News & views related to the war in Ukraine …
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December 25, 2024
Ukraine Open Thread 2024-309
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Pavel Durov will cooperate with Israel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYBMI1l0MQY
Posted by: Naive | Dec 25 2024 13:16 utc | 1
Tankers, planes, shopping malls…The destruction of the civil Russian Federation is accelerating…The trolls here will of course say that these are all small pinpricks…But if you add up the small pinpricks for over 10 years, The pattern of destruction immediately strikes you…How many Russian lives has the Jewish-neoliberal Trojan horse been responsible for??? And it will not end until the Jewish-Neoliberal clown is removed and the REAL WAR against the American Pigs starts…
Posted by: Larsbo | Dec 25 2024 13:54 utc | 2
Posted by: Larsbo | Dec 25 2024 13:54 utc | 2
… and a merry Christmas to you too.
Posted by: HB_Norica | Dec 25 2024 13:58 utc | 3
Today’s update https://tass.com/politics/1893243
Russian troops liberate Novy Trud community in Donbass region over past day
Russia’s Battlegroup South inflicted roughly 245 casualties on Ukrainian troops and destroyed six enemy howitzers in its area of responsibility over the past day, the Defense Ministry reported
© Alexey Konovalov/TASS
MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/. Russian troops liberated the community of Novy Trud in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Wednesday.
“Battlegroup Center units liberated the settlement of Novy Trud in the Donetsk People’s Republic as a result of decisive offensive operations,” the ministry said in a statement.
Russia delivers massive strike on energy sites of Ukraine’s military-industrial sector
Russian forces delivered a massive strike by long-range precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles on energy sites of Ukraine’s military-industrial sector over the past day, the ministry reported.
“This morning, the Russian Armed Forces delivered a massive strike by long-range precision weapons and attack unmanned aerial vehicles on Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure sites supporting the operation of the country’s military-industrial sector. The goal of the strike was achieved. All the sites were struck,” the ministry said.
Russia’s Battlegroup North inflicts over 40 casualties on Ukrainian army in Kharkov area
Russia’s Battlegroup North inflicted more than 40 casualties on Ukrainian troops and destroyed an enemy howitzer in its area of responsibility in the Kharkov Region over the past day, the ministry reported.
“Battlegroup North units operating in the Kharkov direction, inflicted losses on the armed formations of a mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian army and a territorial defense brigade in areas near the settlements of Liptsy and Volchansk in the Kharkov Region,” the ministry said.
The Ukrainian army lost more than 40 personnel, two pickup trucks and a 122mm D-30 howitzer in that frontline area over the past 24 hours, it specified.
Russia’s Battlegroup West inflicts 400 casualties on Ukrainian army over past day
Russia’s Battlegroup West inflicted roughly 400 casualties on Ukrainian troops and destroyed five enemy artillery systems in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.
“Battlegroup West units improved their tactical position and inflicted damage on manpower and equipment of three mechanized brigades and an assault brigade of the Ukrainian army and a territorial defense brigade in areas near the settlements of Dvurechnaya, Zagryzovo, Kucherovka, Grigorovka and Borovaya in the Kharkov Region and Terny in the Donetsk People’s Republic. They repelled a counterattack by Ukrainian armed formations,” the ministry said.
The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the past 24 hours amounted to 400 personnel, five motor vehicles, a British-made 155mm FH70 howitzer, a 152mm D-20 howitzer, a 122mm Gvozdika motorized artillery system, a 122mm D-30 howitzer and a US-made 105mm M119 artillery gun, it specified.
In addition, Russian forces destroyed a Zakhist-AF electronic warfare station of the Ukrainian army, it said.
Russia’s Battlegroup South inflicts 245 casualties on Ukrainian army over past day
Russia’s Battlegroup South inflicted roughly 245 casualties on Ukrainian troops and destroyed six enemy howitzers in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.
“Battlegroup South units improved their frontline positions and inflicted casualties on formations of two mechanized brigades and an airmobile brigade of the Ukrainian army in areas near the settlements of Seversk, Druzhkovka, Chasov Yar and Dachnoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic,” the ministry said.
The Ukrainian army lost as many as 245 personnel, two motor vehicles and six 122mm D-30 howitzers in that frontline area over the past 24 hours, it specified.
In addition, Russian forces destroyed two ammunition depots of the Ukrainian army, it said.
Russia’s Battlegroup Center inflicts over 550 casualties on Ukrainian army in past day
Russia’s Battlegroup Center inflicted more than 550 casualties on Ukrainian troops and destroyed three enemy artillery guns in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.
During the last 24-hour period, Battlegroup Center units “inflicted damage on manpower and equipment of four mechanized brigades, a motorized infantry brigade and a jaeger brigade of the Ukrainian army, two marine infantry brigades and a National Guard brigade in areas near the settlements of Novotroitskoye, Udachnoye, Nadezhdinka, Grishino, Andreyevka, Dzerzhinsk, Petrovskoye, Shevchenko, Krasnoarmeisk and Novoolenovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic. They repelled 10 counterattacks by enemy armed formations,” the ministry said.
The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the past 24 hours amounted to more than 550 personnel, an infantry fighting vehicle, an armored personnel carrier, three motor vehicles, a 152mm Msta-B howitzer, a 122mm D-30 howitzer and a US-made 105mm M101 artillery gun, it specified.
Russia’s Battlegroup East inflicts 170 casualties on Ukrainian army over past day
Russia’s Battlegroup East inflicted roughly 170 casualties on Ukrainian troops and destroyed two enemy howitzers in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.
“Battlegroup East units kept moving deep into the enemy’s defenses and inflicted losses on formations of three mechanized brigades of the Ukrainian army, a National Guard brigade and a territorial defense brigade in areas near the settlements of Velikaya Novosyolka, Vremevka, Razliv, Neskuchnoye and Zelyonoye Pole in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Temirovka in the Zaporozhye Region. They repulsed two counterattacks by enemy assault groups,” the ministry said.
The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the past 24 hours amounted to 170 personnel, a 152mm D-20 howitzer and a 122mm D-30 howitzer, it specified.
In addition, Russian forces destroyed an electronic warfare station of the Ukrainian army, it said.
Russia’s Battlegroup Dnepr inflicts over 90 casualties on Ukrainian army in past day
Russia’s Battlegroup Dnepr inflicted more than 90 casualties on Ukrainian troops and destroyed five enemy artillery guns in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.
“Battlegroup Dnepr units improved their frontline positions and inflicted damage on manpower and equipment of a mountain assault brigade and an infantry brigade of the Ukrainian army and two territorial defense brigades in areas near the settlements of Novoandreyevka and Zherebyanki in the Zaporozhye Region, Pridneprovskoye and Nikolskoye in the Kherson Region,” the ministry said.
The Ukrainian army lost more than 90 personnel, nine motor vehicles, a Polish-made 155mm Krab self-propelled artillery system, three 152mm D-20 howitzers and a 122mm Gvozdika motorized artillery system, it specified.
In addition, Russian forces destroyed an electronic warfare station, two ammunition depots and a materiel depot of the Ukrainian army in that frontline area over the past 24 hours, it said.
Russian forces destroy deployment site of Ukraine’s SBU, mercenaries over past day
Russian forces destroyed a deployment site of foreign mercenaries and Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) over the past day, the ministry reported.
“Operational/tactical aircraft, attack unmanned aerial vehicles, missile troops and artillery of the Russian groups of forces destroyed a deployment site of foreign mercenaries and the SBU and struck the infrastructure of military airfields and amassed enemy manpower and military equipment in 140 areas,” the ministry said.
