Putin is meeting defense minister Shoigu and chief of general staff Gerasimov in the Kremlin.
He says western sanctions are "illegitimate" and has ordered to place Russia's deterrence – i.e. nuclear – forces on "a special regime of duty," per @tass_agency
Putin: "Western countries aren't only taking unfriendly economic actions against our country, but leaders of major Nato countries are making aggressive statements about our country. So I order to move Russia's deterrence forces to a special regime of duty."
Ironically Putin’s invasion has cost even the remote chance that one of his arselickers might beat Macron .
In Hungary Orban realizes its not a good look to be sucking upto him with an election coming .
So NATO stronger , Germany increasing its defence spending , better UK EU relations , let’s hope this continues and after some early disagreements the EU is united .
My word. There’s a few videos of these smashed Russian columns - I thought for a while they were just different angles of the same scene. But that one is new and definitely different.
How do the Ukrainians get the firepower to do THAT? Must be a drone strike?
If there an easy way to distinguish Russian and Ukrainian vehicles?
My word. There’s a few videos of these smashed Russian columns - I thought for a while they were just different angles of the same scene. But that one is new and definitely different.
How do the Ukrainians get the firepower to do THAT? Must be a drone strike?
Looks like most of the village through which they were travelling has been taken out as well. Are drone strikes capable of doing that?
"‼️Belarus is preparing an air assault on Ukraine! ‼️ Trusted sources in Belarusian opposition journalists inform units of Belarusian special forces prepare paratrooper assault in the Kyiv & Zhytomyr directions
Thus, Belarus is starting an invasion of Ukraine with its own forces"
Terrifying for Ukraine, but doesn't seem like a good sign for Russia either.
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
I hope that they're at least paying you for this.
Read the article it is very good and full of much wisdom. Hitches view is if you annoy a wasp you can't blame the wasp if it stings you
Hitch - and you - seem to be of the view that there are certain groups of people with special rights. That Russia has some God given right to interfere with its neighbours. It's none of Russia's business if the Ukraine joins the EU or NATO. They may not like it, but ultimately that's a decision for the countries of NATO and the people of the Ukraine. Russia doesn't get a say.
And “interfere” is a very tame way of describing it too, considering truth is breaking international law and treaties they signed, war crimes, and those responsible should be jailed not least for seeking to assassinate democratic elected heads of other states! “Interfere” suggests how you worry farmers sheep in top field, this is burning down farm with people inside.
There is a clear (and honest) line the west should try to tread with information, internet information and propaganda targeted at Russian civilians and military.
We shouldn't belittle or insult them. We should find ways to say Russia is a great country with a fine and honerable population whose subjugation by a corrupt elite and misguided dictator is an afront to the values of the modern day Russian population. Do all we can to increase the divide between the Putinists and the population, a population we respect a d have sympathy with for the intolerable and actions of an out of control government.
My word. There’s a few videos of these smashed Russian columns - I thought for a while they were just different angles of the same scene. But that one is new and definitely different.
How do the Ukrainians get the firepower to do THAT? Must be a drone strike?
Looks like it is on a residential street. More likely to be infantry with anti-tank weapons I would have thought, than a drone.
Putin is meeting defense minister Shoigu and chief of general staff Gerasimov in the Kremlin.
He says western sanctions are "illegitimate" and has ordered to place Russia's deterrence – i.e. nuclear – forces on "a special regime of duty," per @tass_agency
Putin: "Western countries aren't only taking unfriendly economic actions against our country, but leaders of major Nato countries are making aggressive statements about our country. So I order to move Russia's deterrence forces to a special regime of duty."
Putin is meeting defense minister Shoigu and chief of general staff Gerasimov in the Kremlin.
He says western sanctions are "illegitimate" and has ordered to place Russia's deterrence – i.e. nuclear – forces on "a special regime of duty," per @tass_agency
Putin: "Western countries aren't only taking unfriendly economic actions against our country, but leaders of major Nato countries are making aggressive statements about our country. So I order to move Russia's deterrence forces to a special regime of duty."
Hannan hot take, these are not far away brown people without dishwashers of whom we know little.
Odious man. "They seem so like us"... Every time I see a victim of any war zone anywhere my first thought is there but for the grace of God.
In fairness my wife thought and said the same. It’s not a lack of compassion for war victims anywhere. It’s just wars have been a developing world scenario for so long. War in Europe like this seemed unthinkable and therefore more shocking.
The Ukrainian crisis is good news for Britain's relationship with the EU. We've shown ourselves to be a reliable security partner, and earned brownie points with many of the states for our robust response.
How funny if a second order effect of Putin's invasion was to improve UK-EU relations.
Thinking about it, Putin has probably managed to not only improve UK-EU relations, but also to ensure the reelection of Macron.
Funny old world.
And funny how we see some people as master tacticians, and actually they're just idiots like the rest of us.
There is a clear (and honest) line the west should try to tread with information, internet information and propaganda targeted at Russian civilians and military.
We shouldn't belittle or insult them. We should find ways to say Russia is a great country with a fine and honerable population whose subjugation by a corrupt elite and misguided dictator is an afront to the values of the modern day Russian population. Do all we can to increase the divide between the Putinists and the population, a population we respect a d have sympathy with for the intolerable and actions of an out of control government.
That is why the Navalny documentary on Putin's palace was such an effective piece of content. The only downside of it for the tiktok age was it was too long and in-depth.
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
I hope that they're at least paying you for this.
Read the article it is very good and full of much wisdom. Hitches view is if you annoy a wasp you can't blame the wasp if it stings you
Nothing more than the tiresome justification of poking the bear, which even if it wasn't bollocks (and it is) would not make a full scale invasion of a neighbour a proportionate response. Russia is not an animal responding to unfamiliar urine or pheremones sprayed in its territory or whatever. You can blame the wasp.
If my neighbour annoys me by whistling incessantly, or even banging on the walls such that I feared some small damange, I would not be justified in going round to their house and murdering them whilst they sleep, and I would not find much favour with the jury suggesting they provoked me, because I would be acting completely irrationally. Nor would it be ok for me to murder them if they wanted to make friends with the neighbour on the other side, whom I do not like.
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
However good a reading it is it wouldn't make sense. It would take a very significant act of overt aggression to justify invasion, and not even Putin has come up with such a reason, instead spending his time moaning about the existence of Ukraine as a state, NATO expansion 25 years ago (which cannot therefore be a pretext for action taking place right now) and defence of the 'independent' republics, which would not necessitate assaulting Kyiv or much of the rest o fthe country.
I'm sorry, but no one has yet advanced a plausible explanation of how talk, diplomatic alliances and vague fears of 'threat' somehow provoke hundreds of thousands of troops to invade.
Next he'll be moaning about group think and how unfair it is that people criticise him.
Putin is meeting defense minister Shoigu and chief of general staff Gerasimov in the Kremlin.
He says western sanctions are "illegitimate" and has ordered to place Russia's deterrence – i.e. nuclear – forces on "a special regime of duty," per @tass_agency
Putin: "Western countries aren't only taking unfriendly economic actions against our country, but leaders of major Nato countries are making aggressive statements about our country. So I order to move Russia's deterrence forces to a special regime of duty."
My word. There’s a few videos of these smashed Russian columns - I thought for a while they were just different angles of the same scene. But that one is new and definitely different.
