Russia - threadbanned users in OP

The Joy would be like a 5-star hotel compared to the prison where Navalny has been sent to if it is anything like the infamous Black Dolphin Prison. (actually, that may be where he has gone?) But having said that, Putin (despite all the talk about his re-election being a done deal) must be worried that things may not go according to plan, and sending Navalny to a prison like that, is a pretty clear and present warning to everyone and anyone who might be thinking about causing any ripples in the election process.

Putin must have ordered anyone who surrenders their family will be taken out.

The fact there hasn’t been mass surrenders from poorly conscripted soldiers says it all.

I reckon that threat is what stopped Progozin in his match towards Moscow.

Got carried away with himself and let his guard down.

Funny you should mention that because even by your own previous line of argument this guy is a raging f**king idiot. His most recent Times radio interview he claims that Ukraine should look for compromise because they we're given "Everything they needed for the counter offensive" and they can't beat Russia or take back Crimea ever.

So was Ukraine given modern air power for their offensive? Did they already receive the F-16s before the offensive? I thought you said they wouldn't be receiving that until well into 2024 or nearly 2025?

They asked for 500 modern battle tanks. They actually got what? 100-ish? The 31 Abrams haven't even been seen yet. And a piddling amount of mine clearing vehicles.

They were promised 1 million shells by the EU. Did they receive that order? I seem to remember this is your favorite subject to grind your axe on.... Did they not need those million shells for the counter offensive or?

They were given a handful of ATACMs after the main thrust of the counter offensive in the south had mostly culminated. Were the ATACMS strikes that shredded the K52 airfields not needed earlier? Were Ukrainian armor pieces not being harassed by these things?

Sean was calling for a negotiated peace every f*cking time he disgraced sky news with his presence in 2022. Even as Russia was indiscriminately flattening Mariupol and Sevierodonetsk, civilians and all. Should Ukraine have sued for peace then and not bothered retaking the large chunks of territory they took in 2022?

Putting aside the fact that this is more than just territory that is being "compromised". It is millions of Ukranian people being "negotiated" away to the authoritarian Russian boot. Putting aside that we know right well that any negotiated settlement with Putin is 100% worthless.

No. This man is precisely the kind of moron that should absolutely never be listened to . The absolute epitome of western weakness.

So unless you're arguing that "you're a random Joe on social media with zero credibility" maybe you should hesitate to agree with this muppet?

I had been getting a little pessimistic the last few weeks about Ukrainian progress. It could be the lack of incremental battlefield gains combined with the Orban shenanigans; i couldn't quite put my finger on it.

However, the fighter jets shot down along with the massive boom from that ship has reversed this. The losses for russia over the last few days have been bigger than any number of failed meat wave assaults at Avdiivka.

Precisely - I actually thought Gatters was talking of all here inc their good selves with the "random Joe on social media with zero credibility"

Lol....

I'd take his extensive military career over a boardies rant.

Have they received 1 million rounds of artillery as promised.

No they the EU have publicly stated that they won't achieve it .

They got 6 out out of 31 promised Abrams being seen in a handful of propaganda videos but not actually on the battlefield,

They have not received any F16s yet sometime in 2024 probably the the first quarter if they satisfy all the requirements set out for them to receive them,

They wanted 260 F16s and they will get 18 ..

Unfortunately none of which changes what's happening on the ground, Russian artillery is still raining on Ukrainian positions despite the Russians definitely having no ammunition,no Guns no Barrels,no men ,no money,

Sean Bell is saying what alot of experienced military analysts are saying if things don't dramatically change on the ground there is only so much the Ukrainians can do .

Maybe you could give us an alternative view to what exactly is happening on the ground in Ukraine

Swing and a miss. Congrats. You missed the entire point.

I was saying that Sean even disagrees with much of the shite that you yourself have posted in the past. So you're discrediting yourself by agreeing with him.

"Lol" indeed.

As a matter of fact. I had gotten quite a few replies to my X posts along the lines of " Stupid US scum, I'm coming for you!!!" with pretty lurid descriptions about what they planned to do with me.... LOL.So much for freedom of speech in Musks world.

Pretty enormous edit there. Could almost be described as a bit of a "rant" eh? 🙂

Then you disagree with Sean. Which is the original point I was making. Throughout the interview I posted there he was saying that Ukraine "DID RECEIVE LOADS and LOADS" everything they needed and asked for the for the counter offensive and it didn't reach its goals. "So how much more will they need"..... Sorry Sean... they didn't receive it and what they did receive was late.

