Russian Invasion of Ukraine[In Progress]

[Etranger]

Meanwhile, in the sky over Kiev, a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile successfully shot down its own Bayraktar TB2 drone.

photo
video

You didn't say "... 'accidentally' shot down... ." They must be trying to blame it on Russia.

More and more it's coming out into the open that the US and Nato 'trainers' are not on Ukraine's side.

Because it was not accidentally shot down. And nobody is trying to blame it on russia. It was Bayraktar TB2, which russia doesn't even have in its arsenal. It was Ukrainian drone, which lost control therefore it was shot down. End of the story.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/05/ukraine-shoots-down-its-own-drone-over-kyiv-after-device-lost-control

[paxmao]

Part of the RF troops (oh, what the heck... ORCS) positioned in the south near Zaporilla have been moved to cover the banks along the Dniper after the attempts (may I say fake attemps?) of crossing the river and establishing a bridgehead. This stretches the troops and the reserves in the area a forces a longer logistics chain.

To simplify, the Ukrainians seem to be creating openings in the line before committing to a more decisive action. It is also happening in the delta of Dniper, obviously, under a heavy contested environment - nothing is going to be easy. Hoever, stretching the RF troops in a longer line is better, and moving them around responding to minor attacks is a way of making then waste valuable fuel.

Also, recent attacks on fuel depots in Crimea and other locations, along with the damaged McPutin's Kerch Bridge will make the fleet in the Black Sea less able to support from the sea. Overall, I would say that some preparation is taking place, yet I would expect to see much more over the next two weeks.

Happy 9th of May! And do not forget to look to the sky from time to time... just in case you know.

I think that the air battle should be balanced by providing Ukraine with a longer range missile. The RF airborne orcs have too much advantage. A few Swedish Grippen with Meteor missiles would come very handy. Maybe Putin can do something, like pushing Sweden harder to join NATO?

[LTU_btc]

Meanwhile, in the sky over Kiev, a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile successfully shot down its own Bayraktar TB2 drone.

photo
video

Didn't Russia destroyed all Ukraine's Bayraktars long time ago  There was some users claiming that. What can I say about it - shit happens sometimes. But I'm not sure that it's as fun as Russia dropping FAB bombs on Belgorod or SU-34 aircraft crashing into apartment building in Yeysk.

[BADecker]

Meanwhile, in the sky over Kiev, a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile successfully shot down its own Bayraktar TB2 drone.

photo
video

You didn't say "... 'accidentally' shot down... ." They must be trying to blame it on Russia.

More and more it's coming out into the open that the US and Nato 'trainers' are not on Ukraine's side.

Because it was not accidentally shot down. And nobody is trying to blame it on russia. It was Bayraktar TB2, which russia doesn't even have in its arsenal. It was Ukrainian drone, which lost control therefore it was shot down. End of the story.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/05/ukraine-shoots-down-its-own-drone-over-kyiv-after-device-lost-control

You forgot the part about how embarrassing it must be to have to shoot down your own drone that you couldn't control, so that you wouldn't get fried by it. Lol.

[paxmao]

The RF is "evacuating" people massively from Zapo, we are talking more than ten localities. I wonder why? ... Nah, I do not wonder why to be honest.

Occupation authorities announced evacuation from 18 settlements in Zaporizhzhia region, including Tymoshivka, Smyrnove, Tarasivka, Orlyanske, Molochansk, Bilmak, Pryshyb, Tokmak, Mala Belozirka, Vasylivka, Velyka Belozirka, Dniprorudne, Mykhaylivka, Kamyanka-Dniprovska, Enerhodar, Polohy, Kinski Razdory, Rozivka

[tvbcof]

The RF is "evacuating" people massively from Zapo, we are talking more than ten localities. I wonder why? ... Nah, I do not wonder why to be honest.

