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  1. #2326
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    Quote Originally Posted by Norton View Post
    Yes that plus sepratist mercenaries in the areas now occupied by Russian forces.

    I don't think that many of those are left. Russia has burned them in their futile offensives. What remains can be dealt with by local defense forces.

  2. #2327
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    Quote Originally Posted by Takeovers View Post
    I don't think that many of those are left. Russia has burned them in their futile offensives.
    You are correct, most of them have gone through the meat grinder multiple times. Mostly combat ineffective at this point. Besides, when it comes to the point that Russia is going to be ejected from the country most of those that are left will be looking to high tail it into Russia.

  3. #2328
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    deleted double post

  4. #2329
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    Russia Losing 100 Soldiers a Day in Bloody Battle for Bakhmut, Report

    Russia is losing a total of 100 soldiers a day as they attempt offensives against Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.

    On Sunday, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington D.C.-based think tank, released a report on the battles between Russia and Ukraine over the weekend.

    Ukrainian forces had success in repelling Russian troops in and around Bakhmut on December 4 as Russian soldiers attempted to capture the entirety of the Donetsk region.

    "The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian troops repelling Russian attacks northeast of Bakhmut near Berestove, Bilohorivka, Yakovlivka, Soledar, and Bakhmutske and south of Bakhmut near Opytne, Klishchiivka, Andriivka, and Kurdiumivka," according to the ISW report.

    Russia is reportedly facing 50 wounded and 50 killed in action soldiers a day in and around Bakhmut. Newsweek was not able to independently verify the figures.

    Russia does not regularly release updates on how many losses it has endured. Throughout the war, the figures that Moscow has made public are often much lower than Ukrainian estimates.

    Despite the claims by Ukraine, its defense and counterattacks have not been wholly successful.

    "Social-media footage posted by Ukrainian troops shows heavy fighting south of Bakhmut in Opytne, and Russian milbloggers claimed that the capture of Opytne is crucial to further Russian advances toward Bakhmut," the ISW added.

    "Russian sources additionally claimed that Ukrainian troops conducted an unsuccessful counterattack in Kurdiumivka and that fighting is ongoing in several settlements south of Bakhmut."
    The spokesperson for the Ukrainian Eastern Group of Forces, Serhiy Cherevaty, spoke about Russia's losses on TV following conflicts in the region.

    "Here, you can roughly say based on the dynamics, rounding off, of course. In the area from 50 to 100 people, they can lose only in the Bakhmut direction," Cherevaty said, according to a report from the Ukrainian TV station, Espresso TV.

    "It is only killed and the same number wounded, depending on the time of day."

    Cherevaty added that the situation in the region is tense but under control. He said that Ukraine forces are holding their defense and repelling multiple attacks from Russia.

    He also noted that Russian troops were ordered not to bring artillery shells within 100 kilometers (62 miles) of the frontline in the Donetsk area, due to successful Ukrainian strikes on Russian ammunition depots.

    The alleged daily losses are beginning to mount up as Russia is predicted to lose 100,000 soldiers in less than one year of war, according to Ukraine's Ministry of Defence.

    This milestone could be reached as soon as this week or the next. This would be two months shy of the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022.
    Newsweek has contacted Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment.

    https://www.newsweek.com/russia-losi...report-1764525

  5. #2330
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    Explosion at Nuclear Airbase 150 Miles From Moscow Opens Stunning New Phase of War

    Two explosions at major Russian military bases, including the Dyagilevo base near Ryazan just 150 miles from Moscow, mean the war in Ukraine has come right to Vladimir Putin’s doorstep.

    The explosions—which were unmanned drone strikes, a senior Ukrainian official told The New York Times—suggest Ukraine wanted to strike fear right in the heart of Russia.

    The second explosion struck the Engels-2 base, from which Tu-95 bombers have been pummeling Ukraine’s infrastructure over the last month.

