"All of Vlad's forces and all of Vlad's men, are out to put Humpty together again." (10 Viewers)

[Escuadrilla Azul]

The russians are pushing in the Oskil river:

Ukraine Situation Report: Fighting Flares Around The Oskil River

Fierce fighting has resumed near Kupiansk, in an area Ukraine had liberated last Fall and around a river that's considered a barrier.

www.thedrive.com

 

[MiTasol]

Not sure I buy that. Even as things stood, the US built more than 40 brand new aircraft carriers during WW2. There were only 3 carriers in Pacific Fleet on 7 Dec 1941 (Lexingon, Saratoga and Enterprise). Adding another 3 carriers to the build list to replace them won't result in a seismic shift in production priorities.

I agree that loss of the Pacific Fleet carriers might have complicated the "Germany First" strategy but I'm not sure it would make any difference. Germany clearly presented the greater threat because, as already noted, Japan's strategy was impractical. For all its expansionist aspirations, Japan was never going to match the combined might of the US and Britain.

All that said, we should probably get back to the Ukraine situation.

You say losing all the Pacific Fleet carriers at Pearl Harbor would not have made any real difference.

Now think Midway and Coral Sea and how important those carriers were in those battles.

Back to the real subject though

UK minister tells Australia Ukraine can win if support is kept up

Visiting UK Armed Services Minister James Heappey flags the possibility of British troops being eventually stationed in Darwin.

www.abc.net.au

 

[rednev]

Can Ukraine "win"?
Ukraine clears every last square metre of their territory of Russian troops how without crossing into Russia do they prevent missile attacks?
Would the west support a dmz wide enough to protect Ukraine cities ?

 

[ThomasP]

Without the US carriers, Japan would have won at Coral Sea (if there was even a battle?) and taken Port Moresby, The US would have lost any naval battle at Midway (though I do not know if Japan would have taken Midway?). And there would have been virtually no offensive action by any US naval units other than submarines for about 2(?) years. This would not have won the war for Japan in the long run, but would have allowed them to solidify and expand their defensive positions in the PTO, making it much harder for the US to engage in subsequent offensive actions. What the ramifications would have been is too far down the rabbit hole for me, though obviously the US could have won eventually.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Without the US carriers, Japan would have won at Coral Sea…

 

[Snautzer01]

As i recall Patton wanted just the keep driving East. Just change enemy

Cant blame him if he looked at these boys and i mean boys. it looks like there were no more conscripts to be called left even woman

1945 | 2020 Kalenderblatt: Im Schatten von Torgau – erste Begegnung von US-Soldaten und Rotarmisten auf deutschem Boden am 25. April 1945 in Strehla, Lorenzkirch und Kreinitz | Gedenkstätte Ehrenhain Zeithain | Stiftung Sächsische Gedenkstätten

www.stsg.de

Getty Images

Getty Images. Find high resolution royalty-free images, editorial stock photos, vector art, video footage clips and stock music licensing at the richest image search photo library online.

www.gettyimages.fi

 

[buffnut453]

Without the US carriers, Japan would have won at Coral Sea (if there was even a battle?) and taken Port Moresby, The US would have lost any naval battle at Midway (though I do not know if Japan would have taken Midway?). And there would have been virtually no offensive action by any US naval units other than submarines for about 2(?) years. This would not have won the war for Japan in the long run, but would have allowed them to solidify and expand their defensive positions in the PTO, making it much harder for the US to engage in subsequent offensive actions. What the ramifications would have been is too far down the rabbit hole for me, though obviously the US could have won eventually.

You can still get 2 carriers at Coral Sea - Yorktown and Hornet. It just means the Doolittle Raid falls off the table...which, although a great morale boost, had zero impact on the war's outcome.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

If your goal is to kill and terrorize Ukraine's citizens attacking a crowded church makes perfect sense. Think of all the mosques and temples that get bombed by one side fighting another in Africa and Asia. You fish where the fish are.

This was on AP this morning:


ODESA, Ukraine (AP) — Tetiana Khlapova's hand trembled as she recorded the wreckage of Odesa's devastated Transfiguration Cathedral on her cellphone and cursed Russia, her native land.

Khlapova was raised in Ukraine and had always dreamed of living in the seaside city. But not as the war refugee that she has become.

In only a week, Russia has fired dozens of missiles and drones at the Odesa region. None struck quite as deeply as the one that destroyed the cathedral, which stands at the heart of the city's romantic, notorious past and its deep roots in both Ukrainian and Russian culture.

[...]

Last week's attacks marked the first time Odesa's historic city center was hit since the war started.

Mayor Hennadii Trukhanov was unequivocal in a furious video message directed to Russians after Sunday's strike on the cathedral, showing rescue workers carefully removing a damaged icon from the ruins.

