"All of Vlad's forces and all of Vlad's men, are out to put Humpty together again." (2 Viewers)

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Germany sending 1,000 MANPATs and 500 MANPADS. Major policy change against shipping weapons to a warzone.

Sehr gut, sehr gut!

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Who cares? It's another Democracy on the team.

I like the idea of another democracy coming off the sidelines. I don't know if this is driven by public opinion but I'd sure as hell be happy if it is.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

West unleashes SWIFT bans, more crushing penalties on Russia

The United States and European nations agreed Saturday to impose the most potentially crippling financial penalties yet on Russia over its unrelenting invasion of Ukraine, going after the central bank reserves that underpin the Russian economy and severing some Russian banks from a vital global...

www.yahoo.com

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I like the idea of another democracy coming off the sidelines. I don't know if this is driven by public opinion but I'd sure as hell be happy if it is.

Germany has largely maintained a strict non-interventionist policy since the end of WW2 for obvious reasons like it or not. However, I think Germany understands the severity of Russia winning this war. It has huge implications for the future of Europe.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

All is not well in camelot.

What the Russian media is saying about the war in Ukraine

The Kremlin's hold on Russian media coverage appears to be slipping, which could present President Vladimir Putin with a fresh challenge, as he faces domestic and international opprobrium for his attack on Ukraine.

www.yahoo.com

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Meanwhile, in the Med...

UPDATED: Russian Navy Cruisers Positioned to Counter U.S., French and Italian Carrier Groups in the Mediterranean - USNI News

This post has been updated with a statement from Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday. This post has been updated to correct Monday’s position of RTS Marshal Ustinov. Three Russian guided-missile cruisers have been arrayed across the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to counter three...

news.usni.org

Good. Because of the Montreux Convention, none of the Western ships can move into the Black Sea anyway; and two of the three Russian missile cruisers won't be supporting ops against Ukraine either given that they're not based in the Black Sea. Moskva is locked up in the small sea, and the Russians will have a hard time keeping the other two on station given the sanctions.

By the way, do they have a tug handy?

 

[SaparotRob]

Germany has largely maintained a strict non-interventionist policy since the end of WW2 for obvious reasons like it or not. However, I think Germany understands the severity of Russia winning this war. It has huge implications for the future of Europe.

I think they might have some understanding for those under hostile occupation.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Germany has largely maintained a strict non-interventionist policy since the end of WW2 for obvious reasons like it or not. However, I think Germany understands the severity of Russia winning this war. It has huge implications for the future of Europe.

Exactly. I think they understand this at least as well as, say, France or the UK.

I get why they've played it safe through the Cold War; after all, they were pretty much Ground Zero for any nuclear exchange and had a vested interest in, uh, not getting nuked.

Any Germans here able to comment on the public feeling on the ground there? I don't think I'm the only one interested in hearing the German public's views.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Exactly. I think they understand this at least as well as, say, France or the UK.

I get why they've played it safe through the Cold War; after all, they were pretty much Ground Zero for any nuclear exchange and had a vested interest in, uh, not getting nuked.

Any Germans here able to comment on the public feeling on the ground there? I don't think I'm the only one interested in hearing the German public's views.

It wasn't just that. Following WW2, Germany's constitution allowed the country's military to be a defensive military only. Public opinion prevented it from being changed. It is too fresh in their minds. German military and civilian deaths in WW2 were 7,375,800. There is not a town in Germany without a memorial wall full of names on it memorializing the towns fallen sons and fathers. There is not a family in Germany that did not witness and experience the horror of war. Until now, they simply did not want to fight anymore, or contribute to someone else's war.

Just for context, the pics below are from my wife's town which has a population of 2,064. The walls to the left and right are names of thise who have fell in WW1 and WW2. Its a pretty significant amount.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I've spoken with my personal friends and family on the ground in Germany. All have the same sentiment, they wish there was no war, but they support Ukraine.

