Russia - threadbanned users in OP

"A book [formerly] endorsed by Putin himself". That is surprising if true (?!) but you could read it for tips on how to run an effective camp/secret police/torture industrial complex.

If there are attacks near Stupochky it means the ring around Bakhmut is closing. M03 is already in artillery range, H32 almost is now after Klischiivka being captured. Reports of assaults on Ivanisky too on H32, would leave only 1 "safe" road out of Bakhmut, a backroad to Chasiv Yar

That headline is amusing in light of just reading this:

He then goes on with your typically insane Orc chain of reasoning to conclude they will prevail. They have this collective cognitative dissonance that prevents them from realising that this time it's different; that the world reached a moment where one too many straws was foisted on the camels back of tollerance and pacifist/diplomatic responses to Orc sh​it and that the west has had enough and isn't going to back down - as it always has done - and let them win this one.

One of the few good things at the moment is that we don't have a Kissinger or his ilk in a senior position in the EU or US at the moment, urging 'diplomacy'.

Something interesting is going on in Ukraine in the background to all this that I don't think many are aware of, as it doesn't get much coverage, for obvious reasons, and that is that Ukraine is taking this opportunity and is cleaning house. By that I mean it's tackling the corruption that it's been famous for and plagued with.

Zelensky hasn't just been waging a war against the Horde, he's simultaneously been waging a far less obvious one on corruption. The latest action on this front has been a Deputy Minister for Infrastructure being exposed and who will be dealt with:

A few months back they found and outed several officers in the Odessa customs office for corruption and are prosecuting, and I have seen many other instances of corruption being uncovered and actually dealt with.

Aside from the obvious war aspects, the Ukraine that went into this conflict, won't be quite the same one that emerges, in terms of corruption and the attitude of inevitability/acceptance to it.

Besides this, there is a very significant internal war going on against traitors, saboteurs, collaborators and outright Russian agents. I think they are up to around a thousand of these being nabbed so far.

So Zelensky and his team are essentially fighting 3 wars simultaneously. Amazing.

All I can say to you 20wheel is that if you are so worried about the consequences of Poland and Ukraine actions in defending against Russian aggression, and the effect this will have on Ireland, is that you start building your very own bomb shelter in the back garden, or under the house. A good modern one, able to withstand a nuclear attack, and with enough provisions to last 6 mths. Then you can relax, save in the knowledge that you will be OK ( for 6 mths anyway)

He's already doing most of those things, so what's the threat now? That he will do them...better?

The threat of Russia is 2-fold I feel.

The first is any sense of victory in their attempt to grab land. If they are allowed to succeed, even to a limited degree, it will simply embolden them. The human cost will not mean anything to them, and will try again for any target they feel they can gain for the price of human-wave attacks and a chunk of their Cold War arsenal. And maybe, just maybe they overrun a whole nation. Maybe Ukraine, maybe Georgia, or maybe something more "Western"? Whatever takes their fancy. This threat must be neutralised.

The second threat, which I feel we should be planning for now, is the functional collapse of the Russian Federation. They've pulled the plug on a demgraphic grenade which is still ticking away, and still gripped to their chest. That was on top of a birth-rate dip that echoes from their losses in WWII. They may have already reached a tipping point of unsustainable population loss made irreparably worse by sending so many young men to their death while causing the rest to flee. Their ability to sustain their country will decay, and the likelyhood of factional fighting and civil war seems almost inevitable. All it will take is one of the regional Republics to break away to cause a domino effect. If Russia's military are not seen to be able to quell one rebellion, all bets are off.

Thereafter, things might get a little worse. If Russia fragments into different opposing Republics, all of whom are sitting on Soviet arms, you get a Balkan-style conflict, but by a factor of 10 compared to what happened to Yugoslavia. The world will need to do it's best to somehow to contain all of that and hopefully steer them away from becoming something worse that what we aleardy have to deal with.

I do however I hope that a Russian defeat in Ukraine might give the more democratic elements in Russian politics a chance to actually get into power, and offer a more stable / sane Russia to deal with in future.

Well maybe you should stop "pointing out the results of a nuclear exchange". We know what that result is.

What we also know is that Putin has no intention of doing that. But he likes it very much when we're discussing it, because it brings up fears and those fears will result in decreasing support for Ukraine. So please stop doing what Putin likes.

Putin still hasn't emerged yet. Maybe he is dead, in this round of medical intervention .

Are you looking Germany this is how it's done, count your tanks and send them,

Estonia counted their 155 artillery and sent it all ,

F16s would be great if they gave them the full compliment of air 2 ground munitions that the aircraft is capable of using,

The issue will be how many can be supplied and how many pilots can be trained to a high standard in air combat and air 2 ground munitions,yes they have pilots but they are flying using Soviet era tactics and weapons,