Ukraine. The End Game

[T&C]

https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/ukraine-road-signs-removed-to-confuse-and-disorient-the-enemy-20220227?source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR2ztJYI8rZr8RiJxZLoM0L9MUPPKcEnGOre4KnVUJPCG_O_vFXt7vKJXf8

[billsfan_34]

1 hour ago, sherpa said:

 

The A7E at sea, then with the adversaries, the A4 Superfox,, F5 and the F-18.

Never saw them at the Yuma range, which we were at all the time.

As you state, such a small community.

I think I remember every engagement with a Harrier, 'cause it's such a weird adversary.

My brain was better then, but I think I could still draw them up.

Harriers have been on Yuma for a long time. They have been phased out with the F-35s. You may have been out at Yuma Proving Grounds and not at the air station. Regardless, nice to meet ya!

[SCBills]

So Lukashenko spoke to Zelenskyy today..

 

Arranged a meeting between Ukrainian and Russian delegations.  
 

Now Lukashenko has asked for nukes and will join the Russian invasion. 
 

I know he’s Putin’s puppet, but that is quite the day…

[sherpa]

8 hours ago, billsfan_34 said:

Harriers have been on Yuma for a long time. They have been phased out with the F-35s. You may have been out at Yuma Proving Grounds and not at the air station. Regardless, nice to meet ya!

 

When I say I never saw them, I meant I never fought them there.

 

Based at Lemoore, we spent a lot of time at the Yuma TACTS range in the winter.

We used to do a det every Feb with the Canadians down there, and always used it to train new guys in the F-18 RAG.

Kind of funny watching TopGun and seeing the same room we debriefed in all the time.

This pic is from there:

 

[SCBills]

Looks like Kharkiv is being shelled, which makes it seem like if these peace talks fail, Putin will go the Grozny route.  
 

In the Chechen war, he was bogged down in urban fighting and ended up circling the city (like he has now) and then leveling the city with rockets.  
 

Worst case scenario. 

[John Adams]

10 hours ago, SCBills said:

So Lukashenko spoke to Zelenskyy today..

 

Arranged a meeting between Ukrainian and Russian delegations.  
 

Now Lukashenko has asked for nukes and will join the Russian invasion. 
 

I know he’s Putin’s puppet, but that is quite the day…

 

I don't know that he asked for nukes. Seems like he will allow Russia to position nukes there. 

 

Not good news either way but it's an important difference--There is not a new nuclear power. 

[John Adams]

 

If this goes anywhere and I'm doubtful, the head of the Russian delegation is Vladimir Medinsky. 

 

He recently said that the creation of Ukraine was a phantom and has been involved in rewriting history with the Russian Ministry of Culture. Sounds like just the right guy to move things towards peace.

[Coffeesforclosers]

Watching Russia get smoked in the propaganda war...well it's a joy.  The image of the Russian Army has gone from an invincible wall of tanks and missile launchers, to crying 19 year olds in baggy camies standing next tanks with no gas.

 

I feel awful for those poor kids.  Especially when Putin starts rolling out the heavy artillery on Ukrainian cities, and the locals stop seeing boys in uniforms and start seeing Russian invaders on their way to blow up apartment blocks.

 

 

[sherpa]

The Russians have evidently ended the Ukrainian Air Force.

The photos of an alleged 15 mile long convoy of Russian artillery only 17 miles from Kiev suggests that there is no air opposition available.

If there was, that convoy could be wiped out like the Iraqi highway of death.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

4 minutes ago, sherpa said:

The Russians have evidently ended the Ukrainian Air Force.

The photos of an alleged 15 mile long convoy of Russian artillery only 17 miles from Kiev suggests that there is no air opposition available.

If there was, that convoy could be wiped out like the Iraqi highway of death.

I had the same thought, although maybe they only have air to air capability left? 

[PetermansRedemption]

3 minutes ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

I had the same thought, although maybe they only have air to air capability left? 

Im not sure they ever had bomber capability. A quick looks shows their Air Force is (was?) almost entirely SU-27 and Mig-29's. The SU-27's seem to be exclusively air to air combat. The Mig-29's can be converted to have air to surface capability, but I doubt Ukraine was spending much money on their military weapons conversions.  

Edited February 28, 2022 by PetermansRedemption

[John Adams]

34 minutes ago, Coffeesforclosers said:

Watching Russia get smoked in the propaganda war...well it's a joy.  The image of the Russian Army has gone from an invincible wall of tanks and missile launchers, to crying 19 year olds in baggy camies standing next tanks with no gas.

 

I feel awful for those poor kids.  Especially when Putin starts rolling out the heavy artillery on Ukrainian cities, and the locals stop seeing boys in uniforms and start seeing Russian invaders on their way to blow up apartment blocks.

 

 

Russia is just getting started in this war. We’re on day 4. 

Edited February 28, 2022 by John Adams

[T&C]

Ruble now worth less than a penny:

 

https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/ukraine-ruble-worth-less-than-one-cent-after-biggest-currency-crash-20220228/?source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR2QDHnDWK5OLrw-ZXgaTuACJcjWD2ucu8-uY_udCRN2fPrBC0HBkaO9hNc

[sherpa]

29 minutes ago, John Adams said:

Russia is just getting started in this war. We’re on day 4. 

