One thing I don't get for Czechs and other eastern block countries citizens that actually follow the "peace by any means"/"NATO Out" line of thinking (recent "protests" in Czechia). With the Chinese tried to broker something, Russia just stated they will not stop and that "there is no diplomatic option they will accept" other than a capitulation and disarmament of Ukraine. They've also been shown actively planning the takeover of other former Warsaw pact countries in leaked FSB documents; this includes Georgia, Moldova, Serbia, and Belarus. Czechs almost certainly got it's own document.
Without force of arms to force a change in Russian thinking through military exhaustion, or a change in Russian leadership, all former Warsaw pact states are in danger. Baltic states understand this. What exactly do these right wingers want here? Just surrender and give Russia what they want? It's stupid.
I'm not sure what you're talking about, but certainly not Czech. They just elected a retired NATO general as their president this January. Petr Pavel ran on an explicitly pro-NATO, pro-Ukraine, anti-Russia and anti-China platform, so there's no question where that country stands.
In general Eastern Europeans are currently way more hawkish against Russia than anyone else. Certainly much more hawkish than North Americans.
I'm not sure what you're talking about, but certainly not Czech. They just elected a retired NATO general as their president this January. Petr Pavel ran on an explicitly pro-NATO, pro-Ukraine, anti-Russia and anti-China platform, so there's no question where that country stands.
In general Eastern Europeans are currently way more hawkish against Russia than anyone else. Certainly much more hawkish than North Americans.
I'm talking about the these guys that protested against providing Ukraine arms/pro-Z protests in Czech republic recently not the government in general. Many were Russian/Z types based on the videos that were out, but some were Czechs. Flameaddiction was talking about the cracks in Czech Republic showing through.
Yeah, the Czech leaders may want to keep supporting Ukraine, but there is increasing dissent at the street level. Five months of steady anti-NATO protests increasing in size and intensity. One of them even drew 70,000 people which is pretty significant for a small country.
The protests tend to be organized as anti-poverty and anti-inflation demonstrations, but have been devolving into anti-NATO themes.
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"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
Yeah, the Czech leaders may want to keep supporting Ukraine, but there is increasing dissent at the street level. Five months of steady anti-NATO protests increasing in size and intensity. One of them even drew 70,000 people which is pretty significant for a small country.
The protests tend to be organized as anti-poverty and anti-inflation demonstrations, but have been devolving into anti-NATO themes.
Living decades under Russian rule will leave some people thinking Russia is their friend.
I don't see this stuff very significant in the big picture of where Czech is with NATO. Again, there was JUST an election where this was a major topic, and unless I'm mistaken, the biggest eurosceptic candidate got less than 5% of the vote.
Most of that kind of demonstration stuff is about internal politics anyway, and there's also been pro-Ukraine demonstrations with tens of thousands of participanrs.
Sure, there's a significant portion of the population that doesn't want to be involved in the war, but it's worth remembering that that gets conflated with the question of Ukrainian refugees, which genuinely are a drain on Czech economy currently.
Drone incident footage and location data released by the US to counter Russian claims it intercepted properly over international waters in response to "US provocations".
Should always just always just change "Russia says" to whatever the opposite is these days.
Last edited by FlameOn; 03-16-2023 at 10:06 AM.
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Drone incident footage and location data released by the US to counter Russian claims it intercepted properly over international waters in response to "US provocations".
Should always just always just change "Russia says" to whatever the opposite is these days.
Obviously it worked this time, but isnt this like Darwin awards level stuff for the russian pilot? Seeing the damage a simple birdstrike can do to a passenger plane, I could only imagine what a 2+ ton / 20 meter wide drone colliding more squarely with a fighter jet could do. It's like headbutting a fist in a bar fight.
In retrospect it probably would have been worth it for the drone to 'accidentally' fly into the SU-27 cockpit. Trading a pawn for a rook.
Last edited by NuclearFart; 03-16-2023 at 12:38 PM.
Obviously it worked this time, but isnt this like Darwin awards level stuff for the russian pilot? Seeing the damage a simple birdstrike can do to a passenger plane, I could only imagine what a 2+ ton / 20 meter wide drone colliding more squarely with a fighter jet could do. It's like headbutting a fist in a bar fight.
In retrospect it probably would have been worth it for the drone to 'accidentally' fly into the SU-27 cockpit. Trading a pawn for a rook.
The Chinese have been doing stuff like this for years. Last year they intercepted an Australian P8 and while doing a few flybys like that they dumped chaff in front of the plane, and one of the engines ate most of the aluminum. I know there was a story in the fall about similar flybys with a RCAF CP-140 as well
Hard to say if they're purposely pushing the limits of international law, or just hot shot undisciplined pilots
Obviously it worked this time, but isnt this like Darwin awards level stuff for the russian pilot? Seeing the damage a simple birdstrike can do to a passenger plane, I could only imagine what a 2+ ton / 20 meter wide drone colliding more squarely with a fighter jet could do. It's like headbutting a fist in a bar fight.
In retrospect it probably would have been worth it for the drone to 'accidentally' fly into the SU-27 cockpit. Trading a pawn for a rook.
It's pretty sloppy intercepting on the part of the Russian pilots. Note that this drone is flying the same direction as the jets (prop is on the back of it). You think they'd slow their closure rate down more than what you see in the videos.
China is shipping assault weapons and body armour to Russia. Specifically China's State Owned arms company NORINCO has been doing so by routing shipments via Turkey disguised as "hunting rifles". Investigative journalists with Politico discovered the shipments after tracking customs data.
China is shipping assault weapons and body armour to Russia. Specifically China's State Owned arms company NORINCO has been doing so by routing shipments via Turkey disguised as "hunting rifles". Investigative journalists with Politico discovered the shipments after tracking customs data.
It's pretty sloppy intercepting on the part of the Russian pilots. Note that this drone is flying the same direction as the jets (prop is on the back of it). You think they'd slow their closure rate down more than what you see in the videos.
Those fighters don’t maneuver very well at low speed so it may been even more dangerous to try that stupid move.
Can’t really blame China for arming given the toxic relationship between China and the west
I dont follow this logic at all. China is the country trying to appear like they are the broker for peace. You don’t arm a conflict while trying to appear like a mediator regardless of strained relations with one side.
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