Occupation authorities announced evacuation from 18 settlements in Zaporizhzhia region, including Tymoshivka, Smyrnove, Tarasivka, Orlyanske, Molochansk, Bilmak, Pryshyb, Tokmak, Mala Belozirka, Vasylivka, Velyka Belozirka, Dniprorudne, Mykhaylivka, Kamyanka-Dniprovska, Enerhodar, Polohy, Kinski Razdory, Rozivka

Probably so they can start out with the big glide bombs once they lure the Ukroids into the trap and slam the door shut behind them.

The main question would be how much re-building assistance will be provided to the now RF citizens once they move back home.

---

Edit:

Seems increasingly possible that NATO will go ahead and set the spent fuel pools of the Enerhodar nuclear power complex on fire.  This would be and interesting and very distressing development.  It would also open the door for 'eye-for-an-eye' strategy and there are many many liquid cooling sites around the world which host such facilities.  Russia has already pointed this out, and also that winds do shift directions from time to time.  Ironically, Germany, which had dry-casked their spent rods making themselves immune to disasters of this nature, is shutting down their last power plants.  Germany's methods indicate that they are (were) one of the few countries who where not re-processing with the intent of making nuclear weapons, but that's just a tangential fun-fact to ponder.

Widespread nuclear contamination of croplands and thus agricultural potential seems to be very much of interest to the WEF and other strongly technocratic groups/individuals.  Especially one's with a footprint in the synthetic foods space.

It's really hard to prosecute a war against an adversary who wishes to 'lose'.  I continue to hold open the possibility that Russia/Putin is simply playing his part in a stage act which will ultimately usher in the technocratic dystopia that the current crop of 'leaders' seem to want/need.  By 'leaders', I'm not talking about names that people have heard of but rather the ones who install presidents/prime-ministers, heads of 'stakeholder' entities (WHO, IMF, UN, etc.)

[Etranger]

Meanwhile, in the sky over Kiev, a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile successfully shot down its own Bayraktar TB2 drone.

photo
video

You didn't say "... 'accidentally' shot down... ." They must be trying to blame it on Russia.

More and more it's coming out into the open that the US and Nato 'trainers' are not on Ukraine's side.

Because it was not accidentally shot down. And nobody is trying to blame it on russia. It was Bayraktar TB2, which russia doesn't even have in its arsenal. It was Ukrainian drone, which lost control therefore it was shot down. End of the story.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/05/ukraine-shoots-down-its-own-drone-over-kyiv-after-device-lost-control

You forgot the part about how embarrassing it must be to have to shoot down your own drone that you couldn't control, so that you wouldn't get fried by it. Lol.

Of course, I forgot about it. We have such a situation for the first time, how can we know how to behave. Indeed, we need to take an example from the russians, who not only repeatedly launched their own drones at their positions, but also dismantled aircraft on their territory, undermined their equipment on mines they had laid themselves And all this was accompanied by human casualties. And they continue to do all this without feeling any embarrassment.

[ramirkz]

Hello from Ukraine!

I am not entirely sure if I am breaking any rules by posting this information in this thread, but if I am, I apologize and ask the administrators to move this post to the appropriate thread.

I represent the team of military volunteers "Sho Ti Dyadya" who provide support to our army. We are from Zaporizhia, which is only 40 kilometers away from the front line. We are the ones who help our servicemen to reclaim our lands with minimal losses. We have donors from the cryptocurrency community, and perhaps others might want to support our work and fight.

https://uafree.org is the website of our foundation, which displays the intermediate results of our work. It is available in Ukrainian, English, German and Polish.

https://www.facebook.com/shotidyadya is our Facebook page (unfortunately, only in Ukrainian) with daily reports on the funds raised and the work done.

I have been a member of this forum for over 5 years and I believe that there are people in our community who can support our fight for survival.

Thank you in advance.

[paxmao]

Hello from Ukraine!

I am not entirely sure if I am breaking any rules by posting this information in this thread, but if I am, I apologize and ask the administrators to move this post to the appropriate thread.