    Engels and Ryazan are around 300 to 450 miles from the Ukrainian border, which is beyond the range of any known missiles in Ukraine’s possession, the Times reported.

    A fuel truck explosion at the base near Ryazan killed at least three and wounded half a dozen, and damaged Tu-95 bombers and Tu-22M long-range missile bombers, which have nuclear capability.

    Video posted on social media suggests that the telltale whistle of a fighter jet or missile can be heard just before the Saratov base explosion, according to the Guardian.

    Monday afternoon, several people in Crimea reported hearing explosions there, suggesting a coordinated effort.

    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov initially confirmed that Putin had been advised of the “situation” but did not speculate on who might be behind it, saying quite unbelievably that he had only “read about it” in the media, according to reporters at a briefing Monday.

    The Kremlin later said its forces intercepted the drones, confirming the deaths of three servicemen and damage to two planes in the resulting “fall and explosion of the wreckage.”

    Almost immediately after reports, air raid sirens across Ukraine heralded a barrage of missile strikes, with many targeting Zaporizhzhia, where at least two people were reported to have been killed after missiles destroyed several residential blocks. Several cities reported having no electricity or water after Russian strikes.

    Roman Busargin, governor of the Saratov region where the Engels-2 base is housed, wrote on Telegram that law enforcement agencies were chasing “information about incidents at military facilities,” adding that, “No emergencies have occurred in the city's residential areas.”

    Ukraine’s interior minister Anton Gerashchenko posted images of the explosions on Telegram, suggesting they were watching closely. “Some sources report that this morning planes based on Engels and Ryazan airfields were scheduled to bomb Ukrainian energy infrastructure yet again,” Gerashchenko wrote Monday morning.

    Other officials mused that Russia’s compounding losses are Ukraine’s gain. “The Earth is round—discovery made by Galileo. Astronomy was not studied in Kremlin, giving preference to court astrologers,” Volodymyr Zelensky adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Telegram Monday. “If it was, they would know: if something is launched into other countries’ airspace, sooner or later unknown flying objects will return to departure point.”

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/explos...f-war?ref=home

  6. #2331
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    Explosions rock two Russian airbases far from Ukraine frontline

    Explosions have rocked two Russian airbases far from the frontlines as Kyiv appeared to launch a pre-emptive strike on bombers that the Kremlin has used to try to cripple the Ukrainian electrical grid.

    The Russian defence ministry confirmed the attacks on Monday, claiming two of its warplanes had been damaged when it intercepted two Ukrainian drones. For Kyiv the strike represented an unprecedented operation deep inside Russia to disrupt the Kremlin strategy of provoking a humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine on the verge of winter.

    Russian media reports and video posted to social media indicated that an explosion occurred early on Monday morning at the Engels-2 airbase in Russia’s Saratov region, which hosts Tu-95 bombers that have taken part in cruise missile strikes against Ukraine.

    Another explosion took place at the Dyagilevo military airbase near Ryazan, a city less than 150 miles from Moscow. Three people were killed and five wounded after a fuel truck exploded, Russian state media reported. That base also hosts Tu-95 long-range bombers.

    Soon after the blasts at the airbases, Russia launched a long anticipated mass strike against Ukraine, involving air-and sea-launched missiles from the Black and Caspian Seas.

    Ukraine claimed to have shot down 60 of a total of 70 incoming missiles, a new record in the effectiveness of its air defence systems. The Russian defence ministry claimed to have hit 17 targets.

    In Kyiv, air raid sirens sounded, and people took shelter in underground metro stations, but no missiles hit the capital, and after three hours the all clear was sounded. The strikes plunged some parts of the country into blackout at a time when temperatures are well below zero, but they appeared to have been significantly less successful in disrupting the Ukrainian power grid than the previous Russian mass missile attack on 23 November.

    Two people in southern Ukraine were said to have been killed and three more wounded after at least one missile slammed into a residential building in Zaporizhzhia. Power was cut in the city of Mykolaiv and Odesa reported disruptions to the city’s water supply.

