poesel

SPIEGEL has a long article about the destruction of Nord Stream (paywalled, German): https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/nord-stream-anschlag-in-der-ostsee-die-spuren-fuehren-in-eine-richtung-in-die-ukraine-a-befcbfbb-b1cd-4912-aeaa-56bef4dd8047 They did it together with German TV ZDF who made a documentary (I'm not sure if this is accessible from abroad): https://www.zdf.de/politik/frontal/doku-fall-nord-stream-spurensuche-ostsee-andromeda-gas-pipeline-explosion-russland-sabotage-ukraine-krieg-100.html TL;DR: it was done with a small sail boat with 6-man crew, specialists have confirmed that to be feasible Russian activities at the time & place likely were attempted countermeasures all trails lead to Ukraine & Ukrainians Zelensky's involvement highly unlikely, but maybe lower rank, nothing proven could be Russian false flag - biggest counterargument is that they didn't botch that highly complicated mission German government is unusually tight-lipped & has no real interest in solving the case (now or maybe never)

Sorry

I agree with you on the point, but not on the details. We mutually recognized each other in 1972 (BRD & DDR). We did not give assurances to NATO, but between 1970-73 in several contracts to the SU, Poland, DDR, the Allies & Czechoslovakia. This included special legalese to allow a possible reunification with the DDR.

I'm a great fan of IKEA and Swedish meatballs (köttbullar), but I can not recommend köttbullar from IKEA. Totally bland and without taste. No match for those you get in Sweden. I'm nitpicking here. When Germany entered NATO, East- and West-Germany were already two distinct states. So that is not a good comparison. After the reunification, the eastern part of Germany only became NATO territory after the Russians left. That maybe a model. But I doubt that will ever happen because of economic reasons. Pausing the war and 'building it up' may work for the military, but not for the civilian infrastructure. That is expensive to repair and easy to destroy. After unpausing, Ukraine would have to build that AGAIN.

Maybe a bit late to ask, but why do you bold some parts of location names, like the 'o' & 'i' in Novopetrykivka? Thanks.

One reason not to drop Kerch Bridge maybe that it makes retreating easier. Having a way out lessens the resolve of the defenders. IIRC that's from Sun-Tzu, so nothing new. Actually, the Russians should drop that bridge as soon as push comes to shove in Crimea.

Pictures of Tor-M1 having been hit by a M30A1 round (sorry for the format).

Thanks for the explanation. Do you think that Ukraine is really trying to reduce corruption in earnest? During war, corruption usually flourishes because so many things are running out of normal bounds. This makes it twice as difficult to fight. OTOH, the government can be a bit more drastic with the punishments.

Zelenskyy fired all the heads of the regional recruitment centers. @Haiduk - could you maybe comment on this?

No - as far as Germany and all other UN countries (except for the usual suspects) is concerned, it is not Russian territory. It was built illegally without the consent of Ukraine. Btw, this 'patch' is highly criticized here. It is seen as either a delaying action or as an insult to Ukraine, or both. The pressure is getting higher to deliver Taurus now and not draw it out like with the Leopards.

That's the spirit.

Sorry, this is not directed at you specifically, but could we get a short summary, what the article is about? People sometimes just post a link without comment. Sometimes you can deduct the content from the URL, most of the time not. This leaves the reader with the decision to click on that link and thus find out if interesting or not. So a little piece of description would be helpful for everyone. Thanks.

Update to this: pundit said that Germany will drag her feet as long as the US won't supply ATACMS. Basically the same as with the Leopards - no cats without Abrams (at least promised at the time). I hope that this time the necessary preparations have already been done and Taurus could be delivered ASAP when and if the decision will be made. Btw. I retract my notion about the usefulness of the missile. Its abilities seem to be on par with SS/SCALP.

That anti-drone 'net' used to be a tent! How long until we see two-stage munitions for drones? Not long, I guess.