I represent the team of military volunteers "Sho Ti Dyadya" who provide support to our army. We are from Zaporizhia, which is only 40 kilometers away from the front line. We are the ones who help our servicemen to reclaim our lands with minimal losses. We have donors from the cryptocurrency community, and perhaps others might want to support our work and fight.

https://uafree.org is the website of our foundation, which displays the intermediate results of our work. It is available in Ukrainian, English, German and Polish.

https://www.facebook.com/shotidyadya is our Facebook page (unfortunately, only in Ukrainian) with daily reports on the funds raised and the work done.

I have been a member of this forum for over 5 years and I believe that there are people in our community who can support our fight for survival.

Thank you in advance.

Perhaps this is not exactly the right place to ask for donations. I can already tell you that you would need to provide quite a bit of a proof that is legit, since this does not seem any of the accounts officially published by the Ukrainian government many months ago.

On the war itself, it seems that Ukraine is claiming that a Patriot stopped a Kinzhal. To be honest, the missile is an air launched version of the Ishkander and can reach hypersonic speeds. However the true hypersonic capability requires a very high degree of manoeuvrability, which makes it very difficult to intercept, very difficult to know where it is heading and thus a real threat. Russia is claiming that capability, but it is simply not there.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/06/russia-ukraine-war-patriot-kinzhal/ba39c340-ebeb-11ed-869e-986dd5713bc8_story.html

Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said in a Telegram post that the Kinzhal-type ballistic missile had been intercepted in an overnight attack on the Ukrainian capital earlier in the week. It was also the first time Ukraine is known to have used the Patriot defence systems.

“Yes, we shot down the ‘unique’ Kinzhal,” Oleshchuk wrote. “It happened during the night time attack on May 4 in the skies of the Kyiv region.”

The information is always to be taken with a pinch of salt, but what I have read about this missile... welll, it is very fast as it would be very fast a ICBM warhead falling, but not undetectable and certainly subject to being intercepted.

I am also thinking that the US was reluctant to provide Patriots to Ukraine precisely because they tend to play the opposite game: the US army not claim capabilities that they do know they have and provide limited information about the test. I am sure the US would rather have the RF not being sure about the Patriot capabilities. The RF instead speaks above what is factual and then find themselves believing their own shit.

Also, it there is some photo evidence that the Orcs are using banned weapons in Bakhmut such as Phosporous / Termite munitions. A dangerous path to follow.

On the Wagner Butcher in Chief... OMG... they guy appears in full cammo with 8 machinegun magazines over his chest like if he did any of the fighting... super-lame.

[BADecker]

~

You forgot the part about how embarrassing it must be to have to shoot down your own drone that you couldn't control, so that you wouldn't get fried by it. Lol.

Of course, I forgot about it. We have such a situation for the first time, how can we know how to behave. Indeed, we need to take an example from the russians, who not only repeatedly launched their own drones at their positions, but also dismantled aircraft on their territory, undermined their equipment on mines they had laid themselves And all this was accompanied by human casualties. And they continue to do all this without feeling any embarrassment.

Kids are often brats towards their parents. Parents get angry and want to bust their kids one right in the teeth. But they don't, because they love them.

In the same way, the Russian fist (RF) is headed for Ukraine at many times. But the love of the RF for their child holds them back, often at the last minute.

Wake up and be afraid.

Hello from Ukraine!

I am not entirely sure if I am breaking any rules by posting this information in this thread, but if I am, I apologize and ask the administrators to move this post to the appropriate thread.

I represent the team of military volunteers "Sho Ti Dyadya" who provide support to our army. We are from Zaporizhia, which is only 40 kilometers away from the front line. We are the ones who help our servicemen to reclaim our lands with minimal losses. We have donors from the cryptocurrency community, and perhaps others might want to support our work and fight.

https://uafree.org is the website of our foundation, which displays the intermediate results of our work. It is available in Ukrainian, English, German and Polish.

https://www.facebook.com/shotidyadya is our Facebook page (unfortunately, only in Ukrainian) with daily reports on the funds raised and the work done.

I have been a member of this forum for over 5 years and I believe that there are people in our community who can support our fight for survival.

Thank you in advance.

Ukraine is made up of two basic groups of people:
1. Those who want to be friends and allies with Russia;
2. Those who simply are against Russia.

