Russia's War Against Ukraine

[Anguille]

Ive seen a photo of one those trucks that got captured.  ???

heres a question for the mods...  theres a lot of graphic footage coming out now after the last few days of arty and missile strikes.
whats the policy of posting those here?

I don't think it is necessary to post gratuitously violent or graphic imagery. Please use your best judgment, and if you simply can't help yourself, at least post a NSFW warning or hide it behind a spoiler alert...like this...

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Best spoiler....ever

[SirAndrewD]

  There are a lot of Russian games out there (DCS world?  Enlisted?  War Thunder? Mius Front?  Battle of Stalingrad? etc.) that I was already cutting back on so maybe now its time for cutting back even more.

For DCS, Eagle Dynamics was founded in Moscow but they operate out of Switzerland now.  During their Russian phase they were a division of SSI.  They have had some shady dealings in some of the technical data they'd acquired ending up in the hands of the Russian military.

Enlisted is developed by Darkflow, a Latvian developer. 

Enlisted's publisher and War Thunder's developer, Gaijin has a Russian division but they're headquartered in Hungary.  Its two founders were from Moscow but they started the company in Germany.

[MengJiao]

  There are a lot of Russian games out there (DCS world?  Enlisted?  War Thunder? Mius Front?  Battle of Stalingrad? etc.) that I was already cutting back on so maybe now its time for cutting back even more.

For DCS, Eagle Dynamics was founded in Moscow but they operate out of Switzerland now.  During their Russian phase they were a division of SSI.  They have had some shady dealings in some of the technical data they'd acquired ending up in the hands of the Russian military.

Enlisted is developed by Darkflow, a Latvian developer. 

Enlisted's publisher and War Thunder's developer, Gaijin has a Russian division but they're headquartered in Hungary.  Its two founders were from Moscow but they started the company in Germany.

Thanks!  That's mostly good news!

[W8taminute]

So wait a minute.

For some unexplained reason a Ukrainian Su-27 lands fully armed in Rumania after being escorted by Rumanian fighter jets.

Then it's allowed to go home with it's full compliment of armament?

Correct me if I'm wrong but in wars past a belligerent who ends up stranded in a neutral country pretty much sit out the rest of the war there no?  Have the rules changed now?  If so why didn't Russia condemn and then declare war on Rumania?  Is Rumania a NATO member? 

There are a lot of things bothering me about this war that don't seem to have a precedent. 

When I was a kid we used to fight wars by the Geneva Convention rules.  Guess all gloves are off these days.

[JasonPratt]

Incidentally, W8 plays H&G a lot, Az. I could re-install that and we'd have a three-man team. 

[solops]

Field crematoriums? Jesus.

I saw those several days ago on one of the big news channels, maybe Fox or Sky News.

[W8taminute]

Incidentally, W8 plays H&G a lot, Az. I could re-install that and we'd have a three-man team. 

That would be awesome!  Are you in the right thread though Jason? 

In any case shameless plug here.  If you all want to be a part of the fun I'd be happy to show you the ropes in H&G.   :)

[ArizonaTank]

Incidentally, W8 plays H&G a lot, Az. I could re-install that and we'd have a three-man team. 

That would be awesome!  Are you in the right thread though Jason? 

In any case shameless plug here.  If you all want to be a part of the fun I'd be happy to show you the ropes in H&G.   :)

Sounds good. Will work with you guys off-line

[ArizonaTank]

Ukraine is claiming that a tip-off from "representatives" of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), helped foil and kill Chechen assassins going after Zelensky over the weekend.

If true...that's gotta be irritating and maybe even scary for Putin. His own security service (the equivalent of the FBI) helping the Ukrainians.

If not true...what a way to mess with Putin's head.

or maybe Putin is the ultimate puppet master here...doing real Dr. Evil sh$t. Giving up the Chechens so the Ukrainians trust the "FSB" source for a future "real" plot... 

or maybe the Ukrainians know this, and outed the fake "FSB" source to let Putin know that they know...

or maybe....  or maybe.... Channeling Tom Clancy...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10569945/Disaffected-Russian-FSB-agents-tipped-Ukraine-Chechen-hit-squad-sent-kill-Zelensky.html

[GDS_Starfury]

So wait a minute.
For some unexplained reason a Ukrainian Su-27 lands fully armed in Rumania after being escorted by Rumanian fighter jets.
Then it's allowed to go home with it's full compliment of armament?
Correct me if I'm wrong but in wars past a belligerent who ends up stranded in a neutral country pretty much sit out the rest of the war there no?  Have the rules changed now?  If so why didn't Russia condemn and then declare war on Rumania?  Is Rumania a NATO member? 

no.
the plane was fully loaded when it landed and sent back unarmed and under escort.

[ComradeP]

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/44514/su-27-returning-from-romania-will-likely-be-last-fighter-ukraine-will-get-for-some-time

An article with more information on the matter. They also have an article about the aircraft deliveries from a number of countries that are now no longer going to happen.

It doesn't mention anything about the legal side of things though. As I wrote before, I thought the procedure would be that the pilot is interned and the aircraft confiscated/held until the end of hostilities.

Even without armament, NATO-member Romania is knowingly sending pilot and plane back into a war.

[GDS_Starfury]

in an unarmed airplane.

also of note is that Turkey is still sending drones to Ukraine.

[solops]

Wow, I just heard the former Ukrainian Finance Minister and Zelensky campaign manager asking for different kinds of help. One of the things he emphasized was for the West to set up and publicize a support system for RUSSIAN officers and men who wanted out of the fighting.

[al_infierno]

Wow, I just heard the former Ukrainian Finance Minister asking for different kinds of help. One of the things he emphasized was for the West to set up and publicize a support system for RUSSIAN officers and men who wanted out of the fighting.

Makes perfect sense given all the reports of low morale and young conscripts being lied to about the nature of the operation.  Every soldier you take out of the fight makes a difference whether it's through injury or dropping arms.  There are a lot of videos of Ukrainian civilians giving food, drinks, and blankets to surrendered Russian troops and letting them call home on borrowed cell phones.  The Ukrainian government is also offering amnesty and roughly $40,000 in Rubles to Russians who surrender.  Really, as far as psyops go they're absolutely kicking ass.

[MengJiao]

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/44514/su-27-returning-from-romania-will-likely-be-last-fighter-ukraine-will-get-for-some-time

An article with more information on the matter. They also have an article about the aircraft deliveries from a number of countries that are now no longer going to happen.

It doesn't mention anything about the legal side of things though. As I wrote before, I thought the procedure would be that the pilot is interned and the aircraft confiscated/held until the end of hostilities.

Even without armament, NATO-member Romania is knowingly sending pilot and plane back into a war.

  Since Russia hasn't officially declared war, it should be perfectly legal for anyone to send anything they want any way they want into Ukraine.  However, Turkey has decided it is a war and that would
enable them to close the straits if they want.  NATO is probably considering the fact that closing the straits will do a lot more damage to Russia than a few planes one way or another so taking it as a de facto war and using that circumstance to exclude planes opens the way to closing the straits on the same grounds -- ie that it is a war that is going on.