Russia invades Ukraine *** READ RULES IN POST 6 BEFORE POSTING ***

[Sarek]

I'm seeing press articles that Prigozhin was on a jet that crashed. Is he dead?
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/23/europe/russia-wagner-prigozhin-plane-crash-intl/index.html
Putin killed him?
I don't know what happened, but seems shady!
What say you!

 

[nobody]

I'm seeing press articles that Prigozhin was on a jet that crashed. Is he dead?
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/23/europe/russia-wagner-prigozhin-plane-crash-intl/index.html
Putin killed him?
I don't know what happened, but seems shady!
What say you!

It fits Putin's modus operandii, but it's not the most sensible. It's more erratic like he's losing it.

Unless it's a ruse. It's certainly shady.

 

[triplets_93]

https://www.defense.gov/News/Transc...ce-brig-gen-pat-ryder-holds-a-press-briefing/

As it relates to Ukrainian pilot F-16 training in the U.S., we are prepared to support a training effort here in the continental United States if capacity is reached in Europe. I don't have any specifics to provide right now in terms of which bases that training could occur at.

 

[triplets_93]

8:54pm: Pentagon announces F-16 training for Ukrainian pilots

The Pentagon announced on Thursday that the United States would begin flight training for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 aircraft in October.

Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said the training would begin after the Ukrainian pilots received English language training in September. The flight training would take place in Arizona, Ryder added.

https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20230824-🔴-live-russia-and-ukraine-trade-drone-attacks

 

[triplets_93]

9:13pm: Pentagon dismisses missile strike theory for Prigozhin plane crash

The US Department of Defence said Thursday there was currently no information to suggest that a surface-to-air missile took down the plane presumed to be carrying Russian mercenary leader Prigozhin.

Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, offered no further details or evidence as he made his remarks at a Pentagon news conference.

Reuters had reported earlier on Thursday that the United States was looking at a number of theories over what caused Prigozhin’s plane to crash, and cited two US officials saying a surface-to-air missile likely hit it.

 

[triplets_93]

Ryder said the U.S. decided to join European allies in the training to avoid bottlenecks in bringing Ukrainian pilots up to speed.

The U.S. training would accommodate “several” Ukrainian fighter pilots and dozens of maintenance people for the jets, he said.

For experienced pilots, training can range around five months, Ryder said. He sketched out courses covering the basics. In addition to flying the advanced craft, they include formation flying, operating weapons, air combat and suppressing air defense systems, on top of centrifuge training on the ground to help pilots withstand the g-forces of an F-16 cockpit.

https://apnews.com/article/f16-ukraine-pilot-training-arizona-d72b03e45b35d2b0edf979724a249a8d

 

[triplets_93]

U.S. military officials stress it takes years of training to be able to field F-16 squadrons, limiting the impact the aircraft will have on Ukraine’s defense for the near future.

“This is about the long-term support to Ukraine,” the Pentagon spokesman, Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, told reporters in Washington. “This is not about the counteroffensive that they’re conducting right now.”

The training will take place at Morris Air National Guard base in Tucson, Arizona. The pilots will first undergo English instruction at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, to bring their fluency up to the level needed to operate the aircraft, starting next month, Ryder said.

 

[triplets_93]

https://www.france24.com/en/europe/...gin-training-ukraine-f-16-pilots-in-september

Russian investigators said Friday they had recovered flight recorders and 10 bodies from the scene of the plane crash presumed to have killed Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin two days ago. Earlier Friday, a Kremlin spokesperson said "speculation" the crash had been ordered by the government was an “absolute lie”.

 

[VaqueroTD]

 

[triplets_93]

I watched the video "Modern Conflicts: The Battle of Bakhmut" on the Nebula Channel. It was posted originally on August 18, 2023. It's part of the Real Life Lore Series. Some Real Life Lore videos appear on YouTube, But others, like The Battle of Bakhmut do not, for various reasons.

Here is a description of the video: For over a year, the Russian and Ukrainian armies threw just about everything they had into a massive battle for control over the small city of Bakhmut in the east of Ukraine. The fight for the city gradually evolved into the most significant and most catastrophic battle fought in Europe since the Second World War, with tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks committed by both sides.

This is the link where I watched the video:
https://nebula.tv/videos/reallifelore-modern-conflicts-the-battle-of-bakhmut

 

[triplets_93]

https://www.france24.com/en/europe/...n-exporting-port-ahead-of-putin-erdogan-talks

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that defence minister Oleksii Reznikov will be replaced this week with Rustem Umerov, a Crimean Tatar lawmaker.

