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Ukraine's F-16s start targeting ground objects in combat missions

The jets are involved in defending the skies from Russian drones, jamming radars, aerial reconnaissance, and now, precision bombing.
https://x.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1905192571422310465

Also:

Ukraine's general staff claims that last week's drone strike on Russia's Engels-2 bomber airbase destroyed nearly 100 air-launched cruise missiles.

Independent imagery confirmed that the strike leveled a Russian ammunition depot on the base.

https://x.com/Osinttechnical/status/1905137479230832978?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1905137479230832978|twgr^6a7f099db8b8e1c52779c5c6214453f80e8dd372|twcon^s1_&ref_url=https://bulgarianmilitary.com/2025/03/27/nearly-100-russian-cruise-missiles-lost-in-strike-on-engels-2/

We're seeing a slow but steady increase in Ukrainian military capabilities alongside declining Russian capabilities.

If only POTUS election had been this November and not last. Russia war machine might not last another full year.

Or if the idiots in the Biden government hadn't continually delayed the supply of weapons.

The degradation of Russian military capabilities is part of the reason the MAGA crowd are so desperate for a ceasefire.

The GOP in the House delayed taking decisions on Ukrainian supply as much as they could.

Ukraine's F-16s start targeting ground objects in combat missions

The jets are involved in defending the skies from Russian drones, jamming radars, aerial reconnaissance, and now, precision bombing.
https://x.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1905192571422310465

Also:

Ukraine's general staff claims that last week's drone strike on Russia's Engels-2 bomber airbase destroyed nearly 100 air-launched cruise missiles.

Independent imagery confirmed that the strike leveled a Russian ammunition depot on the base.

https://x.com/Osinttechnical/status/1905137479230832978?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1905137479230832978|twgr^6a7f099db8b8e1c52779c5c6214453f80e8dd372|twcon^s1_&ref_url=https://bulgarianmilitary.com/2025/03/27/nearly-100-russian-cruise-missiles-lost-in-strike-on-engels-2/

We're seeing a slow but steady increase in Ukrainian military capabilities alongside declining Russian capabilities.

Which is why it's important that we do not allow sanctions to be dropped. We need to continue hollowing out the Russian economy until they have no more capacity both keep the people fed and wage war. The Russian people need to be made to face the choice of true hardship as the price of continuing the war.

(((Dan Hodges)))
@DPJHodges
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Question. If Trump continues to impose tariffs. If he continues to support Putin. If he continues to threaten our allies and NATO partners. Does he still get rewarded with his state visit. Or does he actually have to do something for us, to earn it.

Even for Hodges, this is obtuse. Fwiw, I thought it ill-advised to invite President Trump but state visits are not doled out to nice children. Hodges has confused the King with Father Christmas.

The way it's going the police might have something to say.

Short of a horse drawn carriage driving down the Mall with Axel Rudakubana it's difficult to imagine a less easily controlled event

I'll be out shaking my fist if it goes ahead. In fact I hope it does because I'll enjoy that.

I would hope that if it goes ahead there isn't serious disorder.
Controlling that, especially in those circumstances, would lower the reputation of the police even further.

Everyone turning their backs as Trump passes would be better.

Great idea. Shaking fists shows anger whereas that is more a sign of bottomless contempt, hence more powerful. It's the equivalent of when Trump comes on tv not shouting at the screen, or throwing things at it, but just casually turning it off or switching to a sports channel or a soap.

Waving Ukranian, Canadian and Greenland flags is the way to go.

(((Dan Hodges)))
@DPJHodges
·
13s
Question. If Trump continues to impose tariffs. If he continues to support Putin. If he continues to threaten our allies and NATO partners. Does he still get rewarded with his state visit. Or does he actually have to do something for us, to earn it.

He'll get it no matter what and will be slavered over while he is here. It's delusional to think otherwise.

Neither the British government or the (Not My) king has dared to say a word about his belligerence toward Canada and Denmark. Anybody anticipating even a pugil of moral courage from SKS or KC3 now is heading for disappointment.

This is a consequence of the US being the one "indispensable" country and Europe being dependent on US goodwill for security. Starmer and KCIII are being responsible in attempting to mitigate the impact of Trumpian madness.

The only thing that works with Trump is flattery - as Putin has so amply demonstrated.

Trump is a shit stain, and telling him so would be satisfying.

But, it could push him into siding further with Russia, so holding one's tongue is the sensible thing for SKS to do.

He’s also a sociopath, and the good thing with most sociopaths (as we’ve seen with Trump) is they struggle to bear grudges. They take offence, but it’s short lived and is water off a duck’s back, because they really don’t worry much about what others think about them.

Which means we can be selectively combative and accommodating. On tariff and trade policy we need to meet fire with fire, at least once it becomes clear there will be no UK exemptions (it seems clear already). On Ukraine and foreign policy the triangulation strategy probably works, for now. But with great care taken on intelligence sharing and a concerted effort to wean ourselves off dependency.