How do the Ukrainians get the firepower to do THAT? Must be a drone strike?
The Chechens did similar back in the day. You hit the first vehicle in the column. At the sametime you hit the last. Then everyone in the buildings around starts shooting.....
Soviet era designed vehicles burn really, really well.
WATO reporting large numbers of Russians taken prisoner in the assault on Kharkiv.
I really get a sense of Ukraine are winning reading PB 👍🏻
Well it is somewhat focused on the good news. Like an election the expectations management may be key to what is seen as a 'win', given how it might have gone.
The Ukrainian crisis is good news for Britain's relationship with the EU. We've shown ourselves to be a reliable security partner, and earned brownie points with many of the states for our robust response.
How funny if a second order effect of Putin's invasion was to improve UK-EU relations.
Thinking about it, Putin has probably managed to not only improve UK-EU relations, but also to ensure the reelection of Macron.
Funny old world.
And funny how we see some people as master tacticians, and actually they're just idiots like the rest of us.
He has been a master tactician in a cold war from the shadows. Running a real war in the open requires different skills and mindset.
Putin is meeting defense minister Shoigu and chief of general staff Gerasimov in the Kremlin.
He says western sanctions are "illegitimate" and has ordered to place Russia's deterrence – i.e. nuclear – forces on "a special regime of duty," per @tass_agency
Putin: "Western countries aren't only taking unfriendly economic actions against our country, but leaders of major Nato countries are making aggressive statements about our country. So I order to move Russia's deterrence forces to a special regime of duty."
My word. There’s a few videos of these smashed Russian columns - I thought for a while they were just different angles of the same scene. But that one is new and definitely different.
How do the Ukrainians get the firepower to do THAT? Must be a drone strike?
The Chechens did similar back in the day. You hit the first vehicle in the column. At the sametime you hit the last. Then everyone in the buildings around starts shooting.....
Soviet era designed vehicles burn really, really well.
The Ukrainian crisis is good news for Britain's relationship with the EU. We've shown ourselves to be a reliable security partner, and earned brownie points with many of the states for our robust response.
How funny if a second order effect of Putin's invasion was to improve UK-EU relations.
Thinking about it, Putin has probably managed to not only improve UK-EU relations, but also to ensure the reelection of Macron.
Funny old world.
And funny how we see some people as master tacticians, and actually they're just idiots like the rest of us.
As I keep banging on... Herman Kahn warned against this kind of thinking - to spend all your efforts trying to discover the brilliant master plan of your opponent.
Ironically Putin’s invasion has cost even the remote chance that one of his arselickers might beat Macron .
In Hungary Orban realizes its not a good look to be sucking upto him with an election coming .
So NATO stronger , Germany increasing its defence spending , better UK EU relations , let’s hope this continues and after some early disagreements the EU is united .
Is this what they call winning in Moscow ?
Not to mention "Is he totally mad?" being at least contemplated in Beijing.
Putin is meeting defense minister Shoigu and chief of general staff Gerasimov in the Kremlin.
He says western sanctions are "illegitimate" and has ordered to place Russia's deterrence – i.e. nuclear – forces on "a special regime of duty," per @tass_agency
Putin: "Western countries aren't only taking unfriendly economic actions against our country, but leaders of major Nato countries are making aggressive statements about our country. So I order to move Russia's deterrence forces to a special regime of duty."
Putin Sock Puppet coming on PB....on a hiding to nothing. Its one thing trying to spread misinformation on tw@tter and facebook, but PB, we don't even let regulars get away with typos / grammatical errors, or claims of famous films being Christmas ones, let alone factual (mis)information go....Its the political equivalent of having a quiz off with the EggHeads.
Pineapple is good on ALL pizza
I'm hoping that Zelenskyy will survive this invasion so he can tell us what he has on his pizzas.
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
I hope that they're at least paying you for this.
Read the article it is very good and full of much wisdom. Hitches view is if you annoy a wasp you can't blame the wasp if it stings you
Hitch - and you - seem to be of the view that there are certain groups of people with special rights. That Russia has some God given right to interfere with its neighbours. It's none of Russia's business if the Ukraine joins the EU or NATO. They may not like it, but ultimately that's a decision for the countries of NATO and the people of the Ukraine. Russia doesn't get a say.
Problem is Ukraine wants nuclear weapons. That would give the west first strike capability on Moscow. ..it would be like russia putting nuclear weapons on Mexico.. Putin obviously doesn't want this
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
I hope that they're at least paying you for this.
Read the article it is very good and full of much wisdom. Hitches view is if you annoy a wasp you can't blame the wasp if it stings you
Hitch - and you - seem to be of the view that there are certain groups of people with special rights. That Russia has some God given right to interfere with its neighbours. It's none of Russia's business if the Ukraine joins the EU or NATO. They may not like it, but ultimately that's a decision for the countries of NATO and the people of the Ukraine. Russia doesn't get a say.
Problem is Ukraine wants nuclear weapons. That would give the west first strike capability on Moscow. ..it would be like russia putting nuclear weapons on Mexico.. Putin obviously doesn't want this
My word. There’s a few videos of these smashed Russian columns - I thought for a while they were just different angles of the same scene. But that one is new and definitely different.
How do the Ukrainians get the firepower to do THAT? Must be a drone strike?
If there an easy way to distinguish Russian and Ukrainian vehicles?
Clearly this is no feint, and things really are going wrong. The evidence is too overwhelming at this point. The question is whether it's going wrong enough that the Russian army won't still prevail.
At least one Russian convoy into Kharkiv acted more as a resupply convoy rather than a serious opposition force!
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
I hope that they're at least paying you for this.
Read the article it is very good and full of much wisdom. Hitches view is if you annoy a wasp you can't blame the wasp if it stings you
Hitch - and you - seem to be of the view that there are certain groups of people with special rights. That Russia has some God given right to interfere with its neighbours. It's none of Russia's business if the Ukraine joins the EU or NATO. They may not like it, but ultimately that's a decision for the countries of NATO and the people of the Ukraine. Russia doesn't get a say.
Problem is Ukraine wants nuclear weapons. That would give the west first strike capability on Moscow. ..it would be like russia putting nuclear weapons on Mexico.. Putin obviously doesn't want this
Dear me ! Do they pay you to write this nonsense .
My word. There’s a few videos of these smashed Russian columns - I thought for a while they were just different angles of the same scene. But that one is new and definitely different.
How do the Ukrainians get the firepower to do THAT? Must be a drone strike?
If there an easy way to distinguish Russian and Ukrainian vehicles?
Yes. The Russians have a white ‘V’ or ‘Z’ painted on them. There is a V clearly visible in that video. It’s Russian armour.
“Russian troop movement in APCs/light armor north of Kiev
Reminder that: • "V": coming from the northern Russian-Ukrainian border; Belarus • "Z": coming from Crimea (and Donbass too?)”
Looking at it again I’m pretty sure the enormous damage is a drone missile strike, or strafing by jets, the shattered housing is collateral damage from the blast
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
I hope that they're at least paying you for this.
