Harmon Rabb

Sounds good.

While it is possible that a Ukrainian Eraser conducted this operation to fake his death and give him a new identity, I think chances are the Russian pilot is really dead. It is in Ukraine's best interests to keep more RU pilots defecting, and if those potential Russian defectors think that the sunny West, is not safe from their former comrades in Russian intelligence (no it is not) they may not defect. I imagine Ukraine already revived the machine he defected with as well as any intel he had, not sure GUR have much incentive to go through all this just to protect this one guy. Especially if it could deter other RU pilots from defecting in the future.

Gonna wait for more information and keep an eye out regarding this story. Lots of mixed reports right now. HUR Confirms Death of Russian Helicopter Pilot Who Defected to Ukraine With Mi-8 (KyivPost) Edit: The KyivPost says that his death is confirmed. Looks like the covert war inside the European Union continues. Here's hoping General Budanov can retaliate. We have already seen RU pilots assassinated inside Russia itself.

Have not posted anything from the ISW for a while... Like over a year? But just like @Grigb (By the way great to see you here again, this forum was not the same without your maps and knowledge of Russia's internal politics). As well as @The_Capt, the ISW seems to be raining on Russia's great victory in Avdiivka.

President Zelenskyy visits France.

I actually watched all the Harry Potter movies years ago but don't remember them that well. Who Tucker reminds me of is Richard Thornburg from the Die Hard movies. But when you think about it even Thronburg was more moral compared to Tucker. While both Tucker and Thornburg are sleazy journalists who put their ego and careers over human life, at least Thornburg actually reported the facts in Die Hard 1 and 2. That's better than I can say for Tucker, who is just flat out lying to his audience for views. This just in, Russia is a better place to live compared to The United States! Tucker Carlson Says Trip to Russian Grocery Store Has ‘Radicalized’ Him Against US Leaders: ‘Legitimately Angry’ (yahoo.com)

News from Finland.

I thought his nationality was kind of interesting. I know foreign mercenaries played an important role in the civil war in Sierra Leone. One of the most well known PMCs from that war was Executive Outcomes. Anyway, never thought I would see Mercs from Sierra Leone showing up and fighting in a war in Europe.

As @Haiduk thought me a long time ago, I should not trust everything that Anton Gerashchenko says. But if this is true, I guess Putin should have kept the message simple. Instead of going into esoteric historical details. Disappointment in the interview from Russia's elites?

I think most of us here are familiar with the 3rd Assault Brigade, with some of the incredible combat footage we have seen them in. Looking forward to seeing them put Bradley IFVs to good use.

I did some quick research on Google, and found out Boris Johnson is way ahead of us.

This event in the Canadian parliament was already discussed here at length when it happened. Did Tucker by any chance ask Putin about the countless killed Ukrainian civilians and kidnapped children? I did not watch the interview so I don't know.

I'm trying to avoid talking about "that guy", but some of these twitter memes related to the interview are hilarious. For the record I did not watch it, I don't want to spoil the Super Bowl weekend with that trash.

Honestly, I don't know if I would call it "anxiety" but I have had nights where for hours I have been awake thinking about this war. I understand how important this war is for the direction this world can go, and I will keep following it until it is finished and will keep supporting the good guys in this war no matter how long it takes. Personally I do recommend once in a while disconnecting from the internet and spending some time with family, go on a hike in the woods or something. But ultimately compared to Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines, I really have nothing to be anxious about.

Alright this will be my last post regarding this guy for a while, I'm frankly getting tired of seeing his face. Don't think I'm the only one who feels this way by now. Here is the Newsweek article Jonasz and the KyivPost are referencing. Exclusive: Tucker Carlson Could Face Sanctions Over Putin Interview (NewsWeek)

AFU is getting a new branch focused on drones. Ukrainian military to have dedicated drone branch (Yahoo.com) In other news as has already been brought up, we now know what Mr.Carlson is doing in Moscow. Can't say I'm shocked. Tucker has been parroting the Kremlin's talking points for years, now he can just sit down relax and have Putin make the same talking points without Tucker even needing to open his mouth. Thankfully Mira of Kyiv has posted a drinking game we can play while watching the interview.

New video of Ukrainian SOF activity in Sudan. I think I did spot a mistranslated in this video, the POW clearly say CAR which is short for Central African Republic, and would geographically make more sense. But the translation in the video was South Africa.

Agreed, we are seeing naval history being made in the Black sea right now. Also, weight in gold is a good expression but according to this tweet, Ukraine has some specific numbers for how their success in the Black sea is helping the overall war effort.

Fore!

Really busy week did not have time to read this forum. Did I miss anything happening in the Black Sea? Anyway, just quickly leaving this here. Was all over my Twitter (sorry Elon I will never call it "X") feed. Mr.Carlson joins his fellow travellers Steven Seagal and Scott Ritter in making his pilgrimage to Russia.

I saw this news a few days ago but forgot to post it here. The M270 looks so damn cool! Happy to see more of these put to good use in Ukraine.

My take regarding Ukraine and corruption. While I think most people here know I firmly support Ukraine and its just war against Russian aggression. I know that corruption is still an issue in Ukraine. I think it was one of the posters living in Ukraine who explained it best to me on this forum. Basically corruption was used as one of the tools by Putin to keep Ukraine in Russia's sphere of influence. Ukraine's oligarchs knew that if Ukraine was serious about joining the European Union it would need to clean up its act regarding corruption, and that could mean possible jail-time for some of those oligarchs. Who were happy that Ukraine be tied to Russia and the status quo preserved. Corruption or not I still hope Ukraine is granted NATO membership soon after this war is over so this nightmare that the Ukrainian people are going through does not repeat itself. As far as the EU goes I hope Ukraine will take it's efforts to battle corruption as seriously as they are battling the Russian military on the battlefield right now. I'm optimistic about Ukraine's chances because if other former communist countries in Europe were able to improve in this regard, I don't see why Ukraine cannot also improve.

Why should I Google them? I already know my company is highly rated by the MRBC in BattleTech (2018).

Croatian court rules to transfer seized yacht 'Royal Romance' belonging to Medvedchuk to Ukraine (odessa-journal.com) At the same time, she noted that "the seized yacht temporarily sailed on January 25, 2024, to confirm its technical capability, buoyancy, and engine operation." This was done in accordance with the court's decision. Royal Romance, very nice name for a yacht Mr.Medvedchuk. Now she can be called more money for Ukraine. Don't think the Ukrainian Navy will be using her. Also did find it kind of interesting that Ukraine has a government organization called ARMA, as this is a wargaming forum I doubt I need to explain why. arma.gov.ua

Two locked threads related to that topic attest to that. This thread needs to stay open, as it is the damn source for following this war on the internet.