Russian air defenses destroy 119 Ukrainian UAVs, 5 HIMARS rockets over past day
Russian air defense forces destroyed 119 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and five US-made HIMARS rockets over the past day, the ministry reported.
“Air defense capabilities shot down five rockets of the US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system and 119 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles,” the ministry said.
Overall, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 650 Ukrainian warplanes, 283 helicopters, 38,539 unmanned aerial vehicles, 590 surface-to-air missile systems, 19,969 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,504 multiple rocket launchers, 19,991 field artillery guns and mortars and 29,490 special military motor vehicles since the start of the special military operation, the ministry reported.
Posted by: Newbie | Dec 25 2024 14:02 utc | 4
Larsbo @2:
Why don’t the Americas man up and own these sucker punches they throw at Russia? Are they afraid? It isn’t as if the Russians will retaliate against the US or anything like that.
Posted by: William Gruff | Dec 25 2024 15:01 utc | 5
I see Trump has all ready started negotiations with the Russians and hasn’t even sat on the throne. First time around he introduced them to the Art of the Steal: Syria’s oil. Now he introduces the Art of the Deal……you stop invading the Ukraine we’ll stop sinking your merchant fleet…..auld Davey Jones got company this past week.
Cheers M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Dec 25 2024 15:04 utc | 6
Posted by: HB_Norica | Dec 25 2024 13:58 utc | 3
Only a dead American is a good American…I think that’s what it was called…
Posted by: Larsbo | Dec 25 2024 15:22 utc | 7
Yea … the west may or may not have been responsible for a Russian merchant ship sinking in the Mediteranian while the houti’s are certainly responsible for sinking 3 western merchant ships, damaging many others and forcing western sea trade to round the horn of Africa driving up the price of everything including Russian oil and it’s the Russian than need relief.
Btw. Trump has said he has been speaking to the Russian but the Russian deny it … it’s not the first time Trump has lied about negotiating with Russian either.
Posted by: HB_Norica | Dec 25 2024 15:25 utc | 8
the Ukrainian propaganda screams, Putin is so evil for attacking Ukraine on Christmas. How could he? Except that Putin offered a Christmas truce, and Zelesky refused! you reap what you sow. No Power for you on catholic christmas! No heating, and no running water for your newly celebrated western holiday. all the naughty Ukrainian nazis are praying that Santa delivered them some coal in their stockings this year. but Russia has taken all the coal mines in the Donbas, and the flying reindeer ain’t magical enough to evade Russian air defenses. Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas!
Posted by: Newbie | Dec 25 2024 14:02 utc | 4
Thanks for the update. The grind continues… I think this meat grinder will be over in the coming year, in spite of NATO/US efforts to keep it going to the last Ukrainian.
Posted by: ctiger | Dec 25 2024 15:31 utc | 10
@ larsbo 2
Until the Jewish-Neoliberal clown is removed and the REAL WAR against the American Pigs starts…
Posted by: Larsbo | Dec 25 2024 13:54 utc | 2
Putinophiles have been encouraging Putin to more and more disaster since 2014 by saying that stupid coward moves of Russia is 7 circle chess moves.!
thousand days of war and Russia is still getting hit on her soil ! What a pathetic display is this Putin . He has insulted the great Russian army by tying the army’s hands .
Russia never had brain to stop gas and oil supply to England which has plotted and run this Ukraine war from behind. Easy target is Austria which is not even anti russian state.
Stu-id Putin as always .
Putin was warned long time ago about his treachery of potential allies like Venezuela, Iran,Yemen -all those who could have engaged the west with their arms if had been supplied by Russia in 2010. But he backstabbed them to please Anglo 5 evil eyes .
Year 2009
DOES RUSSIA NOT REALIZE THAT IF EVER Iran IS ATTACKED AND DEFEATED BY USA Then RUSSIA WILL LOSE ALL STATUS AND PRESTIGE OF EVEN THIRD RATE Powers IN THE WORLD AND THEN NO COUNTRY WILL BE Willing TO BE ON SIDE OF Russia because EVERYONE WANTS TO BE WITH A STRONG Country WHO CAN ORDER AND MANAGE THE AGENDA AS AMERICA IS TRYING TO DO AND THEN RUSSIA WILL BE =DESTROYED AS IS THE VERY Intentions OF USA?
RUSSIA MUST NOT LET USA Score ANY MORE POINT ANYWHERE LET ALONE IN Iran OTHERWISE RUSSIA IS FINISHED EVEN AS A COUNTRY .
If russia foolishly stop busher plant work or does not support iran versus the west then russia will be doomed as well because then resurgent west ,which has ben plotting against russia too,will have encircled and weakened russia and russia will have no friend to look to when it is under pressure from the west.
therefore russia must support all the countries including Yemen who have stood against angloamerican evil -only by this method russia and other countries can maintain their independence.
years into English plotted war and Putin is still supplying gas to England showing his business sincerity but getting killed fellow slaves of both Ukraine and Russia while England escalated every time Russia is achieving something in the battle field.
Putin is an idiot .He should be deposed to save Russia.
I think Russia should hit missile manufacturing plants in UK. hit US missile storage facilities in Europe
Posted by: Sam | Dec 25 2024 15:35 utc | 11
Why doesn’t Russia always retaliate?
You don’t always need to retaliate to be in control.
https://youtube.com/shorts/uBZaJWimdkg?si=5SNsaSb88aVMcDiO
Posted by: Andrew Sarchus | Dec 25 2024 15:40 utc | 12
I see the usual desperate trolls are out. Why do they think they are convincing?
Ukraine is done. Failed state status incoming. And they did it to themselves, the idiots.
Posted by: Facekicker | Dec 25 2024 15:45 utc | 13
Nobody going to talk about this? I guess its troll takeover day.
🇷🇺 Massive Russian hypersonic and ballistic missile attack across Ukraine.
This morning, Ukraine experienced a series of Russian missile and UAV strikes, leading to widespread power outages. Reports indicate significant damage to military and infrastructure facilities across multiple regions:
• Kharkov – explosions reported near a tractor plant used for repairing UAF tanks.
• Starokostiantyniv airfield, Khmelnytsky region was hit, along with explosions reported in the Kirovograd, Kremenchug, Dnepropetrovsk and Poltava regions.
• Kh-101 and Iskander missiles, along with UAVs.
• Power outages were initiated across Ukraine to prevent system overload and damage.
• Air raid alarms declared nationwide.
Posted by: Ghost of Zanon | Dec 25 2024 15:57 utc | 14
Source for above is the DDGeopolitics X.com feed:
https://x.com/DD_Geopolitics/status/1871781152748703896
Where are the F16s?
Posted by: Ghost of Zanon | Dec 25 2024 15:59 utc | 15
Posted by: ctiger | Dec 25 2024 15:31 utc | 10
Last meat to be fed into grinder,Odessa and it could be over in time for President Trump. Remaining weeks very crucial
Was this attack on Ukro al. network stronger then usually?
Posted by: salmon | Dec 25 2024 16:24 utc | 17
Posted by: Sam | Dec 25 2024 15:35 utc | 11
Your use of capital letters is a significant tell: it is the distinctive sick smell of sweat and desperation.
Dopo anni di guerra pianificata dagli inglesi, Putin continua a fornire gas all’Inghilterra, dimostrando la sua sincerità negli affari, ma facendo uccidere i suoi compagni schiavi sia dell’Ucraina che della Russia, mentre l’Inghilterra aumentava ogni volta che la Russia otteneva qualcosa sul campo di battaglia.