When the US came into Ukraine, and infiltrated its government (for US selfish purposes) so that the Ukraine government started acting against Russia and Russians - resulting in Russia trying to hold back the US/Ukraine government with the invasion - where did the Ukrainians go who were in favor of Russia? They left Ukraine so that they wouldn't be forced to fight a country (RF) they wanted to be friends with.

What's left in Ukraine? Two groups of people:
1. Those who are against Russia;
2. Those who are silently in favor of Russia; silent because Zelensky will kill them if they are found out.

If the war ceases, will the Russia-friendly Ukrainians who fled ever come back to Ukraine? Nobody knows. Some of them might. The internal Ukraine conflict will continue, with or without US interference.

Kick the US and the Zelensky government out of Ukraine so that there can be peaceful conflict between its citizens, as was the case for a long time in the past.

[LTU_btc]

Perhaps this is not exactly the right place to ask for donations. I can already tell you that you would need to provide quite a bit of a proof that is legit, since this does not seem any of the accounts officially published by the Ukrainian government many months ago.

On DefendUkraine website https://www.defendukraine.org/donate they have listed only some main and biggest foundations. There is many small foundations who working there too. I haven't investigated that foundation above and I never heard them before, so, I can't vouch for them. But there is sad reality about level of corruption in Ukraine. I heard many complaints from troops in frontline that aid simply don't reach them. While many smaller foundations, maybe they don't have so much money and resources, but many of them delivering aid themselves to frontline cities.

On the war itself, it seems that Ukraine is claiming that a Patriot stopped a Kinzhal. To be honest, the missile is an air launched version of the Ishkander and can reach hypersonic speeds. However the true hypersonic capability requires a very high degree of manoeuvrability, which makes it very difficult to intercept, very difficult to know where it is heading and thus a real threat. Russia is claiming that capability, but it is simply not there.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/06/russia-ukraine-war-patriot-kinzhal/ba39c340-ebeb-11ed-869e-986dd5713bc8_story.html

At first Ukraine denied these news, but after some time they officially confirmed it. They told many times that Kinzhal missiles is impossible for them to intercept with systems that they have and it caused lot of problems for them. So, it's big news.

[paxmao]

...
On the war itself, it seems that Ukraine is claiming that a Patriot stopped a Kinzhal. To be honest, the missile is an air launched version of the Ishkander and can reach hypersonic speeds. However the true hypersonic capability requires a very high degree of manoeuvrability, which makes it very difficult to intercept, very difficult to know where it is heading and thus a real threat. Russia is claiming that capability, but it is simply not there.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/06/russia-ukraine-war-patriot-kinzhal/ba39c340-ebeb-11ed-869e-986dd5713bc8_story.html

At first Ukraine denied these news, but after some time they officially confirmed it. They told many times that Kinzhal missiles is impossible for them to intercept with systems that they have and it caused lot of problems for them. So, it's big news.

It is important certainly. These missiles were kind of the answer from China and the RF to the Carrier Groups of the USA, currently 11 in active if I remember correctly. If a Patriot can intercept, let's say with a 60% chance a modern Khinzal, Sea based systems, usually x 10 times better, can do it too. It is a game changer to have a carrier group at 200 miles from your coast and not being able to do much about it (other than nuking it I guess).

[be.open]

Also, it there is some photo evidence that the Orcs are using banned weapons in Bakhmut such as Phosporous / Termite munitions. A dangerous path to follow.

Phosphorus weapons are not used in Bakhmut, you confused them with 9M22S or 9M28S magnesium shells launched from Grads. Magnesium shells have a number of advantages over obsolete and long-decommissioned phosphorus shells - they have a much higher combustion temperature, they are easier to store without the risk of self-ignition, they cannot be extinguished by cutting off the supply of oxygen, and they are not prohibited by the Geneva Convention.

