"All of Vlad's forces and all of Vlad's men, are out to put Humpty together again." (1 Viewer)

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The whole nation from the Religious Leadership on down is just as demented and as sick as Putin.

You're better than this. You know that there are many Russians who are against this war but cannot speak up for fear of imprisonment or worse. Writing the whole nation off is silly at best and malignant at worst.
 
I hope you're right about this.



I think the Patriots. if they're forthcoming (and I've read a couple of reports they are) will be backfill for NATO allies forwarding their own S-300 systems, given the training curve. Better to give the Ukrainians systems they can use immediately and backfill the equipment for donor nations where training can happen in a longer timespan, rather than expect Ukrainian missileers to learn OJT an entirely new system in combat.

And railways aren't the only way to insert weaponry into Ukraine -- road-nets are harder to interrupt and easier to repair.
There are concerns in Ukraine about the time required for Patriot's integration into the air defence system and about the compatibility.
There is also an acute shortage of radars, too many were destroyed in the first days of the invasion. They say it is impossible to restore the whole country's coverage with domestic production. The capacity is too small. So, probably, radars before the missiles.
Probably, Patriot is a long term solution, while S-300 is a short term one. For long-range defence.
The same with NASAMS and Buk (if there are any left in Finland or elsewhere) for mid-range.
 
You're better than this. You know that there are many Russians who are against this war but cannot speak up for fear of imprisonment or worse. Writing the whole nation off is silly at best and malignant at worst.
Consider them as people sick or heavily addicted to the powerful drugs. This is how I think about relatives (friends, ex-colleagues, etc.) in Russian Federation. No arguments anymore, just a hope for their recovery... some sunny day.
 
Given their border disputes that one is very unlikely.
Who knows what the future brings in regards to this minor border dispute?
Modi is as nationalistic as Xi - let's see what the next Indian PM is about.

India fielded a contingent from 2nd Battalion of Naga Regiment from Eastern Command which also looks after the border with China while China deployed troops from 14 Corps of China's Chengdu Military Region, whose focus is on Indian borders.
"We will continue to work together and take our traditional friendship to new heights," Lt Gen Surinder said.
 

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Consider them as people sick or heavily addicted to the powerful drugs. This is how I think about relatives (friends, ex-colleagues, etc.) in Russian Federation. No arguments anymore, just a hope for their recovery... some sunny day.

I think plenty of them sense the fact that their propaganda is bullshit. I think plenty of them are thoroughly and happily brainwashed, too. Writing off an entire nation of 144 million people is not only unfair, it's almost certainly wrong, as it's based on slipshod "thinking".
 
I agree on everything except for the communist part. Communism requires a socioeconomic order structured upon the ideas of common or social ownership (usually state ownership) of all property, including the means of production. He is only a believer on the authoritarian methods of soviet communism and the past greatness of the Soviet union/Russian Empire while allowing free market economy, and of course his oligarch friends. Which basically makes him a Fascist or a Nazi.

Great post, Roger. From where I sit, the main hangover from Communism in modern Russia is the concept that the people are there to sustain the state, with the state being the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. It explains why Putin is so immune to the sufferings of his people, because in his mind that suffering is necessary to preserve the state. It wouldn't surprise me if he didn't have Hitler-like views whereby strife actually strengthens the people, and thereby strengthens the state.
 
Timing is everything:

Russia is halting its supply of natural gas to Finland, the Finnish state-owned energy firm Gasum says.
Finland has been refusing to pay for its supplies in roubles. But it also follows an announcement that Finland will apply for Nato membership.
Gasum said the move was "regrettable" but said there would be no disruption to customers.
Despite the Ukraine conflict, Russia continues to supply gas to many European countries.
After Western powers sanctioned Russia over the war, Russia said "unfriendly" countries must pay for gas using the Russian currency, a move the EU considers blackmail.
Reliance on Russian energy is a contributing factor in the cost-of-living crisis faced by many consumers.

Finland imports most of its gas from Russia but gas accounts for less than a tenth of the country's energy consumption.
"It is highly regrettable that natural gas supplies under our supply contract will now be halted," said Gasum CEO Mika Wiljanen.
"However, we have been carefully preparing for this situation and provided that there will be no disruptions in the gas transmission network, we will be able to supply all our customers with gas in the coming months," he added.

Asked about the matter, a Kremlin spokesman said "it is obvious that nobody is going to deliver anything for free".
On Sunday, Russia also cut electricity supplies to Finland. It had threatened retaliation should Finland apply to join Nato.
In a separate development, Russia's state-owned oil company Rosneft said on Friday that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder had informed them he would no longer serve on their board.

Mr Schröder has faced increasing public outrage over the lucrative role. He has refused to criticise Russia's President Vladimir Putin over the conflict, who he counts as a personal friend.
 
I've started to just ignore the posts. Not worth responding to.

I hear you, I'm just built in such a manner that I think malignant generalizations should not be allowed to go unanswered. I won't get into any mudwrestling, but any time I see millions of people lumped together and written off, it rankles.
 
I hear you, I'm just built in such a manner that I think malignant generalizations should not be allowed to go unanswered. I won't get into any mudwrestling, but any time I see millions of people lumped together and written off, it rankles.

I don't disagree with you. These malignant generalizations are one of the reasons the political climate in the US is so terrible at the moment.
 
I hear you, I'm just built in such a manner that I think malignant generalizations should not be allowed to go unanswered. I won't get into any mudwrestling, but any time I see millions of people lumped together and written off, it rankles.

I don't disagree with you. These malignant generalizations are one of the reasons the political climate in the US is so terrible at the moment.

I've challenged this poster several times. While I've considered the "ignore" option, I think it's more important to stand up against some of his views.
 
Two items from this (May) month's Air Force magazine:

page 20 divestments--100 MQ-9s will move to "another government organization," Kendall said, not specifying the agency.

page 5 letters to the editor-- a concise statement by retired Lt.Col. Marshall Miller, from his letter, "By threatening NATO with nuclear blackmail, Russia has exposed its real intent and that is simply to subjugate or neuter the entire continent, ridding it of U.S. influence while eliminating NATO."

Due to lead publishing time, the Lt. Col. most likely wrote this before the latest events in Ukraine.
 
I find this one really interesting:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for action to improve his country's resistance to cyber-attacks, saying Russia had been hit by numerous incidents since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine.
"We were generally ready for this attack," he said during a meeting of Russia's Security Council.
"This is the result of the system-wide work that has been undertaken in the past few years."
The attacks were coming from different countries, but were "clearly co-ordinated", he added, and targeted Russia's "critical information infrastructure" - including the media, financial institutions and government portal.
Protection against such attacks could be achieved by hardening sensitive state and industry facilities, and through avoiding the use of foreign technology, among other things, he added.



If Russia truly cuts itself off from foreign technology for it's information infrastructure then, IMHO, it's dooming itself to being stuck decades behind everyone else, which means it will simply get left behind. Since, in today's world, information = wealth, this will clearly impact Russia's broader economy. If the term "foreign technology" only refers to Western equipment, then Russia may have to rely on Chinese technology...and we all know the risks that such a move imposes since China is not averse to installing data monitoring and capture capabilities within their hardware, with that data then being sent to Beijing.

Putin is increasingly looking like King Canute/Cnut. He's lord of his domain and maintains a vice-like grip on it. Unfortunately, his domain gets smaller and smaller, and less relevant, as the tide comes in.
 
From where I sit, the main hangover from Communism in modern Russia is the concept that the people are there to sustain the state, with the state being the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end.
The very definition of totalitarianism, and the bridge that connects far left communism to far right fascism, changing the political spectrum into a circular continuum.
 

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