Putin è un idiota. Dovrebbe essere deposto per salvare la Russia.
Penso che la Russia dovrebbe colpire gli impianti di produzione di missili nel Regno Unito. Colpire i depositi di missili degli Stati Uniti in Europa
Pubblicato da: Sam | 25 dic 2024 15:35
Putin’s desperate search to continue to supply Western arms factories with gas, oil and various metals, factories that supply the Ucronazis with ammunition, missiles, drones that kill Russian civilians and soldiers, and that prolong the war has something perverse and incomprehensible to me.
Posted by: Cagliostro | Dec 25 2024 16:42 utc | 19
Your use of capital letters is a significant tell
Posted by: Old Woman | Dec 25 2024 16:27 utc | 18
To me it feels like the writer is leaning over and poking me in the chest for special emphasis, as required for slow-witted readers such as myself. I’ve always hated the condescending tone of winkies for the same reason. Reminding me of the old classic nudge-nudge wink-wink sketch from the Pythons…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWCUi4FngI4
A NUDGE is as good AS A WINK to a blind bat. KNOW WHAT I MEAN? Say no more SAY NO MORE!
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Dec 25 2024 16:49 utc | 20
A NUDGE is as good AS A WINK to a blind bat. KNOW WHAT I MEAN? Say no more SAY NO MORE!
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Dec 25 2024 16:49 utc | 20
Quite CLEVER!!!!!
🇷🇺 m-A-s-S-i-V-e Russian hypersonic and ballistic missile attack across Ukraine.
💥💥💥💥💥 [it’s full moon again and not even ten targets that barely make western Christmas headlines] 😂
Meanwhile, Ukraine targets Lgov, Kursk region (pre-war Russia), hitting the roof of a sugar factory, a thermal power plant, a residential building & a gas pipeline, killing 4 people (source today 1030 UTC).
Russia’s problem is not only that it can’t protect its citizens, not even in deep hinterland Kazan or Moscow. Russia doesn’t bother to deal a blow to Ukraine where it hurts, apparently in a naive hope to maintain the tiny grain of pepper left of Ukrainian’s feelings for brotherly Moscals.
Oh, but the Russian targets severely degrade the power grid? So? And also 1000 Ukroid cannonfodder that get killed each day! Does that stop NATO attacks on Russian civilians or terrorist acts on Russia’s top brass? How many more of his babushkas and generals will 451d grandmaster Putin get killed? How many more victory day parades will it take?
Putin really is testing the patience of the Russian people who know they could end it decisively in a matter of weeks.
And while Putin obviously waits for DJT to take office come January 20th, he’ll only get to read a more aggressive Empire in his morning briefings, the same Empire which we read now for years is dying in agony while it still manages to drive Russian inflation through the roof, and this Bar thinks 20 % is normal.
Oh yes, but Nervous German, can’t you see all the backfire the sanctions are doing to the German economy? — Listen, it doesn’t matter, the Germans are propagandized into hating Putin, and it will only get worse because Blackrock Merz will be the next German chancellor; he knows he can threaten Putin directly because Putin is weak, even if it means further wreaking the German economy.
Russia may be doing quite a job at slow-mo demilitarizing Ukraine, but the daily western backfire will only increase and Putin will still do exactly nothing, smirking at the cameras with Fico in his Kremlin hall asking for gas, which will hold until Fico gets unveiled threats from Brussels and his phone call from the Donald.
Remember, it was Orange Man who ordered the toughest sanctions ever, and while currently he’s entertaining the MAGA crowd with Monroe Doctrine 2.0 musings, he’ll be having Syria’s oil without the Russian bases in Tartus/Latakia, because Putin has no eggs.
Stalin would have finished Kiev already at the same count of RUS 200s, and at this point the Stavka would be publicly talking about NATO bases in Poland and Romania, instead of keeping quiet about friendly-firing F-18 Hornets in the Red Sea via EW.
Posted by: Nervous German | Dec 25 2024 16:56 utc | 22
Ukraine will lose at the end but it will drag down the Russian shithole with it 😁 the based west is sending left overs to weaken Russia. Even after the war Russia fucked its demographic and its economy while the West grew stronger. Russia will become an even bigger shithole.
Posted by: Bulky Produce | Dec 25 2024 17:03 utc | 23
Posted by: Bulky Produce | Dec 25 2024 17:03 utc | 23
Your comment personifies your nomenclature- a Bulky Shit.
I guess you have forgotten that Russia’s chief ally, China, has 1.5 billion people.
The guy that does the Most Retarded Post I Have Read Today should use your post today.
This would be black comedy if it wasn’t so sad.
🇺🇦 Guy manages to climb out of the window of a military recruitment car in Ukraine.
You go dude!
https://x.com/MyLordBebo/status/1871948691545989535
Posted by: unimperator | Dec 25 2024 17:15 utc | 25
Posted by: Facekicker | Dec 25 2024 15:45 utc | 13
“I see the usual desperate trolls are out.”
Yes, and I really want to complain to them about the standard of trolling here – it’s abysmal! No subtlety, no intelligent thought, not even credible lies – just stupid, obvious rubbish which could easily be refuted if one wanted to waste ones time proving them wrong only to have to do it all over again two or three posts down. Obviously MI6 / CIA etc standards are going down the same way as the rest of western scumiety.
Posted by: Jams O’Donnell | Dec 25 2024 17:18 utc | 26
A picture how Natostan information plumbing works.
https://x.com/GabeZZOZZ/status/1871839587615842750
Posted by: unimperator | Dec 25 2024 17:35 utc | 28
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Dec 25 2024 15:04 utc | 6
##############
That is very passive-aggressive of America to target civilian ships (which I do not believe, but it suits your trolling narrative).
If true, that would be because, as Jake Sullivan has detailed, the US cannot build naval platforms on the scale of Russia or China. FYI, Russia now has more submarines than America.
According to Jake, America needs 150,000 welders and electricians to get their shipyards up to capacity.
How?
It takes years to develop competent tradesmen. It’s back to the conundrum that you can print the money but that isn’t the same as having the physical resources or human capital.
Russia and China have been investing in resources AND human capital.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Dec 25 2024 17:41 utc | 29
The crashed Azerbaijan plane riddled with bullet holes or shrapnel from AA missile.
https://x.com/clashreport/status/1871938897338634301
Posted by: unimperator | Dec 25 2024 17:41 utc | 30
Stalin would have finished Kiev already at the same count of RUS 200s, and at this point the Stavka would be publicly talking about NATO bases in Poland and Romania, instead of keeping quiet about friendly-firing F-18 Hornets in the Red Sea via EW.
Posted by: Nervous German | Dec 25 2024 16:56 utc | 22
No Stalin would have ordered a general to take Kiev and had him shot for losing an army to drone and missile attacks before he got there.
We remember the Stalingrad and Kursk battles but conveniently forget Brody ’41 … the largest tank battle in history … where the Soviet tanks were either broke down or destroyed before they even made it to the battlefield.
If Putin had the power to raise a 12 million man Russian army on a whim like Stalin could he might be able to make you happy but this is Russia 2024 and Russia has a different constitution with greater rights and freedoms and less power to the Tsar than the USSR 1941.
Posted by: HB_Norica | Dec 25 2024 17:44 utc | 31
Posted by: unimperator | Dec 25 2024 17:41 utc | 30
https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/0c/19/1121269333_0:0:1920:1080_1440x900_80_0_1_f7ee885551c8992c71310e88cf250440.jpg.webp?source-sid=rian_photo
Hence my question at Posted by: Naive | Dec 25 2024 17:22 utc
Posted by: Naive | Dec 25 2024 17:45 utc | 32
Obviously MI6 / CIA etc standards are going down the same way as the rest of western scumiety.