It is important certainly. These missiles were kind of the answer from China and the RF to the Carrier Groups of the USA, currently 11 in active if I remember correctly. If a Patriot can intercept, let's say with a 60% chance a modern Khinzal, Sea based systems, usually x 10 times better, can do it too. It is a game changer to have a carrier group at 200 miles from your coast and not being able to do much about it (other than nuking it I guess).

Shit, it seems now the Russians will have to spend two whole Khinzals on one aircraft carrier.

[paxmao]

Also, it there is some photo evidence that the Orcs are using banned weapons in Bakhmut such as Phosporous / Termite munitions. A dangerous path to follow.

Phosphorus weapons are not used in Bakhmut, you confused them with 9M22S or 9M28S magnesium shells launched from Grads. Magnesium shells have a number of advantages over obsolete and long-decommissioned phosphorus shells - they have a much higher combustion temperature, they are easier to store without the risk of self-ignition, they cannot be extinguished by cutting off the supply of oxygen, and they are not prohibited by the Geneva Convention.

It is important certainly. These missiles were kind of the answer from China and the RF to the Carrier Groups of the USA, currently 11 in active if I remember correctly. If a Patriot can intercept, let's say with a 60% chance a modern Khinzal, Sea based systems, usually x 10 times better, can do it too. It is a game changer to have a carrier group at 200 miles from your coast and not being able to do much about it (other than nuking it I guess).

Shit, it seems now the Russians will have to spend two whole Khinzals on one aircraft carrier.

I really hope that when you have to make the accounts of "that little business you run and does not allow you to go to the front" better than this one. It means that you would need to spend your whole production on missiles of one or two years to stand a 5% chance of landing one of them in an aircraft carrier. If you do not want to work out the math, just consider that you needed 18 to land 3 in the whole of Ukraine.

The pictures do not look at all like grad launched munitions. Glad to know you consider these as allowed - you RF friends at the front will thank you when they get similarly burnt (it cuts both ways you know).

Recent news about someone smoking in the wrong place south of Yekaterinburg - EDITED to add - Just if anyone wonders why someone was smoking in one of the largest ammunition depots of the RF, it may very well be linked to Putin asking to make a re-count of all available ammunition in the country -  hint: the stock in Yekaterinburg is now officially "lost due to a fire" - not that they were to find it completely empty due to some Orcs selling it in the black market during the last 10 years??

I know that in the Tik Tok area, watching a 1 hour video is not in style, but if anyone really wants to know why the RF is underperforming by any standard, this is the place to go:
https://youtu.be/i9i47sgi-V4

It explains corruption and how it works at all levels and how it ends up with the joe in the trench getting a gun that does not fire, a body armour without the plates and a few more dachas in the Caspian.

[swogerino]

Russia is an isolated country now which no one gives a damn about them anymore and I say damn to just not say something worse.They are the only responsible to such failure,they have lost people,they have lost ammunition and tanks,fighters and all sort of military device in this conflict.They have been put under heavy sanctions and the average Joe in Russia is feeling the consequences,no one in US or Europe looks to any average Russian with empathy anymore and some of these countries are also closing borders with Russia,something I would say should do any European country,let them live in that "imperial Russia in their fairy lands".

Economically speaking they would need at least 40 years to catch up with the developed world so I wonder why are some people still saying Russia is winning the war when they have already lost it in a lot of very important fronts.

[tvbcof]

Russia is an isolated country now which no one gives a damn about them anymore and I say damn to just not say something worse.They are the only responsible to such failure,they have lost people,they have lost ammunition and tanks,fighters and all sort of military device in this conflict.They have been put under heavy sanctions and the average Joe in Russia is feeling the consequences,no one in US or Europe looks to any average Russian with empathy anymore and some of these countries are also closing borders with Russia,something I would say should do any European country,let them live in that "imperial Russia in their fairy lands".

I am looking toward Russia, or more accurately the economic union of which they will play a leading role, with a lot of interest for the future.  The 'collective West' looks to me like dead-end economically, functionally, and morally.  The West has a long way to go before hitting rock-bottom and there is increasingly little chance that anything will arrest their fall.

