · 22-12-2022 12:49am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120023910#Comment_120023910

For who?

machiavellianme · 22-12-2022 12:50am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120023018#Comment_120023018

He will have many options; a window, a flight of stairs, a nearby tree, a cup of tea....

Francie Barrett · 22-12-2022 12:52am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120023935#Comment_120023935

Yes, that is definitely it.

johnnyskeleton · 22-12-2022 12:56am

On us being here a year from now, that would not be ideal. The Russian budget is set with hogher military spending for the next 3 years. This may not be evidence in itself that they expect it to continue for 3 years, but it does demonstrate that they are planning for the potential of fighting for the next 3 years. It is not clear whether this increased spending will cover additional procurement of advanced weaponry or not as it is most likely just to cover resupply costs and salaries, death benefits etc.

American military support for Ukraine next year will be significantly more than this year. This year will be when more advanced systems are given to them, and it would be hoped that increased training, repair support etc woukd be given. However, its less certain what will happen into 2024. European nations will have to make some really difficult decisions before then.

However, even if all Western support dries up Ukraine will fight on. They have the numbers, they have the morale, they have the superior tactics and they have home advantage.

So long story short, it is very likely that there will still be some form of ongoing conflict this time next year in or aorund Ukraine. But the nature of the fighting will be very different.

Gatling · 22-12-2022 1:07am

The only victories were seeing from the orcs is who can run back to Moscow the fastest.......

Still surprised some still back the Russians I thought all of the hardcore putinbots had left the building

Russia - threadbanned users in OP

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