Posted by: Jams O’Donnell | Dec 25 2024 17:18 utc | 26
They play to an American audience. Puppets and crayons.
Posted by: HB_Norica | Dec 25 2024 17:51 utc | 33
Posted by: Naive | Dec 25 2024 17:22 utc | 27
Posted by: unimperator | Dec 25 2024 17:41 utc | 30
Posted by: Naive | Dec 25 2024 17:45 utc | 32
The Houthis or friendly fire.
Posted by: Ed4 | Dec 25 2024 17:59 utc | 34
More evidence of AA missile shrapnel. Some passengers received shrapnel injuries after an explosion while the plane was in the air.
https://x.com/DD_Geopolitics/status/1871970195394413012
Posted by: unimperator | Dec 25 2024 18:01 utc | 35
Now being reported the Russian airliner that crashed this morning….. the fuselage shows damage visually resembling the impact of air defense missile shrapnel.
Posted by: stale face | Dec 25 2024 18:19 utc | 36
but this is Russia 2024 and Russia has a different constitution with greater rights and freedoms and less power to the Tsar than the USSR 1941.
Posted by: HB_Norica | Dec 25 2024 17:44 utc | 31
It’s a matter of leadership to label an armed conflict a “war” or a “special military operation” which in the beginning not even was allowed to be called “war”. Sometimes it’s wiser to just call a spade a spade; thanks to Bibi the world is reminded every day that intl law is a mere paper tiger.
As President churning out more monthly Executive Orders a.k.a. Ukaz (in plural) than Biden, Putin would also decide on the shape and form of civic and economic order, possibly mimicking the current domestic level of affairs. Just a question of political will.
And even without the war being a declared war, Russia manages to recruit 1000+ new troops every month. Which looks great on paper and sounds like music to so many barflies! While NATO drone and missile attackery pours dashes of salt into the increasingly gaping Russian flesh wound, day by day by day. Even if it’s just a rusty frighter in the Mediterranean.
At the current speed of events around Pokrovsk, Putin will be celebrating his 88th birthday by the time the Russian army reaches Kiev. Ura!
To cut the crappy sarcasm, this SMO has turned into a farce. While France lost another African colony with Chad, the U.S. is building new bio-labs in Egypt. Russian deterrence does not exist. And Russians on either side of the front should not be dying for a zero-sum game.
Posted by: Nervous German | Dec 25 2024 18:22 utc | 37
Posted by: stale face | Dec 25 2024 18:19 utc | 36
Well, terrorism. If the pictures produced are legit, I see no need for an uncertainty. An explosion outside of the plane punched holes in the airplane. As the only device that can accomplish that is a missile, it had to be a missile.
Posted by: Jmaas | Dec 25 2024 18:23 utc | 38
It is terrible shame how weak Putin is and what is he allowing to happen.
Posted by: vargas | Dec 25 2024 18:33 utc | 39
DS daily update:
RFA +7 kmsq. Poor day, as compared to 23/day pace in NOV. Minor advances in Pokrovsk and Velyka Novaliska areas.
STrange that the update says afternoon of the 24th, but I did not see it until today. Seems like they are either glitching or screening things more or something.
Posted by: Anonymous | Dec 25 2024 18:40 utc | 40
More evidence of AA missile shrapnel. Some passengers received shrapnel injuries after an explosion while the plane was in the air.
https://x.com/DD_Geopolitics/status/1871970195394413012
Posted by: unimperator | Dec 25 2024 18:01 utc | 35
Thought as much but corrected, exploding engine (never use a jet to roast a turkey), shrapnel likely from exploding engine.
More on open thread.
Posted by: Newbie | Dec 25 2024 18:41 utc | 41
He who controls Odessa shall claim victory. No more, no less.
Posted by: 5jumpchump | Dec 25 2024 18:42 utc | 42
WHo shot down the plane over Kazakhstan?
Posted by: Naive | Dec 25 2024 17:22 utc | 27
Turkey!
Or duck or goose…
Posted by: Newbie | Dec 25 2024 18:43 utc | 43
Posted by: vargas | Dec 25 2024 18:33 utc | 39
Fuck off agent provocateur. You are so stupid as to show evidence of your very low IQ. And you are not even ashamed to show how stupid you are.
Posted by: Naive | Dec 25 2024 18:55 utc | 44
More evidence of AA missile shrapnel. Some passengers received shrapnel injuries after an explosion while the plane was in the air.
“>https://x.com/DD_Geopolitics/status/1871970195394413012
A missile. Are you people serious? The plane’s livery doesn’t even look anything close like Iranian or the Russian government, to use the same rationale behind MH-17.
DD_Geopolitics is the Jihadi Julian of the “resistance”, or rather Comical Ali.
The pilot tried to glide the plane onto the runway after an oxygen tank exploded on board, following a bird strike.
IntelRepublic 07:21Z
Rather stick with this early report.
Posted by: Nervous German | Dec 25 2024 18:57 utc | 45
It is terrible shame how weak Putin is and what is he allowing to happen.
Posted by: vargas | Dec 25 2024 18:33 utc | 39
You start sounding like my Nazi grandfather (who passed away 20 years ago – unmourned).
Yes, yes. I am sure all this would not have happened when the Führer were still alive.
Posted by: Martina | Dec 25 2024 19:08 utc | 46
It is terrible shame how weak Putin is and what is he allowing to happen.
Posted by: vargas | Dec 25 2024 18:33 utc | 39
putin has managed to set up camp rentfree in your head. if thats weak, then what does it say about you?
Posted by: Justpassinby | Dec 25 2024 19:08 utc | 47
This flight does not make sense. Baku and Grozny are 470 km away. Aktau is 375 km away from Baku on the east side of the Caspian sea and Grozny 440 km from Aktau. What was this plane doing so far away from its way?
Posted by: Naive | Dec 25 2024 19:13 utc | 48
Posted by: Naive | Dec 25 2024 19:13 utc | 48
From the Global News article I linked in #45 (18:57 utc), original authors are AP:
Flight-tracking data from FlightRadar24.com showed the aircraft making what appeared to be a figure-right once nearing the airport in Aktau, its altitude moving up and down substantially over the last minutes of the flight before impacting the ground.
FlightRadar24 separately said in an online post that the aircraft had faced “strong GPS jamming,” which “made the aircraft transmit bad ADS-B data,” referring to the information that allows flight-tracking websites to follow planes in flight. Russia has been blamed in the past for jamming GPS transmissions in the wider region.
So many miles off are quite a where-am-I, but besides the usual jamming it may be related to closed-off air corridors / NOTAMs in effect, especially considering the Volgograd Orezhnik launch facility nearby.
Posted by: Nervous German | Dec 25 2024 19:20 utc | 49
Posted by: wp007 | Dec 25 2024 19:29 utc | 50
Only 1495 ukie servicemen eliminated today. I guess that the real number is higher.
Posted by: Naive | Dec 25 2024 19:32 utc | 50
If I remember right all the contracts for NatGas that gets transported across Ukraine to Europe expire today? No lump of coal from the Donbass, no gas from the pipeline. That outta hurt.
Posted by: comrade simba | Dec 25 2024 20:01 utc | 51
we’ll stop sinking your merchant fleet….
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Dec 25 2024 15:04 utc | 6
Well… I’ve seen “trolls” here predicting the sinking commercial ships years ago. It wasn’t really a prediction, but something guaranteed by the lack of reaction to NS bombs. Now we see “trolls” are usually correct.
