Russia - threadbanned users in OP

I don't think the Ukrainians would just roll over by any means ,

But , I think Russia may have been far more prepared for an insurgency than they were for a war ..

They had Rosgardia troops in their first echelons of troops heading for Ukraine , in places like bucha , and kerson they were going door to door with lists of people of intrest , they knew the families of service men , of any one who openly expressed anti Russian sentiment ,

The Russians are expierienced in running a police state , it seems to be what they excell at ,

I think the plan was to split Ukraine into fiefdoms ala Chechnya, put a local hard man in each , and fund him ,

Wether or not the Russians could have afforded that ... Given how much it costs them to keep the kadirovites on side , who knows ..

They'd probably earmarked the Russian speaking areas as easy territory.. believing they'd be welcomed with open arms , as opposed to any arms available..

Yes in the beginning that was the plan, the 3 day plan, that is. They even had the restaurants chosen the ones they would dine in to celebrate their "Victory" plus the residences they would live in after ejecting the owners. I remember reading about the "kill" lists they had too, and the plan to go street by street, house by house eliminating "Anti-Russian's". But even so, even if their 3 day plan had worked, what they managed in Chechnya , Georgia and in Afghanistan would not be guaranteed to happen in Ukraine. And certainly not now or even in the future, after what they have done.

Once the Russians have been driven out of Ukraine entirely, and even assuming that Putin survives, I'd say you will see Georgia and Chechnya fighting for independence from Russia. Once the cash that keeps Kadyrov in power stops, it will remove a lot of his power, and with a much reduced military capability, if Georgia pushes back, it has a good chance to succeed.

Oh yes, the 3 day plan.

Remember all the "civil servants" they sent in canvas lorries?

That was some BBQ.

Fine, so you are confident that this minority are being closely monitored, bugging & spyware etc.

It's highly unlikely it was undamaged

Hold on now! Just above you wrote "You would be naïve to think a close eye isn't already being kept on those people. No special rules or policies are needed."

Now you say "Well I've good news for you - they probably are already."

Which is it? First you imply some degree of certainty but now you ain't sure..

That was a nice thoughtful message, maybe they are worried about their own power supplies?

On this I would have no problem, the person I was replying to was on about placing ALL Russians under arrest/intered.

The more that lot in Moscow belter on like this, the more we know they are living in misery.

Some interesting Aviation Movements from today and yesterday.

Yesterday, a relatively recent arrival to the Italian Airforce, a G550 with its conformal Early Warning radar, is seen finishing up its monitoring of both Belarusian and Kaliningrad borders.

Further West, a USAF KC-135 is well on its way back to its probable base at Mildenhall. Its historical flightpath gives us a clue to where its accompanying flight of F-16's was operating ( with their transponders off). The KC-135 is one of a number of assets based around the venerable Boeing 707, with some still flying with "steam gauges" and flight engineers.

This morning, over Lithuania, a gaggle of Beechcraft B200's betray its use as a base for these versatile SIGNIT aircraft. These have been operating along the Russian, Belarus and Kaliningrad borders for months now and are operated by the US Army. ( I can still remember the calls "N1, 12%, fuel in" with this type....)

Finally, our old friend, Global Hawk FORTE 11, is seen returning from an all-night foray over the Black Sea. Unusually, it had its transponder off all night until it returned to friendly airspace this morning, on its way back to Italy.

1: care to show the letter you sent to the newspapers condemning the actions of the IRA?

2: Yeah, angry letters are more effective than sinking battleships, ffs this gets more ludicrous by the hour 🤣🤣

"but I don’t see why any these people should remain in the civilised world if they disagree with our values."

Again with the ridiculous hyperbole, if they refuse to stand on a soapbox and scream their dislike for Putin they must be removed immediately 🙄

And straight after the ridiculous hyperbole we follow up with a healthy dose of scaremongering for good measure

"Once again it’s only a matter of time before we endup with an atrocity in Europe after being radicalised and incited by crazy Russian propaganda and tv"

Headline in tomorrow's Times is self explanatory ; experts saying it could take Russia 30 years to fully recover from the dictator's war on Ukraine. Also, fears that he could be bonkers enough to try and take Kyiv again.