itxtme: I suspect he was being sarcastic in that post. And the one man band is in reference to Putin

itxtme:

And the one man band is in reference to Putin

- The increase of the alert level in Russia in response to NATO, not the UKR itself, is a pretty big spillover. It's probably domestic posturing but Putin has gone from distant question mark to Tom Clancy villain in the space of a week. I'd love to know what the actual US DEFCON level is right now.

- He's not decisively winning this way. Is he trying to appear less threatening so there's less NATO intervention for those that he has his eye on next? So far this is a text-book 'how not to win a war in Europe' play with tanks running out of fuel, etc. Is this a strategic strategic blunder?

- Not looking good for the Antonov. Apparently OK on Friday, fresh questions this morning after photos of what is apparently the hanger on fire.

- Whatever Putin wants as an end-game must be worth the Russian lives he's losing and the credibility hit he is taking, especially compared to the UKR President. That's what worries me the most. 

neb:

itxtme:

 

He is referring to Putins speech, maybe a bit harsh with the ban?

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2022/feb/25/putin-references-neo-nazis-and-drug-addicts-in-bizarre-speech-to-russian-security-council-video

 

I think people understood that bit, it was the rest of it that went off into the weeds.

Poorly worded post on my part. This war winds me up no end. As my brother in law once said, measure twice cut once, I should have applied that to my post so the context was clear to everyone, not just me  :-(

is the madman trying to start a nuclear war? if that's the case i think he needs to be taken out. i'm sure the world has the technology

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/27/vladimir-putin-puts-russia-nuclear-deterrence-forces-on-high-alert-ukraine

Have you guys seen this?   It's gone viral on YT.

Russian tank out of fuel. Ukranian driver stops and offers "can I tow you back to Russia?"  lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14gVDF2b1vA

GV27:

 

- The increase of the alert level in Russia in response to NATO, not the UKR itself, is a pretty big spillover. It's probably domestic posturing but Putin has gone from distant question mark to Tom Clancy villain in the space of a week. I'd love to know what the actual US DEFCON level is right now.

 

- He's not decisively winning this way. Is he trying to appear less threatening so there's less NATO intervention for those that he has his eye on next? So far this is a text-book 'how not to win a war in Europe' play with tanks running out of fuel, etc. Is this a strategic strategic blunder?

 

- Not looking good for the Antonov. Apparently OK on Friday, fresh questions this morning after photos of what is apparently the hanger on fire.

 

- Whatever Putin wants as an end-game must be worth the Russian lives he's losing and the credibility hit he is taking, especially compared to the UKR President. That's what worries me the most. 

 

 

 

Nato are concerned Putin may not stop with Ukraine.

Tbh nobody knows for sure what his intentions are, or if Putin himself knows but he has voiced greivances over Soviet "territory" lost at the end of the cold war. This includes Poland.  

Putin's goals have strong parallels with Hitler's objectives after taking power in 1933. 

WWI left Germany in economic ruin, humiliated and also aggreaved by the Versailles treaty. The economy was propped up with money borrowed from USA until the 1929 crash. USA recalled it's loans

Germany never surrendered, it ran out of money. So an armistace was signed.

Hitler rearmed German forces intent on restoring Germany's former glory and recovering territory.  So WWII was in effect a continuation of WWI.

That's what Putin's goals appear to be. The one thing HPutin doesn't have is Russian nationalism. Russians have been kept in the dark about the scale of this attack.

I just read the NYT, apparently Angela Merkel (who knew Putin well) told Biden Putin had lost touch with reality. The Americans suspect he may be unstable (explains a lot)

I don't think he has the manpower to try and take over the former USSR states, does he? That's a lot of territory to try and take over.

quickymart:

 

I don't think he has the manpower to try and take over the former USSR states, does he? That's a lot of territory to try and take over.

 

A lot of his talking points about Ukraine not having a history of state-hood could be applied to many ex-Soviet Republics.

It's easy to judge the success of that now based on an extremely disorganised Ukraine incursion, but if we are still here in a month, you might find those supply lines are a lot more solid, there's more men on the ground and it could escalate very quickly.

He could in theory have gone a lot harder after Kyiv, so just pounding UKR into submission for a quick win clearly isn't the end-game here. It's almost like he's buying himself time - the question is 'what for'. 

quickymart:

I don't think he has the manpower to try and take over the former USSR states, does he? That's a lot of territory to try and take over.

quickymart:

 

I don't think he has the manpower to try and take over the former USSR states, does he? That's a lot of territory to try and take over.

 

I don't know....maybe not. But France and most notably Germany's armed forces are a shadow of what they once were.

NATO relies mostly on the USA,  the collapse of USSR meant peace would reign in Europe for evermore so defense budgets were slashed.

I can post a NYT piece analysing Putin's skill at acheiving goals using the army. 

Putin also threatened nuclear war if NATO/USA stand in his way.  That's a risk NATO may not want to take.

Also, Germany should have the strongest millitary in Western Europe except it still has a guilt complex over the 27 Million Russians annihalated by the Whermacht.

Untill ~10 years ago the German Constutution expressly prohibited German forces from acting in an offensive role. Even for peacekeeping missions.

Kiev holds special significance for Russia and Germany.  

German forces encircled then destroyed three Russian armies at Kiev. 680,000 Russians were killed.  Then 33,000 Jews were rounded up and shot at Babyar ravine.

Germany's reluctantance to provide Ukraine with weapons came from guilt, that German weapons would be used to kill Russian troops. This is true not made up.

I found it ironic actually, the Ukranian people were desperate for assistance and Germany with the chance to make a difference suffers an emotional crisis.

Given the overthrow of pro Russian  goverment in 2014 by Ukrainian people and the fierce resistance  defending the country, I don't know how Putin expects to hold onto Ukraine.

Putin has threatened Nato with use Nuculear

Batman:

 

is the madman trying to start a nuclear war? if that's the case i think he needs to be taken out. i'm sure the world has the technology

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/27/vladimir-putin-puts-russia-nuclear-deterrence-forces-on-high-alert-ukraine

 

 

 

 If you can't win with conventional forces just use nukes?   That's like rage quitting a Battlefield or CoD server?

If you would like to send some sunflowers or sunflower seeds to the Russian Embassy, their address is 57 Messines Rd, Karori 6012 Wellington, attention Ambassador Georgii Zuev.

https://web.archive.org/web/20220226051154/https://ria.ru/20220226/rossiya-1775162336.html and hit Translate...

Someone released this before the war started and immediately deleted but Web Archive captured it.

Basically a post with Russia's views on Ukraine after the war as a full member state of the Russian Federation. Basically the crap "we are saving their people" is about a lie as it could be - ultimately it is a land grab.

If your browser doesn't offer to translate, you can read it here.