Ukraine war mega thread

[bsnub]

Local information censorship is rife in your country, it seems.

You have no idea what you are talking about. As usual.

[HermantheGerman]

You didn't read the Stockman post, did you?

Now the WSJ is out with a blockbuster report that “Saudi Arabia is in active talks with Beijing to price some of its oil sales to China in yuan.” Such a move could obviously cripple not only the petrodollar’s dominance of the global petroleum market and mark another shift by the world’s top crude exporter toward Asia, but also undermine the entire dollarized global financial system.

Did you read the WSJ report?
Have you figured out how much Chinastan is paying or receiving foreign aid yet?

The bump for the yuan comes at a time when Chinese assets more broadly have been under some strain. The renminbi has come under tremendous selling pressure over the past couple days amid a rout in the country’s stocks. The offshore yuan fell more than 1.1% against the dollar in the three days through March 14, its worst such drop in a year. The offshore yuan’s 200-day moving average at 6.4116 per dollar remains key near-term support for the currency.

There was no indication from the Dow Jones report on the likelihood of Saudi Arabia making such a switch nor how much of its sales might be denominated in yuan if it were to change. It does, however, signal that the conversation around alternatives to the greenback is very much a live debate.

How many endless threads have we had here on TD about the crumbling dollar?
The U.S. is and will remain to be the save haven of the world for a loooooooong time!


Jeezus Sabang, you haven't figured out Chinas development aid yet and now you are opening another barrel that you have no clue of

[harrybarracuda]

Some may now understand why THE LORD is currently only utilising a small % of his military forces.

Puffy Putin is afraid of showing how shit they are, mind you he's doing a great job so far.

[bsnub]

Mounting Russian casualties in Ukraine lead to more questions about its military readiness

Thousands of Russian troops have been killed in Ukraine since Russia's invasion began nearly one month ago, US and NATO officials told CNN this week, and Russia is now struggling to resupply those forces as it faces sagging troop morale and fierce Ukrainian resistance. Russia's offensive to capture Kyiv has largely stalled, NATO officials said, and on Thursday Ukraine said it launched a counteroffensive aimed at gaining decisive control of the city's suburbs.

US and allied intelligence assessments vary widely as to exactly how many Russian forces have been killed to date, sources familiar with the intelligence tell CNN. But even the lowest estimates are in the thousands.

One such assessment found that approximately 7,000 Russian troops have been killed so far, said one of the sources. But that figure, first reported by The New York Times, is on the higher end of US estimates, which vary because the US and its allies have no precise way of counting casualties. Some estimates place the number of Russian troops killed in Ukraine at about 3,000, whereas others suggest more than 10,000 have been killed.

So far, the number has been calculated largely via open source reporting from non-governmental organizations, the Ukrainian government, commercial satellite imagery, and intercepted Russian communications. US officials have also extrapolated numbers of dead based on the number of Russian tanks that have been destroyed, the sources said.

Regardless of the precise number, US and western intelligence officials have observed that Russia is having difficulty replacing its forces, which is having a significant impact on Russian troop morale, senior NATO officials said on Wednesday.

"It becomes more evident every day that Putin gravely miscalculated," a senior NATO intelligence official told reporters at NATO headquarters on Wednesday night, speaking on the condition of anonymity to disclose sensitive assessments. "Russia continues to face difficulties replacing its combat losses, and increasingly seeks to leverage irregular forces, including Russian private military corporations and Syrian fighters."

A senior NATO military official echoed that assessment, saying that "we can assess that more private military companies will be engaging" in the conflict soon. But in general, he said, the losses have had "a bad effect on the morale of the troops."

"We can see [Putin] miscalculated the resilience and the resistance of the Ukrainians," the NATO military official said. "That is a fact. He did not see that. And that is a big surprise for him. And therefore he has had to slow down."

Flagging Russian morale

The NATO intelligence official added, citing the Ukrainian General Staff, that "Russian servicemen are increasingly refusing to travel to Ukraine, despite promises of veteran status and even higher salaries." He noted that NATO expects that "the reportedly high Russian casualties will also stir some reaction in Russia, as the Russian people eventually become aware of the extent of their losses."

A senior US defense official told reporters Thursday that the Pentagon has anecdotal evidence that Russian morale is flagging.

