"All of Vlad's forces and all of Vlad's men, are out to put Humpty together again." (7 Viewers)

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buffnut453 said:
And clearly a crap joke from me.

I actually came across for-real technicals in Somalia back in 1993. There was some interesting kit driving around there.
Click to expand...

Crap joke, or crap reader? You make the call! Now tell us a little more about your stint in Somalia.

I've often dreamt of putting a pintle-mounted M2 .50 in the cutout for the moonroof on my truck. It's a stick-shift, wire controls onto the stick and goodbye Austin traffic!
 
Thumpalumpacus said:
I've often dreamt of putting a pintle-mounted M2 .50 in the cutout for the moonroof on my truck. It's a stick-shift, wire controls onto the stick and goodbye Austin traffic!
Click to expand...

The flaw is that, in using a 50 cal, you're likely to block the entire road with wrecked vehicles. Personally, I'd take a Sherman tank, that way you can simply drive over any stopped vehicles that get in your way. Of course, the downside is that the gas mileage sucks and it takes a LOOOONG time to get anywhere, even if there aren't traffic jams.

Thumpalumpacus said:
Crap joke, or crap reader? You make the call! Now tell us a little more about your stint in Somalia.
Click to expand...

Not much to report. I was only out there a couple of months...real hardship deployment staying a 3-star hotel in Mombasa, Kenya. I'd fly up-country every other day just to gather "atmospherics" at the various landing grounds where our aircraft were delivering aid and supplies. Towards the end of my time, we did a VIP tour of Somaliland in the north where I saw an ex-British Army Bedford 4-ton truck with a Russian ZU-23/2 mounted on the flatbed. I remarked "Look, an anti-aircraft gun" but one of our Somali guides simply shook his said and said "No. Anti-troop!"
 
buffnut453 said:
The flaw is that, in using a 50 cal, you're likely to block the entire road with wrecked vehicles.
Click to expand...

I've given that some thought. While my truck is not 4wd, it's the Desert Runner model, so it does feature high ground clearance and so long as it hasn't rained it can handle shoulders and such.





You can see a little of the moonroof I'd like to, uh, repurpose.
 

Russia blames Ukraine for nationalist's car bombing death

Russia’s top counterintelligence agency has blamed Ukrainian spy agencies have organized the killing of the daughter of a Russian nationalist ideologue
abcnews.go.com

So, the FSB knew this Ukrainian was in Moscow, monitored her movements at the event, knew she executed the attack, and then let her escape to Estonia? If all true, the FSB dropped the ball.
 

Not to mention the accused bomber fled to a NATO nation. That's all very convenient. This goes back to my earlier comment on this topic....I'm very nervous about how Moscow uses this event to justify next steps.

Oh...and a drive from Moscow to Estonia is almost 750km and takes over 9 hours. As you point out, it's nice to see the FSB is so "on the ball" with this threat that they couldn't intercept the perpetrator or prevent her crossing the border into Estonia.
 
This BBC article adds another detail:

Darya Dugina: Ukraine killed Putin ally's daughter, Russia says

Vladimir Putin calls the 29-year-old's death a "vile, cruel crime" but Ukraine denies any involvement.
www.bbc.com

Apparently, the alleged perpetrator was a contractor hired by Ukrainian special services. As noted in the ABC article, she arrived in Russia in July with her daughter. Now, I'm no deep special forces operator but what sort of operative takes their daughter on a hit job?

Also, where did this woman come from to arrive in Russia in July? Did she willingly cross the border from Ukraine? If so, I very much doubt that the Russians would have allowed her to stay in Moscow....they'd send her to more of a tree-counting location.

The whole thing smacks of FSB cover-up. They provide enough information to allocate blame but they leave lots of questions unanswered. Moscow is shaping the narrative for its own purpose.
 
First words from Alexander Dugin on the loss of his daughter. Unsurprisingly, he's trotting out the expected party-line blame game. The following is from the BBC:

The father of Darya Dugina, Alexander Dugin, has given a statement on the death of his daughter.

He calls her death "a terrorist act by the Ukrainian Nazi regime" and says his daughter was "brutally murdered in front of me".

"She was a beautiful Orthodox woman, patriot, war reporter, an expert for central TV and philosopher," he says.

"We only need our victory. My daughter sacrificed her young woman's life to its altar. So please, achieve it!"

Ukraine has denied involvement in Dugina's death.
 
Interesting update on the Darya Dugina story from the BBC, with a former Russian MP claiming it was an internal Russian group that caused the explosion:

A top adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky has hit back at Russian accusations that Ukraine was responsible for the bomb that killed Darya Dugina.

Earlier, Moscow alleged that a Ukrainian national working on behalf of Kyiv's security services planted the bomb, before fleeing across the border to Estonia.

But Mykhailo Podolyak called Moscow's accusations "fictional" and accused Russia of spreading propaganda.

Kyiv has consistently denied being behind the blast and yesterday Ilya Ponomarev, a former Russian MP and prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, said that internal groups opposed to the current regime were behind the bombing.

Ponomarev claimed the bombing was the work of a group called the National Republican Army, a collection of anti-Putin activists who have allegedly staged other attacks in Russia. The BBC cannot independently verify his claims.

 
Here's a bit more about the National Republican Army in Russia. Rather confusingly, they use the acronym NRA which is NOT (I stress NOT) the National Rifle Association in this context:

What Is Russia's Anti-Putin 'National Republican Army'?

The NRA purportedly said that its goal is to "overthrow" and "destroy Putin," and warned Russian officials that if they do not resign, they will be "destroyed."
www.newsweek.com

Are these the opening salvoes of an internal struggle over Russia's soul? Can't help thinking that Ilya Ponomarev is linked to the (Russian) NRA and may be taking a run at being perceived as the leader of opposition to Putin. Regardless, he's definitely put his bonce in the crosshairs of the Russian state apparatus.
 
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