Agree Ukraine has priorityChina is years away from being able to project enough forces to seize Taiwan. I predict an anaconda style economic assault, then a soft blockade, then the invasion, unless Xi finally gets some opposition.
I'm okay with the weapons going to Ukraine now.
This gentleman should stay well away from windows and stairs.
I’ve come to enjoy his antics. He’s been so wrong, so often, it’s been easy to find the “right” by taking the exact opposite of each of his argument.In honor of comrade Nat’s return I thought we should revisit some of his pearls of wisdom from the start of the war:
February 16, 2022: “Russia never had intentions of invading Ukraine.” wrong
February 16, 2022: “There isn't enough (LNG) supply in the world from Washington and her allies to replace Russia's proven reserves.” Western Europe no longer Russia dependent
February 19, 2022: “The SS NATO is taking on water.” Nope, stronger than ever before
February 20, 2022: “Why would Russia invade Ukraine? They could have marched in at their choosing over the past 8 years, but, did not.” Because you are all f*cking insane brah right up to your head of state
His very last post before leaving us for almost a year a few days before the invasion (where I assume he did a tour of duty in Ukraine), “He's my bitch. A foam finger waver.” The only bitch here is Nat with his anti-American pro Russia bullshit. He was wrong on the invasion, wrong on NATO, wrong on the strength of Russia. Why does his troll farm continue to pay him when all he does is unite us against the Russian aggressors? I am genuinely surprised he has not been shot by his superiors!
I’ve come to enjoy his antics. He’s been so wrong, so often, it’s been easy to find the “right” by taking the exact opposite of each of his points.
Well that’s awkward, lol.
Silly
Cut the water off. Cut the incoming lanes of the Kerch Bridge. Cut the rail and roads in the Donbas.
Haven't heard about this before....."storm brigades"
.
Its forces have been weathering a Russian onslaught for months in towns like Bakhmut in the east, where thousands of soldiers have died. Kyiv does not disclose its military losses.
The new brigades, drafted by the Interior Ministry, will fight alongside regular army units bolstered by new Western battle tanks and thousands of fresh troops trained by allied armies outside Ukraine.
The brigades have catchy names: Hurricane, Spartan, Chervona Kalyna, Frontier, Rage, Azov and Kara Dag, a mountain in Crimea.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko told Reuters he believed Ukraine still had considerable mobilisation potential and that his recruits included women, people with no military experience and former police officers and servicemen.
A great deal is riding on the counter-offensive for Kyiv.
A bungled and bloody attempt to seize back territory from Russian forces could dim optimism among key Western backers and push them to encourage Kyiv to seek negotiations with Moscow.
Ukraine launched its recruitment campaign for the storm brigades at the beginning of February.
Klymenko said it would take up to four months to train civilians without experience, but that ex-police officers or soldiers could be trained in two.
In an undisclosed location on March 24, fighters of the Border of Steel brigade were doing target practice, training to fly drones and practising how to evacuate and rescue wounded soldiers.
A shooting instructor, call sign Hassid, said the recruits were absorbing the training quickly and were highly motivated.
Border of Steel is commanded by Valeriy Padytel, who led Ukraine's border guard forces in the defence of now-occupied Mariupol where he was captured after holding out in a huge steel works. He was freed in a prisoner swap last September.
He gave no clues as to when or where Ukraine would launch its counter-offensive. "We will keep training, will train all the time while the brigade is being formed and while we are waiting for battle orders."
Rather than the army, the brigades are overseen by the Interior Ministry, like other units including the Azov Regiment, which gained global prominence for holding out against invading forces at Azovstal steel works in besieged Mariupol last year.
Klymenko said 2.5% of the brigades were made up of female fighters: "Our women are patriotic enough, strong and they hate the enemy no less than men, they want to serve."
New recruit Vakha, 21, was initially drafted into the army, but requested to be transferred to the Border of Steel, he said.
He praised the training on offer and said he thought it would provide a more rapid route to the east where the fiercest fighting is raging.
Dmytro, another fighter who worked in a currency exchange office in civilian life, said he had enlisted in the brigade because of desire for revenge and frontline fighting.
He signed up with the army last year, but was sent to defend the Ukrainian border with the Moldovan breakaway region of Transdniestria, where a small contingent of Russian troops are stationed but where there have been no hostilities so far.
"I wanted to join even more because I want revenge, as harsh as it may sound in the 21st century. We have to get revenge for all our people, for the murdered children," he said.
![]()
Ukraine trains 40,000 storm brigade troops for counter-offensive
More than a year into Russia's full-scale invasion, Aleks, a translator with no prior military experience, was advancing through forest with rifle raised, training to ambush enemy forces in one of Ukraine's newest military units.www.reuters.com
It's reminiscent of the german "storm troopers" in WW1...
It's pretty amusing that they think their problems can be fixed by swapping out shitty generals.
For some context, this region is directly north of Georgia and Azerbaijan in the Caucuses area --- there is a LOT of simmering resentment towards Moscow/St. Petersburg in this area and many of the residents down there align more with Georgians and Azerbaijanis, who have fought against Russian imperialism forever.Hopefully symptomatic-this is a Russian republic.