Zelensky made the announcement on his official Telegram account, writing that new leadership was needed. Later in his nightly address, Zelensky said he believes “that the Ministry needs new approaches and different formats of interaction both with the military and with society".

Resnikov’s removal comes after a scandal around the ministry of defence’s procurement of military jackets. In August, Ukrainian investigative journalists reported that the materials were purchased at a price three times higher than normal and that instead of winter jackets, summer ones were ordered.

In the customs documents from the supplier, the jackets were priced at $29 per unit, but the ministry of defence paid $86 per unit. Reznikov denied the allegations during a news conference last week.

Umerov, 41, a politician with the opposition Holos party, has served as head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine since September 2022. He was involved in the exchange of prisoners of war, political prisoners, children and civilians, as well as the evacuation of civilians from occupied territories and was part of the Ukrainian delegation in negotiations with Russia over the UN-backed grain deal.

 

[triplets_93]

Russia’s Putin says there will be no new grain deal until the West meets his demands

https://apnews.com/article/russia-u...rdogan-sochi-ac41cb453a6d6c597d543873850414eb

He also said that Russia is close to finalizing an agreement to provide free grain to six African countries. The Russian leader added that Russia will ship 1 million metric tons (1.1 million tons) of cheap grain to Turkey for processing and delivery to poor countries.

 

[triplets_93]

As expected... No surprise here:

As Russian students headed back to school this year, many were given updated history textbooks – part of an attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to reaffirm his chosen narrative of Russia’s place in the world. The new books include a glorified account of Russia's history, derision aimed at its enemies and justifications for the invasion of Ukraine.

https://www.france24.com/en/europe/...ory-books-textbooks-ukraine-rewriting-history

 

[Sarek]

I agree with the French President. Sending western European troops into Ukraine will have to be done at some point, or just quit and lose.

Europe has more to gain from this war's outcome than America does, therefore it will have to be European troops. Europe can't keep pretending that America will save the day.

This war should've been over with long ago.

 

[BleedSilverandBlue]

I agree with the French President. Sending western European troops into Ukraine will have to be done at some point, or just quit and lose.

Europe has more to gain from this war's outcome than America does, therefore it will have to be European troops. Europe can't keep pretending that America will save the day.

This war should've been over with long ago.

This war could be over in one month if the West decided to intervene. The Russian military is impossibly weak and disorganized right now compared to NATO after 2 years of taking horrendous casualties. The myth of Russian military dominance has been annihilated, they are clearly a second class military and superpower, but the threat of Russian aggression has been proven to be as real as ever.

Realistically though, western troops are not needed. Just flood Ukraine with weapons. Long range munitions, FPV Drones, artillery shells, and aircraft. Do this and they will win. Even at a massive material disadvantage they managed to liberate Kharkiv, Kherson, and hold the line against impossible odds. Without having to operate at this deficit, they outclass the Russians. It’s a simple calculus that the West is too dumb, fat, and content to acknowledge and act on.

America should continue to support the fight so that this doesn’t become an Article V issue when Russia goes for the Baltic nations or Poland after Ukraine falls due to American abandonment, but Europe has finally been woken from their sleep in the post WWII era. It is a slow process that is already in motion, but the EU needs to arm and defend itself in the event that America abandons them because of our unscrupulous leadership.

Either way, any long term future for the Russian nation has been dashed by this war. Problems they are facing include collapsing demographics, that they are projected to have burnt through most of the Soviet arms stockpiles by 2025, a complete devastation of most of their professional military in Ukraine (all to only capture 18% of the country), and almost every former Soviet republic and eastern bloc nation has finally seen Russia for what it is: The last empire. Hellbent on restoring its former dominion at any cost.

 

[RJ_MacReady]

Anyone that has been really following this conflict very closely for the past 2 years, taking in all of the footage and reports, will probably agree that the Ukrainian Army was broken around this time last year after spring offensive. That was like the 3rd Army that Ukraine had built (each one being less capable than the previous). Now they don't have the numbers, equipment or morale and have been retreating away from the frontline because Russia has been pounding them with guided bombs on a scale that looks like Operation Iraqi Freedom. And what's worse, up until this point they had been mobilizing mostly Russian speaking men from longstanding Russian parts of that region (like a sadistic cleansing), but now have finally tapped into Metropolitans like Kiev and Lviv. And those sophisticated, Ukrainian speaking people aren't having it.

