Russia's War Against Ukraine

[GDS_Starfury]

rewatching The Death of Stalin for the giggles. 

[JasonPratt]

^One fly in the ointment of a powerful Poland is their declining population...they need people to operate all the hardware they're building and buying.

Sounds like they had better start re-promoting their strong Jewish and Catholic roots!  O0

[JasonPratt]

Meanwhile, W8 will probably like this news!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/another-country-putin-thought-was-his-friend-has-snubbed-russia-by-refusing-to-host-its-military-for-routine-exercises/ar-AA16drOT?ocid=entnewsntp&cvid=866304bd330740ada8b5a3774d1e3080

Armenia says, "Look, if you're going to abandon us against the Az, you can just take your cough 'wargames' elsewhere this year." 

More literally,

"Russia's military presence in Armenia not only fails to guarantee its security, but it raises security threats for Armenia," Pashinyan added, according to AP.

The Armenian leader also criticized Russian peacekeepers' failure to take a more active role around the disputed separatist region of Nagorno-Karabak, saying that he will seek support from the US and the European Union to help ease the tensions with Azerbaijan.

We may need to start a Mid-Asiatic Treaty Organization. 

The original and somewhat more detailed Associated Press article: https://apnews.com/article/politics-moscow-armenia-yerevan-russia-government-68470e08f2462c67920fdb554644bba3

[Gusington]

Armenia trying to take advantage of 'Russian peacekeepers' being needed...'elsewhere'

[Tripoli]

rewatching The Death of Stalin for the giggles. 

That is a good movie, for those who haven't seen it.

[W8taminute]

Interesting article Jason.  Thanks for sharing.  I haven't really been keeping up with Armenian news because the whole thing stinks to me. 

The normal dynamic of Russia keeping Turkey and Azerbaijan at bay in order to protect Armenia is no longer the case anymore.  Turkey and Russia need that Azeri oil to flow through the area and Armenia is in the way.  On top of that the current Armenian president is a world class piece of human excrement.  A total fiend and traitor.

[Windigo]

Interesting article Jason.  Thanks for sharing.  I haven't really been keeping up with Armenian news because the whole thing stinks to me. 

The normal dynamic of Russia keeping Turkey and Azerbaijan at bay in order to protect Armenia is no longer the case anymore.  Turkey and Russia need that Azeri oil to flow through the area and Armenia is in the way.  On top of that the current Armenian president is a world class piece of human excrement.  A total fiend and traitor.

power corrupts... money (especially oil money) corrupts

[JasonPratt]

General Armageddon gets demoted?!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russia-demoted-the-absolutely-ruthless-general-who-has-been-leading-the-war-in-ukraine-less-than-3-months-after-promoting-him/ar-AA16dXPU?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=325f4b398fd34ee6c59c82c4ec0e45af

Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a Philadelphia-based think tank, likewise said on Twitter that the reshuffle of Russia's war leadership "appears to be a quite significant change," possibly driven more by politics than any perceived failure on the part of Surovkin. The general was "becoming very powerful," Lee wrote, and "likely" talking directly to Putin. Demoting him "reasserts the [Ministry of Defense's] position overseeing the war."

Mark Galeotti, a senior associate fellow at Britain's Royal United Services Institute, argued that Wednesday's move was actually a demotion for Gerasimov too, "or at least the most poisoned of chalices." The general, he wrote on Twitter, will need to show "some kind of win or [his] career ends in ignominy" — and that could mean a big Russian offensive in the spring.

[Sir Slash]

A demotion is better than an office with a view...and faulty window safety equipment.  :hide:

[ArizonaTank]

Leopard IIs going to Ukraine from Poland. I am a little jaded since we have seen similar promises with aircraft that never made it. Hopefully these tanks actually make it across the border.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/what-are-leopard-2-tanks-polish-weapon-that-could-go-to-ukraine/ar-AA16gdhg?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=c3bcb71f7762437694bf600140407b68

[Sir Slash]

Couldn't they just... wander over? They are Leopards after all.

[JasonPratt]

A demotion is better than an office with a view...and faulty window safety equipment.  :hide:

I bet the aircraft he shuttles around in has windows somewhere.

Or limos.

Or train cars.

(....on second thought, Russia has a habit of secretly moving around high ranking generals in cargo railcars without windows, so maybe not.)

[bobarossa]

Leopard IIs going to Ukraine from Poland. I am a little jaded since we have seen similar promises with aircraft that never made it. Hopefully these tanks actually make it across the border.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/what-are-leopard-2-tanks-polish-weapon-that-could-go-to-ukraine/ar-AA16gdhg?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=c3bcb71f7762437694bf600140407b68

I don't believe they promised them yet.  Just said they would send them if someone else does too. 

On a side note, I looked up how many Abrams tanks we have made and (if you can rely on Wikipedia ;D ) the US has thousands in storage!

" United States – United States Army and United States Marine Corps received over 8,100 M1, M1A1 and M1A2 tanks combined.[201]

    U.S. Army – 2,509 total, 750 M1A1SA, 1,605 M1A2 SEPv2, 154 M1A2 SEPv3 (some 3,700 more M1A1 and M1A2 in storage).[202][203]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1_Abrams

[Crossroads]

Maybe reconsider before sending any heavies there. They've apparently managed to destroy 4 Bradley IFVs already. And that's even before one Brad arriving there! That's some crazy skills :wow:

https://twitter.com/michaeldweiss/status/1613616934607810560

[Crossroads]

^ Ooh they already did that in September! Talk about reading your opponent's next move before he even knows he's got one. We're doomed.

https://twitter.com/michaeldweiss/status/1613619957031440384