    If confirmed as a Ukrainian operation, the strike on the Engels airbase would be the most daring attack behind Russian lines to date. The airbase is a crucial site for Russian air force operations against Ukraine and for the country’s strategic nuclear forces. It has a nuclear weapons storage bunker with warheads that can be deployed on Russia’s long-range strategic bombers.

    Video of the explosions at the Russian airbases showed a fiery blast illuminating the night sky. Locals reported that the sound of the explosion could be heard from miles away. In one video from Saratov, the sound of an aircraft or missile can be heard screaming overhead shortly before the explosion is heard. Local authorities in the Saratov region said security services were investigating.

    Baza, a Russian media outlet with sources in the security services, said the Russian airfield at Engels was attacked by a loitering munition, a type of aerial weapon system, which targeted the airbase’s runway. Astra, another independent Russian media outlet, claimed two nuclear-capable Tu-95 bombers were damaged in the explosion. Neither indicated a source for their information.

    A Ukrainian official offered a cryptic appraisal of Monday’s explosions. “The Earth is round – discovery made by Galileo. Astronomy was not studied in Kremlin, giving preference to court astrologers,” wrote Mykhailo Podolyak, a presidential adviser. “If it was, they would know: if something is launched into other countries’ airspace, sooner or later unknown flying objects will return to departure point.”

    Among those taking shelter in the Kyiv metro was the UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, who was in Kyiv to meet Ukrainian human rights activists and ended up holding the meeting in a bunker.

    The Kremlin said Vladimir Putin had been informed of the incidents. The Russian president was reopening the Crimean Bridge on Monday, where an explosion in October raised doubts that Russia could protect the peninsula it had occupied from Ukraine in 2014.

    Ukrainian monitoring reports in the last week suggested Russia was delivering cruise missiles to the airbase and transferring aircraft to the Ryazan facility in preparation for another attack against Ukraine.

    Satellite images published by Der Spiegel last week showed 20 strategic bombers parked on the runway at the Engels airbase in preparation for another strike on Ukraine. Satellite images released by Maxar showed those bombers remained parked on the runway through Sunday.

    Pro-war Russian bloggers have criticised the military for leaving the bombers closely grouped on the runway, making them an attractive target for sabotage or attack.

    Ukraine is not known to have any loitering munitions that would allow it to attack hundreds of miles beyond the frontlines of the conflict, although there have been reports of such unmanned aerial vehicles under development.

    As the two military installations were between 300 and 450 miles from the Ukrainian border, Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the US-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, said drones may have been launched by Ukraine from within Russian territory.

    “The unmanned aerial vehicle attacks have a relatively short range and they would not have been able to fly all that way from Ukraine,” Lee said.

    The alleged Ukrainian attack on the Engels-2 base was likely to have been aimed at disrupting Russian plans to strike Ukrainian infrastructure, he said.

    “Ukraine has been warning for weeks now that Russia was preparing for a fresh wave of missile attacks on its energy grid. This could have been a pre-emptive strike.”

    Russia has resorted to long-range attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid after its troops were forced to retreat from a number of Ukrainian regions after a spirited counteroffensive. Putin called the strikes inevitable after an explosion on the Crimean Bridge that Moscow has blamed on Kyiv.

    Russia has sustained a number of embarrassing incidents and attacks at military bases, including in occupied Crimea, that have shown the vulnerability of its military.

    Explosions rock two Russian airbases far from Ukraine frontline | Russia | The Guardian

  7. #2332
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    That is like 4 linked articles now about the drone attack on the Engels base that (according to the Daily Mail) damaged two long range bombers. Are you NAFO types getting a bit insecure?

  8. #2333
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    according to the Daily Mail
    According to Russia, actually.