When toilet generals meet toilet politicians, there can only be toilet results.
Can’t wait to see how the “massive” strikes last night do not cause any effects, like all the other “massive” strikes in the s(imulated)mo. Are the clubs in Kyiiyvvv not full tonight? Are the losers not going to complain, on twitter, only during work hours, to UN?
Posted by: rk | Dec 25 2024 20:04 utc | 52
More trolls than usual on this thread. Putin looks weak? Indecisive? So what? He has the blessing of a country that is supportive, thus he doesn’t have to run the military effort for the sake of a transitoral approval. If nothing changes Russia wins and that will produce all the approval he will ever need.
So, what could change and mess up the victory? An expanded war mainly. Russia’s interest are not in winning in Ukraine in the most emotionally satisfying way, but winning in a way that excites outsiders to the war as little as possible. Thus no grand maneuvers that show off strength, and play nice as much as the situation allows. And alas, putting up with a certain amount of terrorism. If revenge is to be had it is a dish best served cold, not in the heat of the moment.
Posted by: Jmaas | Dec 25 2024 20:40 utc | 54
Downed airliner. Ukro drone attacks caused nearby airport to close and plane had to traverse areas with AD? So the Ukronazis responsible for another civilian aircraft disaster?
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Dec 25 2024 20:44 utc | 55
This flight does not make sense. Baku and Grozny are 470 km away. Aktau is 375 km away from Baku on the east side of the Caspian sea and Grozny 440 km from Aktau. What was this plane doing so far away from its way?
Posted by: Naive | Dec 25 2024 19:13 utc | 48
Thought same thing 200 miles NE<>NW
But seems grozny had bad fog, plane asked alternate landing and most other Russian airports closed due to drone alert
Posted by: Newbie | Dec 25 2024 20:49 utc | 56
Plane down in Kazakhstan initially reported to be from bird strike appears to have shrapnel damage to the tail section.
Russian cargo ship that sank was due to sabotage with 3 internal explosions reported.
Ukraine and Moldova may have been given the go ahead to make a move on Transnistria.
Posted by: Suresh | Dec 25 2024 20:52 utc | 57
Posted by: comrade simba | Dec 25 2024 20:01 utc | 53
########
Expires on the 31st, I believe.
Affects Slovakia, Hungary, and Austria.
And of course, means the Ukrainians can’t steal off of the transit as they have been doing since ’22.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Dec 25 2024 20:58 utc | 58
@ 56 Jmaas
Exactly. This comprehensive revenge is being resolutely served ice cold, with only a little glee.
Putin’s actions are those of someone in total command of their emotions and completely set on attaining his desired goals. It’s like clockwork moving like an unstoppable force expressing Russia’s will.
It is uncomfortable watching this unfold from this unfortunate shithole (UK) so I’m out of here next year. It won’t be missed, (what’s left of it anyway.)
Posted by: Jianso | Dec 25 2024 21:01 utc | 59
Warning: I am going to make a comment that may cause offense or consternation to various Russo phobes or other anti Russian trolls.
I tend to think that Putin is a fantastic diplomat among the greatest in history. Why?
Because, somehow, he managed to shift or help shift the mindset of Islamic lunatics in his own country – even to the point of having them become crazy a$$ defenders of Mother Russia – and joyously killing Ukrainians.
Look, if you think I’m crazy, I suggest you consider the bombing of Grozny and war against Chechens – and then contrast this with current events in Kursk and elsewhere. Put yourself in a reduced maintenance old Soviet helicopter getting shot at with Putin on board and consider, “Wow, this really is bad, how can I change this?”
Yet, Somehow he did. Contrast this with (crazy) Trump or (dementia) Biden or (stick up his aristocratic derriere) Macron.
Posted by: Eighthman | Dec 25 2024 21:06 utc | 60
The old WWII term when it was used against airplanes was flak, and I believe the stuff is still in use because it is effective. The so called ‘pineapple’ grenade is an easily observed form of flak. Typically hunks of iron that contain an explosive. Given the fairly uniform distribution and uniformity of the holes in that airplane, it sure looks like the damage that would be caused by an exploding warhead on a missile that shot out flak. An exploding engine will typically produce more irregular damage. Plus given that there is now a certain amount of terrorism directed against Russia, I take it as all but certain it was a missile, and that is even if the Russians try to sell the more easily consumed idea that it was a bird. It is a way of not admitting to the amount of damage the war is causing Russia.
Posted by: Jmaas | Dec 25 2024 21:07 utc | 61
I do not understand Putin’s fanboys.
He is a weak old men without any respect for human lives of Russians.
He is restrained while his “partners” attack without any restraint. He still hopes he would make “a deal” with them.
He is even afraid to break diplomatic relations with UK in spite of terrorist attack organized by UK.
Posted by: vargas | Dec 25 2024 21:20 utc | 62
Posted by: Eighthman | Dec 25 2024 21:06 utc | 62
###########
I agree, except that I think that like many, you do not understand Islam at all.
Putin preserved the hereditary governorship of Chechnya while giving them a path of duty and honor going forward.
Not every culture values the same things to the same degree. For the proud Muslim states in the Federation (incl. Dagestan, Tartarstan, Northern Ossetia, etc.), purpose and dignity are more important than material gain.
In Islamic culture, wealth is good, but its purpose should be for the betterment of the people, which aligns precisely with Putin’s national vision.
This concept of peace and reconciliation is foreign to the Imperial West, which only knows dominance, rather than cooperation.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Dec 25 2024 21:30 utc | 63
– 1 Russian civilian cargo ship torpedoed
– 1 Azerbaijani passenger airplane shot down
So far no reaction from the Kremlin.
Comrade Stalin would know what to do now.
Posted by: guest from franconia | Dec 25 2024 21:36 utc | 64
I do not understand Putin’s fanboys.
He is a weak old men without any respect for human lives of Russians.
He is restrained while his “partners” attack without any restraint. He still hopes he would make “a deal” with them.
He is even afraid to break diplomatic relations with UK in spite of terrorist attack organized by UK.
Posted by: vargas | Dec 25 2024 21:20 utc | 64
there are no “putin-fanboys”.
but there is a putin living rent-free in every nafotards head. also in yours.
maybe you guys should start charging for rent.
Posted by: Justpassinby | Dec 25 2024 21:41 utc | 65
On schedule, Kiev will now quickly be nuclear-armed–locked and loaded without moral compunction and with Nazi delight.
This is the Bums’ Rush logical end point if the last century’s large scale perfidiousness prevails (it’s so old we don’t call it colonial any more) and so the grab and take is quite near its apex.
Human psyche is fear-based. With good reason. History is not much more than the stain it leaves while families try to live through its now nuclear volumes. Man is his own problem.
Posted by: elmagnostic | Dec 25 2024 21:42 utc | 66
Can’t wait to see how the “massive” strikes last night do not cause any effects, like all the other “massive” strikes in the s(imulated)mo. Are the clubs in Kyiiyvvv not full tonight? Are the losers not going to complain, on twitter, only during work hours, to UN?
Posted by: rk | Dec 25 2024 20:04 utc | 54
This is the whole point of my rants, which many here might see as trolling or outright treason to the Russian High Command. How dare I.
We have crossed the threshold of inner credibility and sincerity here, patting ourselves on the back for a handful of rockets that we hear about once in a fortnight, waiting forever for visuals. While the Butcher of Palestine continues to use ten times the explosive force over the same period of time, completely unchallenged, and where it really hurts, or as somebody put it: Auschw*tz live on TikTok. Well guess what. Morality does not win wars.