"If you only knew how much Odesa hates you. Not only hates you. Despises you. You're fighting small children, the Orthodox church. Your rockets even fall on cemeteries," he said. "You must hardly know us Odessans. You will not break us, just make us angrier."

Another missile crashed into the House of Scientists, a mansion that once belonged to the Tolstoy family and was transformed into an institution to unite scholars and researchers. A third hit administrative and apartment buildings.

The targets were within 200 meters (yards) of the port. Shelest believes the cathedral was hit by accident, but that's little consolation amid the destruction.

Anger grows in Ukraine's port city of Odesa after Russian bombardment hits beloved historic sites

In just a week, Russia has fired dozens of missiles and drones at the Odesa region of Ukraine, hitting the historic city center that had been largely spared since the beginning of the war.

apnews.com

 

[GrauGeist]

This was on AP this morning:


ODESA, Ukraine (AP) — Tetiana Khlapova's hand trembled as she recorded the wreckage of Odesa's devastated Transfiguration Cathedral on her cellphone and cursed Russia, her native land.

Khlapova was raised in Ukraine and had always dreamed of living in the seaside city. But not as the war refugee that she has become.

In only a week, Russia has fired dozens of missiles and drones at the Odesa region. None struck quite as deeply as the one that destroyed the cathedral, which stands at the heart of the city's romantic, notorious past and its deep roots in both Ukrainian and Russian culture.

[...]

Last week's attacks marked the first time Odesa's historic city center was hit since the war started.

Mayor Hennadii Trukhanov was unequivocal in a furious video message directed to Russians after Sunday's strike on the cathedral, showing rescue workers carefully removing a damaged icon from the ruins.

"If you only knew how much Odesa hates you. Not only hates you. Despises you. You're fighting small children, the Orthodox church. Your rockets even fall on cemeteries," he said. "You must hardly know us Odessans. You will not break us, just make us angrier."

Another missile crashed into the House of Scientists, a mansion that once belonged to the Tolstoy family and was transformed into an institution to unite scholars and researchers. A third hit administrative and apartment buildings.

The targets were within 200 meters (yards) of the port. Shelest believes the cathedral was hit by accident, but that's little consolation amid the destruction.

Anger grows in Ukraine's port city of Odesa after Russian bombardment hits beloved historic sites

In just a week, Russia has fired dozens of missiles and drones at the Odesa region of Ukraine, hitting the historic city center that had been largely spared since the beginning of the war.

apnews.com

I would not blame Ukraine at all if they launched retaliatory strikes against Russian cities, but they are taking the high road in this war.

 

[Ascent]

View: https://twitter.com/UAWeapons/status/1683795511172648960?t=Zy7MB6GIQq-EeC8oqea7sA&s=19

Seems like another Ka-52 down along with its crew.

 

[RogerdeLluria]

Putin Is Running Out of Options in Ukraine

Russia edges closer to a reckoning.

www.foreignaffairs.com

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

I would not blame Ukraine at all if they launched retaliatory strikes against Russian cities, but they are taking the high road in this war.

Deliberately attacking civilians during a war is in my mind always wrong.

I understand wanting revenge, but giving into it would be a moral blot for Ukraine.

 

[RogerdeLluria]

What could go wrong?


View: https://twitter.com/kirlant/status/1683773683007991808

 

[buffnut453]

What could go wrong?


View: https://twitter.com/kirlant/status/1683773683007991808

Yeah...saw that one and just shook my head. The President gets to decide which PMCs are or are not authorized, and when a PMC should be dissolved. The PMCs will be armed with military weapons but if a PMC is dissolved then the company must return all its weapons to the local Governor.

Is Putin TRYING to foment a civil war? Or does he just long for those far off days of feudalistic fiefdoms? Either way, this is a total recipe for disaster. I'm filing it in the folder entitled "What on earth were you thinking?"

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Putin seems determined to deepen his relationship with the Law of Unintended Consequences.

 

[Escuadrilla Azul]

What could go wrong?


View: https://twitter.com/kirlant/status/1683773683007991808

Just image that the CIA or Ukrainia fund one of those...

 

[Glider]

The shops seem to be doing okay under the sanctions.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86fv294mws4

Of course most consumer goods would come from China, which has open borders and rail and air connections with Russia.

Those shops seem to be pretty much empty to me. Lots of shops and next to no customers. That isn't my definition of a shopping centre that is doing well

 

[Greg Boeser]

Those shops seem to be pretty much empty to me. Lots of shops and next to no customers. That isn't my definition of a shopping centre that is doing well

They are observing social distancing.

 

[Warspite63]

What could go wrong?


View: https://twitter.com/kirlant/status/1683773683007991808

That's even more ludicrous than the average Duma action ...... do they really WANT a civil war? And arm them with ...what, exactly? T34s off Great Patriotic War memorials?......

 

[buffnut453]

They are observing social distancing.

I think window distancing is more important in Russia.