Russia invades Ukraine

[nw1]

Smer are essentially United Russia or the Milosevic's SPS. They pretend to be left wing, but in reality, they're right wing socially and left wing economically, something that a lot of poorer/less educated voters embrace.

Ah right, so thoroughly unpleasant then. Putin and Milosevic - two of the worst people you can be compared with.

Fico reminds me a bit of Galloway on steroids.

 

[Gloster]

Is it possible that some of the anti-Ukraine sentiment in Poland is being fomented by Russia. Such behaviour seems to be very much in line with how they work. If so, do many of those making a noise realise who they have got into bed with?

 

[brad465]

The HQ of the Black Sea Fleet has been hit by a missile:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-66888101

Ukraine claims responsibility for attack​

Ukraine has claimed responsibility for today's missile attack on the Russian Black Sea fleet headquarters in Crimea.
The Ukrainian military says it "successfully" hit the naval base in Sevastopol, but gave no further details of the attac

 

[najaB]

Is it possible that some of the anti-Ukraine sentiment in Poland is being fomented by Russia.

I'd be flabbergasted if it isn't!

 

[Pete_uk]

The head of the Black Sea fleet is said to have been killed in the attack

 

[brad465]

https://twitter.com/Kasparov63/status/1705738956648661290

Latest joke:
- Hello, Moscow Travel, how may I help you? I am a patriot and I want to book a vacation to Crimea!
- Yes sir, let me transfer you to the appropriate department...
- Hello, Ukrainian Department of Defense, how may I help you?

 

[Giugiaro]

The Portuguese Armed Forces are facing an unprecedented lack of personnel, with official figures pointing at 5745 missing troops compared to the number authorised by the Ministry of National Defense.

A decade of frozen salaries, a lack of effort in recruiting new personnel and much higher pay in the national police force and other NATO/EU members have stolen away soldiers in droves.

A recent conference (edit: to hire F-16 maintenance experts) held in Vieira de Leiria by the Dutch company Deadalus Aviation Group attracted so many military F-16 technicians and engineers that they had to hold a second conference on the same day.

The article is in Portuguese:
Staff crisis leaves barracks starving. Army confirms lack of 5745 soldiers. By Jornal Público.

 

[uglymonkey]

They made a right mess of that submarine in dry dock.

 

[Annetts key]

They made a right mess of that submarine in dry dock.

Don’t know what you mean. Ukraine just modified it so that it can submerge quicker than before…

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Various reports today that Russia has managed to shoot down one of its own aircraft over Tokmak. Link from the Metro.

A Russian fighter jet has reportedly been shot down in a friendly fire incident over Ukraine.

One of Vladimir Putin’s £82million supersonic Su-35 warplanes is suspected to have been downed by a Russian S-300 air defence system on Thursday night.

Footage shows an aircraft being hit by a missile before exploding above Tokmak in the Zaporizhzhia region.

An orange ball of flames and trail of smoke can be seen in the sky behind the jet as it plunges towards the ground.

 

[najaB]

Various reports today that Russia has managed to shoot down one of its own aircraft over Tokmak.

I saw another article a couple of days ago saying that they had just taken delivery of new Su-35s and Su-57s. Hopefully they can continue to ensure that their air force doesn't get any bigger.

 

[brad465]

Without Russian support for Armenia, it looks almost inevitable the Nagorno-Karabakh region will return to Azerbaijan, with almost all ethnic Armenians in that region now having fled. Russia's weaknesses being exposed in Ukraine will have contributed to this:

Nagorno-Karabakh: Armenia says 100,000 refugees flee region

Almost the entire ethnic Armenian population has fled the region since Azerbaijan seized it last week.

