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

[binsfeldcyhawk2]

Do you think the neocons assumed he was bluffing about Ukraine membership in NATO being a ‘red line’, or did they intend to provoke the previously declared (and broadly understood) response?

He’s getting that thick “red line” good and hard right now.

 

[steelrain]

"The M270A1 &A2 variants are both capable of utilizing all currently fielded MLRS variants, and the #ATACMS. This includes the Guided MLRS with a maximum range of 84 km. The A2 variant will also be capable of firing the 150 km Extended Range #GMLRS which will be fielded next year."

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This slide takes me back to my Field Artillery School days. Even the logos in the upper corners are straight out the school house powerpoint slide deck.

 

[h-hawk]

 

[h-hawk]

Hell

 

[h-hawk]

 

[seminole97]

He’s getting that thick “red line” good and hard right now.

Not as hard as Ukraine is. :/

 

[h-hawk]

 

[seminole97]

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That picture will sell some antacids in Germany.

 

[TC Nole OX]

 

[lucas80]

I have read there are special operators present in Ukraine including Brits and I think US, playing point guard making sure the incoming weapons get distributed out to where they should be. If not, they are surely next door in Poland doing something similar.

I assume all US personnel are in Poland and Romania. However, I assume that there are a lot of former US personnel in Ukraine working for contractors who are closely aligned with DoD.

 

[TC Nole OX]

 

[86Hawkeye]

Any western company still operating in Russia deserves whatever they get.

Agreed.

 

[86Hawkeye]

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So Lithuania caved in. Not good.

 

[Hawkfan_08]

The people in the photo are real. The Russians photoshopped the banner into the photo.

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The photo appears in this article

Welcome to Hyder, Alaska - the Friendliest Ghost Town in Alaska!

What to do in Hyder, Alaska. From photo ops to stopping at the bar to bear watching make the most of your time in the friendliest ghost town in Alaska!

sillyamerica.com

Whoopsie dasies

 

[hwk23]

PSA from NYC just in case.

 

[TC Nole OX]

 

[TC Nole OX]

 

[h-hawk]

There are also photos of a dead child in a stroller but I am not showing those.

 

[h-hawk]

"Illegal parker from #Russland in #Ukraine trying to burn the ticket."

 

[h-hawk]

 

[TC Nole OX]

 

[TC Nole OX]

 

[TC Nole OX]

 

[TC Nole OX]

 

[noleclone2]

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This is why. It’s not going well right now and all they can do in retribution is launch multimillion million dollar missiles from subs in the Black Sea at civilians.

 

[Tenacious E]

Russian forces in a panic: there is no way to hide from the new weapon of the Armed Forces of Ukraine SSU interception

UKRAINSKA PRAVDA - THURSDAY, 14 JULY, 11:49 The Security Service of Ukraine [SSU] have intercepted a conversation with an occupier and his wife in which he complains about weapons supplied to the Armed Forces of Ukraine which can strike long distance targets.

www.yahoo.com

 

[Tenacious E]

"No let up from Ukrainians": Kharkiv region occupiers unable to carry out offensive the Security Service of Ukraine

VALENTYNA ROMANENKO - WEDNESDAY, 13 JULY 2022, 15:36 The Ukrainian forces have pressured the Russian occupiers in the Kharkiv region so much that they haven't been able to execute an order to launch an offensive for a month already.

www.yahoo.com

 

[Tenacious E]

Russian base ablaze near Melitopol mayor

IRYNA BALACHUK - TUESDAY, 12 JULY 2022, 14:43 A base belonging to a military unit of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, which had been seized by the occupiers, is on fire in the village of Myrne, near Melitopol.

www.yahoo.com

 

[TC Nole OX]

 

[Slappy Pappy]

 

[h-hawk]

 

[h-hawk]

So these would replace the older similar weapons given Ukraine. (Because Germany is afraid.)

 

[hwk23]

Do you think the neocons assumed he was bluffing about Ukraine membership in NATO being a ‘red line’, or did they intend to provoke the previously declared (and broadly understood) response?

Yes, they knew it wasn't a bluff. Not only that, it could have been easily avoided, starting with the negotiations in December. The US ambassador hand delivered a letter across the street to the Kremlin rejecting all Russian concerns.

 

[h-hawk]

Yes, they knew it wasn't a bluff. Not only that, it could have been easily avoided, starting with the negotiations in December. The US ambassador hand delivered a letter across the street to the Kremlin rejecting all Russian concerns.

All after Russia attacked and annexed parts of Ukraine in 2014. No wonder they wanted to get accepted into NATO someday.

https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_37750.htm

 

[h-hawk]

Time to rerun this one.

 

[h-hawk]

May be propaganda but several sources are reporting Russia has started another offensive in the East.

"July 14, 2022, in #Ukraine , big Russian attack in progress in the #Donbass on the whole axis #Seversk / #Soledar / #Bakhmut"

 

[hwk23]

All after Russia attacked and annexed parts of Ukraine in 2014. No wonder they wanted to get accepted into NATO someday.

https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_37750.htm

Crimea wanted to be a part of Russia or independent after the coup ousting the pro-Russian president in 2014. Crimea supported the pro-Russian president that was ousted (since they are pro-Russian and mostly Russians live there) and they wanted to be allied with Russia. Basically, eastern Ukraine is strongly pro-Russian and western Ukraine pro-EU and a civil war emerged after the coup.

 

[Tenacious E]

Crimea wanted to be a part of Russia or independent after the coup ousting the pro-Russian president in 2014. Crimea supported the pro-Russian president that was ousted (since they are pro-Russian and mostly Russians live there) and they wanted to be allied with Russia. Basically, eastern Ukraine is strongly pro-Russian and western Ukraine pro-EU and a civil war emerged after the coup.

Eastern Ukraine is strongly pro-Russian? Putin has an odd way of reminding it of his love.

 

[h-hawk]

Crimea wanted to be a part of Russia or independent after the coup ousting the pro-Russian president in 2014. Crimea supported the pro-Russian president that was ousted (since they are pro-Russian and mostly Russians live there) and they wanted to be allied with Russia. Basically, eastern Ukraine is strongly pro-Russian and western Ukraine pro-EU and a civil war emerged after the coup.

Not a civil war-Russia interfering and creating conflict to support their interests.

And a vote conducted in occupied Crimea, really?


"Things moved quickly. By early March, Russian troops had secured the entire peninsula. On March 6, the Crimean Supreme Council voted to ask to accede to Russia. The council scheduled a referendum for March 16, which offered two choices: join Russia or return to Crimea’s 1992 constitution, which gave the peninsula significant autonomy. Those who favored Crimea remaining part of Ukraine under the current constitution had no box to check.

The conduct of the referendum proved chaotic and took place absent any credible international observers. Local authorities reported a turnout of 83 percent, with 96.7 percent voting to join Russia. The numbers seemed implausible, given that ethnic Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars accounted for almost 40 percent of the peninsula’s population. (Two months later, a leaked report from the Russian president’s Human Rights Council put turnout at only 30 percent, with about half of those voting to join Russia.)"

 

[h-hawk]