Read the article it is very good and full of much wisdom. Hitches view is if you annoy a wasp you can't blame the wasp if it stings you
Hitch - and you - seem to be of the view that there are certain groups of people with special rights. That Russia has some God given right to interfere with its neighbours. It's none of Russia's business if the Ukraine joins the EU or NATO. They may not like it, but ultimately that's a decision for the countries of NATO and the people of the Ukraine. Russia doesn't get a say.
Problem is Ukraine wants nuclear weapons. That would give the west first strike capability on Moscow. ..it would be like russia putting nuclear weapons on Mexico.. Putin obviously doesn't want this
If that were the reason why all the nonsense about Ukraine not being a real country, that NATO should turn the clock back 25 years, and why was the reason given for invasion about defending the Donbas?
All those reasons exist immaterial of whether or not Ukraine wants nuclear weapons. It's almost as though the nuclear thing is not the reason at all.
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
I hope that they're at least paying you for this.
Read the article it is very good and full of much wisdom. Hitches view is if you annoy a wasp you can't blame the wasp if it stings you
Hitch - and you - seem to be of the view that there are certain groups of people with special rights. That Russia has some God given right to interfere with its neighbours. It's none of Russia's business if the Ukraine joins the EU or NATO. They may not like it, but ultimately that's a decision for the countries of NATO and the people of the Ukraine. Russia doesn't get a say.
It's all bollox this "threat" business imo. The massive shame with Russia is that after the USSR collapsed due to its people being poor and oppressed instead of the replacement aiming for prosperous and free - which was such a viable prospect - they evolved a cross between police state and a crony corrupt cowboy capitalism in which a handful of men colluded to steal all the money and consolidate all the power. Could "we" have stopped this? I don't know. I do know that plenty outside of Russia also got rich off what happened.
I don't know if I am supremely overjoyed that Germany is going to be spending a lot more on its military.
I would be happy for the UK to spend more, if we do so primarily on sea power. That's where success lies for us. Always has been, always will be. We should support our allies by Naval means, not getting bogged down in continental conflicts.
For the past 100 years the go to approach for land battles was the tank yet they can now be destroyed by a single $20,000 missile.
The idea that the sea is any better off in the 21st century May be equally false.
Yes. Look what’s happening to Russian armour against ‘cheap’ Turkish drones. How long can big lumbering ships remain relevant? They are just tanks at sea
AI, cyberwarfare, robot soldiers, drones of all sizes, hypersonic missiles - that’s the future.
And intelligence. One of the ‘heartening’ aspects of this awful nightmare is that US/UK intel has been bang on
I recall reading somewhere that towards the end of the (First) Cold War the US Navy refused to participate in wargaming all-out conventional war scenarios as they consistently resulted in the entire American (and everyone else’s) surface fleet being sunk within the first couple of days.
Similarly a few years back the Americans held an exercise in the Gulf simulating war with Iran where a US Marine Corps general was assigned as “red” commander and used known Revolutionary Guard tactics to “swarm” warships and take them out. The US Navy promptly suspended the exercise and demanded it be restarted with the USMC tactics disallowed.
That's not what happened at Millennium Challenge 2002. Lt Gen Van Riper simulated the sinking of a CVN with a mass cruise misslie attack that oversaturated the CSG's AD capacity.
That has somehow mutated into in the Internet truism that you can sink carriers with a 'swarm' of pedalos.
In the real world nobody has damaged a carrier in combat since 1945. The end of the age of the carriers will come as it did for battleships but not yet and not soon.
Don’t carriers need lots of other ships protecting them though? So you are not just committing to cost of each carrier, but to growing size of navy to protect the carrier?
More than the group of ships combine capabilities to defend themselves against the various threats above and below water, while the carrier is able to project power (make other people really, really unhappy) over an area 500 miles in radius.
Thank you 👍🏻 Like a team of ships working together.
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
I hope that they're at least paying you for this.
Read the article it is very good and full of much wisdom. Hitches view is if you annoy a wasp you can't blame the wasp if it stings you
Hitch - and you - seem to be of the view that there are certain groups of people with special rights. That Russia has some God given right to interfere with its neighbours. It's none of Russia's business if the Ukraine joins the EU or NATO. They may not like it, but ultimately that's a decision for the countries of NATO and the people of the Ukraine. Russia doesn't get a say.
Problem is Ukraine wants nuclear weapons. That would give the west first strike capability on Moscow. ..it would be like russia putting nuclear weapons on Mexico.. Putin obviously doesn't want this
Dear me ! Do they pay you to write this nonsense .
That's a give away - only Putin has claimed that Ukraine wants to try and regain their nuclear capability.
Putin is meeting defense minister Shoigu and chief of general staff Gerasimov in the Kremlin.
He says western sanctions are "illegitimate" and has ordered to place Russia's deterrence – i.e. nuclear – forces on "a special regime of duty," per @tass_agency
Putin: "Western countries aren't only taking unfriendly economic actions against our country, but leaders of major Nato countries are making aggressive statements about our country. So I order to move Russia's deterrence forces to a special regime of duty."
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
I hope that they're at least paying you for this.
Read the article it is very good and full of much wisdom. Hitches view is if you annoy a wasp you can't blame the wasp if it stings you
Hitch - and you - seem to be of the view that there are certain groups of people with special rights. That Russia has some God given right to interfere with its neighbours. It's none of Russia's business if the Ukraine joins the EU or NATO. They may not like it, but ultimately that's a decision for the countries of NATO and the people of the Ukraine. Russia doesn't get a say.
Problem is Ukraine wants nuclear weapons. That would give the west first strike capability on Moscow. ..it would be like russia putting nuclear weapons on Mexico.. Putin obviously doesn't want this
Please stop insulting our intelligence with this transparent drivel.
Putin is meeting defense minister Shoigu and chief of general staff Gerasimov in the Kremlin.
He says western sanctions are "illegitimate" and has ordered to place Russia's deterrence – i.e. nuclear – forces on "a special regime of duty," per @tass_agency
Putin: "Western countries aren't only taking unfriendly economic actions against our country, but leaders of major Nato countries are making aggressive statements about our country. So I order to move Russia's deterrence forces to a special regime of duty."
One way or another, he will make sure that he won't lose this war. Lets hope the oligarchs strike, the war is not good for them either.
Nuclear war it is, then
I forget, where do we hide? Under the kitchen table? In a doorway?
What does a special regime of duty even mean ? This looks desperate and a sign of weakness from Putin.
I consider this good news. It gives those in the Russian establishment who do not want to be reciprocal glass blobs time to organise and plan a way to tid themselves of the obviously mad Putin.
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
I hope that they're at least paying you for this.
Read the article it is very good and full of much wisdom. Hitches view is if you annoy a wasp you can't blame the wasp if it stings you
Hitch - and you - seem to be of the view that there are certain groups of people with special rights. That Russia has some God given right to interfere with its neighbours. It's none of Russia's business if the Ukraine joins the EU or NATO. They may not like it, but ultimately that's a decision for the countries of NATO and the people of the Ukraine. Russia doesn't get a say.
Problem is Ukraine wants nuclear weapons. That would give the west first strike capability on Moscow. ..it would be like russia putting nuclear weapons on Mexico.. Putin obviously doesn't want this
Ukraine is virtually the only country ever to voluntarily give up nuclear weapons. They had nukes. They gave them up. In return for a pledge for their borders to be respected by the West and by Russia.
Stupid bloody thing to say, and totally ignorant of fairly recent history.
