bickster Posted April 30, 2022 Moderator Share Posted April 30, 2022 2 hours ago, KentVillan said: I mostly agree with all of this, but the only thing I would say to counter that is that Putin has violently and pointlessly murdered many of his own people for fairly minor transgressions. He behaves like an out and out psychopath, but he channels that psychopathy through a fairly rational assessment of Russia’s position in the world, and his own place in that system. Again, it’s the Russian way. That really is again a product of his culture. There aren't many of the last few hundred years where Russian wasn't run by what you would describe as an absolute psychopath. That’s viewing Putin through a Western lens. To him that’s just what you do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 General Gerasimov - chief of the Russian armed forces since 2012 - moved forward to the area of Izyum a few days ago, presumably taking personal command of the operation in Eastern Ukraine. It’s like Eisenhower pitching up in Normandy on D+7 to take personal control of the battle - an obvious sign something was wrong. Lots of speculation going on about whether he’s being set up as the fall guy by Putin in case the offensive does not succeed, while also removing the obvious locus of any potential military challenge to his regime. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BleedClaretAndBlue Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HKP90 Posted April 30, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted April 30, 2022 22 minutes ago, BleedClaretAndBlue said: Does it run on hubris? There's been an overload. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bannedfromHandV Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 53 minutes ago, BleedClaretAndBlue said: The GRES-2 you say? GRES Gresford Grealish Right, own up to it, who’s starting the fires in Russia, I know it’s one of you! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted April 30, 2022 Moderator Share Posted April 30, 2022 1 hour ago, BleedClaretAndBlue said: I really don't see how this one has anything to do with Ukraine, its on an island in the Pacific north of Japan and the Kuril Islands More likely to be general Russian incompetence and lax H&S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 Good thread on progress of the Donbas battle. TL/DR: Russia is advancing very slowly and suffering big loses of equipment it can’t easily replace. Short of Ukrainian units collapsing they should be able to fight Russia to a standstill in the next few weeks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
It's Your Round Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 Not sure if anyone’s already recommended this, and I know it’s the Telegraph, but this daily update podcast is very good. I’ve been listening to it for over a month now. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ukraine-the-latest/id1612424182 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentVillan Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 5 hours ago, bickster said: Again, it’s the Russian way. That really is again a product of his culture. There aren't many of the last few hundred years where Russian wasn't run by what you would describe as an absolute psychopath. That’s viewing Putin through a Western lens. To him that’s just what you do Is he a “product” of that, or is it more that their system allows / requires this type of personality (a personality that he was probably born with) to rise to the top? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PussEKatt Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 I know the Russian public are brainwashed but with all thats going on now,if they dont rise up now against Putin,they never will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted April 30, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted April 30, 2022 32 minutes ago, PussEKatt said: I know the Russian public are brainwashed but with all thats going on now,if they dont rise up now against Putin,they never will. I think there is less brainwashing than people think, I think a lot know the truth but it's just very dangerous to protest or even be seen to disagree so people look after no 1 and keep their heads down. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted April 30, 2022 Moderator Share Posted April 30, 2022 1 hour ago, KentVillan said: Is he a “product” of that, or is it more that their system allows / requires this type of personality (a personality that he was probably born with) to rise to the top? You only have to see the propagandists on TV and the interviews people are doing with Russians on the street to realise that it really isn't what we'd call a normal society. The values are way off kilter. When soldiers rape women and children because they are told to, kill civilians in the street because they are told to etc they are all a product of it. Some can obviously rise above it but the clever people leave Russia, it's been suffering a "Brain Drain" for years, step out of line and its the Gulag for you and these people interviewed seem very aware of that. The people you see interviewed actually seem more aware of the dangers of speaking out than people I encountered in Soviet times. I don't see being a product of it and the system requiring a person of that type of personality to lead it as mutually exlusive 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentVillan Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 34 minutes ago, sidcow said: I think there is less brainwashing than people think, I think a lot know the truth but it's just very dangerous to protest or even be seen to disagree so people look after no 1 and keep their heads down. Which is, to be fair, exactly what most of us would do. It takes a lot of courage to fight back against something like this as an ordinary citizen. