Russia and its “Special Operation” in Ukraine

[bickster]

1 hour ago, magnkarl said:

I wonder if Putin sees the irony.

I wonder if he realises burning books is absolutely pointless in this day and age

[Enda]

3 hours ago, magnkarl said:

There's about 2.4 million people in Crimea, most of them are Russians who have come to take land and settle since Russia stole the place in 2014. A vote would be rigged from the get go. It'd be like Israel holding a referendum in a place where they've built settlements and displaced everyone else.

Spot on.

Same as some islands off Argentina as well.

[LondonLax]

You can’t unscramble this omelette.

The majority Russian people of Crimea will still be there if Ukraine takes it back by force. Presumably they will resist occupation and be a constant thorn in the side of the Ukrainian government. 

It will be a Northern Island in the 80s style problem for decades to come. 

[bickster]

14 minutes ago, LondonLax said:

You can’t unscramble this omelette.

The majority Russian people of Crimea will still be there if Ukraine takes it back by force. Presumably they will resist occupation and be a constant thorn in the side of the Ukrainian government. 

It will be a Northern Island in the 80s style problem for decades to come. 

Russians in crimea are desperately trying to sell up and bugger off.

Non-Ukrainian passport holders (or more specifically Russian only passport holders) will be deported when Ukraine retakes Crimea. I'm fairly sure Ukraine have already said this.

[villakram]

Crimea is strategically important. It will not return to whatever Ukraine eventually ends up being. 

 

[bickster]

16 minutes ago, villakram said:

Crimea is strategically important. It will not return to whatever Ukraine eventually ends up being. 

 

Why is Crimea strategically important?

Serious question because strategically it isn't important, it's important for resources, it has oil and gas offshore but strategically Russia has other Black Sea ports with Naval Bases. Losing Crimea doesn't lose them access to anything

It's only strategically important if you want to attack Ukraine

[Mandy Lifeboats]

Let me introduce you to Calendar Guy. 

This clown records damage to infrastructure holding an A4 piece of paper.  The digital date stamp of the photo is beyond his understanding.  

His pictures of HIMARS damage are very entertaining. 

 

 

 

[bickster]

25 minutes ago, Mandy Lifeboats said:

Let me introduce you to Calendar Guy. 

This clown records damage to infrastructure holding an A4 piece of paper.  The digital date stamp of the photo is beyond his understanding.  

His pictures of HIMARS damage are very entertaining. 

 

 

 

There's one of him today on a railway bridge, the accuracy of the missile is highy impressive

EDIT: Found it

[bickster]

This is funny. The Nitter thread won't embed and the reddit post has a swear in it so I'll just have to link to the Nitter (there's a video on it)

https://nitter.net/JohnB_Schneider/status/1593416172191580160#m

But essentially the Russians left behind a decoy S-300 battery when they left Kherson

They then wasted a loitering suicide drone on blowing it up (thinking it was real obviously) now it's in Ukraine held territory

 

 

[Mandy Lifeboats]

1 hour ago, bickster said:

There's one of him today on a railway bridge, the accuracy of the missile is highy impressive

EDIT: Found it

Pathetic. 

Didn't hit either rail.  

[villakram]

4 hours ago, bickster said:

Why is Crimea strategically important?

Serious question because strategically it isn't important, it's important for resources, it has oil and gas offshore but strategically Russia has other Black Sea ports with Naval Bases. Losing Crimea doesn't lose them access to anything

It's only strategically important if you want to attack Ukraine

Warm water port with access to the Black Sea, Med, Suez. They have easy eastern access via their northern ports.  The Black Sea is easily controlled by NATO member Turkey should it decide to do so. The empire would like nothing better than removing it from Russian control.

Perhaps looking/reading beyond the perspective afforded from your little portion of that Island might help your very narrow perspective.

[ender4]

Snowing in some parts of the front line in Ukraine now. I wonder what impact this will have on the war?

[Genie]

5 minutes ago, ender4 said:

Snowing in some parts of the front line in Ukraine now. I wonder what impact this will have on the war?

Ukraine I would assume have better kit and will stay warm and dry.

Russia, not so much 

[bickster]

54 minutes ago, Genie said:

Ukraine I would assume have better kit and will stay warm and dry.

Russia, not so much 

 

1 hour ago, ender4 said:

Snowing in some parts of the front line in Ukraine now. I wonder what impact this will have on the war?

There’s a great video out there of Russians setting up in the field. Their accommodation amounted to a gazebo with plastic wrap around the four poles. I’m out at the min and on my phone otherwise I’d post it

[bickster]

1 hour ago, villakram said:

Warm water port with access to the Black Sea, Med, Suez. They have easy eastern access via their northern ports.  The Black Sea is easily controlled by NATO member Turkey should it decide to do so. The empire would like nothing better than removing it from Russian control.

Perhaps looking/reading beyond the perspective afforded from your little portion of that Island might help your very narrow perspective.

Maybe reading and looking at a map might help stop you talking nonsense. The Russians have other Black Sea Ports on their mainland, not the Northern Sea of Azov ports. The ones on their mainland on the Black Sea

Like I said. Crimea is only strategically important if you want to attac Ukraine

[AVFC_Hitz]

6 minutes ago, bickster said:

Like I said. Crimea is only strategically important if you want to attac Ukraine

Looks like someone doesn't like Sharpe.

[il_serpente]

I'd think Crimea's falls somewhere like this on the Strategic Importance spectrum, setting aside considerations about attacking Ukraine.

 

Desirable.............................XXX....................................................................................................................................Critical

[KentVillan]

11 hours ago, Enda said:

Spot on.

Same as some islands off Argentina as well.

I don’t want to get into a massive debate about Falklands / Malvinas because I know they are a weird vestige of colonialism and basically unsustainable as a stand-alone community. HOWEVER, the idea that the native population was “cleansed” from those islands to create an artificial British majority is just nonsense. It’s not comparable with Crimea.

They were mostly uninhabited for centuries (with occasional part time settlements, prison colonies, etc) and have been British for nearly 200 years, with no displacement of a native population involved in establishing that. That’s rather different from Crimea or Israel/Palestine, which have been continuously populated for millennia, and have seen multiple rounds of ethnic cleansing in recent memory.

Edited November 18, 2022 by KentVillan

[villa89]

8 hours ago, KentVillan said:

 basically unsustainable as a stand-alone community.

Nah it's sustainable, there was a shit ton of oil found off the coast there, about £300 billion's worth. That makes everything sustainable.

Edited November 19, 2022 by villa89

[Panto_Villan]

12 hours ago, villakram said:

Warm water port with access to the Black Sea, Med, Suez. They have easy eastern access via their northern ports.  The Black Sea is easily controlled by NATO member Turkey should it decide to do so. The empire would like nothing better than removing it from Russian control.

Perhaps looking/reading beyond the perspective afforded from your little portion of that Island might help your very narrow perspective.

You sound ill informed. Turkey controls the Black Sea whether or not Russia controls Crimea. They control access through the straits and their fleet is much larger and more capable than the Russian one. There’s no territory that Crimea gives access to that Russia’s other Black Sea ports like Novorossiysk do not.

The only reason Russia wants Crimea is for prestige, to screw with Ukraine, and for the existing military infrastructure in Sevastopol (which could be rebuilt elsewhere if they wanted).