Russia invades Ukraine. Volume 2

[bazza white]

pablo said:

This was a statement from a few hours ago, paints an interesting picture of Belarus’ position

Belarus will not join invasion - Lukashenko
The leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has told state media that his forces will not join Russian troops in the invasion of Ukraine.

Lukashenko, who is a close ally of Vladimir Putin, said that the "Belarusian army isn't taking part in military action, and never did".

"We can prove this to anyone. More than that, the Russian leadership never raised this issue with us - our involvement in the armed conflict. And we don't intend to take part in this special operation in Ukraine in the future. There is no need for this."

Fears had been raised on Monday that Lukashenko was preparing to send a military force to join in the attack on Kyiv.

A spokesperson for the US State Department, Ned Price, said on Monday that Russia had "make a mockery" of Belarus' sovereignty by launching its invasion of Ukraine from Belarusian territory.

and reports coming in they have just crossed the boarder.

[Abbott]

I need to read faster.

[TurboHatchback]

Ayahuasca said:

With Russia frozen out of most of the world’s economy, their currency collapsed and their interest rates at 20%, how long can they afford to sustain an expensive war?

I would imagine they have colossal reserves of munitions left over from the cold war, we know they have inexhaustible supplies of petroleum and they pay their soldiers buttons so I really doubt that economic pain will affect their practical capability to fight a war any time soon.

[AngryPartsBloke]

bazza white said:

pablo said:

This was a statement from a few hours ago, paints an interesting picture of Belarus’ position

Belarus will not join invasion - Lukashenko
The leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has told state media that his forces will not join Russian troops in the invasion of Ukraine.

Lukashenko, who is a close ally of Vladimir Putin, said that the "Belarusian army isn't taking part in military action, and never did".

"We can prove this to anyone. More than that, the Russian leadership never raised this issue with us - our involvement in the armed conflict. And we don't intend to take part in this special operation in Ukraine in the future. There is no need for this."

Fears had been raised on Monday that Lukashenko was preparing to send a military force to join in the attack on Kyiv.

A spokesperson for the US State Department, Ned Price, said on Monday that Russia had "make a mockery" of Belarus' sovereignty by launching its invasion of Ukraine from Belarusian territory.

and reports coming in they have just crossed the boarder.

So far only seen one now deleted tweet.

If anyboy is going to say there is a repor tof something happening, can they actually provide the report?

[Murph7355]

bazza white said:

pablo said:

This was a statement from a few hours ago, paints an interesting picture of Belarus’ position

Belarus will not join invasion - Lukashenko
The leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has told state media that his forces will not join Russian troops in the invasion of Ukraine.

Lukashenko, who is a close ally of Vladimir Putin, said that the "Belarusian army isn't taking part in military action, and never did".

"We can prove this to anyone. More than that, the Russian leadership never raised this issue with us - our involvement in the armed conflict. And we don't intend to take part in this special operation in Ukraine in the future. There is no need for this."

Fears had been raised on Monday that Lukashenko was preparing to send a military force to join in the attack on Kyiv.

A spokesperson for the US State Department, Ned Price, said on Monday that Russia had "make a mockery" of Belarus' sovereignty by launching its invasion of Ukraine from Belarusian territory.

and reports coming in they have just crossed the boarder.

How were Russian units piling in on Kyiv from the North without having come from Belarus? They may not have sent troops prior, but their stall was well and truly set.

[speedy_thrills]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

[GravelBen]

aeropilot said:

Maybe retired older Ukrainian pilots that have managed to get into Poland getting some basic refresher training to be able to take the MiG's back across the border. They have lost a lot of their current active high ranking pilots already, including Colonel Oksanchenko who was killed over Kyiv on Friday flying his Su-27, and been award Hero of Ukraine postumously. Colonel Oksanchenko won the award for best solo jet display here in the UK at the Royal International Air Tattoo in 2017.

I think they lost a lot of aircraft on the ground from early strikes against airfields, so they might still have significantly more pilots than jets for them to fly?

[Muddle238]

Just seen the video of the missile attack on the government building in Kharkiv. Putin’s definition of “peaceful military exercise” somewhat differs from mine.

How difficult would it be for the US to send a drone strike in and take him out? I know that’s another whole level of escalation, but hypothetically?

[Whoozit]

Sway said:

Confirmation that Belarusian forces have entered the fray then, as reported.

Big news if so - could you post a reputable link please. The tweet linked just above has been deleted.

[GravelBen]

Abbott said:

I need to read faster.

Its a challenging thread to keep up with!

[Puggit]

Muddle238 said:

Just seen the video of the missile attack on the government building in Kharkiv. Putin’s definition of “peaceful military exercise” somewhat differs from mine.