 

[The Basket]

It's in the West's best interest for Russia to lose. Or even if they win, they lose a lot of feathers.

There is a lot of support to Ukraine and also sympathy to the long suffering Russian population.

Maybe the Russian and Ukrainian are simply to much alike to be seen as the enemy. You're not fighting an enemy but a mirror image of yourself.

The next fear is if things do go sour then the only option would be go home or go hard. Such as using the full range of air power to bomb the civilian population.

Of course we don't know nothing. Maybe the Russians thought it would be a milk run. Maybe the Russian logistics are about to run dry Plenty's on social media about abandoned armour which has fun out of fuel. Maybe the West is supplied intel which makes it easy to target high value assets.

Dunno.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I think Putin is going to pump more and more troops into the Ukraine meat grinder until he overpowers them with sheer numbers

 

[GrauGeist]

I think Putin is going to pump more and more troops into the Ukraine meat grinder until he overpowers them with sheer numbers

However, there is a large number of volunteers heading to the Ukraine to join the fight.

I was just reading that volunteers are coming from Croatia, Israel and even some Americans who were working for a tech company (Just Answer) in the Ukraine joined in.

 

[The Basket]

Whatever happened it's clear Plan A didn't work.

I would assume the Russian just thought turning up would be enough.

But now the West is openly supplying arms to Ukraine and resistance is getting harder and Russia is losing soldiers and material.

The Russian banking system is about to be wiped out and the economy is going to go back to the medieval era.

Russia has already lost. The question or rather the fear is that whether the Russians realise this.

 

[SaparotRob]

Whatever happened it's clear Plan A didn't work.

I would assume the Russian just thought turning up would be enough.

But now the West is openly supplying arms to Ukraine and resistance is getting harder and Russia is losing soldiers and material.

The Russian banking system is about to be wiped out and the economy is going to go back to the medieval era.

Russia has already lost. The question or rather the fear is that whether the Russians realise this.

It's whether or not Putin realizes it or decides to go Fuehrerbunker. Or perhaps an oligarch decides on enlightened self interest. I can't see Putin able to back out down without some brilliant diplomatic move.

 

[GrauGeist]

Pretty sure this played out once before in Russia's history.

It had something to do with Finland and resulted in a serious ass-kicking.

Kids, this is why it's important to pay attention to history class.

 

[The Basket]

Problem is that if he looks weak then his whole schtick is that he isn't.

I would assume the plan would be that Ukraine folds like paper and the West cowers like old ladies hiding under their beds. Plus how is Putin going to create a puppet Ukrainian state now?

Instead Ukraine is still fighting, and the West is openly supporting Ukraine and places like Poland and Finland are now angry and openly Finland is talking about joining NATO.

It's gone horribly wrong and even the most optimistic Russian assessment must see that.

There wasn't supposed to be any fighting and the West wasn't supposed to be united and now totally opposed to you.

What's worse you have highlighted that from a conventional warfare standpoint, you ain't all that. So yeah taking on NATO is an extremely hollow threat.

My goodness, the Russians have screwed up. And they didn't need to and didn't have to.

 

[wlewisiii]

Pretty sure this played out once before in Russia's history.

It had something to do with Finland and resulted in a serious ass-kicking.

Kids, this is why it's important to pay attention to history class.

Winter War 2: Electric Boogaloo?

< whistles innocently >

 

[Marcel]

I wish I could be so optimistic. I still believe we're only fed the info that we are supposed to get. Not that I blame them for doing that.

But I hope it's true that it's going bad for the Russians. That it's not going to plan is to be expected. The first casualty of war is always the plan.

I fear that the only solution is that the Russian people stand up for themselves. And I don't see that happen very soon.

 

[The Basket]

So plan A has failed.

Now it's plan go hard or go home.

And maybe that's the worst kind of plan. The Zapp Brannigan plan where you keep on sending men and material until the enemy runs out of ammunition.