"We don't have insight into every unit and every indication. But we certainly have picked up anecdotal indications that morale is not high in some units," the official said. "Some of that is, we believe, a function of poor leadership, lack of information that the troops are getting about their missions and objectives, and I think disillusionment from being resisted as fiercely as they have been."

In some instances, Russian troops have simply abandoned broken down vehicles in the field, walking away and leaving behind tanks and armored personnel carriers, according to two US officials.

A congressional source briefed on the intelligence similarly said the US has assessed that there appears to be a gap between what Russian troops were prepared for and what they actually encountered. Many Russians captured so far have said they did not expect, for example, that they would be fighting a war in Ukraine, and believed they were just part of a military exercise.
The Russian military leaders' commitment, however, appears to still be high, the congressional source said.

Last week, Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told a congressional committee in a public hearing that the US intelligence community's assessment of Russian troop deaths was between 2,000 and 4,000. He said the assessment was made with low confidence and based on both intelligence sources and open-source material.

US and western intelligence officials broadly acknowledge that the will to fight is often difficult to measure and it is unclear how much sagging morale has contributed to Russia's sluggish progress on the battlefield. But open-source reporting for weeks has documented signs of discontent and low morale amongst ground troops, and one official speculated that one of the reasons Russian generals have been operating in higher-risk, forward operating positions is an effort to gin up flagging troops.

Western officials say at least three Russian generals have been killed by Ukrainian forces since the war began.

The problem may also extend to Russia's elite air units, the official said.

"They've lost a bunch of planes," this person said. "That really affects pilot morale."

Russia is also behind in its desired timeline, the senior NATO military official said on Wednesday. Putin was hoping to expand Russian control over Ukraine all the way west to the Moldovan border by now, the official said, in order to link up with more Russian troops and attempt to encircle Kyiv.

There are pro-Russian troops stationed in Transnistria -- a breakaway state in Moldova -- who "are in a way, prepared" to join the war, the official said. But they have not yet done so because the regular Russian forces have not yet made substantial progress westward, he said.

Despite all of the losses, the senior NATO intelligence official said the alliance considers that Putin is still "unlikely to be deterred, and may instead escalate. He likely remains confident that Russia can militarily defeat Ukraine."

Mounting Russian casualties in Ukraine lead to more questions about its military readiness - CNN

[HermantheGerman]

Some may now understand why the War Criminal is currently only utilising a small % of his military forces.

Because the War Criminal can't even move his current 10% in the right directions

Bring'em on! I have enough Schnaps to take down a whole Battalion

[HermantheGerman]

Local information censorship is rife in your country, it seems.
And yours.

FOX is a bit like TASS. You seem to like both...and Chinastan Times.
Respect!

[spliff]

TASS walked off their set i hear. But nowadays who knows if its true

[HermantheGerman]

I invite comments or (more accurately) reactions from those that say it is not :-

That said, Russia may have a super nuclear arsenal, but it’s not a superpower.......

Again, Russia remains a distinctly regional power......

Where is the imbecile Skidmark alias Backward when you need him?

[sabang]

Ii seems the State Dept/ moribund Biden admin wants the Ukrainians to keep a fightin' and a dyin' in droves. Needless to say, I disagree- I do not like human beings callously used as pawns like that. I suppose snubs response will be, yeh but even more Russian soldiers will die. That may well be true, until/unless Russia resorts to US style Shock n Awe bombing. There is no question they are holding a lot back, in terms of both tactics and arnaments. Which means, a higher body count for them.

Peace talks coming soon between Putin & Zelensky- hoping for the best.

[bsnub]

[bsnub]

Where is the imbecile Skidmark alias Backward when you need him?

Oh my, it looks like one of the Three Stooges who bleated on and on for months about this war claiming it would never happen is shifting gears and trying to get out of the quagmire he dug himself into. This is what is coming to Sabangs Russians...



Eat a dick baby killers.

[sabang]

War Porn!! Babies on Bayonets stories!! Adolf Hitler comparisons!! Bombed Hospitals!! This TikTok war has everything, except- Mass Rape!!! What happened to that- why are we not hearing any rape stories yet? The Belgian nuns story from WW1 was particularly stirring, and Ukrainian women are renowned for their beauty (if not their chastity). Won't be long now, I suppose..

[misskit]

Don’t worry, sabang, it is only a TikTok war. No one is really dying.

[sabang]

That's the awful bit, innit? I'm quite predictable, you know, if a bit hard bitten.