My word. There’s a few videos of these smashed Russian columns - I thought for a while they were just different angles of the same scene. But that one is new and definitely different.
How do the Ukrainians get the firepower to do THAT? Must be a drone strike?
If there an easy way to distinguish Russian and Ukrainian vehicles?
Clearly this is no feint, and things really are going wrong. The evidence is too overwhelming at this point. The question is whether it's going wrong enough that the Russian army won't still prevail.
At least one Russian convoy into Kharkiv acted more as a resupply convoy rather than a serious opposition force!
If the supply lines keep getting hit like that, then it doesn't really matter what the Russians "capture".
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
I hope that they're at least paying you for this.
Read the article it is very good and full of much wisdom. Hitches view is if you annoy a wasp you can't blame the wasp if it stings you
Hitch - and you - seem to be of the view that there are certain groups of people with special rights. That Russia has some God given right to interfere with its neighbours. It's none of Russia's business if the Ukraine joins the EU or NATO. They may not like it, but ultimately that's a decision for the countries of NATO and the people of the Ukraine. Russia doesn't get a say.
Problem is Ukraine wants nuclear weapons. That would give the west first strike capability on Moscow. ..it would be like russia putting nuclear weapons on Mexico.. Putin obviously doesn't want this
Ukraine is virtually the only country ever to voluntarily give up nuclear weapons. They had nukes. They gave them up. In return for a pledge for their borders to be respected by the West and by Russia.
Stupid bloody thing to say, and totally ignorant of fairly recent history.
And if Putin has incentivised Ukraine to want them back, then he's a total fool, isn't he?
It's the classic move which apologists use to justify never doing anything - if he responds to economic actions and harsh language with nuclear threats, of course we should never dare to suggest helpong Ukraine or taking actions ourselves.
But at a point if you break out those threats so earlier you leave yourself nowhere to go. Even if he is mad enough to do it, his recent actions have shown he will do pretty much anything anyway, so you might as well keep up the actions and language.
I don't know if I am supremely overjoyed that Germany is going to be spending a lot more on its military.
I would be happy for the UK to spend more, if we do so primarily on sea power. That's where success lies for us. Always has been, always will be. We should support our allies by Naval means, not getting bogged down in continental conflicts.
For the past 100 years the go to approach for land battles was the tank yet they can now be destroyed by a single $20,000 missile.
The idea that the sea is any better off in the 21st century May be equally false.
Yes. Look what’s happening to Russian armour against ‘cheap’ Turkish drones. How long can big lumbering ships remain relevant? They are just tanks at sea
AI, cyberwarfare, robot soldiers, drones of all sizes, hypersonic missiles - that’s the future.
And intelligence. One of the ‘heartening’ aspects of this awful nightmare is that US/UK intel has been bang on
I recall reading somewhere that towards the end of the (First) Cold War the US Navy refused to participate in wargaming all-out conventional war scenarios as they consistently resulted in the entire American (and everyone else’s) surface fleet being sunk within the first couple of days.
Similarly a few years back the Americans held an exercise in the Gulf simulating war with Iran where a US Marine Corps general was assigned as “red” commander and used known Revolutionary Guard tactics to “swarm” warships and take them out. The US Navy promptly suspended the exercise and demanded it be restarted with the USMC tactics disallowed.
That's not what happened at Millennium Challenge 2002. Lt Gen Van Riper simulated the sinking of a CVN with a mass cruise misslie attack that oversaturated the CSG's AD capacity.
That has somehow mutated into in the Internet truism that you can sink carriers with a 'swarm' of pedalos.
In the real world nobody has damaged a carrier in combat since 1945. The end of the age of the carriers will come as it did for battleships but not yet and not soon.
Don’t carriers need lots of other ships protecting them though? So you are not just committing to cost of each carrier, but to growing size of navy to protect the carrier?
Yes. A USN CSG has the CVN, 8 or 9 squadrons of aircraft in the CVW, 2 x Tico CG, 3 x Arleigh Burke DDG, 2 x Virginia SSN. Also an oiler and solid support ships though these are USNS not USN.
That's why carriers are a poor choice for the RN at its current size. To deploy a CSG we need just about every escort vessel that float plus (a lot) of help from allies. It's a grotesquely imbalanced force structure that has been driven primarily by reasons of national prestige rather than a matching of defence capabilities to strategic needs.
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
I hope that they're at least paying you for this.
Read the article it is very good and full of much wisdom. Hitches view is if you annoy a wasp you can't blame the wasp if it stings you
Hitch - and you - seem to be of the view that there are certain groups of people with special rights. That Russia has some God given right to interfere with its neighbours. It's none of Russia's business if the Ukraine joins the EU or NATO. They may not like it, but ultimately that's a decision for the countries of NATO and the people of the Ukraine. Russia doesn't get a say.
Problem is Ukraine wants nuclear weapons. That would give the west first strike capability on Moscow. ..it would be like russia putting nuclear weapons on Mexico.. Putin obviously doesn't want this
Dear me ! Do they pay you to write this nonsense .
That's a give away - only Putin has claimed that Ukraine wants to try and regain their nuclear capability.
Thus making it established fact. Did you know Zelensky is also a Nazi?
My word. There’s a few videos of these smashed Russian columns - I thought for a while they were just different angles of the same scene. But that one is new and definitely different.
How do the Ukrainians get the firepower to do THAT? Must be a drone strike?
NATO countries have been arming and training Ukrainian forces for weeks. Now Germany has stepped up too with 500 stinger missiles, Putin will struggle to achieve air superiority if that German weapons convoy reaches the Ukrainian military.
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Peter Hitchens in The Mail - that's The Daily Fail squared or something?
Does Peter Hitchens actually believe that? 🤭. Or is it he’s a hack with bills to pay, because seriously if RT published that there would be calls in parliament to shut Putin’s mouthpiece down
That kind of analysis is as useful as someone arguing in 1940 that we brought the war on ourselves with the the Versailles Treaty.
Putin is meeting defense minister Shoigu and chief of general staff Gerasimov in the Kremlin.
He says western sanctions are "illegitimate" and has ordered to place Russia's deterrence – i.e. nuclear – forces on "a special regime of duty," per @tass_agency
Putin: "Western countries aren't only taking unfriendly economic actions against our country, but leaders of major Nato countries are making aggressive statements about our country. So I order to move Russia's deterrence forces to a special regime of duty."
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
I hope that they're at least paying you for this.
Read the article it is very good and full of much wisdom. Hitches view is if you annoy a wasp you can't blame the wasp if it stings you
Hitch - and you - seem to be of the view that there are certain groups of people with special rights. That Russia has some God given right to interfere with its neighbours. It's none of Russia's business if the Ukraine joins the EU or NATO. They may not like it, but ultimately that's a decision for the countries of NATO and the people of the Ukraine. Russia doesn't get a say.
Problem is Ukraine wants nuclear weapons. That would give the west first strike capability on Moscow. ..it would be like russia putting nuclear weapons on Mexico.. Putin obviously doesn't want this
Ukraine is virtually the only country ever to voluntarily give up nuclear weapons. They had nukes. They gave them up. In return for a pledge for their borders to be respected by the West and by Russia.
Stupid bloody thing to say, and totally ignorant of fairly recent history.
