Sanctions against Russia

[Jerry_Atrick]

5 hours ago, willedoo said:

A bit late to start worrying about the lives of his soldiers. The truth of it is that he doesn't want further humiliation. The Azov steel plant was built in Soviet times and has an extensive bomb proof underground tunnel and bunker system. The Russians would suffer heavy losses to get the Ukrainians out of there by force if the defenders still have ammunition. He'll most likely try to starve them out. The plant itself is huge, almost a city on it's own, and is/was one of Europe's biggest steel mills.

You're correct about starving them out.. Putin is reported to have ordered to seal them in so tight a fly couldn't get through..

 

CNN admit this is unverified video, but it would appear that Russia imparts sanctions on its own troops:

 

 

[willedoo]

Here's a video of a Ukrainian crew operating the domestically built Stugna-P anti tank weapon system. In the first section they are waiting for higher value targets, and via subtitles, the operator makes the point of every round costing 20,000. I don't know whether that's 20,000 USD or Ukrainian Hryvnia. I read somewhere that the US supplied Javelin costs 80,000 USD per shot.

 

In the video you can hear them mention Buratino. I would guess that's their nickname for a tank, as Buratino is a Tolstoy version of Pinocchio. Buratino's long nose relating to the long extended barrel of a T-72 tank perhaps.

 

 

Edited April 23, 2022 by willedoo

[willedoo]

The Russian Black Sea Fleet sent their salvage ship Kommuna to investigate the sunken flagship Moskva. Presumably it was to launch a mini sub to have a look at it. The Kommuna is 110 years old and has served in three Russian navies: Imperial Navy, Soviet Navy and Russian Federation Navy. It must have the odd overhaul or two in it's logbook.

 

[willedoo]

This little bloke has been achieving celebrity status in the press since the start of the war. Patron is a Jack Russell bomb detection dog. He's got his own combat jacket with his name on it, and a handle so they can carry him around like a handbag.

 

[onetrack]

The dogs are just amazing when put to work on sniffing. We had Labradors for mine-sniffing in SVN, but I don't believe they were the best choice of breed.

The work back then, was ground-breaking in using dogs, and driven by the Americans. One of our Engineer officers, a Capt whose name I can't recall right at the moment, went to the U.S. to do a course in mine dog handling in 1970.

 

My stepdaughter has a little dog, he's a "bitzer" with some chihuahua, probably some fox terrier and maybe even some Jack Russell in him - and he has the most amazing nose of any dog I've seen.

He would've made a great sniffer dog, but he's old and nearly blind and deaf now, and rarely moves much outside the house today.

 

Edited April 24, 2022 by onetrack

[Bruce Tuncks]

I don't understand why we are such pussies with respect to taking the money from all Russians and giving it to Ukraine.

Sure there would be some injustices, but these would be nothing compared with the injustice suffered if you have your house destroyed.

 

[Bruce Tuncks]

AND, why are we not referring to the Russians in Ukraine as trespassers and murderers? The only reason I can think of is that our leaders actually have more in common with Putin than they do with the rest of us.

[onetrack]

Ukraine is starting to lay into the area where it will hurt the Russians - they have hit two Russian oil storage facilities that are 70 miles from the Ukraine/Russian border. I trust they manage to hit many more military installations inside Russian territory.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10749921/Giant-inferno-Russian-oil-storage-amid-suspicion-strike-Ukraine.html

 

 

Edited April 25, 2022 by onetrack

[Marty_d]

5 hours ago, Bruce Tuncks said:

AND, why are we not referring to the Russians in Ukraine as trespassers and murderers? The only reason I can think of is that our leaders actually have more in common with Putin than they do with the rest of us.

Because the murderer is in Moscow.  The Russian soldiers are there on his orders, and if the reports of atrocities are true, they also come through the chain of command.  Apparently Poo-tin gave military honours to the soldiers responsible for the Bucha massacres, which shows his care factor for human life.

 

I don't think we can put too much blame on the Russian grunts when the consequence of refusing an order to bomb civilians is probably a bullet to the head.  The blame needs to go where it belongs.

[kgwilson]

Europe has to stop buying or at least paying for Russian oil & gas. That is Putins cashflow IMO. Surely the Saudis & other producers would be keen to get this business.

 

The flow of even more heavy duty weapons to Ukraine seems to be building. I think Putin is going to struggle to make further gains even as their propaganda machine tells us they have captured several villages. Ukraine has a pretty big salient in the Donbas which could get cut off by a Russian pincer movement but then they must have the capacity and professional ability to do this.