We praise ourselves every day over tiny territorial gains and possibly actual heavy losses of the other side on the battlefield, but these nevertheless lead to our own losses (every dead Russian soldier is one too many) and acts of terror on Russian soil, which unnecessarily cost Russian civilians lives deep in Russian hinterland — and still we persuade ourselves that with just enough time and patience, all this will lead to our great and glorious victory.
In short, this bar has degenerated into an echo chamber, and the, sorry, blah-blah of Karlof and others, poured into tons of objective-sounding scholastic words of wisdom, is of no effect. It’s pretending to reproduce Russian élite thinking, obviously leading to hardly any results, neither in the short nor in the long term. In that regard it’s best to just stick with Escobar’s dreamy articles, just for the entertaining tone and style.
A single BRICS free trade area? Chinese technology transfer to the Russians, especially in the semiconductor, optronics and avionics fields? How many drones are 100% Made in Russia? Completely without imported parts, from rotor to motor to webcam/controller SoC to battery?
What if the Donald strikes a phony deal with Xi, offering him “semiconductor embargo gone” in turn for hard restrictions on exports to Russia, including the detour countries? It’s just business after all!
Putin may be right that there are years in which decades happen, but looking back, too little has happened in the last 10 years. Although Russia’s resilience in the face of sanctions has been remarkable and has significantly exceeded Western expectations, limits are gradually becoming apparent. Full employment, yes. Lack of skilled workers, yes. Growth of wages and salaries at least at the level of inflation, yes. All well and good.
But oil and gas are still the decisive factors for the weal and woe of national prosperity, although Putin has been announcing for 10 years that the country is diversifying. Now, cryptocurrency mining is being banned in certain regions, a business which could finally have allowed for energy-in-abundance Russia to convert electricity into a decent pension for the elderly while filling the war chest at the same time! In light of this, it is of little use to see more and more old people in the West who have neither teeth nor credit, counting in Germany where are those who queue at the food bank, collect deposit bottles and try to save every cent on their heating. But will this stop NATO? Hell no.
This is also a “special” kind of information war, and Russia has almost nothing to show for it. Putin is sending “signals.” In Western centers of power, they laugh about it, even if no one talks about the recent Orezhnik event at Yuzhmash. It could just as easily be the German forward post in Rukla, Lithuania, ancient Russia. Or some illegal U.S. base in Syraq. Yet no agency to be seen. What are they waiting for? Who is screwing whom here?
Do you really want Russia to stand up to NATO? Do you want NATO to fail with more than a bloody nose, leading to its dissolution and the return of sanity to Western capitals, ideally because of Russia? I do, because I believe the Empire is the biggest bully to world peace, international cooperation and individual freedom.
But here’s some news: NATO will get even more freshly printed money, produce even more weapons and even more ammunition, and at some point is gonna reach Russian levels so that storage will be full again. There is even more than enough for Bibi and Ukraine at the same time! NATO supply routes for the Kiev regime still work ffs! Which all leads to the conclusion that aging Vladimir Putin just might not be up to this immense task.
Russia’s Overton window is closing just as slowly as the Pokrovsk cauldron. And as it stands, Rheinmetall is going to have 5 factories in Western Ukraine (and if teenage girls need drive them) while next Christmas Odessa still will be waiting for the day that never comes.
Posted by: Nervous German | Dec 25 2024 21:43 utc | 67
Posted by: William Gruff | Dec 25 2024 15:01 utc | 5
Not everything is the way it seems. The Chinese were accused of deliberately sabotaging Baltic cables, it was a malfunctioning anchor, the US lost an assault carrier to fire, turns out incompetence and lack of maintenance was the cause and a missile cruiser recently engaged two F-18’s (cause unknown). New Zealand had a vessel catch fire and sink, turns out it was a DEI captain forgetting to switch off the autopilot. These may all have been carefully concealed acts of sabotage, but in some cases sometimes an accident is just an accident, whatever the global situation might suggest
Some of the Russian commercial maritime fleet, especially the shadow tankers, are not the most seaworthy vessels, so fate might have dealt a cruel hand, and if it’s sabotage, measures can be taken to prevent further incidents. The other issue is the Russians are able to deal the same hand, which could be devastating for nations contemplating this strategy, especially as second parties or non-state actors could always be co-opted to ‘help’. Sabotaging civilian aviation and maritime platforms is ok in a global conflict, not so clever in one that’s deliberately limited by both sides, who are more than aware of the threat and consequences of escalation. Too many posters need to stop thinking about theoretical capabilities and focus more on realistic strategies and long term socio-political consequences for billions of people.
Posted by: Milites | Dec 25 2024 21:45 utc | 68
Putin is an idiot .He should be deposed to save Russia.
I think Russia should hit missile manufacturing plants in UK. hit US missile storage facilities in Europe
Posted by: Sam | Dec 25 2024 15:35 utc | 11
————————————————————–
Sam, you are not only a Troll; you are a damn stupid Troll. And, by the way, what is wrong with the UK helping to pay the expense for the US/NATO proxy war in Ukraine?
Posted by: Ed | Dec 25 2024 22:01 utc | 69
Salaam- please recall the west are an imoral gang.Should VVP go full clip,the crazies will destroy the planet.So VVP and the general staff,have got to go slowly and carefully.They will defang NATO,demilitarize and denazify the Ukros,and tip the dollar scheme pyramid over.No nuclear contamination,no unnecessary death or destruction.We don’t need more contamination of the planet,it’s already bad as it is! Are christians complicit in the slaughter of Palestinian children today,western Christmas Day?
Posted by: 4q8 | Dec 25 2024 22:06 utc | 70
reply to 65
OK, The success of what he accomplished suggests strongly that he had an excellent grasp of the situation culturally and used it to his advantage. This still leaves us with a blazing contrast with Western leaders who appear utterly incapable – not only of external diplomacy – but even basic relations with their own countrymen.
The interesting part concerns hints that the West fears a future conversion of Ukraine into willing alliance with Russia, as unimaginable as that might seem. Given all this we discuss, why should this be impossible?
Posted by: Eighthman | Dec 25 2024 22:07 utc | 71
Posted by: Facekicker | Dec 25 2024 15:45 utc | 13
————-
Hah!
I could only imagine what they’d say about that notorious, Zionist, westophile weakling Stalin in 1941.
Funnily enough ole Joe *really* did screw the pooch a bit, yet still…
Posted by: Urban Fox | Dec 25 2024 22:08 utc | 72
Putin is an idiot .He should be deposed to save Russia.
I think Russia should hit missile manufacturing plants in UK. hit US missile storage facilities in Europe
Posted by: Sam | Dec 25 2024 15:35 utc | 11
Yes. That is exactly what your government has been trying to do for more than 20 years: save Russia from Putin.
And free the Russian resources from the evil Russians. Of course.
If Russia takes up your suggestion, I think that you will end up as collateral damage.
No matter where you are. Every cloud has its silver lining, I guess.
Posted by: Martina | Dec 25 2024 22:15 utc | 73
But here’s some news: NATO will get even more freshly printed money, produce even more weapons and even more ammunition, and at some point is gonna reach Russian levels so that storage will be full again. There is even more than enough for Bibi and Ukraine at the same time! NATO supply routes for the Kiev regime still work ffs! Which all leads to the conclusion that aging Vladimir Putin just might not be up to this immense task.
Russia’s Overton window is closing just as slowly as the Pokrovsk cauldron. And as it stands, Rheinmetall is going to have 5 factories in Western Ukraine (and if teenage girls need drive them) while next Christmas Odessa still will be waiting for the day that never comes.
