panzermartin

What are they hitting with the small kamikaze drones in downtown Kiev? From the start of this war the russian raids seemed to be random and lacked focus.

Former chief commander of DPR https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_Girkin

https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/13/politics/elon-musk-spacex-starlink-ukraine/index.html Musk seems put starlink on free trial and now it expires, someone will need to pay. It's too good to let go though, so I think eventually his terms will be accepted.

No worries it's Norway, where hitman killer Breivik lives in luxurious prison. Probably better than a russian block apartment.

https://www.ft.com/content/9a7b922b-2435-4ac7-acdb-0ec9a6dc8397 Did the UA outpace starlink in newly liberated regions, or the russian lasers are doing actual work (Or Musk is setting the limits in accordance to his Twitter polls)

That almost reminded me of Spielberg's SPR halftrack ambush scene,when they meet Ryan for the first time. Nice colors and all seems too orchestrated but I'd agree it could reflect other real life incidents. Maybe it's almost a staged demonstration to encourage more Russians to follow this route.

The USSR became what it became because Hitler waged a total war of annihilation on them. A lazy, incompetent and backwards military that couldn't find its way in the Lapland forests and was humiliated, was forcibly transformed to a fearful giant army to cope with an existential threat. It remains to be seen if Russia will transform under this new threat or they will collapse. I see no signs of the first to be honest...

There is no evidence of Russia ability to threaten conventionally the rest of Europe. It's crystal clear that they lacked the will and readiness to wage a war of a larger scale and had only hoped for a quick collapse. Now their impotency is right in front our eyes. No doubt it's also thanks to tenacious fight of the Ukrainians. But what army that wants to conquer the world is drunk, deserter, and abandons brand new equipment in the woods? That's not the way Wehrmacht conquered Europe. Will mobilization change this? I doubt. Yes there is the nuclear threat remaining but that takes two to tango and if the West does not want to dance, it won't happen. Some here want to but thankfully they are in the minority.

To borrow Kraze's phrasing early in this thread, empires either expand or crumble. There is so much to win in Ukraine war for US. Your main adversary since the end of WW2 will be kaput. If you achieve this with no nuclear holocaust, a deadly threat of almost a century will cease to exist and rival you. West for the first time will have the chance to securely expand so deep towards East. Black Sea no longer primarily a Russian lake. Containment of China becoming more possible. A blow to Europe's economical and political strength and thus autonomy. US returning to the continent and reestablishing itself as the dominant player, like in post WW2. Gaining the upper hand in the energy game. Troublemakers Syria, Iran will probably suucumb after Russia's collapse. Turkey back in NATO yard. Honestly, the gains are too many to count... And all this without loss of US personnel. In your opinion why US is that much involved in Ukraine ?

Well primarily the one orchestrating the UA operations and funding with billions of aid, US. UK and the rest european countries follow.

Wasn't he hospitalized with life threatening poisoning in Germany? Why should Russia go that far in his "acting". We have to keep in mind Russia is like all the other countries. It has national interests. No Russian politician, nationalist or leftist Marxist is going to just give back Crimea, a russian populated area of huge strategic and symbolic value. They are going to fight for it untill the end (of Russia as we know it) . They have been colliding with the West, Ottomans etc over Crimea for centuries. Behind the ethics wrapping, it's just another imperialistic war of the great powers. In retrospect its not that much different than 1850 (except nuclear)

From a strategic point of view, could they probably still hope to achieve cutting off Ukraine from the sea. And making black sea a safe Russian lake. That would be a major victory for Russians, one that could even signal end of offensive, even if not much more else is taken. The republics joining Russia, a secured Crimea and taking all the south coast sounds like a great deal. For this they will need to advance to Mikolayev and Odessa and Kherson is vital. I presume this was very high on their list at least before invasion. Now it seems not very realistic but who knows. Donbas is more of political value than Kherson Imo.

And about the treatment of Germany and Japan post WW2. Marshall was the way to go and the smart choice fortunately . But It wasn't that much out of kindness towards the people of those ruined countries but mostly they should be viable enough as assets for the containment of USSR and communism. A potato economy driven Germany wouldn't be that of an obstacle for the reds, Morgenthau was really short sighted in that aspect too. In the same way US must be logically thinking a functioning, western leaning Russia could prove valuable for containing China one day. Those who call for taking Russia back to the stone age aren't reading the future well.

I find it funny that many high profile Germans were enlisted in the CIA post WW2 or even took NASA to the moon with the rockets that were killing kids in London but here some people call for collective punishment of Russia because it invaded Ukraine. Talking about bias.

This seems more possible than outside acrion

Also I believe technically it was a difficult task for Russia to carry out. Unless there is a way to blow these from inside? How could they approach with submarine /drone and go unnoticed in high intensity waters scanned 24hr by hostile forces ? This perfection in execution doesn't feel very russian to me.

I agree It doesn't have a made in USA stamp. But that doesn't mean that some 3rd party couldn't have done this under their guidance. If a single country expressed publicly their annoyance with the nord stream that was US through very official voices, Biden, Nuland etc... Is Russia that irrational? Maybe. Until now they hesitated to admit they are blackmailing EU with the gas by referring to technical issues. Now they blow up everything like an angry madman. There must have been some very important motive to do this. Blackmail Europe further through the ukrainian pipeline? It didn't work so far. Divide Europe and USA? An internal matter between energy companies in Russia and the deep state? Doesn't make much sense to destroy a valuable asset for ever, a negotiating card and a symbol of their prosperity and bridge with Europe. What is next, they will blow up their Kerch bridge

I read everything, from ISW to pro UKR Twitter, this forum and russian sources. Why US is never to be blamed, they are very much benefiting from all this,while Germany, Europe and Russia are committing suicide. Is this russian propaganda?

Hmmm, why should Russia blow up their own gas lines. They indeed lose their last card of changing the minds of EU. And destroying decades of prosperous collaboration with Germany. And that thank you from Poland official... We underestimate how ruthless US is as well when they are after their interests. Beyond Russia, target is Germany I think for not obeying the masters orders and being reluctant to be involved in this war. Now they don't have other choice. And we are here discussing the high ethics of the war with lord of the rings metaphors.

Germany is like France in WW2. Pourquoi mourir pour Danzig(Ukraine) ? And France was actually invaded. The truth is that cynically they suffered the least from all the nations involved. Maybe Germany hopes for the same....

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I find it incredible that people are so hard on Germany on the war thing. "Common, sell more Leopards Fritz, can't you see the opportunity !" It's like those people haven't studied WW2 all their lives and the scariest wound that war left to this country. A country that was painstakingly rebuilt brick by brick by the people left behind. And chose instead of planning to avenge the former rival to build a new relation that seemed like the logical bond.

Easy on the blaming game because in a few years you will also be protesting against your new masters that will blame all on your government for corruption and spending too much on the war effort. A friendly advice. Italy has sadly elected a neo fascist government and this says something about how bad things are going in Europe now. What will happen of Lepen gets elected finally in France The end of the dream? I'm all for a united Europe but a lot of things went wrong with the economic strategy and that gave a push to nationalists and fascists to rise again unfortunately.