    Quote Originally Posted by bsnub View Post
    The Russian defence ministry confirmed the attacks on Monday, claiming two of its warplanes had been damaged
    And the pair of bombers are worth over 50 million dollars and won't be flying again. It also shows how much farther Ukraine can reach now.

    It's a lot more newsworthy than what a gobby poet blogger has to say.

  9. #2334
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    Quote Originally Posted by pickel View Post
    And the pair of bombers are worth over 50 million dollars and won't be flying again. It also shows how much farther Ukraine can reach now.
    It is amazing that someone who claims to have served as a naval officer could be so short-sighted. What Ukraine has done is nothing short of remarkable. This was an experimental drone that was used that has a 1000 km range. It also shows how vulnerable Russia's strategic nuclear assets are. If the Ukrainians can just fly a simple drone over one of Russia's most sensitive air spaces unopposed and destroy anything at all is just amazing.

    Russia's pants are basically fully down around its ankles and the backdoor is wide open. The US could fly the entire US Air Force in there and wipe everything out and do it unopposed.

    These are strategic assets, not T-72 tanks. They are part of the nuclear triad.

    Last edited by bsnub; 06-12-2022 at 09:42 AM.

  10. #2335
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    I think we got the picture after one or two linked news articles gentlemen. Of course you can carry on commenting about it as long as you want.

  11. #2336
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    I think we got the picture after one or two linked news articles gentlemen. Of course you can carry on commenting about it as long as you want.
    Of course we can, it's a huge embarrassment for Putin.

  12. #2337
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    Russia’s Putin drives across repaired bridge to Crimea





    MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to boost Russian morale Monday by driving a vehicle across a bridge to Crimea that a truck bomb had damaged in October.

    Putin took the wheel of a Mercedes to drive across the bridge that links Russia’s mainland with the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
    Like other Western automakers, Mercedes halted sales of vehicles to Russia and stopped production at its assembly plant near Moscow after the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.

    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin did not try to make a political point by driving the Mercedes and not a Russian-made Auris sedan, saying the president just used the car that was available.

    While driving, Putin discussed the repairs of the Crimean Bridge with Marat Khusnullin, a deputy prime minister in charge of the project, an exchange that was broadcast by Russian television.

    The president also spoke to workers involved in restoring the 19-kilometer (12-mile) bridge, which has been the main conduit for ferrying supplies to Crimea that has served as a key base for Russian military operations in Ukraine.

    In view of Ukrainian threats to launch new attacks on the bridge, Putin emphasized the need to build a highway along the Sea of Azov coast to link Crimea with regions in southern Russia, the Kremlin said.


    The Oct. 8 truck bomb attack disrupted travel on one of the two automobile lanes of the bridge. Russia blamed the attack on Ukrainian military intelligence and responded with several waves of strikes on Ukraine’s energy facilities and other key infrastructure.

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last week that widespread strikes targeting power, telecommunications and water infrastructure were intended to weaken Ukraine’s military potential and to derail shipments of Western weapons.

    Ukrainian authorities said there was another such barrage on Monday, hours after Russian media reported two explosions at air bases in Russia. One reportedly happened at a base that houses nuclear-capable strategic bombers that have been involved in launching strikes in Ukraine.

    Russia'''s Putin drives across repaired bridge to Crimea | AP News

  13. #2338
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    Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to boost Russian morale
    Yeah, fucking good luck with that.


  14. #2339
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    Russian nationals fighting for Ukraine vow to resist Moscows forces 'until the end'

    Dolyna, Ukraine CNN —
    A soldier in a Ukrainian uniform morosely contemplates the ruins of an Orthodox monastery in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.

    “This is a result of Putin’s war,” he says, angrily, as he paces through the wreck. “As a Christian, this is very offensive to me.”

    The soldier, whose name CNN agreed not to reveal to protect his identity, goes by the call-sign “Caesar.” He is one of hundreds, if not thousands, fighting to keep the town of Bakhmut, the current epicenter of the war, in Ukrainian hands.

