Holien

Really? Would you like to expound on this nugget a tad further. I am genuinely interested in how in 2022, 2023 to 2024 the Russians are learning from their mistakes.

Nope and they won't have to with the right support (ammo, equipment, ISR and airsupport) and training, but alas this year will not be the year when all the stars will be aligned. Ukraine needs to survive this turbulent year and if the American situation improves then maybe next year. The continued damage to Russian control of Crimea and their rear areas (manufacturing, petrol, gas) production will cause Russia serious issues that might bring down the house of cards...

Ahhh the beauty of hindsight... Do you realise how difficult it is to do stuff in government and you are blaming them for not doing it all in one year.... What a joke....

Ukraine has recognized it needs a reorganization and perhaps it could have been started earlier but hindsight is always a wonderful thing.... We have seen they are looking at changing things let's see how it pans out....

Hmm that's a fact huh? What about Europe, Australia we've cut them off? Ahhh Russia recruitment from Africa and Nepal is running rings around Ukraine, nice to know...

Yep, the RN with it's two new white elephants have arrived just in time. Mind you easier to defend them when they are sat in dry dock being repaired as they can't even be trusted to sail to Norway.

I think it is more likely one of these or a mixture of sea state and currents / wind which makes it hard to handle, that and command delays with the controls so not perfect handling as we might expect. We need a naval grog who plays with remote control replicas on boating ponds.

I appreciated the diversion as it was useful to understand the possible risks. Thanks for letting it divert a tad... Lots can happen from now to November so it is not certain the Orange liar can win. The good out of this is that Europe seems to still be engaged and supporting Ukraine and will realise that they might have to go it alone. Ukraine now needs to cut it's cloth to what they have on hand and if we can keep on supplying enough long range missiles and perhaps new airframes the corrosive warfare can continue to hurt Russia even if the possibility of regaining terrority is less likely.

Hmmm you think that battlefield commanders have a fully illuminated battlefield? Even with today's battles with modern ISR it is hard to bring all that information accurately together in a way that is easily understandable. It certainly was not possible before now, so by your statement every commander was reckless?

You rarely have all the information to hand as a leader to know if you are being bold or reckless. That's what Historians determine

Do you not think there might be a bit of fallout for Russia from other countries which might put in doubt the "win"... Anyway enough of that rabbit hole, thanks for explaining it....

Winning - really?

Yep all starts at the top of any organisation. Let's hope it's the right decision. In WW2 the early years there were numerous military leadership changes made.

Sorry I disagree, Putin wants a veneer of an election where he wins comfortably. Yes sure he can waft his bigus dickus with a raft of mafia like measures but for the election he needs to be seen as winning. He needs battlefield victory hence the current pressure on military meaningless bits of Ukrainian soil. Removing a candidate that was allowed to stand indicates further weakness. If Putin felt strong he would declare himself the ultimate ruler and dispense with the sham but for some reason he needs an election victory.

Yep, the one good thing coming out of the current T mess in America is that Europe seems to be stepping up and in the short term until Europe has internal production sorted America will gain more sales. It would be good if deals on key ammunition could be done at cost plus small % profit. Ukraine needs to keep Russia at bay and we (Europe) have to provide them with at a minimum the ammunition to do so. Even if that means spending money in America.

Nadezhdin use for us is an indication of the problems Putler is facing. He was never going to win, but he was needed to make a sham election "look" like an election. The fact he has been pulled speaks volumes about Moscows lack of control of the sham.

Or a smart opponent who has been watching SOP of the base for long enough to work out the security flaws. Or some one on the base passing information to the wrong people. I would love to blame Russia for everything but this one seems a bit of a stretch. For sure Iran, China, North Korea and Russia will be learning off one another but how quickly and what lessons are passed on is open to discussion. It would be a gold mine of intelligence if the west could spy on those WhatsApp discussions...

Hmmm any evidence on that? I know a certain Lord is being investigated and assets frozen for rather a large sum of British tax payers money. So for you to say the corruption in Ukraine is a different order of magnitude seems to indicate that you have some figures or evidence to prove that? Love to hear / see it? Humans are humans and an element will try and get rich off the backs of others, no matter what country you care to mention. What matters is how it is policed and a consistent law applied to everyone in that country.

Yes corruption exists in all societies, so likely true. In WW2 people were involved in corruption and other crimes. During the national COVID crisis there were many who ripped off the UK, hopefully some are getting justice now... To think that in Ukraine there will be no corruption is naive. It is good it is being tackled and those caught dealt with.

Fair point... Maybe not for the Russians if there ISR is still pants....

Hmmm dangerous for any side doing this as the camera leading up to the event can give away important information about the area behind the lines. The age of digital recording and desire to be a digital media superstar is making it harder to keep OpSec.

Sweet.... Thanks now I get to use AI... Ohh to be a graduate again....

I presume Russia moving Ukrainian POWs would use buses or trains to get to a land border crossing point not expensive planes? This smells of Russian BS as usual. Anyone know about the previous swaps and how they took place?

This attack on the 13th how do we know of the ones that got through did they not hit military valid targets? Not many reports of residential areas being hit? 26 missiles hit something that they were aimed at? I think the Russians are getting smarter and we won't necessarily be told (rightly so) how better they are getting. Just my 2p. I would certainly support giving Ukraine even more modern AD and especially Patriot systems and ammo but alas that seems unlikely at the moment as world tensions rise.

Hmm I am not so sure we would know as I think Ukraine is pretty good at keeping quiet about Russian success. I do think the AD is holding up but they are slipping some missiles through and we don't get reports on what they hit. So not sure this is still true?