Russia's War Against Ukraine

[Sir Slash]

They're NOT laughing in Crimea. Nor Uzbekistan. 

[z1812]

An interesting article.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2022/02/03/aps_matt_lee_grills_state_dept_spox_you_making_an_accusation_about_russia_is_not__evidence_that_the_russians_are_doing_this_i_remember_wmds_in_iraq.html

Perhaps you did not see this.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/02/politics/white-house-ukraine-messaging/index.html

Perhaps tomorrow the story will change again........

[GDS_Starfury]

all I want is some frisbees in dreamland.
is that so much to ask for?

[Toonces]

^ It is not.  (great reference BTW  :bd:  )

[Toonces]

I read this article on The Atlantic today and thought it was a pretty good synopsis of the "why" behind the Ukraine standoff.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/02/putin-ukraine-democracy/621465/

[Staggerwing]

all I want is some frisbees in dreamland.
is that so much to ask for?

Instead You might get a few dancing vampires in the Black Sea.

[GDS_Starfury]

they have neither the navy nor the bomber force for that anymore.
and now that Ive dug into it a little bit I dont think there are any US Navy ships deployed there at this moment.
https://news.usni.org/2022/01/18/usni-news-fleet-and-marine-tracker-jan-18-2022

[W8taminute]

An interesting article.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2022/02/03/aps_matt_lee_grills_state_dept_spox_you_making_an_accusation_about_russia_is_not__evidence_that_the_russians_are_doing_this_i_remember_wmds_in_iraq.html

Perhaps you did not see this.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/02/politics/white-house-ukraine-messaging/index.html

Perhaps tomorrow the story will change again........

Thanks for those articles.  I saw similar articles to that as well eslewhere. 
So on the one hand the White House is saying the invasion is not imminent and on the other they're saying the excuses are being set for an invasion. 
It all sounds fishy to me.  If they wanted to invade it would have happened already. 

[Pete Dero]

So on the one hand the White House is saying the invasion is not imminent and on the other they're saying the excuses are being set for an invasion. 

I believe Biden has said on many occasions that an invasion could be imminent.  It are the Ukrainians who are saying the opposite because they feel that this only plays in to the hands of Putin by creating fear and chaos, while damaging the economy.

https://ecfr.eu/article/friendly-arguments-bidens-and-zelenskys-disagreement-on-the-threat-from-russia/

Hence, American analysts believe that Russia could launch a new offensive in Ukraine in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, Ukrainian experts believe that the Russian military build-up is designed to divert attention away from other forms of destabilisation, such as cyber-attacks, terrorist attacks, attempts to instigate unrest, propaganda, economic coercion, naval strikes and airstrikes against strategically important infrastructure, and offensives launched by proxy forces in Donbas.

In the meantime, the prospect of escalating conflict has already damaged Ukraine's investment climate.

[Gusington]

There was also the language issue. 'Imminent' does not have a direct translation in Ukrainian.

[Pete Dero]

There was also the language issue. 'Imminent' does not have a direct translation in Ukrainian.

Imminent was translated in to a word that equals inevitable.

[Gusington]

^Right, and not exactly the same, which led to big issues for all.

[ArizonaTank]

The Javelin FGM-148 anti-tank guided missile has been talked up a bit in this crisis.

The Ukrainians and US are putting some big hopes on the ability of these missiles to take out Russian armored formations. I am guessing they will be important, but not game changers by themselves. Like any weapon system their effectiveness will depend on so many factors, and you bet the Russians have a plan to counter them. Pounding the hell out of enemy positions with massive artillery and air strikes before you let your tanks get close is a traditional Russian "counter-measure" for example.

Here is a neat 360 youtube showing Javelin firing and target hits. If you play in youtube, you can drag the view around like any other 360 image.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s--9W-4R9aI&t=43s

[ArizonaTank]

oops double post

[Con]

It looks like shit is about to get real
What's the opinion that Russia will do something that involves shooting soon
My bet is within 48 hours from now
Con
Ps 32 years ago I was a snotty cadet training to fight the Russian bear. Looks like it's come full circle. My friends who stayed in are at General ranks now. They laughed when I told them my training was finally paying off