Russia/Ukraine conflict

[petit_bateau]

I realize this isn't a UK thread, but can someone sum up the actual factual reasons why Boris seemingly was forced to resign? I find this fascinating and hope it doesn't somehow spill into other EU leaders causing instability...

Basically he has been telling lies all his life, plus various other forms of bad behaviour, and been sacked for it on a number of times. It got to the point that no senior Conservative politician was prepared to go in front of the media and say "Johnson says that XX didn't happen, and I believe him". They ran out of people to go in front of the media a few days ago, the final straw that broke the camel's back was Johnson saying he had no idea that ZZ had a history of making unwanted sexual advances to men & women - and it turned out that Johnson had been fully briefed on that specific issue only (approx) 3 years ago. He couldn't stop himself telling lies etc, and it all finally caught up with him.

(I hope that is enough about UK politics for this thread - I was really trying to explain why nobody in Ukraine should be concerned.)

 

[UkNorthampton]

Basically he has been telling lies all his life, plus various other forms of bad behaviour, and been sacked for it on a number of times. It got to the point that no senior Conservative politician was prepared to go in front of the media and say "Johnson says that XX didn't happen, and I believe him". They ran out of people to go in front of the media a few days ago, the final straw that broke the camel's back was Johnson saying he had no idea that ZZ had a history of making unwanted sexual advances to men & women - and it turned out that Johnson had been fully briefed on that specific issue only (approx) 3 years ago. He couldn't stop himself telling lies etc, and it all finally caught up with him.

(I hope that is enough about UK politics for this thread - I was really trying to explain why nobody in Ukraine should be concerned.)

Two contenders to watch are Ben Wallace & Tom Tugendhat - who are ex-soldiers. We should watch elsewhere, in other threads.

Otherwise, I agree that Ukraine shouldn't be worried about losing support, might be some odd stuff in the next 5-6 weeks due to changes/executive not making too many decisions. Anything in flow should still occur.

 

[Discoducky]

Thank you both! I just don't want to see any further destabilizing of Europe.

 

[DanCar]

There are no backsies, Russia.

Russia Threatens To Take Back Alaska From US Over War Sanctions

The United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million.

www.ibtimes.com

Perhaps we should offer some alaska land to Russia to avoid a conflict.

 

[Sandor]

Perhaps we should offer some alaska land to Russia to avoid a conflict.

Right after russia gives back the land they took from Finland, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Japan, Georgia, Romania, Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine... And the list is larger than that but I'm going into a meeting now

Or simpler, how about the Mongols getting back the part of russia that belonged to Genghis Khan. But only the russian part not the rest of the Europe that they occupied at a time or the other, hehe...

 

[Artful Dodger]

Bizarre saga continues. Apparently this guy's now in the Russian navy up in the Arctic Circle.

Flyers prospect now at military base in Russia

Flyers goaltending prospect Ivan Fedotov, who reportedly was picked up by law enforcement in Russia last week ahead of a planned move to the U.S., is now at a remote military base in northern Russia, his agent told the AP.

www.espn.com

In Russian trolling, goalposts move you...

Cheers!

 

[UncaNed]

Basically he has been telling lies all his life, plus various other forms of bad behaviour, and been sacked for it on a number of times. It got to the point that no senior Conservative politician was prepared to go in front of the media and say "Johnson says that XX didn't happen, and I believe him". They ran out of people to go in front of the media a few days ago, the final straw that broke the camel's back was Johnson saying he had no idea that ZZ had a history of making unwanted sexual advances to men & women - and it turned out that Johnson had been fully briefed on that specific issue only (approx) 3 years ago. He couldn't stop himself telling lies etc, and it all finally caught up with him.

(I hope that is enough about UK politics for this thread - I was really trying to explain why nobody in Ukraine should be concerned.)

So is Boris totally gone now? Or still in office until there's a successor, and he's still a potential trouble maker?

Thank you for clearing that up for me, @petit_bateau .

 

[petit_bateau]

So is Boris totally gone now? Or still in office until there's a successor, and he's still a potential trouble maker?

In office as PM for the time being. Plenty of people trying to change that situation. Yes, he has been nothing but trouble making all his life, so good reason to be concerned.

Here you go if you want a fair summing up of why he left

 

[X Fan]

Maybe starting negotiations for Griner.

And as importantly the former US Marine that has been in jail for a few years.

 

[X Fan]

Ru missing a few armaments:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1544920285043884032

 

[bkp_duke]

Ru missing a few armaments:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1544920285043884032

This needs to keep up for weeks. If you look at the NASA FIRE map, Russia is still firing off artillery rounds at a similar pace, indicating a lot more munition stores are still to be found.