    But there’s one thing that sets him apart from most of those who share the same goal: he’s Russian.

    “From the first day of the war, my heart, the heart of a real Russian man, a real Christian, told me that I had to be here to defend the people of Ukraine,” Caesar explains. “We are now fighting in the Bakhmut direction, this is the hottest part of the front.”

    Few, if any, buildings of the eastern Ukrainian town have been spared by the unending artillery barrages fired from side to side. Many of the structures have been completely destroyed, others left uninhabitable with collapsed sections, in apocalyptic scenes reminiscent of the battered city of Mariupol, captured by Russia earlier in the war.

    “After the (Russian) mobilization (in September), Putin threw all his forces (at Bakhmut) in order to achieve a breaking point in the war, but we are putting up a fierce defensive fight,” Caesar says.

    Much of Ukraine’s resisting force has had to hunker down in muddy trenches, fighting tooth and nail to deny Russian forces a victory they desperately crave.

    “The fighting is very brutal now,” Caesar explains.

    A few miles away from the battle, but still in earshot of the constant thuds and explosions, Caesar’s commitment is unflinching and he does not regret his decision to join Ukraine’s foreign legion.

    While the urge to sign up came early on in the conflict, he could only leave his home country, with his close family, and join the Ukrainian military in the summer.

    “It was a very difficult process,” he says. “It took me several months to finally join the ranks of the defenders of Ukraine.”

    Now with his family in Ukraine – where he considers them to be safer – Caesar says he is one of around 200 Russian citizens currently fighting alongside Ukrainian forces, against their own country’s armies. CNN has not been able independently to confirm this number.

    In Caesar’s view, Moscow’s forces are not true Russians.

    “Yes, I kill my countrymen, but they have become criminals,” he explains. “They came to a foreign land to rob and kill and destroy. They kill civilians, children and women.”

    “I have to confront this,” he added.

    Caesar is a self-confessed opponent of what he says is a “tyrannical regime” headed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, not just in Ukraine but also inside his own country. And in his confrontation of the war, he has had to shoot at least 15 Russian soldiers on the battlefield, he claims.

    They are lives he did not pity and killings he does not regret, he says.

    “I am fighting a noble fight and I am doing my military and Christian duty; I am defending the Ukrainian people,” Caesar says. “And when Ukraine is free, I will carry my sword to Russia to free it from tyranny.”

    Family ties

    Caesar’s ideological drive is not the only reason some Russians have chosen to side with Ukrainians on the battlefield. For many the motivation lies closer to the heart.

    “Silent,” the call-sign of another Russian soldier whose full name CNN is not disclosing for his safety, was visiting Ukraine when Russian missiles and artillery shells started landing in its towns and cities on February 24.

    “I came to Ukraine at the beginning of February to visit my relatives. I stayed here and war started,” Silent says.

    He says he joined the Ukrainian military shortly after he saw the atrocities perpetrated by Russian soldiers in the suburbs of Bucha, Irpin and Borodianka, just outside the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. Evidence of mass graves and civilian executions in those areas emerged following the withdrawal of Russian forces from the Kyiv region in early April.

    Russia has previously denied allegations of war crimes and claimed its forces do not target civilians, despite extensive evidence gathered by international human rights experts, criminal investigators and international media in multiple locations.

    “I was just outside Kyiv, not far from those places, and when they were kicked out of that territory, we went there to help people and saw what they had done,” Silent says. “Dead bodies, children, women, executions … When you see it in person … of course everything inside turned upside down.”

    He adds: “I decided to stay here until the end and join the legion.”

    Silent says his best friend has recently been forcibly mobilized into Russia’s army back home. Silent says they’ve discussed the terrifying fact that it’s conceivable they could end up on opposite sides on a Ukrainian battlefield.

    “It’s weird that that could happen – especially as he wants to leave Russia and wants to come to fight with me against Putin’s army in Ukraine. We’re trying to get him out but he’s being held by the Russian army,” says Silent.