www.bbc.co.uk

More than 100,000 people have fled the Nagorno-Karabakh region, Armenia says.
It means that that almost the entire population of the ethnic Armenian enclave has left since Azerbaijan seized the region last week.
Azerbaijan has said it wants to reintegrate the area and treat its residents as equals, but an Armenian spokesman said this was just a "lie".
Nagorno-Karabakh - recognised as part of Azerbaijan - had been run by ethnic Armenians for three decades.
The mountainous region in the South Caucasus has been supported by Armenia - but also by its ally, Russia.
At least 200 ethnic Armenians and dozens of Azerbaijani soldiers were killed as Azerbaijan's army swept in. As part of a ceasefire deal, separatists have agreed to surrender their weapons.
The leader of the self-declared Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh has said it will cease to exist in the new year.
Nazeli Baghdasaryan, a spokeswoman for Armenia's prime minister, said the number of refugees entering the country over the past week had reached 100,417, out of Nagorno-Karabakh's estimated population of 120,000.
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) also stated that 100,000 people had fled, stating that many of those fleeing "are hungry, exhausted and need immediate assistance".
Artak Beglaryan, an Armenian former separatist official, said that "the last groups" of Nagorno-Karabakh residents were on their way to Armenia Saturday.
"At most a few hundred persons remain, most of whom are officials, emergency services employees, volunteers, some persons with special needs," he wrote on social media.

In the midst of hundreds of Armenians fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan's defence ministry said that an Armenian army sniper killed one if its servicemen in Kalbajar, and its forces were taking "retaliatory measures".
Armenia immediately denied the accusation.
Kalbajar is on the north-west of the region, on the border with Armenia. Azerbaijan forces reclaimed the area in November 2020.
In addition to those killed during the Azerbaijani military operation last week, at least 170 people were killed in a huge explosion at a fuel depot in Nagorno-Karabakh on Monday.
It is not yet clear what caused the explosion near the main city of Khankendi, known as Stepanakert by Armenians.
The UN says it is sending a mission to Nagorno-Karabakh this weekend to assess the humanitarian situation, after Azerbaijan said it would allow such a visit to take place.
Armenia's ambassador-at-large, Edmon Marukyan, criticised the timing of the visit but stressed that it was important that UN officials saw for themselves what ethnic Armenians had been subjected to.
"It's good they will be there and they will become witnesses that these people were ethnically cleansed from their ancestral homeland, from their homes where their parents, where their ancestors were living and these people were totally cleansed from this territory," he told the BBC.
But he dismissed Azerbaijan's assurances as "a lie".
"It's total propaganda, another Azerbaijani fake propaganda. Nobody's going to stay in Nagorno- Karabakh," he said.

 

[gingerheid]

However, with a majority of lawmakers keen to avert a shutdown, one of the faction's key demands - no more US funding for Ukraine's defence against its invasion by Russia - is reflected in the bill. From BBC News

Ouch. Way to show Putin that the West does indeed lack moral fibre, that it is indeed a fickle ally, and that persistance is indeed the route to success

 

[najaB]

Ouch. Way to show Putin that the West does indeed lack moral fibre, that it is indeed a fickle ally, and that persistance is indeed the route to success

I'm confident that a separate bill providing funding for Ukraine will pass the house easily - it will have support from pretty much all Democrats and a majority of Republicans. It's only the MAGA crowd who are against it.

 

[gingerheid]

I'm confident that a separate bill providing funding for Ukraine will pass the house easily - it will have support from pretty much all Democrats and a majority of Republicans. It's only the MAGA crowd who are against it.

I don't doubt it, as the MAGA crowd aren't, currently, in power. But when they can cause this amount of trouble when they're not... imagine if / when they are!

 

[najaB]

I don't doubt it, as the MAGA crowd aren't, currently, in power. But when they can cause this amount of trouble when they're not... imagine if / when they are!

I know. It is worrying. Hopefully by January 2025 (assuming a Trump/Trumpian presidency) the war in Ukraine will either be over, or Russia will be so close to losing that they won't be in need of the level of assistance that they have needed to date.

God help the rest of the world.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Without Russian support for Armenia, it looks almost inevitable the Nagorno-Karabakh region will return to Azerbaijan, with almost all ethnic Armenians in that region now having fled. Russia's weaknesses being exposed in Ukraine will have contributed to this:

Nagorno-Karabakh: Armenia says 100,000 refugees flee region

Almost the entire ethnic Armenian population has fled the region since Azerbaijan seized it last week.

www.bbc.co.uk

I would suggest the exodus from Nagorno-Karabakh is almost entirely driven by the huge mistrust that Armenians have for their non-Christian neighbours. Any Russian military weakness in Ukraine should have made no difference to the ability of the Russian peacekeeping force stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh to at least make some attempt to prevent the Azeris from completely over-running the region. If anything it's more likely that Putin believes maintaining good relations with Azerbaijan is more valuable to him than propping up an Armenian enclave with no strategic value.

