Russian invasion of Ukraine

[Iphie]

Pootie says he is ready for peace if Ukraine cedes occupied territories. Ukraine also rejected that.

And the US and Germany have announced they are sending the Bradley and Marder IFVs.

Which occupied territories? Only luhansk and Crimea can be said to be, more or less, secured, Kherson, Zaporozhye and Donetsk are quite contested...yet somehow I doubt pooter means that.

[Cynical Asshole]

Well, something is going to buckle, eventually. This is just not sustainable for Russia. It just isn't.

Russia is stuck between rock and a hard place right now. They can't win, but they can't surrender, either. The image of a strong Russia would crumble into dust, and such image is everything for authoritarians.

Pootie is running out of rocks to throw too. According to Ukraine, all of the Iranian suicide drones launched in 2023 have been intercepted by AA systems.

[Corvus]

The US will be sending 50 Bradleys and the Germans 40 Marders. Given the US has something like 2000 Bradleys in storage you'd hope this was just the first batch. But they are a huge step up from the BMPs the Ukrainians have been using so far.

The experts have all been saying they are very good fit for the Ukrainians, as they are much easier to operate and maintain than tanks, are much less prone to having breakdowns of engines, turrets, tracks etc, run on diesel, and have decent protection and very good firepower. Bradleys destroyed more Iraqi tanks (like the T72 which is still the main tank the russians are using) than Abrams did. Plus it comes with nghtvision, something russia struggles with.

Oh, and speaking of ammo shortages, russia milbloggers say that russia only has the capacity to manufacture 300k shells a year, and that they have been firing up to 100k over the span of a couple of days. And what is coming off the line often has defects. They say they need to manufacture millions of rounds a year, but that would require the general mobilisation of the entire economy, taking over civilian factories, and they probably lack the specialists to manage it anyway.

[postman1782]

It won't because Ukraine will not agree to it, so if Ukraine attacks the Russians will as well.

Ukraine isn't the aggressor here. Dunno why you are saying that Ukraine won't agree with it.

[Iphie]

Ukraine isn't the aggressor here. Dunno why you are saying that Ukraine won't agree with it.

Because Ukraine already rejected the ceasefire.

[postman1782]

Because Ukraine already rejected the ceasefire.

The only reason Russia wants the ceasefire, is because they are moving more troops in an area they are losing.

[Fugus]

Because Ukraine already rejected the ceasefire.

Russia asking for a ceasefire isn’t about peace, it’s about giving Russia time to regroup and continue their aggression by breaking the ceasefire whenever it’s good for them.

[Corvus]

It was only meant to be for 36 hours over the orthodox Christmas, so there wasn't much time to do anything. But remember russia has never honoured a ceasefire before. The whole thing was a cynical ploy to try and paint Ukraine in a bad light for internal consumption. No doubt a few churches would mysteriously explode and russia would paint Ukraine as the violators of the ceasefire to try and drum up flagging support.

[Iphie]

The only reason Russia wants the ceasefire, is because they are moving more troops in an area they are losing.

Russia asking for a ceasefire isn’t about peace, it’s about giving Russia time to regroup and continue their aggression by breaking the ceasefire whenever it’s good for them.

Yes, I am aware, y'all did see the question I responded to? Though 36 hours is not a lot of time to regroup and resupply and Ukraine would also have 36 hrs to do stuff unmolested.

Edit: my first thought was also, as Corvus said, this is a trap of sorts, if Ukraine agrees it's good for russia a d if Ukraine does not agree it's also good for russia.

[diller]

Ukraine isn't the aggressor here. Dunno why you are saying that Ukraine won't agree with it.

Not sure what you are getting at!

Russia suggested that they both agreed to it which obviously were never going to happen.

[postman1782]

Not sure what you are getting at!

Russia suggested that they both agreed to it which obviously were never going to happen.

I can guarantee that Russia didn't agree with it, they were just trying to move troops around thats it.

[diller]

I can guarantee that Russia didn't agree with it, they were just trying to move troops around thats it.

Obviously the Russians agreed with it, they were the ones proposing it, not sure why you have such a hard time understanding my posts!!!

Please don't reply, this discussion is going nowhere.

[Kathranis]

We've seen what Russia does with its ceasefire agreements already, which is move troops around safely and then violate the ceasefire when the troops are where they want them.

[Iphie]

We've seen what Russia does with its ceasefire agreements already, which is move troops around safely and then violate the ceasefire when the troops are where they want them.

Yeah, though they are much more limited now, previously Ukraine couldn't hit them, now Ukraine can just delete areas with their HIMARS.

[postman1782]

Obviously the Russians agreed with it, they were the ones proposing it, not sure why you have such a hard time understanding my posts!!!

Please don't reply, this discussion is going nowhere.

Yeah, because every other time they have tried to do that in the Ukraine war so far, they used it to move troops to reinforce areas they were losing. You don't like that I and others pointed that out.

[Cynical Asshole]

*Zelensky asks for a truce during Christmas.*

Putin: LOL!

*Putin asks for a truce during Russian Christmas.*

Zelensky: FUCK OFF!

Putin to his people: See? The West are evil! They don't respect holy traditions!

[postman1782]

*Zelensky asks for a truce during Christmas.*

Putin: LOL!

*Putin asks for a truce during Russian Christmas.*

Zelensky: FUCK OFF!

Putin to his people: See? The West are evil! They don't respect holy traditions!

Wait, is that what he was asking for? I didn't know that they would have a different Christmas. Either way, fuck em. They wouldn't honor the Ukrainian Christmas, so the Ukrainians shouldn't honor the Russian Christmas.

https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/russia

[zealo]

Wait, is that what he was asking for? I didn't know that they would have a different Christmas. Either way, fuck em. They wouldn't honor the Ukrainian Christmas, so the Ukrainians shouldn't honor the Russian Christmas.

https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/russia

It's the same holiday, the date is just slightly different cause in Russian Orthodoxy it's set according to the Julian calendar, which puts late December at a date that's early January in the Gregorian one.

[Gabriel]

It's the same holiday, the date is just slightly different cause in Russian Orthodoxy it's set according to the Julian calendar, which puts late December at a date that's early January in the Gregorian one.

Well it isn't strictly speaking the same Christmas we usually celebrate in the west. They don't have Santa Claus, but Grandfather Frost. It is more of a Slavic thing.

[Gaidax]

Well it isn't strictly speaking the same Christmas we usually celebrate in the west. They don't have Santa Claus, but Grandfather Frost. It is more of a Slavic thing.

That's not christmas related anymore for a good hundred of years.

Rather than religious it's a secular traditional attribute of New Year celebration. It's not involved in Orthodox Christmas celebration.