A small bit of "positive" news: wife's uncle and his wife were able to evacuate from Kozacha Lopan today towards Dergachi (more south towards Kharkiv) earlier today. They got on an evacuation bus and are heading to a friend's place. Wife's family was begging them for months to leave KL when news of the buildup began shaping up a few months ago. The reason for their delaying was that his wife is a nurse and was asked to stay to help. Now that KL has all but been abandoned by the UA army, there is no need for her to stay. Another reason we learned is that they foster abandoned dogs and had 6 dogs in their care. Many people who left when the village was liberated in 2022 made the decision to abandon their pets, so they took in 6 of them. Hard enough to abandon these innocent animals, let alone find a place that will take in 6 dogs.
We are not certain what is happening with the dogs. My wife doesn't want to ask him unless he brings it up, because it was obviously a source of contention in the first place, so last thing she wants to do is set him off if in fact he had to make the difficult decision to leave them behind. Can't imagine having to make that choice, but I think that is what they had to do.
Should not be forgotten that so many pets and animals have been affected in this senseless war. There was one girl who stayed with us in 2022 who told us that officers at the train stations were forcing people to literally leave their pets behind before boarding as obviously people took priority. She hid her little kitten in her jacket and made it all the way to Gdansk to our place with it. Poor thing was covered in piss and #### when we met them.
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A small bit of "positive" news: wife's uncle and his wife were able to evacuate from Kozacha Lopan today towards Dergachi (more south towards Kharkiv) earlier today. They got on an evacuation bus and are heading to a friend's place. Wife's family was begging them for months to leave KL when news of the buildup began shaping up a few months ago. The reason for their delaying was that his wife is a nurse and was asked to stay to help. Now that KL has all but been abandoned by the UA army, there is no need for her to stay. Another reason we learned is that they foster abandoned dogs and had 6 dogs in their care. Many people who left when the village was liberated in 2022 made the decision to abandon their pets, so they took in 6 of them. Hard enough to abandon these innocent animals, let alone find a place that will take in 6 dogs.
We are not certain what is happening with the dogs. My wife doesn't want to ask him unless he brings it up, because it was obviously a source of contention in the first place, so last thing she wants to do is set him off if in fact he had to make the difficult decision to leave them behind. Can't imagine having to make that choice, but I think that is what they had to do.
Should not be forgotten that so many pets and animals have been affected in this senseless war. There was one girl who stayed with us in 2022 who told us that officers at the train stations were forcing people to literally leave their pets behind before boarding as obviously people took priority. She hid her little kitten in her jacket and made it all the way to Gdansk to our place with it. Poor thing was covered in piss and #### when we met them.
^ glad to hear they made it out of KL okay. It's been a torturous story hearing about the trials and tribulations of the little town over the past couple years. Reassuring to hear your loved ones have all made it to (relative) safety. Let's hope it's spared from a Donbass kind of fate and its residents can return sooner rather than later to restore it to the place your wife remembers. Slava Ukraini.
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As we speak, Ukraine is attacking Russians in Crimea with Western-supplied missiles.
According to Russian military tg-channels, 10 ATACMS missiles hit Belbek military airfield in Crimea, near Sevastopol.
Russia media also report that Mig-31 and 3 Su-27 were damaged at the airfield, two S-400 launchers and 92N6E radar and the airfield's fuel storage facility are lost. https://twitter.com/user/status/1790861522710802704
In addition to ATACMS strikes on Belbek airfield in Sevastopol for the 2nd night in row, Simferopol, Dzhankoi and Kerch in occupied Crimea were also hit last night. https://twitter.com/user/status/1791106686998212857
"The 71-year-old man who fired five shots at Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, is linked with a pro-Russian extremist group a Hungarian investigative journalist reported." https://twitter.com/user/status/1791106428922405085
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Russia: Ukrainian drones struck the Bazalt military production facility in Tula, a weapons & ammunition manufacturer that supplies all military branches. https://twitter.com/user/status/1791100777404284999
Frontelligence Insight conducted an initial Battle Damage Assessment of strikes on Belbek Airfield in Crimea on May 15th and 16th. This analysis is based on mid-resolution images taken on May 16th https://twitter.com/user/status/1791173383150833703
The arrest of Timur Ivanov turned out to be only the beginning of a purge in the Russian leadership.