 

Also if Mariupol is in Russian hands except for the Steel Mill, the so called land bridge to Crimea should now exist and the Russians should be advancing on towards Odessa. So why aren't they? No surprise really, it is very strong Ukrainian resistance with little left of the Black Sea navy. With Odessa a well defended and heavily fortified city I think they will be wary of a defeat here may be the beginning of a new strategy of pulling back to what they have and yet another consolidation.

[willedoo]

I worry about Odessa. Putin is the type that if he couldn't have it, then no-one else can. He would willingly destroy it by missile bombardment just for spite. It would be terrible to see such a beautiful world famous resort city destroyed. On the other hand, he might not have the ability to flatten Odessa like he did at Mariupol. The Russian Navy might have seriously depleted their missile stocks on Mariupol. If they have limited stocks, they might want to conserve them for priority targets.

 

I would guess Odessa's main risk is from Naval missile bombardment at this stage. It's hard to see Putin throwing big numbers of land forces into securing the strip from the Dnieper river to Moldova when he's still got an uphill battle in the east. He learnt the hard way at Kiev about splitting his forces.

[willedoo]

Putin's biggest achievement from the war, apart from ruining his economy and military, might be to get another two NATO neighbours. Press reports are saying Finland and Sweden plan to make simultaneous applications for NATO membership as early as next month. Putin's inverse thinking must have been that by punishing Ukraine for NATO aspirations, Finland would cower in fear and never join.

 

I wonder if he honestly thinks anyone outside Russia actually believes him. One example: one of his main stated goals is to demilitarise Ukraine. Before war broke out, Russia was the largest arms supplier to Ukraine.

 

 

[Jerry_Atrick]

He is the epitome of a Mafia bagman 

Edited April 26, 2022 by Jerry_Atrick

[nomadpete]

[willedoo]

Another ammunition storage area in Russia has gone up in flames. It was in the Belgorod region, not far from the Ukrainian border.

[facthunter]

TRUTH is the first casualty of war. Pretty true in this instance.  When it's ALL over, do they just smile and shake hands? I don't think so.. WHO would want to deal with POUTAIN? What's HIS word worth? Nev

[old man emu]

Who reckons that Russia is going to lose and have to withdraw? If so, will the Ukraine demand war reparations?

[willedoo]

22 minutes ago, old man emu said:

Who reckons that Russia is going to lose and have to withdraw? If so, will the Ukraine demand war reparations?

It's hard to call at this stage. I think in another month it will be a bit clearer. I would say Putin knows that if he fails to achieve any significant gains above that of territory held before 24.2.22, he would struggle to survive politically. He's probably at the do or die, go for broke stage. The Americans know that and seem to be playing him. The longer it goes on, the better it suits the US and NATO as it will deplete Putin's forces. At the meeting in Kiev, they said the intention is to weaken Russia's forces to the point where they don't have the ability to wage war on someone else.

 

What could happen is that Putin holds the original rebel held area (about 40%) of the Donbass, plus the added spoils of the land bridge to Crimea, ie: from Mariupol to the Dnieper River. Then with his special logic, he will have to try to convince the punters back home that the land bridge compensates for the unclaimed part of the Donbass, therefore the special military operation was a success. If he gets it wrong, the people back home might have a special surprise for him.

 

Getting the right equipment into Ukraine is crucial. The shoulder fired weapons have been great up till now, but the open land in the east badly needs heavy air defence weapons, 155mm howitzers, and as many drones as they can supply. Eight years of the Ukrainian forces being trained by the US and other NATO military advisors has obviously paid off. I don't think Putin factored that in. He probably thought Ukraine was stuck in the old Soviet military mindset like Russia still is. He found out the hard way they had a few tricks up their sleeves.

[willedoo]

Even if Putin holds the land bridge to Crimea, I can't see Ukraine letting it go in the long term. They would want to at least get half of it back so they have secure shipping access up the Dnieper. If Ukraine has enough supply of heavy artillery and other gear, I can see them keeping up a siege on Russian occupied land for a long time.

 

Let's hope Putler doesn't take this option:

 

 

 

[nomadpete]

Getting the right equipmet to Ukraine.....

 

[willedoo]

This is an interesting read.

https://www.ft.com/content/63411b89-bf29-4865-b128-89c11870aeca?fbclid=IwAR3mvCfgCQT0H1VqZqKdohagvv-lD0Aa9LqBuWcK3syNYZoszBlWWDgqi80

[onetrack]

Putin will not give up, any time in the near future. He's a typical warmonger - like Hitler, he will keep going, convincing himself that his overall scheme to re-create the USSR is on track.

It will take the entry of other nations to slow him down, and even then, that won't stop him, it will only make him become more devious. He's the greatest threat to world peace, since Hitler himself.

[willedoo]

[old man emu]

7 hours ago, willedoo said:

Is that a toilet brush?

[nomadpete]

It looks like the common man's sceptre