 

[madodel]

Ru missing a few armaments:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1544920285043884032

Have they considered putting photos on milk cartons so maybe they can be found.

 

[wdolson]

Typical Russian bluster. They know touching Alaska would mean nuclear Armageddon. They just want to distract from their difficulties in Ukraine, which makes them look weak.

Definitely bluster. They can't pull off a land invasion of a weaker country with most of their army. Any invasion of US territory is just making noise. They sound like small a small child on the playground promising far more punishment on their enemies than they could ever accomplish and everybody knows it.

The Russian navy is vastly inferior to the USN and the capacity of every landing ship they have (in all 4 fleets) is less than 7000 troops, and a number of those ships are in dry dock right now. Amphibious invasions are among the most difficult operations in warfare. Trying it against a stronger enemy is utter suicide. Especially against a continental land mass.

The risk of invasion of Alaska by Russia is less likely than by the Germans in 1942 and that was an impossible fantasy.

The Russians don't even pose a realistic threat to Finland or the Baltics at this point. They don't have enough of an army available to even begin to try.

The countries that border Russia who still use Russian gauge railroad, should switch ASAP to a different gauge. Russia is so tied to railroads for their supply system that a different gauge would stop them like stairs stopped the old daleks. For those countries in Europe that will also give them better access to the rest of the EU.

This needs to keep up for weeks. If you look at the NASA FIRE map, Russia is still firing off artillery rounds at a similar pace, indicating a lot more munition stores are still to be found.

The Ukrainians claim they know where most if not all are. They just are playing cat and mouse with the Russians to get their HIMARS into position, launch the payload, and hide from the Russians trying to find them. That and the fact there are only a few of them operational is slowing them down.

Oh and there was this today. The Ukrainians are claiming a big jump in tank kills all of a sudden

https://twitter.com/x/status/1545311212463857669

 

[TheTalkingMule]

Insight: Why India ramped up Russian oil imports, easing pressure on Moscow

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the United States and its allies have leaned on countries to buy less Russian oil in a bid to punish Moscow for its aggression.

www.reuters.com

 

[kabin]

Insight: Why India ramped up Russian oil imports, easing pressure on Moscow

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the United States and its allies have leaned on countries to buy less Russian oil in a bid to punish Moscow for its aggression.

www.reuters.com

Hopefully countries send a message to India by reducing trade.

 

[petit_bateau]

May interest some

The Road to a Cease-Fire in Ukraine Is Full of Pitfalls

Any deal must not repeat the fatal flaws of the Minsk agreements, which laid the path to the current war.

foreignpolicy.com

The 2014 playbook should have been no surprise to the West. It was first trialled by Russia against Georgia in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and against Moldova in Transnystria.

 

[iPlug]

The US is sending four more Himars, or High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems to Ukraine, a US senior defense official told reporters at a press briefing on Friday.​

​

The four additional Himars will bring the total number given to Ukraine to 12. According to the official, the first eight were especially useful as the fighting in Donbas against Russian forces evolved into an artillery fight...​

A defense official also commented:

“If the Russians think they can outlast the Ukrainians, they need to rethink that...We are already pivoting towards thinking about what the Ukrainians will need in the months and years ahead.”​

Russia-Ukraine war: Kremlin warns it is using only ‘small portion’ of potential; fears of Sievierodonetsk humanitarian disaster – live

 

[iPlug]

Anyone heard anything in recent months of any plans for Ukraine to upgrade/synchronize their rail gauge/transport to that of the rest of Europe? Haven't come across anything on my end.

Obviously very challenging at the moment, but the sooner done the better.

Would allow much better flow through neighboring European countries to the west such as for grain exports and war supply/rebuilding imports. Also makes it much more difficult for Russia via Russia or Belarus to mobilize into Ukraine.

 

[madodel]

Russian forces take ‘operational pause’ in Ukraine war: Analysts

Russian forces made no claimed or assessed territorial gains in Ukraine “for the first time in 133 days of war” on Wednesday, according to the Institute for the Study of War.​

 

[iPlug]

Russian forces take ‘operational pause’ in Ukraine war: Analysts

Russian forces made no claimed or assessed territorial gains in Ukraine “for the first time in 133 days of war” on Wednesday, according to the Institute for the Study of War.​

Hopefully over the coming days Ukraine has escalating good hunting of ammo depots and command centers with their HiMARS.