You'd think an air marshal would understand the need for modern aircraft in an offensive. His only area of expertise. But when asked about it he waffles on about NATO airpower being great and that even if Ukraine received 100 f16s sitting in Zelenskys front yard they don't have the training and Russia would get rid of them quickly(despite the fact that Russia has been unable to get rid of ANYTHING but their own men quickly this whole war)...... And then moves on to say that Ukraine have been given everything they need........ Like what the actual f*ck is he on about? You don't need to be an air marshal to see that he's making no sense here.

Sean also has a lovely habit of bringing up that Russia has a legitimate claim to Crimea. Does Sean get to be credentialed on this awful point because he used to fly a plane?

I haven't actually made any issue with what Sean is saying is currently happening on the ground. I was simply pointing out facts that are known. Ukraines armor was hammered by Ka-52s and the ATACMS strike cutting up the airfields was too late. They were supplied with no real means to breach extensive minefields in scale. They were not going to be receiving modern jets in time to cover their troop movements. The tank decision came too late and was less than 20% of what Ukraine asked for.

I then brought up Seans constant mantra in the past of Russia=Big, Ukraine=Small we need a negotiated peace. Even as Russia was slaughtering civilians wholesale and flattening cities. Putting aside the moral component. In what way can a negotiation be made with someone who's primary defining feature is breaking agreements and lying?

You'd want to be monumentally stupid to think any agreement with Putin can be trusted. Which Sean Bell is.

Looks like marinka was lost to the Russians on Christmas day ,Valerii Zaluzhnyi had mentioned it on Christmas Eve about not willing to risk valuable defenders for runined cities and towns, where in bakmuth they wouldn't withdraw they seem to be more willing to withdraw to better defensive positions,

Probably explains the spectacular attack on Crimea to mitigate the loss of marinka

????? What on earth are you on about? I genuinely don't understand how you come up with half the stuff you do.

• Ukraine use a stormshadow/s most likely, to take out a Russian landing craft worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
• A type of attack which Ukraine has past form for.
• An attack on vessel which was clearly in service of the Russian military as that fireball could most easily be explained by the thing being filled to the brim with munitions of some sort.

And you think that's not justification enough? That Ukraine would throw away stormshadows out of spite over losing a pile of rubble with a pre war population of 10k? Like honestly? Lord above🙄

It would be truer to say that Russian forces now stand on the piece of earth where Marinka used to be. The town isn't really there anymore, and is a collection of smouldering ruins completely devoid of a civilian population who had been evacuated a long time ago.

It seems to be Russia's main method of taking ground, not by speed or surprise, but just by relentlessly pounding areas with artillery until the strategic value the places held dwindles down to zero. Smashing towns off the face of the earth is quite symbolic of Russia's attitude to Ukraine, which is that if Ukraine is not willing to be a loyal Russian vassal, then it essentially has no right to exist, and every physical and psychological marker of what it is to be Ukrainian must be eliminated.

If Ukraine had expended as many men and materials in the taking of somewhere like Marinka, and taken as long to do it, critics would say it was a fool's errand, but when Russia does it, I rarely see the same people pointing out the poor cost/benefit ratio.

Taking the whole of the Donbass region is doable for Russia, but they obviously want to do a whole lot more than that, but given how Russia has apparently been forced to fight this war so far, and their complete inability to establish air superiority, even in the early days of the war, I don't really see where the great mobility is going to come from in order to take large swathes of ground.

@Gatling "What's a Vatnik"

Vatnik (Russian: ватник) is a political pejorative[1][2] used in Russia and other post-Soviet states for steadfast jingoistic followers of propaganda from the Russian government.[3]

The use of the word originates from an Internet meme first spread by Anton Chadskiy on VKontakte in 2011, and later used in Russia, Ukraine, then in other post-Soviet states. Its meaning refers to the original cartoon, which depicts a character made from the material of a padded cotton wool jacket and bearing a black eye, which is used to disparage someone as a blindly patriotic and unintelligent jingoist who pushes the conventional views presented in Russian government media as well as those of Russian web brigades.[4][5] The name "Vatnik" derives from the cotton wool jacket (Telogreika) that Chadskiy's cartoon character in the meme is made from.

Vatnik - Wikipedia

https://ukranews.com/en/news/974671-ukraine-will-receive-eur-20-billion-from-eu-bypassing-orban-ft

A nice chunk of change that Putin's toad can't vote against. Maybe the aid won't dry up afterall?