Holien

Just a thought on the videos that we see of Russian protest. We perhaps should see this as a positive in that they are “brave” enough to protest under the banner of Patriotism to save themselves from a visit at night… Perhaps that is all we can hope that they (Russians) know it is a meat grinder and the only way they feel safe to protest… That was my thought when I saw the tank crew video in the crater it was a safe way to show they were alive but drape it in Patriotism to save a beating when they get back to base....

Not to sidetrack too much but I am sure you are keeping an eye on 3d printing.... This has changed the way places like Jag Landrover work and not too many steps to transition to factory level work...

@chrisland @womble You are Spot on - Legacy systems become legacy because they are not maintained or upgraded and Nukes are no different. Now I would not want to bet that some might work but Russia is in a world of hurt and they don't have the resources to upgrade and I bet they don't have the ability to maintain when key folk disappear... BTW I have had the joy of trying to replace Legacy computing systems and there are some very old systems still working in critical business - such as banking and logistics. E.g. COBOL created in the 50's and still in use in around 40% of modern banking systems... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COBOL CEO's kick the can down the road as they don't want to face the cost of bringing the kit and code up to date.... I wonder what code they used / use for their Nukes? - I bet it has not been updated... IMO Don't ever underestimate the word legacy and the impact it has...

OK for folks that have not seen this latest video of a UK volunteer back from Ukraine. Key points that I found useful... Sausage can be used as a reward... (payoff at end of video) The difference between the Ranks and Officers - really interesting insight at start of video and I am not sure how it plays out in combat effectiveness? - Might have been repeated in WW2 as once you get a lot of new people in the Officer distinction might / gets blurred? Ukraine soldiers still makes mistakes - clumping - training really needs to be upped Base camp life and stealing of kit There are still idiots who support Russia and have tried to infiltrate the land based forces... - See Sausage story.. Really explains the background to Ukraine and Russian military / original training and impact. Rules of engagement / restraint being followed by Ukraine on keeping civilian causalities low. How some folk in the units can do things / attack without the backing of command. - Shooting of boats to stop men trying to get across the river at the Russians. Russian living quarters - "like a bunch of junky student squatters had been living there" - Also some good points about food rations and where Russians had advantage (ammo and types of it) - does explain looting to some extent by Russians - no excuse but explains it... So IMO worth listening to in background as you work on the PC. BTW the interviewer is a TableTop Gamer and does WW2 gaming and I have met him - very nice chap and down to earth - a funnier JonS - but JonS knows more about the pointy end than Lindybeige and is a bit more pithy...

Hmmm not sure how you can make such an assertion with any certainty.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64774717 New postage stamps available in Ukraine.

OK for those that think sanctions are not working this interview is pretty good and balanced on what we know about the state of the Russian economy... Some of the Key Points (many we know already)... We don't know the true metrics as all we are told is what the Russians tell us and there is no independent verification. So IMF and World Bank are just repeat what they are told by the Russians and the key leadership in the Russian Rostadt has been replaced three times by the Putin Goons until they got the right person in place. Q2 of 2022 Russia stopped reporting the information required to the IMF and World Bank. Russia is lying about the figures - Shock horror!!! Any quotes about value of Roubles is BS as it is not being traded so if you hear someone say the Rouble is fine it is BS as it is not being traded!! The Russian state is propping things up with Foreign Reserves He even quotes photos of Refrigerators being stripped of chips to feed the military production lines. Oil sales Russia is losing money on any oil it sells as it costs more to transport and extract than what they can get for it... Some international companies are still trading in Russia. Russia Economy is now smaller than Chile Russian Gas is now no longer needed by Europe - LNG has replaced any losses of Russian Gas - On a personal note my Gas Tracker rate is now 1/2 or what it was costing, still high but has come down... To build new pipelines from Russia for Gas it will take 6 years to build to the Asian markets - Russian gas is just being burnt off at the moment... (If they could even get help building them)

At my Wednesday night gaming club this week I was introduced to this game.. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/247182/flashpoint-south-china-sea About an hour to play and a good overview of the region for those who want to see what might be around the corner... Not a military game and worth playing IMO...

You know what I hold BF accountable for this sentiment!!! You produce computer games and folk get used to winning after a few hours!!! How unrealistic and folk then accustomed to winning when they see the real thing think it's a stalemate!!! So BF buck up and do something about it!!! Jeezzzz I really don't know how the folk during WW2 dealt with the length of time it took to defeat the Germans, I guess there were some that thought it was a stalemate and we should have just given up.... KEEP CALM CARRY ON

This is England dear chap none of that American rubbish of taking money off folk while awaiting trial!!! They will no doubt get a caution...

