This might be a little tougher than Putin thought...

[lucas80]

Good read. I really feel like we should strike a deal with Poland for them to pass along aircraft. The orcs are prolly gonna go all out before the rapidly approaching thaw and my guess is air superiority will be needed.

‘One of the decisive moments of his presidency’: Biden heads to a troubled Europe — POLITICO

Heading to the doorstep of the war, Biden will talk up what the U.S. can do as Europe laments what it can’t do.

apple.news

My hope is Biden seizes the opportunity to make a splash and announce something big when he visits Poland. Perhaps fighters, but perhaps an extension of US air power allowing Poland and Slovakia to send all of their remaining MiGs to Ukraine.
I also wonder if Biden and Zelensky will meet? Maybe Zelensky comes to Poland, but would the Secret Service sanction a trip to Ukraine? A quick hitting photo op where he crosses the border and meets Zelensky inside Ukraine?

 

[lucas80]

I wonder if Ukraine has their sights set on that stash otherwise I would have thought it would have had a smoking accident by now
IIRC Macron has said they want Russia to leave Moldova alone, at some point last year.

My guess is that the 1500 Russians in Moldova control the stash. But, if they don’t I’m sure Putin fears that the West would buy it and give it to Ukraine. Politically it would be unwise for Ukraine to blow it up given the stuff that passes through Moldova to Ukraine, and all the Ukrainians sheltering in Moldova currently.

 

[Phenomenally Frantastic]

 

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Former Green Beret who fought for Ukraine offers perspective on war, what's needed to counter Russia​

 

[Jimmy McGill]

If you think Germany got punished after WWI, wait to see what happens to Russia after this dumpster fire

 

[Phenomenally Frantastic]

If you think Germany got punished after WWI, wait to see what happens to Russia after this dumpster fire

We can only hope. The civilized world needs to stop tolerating Russian imperial genocide.

 

[TC Nole OX]

 

[h-hawk]

 

[h-hawk]

If you think Germany got punished after WWI, wait to see what happens to Russia after this dumpster fire

Unfortunately, due to her nuclear weapons, Russia will only see things like the sanctions currently in effect. And though the West likes to talk about punishing those responsible for the atrocities, they will likely never be prosecuted unless they make the mistake of leaving Russia for some reason.

 

[h-hawk]

No Western confirmation yet.

 

[h-hawk]

More evidence Biden is there.

 

[h-hawk]

 

[h-hawk]

 

[noleclone2]

 

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[Tenacious E]

 

[Lindemann]

Impressive equipment numbers. The Russians seem to be going through a lot of assets for very little gain.

 

[Tenacious E]

Impressive equipment numbers. The Russians seem to be going through a lot of assets for very little gain.

And, I imagine the real number of KIAs is much higher in light of the Ukrainian rocket strikes against Russian controlled buildings reported yesterday…

 

[noleclone2]

They are losing their damn minds.

 

[lucas80]

Grain shipments through the Bosporous have slowed, again, as problems persist with inspections of ships.
Thanks Turkey!!
https://www.kcrg.com/2023/02/19/ukrainian-grain-shipments-drop-ship-backups-grow/

 

[lucas80]

View embedded media

Makes me wonder if we had fighters up, or just on the runway ready for takeoff? I'm sure we had the assets up looking for any evidence of Russian long range missiles.

 

[lucas80]

Kudos to the leadership shown by Biden. AP is reporting that the US told Russia Biden was going into Ukraine a few hours beforehand, but, you never know what a crazy person like Putin might do.

 

[noleclone2]

Makes me wonder if we had fighters up, or just on the runway ready for takeoff? I'm sure we had the assets up looking for any evidence of Russian long range missiles.

I think it was a pretty blunt conversation. Probably if you launch anything from Black Sea, we will take all of it out and you will no longer have a navy in Black Sea.

 

[hawkeyetraveler]

Kudos to the leadership shown by Biden. AP is reporting that the US told Russia Biden was going into Ukraine a few hours beforehand, but, you never know what a crazy person like Putin might do.

I imagine this is standard protocol for any world leader visit to Ukraine. If Russia killed any major political figure it would be go-time for NATO. Everyone wants to minimize the chance of that.

I love the visit, the only quibble I have is that the air raid sirens were over the top propaganda. No way Russia was launching missiles during that visit.

 

[lucas80]

I imagine this is standard protocol for any world leader visit to Ukraine. If Russia killed any major political figure it would be go-time for NATO. Everyone wants to minimize the chance of that.

I love the visit, the only quibble I have is that the air raid sirens were over the top propaganda. No way Russia was launching missiles during that visit.

Well, it is a war zone and they go off all the time, and the Ukrainians are operating their systems as normal. I see it like tornado sirens in Iowa. If one person in one corner of a county sees something the sirens go off county wide. So, false alarm, or something 100 miles off that might be perceived as a threat?
Meh.

 

[TigerHawk33]

Makes me wonder if we had fighters up, or just on the runway ready for takeoff? I'm sure we had the assets up looking for any evidence of Russian long range missiles.

Usually when High Value Assets are in the air and close to dangerous areas there is Combat Air Patrols flying as well. HVA normally have close air support.

 

[mthawkeyes]

If you think Germany got punished after WWI, wait to see what happens to Russia after this dumpster fire

While it would feel good, this wouldn't help. The post-WW2 Marshall plan was enormously expensive, but far cheaper than the punitive post-WW1 reparations that set the stage for WW2. I don't pretend to have to expertise to know exactly what this would look like, but it would probably have to start with de-nuclearization. Also, the regions with ethnic minorities and satellite states need more (complete?) autonomy so that they can't be used again as a supply of expendable bodies for any future military exploits. However, helping them restructure their economy to something other than natural resource extraction would be detrimental to many global multi-national corporations, and that's where the catch is. Also, if we really wanted to neuter Russia and the Middle East, we would quit subsidizing fossil fuels and go all in on renewables and next-generation nuclear. (I don't think there would be nearly as much resistance to the latter from the environmental left as there was 20-40 years ago.)

 

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[MitchLL]

Pretty good chance there will be some very big military aid announcements made in the coming days, either public or privately.

It will be interesting how Radical Right media spins this as a negative?
I bet MTG makes some stupid comments, if she already hasn't.