Will Putin Invade Ukraine?

[Cassia]

The latest development in armored warfare. Need to parade a line of them in front of the Kremlin, every one different than the next.

[Hydra009]

Can't unsee.

[Hydra009]

In Russia, Islamic state terrorists took over a detention facility and kept its two guards hostage.  Russian police reportedly killed all 6 terrorists and both guards escaped unharmed.

"The criminals were eliminated," Russia's federal penitentiary service said in a statement on Sunday, adding that a "special operation" had taken place to free the hostages.

This is the first time in a long time that a special operation of theirs has gone according to plan.  Also maybe a first on saving the hostages, too.  That must feel weird.

But a genuine kudos to them for actually taking out the bad guys for once.  Betcha they'll still find a way to blame Ukraine, though.

[Hydra009]

[Hydra009]

A turtle tank was captured along with its crew.

Hard to tell what Ukraine's going to do with it.  It's too awful to be useful in combat and it's too ugly to be displayed anywhere near Kyiv.  Mobile dive bar?  Maybe some sort of armored taco truck?  Maybe they can donate it to George Lucas for use as a sandcrawler prop.  Who knows.

My brother compared it to:

[Unbeliever]

It looks very steampunk! 🤣

[Hydra009]

Isolated Russian troops start surrendering

30 have surrendered so far.  It looks like the Ukrainians are blocking all land routes and now have enough electronic warfare in place to block drones from delivering supplies.

"The Russians are surrounded here with zero chances of evacuation or reinforcements," one Ukrainian drone operator crowed. "A bunch of dead and wounded orcs," they added, using a slang term for Russian soldiers.

Russian commanders knew they were in trouble. This weekend, they ordered their troops west of the chemical plant to fight their through the Ukrainian positions. "Two attempts to break through to the surrounded Russian forces were repelled by the Ukrainian defense forces," according to the Center for Defense Strategies.

[Hydra009]

[Hydra009]

The latest Russian propaganda alleges that Zelenskyy is out and about buying mansions and casinos with international funds lol.

There are all sorts of things wrong with that.  For starters, if he actually wanted that sort of lifestyle, he absolutely could have asked for a ride, not ammo.  He didn't have to visit Bucha or Bakmut or Kherson or anywhere else.  He absolutely could have gone into exile in the Swiss alps at the first sighting of Russian tanks.

Instead, he stayed in Kyiv, weathered assassination attempts, tirelessly lobbied for Ukraine every day for over two years, visits troops and civilians near some of the worst fighting, and makes all sorts of hard decisions regarding the war.  And Russian propaganda has him wining and dining at some casino?  Who do they expect to believe this stuff?!

[Hydra009]

Vovchansk front becomes a killing field for Russian infantry, Russian vehicles are noticeably scarce

[ferdmonger]

The latest development in armored warfare. Need to parade a line of them in front of the Kremlin, every one different than the next.

In our town we have an 'ugly truck' contest.  I'm thinking an 'ugly tank' contest in Red Square would be delightful. 

[ferdmonger]

Vovchansk front becomes a killing field for Russian infantry, Russian vehicles are noticeably scarce

Equipment is valuable.  Soldiers?  Maybe not so much. 

[Hydra009]

Equipment is valuable.  Soldiers?  Maybe not so much. 

Even the soldiers are exhaustible.  IIRC, Russian recruitment has been trailing off after the alleged spike following the concert attack (which was without a doubt done by ISIL-K, not Ukraine, but details schmetails).  Recruiting from Russian jails has more or less been exhausted, and due to their undocumented nature, it's difficult to determine how many foreign fighters are being recruited, but you'd think that'd be drying up as well.  And good luck getting decently-trained troops in a couple of months.  And there's still the serious demographics problem that just gets worse every single day.  Not to mention the obvious - every soldier killed no longer works or pays taxes, which is a bit of an issue for a country with serious economic problems as well.

[ferdmonger]

That whole Putin visiting North Korea thing actually doesn't worry me much.  A shit country selling shit weaponry to a shit country.  The saga of the three day 'special operation' continues.   

[Hydra009]

It bothers me because North Korea has possibly handed over around 5 million artillery rounds (dubious quality, but still) as well as some missiles (even if they hit wildly off-mark, they still come down *somewhere* in Ukraine, terrorizing civilians, which is Russia's MO anyway)

It also bothers me that Russia is reportedly sharing technology with North Korea, though I wonder how useful such technology could possibly be for a country that struggles with the fundamentals, like feeding its people.

And finally the "mutual defense" part bugs me because there is no land on earth less desired (at least by western countries) than Russia and North Korea's internationally-recognized borders.  Dictators truly ruin all that they survey.