Russian invasion of Ukraine

[Gaidax]

In an effort to try and stir up more trouble, pootie has had his Transnistria minions formally ask russia for 'protection' from big bad Moldova's ongoing 'military and economic pressure.'

Pootie seems desperate to start more things to distract from help being sent to Ukraine.

What, already? Damn, and here I hoped they'd give it a bit more time in the oven.

Now I'll have to deal with claims that I'm secretly Putin. Just ain't my lucky day.

[Karreck]

You're really bad at the "controlling the narrative" aspect, here.

As long as he gets his turnips I guess.

[Iphie]

Leave something for the F-16's!
So, yeah, another Su-34 shot down according to Ukraine.

At this point I'm willing to consider a mole in the russian airforces...

[Corvus]

Could also be that now it's the 3rd year of a planned 3 day war, wear and tear and fatigue are starting to take a toll. And Ukraine is really going after those su-34s as they are the bomb tossers.

[Iphie]

That too, point is there's a lot of russian jets dropping out of the skies.

[Corvus]

Pootie is doing his annual whine and lie fest to the nation. Usual garbage, that russia is strong and everyone wants to destroy them. russia really does have a massive inferiority complex.

[Wilian]

Leave something for the F-16's!
So, yeah, another Su-34 shot down according to Ukraine.

At this point I'm willing to consider a mole in the russian airforces...

The most likely reason is that since Russia has the initiative right now and is advancing at a pace not seen since the escalation of the war in 2022 they are more willing to engage in riskier operations to keep up momentum and pressure despite the losses. Especially so in light of Russia's election where Putin wants to sell a win for his audience.

In other news, unlike "Oh we can't give Taurus it might hit Russians" Scholzh of Germany, it seems French are showing some balls finally. Their Prime Minister came out saying that France is considering sending military personnel into Ukraine to handle AA weaponry and to give on the ground training. He follows Netherlands and Latvia's comments of considering sending boots on the ground.

At least some are willing to take more necessary steps while others are setting up red lines for themselves in fear of Russia.

[Corvus]

Another 2 su34s have been claimed in addition to the earlier one.

[Cynical Asshole]

France is considering sending military personnel into Ukraine to handle AA weaponry and to give on the ground training. He follows Netherlands and Latvia's comments of considering sending boots on the ground.

At least some are willing to take more necessary steps while others are setting up red lines for themselves in fear of Russia.

Also maybe because the good stuff that the West gives Ukraine tends to end up in Africa or in Russian hands. So sending some people to actually supervise that the weapons are used against the intended targets and not sold on the black market or directly sold to the actual Russians, seems like a good idea.

[Wilian]

Also maybe because the good stuff that the West gives Ukraine tends to end up in Africa or in Russian hands. So sending some people to actually supervise that the weapons are used against the intended targets and not sold on the black market or directly sold to the actual Russians, seems like a good idea.

I think we have some grade A bullshit here in form of text.

[Corvus]

Pootie still rambling on, claiming, among other things, that russia has Europe's largest economy and the 5th largest in the world.

[Jessicka]

Leave something for the F-16's!
So, yeah, another Su-34 shot down according to Ukraine.

At this point I'm willing to consider a mole in the russian airforces...

Running out of pilots is by far the most straightforward explanation, alongside ground crews getting good with experience.

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The most likely reason is that since Russia has the initiative right now and is advancing at a pace not seen since the escalation of the war in 2022 they are more willing to engage in riskier operations to keep up momentum and pressure despite the losses. Especially so in light of Russia's election where Putin wants to sell a win for his audience.

In other news, unlike "Oh we can't give Taurus it might hit Russians" Scholzh of Germany, it seems French are showing some balls finally. Their Prime Minister came out saying that France is considering sending military personnel into Ukraine to handle AA weaponry and to give on the ground training. He follows Netherlands and Latvia's comments of considering sending boots on the ground.

At least some are willing to take more necessary steps while others are setting up red lines for themselves in fear of Russia.

Britain has had troops on the ground “training” local forces since the start. Weird how they’re also confirmed to be special forces units that are also hilariously overqualified and equipped for it.

[Odinfrost]

Pootie still rambling on, claiming, among other things, that russia has Europe's largest economy and the 5th largest in the world.

Guess Germany isn't in Europe

[Mekh]

Pootie still rambling on, claiming, among other things, that russia has Europe's largest economy and the 5th largest in the world.

For anyone playing at home: Russia is 5th in Europe, 11th in the world.

[Corvus]

For anyone playing at home: Russia is 5th in Europe, 11th in the world.

And if you do it per capita, it's way down at 69, below even Turkey.

[alach]

Regarding the economy, from what I have gathered, over the last year or so, Russia has shifted completely to a war economy, so much so if the war would end, the country would go bankrupt and tens and tens of thousands would be suddenly unemployed.
There has been some good articles out about it recently.

Russia’s economy ‘in for very tough times’ despite improved growth outlook, IMF managing director says
“What it tells us is that this is a war economy in which the state — which let’s remember, had a very sizeable buffer, built over many years of fiscal discipline — is investing in this war economy. If you look at Russia, today, production goes up, [for the] military, [and] consumption goes down. And that is pretty much what the Soviet Union used to look like. High level of production, low level of consumption.”
At the same time, however, more than 800,000 people have left Russia, according to estimates by exiled academics compiled last October. Many among those who fled are highly skilled workers in fields like IT and sciences.

