Russia's War Against Ukraine

[Gusington]

^I bet.

[Gusington]

This is new - from Politico, in reference to Belarus:

'The drills come ahead of Russia's May 9 "Victory Day" where some U.S. and Western officials suspect VLADIMIR PUTIN might formally declare war on Ukraine — potentially dragging Belarus into the fight.'

[Gusington]

...and Ukraine makes clear they are not afraid of Belarus:

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-says-it-is-ready-if-belarus-joins-russian-war-effort-2022-05-04/

[Dammit Carl!]

Can certainly see Belarus seeing the smoke Ukraine can put down and the troops being, "shit, I got syphilis; gotta go home."

(Pro tip: get your ally to join you before you invade or after you've shown success with your invasion so far as it's gonna be hard to sell that bad boy to the folks if it looks like you're backing the loser in the fight)

[Sir Slash]

It's not Black Magic the Ukrainians are using, it's The Force. Zelensky's got several out-of-work Jedi Knights on his payroll. And Wookie's.  :P

[Pete Dero]

'The drills come ahead of Russia's May 9 "Victory Day"

Do they also celebrate the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact on August 23 ?

[MengJiao]

Can certainly see Belarus seeing the smoke Ukraine can put down and the troops being, "shit, I got syphilis; gotta go home."

(Pro tip: get your ally to join you before you invade or after you've shown success with your invasion so far as it's gonna be hard to sell that bad boy to the folks if it looks like you're backing the loser in the fight)

  But who knows what kind of information they've been getting?  Though the Arskobanis from Upper Georgia were pretty shocked when they ended up in the Russian army and their Russian commander hid
so much that the "Spetznatz" had to come and beat him up.  "Ironically" -- (or something along those lines) -- the commander said he was hidding because he was afraid somebody was going to come and beat him up.

Source:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russia-will-lose-say-panicked-soldiers-as-they-refuse-to-fight-ukraine/ar-AAWU63F?ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=44e10b146bb0495980c64cb9cb28006e

[ArizonaTank]

NYT says US is providing Ukraine intel that helps them target Russian generals...err....headquarters. ;)

This story has been percolating a bit on less well known news outlets for a day or so, but the NYT piece is the first time I have seen much detail.

I think this quote nails why this information is being put out there:
"Clearly, we want the Russians to know on some level that we are helping the Ukrainians to this extent, and we will continue to do so," said Evelyn Farkas, the former top Defense Department official for Russia and Ukraine in the Obama administration and currently the executive director of the McCain Institute. "We will give them everything they need to win, and we're not afraid of Vladimir Putin's reaction to that. We won't be self-deterred."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/u-s-intelligence-is-helping-ukraine-kill-russian-generals-officials-say/ar-AAWVNM0?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=5fc49da26b3e452191769eeb912e9d49

[Gusington]

Wow, that is a ballsy quote in light of all the nuclear saber rattling.

[MengJiao]

Wow, that is a ballsy quote in light of all the nuclear saber rattling.

  Well, they have threatened to blow up Ireland (they aren't in NATO) and the UK (starts with UK like Ukraine, right?).  I guess the USA gets to steadily kill off Russian generals cuz we're so nice about it, or something. or USA doesn't come out right in Cyrillic?  Maybe it spells something obscene in Russian like backwards R-ice-fur treatment?  The.  Worst.

[ArizonaTank]

Wow, that is a ballsy quote in light of all the nuclear saber rattling.

I think the "worm turned" as they say when the US Defense Secretary said the goal was not just to help Ukraine defend itself, but also to destroy the Russian capability to conduct this type of war in the future.

I also think that news like this helps promote the idea in the Russian general's heads that following Putin is going to get them killed, and maybe its time for Vlad to retire.

[Sir Slash]

I think this is an incredibly dangerous development. Doing it on the QT is one thing but actually openly admitting the U.S. is targeting Russian generals, and then bragging about it, can only lead to a required retaliation by Putin. Better to have kept quiet about it.

[MengJiao]

I think this is an incredibly dangerous development. Doing it on the QT is one thing but actually openly admitting the U.S. is targeting Russian generals, and then bragging about it, can only lead to a required retaliation by Putin. Better to have kept quiet about it.

  I think the audience is not just the Russians, but the rest of NATO.  It's important that they feel the US will back them up all the way to Finland if need be.  And when Putin sees that sort of thing, he will
tend to reduce his aims and get what he can in the Donbas-- and nothing more, hopefully.

[Gusington]

Or he loses his temper in another flash of insanity and we all die in a nuclear fire.

[Pete Dero]

Case closed.

Israeli Prime Minister Bennett's office says Russian President Putin apologized for Foreign Minister Lavrov's comments.  Bennett accepted Putin's apology "and thanked him for clarifying the President's attitude towards the Jewish people and the memory of the Holocaust."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-61339749