Russia/Ukraine conflict

[wdolson]

Romania says it will help Ukraine receive 30 ton military boats. Shipped via land?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1769995648172958056

The delta of the Danube River is in Romania. Some fairly large ships can be moved down the river. NATO has already transferred a number of patrol ships and amphibious ships to Ukraine by moving them down the Danube.

30 tons is a typical size for the ships transferred via that route.

The Danube River is the border between Ukraine and Romania. The Russian missiles that fell into Romania attacking ships in port in Ukraine were at a port shared between Romania and Ukraine. Ukraine has one side of the river and Romania the other.

Didn't know Ukraine had an AWACS in service.

Australia to Withdraw Wedgetail AWACS Support to Ukraine at Mission End

Australia deployed an RAAF E-7A Wedgetail AWACS aircraft to monitor threats to aid supply routes for Ukraine for six months in October after a US request.

www.kyivpost.com

It was an RAAF aircraft operated by Australia for Ukraine's benefit.

 

[Tiger]

Prigozhin once proved that the road to Moscow is wide open /s

https://twitter.com/x/status/1770013112382693752

May be death by a thousand cuts.

 

[Buckminster]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1770390579727188314

Great work from the west...
Sure, we don't like Modi but we can't shut ourselves off from the non liberal world completely.

 

[wdolson]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1770390579727188314

Great work from the west...
Sure, we don't like Modi but we can't shut ourselves off from the non liberal world completely.

Modi wants to keep taking Putin to the cleaners. India is making out like a bandit from this war.

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

Aeroflot Takes Ever More Desperate Measures to Keep Flying

The one area where Western sanctions against Russia are really biting is in its aviation industry and its airlines are having to take ever more extreme measures to stay aloft.

www.kyivpost.com

 

[navguy12]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1770364935735824452

 

[navguy12]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1770415507000209541

 

[navguy12]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1770082477891096851

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

More Leopard 2 tanks have arrived or are on their way to UKR. As I understood it, it's a total of 34 from Spain, Germany and the Netherlands.

Ukraine’s Leopard 2A4 Brigade Could Double Its Tank Force, Thanks To Spain. But How Quickly?

It’s taking Europeans nine months to overhaul a Leopard 2, meaning fresh tanks arrive in Ukraine very, very slowly.

www.forbes.com

 

[BitJam]

Jake Broe interviews Ben Hodges:

General Ben Hodges (Ret.): The West Needs Strategic Clarity

​

 

[madodel]

Operation Odessa: Russia Wants the Entire Ukrainian Black Sea Coast

Beyond Odessa is the mouth of the Danube, Transnistria, and the rest of the Republic of Moldova between the Dniester and the Prut rivers. If the Russian army crosses Odessa, there is nothing to stop it until the Romanian border. The Danube in Russian hands would be a geostrategic nightmare for Romania, a vital U.S. ally that feels directly threatened by the Russians, particularly now that it shares a maritime border after Putin seized part of the Ukrainian Exclusive Economic Zone.

 

[madodel]

I doubt anyone here finds this surprising.

The extent of fraud in Russia's presidential election begins to emerge

Vladimir Putin's record-breaking 87% of the vote is suspected to have been massively falsified. According to independent Russian media, the number of stolen votes varies between 22 million and 36 million, out of a total of 76 million voters.

 

[wdolson]

Operation Odessa: Russia Wants the Entire Ukrainian Black Sea Coast

Russia's desires exceeds its reach. Their army has greatly degraded mobile warfare ability from 2022 and it was poor in 2022.

The 2022 army they started with was heavy on vehicles and short on infantry. Now they have too many infantry and too few vehicles. The army today is a low mobility army.

Russia's ability to reach Odessa is pretty much impossible. They haven't gained any ground in that direction since 2022. The only place where they have gained ground in the last year is in the east where their supply lines are shortest and they are able to fight very close to railheads.

Along the left bank of the Dnipro they have lost a lot of troops attacking the Ukrainian bridgehead. The Russians claimed to take the bridgehead back in February, but the Ukrainians are still there as of today.
Embattled Marines on Dnipro Bridgehead Gain New Foothold Despite Swarms of Russian Drones

To get to Odessa would require crossing the Dnipro or conduct an amphibious invasion west of the mouth of the Dnipro. The Russians are afraid of sending small patrol ships into the western Black Sea. They aren't going to send their remaining landing ships on a one way trip. Doing an opposed crossing of the Dnipro is also beyond their capabilities.

If Europe abandoned Ukraine Russia might be able to take ground, but as long as Europe is keeping Ukraine in the fight, Ukraine should be able to mostly hold on through this year.

 

[BioSehnsucht]

I doubt anyone here finds this surprising.

The extent of fraud in Russia's presidential election begins to emerge

87%? I'm not sure if his minions just failed to properly steal the election or if they failed to properly hide they were stealing the election. I feel like that number should be either much higher or lower ... I mean we all know it wasn't a real election, so it's not like he'd be fooling anyone regardless, but ... Task failed successfully?

 

[Tiger]

87%? I'm not sure if his minions just failed to properly steal the election or if they failed to properly hide they were stealing the election. I feel like that number should be either much higher or lower ... I mean we all know it wasn't a real election, so it's not like he'd be fooling anyone regardless, but ... Task failed successfully?

This is how it's done right:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1769452181114270169

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

The latest of the Russian Dictator's Missile Terrorist Attacks against Kyiv injures at least 13 people including one child. The Dictator and his minions fired 31 missiles. All of them were shot down.

Russian missile attack on Kyiv injures at least 13, including child

Russian forces launched a missile attack on Kyiv early in the morning of March 21, injuring at least 13 people and causing damage to homes and infrastructure throughout the city.

kyivindependent.com

Massive attack: Air defenses destroy two ballistic and 29 cruise missiles

Anti-aircraft missile units of the Air Force and mobile firing groups of the Defence Forces of Ukraine destroyed two ballistic and 29 cruise missiles. â Ukrinform.

www.ukrinform.net

 

[heltok]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1770741977572601909

Gonna be lots of young men dying on both sides...

 

[SmokyPeat]

Lots of young men have been dying all along.

Why time is not on Russia’s side

Putin has little other than coercion to rely on to elicit societal compliance.

thehill-com.cdn.ampproject.org

 

[Tiger]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1770741977572601909

I bet Putin's friends are going to ask for the budget first and forget to deliver ...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1757447488041054308

 

[navguy12]

I bet Putin's friends are going to ask for the budget first and forget to deliver ...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1757447488041054308

From the text of the above story:

After the invasion began, the Ukrainian Government even sent Sergei a thank you - for allowing the corruption to become so great, it diminished the combat effectiveness of the Russian Army!