Putin is meeting defense minister Shoigu and chief of general staff Gerasimov in the Kremlin.
He says western sanctions are "illegitimate" and has ordered to place Russia's deterrence – i.e. nuclear – forces on "a special regime of duty," per @tass_agency
Putin: "Western countries aren't only taking unfriendly economic actions against our country, but leaders of major Nato countries are making aggressive statements about our country. So I order to move Russia's deterrence forces to a special regime of duty."
One way or another, he will make sure that he won't lose this war. Lets hope the oligarchs strike, the war is not good for them either.
Unfriendly economic actions and aggressive statements = very bad Massive military invasion = very good
Being serious for a moment, Putin's instinctive hyperbolic reactions to any hint of criticism or consequences for his actions genuinely make more of an argument that to him us launching a war and invading Russia is no different to calling him a bitch on twitter.
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
I hope that they're at least paying you for this.
Read the article it is very good and full of much wisdom. Hitches view is if you annoy a wasp you can't blame the wasp if it stings you
Your great leader has the intellect of an insect ? Such thoughts can get you shot.
My word. There’s a few videos of these smashed Russian columns - I thought for a while they were just different angles of the same scene. But that one is new and definitely different.
How do the Ukrainians get the firepower to do THAT? Must be a drone strike?
If there an easy way to distinguish Russian and Ukrainian vehicles?
Yes. The Russians have a white ‘V’ or ‘Z’ painted on them. There is a V clearly visible in that video. It’s Russian armour.
“Russian troop movement in APCs/light armor north of Kiev
Reminder that: • "V": coming from the northern Russian-Ukrainian border; Belarus • "Z": coming from Crimea (and Donbass too?)”
Looking at it again I’m pretty sure the enormous damage is a drone missile strike, or strafing by jets, the shattered housing is collateral damage from the blast
I agree with you it was an attack from the skies, I think from aircraft how it goes in a line not sideways, which is why air supremacy is soooo important.
But I do have this horrible feeling in pit of my stomach that it might be Ukraine convoy or deployment taken out by Russian aircraft, for that reason I wish I never clicked on it 😟
New: France said it will shut “its airspace to Russian aircraft and airplanes from this evening onwards”, France’s Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari tweeted on Sunday. https://twitter.com/jimsciutto/status/1497881526305914882
A few days ago I had an official worried oligarchs would flock to Malta in private plane hoping for a light touch - well, Maltese government says it’s also shutting its airspace to Russian planes. https://twitter.com/mariatad/status/1497927959935700996
I don't know if I am supremely overjoyed that Germany is going to be spending a lot more on its military.
I would be happy for the UK to spend more, if we do so primarily on sea power. That's where success lies for us. Always has been, always will be. We should support our allies by Naval means, not getting bogged down in continental conflicts.
For the past 100 years the go to approach for land battles was the tank yet they can now be destroyed by a single $20,000 missile.
The idea that the sea is any better off in the 21st century May be equally false.
Yes. Look what’s happening to Russian armour against ‘cheap’ Turkish drones. How long can big lumbering ships remain relevant? They are just tanks at sea
AI, cyberwarfare, robot soldiers, drones of all sizes, hypersonic missiles - that’s the future.
And intelligence. One of the ‘heartening’ aspects of this awful nightmare is that US/UK intel has been bang on
I recall reading somewhere that towards the end of the (First) Cold War the US Navy refused to participate in wargaming all-out conventional war scenarios as they consistently resulted in the entire American (and everyone else’s) surface fleet being sunk within the first couple of days.
Similarly a few years back the Americans held an exercise in the Gulf simulating war with Iran where a US Marine Corps general was assigned as “red” commander and used known Revolutionary Guard tactics to “swarm” warships and take them out. The US Navy promptly suspended the exercise and demanded it be restarted with the USMC tactics disallowed.
That's not what happened at Millennium Challenge 2002. Lt Gen Van Riper simulated the sinking of a CVN with a mass cruise misslie attack that oversaturated the CSG's AD capacity.
That has somehow mutated into in the Internet truism that you can sink carriers with a 'swarm' of pedalos.
In the real world nobody has damaged a carrier in combat since 1945. The end of the age of the carriers will come as it did for battleships but not yet and not soon.
Don’t carriers need lots of other ships protecting them though? So you are not just committing to cost of each carrier, but to growing size of navy to protect the carrier?
Yes. A USN CSG has the CVN, 8 or 9 squadrons of aircraft in the CVW, 2 x Tico CG, 3 x Arleigh Burke DDG, 2 x Virginia SSN. Also an oiler and solid support ships though these are USNS not USN.
That's why carriers are a poor choice for the RN at its current size. To deploy a CSG we need just about every escort vessel that float plus (a lot) of help from allies. It's a grotesquely imbalanced force structure that has been driven primarily by reasons of national prestige rather than a matching of defence capabilities to strategic needs.
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Peter Hitchens in The Mail - that's The Daily Fail squared or something?
Does Peter Hitchens actually believe that? 🤭. Or is it he’s a hack with bills to pay, because seriously if RT published that there would be calls in parliament to shut Putin’s mouthpiece down
That kind of analysis is as useful as someone arguing in 1940 that we brought the war on ourselves with the the Versailles Treaty.
That would have been a valid argument.
Quite a lot of historian disagree.
Actually the Versailles Treaty worked in one respect - it took Germany a decade after renouncing the military provisions to be able to wage war. And the German Surface fleet was never a threat to Allied naval supremacy.
A second Russian oligarch has spoken out against Russia's war in Ukraine, and it's not who you'd expect: the virulently pro-Putin, US-sanctioned Oleg Deripaska.
"Peace is very important! Negotiations should begin as soon as possible!"
Totally OT, I despair at the lack of quality of football analysis from pundits.
Clinton Morrison laying into Bielsa as a man without any Plan B.... one of the foremost football thinkers in the modern game, who vast numbers of the those thought of the world best coaches have been trained by and the likes of Pep Guardiola credit as forming the basis of his whole approach, and Clinton f##king Morrison on Sky saying well he's a bit tactically crap isn't he.
Wow - Chancellor Scholz has just announced that Germany will be spending 2% plus of its GDP on defence every year from now on. That is huge news. It means that the German defence budget becomes the biggest in Europe in purely monetary terms.
If Europe is to tool up instead of relying on America it makes it all the more important imo that the EU survives and prospers rather than fractures into competing nationalistic countries all thinking they're special and trying to make themselves great.
I'm a fan of the EU for various reasons, and I think it's a net benefit, but this take is wrong.
Look at how the UK has been willing and able to help and to cooperate with other countries, inside and outside the EU, in response to the Ukraine crisis. It is possible for democratic countries to organise their mutual defence - they only have to have the will to do so, and it is that willingness that is the key thing, not whether they are part of a loose federation.
The reaction to this crisis is one thing but I'm talking about the overall situation that could emerge if America is on its way out (as guarantor of peace in Europe) and Europe itself has to step up. In that event, in which of the following would a great big dollop of new European military might be best managed. Under a common European foreign & defence policy with a strong EU? Or with the EU collapsing as countries go parochial and decide to "take back control"? For me it's a no-brainer and the pitfalls and dangers of the second are obvious.