Posted by: Nervous German | Dec 25 2024 21:43 utc | 69
————–
Thank you for making Christmas so merry! They’ve had three years to produce the better part of jack shit. Because printing don’t produce.
There also ain’t going to be five German war factories in Lvov, save in digital form for PR. Due to this not being the 19th century.
Thus untrained teenage girls make piss-poor industrial workers.
Lastly, in 2025. I’d be more concerned with the overall state of the AFU, than the status of Odessa TBH.
Posted by: Urban Fox | Dec 25 2024 22:30 utc | 75
Putin is an idiot .He should be deposed to save Russia.
I think Russia should hit missile manufacturing plants in UK. hit US missile storage facilities in Europe
Posted by: Sam | Dec 25 2024 15:35 utc | 11
STOP TALKIN FECKIN BOLLOX!
Posted by: HERMIUS | Dec 25 2024 22:34 utc | 76
What is more important is which and how many fortified positions were captured or destroyed, and where, since this is essential for further advance.
Posted by: wp007 | Dec 25 2024 19:54 utc | 52
When there is nobody left to defend fortified positions those fortified positions are useless. A war of attrition means destroying the enemy soldiers trained or not.
Posted by: Naive | Dec 25 2024 22:35 utc | 77
Posted by: guest from franconia | Dec 25 2024 21:36 utc | 66
And you personally you do not know what to do in your own country to get rid of your president. It means that you are a coward like all russophobes posting here.
Posted by: Naive | Dec 25 2024 22:48 utc | 78
the population will suffer and fall back to a level of 1950, or even to the winter of 1946/47
Posted by: wp007 | Dec 25 2024 22:36 utc | 82
I cannot wait for that moment to happen… The sooner the better.
Posted by: Naive | Dec 25 2024 22:50 utc | 79
But this is Sisyphean work; fleeing or surrendering units are faster.
Posted by: wp007 | Dec 25 2024 22:41 utc | 83
Only if they are clever enough, they will surrender.
Fleeing could be a bad option if the azovites will shoot them.
Posted by: Naive | Dec 25 2024 22:51 utc | 80
(After the election, Trump asked Putin not to “rush anything,” i.e. not to do anything irreparable that would put Trump under pressure.)
Posted by: wp007 | Dec 25 2024 22:21 utc | 76
So it’s all more 5d chess? Besides seriously doubting that claim.
Trump just said he wants Greenland, obviously to balance Russia vis-à-vis against the emerging Northern Passage and for full control of at least a third of the Arctic Circle.
Trump will pressure China to pressure Russia. Trump will pressure India, Brazil and everybody else to pressure Russia.
Trump will do more Trump things, and the way you put it, Putin would happily fetch the bone Trump throws at him and agree to freeze the conflict, so that after some time of rebuilding and rearming another UAF army we’ll be back to where we are today, save for not another surprise safari into pre-war Russia, i.e. Bryansk. Now this has to be what Russian soldiers are fighting for!
Posted by: Nervous German | Dec 25 2024 22:59 utc | 81
@ Nervous German | Dec 25 2024 22:59 utc | 88
You keep leaving, but it’s nice to see you back for the holidays. Vargases are trying, but the entertainment was still lacking.
Posted by: boneless | Dec 25 2024 23:06 utc | 82
You are a loudmouthed idiot, incapable of contributing anything factual here
Posted by: wp007 | Dec 25 2024 22:54 utc | 87
Ad personam fallacy. It means you have no argument.
Except your self description of course. By the way you have no idea about my nationality.
Posted by: Naive | Dec 25 2024 23:06 utc | 83
https://t.me/intelslava/71733
Bad choice. I guess ukronazi or banderist choice.
Posted by: Naive | Dec 25 2024 23:08 utc | 84
But here’s some news: NATO will get even more freshly printed money, produce even more weapons and even more ammunition, and at some point is gonna reach Russian levels so that storage will be full again.
Posted by: Nervous German | Dec 25 2024 21:43 utc | 69
#################
Where will they purchase trained and blooded officers?
Most people don’t know anything about how things are manufactured or developed. They think everything appears magically when legislation is passed or a purchase order is written.
No, they may have to train 1,000 officers to end up with 250 decent ones. And that may take years.
Given the SMO, Russia is not only developing new tactics and technologies, it is creating a large and experienced officer corps to draw from in future conflicts.
Just the other day, it was reported that Russian troops took out around a dozen Polish Special Forces (GROM) in Ukraine. How much time and money do you think it took to produce those men, and how easily can they be replaced?
Along those lines, how many billions has the US spent on developing hypersonic technology, and they are not much closer today than they were five years ago? Meanwhile, Russia has developed new applications of principles of physics that have created an entirely new class of weapons for which there is no defense.
And they supposedly have not shown all of the new stuff. Meanwhile, the Germans are de-industrializing, while France is incrementally losing its colonial power in France.
Just as money cannot buy love, it also cannot purchase time. Some deficiencies in the West cannot be overcome by “printing” monopoly money.
But then, Westerners do live in the Land of Make-Believe. Disney, Hollywood, Financialization, Reality-TV, rigged-elections.
Delusion feels great until reality inevitably intervenes. While everyone likes being drunk, no one looks forward to the hangover.
The Hegemon is approaching that moment, and as you claim to be associated with a vassal state, you too will feel the purifying wonder of sobriety.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Dec 25 2024 23:12 utc | 85
Putin’s actions are those of someone in total command of their emotions and completely set on attaining his desired goals. It’s like clockwork moving like an unstoppable force expressing Russia’s will.
Posted by: Jianso | Dec 25 2024 21:01 utc | 61
100%, and it infuriates the idiot NAFO trolls that are just begging Russia to take the childish bait and react as emotionally as they do.
Posted by: TJandTheBear | Dec 25 2024 23:17 utc | 86
You keep leaving, but it’s nice to see you back for the holidays. Vargases are trying, but the entertainment was still lacking.
Posted by: boneless | Dec 25 2024 23:06 utc | 89
Thanks for the kind words. I’ve been just reading most of the time. The days on and around Christmas give me some more time to post. Wishing you Merry Christmas and hoping my too doomy takes won’t materialize, but tbh I think Putin should pass the ball to somebody more energetic and, well, serious about the _existential_ war Russia is fighting.
Posted by: Nervous German | Dec 25 2024 23:17 utc | 87
@Nervous German | Wed, 25 Dec 2024 22:59:00 GMT | 88
Trump just said he wants Greenland, obviously to balance Russia vis-à-vis against the emerging Northern Passage and for full control of at least a third of the Arctic Circle.
Trump’s been saying that since his first term. He’s not getting Greenland.
Trump will do more Trump things
Which is exactly what Russia and China hope from him.
Posted by: James M. | Dec 25 2024 23:29 utc | 88
but tbh I think Putin should pass the ball to somebody more energetic and, well, serious about the _existential_ war Russia is fighting.
Posted by: Nervous German | Dec 25 2024 23:17 utc | 96
Putin’s a statesmen playing a grand global game for all the cards, not an emotion-driven woman driven by petty concerns and reacting to inconsequential distractions.
Posted by: TJandTheBear | Dec 25 2024 23:30 utc | 89
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Dec 25 2024 23:12 utc | 94
I fully subscribe to what you say! So Poland lost an elite unit and western MSM remain silent, the same silence observed after the Orezhnik test on the Yuzhmash site.
Still.