 

And in historical context, they've already lost it.

48 minutes ago, PetermansRedemption said:

Im not sure they ever had bomber capability. A quick looks shows their Air Force is (was?) almost entirely SU-27 and Mig-29's. The SU-27's seem to be exclusively air to air combat. The Mig-29's can be converted to have air to surface capability, but I doubt Ukraine was spending much money on their military weapons conversions.  

 

I haven't looked at the inventory since the start of the war, but before that, they were showing SU24' and 25's, which are ground attack.

Tough to really get accurate data on some of these things.

If you've got a gun, you have some capability, even if you're primarily air to air.

Edited February 28, 2022 by sherpa

[PetermansRedemption]

6 minutes ago, T&C said:

Ruble now worth less than a penny:

 

https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/ukraine-ruble-worth-less-than-one-cent-after-biggest-currency-crash-20220228/?source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR2QDHnDWK5OLrw-ZXgaTuACJcjWD2ucu8-uY_udCRN2fPrBC0HBkaO9hNc

This type of thing worries me. IMO, It’s a delicate balance between punishing and over punishing. Generally, in order to get public support behind a fanatical leader there has to be widespread suffering. These sanctions may create that amongst the Russian people. Depending on how Russian propaganda can spin it, this could lead to Putin being emboldened within his own nation. Which could, in turn, embolden him to push for more land. Or it could end up in Putin being pushed out of power. 

Edited February 28, 2022 by PetermansRedemption

[B-Man]

 

 

Two smart pieces on the Ukraine

 

 

 

VDH: The crowded road to Kyiv

 

https://amgreatness.com/2022/02/27/the-crowded-road-to-kyiv/

 

 

 

 

Lipson:  Putin ends the post-Cold War order. The question now is what comes next — and how much will it look like what came before

 

https://spectatorworld.com/topic/putin-attacks-cold-war-order/

 

 

 

 

[T&C]

Russian Vodka not for sale in parts of the US:

 

https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2022/02/28/state-governors-boycott-russian-vodka-ukraine-conflict

 

[B-Man]

 

 

 

 

[B-Man]

 

 

Putin’s breath-taking hypocrisy: Russian dictator declares Ukrainians are ‘extreme gangsters’ and accuses them of using civilians as ‘human shields’ as his forces relentlessly bombard families’ homes.

 

The address, one of the first Putin has made in public since announcing the start of his ‘special operation’ eight days ago – will do little to reassure anyone that the war is close to being over, or that Russia can be brought to the negotiating table without more blood being shed.

 

But it also hints that Putin is rattled as the fighting proves harder than Russian commanders anticipated, and western sanctions go harder and deeper than even European or American observers predicted. All hope of a swift victory has now been dashed, leaving Putin facing a long, bloody and expensive war to achieve his aims.

 

And he’s defined those aims narrowly now: “Referring to the invasion as a ‘special operation’ aimed only at protecting the eastern Donbass region, he acknowledged that some Russian forces including a senior commander had died in the fighting – but claimed the officer had blown himself up in a heroic act of sacrifice while taking out several Ukrainian soldiers.”

 

 

Putin’s all in, and can’t afford to back down now.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10573065/Ukraine-war-Kyiv-convoy-hardly-moved-three-days.html

[Big Blitz]

....In 2014, Russia launched the System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS), a Russian alternative to SWIFT. In 2015, China launched the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS), a Chinese alternative to SWIFT. CIPS processed around $12.68 trillion in 2021, a 75% increase from 2020. CIPS has about 1,280 financial institutions in 103 countries and regions connected to their system.

 

Combine the Russian System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS) with the Chinese Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) and you see the foundation of a new Russian-Chinese cross-border payment system bypassing SWIFT and speeding up global de-dollarization.

 

.....Thanks to the incompetence of U.S. and E.U. policymakers, western nations have foolishly dismantled their own energy independence in exchange for Russian oil and gas. As a consequence, Russia and China have invaded Ukraine with the ultimate goal of sparking increased inflation in the west, increasing the cost of food and energy, and speeding up the global process of de-dollarization.

 

This comes after the Federal Reserve doubled its balance sheet over the last two years, inflation hit 40-year highs, and U.S. government debt exceeded $30 trillion for the first time. Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping feel emboldened by a Biden administration that shut down U.S. energy independence, abandoned Afghanistan in chaos, and created the highest inflation in 40-years.

 

They are not threatened by a Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who still sits in his position after he admitted in front of Congress that he would give his Chinese counterpart a heads up if the United States ever launched an attack. They may even have more control over the situation than anyone is aware of considering the Bank of China and other Chinese state-controlled banks gave $1.5 billion to an investment fund owned by the son of Joe Biden.

 

https://kanekoa.substack.com/p/inflation-de-dollarization-and-russias

 

 

I'm convinced that the old 60-70 something oligarchs that orchestrated the "recovery" plan following the 2008-09 financial crash.....implemented plans to keep them wealthy in the last years or decade of their lives kicking the can down the road.  

 

I feel like time is almost up.