I will say that Russia, like so many other countries, seems to have had little or no concept of so-called 'liberty' among the general population.  It does seem to me that most people are very uncomfortable in a situation where there is no 'great leader' or whatever.  Not that a huge number of people in any society are much different, especially these days, but it does seem the case that most societies in most places have never had a point in time when any form of 'freedom' as very widespread and there is precious little aspiration toward achieving such a state.  If anything 'freedom' seems to be a dirty/scary word.  My upbringing in my culture actually did value and aspire to such a state of being and I am genuinely chauvinistic toward people who don't value independence and freedom although I don't discount the advantages of a population being wired for what is effectively slavery.  My guess is that I would not be very happy in Russia (or almost any other place really.)

Economically speaking they would need at least 40 years to catch up with the developed world so I wonder why are some people still saying Russia is winning the war when they have already lost it in a lot of very important fronts.

That doesn't comport with the observation the Russians are winning handily in Ukraine on almost all fronts, and especially in terms of the technical capabilities of their advanced weapons systems.  That is not what would be expected of an economy and a society which doesn't allocate resources in a sensible way.  At least not one which is rich in resources.

That said, I suspect that the 'collective West' does have a number of weapons systems which they've not yet exposed, and some of them may (work and) be as impressive as what the Russians have put forward thusfar.  The current phase of the conflict is geared toward affecting the genocide of the Ukrainian population.  Put another way, to 'till the soil' for some Fascist 'great reset' projects.  As such it doesn't make any sense to 'win' at this time.  If Russia threatened to actually apply their strength against assets of they who control the West and a real war were to break out, I would expect various more modern Western weapons systems to pop up.  But maybe not.  Could be that the Western military-industrial complex simply pocketed ALL the money for the last 50 years and have almost nothing to show for it.

[Etranger]

something I would say should do any European country,let them live in that "imperial Russia in their fairy lands".

Unfortunately, this desire is practically unrealizable. No matter how much you want russia to remain a closed system, to stew in its own shit, this is very likely not to happen. The problem is not that no one gives a damn anymore, the problem is that russia is not limited to the destruction of its territory and the lives of its citizens. They can't just stay within their boundaries and mind their own business. They either openly invade foreign lands, or crap in other countries with the help of hacker attacks, interference in politics and bribing officials. And these problems will not be solved if the average Europeans are indifferent. Unfortunately, attention is coming to russia, because it demands this attention with those cruel methods that it has been using for more than several decades.

[Branko]

...
On the war itself, it seems that Ukraine is claiming that a Patriot stopped a Kinzhal. To be honest, the missile is an air launched version of the Ishkander and can reach hypersonic speeds. However the true hypersonic capability requires a very high degree of manoeuvrability, which makes it very difficult to intercept, very difficult to know where it is heading and thus a real threat. Russia is claiming that capability, but it is simply not there.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/06/russia-ukraine-war-patriot-kinzhal/ba39c340-ebeb-11ed-869e-986dd5713bc8_story.html

At first Ukraine denied these news, but after some time they officially confirmed it. They told many times that Kinzhal missiles is impossible for them to intercept with systems that they have and it caused lot of problems for them. So, it's big news.

It is important certainly. These missiles were kind of the answer from China and the RF to the Carrier Groups of the USA, currently 11 in active if I remember correctly. If a Patriot can intercept, let's say with a 60% chance a modern Khinzal, Sea based systems, usually x 10 times better, can do it too. It is a game changer to have a carrier group at 200 miles from your coast and not being able to do much about it (other than nuking it I guess).

patriot is too expensive, they should shoot it down with shotgun or jar of marmelade

Russia is an isolated country now which no one gives a damn about them anymore and I say damn to just not say something worse.They are the only responsible to such failure,they have lost people,they have lost ammunition and tanks,fighters and all sort of military device in this conflict.They have been put under heavy sanctions and the average Joe in Russia is feeling the consequences,no one in US or Europe looks to any average Russian with empathy anymore and some of these countries are also closing borders with Russia,something I would say should do any European country,let them live in that "imperial Russia in their fairy lands".