    His family, like many in Russia and Ukraine, has roots in both countries. His wife and two children are now living with him in Ukraine but other relatives remain in Russia. Silent says that although they have stayed behind, they see through Putin’s propaganda on the war, still described as a “special military operation” by the Kremlin.

    “They understand what is going on: Russia invaded Ukraine,” he says, adding that his relatives were not angry with him. “They know my character, that if I have made a decision, I will act until the end.

    “They told me to stay safe.”

    The long arm of the Kremlin

    Another soldier, who goes by the call-sign “Vinnie,” insists on covering his face with a balaclava, fearing that the Kremlin’s long arm might try to reach him in Ukraine.

    “My family is not here with me right now,” he explains. He says he is fighting for them and for their future, but still fears what Moscow’s security apparatus might do to them.

    “My children, my wife, who I love very much, they’re my everything, my whole life,” he says, with a sparkle in his eyes and a smile that can be detected through the cloth covering his face.

    “If I show my face … I worry about them, because there’ll be no one to protect them,” he adds.

    It’s one of the added risks for Russian citizens risking their lives for Ukraine, but not the only one. Russian soldiers fighting for Ukraine could face tougher consequences than their Ukrainian counterparts if they’re captured by the enemy.

    Last month, a soldier who deserted the Russian mercenary group Wagner and crossed onto the Ukrainian side, Yevgeny Nuzhin, was brutally murdered with a sledgehammer after he went back to Russia.

    His execution was applauded by the head of the group, Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin. Without directly acknowledging that Wagner fighters had carried out the murder, Prigozhin said: “Nuzhin betrayed his people, betrayed his comrades, betrayed them consciously. He was not taken prisoner, nor did he surrender. Rather, he planned his escape. Nuzhin is a traitor.”

    This kind of example is why Vinnie is certain of what will await him should he be captured.

    “There won’t be an exchange for sure. It will be the end, 100%,” he says. “It will just be more painful.”

    But pain and death are not a part of this unit’s lexicon, even as they face overwhelming odds in Bakhmut.

    Russia has been trying to capture the town for months and has thrown large numbers of men at Ukrainian defenses in an attempt to break them. But they haven’t broken Vinnie.

    “I am defending the country, I am defending homes, women, children, people who cannot defend themselves,” he says. “My conscience is absolutely clear.”

    Caesar, standing amid the remains of the Orthodox monastery, is equally defiant, saying not even the prospect of defeat will make him waver.

    “I will stay here while my heart will beats. I will fight to defend Ukraine,” he says.

    “And when we have defended Ukraine I will liberate my country.”

    Russian nationals fighting for Ukraine vow to resist Moscow'''s forces '''until the end''' | CNN
    Last edited by bsnub; 07-12-2022 at 06:35 PM.

  15. #2340
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post




    MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to boost Russian morale Monday by driving a vehicle across a bridge to Crimea that a truck bomb had damaged in October.

    Putin took the wheel of a Mercedes to drive across the bridge that links Russia’s mainland with the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
    Like other Western automakers, Mercedes halted sales of vehicles to Russia and stopped production at its assembly plant near Moscow after the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.

    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin did not try to make a political point by driving the Mercedes and not a Russian-made Auris sedan, saying the president just used the car that was available.

    While driving, Putin discussed the repairs of the Crimean Bridge with Marat Khusnullin, a deputy prime minister in charge of the project, an exchange that was broadcast by Russian television.

    The president also spoke to workers involved in restoring the 19-kilometer (12-mile) bridge, which has been the main conduit for ferrying supplies to Crimea that has served as a key base for Russian military operations in Ukraine.

    In view of Ukrainian threats to launch new attacks on the bridge, Putin emphasized the need to build a highway along the Sea of Azov coast to link Crimea with regions in southern Russia, the Kremlin said.


