The Ukraine War

[Ramarena]

3 minutes ago, The Last Post said:

More pics, But this could be from anywhere, Russians claiming they're from his mansion...

https://news.yahoo.com/wigs-sledgehammer-gold-bars-lot-190754358.html

They look like the selfies he’s put online through his social media, etc that have been edited by someone.

[Ram-Alf]

2 minutes ago, Ramarena said:

They look like the selfies he’s put online through his social media, etc that have been edited by someone.

My guess a loose goose...or Propper Ganda 😁

[Ramarena]

3 hours ago, The Last Post said:

My guess a loose goose...or Propper Ganda 😁

Maybe the last one. They came out on the day he seemingly returned to Russia.

[Wolfie]

Bizarre, what's happening at the moment.

Prigozhin in Belarus and then not. His homes & office in St Petersburg being raided. Lukoshenko going off script and saying there are no heroes (surely he should have said Putin was, as portrayed) and claiming he can launch nukes (he can't). Wagner soldiers supposedly massing in Belarus and then not.

It looks like none of the conditions of the post mutiny deal have happened & I do wonder if anyone is actually in control of events right now.

[Ramarena]

10 hours ago, Wolfie said:

Bizarre, what's happening at the moment.

Prigozhin in Belarus and then not. His homes & office in St Petersburg being raided. Lukoshenko going off script and saying there are no heroes (surely he should have said Putin was, as portrayed) and claiming he can launch nukes (he can't). Wagner soldiers supposedly massing in Belarus and then not.

It looks like none of the conditions of the post mutiny deal have happened & I do wonder if anyone is actually in control of events right now.

It’s all very odd and seems to get more bizarre and less clear as events unfold. You could be right and Putin could have lost control/support of various factions. 

GUR chief Kyrylo Budanov did a piece with the times saying he thought Russia was on the brink of some form of civil war. 

Not sure if he’s right, but something very odd is happening behind the scenes there at the moment. 

[Ramarena]

13 minutes ago, Ramarena said:

It’s all very odd and seems to get more bizarre and less clear as events unfold. You could be right and Putin could have lost control/support of various factions. 

GUR chief Kyrylo Budanov did a piece with the times saying he thought Russia was on the brink of some form of civil war. 

Not sure if he’s right, but something very odd is happening behind the scenes there at the moment. 

Actually, talking of Budanov. I see he’s claiming that they’ve got intel that Putin has ordered Prigozhin’s assassination. 
 

https://www.kyivpost.com/post/19182

We’ll see what happens on this front.

[NottsRam77]

Todays announcement from the usa about supplying cluster bombs feels like a significant moment in this war.

At the least its an escalation in intent… worries me as to how russia respond

keep prodding the bear and all that 

[Rev]

On 06/07/2023 at 13:42, The Last Post said:

Guess...go on guess😁

Ticket sales for the Boyzone reunion have been sluggish, at best?

[GboroRam]

56 minutes ago, Rev said:

Ticket sales for the Boyzone reunion have been sluggish, at best?

Zz top tribute, surely? 

[Ramarena]

2 hours ago, NottsRam77 said:

Todays announcement from the usa about supplying cluster bombs feels like a significant moment in this war.

At the least its an escalation in intent… worries me as to how russia respond

keep prodding the bear and all that 

Both Ukraine and Russia have already used cluster munitions during this war. 
 

Russia’s insistence that this is a “red line” is just another attempt to appear menacing for their domestic audience. 

I lost track of the things they’ve said are red lines, last up was Storm Shadows and before that uranium depleted shells!

They’ll just keep bombing civilians as retribution like they’ve done for the last year or so.

Edited July 7, 2023 by Ramarena

[Archied]

Watching interviews today it’s been made clear that Ukraine can’t join nato until the war is over but will be joining as soon as it’s over , am I the only one that fears this will create a situation where the war never ends from a Russian point of view / tactic or it has to escalate to very dangerous levels?

[Alph]

Having them join while at war would be bizarre. How do NATO allies react to a member under attack? Surely by conducting their own special operations? If that happens then Russia are totally cornered and we're at WW3. 