IMO, this collapse of the Ukrainian Army is what is triggering the sabre rattling from the West, particularly France as they have the type of shock troops specially built to traverse a thousand miles in a day and secure small but key parts of Western Ukraine. Undoubtedly, they are staged in a border state waiting for the orders.

If I had to predict, I think that Russia will finish securing the 4 Oblasts it set out to reclaim AND that NATO boots will be on the ground in a limited fashion to secure Odessa giving NATO a "Win". This is a minimum...It doesn't end there. If Ukraine doesn't dismantle its Army and still keeps indiscriminately shelling Donetsk, like it's been doing since 2015, then Russia will have to expand out until that stops. So basically a buffer zone or DMZ, if you will. And because we have a NATO foothold in Ukraine and NATO never leaves once it's in, this Country might be broken into two. A Western and Eastern Ukraine with a DMZ in the middle. And this will be a huge money pit like the Military Industrial Complex wants. It's a crap sandwich for everyone involved except for those at the top raking in money. If we had any real Leadership in D.C., this would be over in a day.


Anyway, I will still stick with what I said in this thread 2 years ago.
This was all about NATO expansion and giving the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) its long awaited feeding at the taxpayer trough.
I wish people around the World luck, but we desperately need to work on our own house now. We've neglected the most important part and that is the American people.

 

[Montanalo]

Anyone that has been really following this conflict very closely for the past 2 years, taking in all of the footage and reports, will probably agree that the Ukrainian Army was broken around this time last year after spring offensive. That was like the 3rd Army that Ukraine had built (each one being less capable than the previous). Now they don't have the numbers, equipment or morale and have been retreating away from the frontline because Russia has been pounding them with guided bombs on a scale that looks like Operation Iraqi Freedom. And what's worse, up until this point they had been mobilizing mostly Russian speaking men from longstanding Russian parts of that region (like a sadistic cleansing), but now have finally tapped into Metropolitans like Kiev and Lviv. And those sophisticated, Ukrainian speaking people aren't having it.

IMO, this collapse of the Ukrainian Army is what is triggering the sabre rattling from the West, particularly France as they have the type of shock troops specially built to traverse a thousand miles in a day and secure small but key parts of Western Ukraine. Undoubtedly, they are staged in a border state waiting for the orders.

If I had to predict, I think that Russia will finish securing the 4 Oblasts it set out to reclaim AND that NATO boots will be on the ground in a limited fashion to secure Odessa giving NATO a "Win". This is a minimum...It doesn't end there. If Ukraine doesn't dismantle its Army and still keeps indiscriminately shelling Donetsk, like it's been doing since 2015, then Russia will have to expand out until that stops. So basically a buffer zone or DMZ, if you will. And because we have a NATO foothold in Ukraine and NATO never leaves once it's in, this Country might be broken into two. A Western and Eastern Ukraine with a DMZ in the middle. And this will be a huge money pit like the Military Industrial Complex wants. It's a crap sandwich for everyone involved except for those at the top raking in money. If we had any real Leadership in D.C., this would be over in a day.


Anyway, I will still stick with what I said in this thread 2 years ago.
This was all about NATO expansion and giving the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) its long awaited feeding at the taxpayer trough.
I wish people around the World luck, but we desperately need to work on our own house now. We've neglected the most important part and that is the American people.

I think you're pretty much spot on.

 

[VaqueroTD]

Anyone that has been really following this conflict very closely for the past 2 years, taking in all of the footage and reports, will probably agree that the Ukrainian Army was broken around this time last year after spring offensive. That was like the 3rd Army that Ukraine had built (each one being less capable than the previous). Now they don't have the numbers, equipment or morale and have been retreating away from the frontline because Russia has been pounding them with guided bombs on a scale that looks like Operation Iraqi Freedom. And what's worse, up until this point they had been mobilizing mostly Russian speaking men from longstanding Russian parts of that region (like a sadistic cleansing), but now have finally tapped into Metropolitans like Kiev and Lviv. And those sophisticated, Ukrainian speaking people aren't having it.

IMO, this collapse of the Ukrainian Army is what is triggering the sabre rattling from the West, particularly France as they have the type of shock troops specially built to traverse a thousand miles in a day and secure small but key parts of Western Ukraine. Undoubtedly, they are staged in a border state waiting for the orders.