    The Oct. 8 truck bomb attack disrupted travel on one of the two automobile lanes of the bridge. Russia blamed the attack on Ukrainian military intelligence and responded with several waves of strikes on Ukraine’s energy facilities and other key infrastructure.

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last week that widespread strikes targeting power, telecommunications and water infrastructure were intended to weaken Ukraine’s military potential and to derail shipments of Western weapons.

    Ukrainian authorities said there was another such barrage on Monday, hours after Russian media reported two explosions at air bases in Russia. One reportedly happened at a base that houses nuclear-capable strategic bombers that have been involved in launching strikes in Ukraine.

    Russia'''s Putin drives across repaired bridge to Crimea | AP News

    He's boasting with that padded red Willy Warmer

    Imagine the Bridge will remain a target , repeatedly damaged once retreating Russians trapped. I doubt Ukraine wont care if Azov sea blocked once Crimean ports freed

  16. #2341
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    Caesar says he is one of around 200 Russian citizens currently fighting alongside Ukrainian forces,
    Seriously, is that all? I wonder how many Ukrainian citizens are fighting for Russia. Helluva lot more than that.

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    Ukraine hits targets deep inside Russia in break with Biden administration

    Washington has opposed Ukrainian efforts to attack Russian territory, citing risks of escalation to a broader war.

    DECEMBER 6, 2022
    Written by
    Connor Echols

    Within 24 hours, Ukraine has used drones to attack several military targets inside Russia in a move that the Washington Post described as Kyiv’s “most brazen hit on Russian territory” since the war began.

    After the first two strikes hit targets deep within Russia’s borders, a top Ukrainian official suggested in a cryptic tweet that the move was an inevitable result of the Kremlin’s continued assault. “[I]f something is launched into other countries’ airspace, sooner or later unknown flying objects will return to departure point,” wrote Mykhailo Podolyak, a top advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

    The United States has opposed Ukraine’s desire to hit targets within Russia since the war began, citing concerns about potential escalation. Given President Joe Biden’s strong stance, Kyiv promised Washington earlier this year that it would not strike Russian territory directly.

    The Biden administration has also limited the types of weapons that it is willing to send to Ukraine, much to the chagrin of Kyiv’s most fervent supporters in Congress, who have long called on Biden to give Ukraine long-range missiles.

    And new reporting indicates that the Pentagon has gone further than simply limiting the missiles and launchers that it sends to Kyiv. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Department of Defense quietly modified U.S.-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) such that they cannot launch long-range missiles before shipping them off to Ukraine.

    The attacks “underscore the difficulty the Biden administration faces in trying to control the risks of escalation in this war,” according to George Beebe of the Quincy Institute.

    “Despite our efforts to manage these risks, both the Russians and the Ukrainians can take actions that escalate the war in dangerous ways and increase the chances of a direct clash between the United States and Russia,” said Beebe, who previously led Russia analysis at the CIA.

    The escalation comes as public support for a long-term war in Ukraine has started to slow. According to a new poll from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, 47 percent of Americans think Washington “should urge Ukraine to settle for peace as soon as possible,” a nine point increase since July. Meanwhile, 48 percent of respondents, including most Democrats, argued that the United States “should support Ukraine for as long as it takes.”

    https://responsiblestatecraft.org/20...dministration/



  18. #2343
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    The attacks “underscore the difficulty the Biden administration faces in trying to control the risks of escalation in this war,”
    There is ofcourse that.....for Biden

    But I have to say, that if the russians start whinging about having drone/missile attacks on "Mother Russia"................

    I really wouldn't know whether to throw up or laugh out loud.

    Escalation ?

