Russia and its “Special Operation” in Ukraine

[AndyClarke]

4 hours ago, blandy said:

The thing is, the Coffin isn't getting moved till 6 pm (take off) so an F-16 flying around at 2 pm is not there for any kind of escort or otherwise for the flight.

Your other suggestion is much more likely - practice for cover for Biden coming down from the North (Iceland direction) to the UK next weekend. I might be wrong here, but I'm not even sure there are F-16s based in the UK are there? I really don't think the US will be involved in the flight of the Queen's body from Scotland to the South.

There are no F16s permanently based in the UK, the Aviano based Vipers have been at RAF Lakenheath though. Any escort mission flown by the US in British airspace would be carried out by Lakenheath based F15s.

To answer the earlier points, the Typhoons and Falcons are fairly regular and routine training with the Falcons flying as aggressors. They could be practising a Queen or Ukraine based scenario but the flights themselves are common.

Edited September 13, 2022 by AndyClarke

[Tayls]

17 minutes ago, magnkarl said:

With enough support from the west, sure. I don’t think it’s a strategic important town to take though. I’m sure uncovering more war crimes is high up on the agenda for many Ukrainians, but their soldiers are best used where they can cause damage to Russian troops and equipment. Mariupol is a pile of rubble.

Kherson, Severodonetsk, Lysyshansk are the ‘easier’ targets atm.

Was mainly thinking about the industrial plant, unless the Russians have flattened it now. Would be kinda symbolic to retake it - perhaps in a reversal of what happened before. 

Edited September 13, 2022 by Tayls

[sidcow]

I don't care how one sided your news has been. If you're Russian you've got to ask why the entire western world is so keen to prop up a Nazi regime after fighting a World War to end one. 

[KentVillan]

9 minutes ago, sidcow said:

I don't care how one sided your news has been. If you're Russian you've got to ask why the entire western world is so keen to prop up a Nazi regime after fighting a World War to end one. 

The problem is all the people who do ask that tend to "jump" out of windows

[mjmooney]

27 minutes ago, sidcow said:

I don't care how one sided your news has been. If you're Russian you've got to ask why the entire western world is so keen to prop up a Nazi regime after fighting a World War to end one. 

The Russian line was always pretty much that they defeated Germany on their own, and the western allies basically slacked off to make sure all the Soviet troops got killed instead of their own. Basically, the Brits and Yanks (can I say Yanks after 'Taffgate'?) were little more than fascists themselves. 

[sidcow]

2 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

Yanks (can I say Yanks after 'Taffgate'?) 

 

[fruitvilla]

1 hour ago, mjmooney said:

'Taffgate'

You speak in tongues.

[KentVillan]

https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/war-on-the-rocks-18367/episodes/ukraines-kharkhiv-operation-an-149681152
 

Quote

On a foggy morning in August 1918, Allied forces commenced the Battle of Amiens and the Hundred Days Offensive that ended the Great War. A German general later called it "the black day of the German Army." The Russian military has had a black week ever since Ukraine launched a counter-offensive in the Kharkiv Oblast. Whether this heralds the last phase of this war is still unknown. Regardless, recent events have been a massive setback for Russia. We had Mike Kofman on the show to discuss.

This is a good podcast - also available on Spotify etc.

Explains the Kherson / Kharkiv attacks and touches on the nuclear question at the end.

[BleedClaretAndBlue]

 

Edited September 14, 2022 by BleedClaretAndBlue

[magnkarl]

I would start to get really worried if I was a soldier on the left side of the Dnipro in Kherson Oblast at the moment. This has vibes of Kyiv in 1941 where Stalin wouldn't let the Ukrainian army withdraw from Kyiv, while he let all combat groups outside of the city retreat to defensive lines. 485-600k soldiers were captured by the nazis and mostly died of starvation or being worked to death.

I'm not suggesting that Ukraine would do such things, but the way command in Russia is acting is fairly similar to Stalin.

[magnkarl]

Interestingly Ukraine was nearly out of 152mm shells before the Kharkiv offensive, they appear to have captured close to 100,000 pieces of ammunition that the Russians just left behind. The Russian lend lease is going well for Ukraine.

 

[Amsterdam_Neil_D]

17 hours ago, KentVillan said:

They live in an authoritarian country where people routinely disappear for saying anything negative about the government, and where the news media are largely a massive brainwashing exercise.

"Brainwashing" of populations means you end up with a human product that is essentially damaged,  same a all religions, ISIS or all terrorism I suppose. They have no choice.  But they are damaged.  Brainwashed people will gladly blow themselves up for a cause they didn't even want to be in.

I agree with everything you said above but they believe that Ukraine has Nazis in it.  If you asked them all,  should the west be destroyed they would almost all say yes (The majority).  Anti brainwashed people is fine so they never get a voice until they are fixed.  Listen to what Russian wife's of soldiers tell their own husbands to do to Ukraine women.  IMO they are ,  at the moment a very dangerous people.  Its not their fault I agree but it is what it is.

[Hobsons Choice]

11 hours ago, sidcow said:

I don't care how one sided your news has been. If you're Russian you've got to ask why the entire western world is so keen to prop up a Nazi regime after fighting a World War to end one. 

You seen the Swedish election? Far right bloc win.

[blandy]

2 minutes ago, Amsterdam_Neil_D said:

agree with everything you said above but they believe that Ukraine has Nazis in it

What’s the saying? A long established one, from well before this war  - “Putin pretends to tell the truth and the people pretend to believe him”.

[tonyh29]

11 hours ago, mjmooney said:

The Russian line was always pretty much that they defeated Germany on their own, and the western allies basically slacked off to make sure all the Soviet troops got killed instead of their own. Basically, the Brits and Yanks (can I say Yanks after 'Taffgate'?) were little more than fascists themselves. 

Mentioned it once before , but I went to the WW 2 museum in Yerevan , which was "Russian" until 1991

the tour guide asked where we were from , and on hearing the answer asked if our country was involved in WW II at all ?  didn't feel appropriate to say yeah we won it , along with the first one and a world cup , so we kinda just left it as " yes " 

[blandy]

4 minutes ago, tonyh29 said:

Yerevan , which was "Russian"

Part of/in the USSR, but never “Russian”, surely?

[The Fun Factory]

13 hours ago, Mozzavfc said:

Straight to Moscow. Cut the head off the snake

Trying to invade Moscow starting in September doesn't  usually work.

Edited September 14, 2022 by The Fun Factory

[StefanAVFC]

 

[Genie]

3 hours ago, BleedClaretAndBlue said:

 

They are basically talking like they have lost the war (and looking for people to blame).

[tonyh29]

37 minutes ago, blandy said:

Part of/in the USSR, but never “Russian”, surely?

well yeah point taken , but in the context of the original post he is also referring to the Soviet union as Russia  , hence my reply 

OT , but I'm not so sure about never Russian tbh  ..... there is a big period of  Armenian history where its is referred to as Russian Armenia  , and it was part of the Russian empire (until its collapse).