Russia's War Against Ukraine

[Gusington]

^Yes, I am hoping that whatever government is left in Ukraine when this war ends is friendly to the West. If it's not...oh boy.

[MengJiao]

When bloodletting and horror of this is all over (hopefully soon), Ukraine is going to be left with an interesting mix of various NATO and former Soviet equipment types.

   Yeah, this mess is going all over...Bosnia, Tranistriata, Japan...Okay so, the Russians are threatening Japan because they did their usual naval exercises with the US Navy (that's weird), and as
usual threatening Nuclear War, and attacking the UK cuz the UK said it would be okay if Ukraine attacked Russia (I'm not sure of all the weird rules the Russians keep making up like "only we can
attack you" or else something will happen to somebody).  The "attacks" in Transitutia are especially inane...blew up their own radio station, shot a grenade and had some explosions...oh no!
   On the face of it, this sort of thing could go on forever, but the UN is looking into overriding Russia's security council veto (Ukraine after Syria, Armenia, Chechenya, Georgia, Crimea seems
a bit much even to the UN) so maybe the UN will authorize NATO to move into Ukraine or something.

[ArizonaTank]

Interesting article of US -> Ukraine intel sharing. According to the article, much of it has been real-time. Apparently this included targeting info allowing the shoot-down of one of the Russian transport planes that had troops on it early in the war (IL-76 I presume).

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/u-s-intel-helped-ukraine-protect-air-defenses-shoot-down-russian-plane-carrying-hundreds-of-troops/ar-AAWCex0?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=e637d4e9052446bbbaa2a0407942d41c

[Con]

Lots of questions around the IL-76.  There have been claims but no pictures which is surprising.  OSINT has been very proliferate in finding wrecks etc.
One theory is that it was damaged and managed to limp back to a base - others are that it was shot down over Belarus.  Bottom line I am sort of in the camp that unless I see some picture evidence of a wreck it didn't happen.
Con

[W8taminute]

I wonder why such intel sharing with a non-Nato country is happening in this case?
Has this level of intel sharing ever taken place in any other wars, present or past? 

Why would they brag about this on the news?
Shouldn't that type of info be hidden from eyes who shouldn't be seeing it?  As in loose lips sinks ships?

I'm so confused about this war.   

[ArizonaTank]

Why would they brag about this on the news?
Shouldn't that type of info be hidden from eyes who shouldn't be seeing it?  As in loose lips sinks ships?

All great questions. I have no idea what the answers are...but I can guess. I am thinking that this article is no mistake. There is some only slightly subtle messaging going on...and I guess the audience is the Russian military.

The timing comes right on the heels of Monday's statement by US Department of Defense Secretary Austin, that: "We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can't do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine."

On Monday, the US hosted a coalition of 40 nations at Ramstein Air Force Base to talk about more aid and preparing for the war in Ukraine becoming a marathon and not a sprint. Even Germany is now talking about sending heavy weapons. 

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/defense-secretary-austin-russia-ukraine-rebecca-grant

I think the message to the Russian military is simple; 'we are going to grind you down to nothing...get out of Ukraine while you still have some capability left...or you will become a second rate power.'   

BTW, Austin's statement is huge!!! Also, there was no backtracking on what he said. US Secretary of State Blinken agreed to it. Think about it. The US's stated goal is no longer to just help Ukraine...but it is now signed up to degrade Russia's capability. That gentlemen is a tremendous shift that almost nobody is talking about.

[MengJiao]

BTW, Austin's statement is huge!!! Also, there was no backtracking on what he said. US Secretary of State Blinken agreed to it. Think about it. The US's stated goal is no longer to just help Ukraine...but it is now signed up to degrade Russia's capability. That gentlemen is a tremendous shift that almost nobody is talking about.

  Yeah, but I sorta think things are getting even more twisted.  I think the US message is a little more subtle maybe as in:  "Dear Russia, you can take some big chunks of Ukraine, maybe, but
we will be doing our best to make you pay very heavily while expanding NATO and loading up the UN against you so this partitioning of Ukraine and Moldova will be your last adventure
and one you should be regretting already."
Moreover, I think there is a hint that Russia will eventually have to leave the Donbas and Moldova and Transitntiria and Crimea and Georgia and LNR and DNR if they ever want to get back to being a second-rate power and not just a colony of China.  Also what's kind of weird is that Russia was doing fine before Feb 24 and this whole mess is entirely their own fault.
And what happened to that metaphysical itch they claimed to be having with the Orthodox Patriarch's help?  Is Transitiria (oh and Bosnia) the only remains of that?
I also don't get what the point is in Russia's threatening Japan and the UK and nuclear war and Transitnitria and Moldova and Finland and Sweden.  Threatening thermonuclear war while
actually doing nothing more than blowing up a radio tower in Transnitria seems really inane.

[al_infierno]

"The Russians entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everyone else, and nobody was going to bomb them."

[al_infierno]

Next up in the War Against Sanity: The Sims 3 presented as evidence of a neo-nazi assassination attempt!   

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/04/26/russian-assassination-sims-3/

On Twitter, the veracity of the sting operation came into question. "I genuinely believe this is a dumb FSB officer being told to get 3 SIMs," tweeted Eliot Higgins, founder of the investigative research unit Bellingcat, which has covered Russia extensively.

[steve58]

Putin cutting off gas to Poland and Bulgaria

[Gusington]

What have the Russians said about Bosnia?

[MengJiao]

What have the Russians said about Bosnia?

  They aren't going to allow the UN to extend the peacekeeping mission there: time to blow up a few radio towers!

[planetbrain]

In Dune Spice Wars just released, the description for faction House Harkonnen reminds me a lot of how I would describe Russia:
"Despotic, merciless, scheming & devious"

[Gusington]

^Perfect.

[Con]

Sounds like a dog I once owned - A mix of German Shepard, Irish Setter and Doberman.
It was a picture of slavering jaws and quivering asshole
We used to say its description was

Mad and dumb will bite self