[Politics] Russia invades Ukraine (24/02/2022)

raymondo said:

Very interesting piece thanks.
A real example of 'malicious actors' that are happy to take money (if that's the carrot) to undermine fellow women.

Also in the video, a reminder that Putin cares far more about advancing in the Donbas than in protecting his beloved provinces of Kursk and Belgorod. Maybe Ukraine can now move some of it's better troops back to Donbas, and replace them with less experienced for their defense lines in Kursk.

Finally a reminder from the contributor that Russia will still outlast Ukraine in terms of troop numbers, in the grinding front line. Ukraine's invasion of Kursk has been a part game changer but there will need to be much more to protect Ukrainian troop numbers:
- air defense
- unlimited drone supply
- faster shell delivery
- a freeing up of the restrictions (from the US and Germany mainly?) of firing missiles deeper into Russian territory to disable air bases used for attacks on Ukraine (one example).

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Eric the meek said:

It's an extraordinary clip. In my naivety/innocence, I am still amazed at some of the utter crap that comes out of Russia.

Ukraine will be aware of the finite supply of their troops. One way they may be countering it is by means of their unlimited drone supply. I think they are aiming to have produced 1m drones this year. They don't all need 'boots on the ground'.

Other ways to mitigate the finite supply of troops would be to widen the mobilisation in terms of age - and gender. I once watched a video featuring female Ukrainian snipers. They were good at it. Long range sniping keeps them at a safe-ish distance away from the close combat of the front-line.

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raymondo said:

I think Ukraine is down to age 25 for mobilisation IIRC? I'm sure they'd like to protect the younger guys but may have to mobilise them at some point (women are voluntary at the moment).
If I'm thinking correctly... there'll be a hole of young men from age 18-20/21 because many of them will have left Ukraine with a parent during the initial invasion. I only say that because, if the war continues for another two years say, there may be very few men in Ukraine between ages 18 and 23. Hopefully we don't get there...

Forgot to add earlier: I hope very much that Ukraine is getting urgent covert help in it's own ballistic missile program. The results of that could be critical in the coming months.

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peterward said:

You know, I had wondered that too in recent weeks, havent seen anything to suggest it may be the case, but wondered if either covertly by UK, US etc or could the ukrainians deconstruct and reverse engineer and ATACMS or similar and try and clone something........ would make sense if they could.

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raymondo said:

I think Ukraine is down to age 25 for mobilisation IIRC? I'm sure they'd like to protect the younger guys but may have to mobilise them at some point (women are voluntary at the moment).
If I'm thinking correctly... there'll be a hole of young men from age 18-20/21 because many of them will have left Ukraine with a parent during the initial invasion. I only say that because, if the war continues for another two years say, there may be very few men in Ukraine between ages 18 and 23. Hopefully we don't get there...

Forgot to add earlier: I hope very much that Ukraine is getting urgent covert help in it's own ballistic missile program. The results of that could be critical in the coming months.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Meeting the recruits preparing for battle

As Kyiv fights on home soil and in Russia, Nick Beake speaks to recruits being sent to the battlefield.

www.bbc.co.uk

Eric the meek said:

Did you see this article on the BBC? I seem to recall the mobilisation expansion was at both ends of the age range.

'In the hail of machine gun fire and instructors’ commands, the most striking aspect of the scene is the age of the new recruits. Most seem to be in their 40s and 50s.'

Russia-Ukraine war: Meeting the recruits preparing for battle

As Kyiv fights on home soil and in Russia, Nick Beake speaks to recruits being sent to the battlefield.

www.bbc.co.uk

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raymondo said:

Yes I saw that .
My wife's nephew was mobilised in Zap about two months ago. After one month's training at a secret location he's been released back to his home at night. During each day he reports for more training and/ or duties closer to the front line south of Zap (he doesn't say, rightly).
He's mid 30s and hasn't been rushed to the front in a vulnerable area.

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danielson81 said:

This is worth a watch https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m001zps2/the-zelensky-story

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Sirnormangall said:

Finally got round to watching this. What a guy. Didn’t realise he was so well known and popular in Russia before the war.

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Sirnormangall said:

Finally got round to watching this. What a guy. Didn’t realise he was so well known and popular in Russia before the war.

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Eric the meek said:

Russia declares state of emergency as Ukraine kamikaze drone blows up Voronezh missile dump in huge blast:

There was an initial blast and then a series of smaller blasts as missiles went up.



Russia had previously blown up a Ukrainian military facility in Poltava, south west of Kharkiv.

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danielson81 said:

This is worth a watch https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m001zps2/the-zelensky-story

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peterward said:

Weirdly, just done the same this evening.... can see how much the stress has added years to his complexion.

And from the show:

Spoiler: SPOILER

When he said in epsidode 1, that he was offered huge money to go and perform full time as show director in Russia in the mid noughties, but turned it down to stay with his comedy crew in Ukraine, both Mrs and I said, he would never have had any idea how absolutely massive that sliding doors decision was.... that one decision could have altered the whole course of Ukrainian and european history.

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