"All of Vlad's forces and all of Vlad's men, are out to put Humpty together again." (3 Viewers)

[GrauGeist]

hmmm . . I just though of something. Maybe we should include "cigarette boats", aka "cigar boats", in the next aid package. Better yet - stealth cigarette/cigar boats. No RF coastal/riverside installation/base or ship would be safe from fires/explosions.

Well, the USCG did recently send some cutters to the Ukraine Navy...

 

[Admiral Beez]

Well, the USCG did recently send some cutters to the Ukraine Navy...

Did Britain ever deliver these?

United Kingdom to provide 8 Barzan-class fast attack craft to Ukraine

According to information published by the website Save the Royal Navy on September 18, 2020, the United Kingdom could provide 8 Barzan-class fast attack cr

navyrecognition.com

 

[fubar57]

Ukrainian forces pressed a counteroffensive to try to take back an occupied southern region, striking the last working bridge over a river in the Russian-occupied Kherson region, Ukrainian authorities said Saturday. In the meantime, Russia shells residential areas

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ukraine-russia-kramatorsk-aug13-1.6550572

 

[SaparotRob]

Have there been any declarations of war? What would be the ramifications of Ukraine declaring war against Russia? Short of nuclear exchange, I don't think there's much more Russia can do other than quit smoking.

 

[GrauGeist]

It looks to me, that that Ukraine has so far taken the political and military high road, leaving the Russians to make the political and military moves that Ukraine is in a position to defend.
This keeps them in a favorable position in the eyes of the international community.
They are clearly within their rights to declare war on Russia, but then that could go sideways, giving Russia a justification to go into full scale, no holds-barred assault.

 

[Snautzer01]

This keeps them in a favorable position in the eyes of the international community.

So an agressor makes war on the doorstep of the EU. How else can Ukraine be not "favorable" ?

 

[SaparotRob]

I think it's something to do with lawyers.

 

[GrauGeist]

So an agressor makes war on the doorstep of the EU. How else can Ukraine be not "favorable" ?

Where was the EU when Georgia and Moldova were invaded?

Where was the EU when Crimea and eastern Ukraine was invaded in 2014?

So far, Ukraine has not done anything to justify Russia's actions starting last February and they have refrained from doing anything provocative since that time.

 

[GTX]

If only:

 

[Admiral Beez]

If only:

I expect that training on the F-16 and F-15 is well underway. The US approved the training scheme in mid-July. I bet the first training flight happened within days.

Meanwhile, some wishful thinking from Moscow.

U.S. Refused Ukraine F-16s Over Zelensky 'Scandals':Russian Military Expert

Alexei Leonkov wrote on Telegram that the U.S. is starting to "restrict" supplies of arms to Ukraine.

www.newsweek.com

 

[FLYBOYJ]

I expect that training on the F-16 and F-15 is well underway. The US approved the training scheme in mid-July. I bet the first training flight happened within days.

Meanwhile, some wishful thinking from Moscow.

U.S. Refused Ukraine F-16s Over Zelensky 'Scandals':Russian Military Expert

Alexei Leonkov wrote on Telegram that the U.S. is starting to "restrict" supplies of arms to Ukraine.

www.newsweek.com

Rule out the F-15!

 

[buffnut453]

Did Britain ever deliver these?

United Kingdom to provide 8 Barzan-class fast attack craft to Ukraine

According to information published by the website Save the Royal Navy on September 18, 2020, the United Kingdom could provide 8 Barzan-class fast attack cr

navyrecognition.com

Well, firstly the comments about providing Barzan craft to Ukraine seem to date from 2020. Secondly, there are only 4 Barzan class vessels in existence, all with the Qatari Navy.

Personally, I think the entire story is made up by the website as click bait.

 

[SaparotRob]

I expect that training on the F-16 and F-15 is well underway. The US approved the training scheme in mid-July. I bet the first training flight happened within days.

Meanwhile, some wishful thinking from Moscow.

U.S. Refused Ukraine F-16s Over Zelensky 'Scandals':Russian Military Expert

Alexei Leonkov wrote on Telegram that the U.S. is starting to "restrict" supplies of arms to Ukraine.

www.newsweek.com

I found the article disturbing. I was thinking that the "Kherson offensive" was to trap as many Russian forces as possible on the wrong side of the Dnipro River and actually strike somewhere else. As Sun Tzu said "hit 'em where they ain't".
I hope it turns out to be all a clerical error.