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnkarl Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 3 hours ago, Awol said: Good thread on progress of the Donbas battle. TL/DR: Russia is advancing very slowly and suffering big loses of equipment it can’t easily replace. Short of Ukrainian units collapsing they should be able to fight Russia to a standstill in the next few weeks. I saw some NATO hawk, think he was Dutch, saying that UA are conceding small bits of territory in exchange for Russian equipment and men. It’s a smart trade, and means UA units aren’t getting ruined while trying to hold a few kilometres of ground. It’s unsustainable for Russia, while Ukraine has a hell of a lot of ground to trade. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 (edited) 3 minutes ago, magnkarl said: I saw some NATO hawk, think he was Dutch, saying that UA are conceding small bits of territory in exchange for Russian equipment and men. It’s a smart trade, and means UA units aren’t getting ruined while trying to hold a few kilometres of ground. It’s unsustainable for Russia, while Ukraine has a hell of a lot of ground to trade. The Ukrainian army are trading territory in exchange for Russian men and equipment? Why would they do that? I must be missing something here Edited April 30, 2022 by Genie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 2 hours ago, magnkarl said: I saw some NATO hawk, think he was Dutch, saying that UA are conceding small bits of territory in exchange for Russian equipment and men. It’s a smart trade, and means UA units aren’t getting ruined while trying to hold a few kilometres of ground. It’s unsustainable for Russia, while Ukraine has a hell of a lot of ground to trade. Exactly that, Russians seem to be averaging a kilometer or two every day in the areas where they’re making any progress at all. If ‘achieving’ that has cost them 200+ MBTs and 400+ APCs (and their crews) then it’s not looking great for them. Caveat is the UA now admitting to heavy loses of their own in Donbas, but what that means in terms of combat effectiveness only they know. I’m sticking with the prediction that Russia can be decisively beaten and thrown out of the Donbas entirely, then driven back into Crimea. That’s when Moscow might visibly start marrying up nuclear warheads to delivery systems and making some very dark threats about any Ukrainian offensive into Crimea itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 41 minutes ago, Awol said: That’s when Moscow might visibly start marrying up nuclear warheads to delivery systems and making some very dark threats about any Ukrainian offensive into Crimea itself. If it gets to that then Ukraine has some big decisions to make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinker Posted April 30, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted April 30, 2022 19 hours ago, Awol said: No he doesn’t. Small Modular Reactors built in Derby. Quote Bloomberg U.K. Approves Chinese Nuclear Reactor for CGN’s Bradwell Plant Process to get approval for reactor design started in 2017 Britain has tough stance against China taking part in projects https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-07/u-k-approves-chinese-designed-nuclear-reactor-amid-controversy Think we had crossed wires , I was referring to big nuclear stations that we have confirmed we are actually building. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted April 30, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted April 30, 2022 50 minutes ago, Awol said: Caveat is the UA now admitting to heavy loses of their own in Donbas, but what that means in terms of combat effectiveness only they know. I’m sticking with the prediction that Russia can be decisively beaten and thrown out of the Donbas entirely, then driven back into Crimea. I was thinking that after 2 months of fighting those tens of thousands of Civvies who signed up must now be getting more experienced plus gawd knows how many experienced foreigners have signed up for their Foreign Legion. There must be at least a couple of million fighting age men in Ukraine who are angry and motivated, who knows just how big the Ukrainian army is now. It may well only be the availability of weapons and ammunition holding them back now. We know at the start of this the images were all about women and children leaving on the trains waiving off the men staying behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnkarl Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 Can someone tell Norway to deliver some of their goodies too please? I'm sure Ukraine would love a few NSM missiles to wipe out the Black Sea Fleet and avoid all the shelling from said ships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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