 

[brad465]

Ukraine has received 1 million extra ammo rounds...seized from Iran:

Live news: US sends 1mn rounds of ammunition seized from Iran to Ukraine | Financial Times

News, analysis and comment from the Financial Times, the worldʼs leading global business publication

www.ft.com

The US has sent more 1mn rounds of ammunition seized from Iran to Ukrainian armed forces.

The 7.62mm-calibre rounds, sent to Ukraine on Monday, were seized from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps by US naval forces from a stateless ship in December 2022, US Central Command said on Wednesday.

The US formally took ownership of the munitions in July through the justice department’s civil forfeiture claims against the IRGC.

“The munitions were being transferred from the IRGC to the Houthis in Yemen in violation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2216,” Central Command said.

 

[Pete_uk]

A memorial service in a eastern town has been hit killing 54 people including a 8 year old.

 

[GS250]

A memorial service in a eastern town has been hit killing 54 people including a 8 year old.

Just shows you the kind of vermin we are dealing with. And why we should never give Russia even a slight chance of being able to do the same to the UK.

 

[Pete_uk]

Russian forces have gone on the offensive on the Eastern front. Battles are raging this Tuesday night.

 

[nw1]

I know. It is worrying. Hopefully by January 2025 (assuming a Trump/Trumpian presidency) the war in Ukraine will either be over, or Russia will be so close to losing that they won't be in need of the level of assistance that they have needed to date.

God help the rest of the world.

Unless around 50% of Americans are right-wing extremists or have the intelligence of an amoeba (which is, as far as I am aware, not the case!), I can't see this happening.
Some middle-of-the-road Americans might have fallen for it in 2016, but after the attack on the White House, surely not now.

 

[brad465]

Russian forces have gone on the offensive on the Eastern front. Battles are raging this Tuesday night.

Clearly taking advantage of the news being elsewhere. Unless there has been an increased mobilisation in general for Russian troop numbers, if those involved in the offensive were diverted from elsewhere this may make Ukraine's southern push easier.

 

[gg1]

Unless around 50% of Americans are right-wing extremists or have the intelligence of an amoeba (which is, as far as I am aware, not the case!), I can't see this happening.
Some middle-of-the-road Americans might have fallen for it in 2016, but after the attack on the White House, surely not now.

Unfortunately it doesn't need anywhere close to 50%. Trump won in 2016 with 46.1% of the vote on a turnout of 60.1%, less than 28% of the electorate.

 

[nw1]

Unfortunately it doesn't need anywhere close to 50%. Trump won in 2016 with 46.1% of the vote on a turnout of 60.1%, less than 28% of the electorate.

I think I assumed that more people engaged in American presidential elections than UK elections, and turnout was typically very high - obviously not. 60% sounds incredibly low, particularly for an election as polarised as 2016.

Hopefully though enough people will be frightened of Trump to vote for Biden even if they aren't especially a fan of his.

 

[21C101]

I think I assumed that more people engaged in American presidential elections than UK elections, and turnout was typically very high - obviously not. 60% sounds incredibly low, particularly for an election as polarised as 2016.

Hopefully though enough people will be frightened of Trump to vote for Biden even if they aren't especially a fan of his.

I think more will be frightened of Biden and vote Trump. For all his bluster he is the only president in decades not to have started, or interfered in a war.



.

 

[nw1]

I think more will be frightened of Biden and vote Trump. For all his bluster he is the only president in decades not to have started, or interfered in a war.

Then they are utter idiots without a brain cell between them. If he wins the 2024 election, it will destroy the USA's reputation for a long time to come. Surely most Americans, particularly after the four years of madness from 2017, care about the international image of their country and don't want to see it harmed?

 

[Mag_seven]

If anyone wants to discuss Donald Trump then please use this thread.

Now can we get back to discussing the war in Ukraine please.

 

[21C101]

.

 

[Pete_uk]

The Russians have gained a few hundred metres in places overnight but by god, it was a bloodbath for them.