America & World IV: Trump's Taxing Day

[fishbowlhead]

UK forces have been in Ukraine for months already preparing, training the Ukrainian army, suppling equipment. British tanks were rolling into Ukraine as well this week, not to mention other heavy equipment.

The Russians wont have an easy time of it even with just the Ukrainians to contend with.

[Cassius_Smoke]

I have seen images of both the US and UK flags on various flac jackets and boxes of equipment in Ukraine. Although it probably didn't help that Trump stopped 30m dollars worth of equipment going there.

[Cassius_Smoke]

China has restricted lending to Russian banks and told them to chill. And the goddamn taliban just said they stand behind Ukraine.

Also 350m in US military aid has been approved, with a further 4 billion(!) going through Congress.

[Wools]

Reading tidbifs from overnight the current state of play appears to be that Russia has so far failed to take the major cities it had planned to, by their own strategic plans the war is already going terribly. Kyiv fended them off and a tweet from one of their media outlets suggested after overnight street fights Russia had to withdraw again. It's incredibly early but it's a first hint at how poorly judged and doomed all this ultimately is

I really hope that's the case. You do wonder how big the appetite is in the Russian millitary (On the ground) to invade another.

In another big Russian condeming the war, an advisor to the Kremlin has said the invasion is not justifiable.

[nonny]

Saw an interesting piece on Twitter about the underlying motive being to control trade ports in Ukraine due to most of Russia's own being unsuitable due to weather, size, accessibility etc... If Ukraine entered NATO they might restrict access and Putin doesn't want that.

https://twitter.com/myhistorytales/status/1496844821658411010?t=JPIEWAtrM6p0PmOH5QGk3w&s=19

[Cassius_Smoke]

There are estimates coming in that Ukraine has killed 3500 Russian soldiers and destroyed 500 APCs. Nothing confirmed.
It's all adding up to Russia taking a massive misstep.

[Neon Ignition]

Can you imagine if the pandemic hadn't happened and this had all begun during Trump's rule?
It's exactly why the world needs a massive cool off from right wing politics

[fishbowlhead]

There are estimates coming in that Ukraine has killed 3500 Russian soldiers and destroyed 500 APCs. Nothing confirmed.
It's all adding up to Russia taking a massive misstep.

Na. 500 apc’s? That would be a massive offensive on Ukraines part and a very quick disaster for Russia. I have no doubt that Russia is not having a good time of it though and finding Ukraine to be much stiffer resistance than anticipated. Basically the west will flood the Ukraine with whatever they need now.

As for Russia opening up other fronts into Finland, ha, no chance, they won’t have the troops or finance’s to keep that up.

[nonny]

Surely if they're having a hard time in Ukraine talk of Finland and Sweden is just bluster as they can't afford to spread themselves any more thinly. It's just a political warning shot to anyone looking to side with NATO but the reality is it'll amount to nothing.

[MartyG]

There are estimates coming in that Ukraine has killed 3500 Russian soldiers and destroyed 500 APCs. Nothing confirmed.
It's all adding up to Russia taking a massive misstep.

If that were the case they'd be parading it on television - do you really think that sounds realistic against a highly-trained Russian army when they only reported 158 casualties of their own? It's not going to be anything close to that. First casualty of war is truthful reporting.

For reference, less people than that died on Omaha beach on the D-Day landings.

[briareos_kerensky]

There are estimates coming in that Ukraine has killed 3500 Russian soldiers and destroyed 500 APCs. Nothing confirmed.
It's all adding up to Russia taking a massive misstep.

They are saying "500 armoured vehicles", which could be anything, even light vehicles like offroad SUVs and the like. The reports about 7 helicopters is more likely, the 10 aircrafts a bit less.
Even the so-called Ghost Of Kyiv, an important icon that Ukraine can rally behind, might be nothing more than a myth.

[Dogg Thang]

Even the so-called Ghost Of Kyiv, an important icon that Ukraine can rally behind, might be nothing more than a myth.

Footage has been found to come from a game, Digital Combat Simulator.

[Cassius_Smoke]

Yeah the numbers seem a bit high. Who knows.

[briareos_kerensky]

Footage has been found to come from a game, Digital Combat Simulator.

Which apparently was created as tribute to the pilot, the author of the video said. Ukrainian Armed Forces sharing the video helped spreading confusion, and the Ukranian president shared a photo with the alleged ghost. Real or not, it's a morale booster for Ukraine.

[Brad]

Which apparently was created as tribute to the pilot, the author of the video said. Ukrainian Armed Forces sharing the video helped spreading confusion, and the Ukranian president shared a photo with the alleged ghost. Real or not, it's a morale booster for Ukraine.

Yeah Eagle Dynamics sent a message out asking us all to not create any videos that might be used as real-life footage.

The 7 Helicopters claim seems possible considering how closely the Russian pilots have been flying to areas populated with manpads. I reckon for most of the soldiers/pilots this is their first real combat so mistakes are gonna be made and that means a lot of deaths.