Ukraine War. 2022-

Discussion in 'Postwar' started by CL1, Feb 26, 2022.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    TTH likes this.
  2. TTH

    TTH Senior Member

    No. Despite its small geographic size, since independence (1830) Belgium has always been a heavily industrialized and very modern and efficient country. A guy I knew in grad school who was studying Russia and had traveled there said Russia was "Mexico with rockets." Which I thought was rather an insult to Mexico.
     
    Gerard and Slipdigit like this.
  3. Rich Payne

    Rich Payne Rivet Counter Patron 1940 Obsessive

    A strange comment. Belgium's tiny standing army is not remotely large enough to even garrison another country, let alone invade it...and it is among the least likely to ever wage aggressive war. Too many of other people's wars have been fought here.

    That said, it seems certain that there are U.S. nuclear weapons based here and the Belgian F16s are nuclear-capable. Whether they're here for our own protection or because the U.S. regards us as part of their forward defence lines is another question.
     
    Gerard likes this.
  4. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    I get the General's point, though.
    The mighty Russian bear is turning out to be a 'smaller' country than pretty much everyone thought when it came to a significant crunch.

    Similes are risky when everyone's pissed off. So I'll just call Russia 'Russia, with a leader who's completely lost it & isn't making the legacy he hoped for. With what look very much like war crimes.'.
    Here's hoping it just becomes 'Russia' again one day.

    Strange rumblings within the country. Fascinating to see some (now) familiar talking heads on that shouty current affairs show openly saying the war's unwinnable, and maybe 150 'Municipal Deputies' sign letters condemning it. (The problem being I don't know what a Municipal Deputy is. Local councillors, or civil serpents of some form?)

    Don't accept any invites for tea by the window, Mr Nadezhdin ...
    https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1569070513909022720?s=20&t=1h6bZCuM3aPUKkaFS6kyKw


    What do we know, though.
    We're still looking in through a grimy lens.
     
    stolpi, TTH, CL1 and 1 other person like this.
  5. JDKR

    JDKR Member

    It’s perhaps worth noting that in world GDP rankings Russia lies 11th, two behind Italy. That statistic comes from Wikipedia but almost certainly does not take into account the impact on Russia’s national wealth of the sweeping sanctions to which it has been subjected.
     
  6. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    I got the impression he was talking about how both the Russians in Ukraine and the Belgiums in WWII do not or did not have a coordinated combined arms plan. He mentions that the Russian forces are fighting as smaller individual units. I don't know anything about how the Belgiums fought in WWII though. Must read up on it.
     
  7. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    I'm not sure mobilising the reserve and* conscripting those with previous military service six+ months after an invasion that would take three days is a sign of strength.
    Or maybe it's just me...

    (* Or? Not sure what Russian reserve post-service requirements are. Implication is they're being stretched into further conscription.)
     
    Gerard likes this.
  8. Gerard

    Gerard Seelow/Prora

    Adam, I think its a sign that he has finally realised that his Armed Forces are unable to carry out the task assigned to them. Calling up the reserves shows that your army is short of numbers. Also, these "troops" will take time to be brought up to an acceptable level of competance. One would imagine that calling up them now is in preparation for a post winter campaign. To commit them an earlier would be a disaster. I'll be honest its worrying seeing what the actions of the Russians are in relation to these referenda. One can see the parallels between this and the Sudetenland in 38, giving some sort of "justification" for any further actions in the eyes of the Sovi.....sorry Russian populace. I would not put it past Putin to try to follow through on a nuclear strike, albeit at a tactical level against the Unkranians.
     
  9. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    Sometimes there just isn't a window or balcony handy...

    Screenshot 2022-09-22 195800.jpg

    Some reports saying fell down 'several' flights of stairs.
    Perfectly normal.Quite the achievement, even.

    Stranger than usual place of late; Russia.
     
    CL1 likes this.
  10. ltdan

    ltdan Nietenzähler

    Special military Operation 2023
    reserve.jpg
     
    Waddell and TTH like this.
  11. Gerard

    Gerard Seelow/Prora

  12. Gerard

    Gerard Seelow/Prora

    From the Guardian website:
    "Russian president Vladimir Putin is giving directions directly to generals in the field, CNN reports.

    According to two sources familiar with American and western intelligence that spoke to CNN, the direct orders from Putin to generals “hints at the dysfunctional command structure" that has affected Russia forces on the battlefield.

    Other sources who are familiar with US intelligence told CNN that there are significant disagreements on strategy with military leaders who struggle to agree on where to focus their efforts in Ukraine.

    Additionally, a senior NATO official told the outlet that senior officials in Moscow are struggling to assign blame for Russia’s setbacks in the war.

    “Kremlin officials and state media pundits have been feverishly discussing the reasons for the failure in Kharkiv and in typical fashion, the Kremlin seems to be attempting to deflect the blame away from Putin and onto the Russian military,” the official said."

    I wonder who this sounds like...........Leader micromanaging his Generals as the war goes against them.....hmmmmmmm:rolleyes:
     
    Orwell1984 and SDP like this.
  13. Rich Payne

    Rich Payne Rivet Counter Patron 1940 Obsessive

    Winston Churchill, but thankfully Brooke wasn't afraid of him
     
  14. JDKR

    JDKR Member

    A bungalow might be a prudent investment in these troubled times.:whistle:
     
    stolpi, SDP and von Poop like this.
  15. Gerard

    Gerard Seelow/Prora

    I was going for King Zog of Albania but Churchill will do!!!! :D
     
    Rich Payne likes this.
  16. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

     
    Slipdigit and ltdan like this.
  17. ltdan

    ltdan Nietenzähler

    How to tell your soldiers they're practically done without saying they're practically done
    a1.jpg
     
    CL1, Dave55, JDKR and 1 other person like this.
  18. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    It would appear that Putlin might have some logistical problems kitting out 300,000 reservists given what the western media refer to as "supply chain issues". However, I don't think that we are quite at the 10 men, one rifle stage just yet.
     
    ltdan likes this.
  19. ltdan

    ltdan Nietenzähler

    The rifles are junk and only good for training purposes. But as a symbol of the hopelessly desolate state of the RA, it is excellent:

    Mobilisation is running just as professionally and smoothly as the entire special military operation, there are obviously considerable frictions in all areas.
    deputy Defence Minister Bulgakov, who had been responsible for military logistics, had been removed from office and transferred to "another post".
    As the mud period is setting in, the newly drafted replacement still has a reprieve until the first frost
    Meanwhile, Lyman may be about to fall and as things stand UA is preparing to storm Lysychansk
    It will be a bloody winter
     
  20. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    'Ruslan Zinin' an intriguing post-draft google term.

    Again, I (We, generally?) can't pretend to understand internal Russian society/politics, but there's some rather interesting glimpses going on at the moment.

    Maybe a bit late to acknowledge your nation may not be quite playing a logical game in the interests of the population, but maybe better late than never...
     
    ltdan likes this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page