There is a third alternative. An overarching European “NATO” which can include non EU and non NATO powers. Meaning the UK, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, Finland, Iceland can all be part of the structure. That makes much more sense than relying on the ponderous bureaucracy of the EU - which excludes the UK, one of the three main militaries in Europe
But this would be hampered greatly if the EU doesn't survive and prosper. Imagine if Brexit is followed by more of same. So now we have Germany, France, Italy, Spain, etc all having seized back full sovereign decision-making in response to their publics demanding it, as that type of "we're special" and "us versus them" mood takes hold, and they each have Big Boy militaries. This is not an attractive proposition. It'd be an awful regression.
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
I hope that they're at least paying you for this.
Read the article it is very good and full of much wisdom. Hitches view is if you annoy a wasp you can't blame the wasp if it stings you
Brave of you to suggest that Putin has no higher brain function. Farewell comrade!
Fcuk, Oxfordshire is the 'frontline', the Rooshians are here!
Would Johnson in military fatigues have worked better?
Might have got Nadine feeling a bit funny downstairs, but as for the rest of us..
Oh wow Johnson porn! It's not just Nadine, doubtless a few on here getting a little excited in the trouser department with that "cut out and keep" momento.
I think it's just Johnson getting ready to go to a fancy dress party
A second Russian oligarch has spoken out against Russia's war in Ukraine, and it's not who you'd expect: the virulently pro-Putin, US-sanctioned Oleg Deripaska.
"Peace is very important! Negotiations should begin as soon as possible!"
I don't know if I am supremely overjoyed that Germany is going to be spending a lot more on its military.
I would be happy for the UK to spend more, if we do so primarily on sea power. That's where success lies for us. Always has been, always will be. We should support our allies by Naval means, not getting bogged down in continental conflicts.
For the past 100 years the go to approach for land battles was the tank yet they can now be destroyed by a single $20,000 missile.
The idea that the sea is any better off in the 21st century May be equally false.
Yes. Look what’s happening to Russian armour against ‘cheap’ Turkish drones. How long can big lumbering ships remain relevant? They are just tanks at sea
AI, cyberwarfare, robot soldiers, drones of all sizes, hypersonic missiles - that’s the future.
And intelligence. One of the ‘heartening’ aspects of this awful nightmare is that US/UK intel has been bang on
I recall reading somewhere that towards the end of the (First) Cold War the US Navy refused to participate in wargaming all-out conventional war scenarios as they consistently resulted in the entire American (and everyone else’s) surface fleet being sunk within the first couple of days.
Similarly a few years back the Americans held an exercise in the Gulf simulating war with Iran where a US Marine Corps general was assigned as “red” commander and used known Revolutionary Guard tactics to “swarm” warships and take them out. The US Navy promptly suspended the exercise and demanded it be restarted with the USMC tactics disallowed.
That's not what happened at Millennium Challenge 2002. Lt Gen Van Riper simulated the sinking of a CVN with a mass cruise misslie attack that oversaturated the CSG's AD capacity.
That has somehow mutated into in the Internet truism that you can sink carriers with a 'swarm' of pedalos.
In the real world nobody has damaged a carrier in combat since 1945. The end of the age of the carriers will come as it did for battleships but not yet and not soon.
Don’t carriers need lots of other ships protecting them though? So you are not just committing to cost of each carrier, but to growing size of navy to protect the carrier?
Yes. A USN CSG has the CVN, 8 or 9 squadrons of aircraft in the CVW, 2 x Tico CG, 3 x Arleigh Burke DDG, 2 x Virginia SSN. Also an oiler and solid support ships though these are USNS not USN.
That's why carriers are a poor choice for the RN at its current size. To deploy a CSG we need just about every escort vessel that float plus (a lot) of help from allies. It's a grotesquely imbalanced force structure that has been driven primarily by reasons of national prestige rather than a matching of defence capabilities to strategic needs.
How much bigger would the Royal Navy need to be for the carriers not to absurdly unbalance the whole thing? Three times larger? More? Less?
Russians alleged to pack civilians on buses to run in front of their armoured columns heading into Kyiv.
If true, exactly echoes what Milosevic did in Kosovo - using Kosovan refugees as human shields. Mind you, there are already enough war crimes on record to get Putin following Milosevic to the Hague for war crimes
Utterly terrifying. We are reduced to hoping that Putin drops down dead before he kills all of us. Completely mad.
Meanwhile, apparently, it's now got to the stage where even the oligarchy is starting to break ranks and condemn the Ukrainian invasion. Mikhail Fridman, according to the Torygraph, plus Abramovich's daughter.
The entire Russian high command can't by psychopaths, surely? They need to shoot the bastard.
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
I hope that they're at least paying you for this.
Read the article it is very good and full of much wisdom. Hitches view is if you annoy a wasp you can't blame the wasp if it stings you
Brave of you to suggest that Putin has no higher brain function. Farewell comrade!
Yes, as much as I love analogies those who are essentially saying they should be taken literally if they truly believe wasp/bear comparisons are justifications for all this (and such is what they are, not 'explanations') just makes no sense.
My word. There’s a few videos of these smashed Russian columns - I thought for a while they were just different angles of the same scene. But that one is new and definitely different.
How do the Ukrainians get the firepower to do THAT? Must be a drone strike?
NATO countries have been arming and training Ukrainian forces for weeks. Now Germany has stepped up too with 500 stinger missiles, Putin will struggle to achieve air superiority if that German weapons convoy reaches the Ukrainian military.
Apparently the UK had been training Ukrainian armed forces for some years. I think I read somewhere that the Canadians had also sent a training mission.
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Peter Hitchens in The Mail - that's The Daily Fail squared or something?
Does Peter Hitchens actually believe that? 🤭. Or is it he’s a hack with bills to pay, because seriously if RT published that there would be calls in parliament to shut Putin’s mouthpiece down
That kind of analysis is as useful as someone arguing in 1940 that we brought the war on ourselves with the the Versailles Treaty.
That would have been a valid argument.
Quite a lot of historian disagree.
Actually the Versailles Treaty worked in one respect - it took Germany a decade after renouncing the military provisions to be able to wage war. And the German Surface fleet was never a threat to Allied naval supremacy.
Putin is meeting defense minister Shoigu and chief of general staff Gerasimov in the Kremlin.
He says western sanctions are "illegitimate" and has ordered to place Russia's deterrence – i.e. nuclear – forces on "a special regime of duty," per @tass_agency
Putin: "Western countries aren't only taking unfriendly economic actions against our country, but leaders of major Nato countries are making aggressive statements about our country. So I order to move Russia's deterrence forces to a special regime of duty."
One way or another, he will make sure that he won't lose this war. Lets hope the oligarchs strike, the war is not good for them either.
Nuclear war it is, then
I forget, where do we hide? Under the kitchen table? In a doorway?
What does a special regime of duty even mean ? This looks desperate and a sign of weakness from Putin.
I consider this good news. It gives those in the Russian establishment who do not want to be reciprocal glass blobs time to organise and plan a way to tid themselves of the obviously mad Putin.
Putin is meeting defense minister Shoigu and chief of general staff Gerasimov in the Kremlin.
He says western sanctions are "illegitimate" and has ordered to place Russia's deterrence – i.e. nuclear – forces on "a special regime of duty," per @tass_agency
Putin: "Western countries aren't only taking unfriendly economic actions against our country, but leaders of major Nato countries are making aggressive statements about our country. So I order to move Russia's deterrence forces to a special regime of duty."