 

[MiTasol]

I think it's something to do with lawyers.

And everyone knows that lawyer is the Olde Englishe spelling of LIAR.

 

[SaparotRob]

It looks to me, that that Ukraine has so far taken the political and military high road, leaving the Russians to make the political and military moves that Ukraine is in a position to defend.
This keeps them in a favorable position in the eyes of the international community.
They are clearly within their rights to declare war on Russia, but then that could go sideways, giving Russia a justification to go into full scale, no holds-barred assault.

I bring it up because I was thinking that POWs are due better treatment than POSMOs. Which got me thinking (not an easy thing) about other legal issues.
Using frozen Russian accounts to pay reparations. As justifiable as it is, we (NATO? EU?, UN?) can't just take take it. It would have to be legally settled somehow. If it's not a war, could damages be brought sooner in some civil court? I don't know how the frozen funds of the various Axis nations were handled.

Putler came up with a cockamamie name for the invasion of Ukraine. He did this to avoid a general mobilization which would have been unpopular and he is still trying to avoid it so he doesn't want to declare war. If Ukraine forced his hand, how might it affect the way Russians think about the war especially after the tourists ran out of Crimea.
Would there be any benefit Ukraine? Would/ should it affect arms shipments to Ukraine?

 

[buffnut453]

I bring it up because I was thinking that POWs are due better treatment than POSMOs. Which got me thinking (not an easy thing) about other legal issues.
Using frozen Russian accounts to pay reparations. As justifiable as it is, we (NATO? EU?, UN?) can't just take take it. It would have to be legally settled somehow. If it's not a war, could damages be brought sooner in some civil court? I don't know how the frozen funds of the various Axis nations were handled.

Putler came up with a cockamamie name for the invasion of Ukraine. He did this to avoid a general mobilization which would have been unpopular and he is still trying to avoid it so he doesn't want to declare war. If Ukraine forced his hand, how might it affect the way Russians think about the war especially after the tourists ran out of Crimea.
Would there be any benefit Ukraine? Would/ should it affect arms shipments to Ukraine?

I'm not sure Ukraine wants to declare war on Russia. If they do, then it's possible support from Europe and the US may cease. There's a reason that the US hasn't declared war since 1945. Other western countries have done the same. For example, neither the UK nor Argentina declared war over the Falklands/Malvinas. Declaring war has specific legal meanings which likely extend to those who are supporting either side in that war.

 

[GrauGeist]

In a military conflict, regardless of a declared state of war or not, military prisoners are bound by international law to be treated humanely.
Torture, execution, starvation or forced labor falls under war crimes.

 

[Glider]

I expect that training on the F-16 and F-15 is well underway. The US approved the training scheme in mid-July. I bet the first training flight happened within days.

Meanwhile, some wishful thinking from Moscow.

U.S. Refused Ukraine F-16s Over Zelensky 'Scandals':Russian Military Expert

Alexei Leonkov wrote on Telegram that the U.S. is starting to "restrict" supplies of arms to Ukraine.

www.newsweek.com

I like the start.
A Russian military expert has said the United States has started to restrict its military assistance to Ukraine and linked what he believed to be a cooling of Washington's support for Kyiv to the actions of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
If that's what their experts believe it easy to see why Putin is in the mess he is in.

Then again, maybe he also believes in the tooth fairy, that would make two of us

 

[SaparotRob]

I like the start.
A Russian military expert has said the United States has started to restrict its military assistance to Ukraine and linked what he believed to be a cooling of Washington's support for Kyiv to the actions of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
If that's what their experts believe it easy to see why Putin is in the mess he is in.

Then again, maybe he also believes in the tooth fairy, that would make two of us

I missed that part. Thanks Glider!

 

[buffnut453]

In a military conflict, regardless of a declared state of war or not, military prisoners are bound by international law to be treated humanely.
Torture, execution, starvation or forced labor falls under war crimes.

Well, yes, that's the case in a normal country. Russia, however, is anything but normal.

This reporting gives an indication of how bad things are in regular Russian prisons. I can't imagine what might be meted out against POWs or, worse, those identified as mercenaries:

Ex-inmates reveal details of Russia prison rape scandal

Former prisoners expose how and why rape is being used as a weapon inside Russian jails.

www.bbc.com