Russian Invasion of Ukraine

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rage Racer
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Is reality starting to dawn on Donald Trump - that Putin is playing him like a fiddle, and taking him for the fool he is?

www.bbc.co.uk

Ukraine war latest: Everyone is emotional says Kremlin, after Trump calls Putin 'absolutely crazy'

Trump stepped up his criticism of the Russian president after a weekend of major drone and missile attacks on Ukraine.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

Trump wants the war to end.
Putin wants to win the war.

Those are two very different things, but Putin has managed to convince Trump that they can both achieve their goals with an outright victory for Russia - however, it's hard to see what the US will gain from a Russian victory.

The US recently signed a lucrative minerals deal with Ukraine, in part of reimburse the US for its substantial military and financial support, most of which has since been stopped by Trump. If Russia eventually beats Ukraine and forces the Zelenskyy administration out, then it's very hard to see how this deal will work, given that Russia will now control those resources. Why would Putin honour a deal that Zelenskyy has made with Trump??

Instead of working towards a peaceful settlement, Putin has (once again) raised the stakes and is now bombarding Kiev more heavily than ever - even Trump can now surely see that Putin has no interest in peace. But it's also hard to see what, if anything, Trump can do to rein in Putin - or that he even wants to. And yet, Putin is making Trump look weak and ineffective, and it's clearly starting to grate on Trump's nerves that he's being treated like a fool.
 
Eh, they'd all be doped up anyway and find a way to cheat. Even before the Ukraine invasion, Russia had no place in international sports.
 
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1) Severomorsk, Severomorsk-1 airbase, Murmansk region.
2) Olenegorsk, Olenya airbase, Murmansk region.
3) Ryazan, Dyagilevo airbase, Ryazan region.
4) Ivanovo, Dalniy airbase, Ivanovo region.
5) Usolye-Sibirskoye, Belaya airbase, Irkutsk region.
 
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The Russian assets in Washington apparently weren't aware that Ukraine was plotting the massive attacks.

aO81PDv_460s.jpg
 
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Dennisch
amoVxjd_460s.jpg


That's a lot of destruction if those numbers are correct.

Edit.

Apparently the drones were delivered in shipping containers and parked close to the airfields. And after they were released the containers self-destruct.
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Firstly, I would have loved to see footage of one of those containers releasing a swarm of drones like a nest of angry wasps.

But more importantly, this is also going to put a lot of paranoia into the Russian logistics system and likely cause significant delays to delivery of supplies. Any officer who's in charge of shipments and previously just signed the paperwork without checking anything is probably going to be scouring every box and barrel to make sure it's accounted for, lest they get an impromptu flight lesson from a fifth story window.

And having done some work on the logistics side of things, it can be very easy for people to get complacent and presume that shipments were checked by the other party, or to get something that was unexpected and set it aside until there's time to deal with it later. Probably even moreso when you work for a military organization that has a known habit of "misplacing" things onto the black market.
 
OMG, Ukraine is the enemy of Washington! /s

Srsly though, **** DC. Ex-NATO supreme commander James Stavridis doesn't seem too bothered as he reposted the following xeet with the message "Vlad is having a very bad day":

 
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Dennisch
amoVxjd_460s.jpg


That's a lot of destruction if those numbers are correct.

Edit.

Apparently the drones were delivered in shipping containers and parked close to the airfields. And after they were released the containers self-destruct.
Click to expand...
So much for apparently having "no cards".
 
Dennisch
amoVxjd_460s.jpg


That's a lot of destruction if those numbers are correct.

Edit.

Apparently the drones were delivered in shipping containers and parked close to the airfields. And after they were released the containers self-destruct.
Click to expand...
Good.
 
EngieDiesel
Firstly, I would have loved to see footage of one of those containers releasing a swarm of drones like a nest of angry wasps.

But more importantly, this is also going to put a lot of paranoia into the Russian logistics system and likely cause significant delays to delivery of supplies. Any officer who's in charge of shipments and previously just signed the paperwork without checking anything is probably going to be scouring every box and barrel to make sure it's accounted for, lest they get an impromptu flight lesson from a fifth story window.

And having done some work on the logistics side of things, it can be very easy for people to get complacent and presume that shipments were checked by the other party, or to get something that was unexpected and set it aside until there's time to deal with it later. Probably even moreso when you work for a military organization that has a known habit of "misplacing" things onto the black market.
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This is a fun report on the situation...

eastangliabylines.co.uk

Operation Spiderweb: the memes that took off

Ukraine’s daring Operation Spiderweb stunned the world – but it was the memes that truly went viral
eastangliabylines.co.uk eastangliabylines.co.uk
 
The spider web attack is a pretty big blow to the prestige and functionality of Russia's strategic deterrence. My guess on what happens next is that Russia will attempt to assassinate Zelensky and/or destroy some symbolic element of Ukraine's government, like Independence Square in Kyiv (doubtful they would destroy anything related to Russian heritage). It's the escalation that is most likely to have a meaningful impact without massive blowback (such as would occur with a tactical nuclear strike). Anything less than either of them will probably not be viewed as retaliatory enough to dissuade similar attacks.