[bsnub]

That's the awful bit, innit? I'm quite predictable, you know, if a bit hard bitten.

A massive gormless hypocrite.

[sabang]

^^ This 'hypocrisy' you speak of is laid bare above, for anyone to see.

[Ravers98]

Where is the imbecile Skidmark alias Backward when you need him?

Snigger

[misskit]

Those U.S. Troops Russia Said It Killed in Ukraine? They’re Alive in Tennessee

The three U.S. soldiers named by Russia’s Pravda newspaper as “mercenaries” killed in a recent attack on the Yavoriv International Center for Peacekeeping and Security near the Polish border are very much alive, according to the Tennessee National Guard. The Kremlin’s propaganda machine had given military rankings and vivid descriptions of alleged items found next to their corpses, which included dog tags and a Tennessee state flag, even though the men are not in Ukraine. “They are accounted for, safe and not, as the article headline erroneously states, U.S. mercenaries killed in Donetsk People’s Republic,” the Tennessee Guard said in a statement.


It is not clear if the troops were part of a wider training operation that ended when President Joe Biden pulled all Americans out of Ukraine four weeks ago, prior to the invasion, but all three men had at one time served in the now war-torn nation. An official told Reuters that two of the named men were still in Tennessee and the third, who had left the National Guard, was not in Ukraine. The Guard spokesman said Russians chose the three names from a 2018 deployment roster published by Tennessee’s 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment to Ukraine. “All members of the Tennessee National Guard returned safely to their home state in 2019 after a successful mission,” the U.S. National Guard confirmed.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/those-...e-in-tennessee

[OhOh]

War Porn!

A movie set in Sheffield, England 1984. Fond memories of the city. A little "working class" porn, 1980's style, but plenty of bombs and splattering of people, of all ages etc.

Threads. 1984

"The effects of a nuclear holocaust on the working class city of Sheffield, England and the eventual long-term effects of nuclear war on civilization."

Full film available, in Thailand, here:

Threads (1984) on Vimeo


A terrible prospect.

[sabang]

I'm pretty sure I've watched that (long time ago), but worth another geez.

[Backspin]

Oh my, it looks like one of the Three Stooges who bleated on and on for months about this war claiming it would never happen is shifting gears and trying to get out of the quagmire he dug himself into. This is what is coming to Sabangs Russians...

Here's my second post in this thread where I said "war was almost guranteed" Moron. Why was it guaranteed ? Because UKRAINE under the Kiev regime pulled out of the UN backed Minsk peace process.

You know who didn't think this would happen ? The Kiev regime. They didn't think that Putin would attack. They thought it would just be an insurgent war in the east. They didn't think they had to negotiate with Russia.

https://teakdoor.com/speakers-corner...ml#post4241043 (Ukraine war mega thread)

[bsnub]

Go away Skiddy you moron. You have embarrassed yourself enough for ten lifetimes in this thread.

[panama hat]

^^ This 'hypocrisy' you speak of is laid bare above, for anyone to see.

Yup, we all see what you are, sabang.

[MarilynMonroe]

Has anyone seen this yet? Arnold speaks to the Russian people.... really good stuff. I think the people will listen to him. He's pretty popular over in Russia.

[MarilynMonroe]

Peace talks coming soon between Putin & Zelensky- hoping for the best.

Are you kidding? Haven't they already had some talks that amounted to nothing. Just a strategic move by Putin.


103 Children Have Died in Russian Attacks Though Death Toll Is Likely Much Higher: Ukraine Official

The United Nations also said 55 children per minute have become refugees as more than 3 million flee violence in Ukraine


More than 100 children have been killed since Russia launched its attack against Ukraine on Feb. 24, a Ukrainian official reportedly said Wednesday]In an update posted to Telegram, Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova said at least 103 children have died and 100 have been wounded in the ongoing war, according to The Washington Post. Echoing other assessments, her office warned that the death toll was likely much higher and that it was difficult to determine precise numbers amid the fighting.

Most children were killed in the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donetsk and Kherson, the prosecutor's office said, adding that Russian bombs and shelling have damaged more than 400 educational institutions, including schools, and that 59 of those were destroyed. Attacks also hit medical and rehabilitation facilities, including for children with disabilities, according to the Post's report on the prosecutor general's update, which requested evidence and information to document possible Russian war crimes.

Read more..
https://people.com/politics/ukraine-official-103-children-died-russian-attacks-death-toll-likely-higher/