antheads

ahem that counter offensive, where is it at again? oh wait it's nowhere sqm at a cost of x ukri lives, not that you old pommy warriors care about that https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...-robotyne.html

Tartiflette Fan

Well, last I read Ukr had reconquered 54% of the territory taken by the Russkis in their treacherous February '22 attack and in the the last 7 days Russia lost more than $ 2 Bn of major military equipment. 1 x Kilo sub, 1 x Minsk landing-ship, 2 ( or 3 ) x S 400 anti-air systems, 1 x Su 34, 1 ( or 2 ? ) x Ka 52 attack-helis, 1 x Mi- 28 attack heli., 1 x IL20 C2 aircraft* p0lus several high-value ( both cash and strategic ) radar-systems When you add to these losses the withdrawal of ALL Russian subs from Sevastopol to Novorossiysk then I would say that Russia is getting its arse kicked all around the ring, and its propagandist mouth-pieces are shown to be the cretinous gutter-trash that they aspire to be.

One could add to this the deaths of a large number of staff offficsrs in the Black Sea Fleet Planning HQ yesterday and a couple of colonels killed near Bakhmut and Robotyne.

Over to you, Vladimir.

* This attack took place at Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow, reckoned to be the "headquarters" of the RuAF, the home-base of the Doomsday plane for Vlad and his nearest and dearest, and therefore , logically, the most -closely guarded of all bases. They are just a ****-shower all round

Lonewolf_50

Gallipoli comes to mind.

As to the counter offensive. I read a few news bits about the "break through" and remembered an old reminder from an Armor Branch colonel who I once worked for.
"When you make a break through and try to exploit it, you have a ticklish risk assessment to do since you now have two flanks as you penetrate and try to exploit the breakthrough."
He further went on to observe
"Here is where I appreciate the aviation units in the Cav...when the weather is good. "

Which takes me to:

1. How well have Ukraine established local air superiority in the vicinity of the breakthrough" ... and ...
2. How well have Ukraine established EW spectrum dominance / superiority in the area (let's say 10-20 nm radius) around the breakthrough?
3. For Ukraine to exploit this they need to be able to spoil and/ or stall various counterattacks. More importantly to interfere with the sensor-to-shooter links between local Russian forces and Russian artillery.

langleybaston

It matters not what pommy warriors [or descendants of convicts] think: what matters is that an independant country has been treacherously attacked, robbed, raped and trashed by the embodiment of evil.

antheads

What's the point here, is it degrading russian military forces long term or is it a fight for Ukrainian land and people? just asking for a friend

DogTailRed2

The point is to defeat the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine. To defeat Russia militarily and politically. The aim is to push Russia out of Ukrainian territory permanently.

pilotmike

The most shocking thing you said is that you have a friend!

pasta

At the risk of stating the obvious, I'd have thought it's easier to retake land and liberate people if the enemy's military forces have been degraded. Maybe I'm wrong...

Video Mixdown

Note: this thing was pretending to be Polish a few days ago. Now it's pretending to be Australian. It's a troll.

jolihokistix

In case anyone missed it, the point is to get Russia to pull out of annexed lands.

Professor Plum

For the hard of thinking;

One of those things is made easier, once you’ve achieved the other.

Rockie_Rapier

The point is to make continuing with the war too expensive to the extent where they give up.

Kremlin approved history doesn't have much to say about the occasions in the past where even the USSR gave up.

The Berlin airlift and the war against Finland come to mind. ( Stalin vowed to destroy Helsinki )
​​​​​

antheads

About Zelenskyy’s words at the UN: “I listened to [the sentence about Poland] with great regret. I must admit, there is some bitterness in my heart. I understand all those who feel bitter perfectly well.”
I don't think this turbo-diplomacy of Zelensky playing out well. Ask for 80 billion that you need next year to keep Ukraine running and you shall receive.

Tartiflette Fan

First opinion is that Zelensky has made a big mistake there. Second opinion is that you are a {Deleted}
The next time you are tempted to do that, step away from the keyboard until you cool off.
T28B

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Another point disconnected from above.

Zelensky's legal attack on Poland for tariffs on Ukrainian grain is astonishing and, imo, a huge mistake. He's completely ignoring the fact that Poland is a massivey important supporter - both militarily and politically - for Ukraine 2) Position as most important transit point for supplies to Ukr 3) The uocoming Polish election and the importance of farmers support for the current government 4) Poland's right to levy tariffs on products that risk disrupting its producers ( I write that as a personal opinion as I am not certain of legal position ).

I really really hope that this doesn't mean he is losing touch with (political ) reality as that could be disastrous: it is already a self-inflicted wound.

chopper2004

I kind of gathered at some point down the line, a situation like this would happen, that Zelensky would ruffle an ally's feathers Just wondering who else will gradually withdraw support, perhaps its naivety on Zelensky's part. this situation could have a knock on effect on food prices here in the UK?? Putin' is probably chuckling quietly to himself.

Here is another question if Zelensky apologises to the Poles, and stops what hes doing, then it be back to business as usual...

cheers

Video Mixdown

The call for calm is a good one. Maybe he should also be cut a little slack. He has been under enormous pressure for a long time.

Tartiflette Fan

That supposes that he is making unilateral decisions which is not a good idea- what on earth were his advisors thinking ? It would also indicate a kind of megalomania becuase, to many people, it indicates a total lack of awareness of reality. I hope he gets some straight talking in the USA to bring him to his senses so he perhaps then visits Poland , says he has been a fool and asks forgiveness.

Xeptu

Fatigue would have to be a factor. It must be soul destroying to watch the loss of so many of your own while NATO countries get the easy ride. Poland cannot withdraw support to Ukraine, to do so means engaging Russia themselves and therein lies the key. Imagine the consequence of Zelenski throwing in the towel.

Herod

I thought the idea was to move these grain supplies west, to allow export safe from Vlad's forces. Selling in Poland, below Polish prices doesn't make sense that I can see.

ORAC

“If the Polish government no longer wants to supply Ukraine with weapons for reasons of domestic political sentiment, Germany should consider transferring it’s anti-aircraft missile systems currently stationed in Poland directly to Ukraine,"

Says Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the chairwoman of the defence committee in the Bundestag…..