“I actually think that the Russian economy is in for very tough times because of the outflow of people, and because of the reduced access to technology that comes with the sanctions,” Georgieva said.

“So although this number looks like a good number, there is a bigger story behind that, and it’s not a very good story.”

Russia boasts it is beating sanctions, but its longer-term prospects are bleak
CNN
—
Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken to gloating about Russia’s resistance to international sanctions and its supposed economic resilience, despite the best efforts of the United States and its G7 partners to choke off Moscow’s oil revenues and starve it of military technology.
But the longer-term outlook is far less rosy. War is distorting the economy and sucking resources into military production at an unsustainable pace.

Rostec, a Russian state-owned defense company, increased the production of armored vehicles nearly fivefold in the year to November, according to its chairman Sergei Chemezov. There have been similar vast increases in the production of munitions and drones.

And so on.

Did anyone see Navaly's wife's speech yesterday? She said something along the lines about how the world needs to stop treating Putin and Russia like a country and more like a mafia state like they actually are. The current sanctions are not working as intended since the Russian lords still own mansions in downtown London, Athens, and the like. I have seen with my own eyes, Russian oligarch super yachts just floating peacefully in western harbours. All these assets need to be siezed, and the worth sent to Ukraine.

[Saradain]

As russians imagine Avdiivka being some sort of elite target...Krasnohorivka in return has been liberated.

https://kyivindependent.com/third-as...krasnohorivka/

Soldiers of Ukraine's Third Assault Brigade said on Feb. 28 that they drove out Russian troops from the city of Krasnohorivka in Donetsk Oblast.

Maksym Zhorin, a deputy commander of Ukraine's Third Assault Brigade, called the pushback of Russian soldiers from the city a counterattack in response to the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Avdiivka on Feb. 17 and three villages after that.

According to the Ukrainian military, Russian forces attacked the southeastern part of Krasnohorivka on Feb. 27 and entered the town.

Soldiers from the first and second assault battalions of the Third Assault Brigade conducted a combat operation to clear the town of Russian troops, preventing them from gaining a foothold.

"As of now, Krasnohorivka is under the control of Ukrainian troops," the brigade said.

The military said that in a short period of time, the Russian army managed to prepare for a "long defense." Despite this, Russian losses amounted to 100 soldiers killed and wounded, the brigade said.

"The Russians refused to surrender and were eliminated in the houses they occupied," the statement read.

So the liberation itself lasted a single day and 100 orcs got sent back to an alternative hell compared to their terrorist state. How long did actual siege of Avdiivka take again?

Is this Krasnohorivka even important? I don't know. But since this thread is about shills glorifying smoldering ruins as major victories, could as well pretend the same!

[Xyonai]

Leave something for the F-16's!
So, yeah, another Su-34 shot down according to Ukraine.

At this point I'm willing to consider a mole in the russian airforces...

Yeah but did you see that Ukraine lost an M1 Abrams???? That means it's totally over for them and they should give up (/s)

[KrayZ33]

In other news, unlike "Oh we can't give Taurus it might hit Russians" Scholzh of Germany, it seems French are showing some balls finally. Their Prime Minister came out saying that France is considering sending military personnel into Ukraine to handle AA weaponry and to give on the ground training. He follows Netherlands and Latvia's comments of considering sending boots on the ground.

At least some are willing to take more necessary steps while others are setting up red lines for themselves in fear of Russia.

France is not doing shit, they don't send shit (they are the one of the least supportive nations in the EU) and they'll for sure not send troops. This is a huge bluff and it seems to work on people like yourself. And I mean no offense, I just didn't know how to say it differently. It's "propaganda" for people who only want to hear buzzwords.
"Well WE wanted to send troops but no one else wanted to, so we won't either now".

This is the usual "all options are on the table" nonsense.

[Wilian]

France is not doing shit, they don't send shit (they are the one of the least supportive nations in the EU) and they'll for sure not send troops. This is a huge bluff and it seems to work on people like yourself. And I mean no offense, I just didn't know how to say it differently. It's "propaganda" for people who only want to hear buzzwords.
"Well WE wanted to send troops but no one else wanted to, so we won't either now".

This is the usual "all options are on the table" nonsense.

Sigh, everyone is well aware of less than stellar suppor France has offered in reality to Ukraine so there's no need to be condescending ass about that; the matter is not about the sent equipment. The matter is about shift of rhetoric from Russia towing and self-redlining "oh we totally won't do this or that!" vapid cowardice that lets Putin dictate the hows and whens of western response. This has been one of the great successess of Russia's propaganda. Decisive actions before the invasion of 2022 and during it would've cut this war short if it was going to even start if we in the west posed real threat.

It's fresh air on internatonal level especially in wake of the post meeting sniveling after Macron had said troops on the ground are on card where NATO and nearly all other western countries rejected the idea like a bunch of walking morons. Even if it wasn't in the cards, it's the card you're not supposed to reveal to upkeep a level of potential threat. They all knelt before Putin with that commentary. France coming after all that whining and doubling down on potential of sending troops alongside with Netherlands and Latvia (AKA, not standing alone on the matter) sends a message and is a tool to shift discussion to the right course, whetever it is realized or not.

In fact it's sad every single action we have collectively taken has had to go through this exact same hula-loop. "Oh absolutely we don't want to do this to provoke Russia.", then few speak out, start working it out and forces rest of the west come along. It happened with every major weapon system that was formerly Russian red line and hopefully it'll happen with the troops. Someone has to start that discussion in public.