If I had to predict, I think that Russia will finish securing the 4 Oblasts it set out to reclaim AND that NATO boots will be on the ground in a limited fashion to secure Odessa giving NATO a "Win". This is a minimum...It doesn't end there. If Ukraine doesn't dismantle its Army and still keeps indiscriminately shelling Donetsk, like it's been doing since 2015, then Russia will have to expand out until that stops. So basically a buffer zone or DMZ, if you will. And because we have a NATO foothold in Ukraine and NATO never leaves once it's in, this Country might be broken into two. A Western and Eastern Ukraine with a DMZ in the middle. And this will be a huge money pit like the Military Industrial Complex wants. It's a crap sandwich for everyone involved except for those at the top raking in money. If we had any real Leadership in D.C., this would be over in a day.


Anyway, I will still stick with what I said in this thread 2 years ago.
This was all about NATO expansion and giving the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) its long awaited feeding at the taxpayer trough.
I wish people around the World luck, but we desperately need to work on our own house now. We've neglected the most important part and that is the American people.

Cold War Part II. Eastern-Western Ukraine instead of Germany. It was nice while the peace lasted. Sorry kids, you’re growing up in a world minutes away from blowing itself up again. And there are new players now with China and soon-to-be Iran.

 

[Montanalo]

Anyone that has been really following this conflict very closely for the past 2 years, taking in all of the footage and reports, will probably agree that the Ukrainian Army was broken around this time last year after spring offensive. That was like the 3rd Army that Ukraine had built (each one being less capable than the previous). Now they don't have the numbers, equipment or morale and have been retreating away from the frontline because Russia has been pounding them with guided bombs on a scale that looks like Operation Iraqi Freedom. And what's worse, up until this point they had been mobilizing mostly Russian speaking men from longstanding Russian parts of that region (like a sadistic cleansing), but now have finally tapped into Metropolitans like Kiev and Lviv. And those sophisticated, Ukrainian speaking people aren't having it.

IMO, this collapse of the Ukrainian Army is what is triggering the sabre rattling from the West, particularly France as they have the type of shock troops specially built to traverse a thousand miles in a day and secure small but key parts of Western Ukraine. Undoubtedly, they are staged in a border state waiting for the orders.

If I had to predict, I think that Russia will finish securing the 4 Oblasts it set out to reclaim AND that NATO boots will be on the ground in a limited fashion to secure Odessa giving NATO a "Win". This is a minimum...It doesn't end there. If Ukraine doesn't dismantle its Army and still keeps indiscriminately shelling Donetsk, like it's been doing since 2015, then Russia will have to expand out until that stops. So basically a buffer zone or DMZ, if you will. And because we have a NATO foothold in Ukraine and NATO never leaves once it's in, this Country might be broken into two. A Western and Eastern Ukraine with a DMZ in the middle. And this will be a huge money pit like the Military Industrial Complex wants. It's a crap sandwich for everyone involved except for those at the top raking in money. If we had any real Leadership in D.C., this would be over in a day.


Anyway, I will still stick with what I said in this thread 2 years ago.
This was all about NATO expansion and giving the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) its long awaited feeding at the taxpayer trough.
I wish people around the World luck, but we desperately need to work on our own house now. We've neglected the most important part and that is the American people.

"If I had to predict, I think that Russia will finish securing the 4 Oblasts it set out to reclaim AND that NATO boots will be on the ground in a limited fashion to secure Odessa giving NATO a "Win". This is a minimum...It doesn't end there."

From family and friends in Russia and Ukraine, this is exactly what they fear most - further escalation by NATO.

Some, but certainly not all, of our contacts in Ukraine wish the Western aid would stop thus forcing Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table.

 

[Sarek]

From family and friends in Russia and Ukraine, this is exactly what they fear most - further escalation by NATO.

Some, but certainly not all, of our contacts in Ukraine wish the Western aid would stop thus forcing Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table.

There might be politicians in the west who wish to take this route, if it was up to me the war wouldn't end until Ukraine regains every square inch of it's previous border and Putin is either dead or in chains.

I get it, some people fall for Putin's mickey mouse threats. Putin's got bombs, I got bombs, Putin threatens with nuclear war, let me know when you're ready to start.

If Ukraine wishes to quit then they can start walking to Moscow to shine Putin's shoes.

The weak end up either enslaved or dead.