One way or another, he will make sure that he won't lose this war. Lets hope the oligarchs strike, the war is not good for them either.
Hope the generals tell him quite clearly, that he lets off a nuclear weapon about an hour before the Kremlin, St Basil’s and Red Square all get turned into glass, Nagasaki, Chernobyl 1986, or whatever is today’s favourite metaphor…
It's a bit distasteful but remember the Americans had a list of people in Iraq who were their top targets designed as playing cards? Here's a list of people I would like to see gone at the end of this:
Putin Lukashenko Lavrov Le Pen Zemmour Banks Schroeder Trump - admittedly this one will be the most difficult but I think even he might be struggling to backpedal
Farage I'm in two minds about. Tucker Carlson ought to hang his head in shame but probably deserves to stay since we need plurality in the media.
Putin is meeting defense minister Shoigu and chief of general staff Gerasimov in the Kremlin.
He says western sanctions are "illegitimate" and has ordered to place Russia's deterrence – i.e. nuclear – forces on "a special regime of duty," per @tass_agency
Putin: "Western countries aren't only taking unfriendly economic actions against our country, but leaders of major Nato countries are making aggressive statements about our country. So I order to move Russia's deterrence forces to a special regime of duty."
A very good move the world needs peace...we need a good negotiated settlement fair to both sides and that recognises russias concerns
Very well - you said the concern was Ukraine wanting nuclear weapons. Ergo, the settlement is that Ukraine promises to never develop nuclear weapons, and Russia withdraws from the Donbas and Crimea. Why would they need to hold on to those if the concern was the nuclear thing?
We can only keep our fingers crossed that they're prodding appropriate figures within the Russian leadership to shoot the dog before he kills all of us. The Chinese will obviously be as aware as the rest of the world that a major nuclear conflagration is an extinction level event for the whole planet.
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
I hope that they're at least paying you for this.
Read the article it is very good and full of much wisdom. Hitches view is if you annoy a wasp you can't blame the wasp if it stings you
Hitch - and you - seem to be of the view that there are certain groups of people with special rights. That Russia has some God given right to interfere with its neighbours. It's none of Russia's business if the Ukraine joins the EU or NATO. They may not like it, but ultimately that's a decision for the countries of NATO and the people of the Ukraine. Russia doesn't get a say.
Problem is Ukraine wants nuclear weapons. That would give the west first strike capability on Moscow. ..it would be like russia putting nuclear weapons on Mexico.. Putin obviously doesn't want this
English speakers would use "in" Mexico. You would say "on" if you're talking about an island. That's the kind of low-level grammatical slip that is only made by speakers of non-Germanic languages make (seeing as the same distinction is found in other Germanic languages).
I don't know if I am supremely overjoyed that Germany is going to be spending a lot more on its military.
I would be happy for the UK to spend more, if we do so primarily on sea power. That's where success lies for us. Always has been, always will be. We should support our allies by Naval means, not getting bogged down in continental conflicts.
For the past 100 years the go to approach for land battles was the tank yet they can now be destroyed by a single $20,000 missile.
The idea that the sea is any better off in the 21st century May be equally false.
Yes. Look what’s happening to Russian armour against ‘cheap’ Turkish drones. How long can big lumbering ships remain relevant? They are just tanks at sea
AI, cyberwarfare, robot soldiers, drones of all sizes, hypersonic missiles - that’s the future.
And intelligence. One of the ‘heartening’ aspects of this awful nightmare is that US/UK intel has been bang on
I recall reading somewhere that towards the end of the (First) Cold War the US Navy refused to participate in wargaming all-out conventional war scenarios as they consistently resulted in the entire American (and everyone else’s) surface fleet being sunk within the first couple of days.
Similarly a few years back the Americans held an exercise in the Gulf simulating war with Iran where a US Marine Corps general was assigned as “red” commander and used known Revolutionary Guard tactics to “swarm” warships and take them out. The US Navy promptly suspended the exercise and demanded it be restarted with the USMC tactics disallowed.
That's not what happened at Millennium Challenge 2002. Lt Gen Van Riper simulated the sinking of a CVN with a mass cruise misslie attack that oversaturated the CSG's AD capacity.
That has somehow mutated into in the Internet truism that you can sink carriers with a 'swarm' of pedalos.
In the real world nobody has damaged a carrier in combat since 1945. The end of the age of the carriers will come as it did for battleships but not yet and not soon.
Don’t carriers need lots of other ships protecting them though? So you are not just committing to cost of each carrier, but to growing size of navy to protect the carrier?
Yes. A USN CSG has the CVN, 8 or 9 squadrons of aircraft in the CVW, 2 x Tico CG, 3 x Arleigh Burke DDG, 2 x Virginia SSN. Also an oiler and solid support ships though these are USNS not USN.
That's why carriers are a poor choice for the RN at its current size. To deploy a CSG we need just about every escort vessel that float plus (a lot) of help from allies. It's a grotesquely imbalanced force structure that has been driven primarily by reasons of national prestige rather than a matching of defence capabilities to strategic needs.
How much bigger would the Royal Navy need to be for the carriers not to absurdly unbalance the whole thing? Three times larger? More? Less?
Probably double the escort fleet. But managing what we do have better would be a start. On the recent WESTPAC cruise they had T45 (ie 50% of the CSG' s air defence capability) broken in Italy for SIX WEEKS while a flying circus of BAE contractors were flown out from the UK and tried to fix it while getting pissed on red wine.
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
Article by Peter hitchens in mail suggesting west has deliberately provoked this war with russia. It is very good reading even if you disagree with him
I hope that they're at least paying you for this.
Read the article it is very good and full of much wisdom. Hitches view is if you annoy a wasp you can't blame the wasp if it stings you
Hitch - and you - seem to be of the view that there are certain groups of people with special rights. That Russia has some God given right to interfere with its neighbours. It's none of Russia's business if the Ukraine joins the EU or NATO. They may not like it, but ultimately that's a decision for the countries of NATO and the people of the Ukraine. Russia doesn't get a say.
Problem is Ukraine wants nuclear weapons. That would give the west first strike capability on Moscow. ..it would be like russia putting nuclear weapons on Mexico.. Putin obviously doesn't want this
Ukraine is virtually the only country ever to voluntarily give up nuclear weapons. They had nukes. They gave them up. In return for a pledge for their borders to be respected by the West and by Russia.
Stupid bloody thing to say, and totally ignorant of fairly recent history.
I had exactly this conversation with PJ yesterday. That he started it again is hardly evidence of good intent.
Anything that buys time is good I imagine, though what would Putin accept that Zelensky can reasonably concede?
A guarantee to never join NATO I imagine and hand the disputed border regions over to Russia
The former is probably possible (since it was never happening anyway, and as events have shown they won't be entirely abandoned if not in NATO even if they dont get full support), but handing over the regions which are only disputed because they have been invaded? That seems like a recipe to invite furhter invasion, to make new disputed borders.
So maybe agreement for Ukraine to pull back to borders of the oblasts, rather than where the line was before, so de facto hand over those areas?
Even if Ukraine can ensure Russia cannot win it isn't the same as Ukraine being able to reverse gains after all, unfortunately.