On the topic, yesterday was just another step closer to being a one term government to be honest.

That newspaper headline in the thread header has Rachel Reeves saying something like the 'with these measures, things will improve in time'. The right noises but about 9 months too late.

On day 1 (July 5th) Reeves should have announced that Hunt's two NI cuts were not funded and will have to be reversed with immediate effect. Then within month one, a sh** load of one off wealth taxes. Blindside the b*stards.

Rishi Sunak should have imposed a one off Covid revovery tax in 2022 to refill the public coppers. Firms and individuals were sitting on piles of cash unused during the pandemic which could and should have been paid to the Treasury.

Instead, we let everyone have a big spending splurge on imports which caused problems in the supply chain and drove up inflation - the economics of the madhouse.

One of the most bizarre political discussions I've ever seen was at the end of covid when prominent people were arguing about how the covid costs were to be paid for.

Some wanted spending increases and others wanted tax cuts. Both presumably thinking that they would produce a sustained surge in economic growth.

Living with our means and increasing productivity were not options to be considered.

No but there was a general madness about at the time as we all struggled to come to terms with what had happened and its impacts.

I think the recognition of global supply chains wasn't strong - just because we were getting back to "normal" didn't mean everywhere else was and re-establishing the previous supply routes and chains wasn't like a switch which could be flicked on or off.

The original crash in the immediate onset of lockdown was predictable - the economy basically stopped for three months - and the statistical bounceback, while impressive on graphs and charts, masked the fact we weren't back to "normal". As people who couldn't spend (apart from online and the online spend figures during the lockdown periods are impressive) accumulated cash (as did companies), there was a pool of money ready to be used.

Sunak added to that with his furlough relief and there's plenty of evidence there was copious amounts of fraud which has largely gone unpunished. Filling the economy with a sudden amount of cash rarely ends well if you want to avoid inflation and of course that's exactly where the post-pandemic demand splurge led us (combined with the effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine).

That inflation and the return of normal monetary policy post QE has left economies stagnating and Governments unpopular. It's easy to be liked when you're presiding over cheap fuel, cheap food, cheap money and asset price rises well in advance of inflation but lose those and no one likes you anymore.

NHS must stop ‘plundering’ foreign countries for doctors, says Streeting
Health Secretary says it is ‘morally unacceptable’ that Britain has not trained more doctors
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/03/26/nhs-plundering-foreign-doctors-wes-streeting/ (£££)

Streeting is right on both counts.

Absolutely. The stench of hypocrisy from what we have been doing for the last 20-30 years is appalling. We, until yesterday, lauded ourselves on our "generosity" whilst taking so many that those with so little had invested in.

There can be some benefit for the foreign coutries, though probably not a net benefit. I'm thinking of the Indian father of one of my son's primary school friends, who, after a successful career in the UK, returned to India to found a new hospital, bringing money, expertise and connections back to his place of birth.

The real problem is that we (the U.K.) have

1) Increasing demand in the NHS. Aging and increasing population.
2) training of medical staff is pretty much static
3) so we have a bigger gap each year.
4) as other countries become richer, so does their demand for medical staff.

So in the long run, importing medical staff may run into a shortage.

The sane policy is to increase the training pipeline in the U.K., faster than the planned increase in size of the NHS ( planned years in advance). Do it steadily, over the years.

NHS must stop ‘plundering’ foreign countries for doctors, says Streeting
Health Secretary says it is ‘morally unacceptable’ that Britain has not trained more doctors
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/03/26/nhs-plundering-foreign-doctors-wes-streeting/ (£££)

Streeting is right on both counts.

Though when I asked our Medical School about increased numbers of students as part of the NHS plan, they said there was no expansion.

Tumbleweed from the DoH. It's cheaper and easier to import Nigerians and Egyptians.

Unless things have changed a lot since my own working days, the lack of interest in training our own people is a national trait in all walks of life.

Good morning, everybody.

One thing I don't understand is Trump's attitude towards Canada and Greenland.

My own view is that Trump looks at "strongman" dictators, like Putin and Xi, flexing their muscles, and wishes he could get a piece of the action.

I think he DOES genuinely look down at Canada is nothing more than the 51st State of America. And as far as Greenland is concerned, he probably figures if the US doesn't take it, eventually Russia will...

Another demonstration that he's a fool.
There is absolutely no chance of Russia "taking it".

It's so easy to overthink things with Trump. Take him as you see him. There is no depth there. He governs with kneejerk reactions to what he thinks is right and that is usually some expression of populist beliefs. The main exception to this would be his attitude towards Putin, who I suspect is bankrolling him. Otherwise his politics is very much that of the pub boor he so closely resembles.

The now famous Signal conversation has been very helpful in showing how high policy is formulated in the USA under Trump, and it reflects the leader's own character and outlook. It is superficial, ignorant, and incompetent, which is hardly surprising considering he has appointed a bunch of Yesmen reflecting his own outlook on the world.