If I were Ukraine, I would not take my foot off the gas - keep landing blows that hurt Russia's ability to continue the conflict and/or defend their nation.
 
Dennisch
That damn Kerch bridge needs to collapse.
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Well, the way that Ukraine attacked it...it could take a while. Those look like friction piles, which resist settlement. If they took out enough of them, that support could begin sinking and tilting to the point where a failure occurs. Interesting way to blow up a bridge...

If I were to sabotage a piece of concrete infrastructure very slowly, I would make a 4" deep saw cut in all of the Pylons near the base which would allow sea water to begin attacking the steel reinforcement. You know, if you feel like waiting 25 years for collapse. :lol:
 
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Eunos_Cosmo
Well, the way that Ukraine attacked it...it could take a while. Those look like friction piles, which resist settlement. If they took out enough of them, that support could begin sinking and tilting to the point where a failure occurs. Interesting way to blow up a bridge...
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It seems sometimes like Ukraine goes out of their way to avoid unintended casualties. This method of taking out a bridge has that advantage. The Ukrainian effort seems to continually try to focus on the worldwide perception of their cause.
 
Danoff
It seems sometimes like Ukraine goes out of their way to avoid unintended casualties. This method of taking out a bridge has that advantage. The Ukrainian effort seems to continually try to focus on the worldwide perception of their cause.
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They first released drones to make the Russians halt all traffic before they detonated it.
 
I've heard that people who were comparing satellite photos have mentioned that at least some of the destroyed aircraft looked like they hadn't been moved in several months, which could mean they were already inoperable and being stripped for spares. Even if that is the case, whatever spare parts they had on them are now unusable for the planes that are still flying, and it probably means they'll have to start taking the worst off of the working ones out of service to keep patching up the ones that are still in good condition. That'll still end up reducing Russia's air power on the whole.
 
Some of the aircraft had cruise missiles attached, so it looks like Ukraine got quite the mix ranging from parts pools up to aircraft that they will likely to take off relatively soon.

Either way that's got to sting.
 
Aloha62_2
Some of the aircraft had cruise missiles attached, so it looks like Ukraine got quite the mix ranging from parts pools up to aircraft that they will likely to take off relatively soon.

Either way that's got to sting.
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About a third of their missile carriers, if this article is correct:

www.businessinsider.com

Satellite images show the unusual tire tactic and fake decoy aircraft that failed to save Russia's bombers from Ukrainian drones

Russia had employed deceptive measures at its airbases in the days and weeks leading up to the Ukrainian operation.
www.businessinsider.com www.businessinsider.com

Although I will say that while some of their attempts to create decoys were pretty bad, I do appreciate the fine pieces of trash art the Russians were creating to try and camouflage their working aircraft, both detailed:

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And minimalist:
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It makes you wonder how ****** the Russian satellite tech is currently, if they think that that passes as a plane from space.
 
Dennisch
It makes you wonder how ****** the Russian satellite tech is currently, if they think that that passes as a plane from space.
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It was more to attempt to confuse the cameras on the long range drones flying out from Ukraine, but even with those lower resolution cameras I can't imagine that stick figure Yuri made would pass muster.
 
Former Russian transport minister found dead / sacked by Putin - it's not clear in what order, though...

www.bbc.co.uk

Russian minister sacked by Putin found dead

On Monday morning a presidential decree stated that Starovoit had been dismissed from his post.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
The head of the State Duma Defence Committee, Andrei Kartapolov, told Russian outlet RTVI that his death occurred "quite a while ago".
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Starovoit was sacked by Putin on Monday, but it's not clear whether or not his sacking was before or after he allegedly shot himself. One might assume that Starovoit shot himself because he was sacked by Putin - but there is also the possibility that Kartapolov is correct in stating that Starovoit was already dead before Putin gave him his marching orders. In fairness to Putin, killing oneself does make one noticably less productive and useful to the war effort, hence it would at least stand to reason to let such an employee go, even if they had already blown their own brains out (or indeed had help with such a task).
 
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Touring Mars
Former Russian transport minister found dead / sacked by Putin - it's not clear in what order, though...

www.bbc.co.uk

Russian minister sacked by Putin found dead

On Monday morning a presidential decree stated that Starovoit had been dismissed from his post.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

Starovoit was sacked by Putin on Monday, but it's not clear whether or not his sacking was before or after he allegedly shot himself. One might assume that Starovoit shot himself because he was sacked by Putin - but there is also the possibility that Kartapolov is correct in stating that Starovoit was already dead before Putin gave him his marching orders. In fairness to Putin, killing oneself does make one noticably less productive and useful to the war effort, hence it would at least stand to reason to let such an employee go, even if they had already blown their own brains out (or indeed had help with such a task).
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Did he happen to shoot himself while falling out of a window? 🤔
 

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