How difficult would it be for the US to send a drone strike in and take him out? I know that’s another whole level of escalation, but hypothetically?

Impossible - he's hiding underground. You'll never see him near a window.

[Bill]

Muddle238 said:

How difficult would it be for the US to send a drone strike in and take him out? I know that’s another whole level of escalation, but hypothetically?

How do you find him reliably? And then penetrate the bunker he's hiding in...

[J4CKO]

Puggit said:

Muddle238 said:

Just seen the video of the missile attack on the government building in Kharkiv. Putin’s definition of “peaceful military exercise” somewhat differs from mine.

How difficult would it be for the US to send a drone strike in and take him out? I know that’s another whole level of escalation, but hypothetically?

Impossible - he's hiding underground. You'll never see him near a window.

Or in a mirror.

[HorneyMX5]

He’ll be holed up in a nuclear bunker from now on I imagine. Not going to get much use of all those palaces and vineyards he’s built.

[hidetheelephants]

Bill said:

Muddle238 said:

How difficult would it be for the US to send a drone strike in and take him out? I know that’s another whole level of escalation, but hypothetically?

How do you find him reliably? And then penetrate the bunker he's hiding in...

Send Liz Truss with some radioactive cheese.

[Si1295]

Dog Star said:

My point is that if he is willing to even consider using them in the event his conventional forces get a kicking then it's inevitable that he will use them. On this basis maybe we should just say "fk it" and do him first. I'm also pretty sure that his stuff - if the rest of his gear is any indication - will probably not work, blow up in the silo or simply doesn't exist.

Would be funny if the yanks have pulled a stuxnet type operation on them.

[Digga]

J4CKO said:

Puggit said:

Muddle238 said:

Just seen the video of the missile attack on the government building in Kharkiv. Putin’s definition of “peaceful military exercise” somewhat differs from mine.

How difficult would it be for the US to send a drone strike in and take him out? I know that’s another whole level of escalation, but hypothetically?

Impossible - he's hiding underground. You'll never see him near a window.

Or in a mirror.

Never seen him and Dobby together either.

[Earthdweller]

I do feel that we are approaching a crunch moment, for years we in the west have appeased Putin and emboldened him, almost encouraging his actions

Prior to the invasion of Ukraine lots of the words were mealy mouthed, as an example Biden’s comments about how big an invasion it turned out to be would make him decide what to do .. almost an invite, and pretty shocking comments

So now we are in (notso) proxy war .. NATO and the EU are to all intents and purposes at war with Russia .. granted NATO troops don’t appear to be on the ground but might as well be

I’m sure Russia views it that way, we have taken sides ( rightly I think )

It’s phony and cannot continue as it is, we are either in/out and that is the crunch

What will happen I have no idea but I do feel that the crunch is coming and NATO will be drawn further into the conflict

I think it’s unavoidable and sadly necessary as appeasement has never worked, at some point you have to stand and fight and it’s either now or tomorrow but I think it’s coming

Feel free to persuade me im wrong .. I really want to be

[768]

Krupp88 said:

768 said:

J210 said:

Question for military experts. Is it common for such a high failure rate of unexploded weapons ? Lots of pictures in different places of all sorts that hasn't blown.

Not a military expert, but I don't think it's abnormal with cluster submunitions. They leave a nasty legacy once the fighting's stopped.

If you have seen the pictures of what look like un-exploded rockets embedded in the ground these are just the rocket motor sections, the cluster devices are held further up the missile in a unit which separates to release the sub munitions.

I mean something like a 9N210.

[TheJimi]

Earthdweller said:

I do feel that we are approaching a crunch moment, for years we in the west have appeased Putin and emboldened him, almost encouraging his actions

Prior to the invasion of Ukraine lots of the words were mealy mouthed, as an example Biden’s comments about how big an invasion it turned out to be would make him decide what to do .. almost an invite, and pretty shocking comments

So now we are in (notso) proxy war .. NATO and the EU are to all intents and purposes at war with Russia .. granted NATO troops don’t appear to be on the ground but might as well be

I’m sure Russia views it that way, we have taken sides ( rightly I think )

It’s phony and cannot continue as it is, we are either in/out and that is the crunch

What will happen I have no idea but I do feel that the crunch is coming and NATO will be drawn further into the conflict

I think it’s unavoidable and sadly necessary as appeasement has never worked, at some point you have to stand and fight and it’s either now or tomorrow but I think it’s coming

Feel free to persuade me im wrong .. I really want to be

There's a redline for the EU / NATO, I just can't make up my mind what it is.

It's either an attempted flattening of Kyiv, or tactical nukes being used.