221–230 of 791 posts
It might just be that they don't trust most of their pilots to not surrender/defect, and being in a plane makes that easier. I don't really know, but it make as much sense as anything else.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Without minimizing the awfulness of this invasion and the fact that it must be condemned, it is not nearly as brutal as Russian operations in Chechnya and Syria or the US-led coalition invasion of Iraq, likely because Ukranians are not nearly as much of a racial or cultural other to Russians as Chechens or Syrians. The greater ability of Ukrainians to gain coverage in both traditional and social media may also be a f…
Thank you for articulating this better than I could. You had a CBS* commentator straight up saying this is different than Middle East wars since Kyiv is a " civilized city". That said, I think much of Russia's restraint is due to their end goal. Ukraine's Russian backed president was outted in a coup back in 2014. The new pro West leadership decided to go dancing with John McCain. This entire conflict could of been a…
This is really not a good take. Ukrainians didn't overthrow their government because of NATO expansion. They overthrew their government because it was a corrupt pile of shit that didn't credibly represent their interests. And make no mistake, Putin has always seen Ukraine as in integral and inseparable part of Russian culture. He was never going to allow them to govern themselves, NATO expansion or not.
I wonder if there is significant cyber attacks on Russian military infrastructure that is slowing them down?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Without minimizing the awfulness of this invasion and the fact that it must be condemned, it is not nearly as brutal as Russian operations in Chechnya and Syria or the US-led coalition invasion of Iraq, likely because Ukranians are not nearly as much of a racial or cultural other to Russians as Chechens or Syrians. The greater ability of Ukrainians to gain coverage in both traditional and social media may also be a f…
Thank you for articulating this better than I could. You had a CBS* commentator straight up saying this is different than Middle East wars since Kyiv is a " civilized city". That said, I think much of Russia's restraint is due to their end goal. Ukraine's Russian backed president was outted in a coup back in 2014. The new pro West leadership decided to go dancing with John McCain. This entire conflict could of been a…
Um... Cuba?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Could you not imagine the Proud Boys being allowed to serve as a unit if Canada seized Montana and Idaho, and the national guard needed resources? (With the assumption that the US had a GDP equivalent to Ukraine's.)
No, I cannot
2008, Georgia. Russian Air Force loses at least 9 aircraft. Georgian minuscule airforce remained grounded. The losses are considered catastrophic inside Russian military command, and overall performance of Air Force was appraised as the worst among branches of military forces.
In 2010s there's a string of assassinations happen in Ukraine and Bulgaria. Different people are targeted, from ex-military to weapon mogul Gebrev. What connects them? They all were part of the weapon sales chain that provided Georgia with anti-air defences. Bizarrely, Russian state media is openly accusing some of the victims in doing exactly this: selling anti-air weapons to Georgia.
Clearly, a vendetta is taking place. Killing those people wouldn't do anything positive for whatever future Russia was planning. And since the story starts with military campaign and ends with undercover hits, it must be Putin behind this, as he's the only person in command of both military and special forces committing the murders.
Syria. Russian Air Force enters the fray. But unlike Assad's they are flying their ground attack planes pretty high, way above range of manpads that are responsible for thinning out Syrian Air Force. Clearly, avoidance is put above target precision. Later, a single Russian aircraft is downed by Turkish defence. The relations between countries are soured, but only for a while.
What can we conclude? For whatever reason Putin hates losses in air force. Specifically, in military planes (it seems Russian helicopters aren't enjoying that privilege). I can't presume what this reason might be. But Putin's actions over the last 15 years seem to fit the narrative.
I think this misses the point entirely. It's their entire strategy, or lack of strategy that is in question. Small numbers of light vehicles entering towns they have not overcome...are then promptly destroyed by irregular Ukrainian forces often with improvised weapons. Seemingly trying to take large cities without first gaining and controlling ground and surrounding areas. Lack of attempts to destroy strategic infras…
If that's the case, industry mostly in the east would serve much better untouched, same for rest of infrastructure. Why destroy & rebuild when you get it for free and can start draining the country immediately. Bear in mind Russia has huge demographic problems just around the corner, and smart people were running away in droves long before this.
All this - truly, hardcore naive. In whole eastern Europe currently busy with refugees efforts, and whole nations would rather risk death than be once again enslaved by them, the memories are still rather fresh.
That Russia's foreign actions are (rightfully in this and many other cases) hated as much as Hitler wasn't something leadership could grok in any way. They keep peddling these bigger Russia tales while calling in 10,000 muslim killers from Chechnya on what they claim brotherly slavic nation. You can't fail more morally in the eyes of other slavs.
I can't be objective in this topic due to coming from this oppressed region, and tyrant evil persona like Putin doesn't deserve it. Yes there are many, less powerful people like him. I would love to see them be disposed of, stripped away from wealth and power for good. Till now it was a pipe dream, same as watching some narco-baron enjoying his wealth while slowly killing everybody. Now there is at least hope that things may change, and maybe even permanently, at least a bit. And hope is a powerful thing.
This cites but doesn't link "The Mysterious Case of the Missing Russian Air Force", which is a much more thorough treatment: https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentar... They list three possible explanations: * Too few precision-guided munitions (PGMs) * Risk of friendly fire from surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) due to poor coordination * Lack of experienced Russian pilots
"Lack of experienced Russian pilot" This one is so hard for me to imagine, given Russia's long history of aerospace pride and massive military budget. The article attributes it to limited flying time compared to US/UK pilots and unfamiliarity with their latest and most advanced jets. Truly hard to comprehend how a military like Russia's could be suffering from lack of training despite a multi-year lead-up to a massiv…
Many conflicting viewpoints here. Sure, there's been less of a push from Russia than everyone expected, but it's not like Ukraine controls the sky either. Are Ukranians really still flying? If that was the case, the mentioned 40-mile convoy heading to Kiev would have been hit by now, no? Russians driving vehicles bumper to bumper shows VERY strong confidence that they own the sky, so things might not be as rosy for U…
That Russia sent in such a rich sitting duck target and it's not being attacked suggests they have air superiority and we're getting bad information.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If that is the case, why would officials and experts be "stumped"? This seems like the obvious explanation.
The "stumped" is not actually in the article. FTA: the issue is that Russia made a huge show of force at the start of the invasion but has apparently held back from actually using much of it (by air or ground). This war could have been over the day it started if Russia had used maximal force, and the conservative approach their actually using maximizes risks and casualties. And that's what has the experts confused: t…
I'd you assume this is true, what they are doing make complete sense.