In regards to Russia having some sort of hold over the German establishment it is surely possible and very very likely IMO... Just look at what has happened in the UK. There is a reason why the Tory party does not want Rusian Influence in Brexit investigating and as they control the levers at the moment that truth will not be found or investigated. https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1616034580376567813 There certainly has been bribery campaigns in Europe and it is beyond belief that Russia will not have been doing so in Germany... So what sort of campaign has been held by the Russians in Germany? - Maybe one day in our life time we will find out.

This is one of the best posts I have read in trying to get to the bottom of what is working. Should be included in a military training manual for future wars...

OK now for something different a bit of recent history in the Kherson region before it was retaken. Ukraine The peoples Fight http://www.ollylambert.com/ukraine-the-peoples-fight I managed finally to find time to watch this documentary which is available on the BBC iPlayer and hopefully will become available elsewhere if you don't use a VPN. Interesting insight to a small unit operating on the front line trying to kill Russians and not very effectively. Off the top of my head some interesting things to watch out for... Shows secret command centre trying to gather intelligence from those behind Russians lines. Good interview with one of the volunteer members. This was IMO really useful to see. Shows a small "Special forces" unit set up by a member of the Ukrainian parliament who was a former SFO. Shows the problems of trying to run this unit with volunteers with not military experience - Watch them RTFM on a mortar. Shows poor mortar skills and failure to hit after repeated attempts a tank they were after. Shows a stable front and the Russians just dug in and not really attempting to patrol the area. Shows a police military unit and some success they had but failure to displace mortar after shooting Shows the SFO team have a "good safe house" but don't seem to have anyone keeping an eye open when resting not too far from front. Really worth watching as it shows the problems Ukraine is facing and yet they are winning with what they have!!! Really shows why training is vital and I hope the new forces being rotated in with that training should start to make a difference. BBC link - restricted unless you know how to use a VPN https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001grdw

Some would say a courtesy from a Russian leader who ran an expensive covert influence campaign that swung the vote just over the line. Europe (the world) really needs to understand what Russia does to democracies via the back doors...

Corrected for you... Everyone loves cheap stuff... Trade with China will continue on that basis as long as China is open to trade at cheap prices...

Russia has been at war with the West for many years already and has undertaken efforts to destabilize America and Europe already. (Elections meddling, Murders, Theft, Sabotage, Bribery etc...) I am not sure how they can ramp it up (they would have ramped it up already) other than start direct attacks on supply lines (Gas, Oil and Data) and one too many of those will lead to the West taking more direct action against Russia as you can only deny so many of these lines being cut. Lets hope the current leadership do change in Russia as a result of the failure in Ukraine, but if not I don't see how they can escalate what they have already been doing to us.

The potential power of a few to hurt the many in Ukraine? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-64145106 Let the games begin. Let's hope Ukraine can push Russia back and force them to give up soon. However, we have talked about how the war won't end until Ukraine says so but even if Russia is pushed back to their own borders they could continue to launch attacks on Ukraine.

Snake Island tour

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64006121 The bean counters are doing a cost benefit analysis.

Of course it could be another Russian lie? Let's see what happens and hope for a monumental FU. Maybe the Russians are pants?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-63573387

If you keep offending them they will ultimately run out of missiles, but alas I fear they will have hit all your power plants. I guess when they run out we shall see how effective Iranian missiles are and what their manufacturing timescales are. Israel might have less trouble as the focus shifts to Ukraine. A pity Israel doesn't view the Ukrainian plight strongly enough to sell its missile defence system to Ukraine. Let's hope those helping Ukraine can provide better protection soon. In the meantime please let's all keep offending Russia to the best of our ability.

Could be that plan was discarded after some private chats after Russia floated the dirty bomb idea. I do get the sense that they would quite happily destroy Kherson if Ukraine took it back. Let's hope Ukraine can work on a plan to screw Russia over without taking too many losses. I fear that might mean Kherson is not taken as quickly as we had hoped.

Could well be the case. But helmets will be needed to keep population safe from all that goes up - falling back down again!!!

Not if the political landscape changes... I do think it is great that America (and Europe) has helped Ukraine but the sooner this is done the less chance the political landscape will change.. Also less Ukrainian deaths and destruction and the world can try and recover sooner!!! I hope any Americans reading this write to their Congressmen and Senators to try and impress on them this is a once in a life time opportunity to defeat Russia with a just cause, without risking American lives!!! Meanwhile in the UK we are waiting for the next liar to take office...