Great commentary from Bill Browder addressing the UK Treasury Committee on how Putin is dodging oil sanctions and getting top dollar for his oil, and how the west is facilitating this through weak handed approach. He's also blasting how the EU and the US love to boast about their sanctions, yet fall far short in actually sanctioning oligarchs (especially compared to the UK), and how we need a harmonized sanction list. Bill Browder has been fighting for a long time against Russian oligarchs and has been on their hit list for over a decade.
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Another massive russian terrorist attack in Kharkiv today. This is about 5 minutes from my wife's old apartment and she used to shop here every week. Unfortunately she got word from her friend in Kharkiv that one her classmates is thought to be a victim. Over 200 people inside when this happened.
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Another massive russian terrorist attack in Kharkiv today. This is about 5 minutes from my wife's old apartment and she used to shop here every week. Unfortunately she got word from her friend in Kharkiv that one her classmates is thought to be a victim. Over 200 people inside when this happened.
Fn disgusting. Russians need to get their #### together and topple Putin and his regime. Will people die? Absolutely, but it's about sacrificing for the greater good of your country.
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The longer this goes on and the more and more I see stories like above, I think this is becoming more and more of a game and pissing match between the global powers.
How much defensive equipment has not been delivered but promised? The above story highlights exactly the problem, Ukraine can't defend it's 2nd largest city from attacks on a mall 2 and a half years into a serious war. Everybody promising everything but very little action has taken place. US can't supply required shells, EU can't even come close to their own production goals, delayed packages from everybody.
Lot's of talk about support and being there until the end but is that really the case here with Ukraine? Seems like all anybody really is doing is prolonging this more and more. All the sanctions, all the "no more Russian energy" slogans, all the promises and military analysis about how Putin is on the defensive, how his military is days away from collapse and so would his government. Nothing like that is really materializing.
I remember a vivid interview more than a year ago where Joe Biden was very strongly in his conviction that "Ukraine doesn't need F16's now" They may get a handful of jets before the end of 2024 and who knows how long until they are destroyed? Ukraine lacks air defense, Russia has tens of millions of men available for fodder and more. Even the IMF is predicting the Russian economy out performing advanced nations according to reports.
A lot of revisionist history I think from a lot of people out there now that the economic, military and Putin collapses have not materialized. I almost feel like I have been duped in this regard. Anything short of a full catastrophic change in philosophy by Putin and Russia's top leaders, is anybody really thinking that Ukraine doesn't lose significant land going forward and is dealt the worst possible hand that will then be spun into a moral victory?
Seems like all we will get in the end is millions dead, injured and displaced, tens of billions in taxpayer money and trillions of dollars in inflation for what?
This just seems all around depressing for Ukraine and the rest of the world.
The longer this goes on and the more and more I see stories like above, I think this is becoming more and more of a game and pissing match between the global powers.
How much defensive equipment has not been delivered but promised? The above story highlights exactly the problem, Ukraine can't defend it's 2nd largest city from attacks on a mall 2 and a half years into a serious war. Everybody promising everything but very little action has taken place. US can't supply required shells, EU can't even come close to their own production goals, delayed packages from everybody.
Lot's of talk about support and being there until the end but is that really the case here with Ukraine? Seems like all anybody really is doing is prolonging this more and more. All the sanctions, all the "no more Russian energy" slogans, all the promises and military analysis about how Putin is on the defensive, how his military is days away from collapse and so would his government. Nothing like that is really materializing.
I remember a vivid interview more than a year ago where Joe Biden was very strongly in his conviction that "Ukraine doesn't need F16's now" They may get a handful of jets before the end of 2024 and who knows how long until they are destroyed? Ukraine lacks air defense, Russia has tens of millions of men available for fodder and more. Even the IMF is predicting the Russian economy out performing advanced nations according to reports.