These guys got 30-50 Euros each. I'm starting to wonder if it weren't a good thing if the West would just do the same. Openly, of course - just to show the public that this is possible.

Taurus has no stealth ability (Storm Shadow / SCALP have) and is sub-sonic. That means its survivability would be very low in this war. SS & SCALP are built on the same technology, while Taurus is different. An extra adapter to the Su-24 would have to be developed (I guess). As much as I wish it not to be, Taurus is rather useless here and also expensive to employ.

That was not my point. Inside the IL English should be standard and I guess it de facto is. But what happens if you need to talk to someone outside the IL? Some Ukrainian yokel (sorry) who has never spoken a word of English? Or, even if he has - what are the chances he learned military or medical slang in high school? My point is that if you go to a foreign country to fight, you ought to learn the ****ing language - at least the very basics. For your own sake. I have nothing more to add.

And Ukraine is in NATO? What point are you trying to make here?

Hmm, my comment about the US soldier not speaking Ukrainian has sparked a discussion in a direction that was not intended at all. What I meant is that I was surprised that he was so unprepared in the language department. He knew he was going to a foreign country where he likely needed to communicate with people who don't speak English. In highly critical situations where your life depends on it. 100 words, no grammar, will get you through anything. This was not meant as a quip at US language education in general.

Indeed, a harrowing video. What I'm a bit surprised about is that the US soldier in the video, for all his professionalism as a soldier, seems not to be able to speak some basic Ukrainian. Words like 'wound', 'artillery', 'take', 'drive' etc... would have been tremendously helpful for him. A few words plus sign language gets you very far. Yet, he continues to speak English with the driver, who quite obviously doesn't understand a word of it.

I would have put money on Florida tripping someone, but maybe the idea of Florida becoming a dictatorship is not alien enough. Anyway, what I meant about terrain is the ability to keep your population _inside_. Not defend versus an outside aggressor. The dictator of the Irish island would just have to close the ports and airports and make the possession of a boat a death penalty. Done. For Russia, that's impossible. Too much of a border where you could just walk away.

Picture of the damaged Chonhar bridge: And why that is important:

I doubt that Russia could be anything like North Korea. Main reason being geography. North Korea can pull it off because they only have one relatively small border in the south to defend. The other three sides are either ocean or China & Russia. Russia's borders are simply too long and connected to too many other countries. A mass exodus could not be stopped. Case in point is the exodus that happened because of this war. Ireland, UK or Florida could become like North Korea, but not Russia.

Go ask it to write a press release about a product you know, and be surprised how close this comes to the things you see in the wild. Mass text production is now doable and a lot of writers will be out of a job, soon. AI has achieved a mediocre creativity, which is good enough for most things.

I don't have a better idea, so I did what you do these days and asked ChatGPT about it. I asked for a Gebirgsjäger motto fighting in the jungle with max. 3 words. This is what came out: "Grün und Stark" "Dschungelkrieger" "Wilde Entschlossenheit" "Gemeinsam Überleben" "Schatten im Dickicht" "Mutig Voran" "Tarnen und Siegen" "Freiheit im Grünen" "Unerbittlich im Dschungel" "Gebirgsjäger Wildnis" I like 8. best ('liberty in the countryside' (lit. 'liberty in green')). A bit more serious would be 6. - 'advance with courage'. For a laugh, here is the list before I set the 3-word limit. Not going to translate. "Durch Dickicht und Gefahr – Gemeinsam stark!" "Ungesehen, unerschrocken, unschlagbar!" "Wildnis bezwingen, Freiheit verteidigen!" "Tarnung, Tapferkeit, Triumph!" "Im Dschungel zuhause, für Freiheit bereit!" "Entschlossenheit im Grün – Sieg im Herzen!" "Mit Mut und Präzision zum Erfolg!" "Unser Terrain, unsere Pflicht, unser Sieg!" "Schattenkämpfer – Unsichtbar, doch mächtig!" "Im Einklang mit der Natur, unbezwingbar im Kampf!"