This war was always going to go 2 ways. With a big boom on Ukraine that Russia would justify as "America did it first". Or East Ukraine becomes another corner on Earth that breeds terrorists, mobs, militias etc etc. 

Eventually news moves on, Russia and Ukraine pour less money into trying to claim territory and the area becomes a PMC playground. 

Up and down the UK where people would say a rough area is like Beirut they begin to replace Beirut with Bakhmut. Charities spring up showing you what happens to the civilian population there. 

[Ram-Alf]

Hhhmmm

In prison or dead? Former US military leader weighs in on Wagner boss' whereabouts

Where is Yevgeny Prigozhin? It's a question that many of us are wondering about and largely remains unanswered.

But one former US military leader has weighed in on the conversation and says he doesn't think the Wagner boss is alive and if he is - he could be in prison.

Remember, Prigozhin has not been seen in public since the day of his short-lived mutiny which ended on 24 June.

Retired General Robert Abrams, who previously served as the commander of US Forces Korea, told ABC News that he "doubts we'll see Prigozhin ever again publicly". 

"I think he'll either be put in hiding or sent to prison or dealt with some other way, but I doubt we'll ever see him again," he added.

Asked whether he thought he was alive, General Abrams said: "I personally don't think he is, and if he is, he's in a prison somewhere."

Last week we heard from Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko who said Prigozhin was not in Belarus but in Russia. 

If you remember, the Wagner mutiny ended with a Belarus brokered deal between the Kremlin and Prigozhin. While the exact terms of the deal are still unclear, it's believed that the Wagner boss agreed to move to Belarus.

The Kremlin then claimed that the Russian president held talks with Prigozhin on 29 June - five days after the mutiny ended. 

[Ramarena]

21 hours ago, Archied said:

Watching interviews today it’s been made clear that Ukraine can’t join nato until the war is over but will be joining as soon as it’s over , am I the only one that fears this will create a situation where the war never ends from a Russian point of view / tactic or it has to escalate to very dangerous levels?

It was never going to end anyways.

Russian imperialism will always threaten Ukraine and surrounding areas. If you look into the stuff Alexander Dugin and his followers believe and advocate (including Putin), then Ukraine and other areas in the region, can never be allowed to exist as independent states and must always be under Russian rule/influence.

Unless the desire to create the Eurasian empire is destroyed, we will always have this issue, where states such as Ukraine, Moldova, etc look increasingly to the west and Russia’s influence over them wanes, leading Russia to try to influence these countries either militarily or politically.

[Ramarena]

4 hours ago, The Last Post said:

Hhhmmm

In prison or dead? Former US military leader weighs in on Wagner boss' whereabouts

Where is Yevgeny Prigozhin? It's a question that many of us are wondering about and largely remains unanswered.

But one former US military leader has weighed in on the conversation and says he doesn't think the Wagner boss is alive and if he is - he could be in prison.

Remember, Prigozhin has not been seen in public since the day of his short-lived mutiny which ended on 24 June.

Retired General Robert Abrams, who previously served as the commander of US Forces Korea, told ABC News that he "doubts we'll see Prigozhin ever again publicly". 

"I think he'll either be put in hiding or sent to prison or dealt with some other way, but I doubt we'll ever see him again," he added.

Asked whether he thought he was alive, General Abrams said: "I personally don't think he is, and if he is, he's in a prison somewhere."

Last week we heard from Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko who said Prigozhin was not in Belarus but in Russia. 

If you remember, the Wagner mutiny ended with a Belarus brokered deal between the Kremlin and Prigozhin. While the exact terms of the deal are still unclear, it's believed that the Wagner boss agreed to move to Belarus.

The Kremlin then claimed that the Russian president held talks with Prigozhin on 29 June - five days after the mutiny ended. 

Tis a strange tale. 

His social media has been pretty quiet too.

The only movement we’ve heard of is him going to St Petersburg to reclaim his weapons. But looking back that seems to have come from Lukashenko, when he stated Prigozhin was no longer in Belarus.