Comments
He says western sanctions are "illegitimate" and has ordered to place Russia's deterrence – i.e. nuclear – forces on "a special regime of duty," per @tass_agency
Putin: "Western countries aren't only taking unfriendly economic actions against our country, but leaders of major Nato countries are making aggressive statements about our country. So I order to move Russia's deterrence forces to a special regime of duty."
https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1497921990455353350
One way or another, he will make sure that he won't lose this war. Lets hope the oligarchs strike, the war is not good for them either.
In Hungary Orban realizes its not a good look to be sucking upto him with an election coming .
So NATO stronger , Germany increasing its defence spending , better UK EU relations , let’s hope this continues and after some early disagreements the EU is united .
Is this what they call winning in Moscow ?
Just dawned I am a fully trained human proto-SWIFT.
“Interfere” suggests how you worry farmers sheep in top field, this is burning down farm with people inside.
We shouldn't belittle or insult them. We should find ways to say Russia is a great country with a fine and honerable population whose subjugation by a corrupt elite and misguided dictator is an afront to the values of the modern day Russian population.
Do all we can to increase the divide between the Putinists and the population, a population we respect a d have sympathy with for the intolerable and actions of an out of control government.
He's going to ramp up the fear, as our friend Mr Johnson from the other side was indicating .
I forget, where do we hide? Under the kitchen table? In a doorway?
Funny old world.
And funny how we see some people as master tacticians, and actually they're just idiots like the rest of us.
If my neighbour annoys me by whistling incessantly, or even banging on the walls such that I feared some small damange, I would not be justified in going round to their house and murdering them whilst they sleep, and I would not find much favour with the jury suggesting they provoked me, because I would be acting completely irrationally. Nor would it be ok for me to murder them if they wanted to make friends with the neighbour on the other side, whom I do not like.
Soviet era designed vehicles burn really, really well.
Massive military invasion = very good
Also new footage from the south of another Russian convoy getting destroyed by drone strikes: https://twitter.com/ThomasVLinge/status/1497915611250405381
Clearly this is no feint, and things really are going wrong. The evidence is too overwhelming at this point. The question is whether it's going wrong enough that the Russian army won't still prevail.
At least one Russian convoy into Kharkiv acted more as a resupply convoy rather than a serious opposition force!
“Russian troop movement in APCs/light armor north of Kiev
Reminder that:
• "V": coming from the northern Russian-Ukrainian border; Belarus
• "Z": coming from Crimea (and Donbass too?)”
https://twitter.com/bellumpaxbr/status/1497468303672950784?s=21
Looking at it again I’m pretty sure the enormous damage is a drone missile strike, or strafing by jets, the shattered housing is collateral damage from the blast
All those reasons exist immaterial of whether or not Ukraine wants nuclear weapons. It's almost as though the nuclear thing is not the reason at all.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/president-vladimir-putin-ordered-russian-nuclear-deterrent-forces-83140871
It gives those in the Russian establishment who do not want to be reciprocal glass blobs time to organise and plan a way to tid themselves of the obviously mad Putin.
They had nukes. They gave them up.
In return for a pledge for their borders to be respected by the West and by Russia.
Stupid bloody thing to say, and totally ignorant of fairly recent history.
Go on. Say it with us: "Putin's a total fool."
But at a point if you break out those threats so earlier you leave yourself nowhere to go. Even if he is mad enough to do it, his recent actions have shown he will do pretty much anything anyway, so you might as well keep up the actions and language.
That's why carriers are a poor choice for the RN at its current size. To deploy a CSG we need just about every escort vessel that float plus (a lot) of help from allies. It's a grotesquely imbalanced force structure that has been driven primarily by reasons of national prestige rather than a matching of defence capabilities to strategic needs.
Shoigu's face says all you need to know about what he thinks of these orders, not for the first time this week...
Such thoughts can get you shot.
But I do have this horrible feeling in pit of my stomach that it might be Ukraine convoy or deployment taken out by Russian aircraft, for that reason I wish I never clicked on it 😟
https://twitter.com/kevinrothrock/status/1497922873289326595?s=21
https://mobile.twitter.com/BackAndAlive
https://savelife.in.ua/
Putin has ordered Russian nuclear deterrent forces on alert.
What a piece of miserable dick, good god.
https://twitter.com/IAPonomarenko/status/1497928253906079745
According to WATO.
New: France said it will shut “its airspace to Russian aircraft and airplanes from this evening onwards”, France’s Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari tweeted on Sunday. https://twitter.com/jimsciutto/status/1497881526305914882
A few days ago I had an official worried oligarchs would flock to Malta in private plane hoping for a light touch - well, Maltese government says it’s also shutting its airspace to Russian planes.
https://twitter.com/mariatad/status/1497927959935700996
Actually the Versailles Treaty worked in one respect - it took Germany a decade after renouncing the military provisions to be able to wage war. And the German Surface fleet was never a threat to Allied naval supremacy.
"Peace is very important! Negotiations should begin as soon as possible!"
https://t.me/olegderipaska/372
Clinton Morrison laying into Bielsa as a man without any Plan B.... one of the foremost football thinkers in the modern game, who vast numbers of the those thought of the world best coaches have been trained by and the likes of Pep Guardiola credit as forming the basis of his whole approach, and Clinton f##king Morrison on Sky saying well he's a bit tactically crap isn't he.
Probably in his back garden.
So nothing unusual there.....
(After speaking to 🇧🇾 leader Alexander Lukashenko)
“We agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet with the Russian delegation without preconditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, near the Pripyat River” 1/2
https://twitter.com/JamWaterhouse/status/1497930994611073024
If true, exactly echoes what Milosevic did in Kosovo - using Kosovan refugees as human shields. Mind you, there are already enough war crimes on record to get Putin following Milosevic to the Hague for war crimes
https://twitter.com/peterjukes/status/1497929485295005696
Meanwhile, apparently, it's now got to the stage where even the oligarchy is starting to break ranks and condemn the Ukrainian invasion. Mikhail Fridman, according to the Torygraph, plus Abramovich's daughter.
The entire Russian high command can't by psychopaths, surely? They need to shoot the bastard.
Putin
Lukashenko
Lavrov
Le Pen
Zemmour
Banks
Schroeder
Trump - admittedly this one will be the most difficult but I think even he might be struggling to backpedal
Farage I'm in two minds about. Tucker Carlson ought to hang his head in shame but probably deserves to stay since we need plurality in the media.
Who’s telling the truth to him? Presumably he’s being fed shit from yes men
https://www.amazon.co.uk/When-Wind-Blows-Raymond-Briggs/dp/0140094199/ref=sr_1_2?crid=135TR0LTYTAUW&keywords=When+the+wind+blows&qid=1645969722&sprefix=when+the+wind+blows,aps,78&sr=8-2
We give nothing to the maniac.
That's the kind of low-level grammatical slip that is only made by speakers of non-Germanic languages make (seeing as the same distinction is found in other Germanic languages).
That he started it again is hardly evidence of good intent.
So maybe agreement for Ukraine to pull back to borders of the oblasts, rather than where the line was before, so de facto hand over those areas?
Even if Ukraine can ensure Russia cannot win it isn't the same as Ukraine being able to reverse gains after all, unfortunately.