A lot of revisionist history I think from a lot of people out there now that the economic, military and Putin collapses have not materialized. I almost feel like I have been duped in this regard. Anything short of a full catastrophic change in philosophy by Putin and Russia's top leaders, is anybody really thinking that Ukraine doesn't lose significant land going forward and is dealt the worst possible hand that will then be spun into a moral victory?
Seems like all we will get in the end is millions dead, injured and displaced, tens of billions in taxpayer money and trillions of dollars in inflation for what?
This just seems all around depressing for Ukraine and the rest of the world.
B*lls**t
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Nothing wrong with disagreeing and I genuinely hope I am wrong, but does the above video of a blown up mall in a major city look like we are winning? Does that look like success from the worlds most powerful countries in the west?
I mean everyday we have Zelensky saying the same thing as above, he needs more and more and more and he needed it yesterday.
Nothing wrong with disagreeing and I genuinely hope I am wrong, but does the above video of a blown up mall in a major city look like we are winning? Does that look like success from the worlds most powerful countries in the west?
I mean everyday we have Zelensky saying the same thing as above, he needs more and more and more and he needed it yesterday.
Did we forget the comments from the former commander of the armed forces, "At this stage there will be no big beautiful breakthrough"
I think we in the west need to temper expectations on what success for Ukraine actually means.
A lot of it depends on what happens in the U.S. election. If the Republicans win, you might see America back off quite a bit. If the U.S. backs off, European countries are probably going to insist on negotiations with Russia. If the Democrats win and they keep backing Ukraine, the tide could change.
Russia has the initiative at the moment, but many analysts who I trust know more than I do about these things, think that by late 2025, Russia is going to have more and more trouble supporting the war efforts. It means another messy 18 months, but if they can hold on long enough, victory is possible for Ukraine.
Putin has apparently already made a proposal to "freeze" the war as long as Ukraine agrees to recognize Russian control in the occupied territories. If Russia was 100% confident, I don't think they would accept anything but a full surrender and regime change for Ukraine. The fact they are hedging their bets indicates that they know things can still go really bad for them if they can't finish the job sooner rather than later, IMO.
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The longer this goes on and the more and more I see stories like above, I think this is becoming more and more of a game and pissing match between the global powers.
How much defensive equipment has not been delivered but promised? The above story highlights exactly the problem, Ukraine can't defend it's 2nd largest city from attacks on a mall 2 and a half years into a serious war. Everybody promising everything but very little action has taken place. US can't supply required shells, EU can't even come close to their own production goals, delayed packages from everybody.
Lot's of talk about support and being there until the end but is that really the case here with Ukraine? Seems like all anybody really is doing is prolonging this more and more. All the sanctions, all the "no more Russian energy" slogans, all the promises and military analysis about how Putin is on the defensive, how his military is days away from collapse and so would his government. Nothing like that is really materializing.
I remember a vivid interview more than a year ago where Joe Biden was very strongly in his conviction that "Ukraine doesn't need F16's now" They may get a handful of jets before the end of 2024 and who knows how long until they are destroyed? Ukraine lacks air defense, Russia has tens of millions of men available for fodder and more. Even the IMF is predicting the Russian economy out performing advanced nations according to reports.
A lot of revisionist history I think from a lot of people out there now that the economic, military and Putin collapses have not materialized. I almost feel like I have been duped in this regard. Anything short of a full catastrophic change in philosophy by Putin and Russia's top leaders, is anybody really thinking that Ukraine doesn't lose significant land going forward and is dealt the worst possible hand that will then be spun into a moral victory?
Seems like all we will get in the end is millions dead, injured and displaced, tens of billions in taxpayer money and trillions of dollars in inflation for what?
This just seems all around depressing for Ukraine and the rest of the world.
#### you write odd posts
Are you sure you don't know someone with first hand knowledge of the situation?
__________________
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Corporal Jean-Marc H. BECHARD, 6 Aug 1993
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sliver
Just ignore me...I'm in a mood today.
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