 

Edited July 13, 2023 by Ramarena

[Ram-Alf]

2 hours ago, Ramarena said:

Tis a strange tale. 

His social media has been pretty quiet too.

The only movement we’ve heard of is him going to St Petersburg to reclaim his weapons. But looking back that seems to have come from Lukashenko, when he stated Prigozhin was no longer in Belarus.

 

As they say...It's all gone quiet on the Western Front 😉

[Ramarena]

Looks like Wagner have been handing over their weaponry to the Russian army. It’s only been documented on Telegram at present and no mainstream media has picked up on it. Reports also suggest they are in Ukraine but not engaging in front line duty.

This latter point was backed up by yesterdays reports from US intelligence. They believe the bulk of the Wagner troops are there, but not conducting any front line or support duties.

So lord knows what that lot are actually up to. It doesn’t bear thinking about for the local citizens.

 

[Highgate]

Biden declaring that 'Russia has already lost the war in Ukraine', seems like a mistake to me.  Apparently from being obviously inaccurate, surely statements like this can do nothing but stiffen Russian resolve to prove him wrong. 

Judging by the way the Russians are entrenched in southern and eastern Ukraine now, it looks like this war is closer to it's beginning than its end, regrettably. Provided Putin stays in power that is. All Biden really needs to be doing is stating over and over again that the US and NATO will support Ukraine, both with weapons and finance, for however long the war takes. That's the sort of demoralizing message that the Russians really don't want to hear. 

[Ramarena]

20 minutes ago, Highgate said:

Biden declaring that 'Russia has already lost the war in Ukraine', seems like a mistake to me.  Apparently from being obviously inaccurate, surely statements like this can do nothing but stiffen Russian resolve to prove him wrong. 

Judging by the way the Russians are entrenched in southern and eastern Ukraine now, it looks like this war is closer to it's beginning than its end, regrettably. Provided Putin stays in power that is. All Biden really needs to be doing is stating over and over again that the US and NATO will support Ukraine, both with weapons and finance, for however long the war takes. That's the sort of demoralizing message that the Russians really don't want to hear. 

Yeah, I’d mostly agree.

The only reason I can see for Biden making this statement is, he knows something we don’t, or it’s a call to groups in Russia who are in a position to revolt.

I’m not sure the latter is particularly likely, although Putin is no doubt weakened.

The status of the war is hard to judge, I wouldn’t say it’s at the beginning, but I’d agree it’s not near the end.

I think western supporters of Ukraine are disappointed with this counter offensive, as there’s not been the Blitzkrieg style liberating of cities we saw last summer. 

However the liberation of those cities were preceded by weeks of shaping operations and grinding Russian frontline defenses down, until the Ukrainians found weak spots and made big gains.

If you look at things as they stand. Ukraine is heavily damaging Russian artillery, AA systems and logistics like they did last summer and hopefully they can find the weak spots. 

One disadvantage Ukraine now has is the slow delivery of western weaponry  for the counter offensive. This allowed Russia time to lay large minefields and their frontline to dig in.

All that said Ukraine have made more progress in a month than Russia made through their last counter offensive which cost them huge amounts of soldiers and equipment. Fingers crossed they find those break through points.

[Mucker1884]

Any chance of a ceasefire sometime soon?  😲

Laddo's currently in Lublin (Poland) finalising the paperwork/Visas etc, before catching the train into Ukraine on Wednesday, to start his next adventure... making a start on clearing some of the rubble, and sweeping up any booby traps/land mines etc that may or may not be lying around! (Been working for Halo Trust for about 18months or so now).

He's already been to war twice, the second of which was rather unpleasant and took far too many years to calm him down and get him back to what has recently began to appear as "Being in a good place" (mentally), so whilst we're not exactly over the moon that he's once again returning to a war zone (albeit as "a neutral" this time),  we do appreciate he needs some sort of buzz in his life, and in effect, this is just the next phase on his road to a full recovery from the aforementioned mental tortures that have plagued him over the past decade. 

Who'd be a bloody parent, eh?  🙄

 

🙏
Just stay the f*** safe, son.
xxx

Edited July 16, 2023 by Mucker1884