  19. #2344
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Washington has opposed Ukrainian efforts to attack Russian territory, citing risks of escalation to a broader war.
    Nonsense. Nobody in his right mind ever denied the right of Ukraine to defend itself by hitting military targets in Russia. To the opposite, it has been stated by people in charge over and over that Ukraine has every right to do so. So far there was a requirement unfortunately, not to use NATO weapons for that purpose. Ukraine has used non NATO weapons for the purpose, which has been stated to be perfectly OK and of course legal.
    "don't attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by incompetence"

  20. #2345
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    Ahem:-

    The United States has opposed Ukraine’s desire to hit targets within Russia since the war began, citing concerns about potential escalation. Given President Joe Biden’s strong stance, Kyiv promised Washington earlier this year that it would not strike Russian territory directly.
    Follow ze Link-

    Ukrainian Forces Hamstrung by Pledge Not to Fire Into Russia - WSJ

  21. #2346
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    That quote isn't in your link, but this one is:

    Kyiv has pledged not to target Russian territory with weapons provided by the West.

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    That quote isn't in your link, but this one is:


    Kyiv has pledged not to target Russian territory with weapons provided by the West.


    Right. Exactly what I said. Not appliccable for Ukraines own weapons.

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    Is Ukraine a manufacturer of drones now? Anyway, the same old logic applies- if Ukraine starts causing mischief in Russia's borders, it will likely escalate by upping the ante- targeting Kiev and maybe Lviv. I believe Kiev already has rolling blackouts- they could easily make it worse.

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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Is Ukraine a manufacturer of drones now?
    Even the Russians say it wasn't NATO weapons.

    "The Kyiv regime attempted to attack by Soviet-made UAVs the military airfields at Dyagilevo in the Ryazan region and Engels in the Saratov region in an effort to disable Russian long-range aircraft,"

    Russia says Ukrainian drones behind blasts at military airbases
    Originally Posted by sabang
    Maybe Canada should join Nato.

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    Yeah, so far the only party that keeps mentioning nuclear weapons ........

    Putin: Nuclear risk is rising, but we are not mad

    Vladimir Putin has said the threat of a nuclear war was rising, but insisted Russia had not "gone mad" and would not use its nuclear weapons first.

    The Russian president insisted that his country would only use weapons of mass destruction in response to an attack.

    Speaking at Russia's annual human rights council meeting, he also said the war in Ukraine could be a "lengthy process".

    Western officials believe Putin initially planned for a rapid victory.

    Russia's capacity to use nuclear weapons has come under increased scrutiny since it invaded Ukraine in February.

    "Such a threat is growing, it would be wrong to hide it," Putin warned while talking about the prospect of nuclear war via video link from Moscow.

    But he asserted that Russia would "under no circumstances" use the weapons first, and would not threaten anyone with its nuclear arsenal.

    "We have not gone mad, we are aware of what nuclear weapons are," he said, adding: "We aren't about to run around the world brandishing this weapon like a razor."

    Putin also boasted that Russia had the most modern and advanced nuclear weapons in the world, and contrasted its nuclear strategy to the US - who he said had gone further than Russia by locating its nuclear weapons on other territories.

    "We do not have nuclear weapons, including tactical ones, on the territory of other countries, but the Americans do - in Turkey, and in a number of other European countries," he said.

    Putin has previously insisted that Russia's nuclear doctrine only allowed for the defensive use of nuclear arms.

    Could Russia use tactical nuclear weapons?

    Appearing to recognise that his plan to claim victory within days of invading Ukraine had failed, Putin admitted the war could be a "lengthy process".

    However, he said the results had already been "significant" - for example, the new territories Russia has illegally claimed after sham-referendums in four regions of Ukraine.

    He boasted that the annexations had made the Sea of Azov - which is bordered by south-east Ukraine and south-west Russia - an "internal sea" of Russia, adding that this was an aspiration of Russian Tsar Peter the Great. President Putin has compared himself to the 17th and 18th Century ruler before.

    But - despite claiming the regions of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donetsk as Russia's new territory - Moscow does not fully control any of those areas.

    Last month, Russian forces were forced to retreat from Kherson city, the only regional capital they had seized since the February invasion.

    more: Putin: Nuclear risk is rising, but we are not mad - BBC News

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