Even while the Brit army is seeing soldiers quit in droves, even while I’m doubting Germany will reach its way too optimistic recruitment goals, even while the NATO Sultan might be occupying substantial forces to reestablish his Ottoman Empire 2.0 in Syraq, it all doesn’t seem to be NATO’s death by a thousand cuts we are all waiting for just yet.
I would also argue that Pete Hegseth, Lloyd Austin’s deemed successor as head of the DoD, is more like a Billy Herrington figure to get the MIC and NATO generals have a h*rd-on by gazing at colorful Powerpoints about their own perceived strength and stamina. It might buy time in self-deceit but will not prevent the outcome of too little too late.
And still, something totally serious is keeping the Russian leadership from delivering the finishing move to the Kiev regime. This worries me.
I hope that behind all the doom I posted before, Putin really is the one with leverage over whatever Trump will have to offer. That Putin will give be the one asking for a better offer if the first one is no good. And that after that he would come to realize that no deal will be better than a bad one. May Russia earn its land bridge along the northern coastline of the Black Sea to Transnistria, and ideally, to Hungary.
Posted by: Nervous German | Dec 25 2024 23:40 utc | 90
but tbh I think Putin should pass the ball to somebody more energetic and, well, serious about the _existential_ war Russia is fighting.
Posted by: Nervous German | Dec 25 2024 23:17 utc | 96
WHY?
Posted by: HERMIUS | Dec 25 2024 23:42 utc | 91
Posted by: Nervous German | Dec 25 2024 16:56 utc | 22
——————————————————————————-
Neurotic German, I was going to respond to you, but you are all over the place. I recommend you take a chill pill and sleep for about a month. With some therapy, you might survive Biden’s proxy war. It is, after all, his war, not Putin’s.
Posted by: Ed | Dec 25 2024 23:47 utc | 92
HB_Norica | Dec 25 2024 15:25 utc | 8
Btw. Trump has said he has been speaking to the Russian but the Russian deny it
Maybe he’s been negotiating with Vovan and Lexus
Posted by: Melaleuca | Dec 25 2024 23:52 utc | 93
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Russia is winning.
Terrorism is a problem but will be dealt with.
An inability to understand this is a widespread issue and a contributing factor to Russia winning the war waged by the “West”.
It is very likely that Russia will not respond to the anticipated provocations in Transnistria.
Back in 60s, the US came up with the “Domino Effect”. Best to dust up that old 1964 memo to the CIA.
Eyes on the prize, peeps. Cheers
Posted by: Suresh | Dec 25 2024 23:56 utc | 94
server issue? since 24:00 h no more posting shown, last is 23:56
Posted by: wp007 | Dec 26 2024 0:10 utc | 109
TESTING! TESTING!
Posted by: HERMIUS | Dec 26 2024 0:12 utc | 95
“Trump just said he wants Greenland, obviously to balance Russia vis-à-vis against the emerging Northern Passage and for full control of at least a third of the Arctic Circle.”
What Trump wants and what Trump gets are not the same thing. I would love to see this conversation in Congress: “Well, distinguished members of Congress, I propose that we offer every citizen of Greenland and Pamana a bunch of money and US citizenship for their countries. If they do not comply within a pre-determined time frame, we will proceed to bomb the hell out of them until they see the wisdom of our demands.”
Yeah, that is going to happen…
Posted by: Ed | Dec 26 2024 0:13 utc | 96
and yet the spectators in the stands who applaud or support Russia should not become overconfident.
—
The West is strong and still has many resources for war and nasty tricks in store.
Posted by: wp007 | Dec 25 2024 23:24 utc | 97
#######
Here is the thing. I don’t believe that what I think or feel affects any of these geopolitical situations. I don’t have that much hubris or delusion.
Friend, we’re spectators, not protagonists.
I have no doubt that the West is capable of depths of evil and depravity that I cannot imagine at this time.
I also don’t care about things beyond my control.
I’m a believer. I know how this ends for me and everyone else. Everyone will answer for their choices. None will escape the consequences of their activities big and small.
Let’s play 😈 advocate. Let’s say that I am wrong and there is no afterlife. I still don’t have the ability to end wars or save lives on any scale that matters.
Now, if I am correct and judgment is real …
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Dec 26 2024 0:15 utc | 97
Posted by: Nervous German | Dec 25 2024 21:43 utc | 69
########
Who are you? I’ve been here since before the SMO started and never noticed your terrible and long-winded posting before.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Dec 26 2024 0:16 utc | 98
only postings w/o link to another works now, althought shown in preview correctly
Posted by: wp007 | Dec 26 2024 0:13 utc | 112
—————————————————————–
I hope you aren’t talking to me! You and the German are all over this thread; we know who is saying what. I don’t do it often except when I don’t want to respond to a Troll who repeats himself over and over again!
Posted by: Ed | Dec 26 2024 0:22 utc | 99
Evidence that Putin has been a disaster for Russia being too much loving of pirate Anglo parasites.
V”Putin says the conflict in Ukraine is not WWIII and makes a curious comparison with the Crimean war. He says most of Europe was against Russia then, but Britain and France became Russian allies in the WWI.
He also recalls Russia’s isolation after Crimean war, which Russian Empire lost but recovered all the damage 20 years later, also liberating Bulgaria in the process.
These historical analogies underscore Kremlin’s desire to return to friendly relations with the West after Ukraine war, rather than attacking NATO countries as supporters of increased military spending insinuate.”
What is Putin playing at here? On one hand, he highlights the extreme and escalating threats against Russia from the USA, yet in the next breath, he talks about dreaming of partnership and harmony with an ‘Agreement-Incapable’ America—a nation that has been seeking Russia’s total strategic defeat for decades, along with Putin’s forced removal as president.
Has Putin lost the plot? This sounds both illogical and foolish. Is he showing signs of delusion or even dementia? Or has Putin simply gone mad?
From RT extracts
Putin seeks close ties as Partners with the US and it’s Allies everywhere.
And when our current opponents – and maybe potential partners – will finally hear, understand and realize this, it seems to me that at that point the realization will come that what is needed is to seek compromises,” he said.
Moscow is ready to try to rebuild ties with the US and its allies, but it should only happen “without harming our interests,” Putin pointed out.
Cringe! What could be more terrifying than the President of Russia, in the midst of a war in Ukraine against the US, NATO, and the entire Western sphere, acting sweet and nice, talking about wanting to be friends and partners again, and suggesting cooperation and compromises?
This feels like truly unhinged, crazy rhetoric. Surely this is schizoid behavior because it is far from realistic under the circumstances now and the foreseeable future out to 2030.
To me this is very dangerous rhetoric for Russia to playing with, bordering on foolhardy and incompetent.
Russia will never win if this is their thinking of their leadership already. Nor will BRICS, China and the global south with ‘two faced inconsistent’ friends like this.
Quote “Putin and Russians seem to not care about the terror and murder of Russian civilians in their own homes.”
Not only that.once England has shown by its actions that it plotted Syrian and Ukraine war because it could get free hand from Russian stupidity since 2014, it was imperative for Russia to annihilate that persistent enemy of England which is a common factor in all wars.
Russia, having realised that England is it’s existential enemy, Russia must plot downfall of that evil satanic 3rd rate country of English pirates.
In other words Russia must make effort to tear apart England into 5 parts just as England intended to for Iraq, Syria, and even Russia . Remember England stole one thousand billion dollar worth of wealth from Russia in 1990s only .
Russia never had brain to stop gas and oil supply to England which has plotted and run this Ukraine war from behind. Easy target is Austria which is not even anti russian state.
Stu-id Putin as always .
Posted by: Sam | Dec 26 2024 0:24 utc | 100