Economically speaking they would need at least 40 years to catch up with the developed world so I wonder why are some people still saying Russia is winning the war when they have already lost it in a lot of very important fronts.

Thats a lot of (wrong) assumptions, chief

[paxmao]

something I would say should do any European country,let them live in that "imperial Russia in their fairy lands".

Unfortunately, this desire is practically unrealizable. No matter how much you want russia to remain a closed system, to stew in its own shit, this is very likely not to happen. The problem is not that no one gives a damn anymore, the problem is that russia is not limited to the destruction of its territory and the lives of its citizens. They can't just stay within their boundaries and mind their own business. They either openly invade foreign lands, or crap in other countries with the help of hacker attacks, interference in politics and bribing officials. And these problems will not be solved if the average Europeans are indifferent. Unfortunately, attention is coming to russia, because it demands this attention with those cruel methods that it has been using for more than several decades.

The system is rotten inside out. How would anyone justify that they have been trying to take a small city from a in theory much inferior adversary during nearly a year? How about a convoy going to Kiev that simply cannot move because the fuel is not there? What about the RF asking Iran for drones and North Korea for munitions?

There isn't anything in the RF that is "true" in any sense of the word, and that starts with their leaders.

...
On the war itself, it seems that Ukraine is claiming that a Patriot stopped a Kinzhal. To be honest, the missile is an air launched version of the Ishkander and can reach hypersonic speeds. However the true hypersonic capability requires a very high degree of manoeuvrability, which makes it very difficult to intercept, very difficult to know where it is heading and thus a real threat. Russia is claiming that capability, but it is simply not there.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/06/russia-ukraine-war-patriot-kinzhal/ba39c340-ebeb-11ed-869e-986dd5713bc8_story.html

At first Ukraine denied these news, but after some time they officially confirmed it. They told many times that Kinzhal missiles is impossible for them to intercept with systems that they have and it caused lot of problems for them. So, it's big news.

It is important certainly. These missiles were kind of the answer from China and the RF to the Carrier Groups of the USA, currently 11 in active if I remember correctly. If a Patriot can intercept, let's say with a 60% chance a modern Khinzal, Sea based systems, usually x 10 times better, can do it too. It is a game changer to have a carrier group at 200 miles from your coast and not being able to do much about it (other than nuking it I guess).

patriot is too expensive, they should shoot it down with shotgun or jar of marmelade

...

They probably could - if you listen to official propaganda, the RF could send an invisible missile capable of knocking on a door and ask "trick or treat" while dancing The Swam Lake. The problem comes when the tank does not move because Boris sold the fuel, the troops get sent to a kill zone because some Capitan Igor is too afraid to tell that the recognisance unit is formed of zero vehicles (all sold) and the explosive reactive armour fails because Piotr sold it and filled it with pebbles.

Patriot is too expensive, unless it blocks a missile that is going to hit something really expensive.

You know, I think that people claiming the military capabilities actually believe they have them because they have been lied from minute zero by nearly everyone involved in the process of "creating the capability".

Russia is an isolated country now which no one gives a damn about them anymore and I say damn to just not say something worse.They are the only responsible to such failure,they have lost people,they have lost ammunition and tanks,fighters and all sort of military device in this conflict.They have been put under heavy sanctions and the average Joe in Russia is feeling the consequences,no one in US or Europe looks to any average Russian with empathy anymore and some of these countries are also closing borders with Russia,something I would say should do any European country,let them live in that "imperial Russia in their fairy lands".

I am looking toward Russia, or more accurately the economic union of which they will play a leading role, with a lot of interest for the future.  The 'collective West' looks to me like dead-end economically, functionally, and morally.  The West has a long way to go before hitting rock-bottom and there is increasingly little chance that anything will arrest their fall.

I will say that Russia, like so many other countries, seems to have had little or no concept of so-called 'liberty' among the general population.  It does seem to me that most people are very uncomfortable in a situation where there is no 'great leader' or whatever.  Not that a huge number of people in any society are much different, especially these days, but it does seem the case that most societies in most places have never had a point in time when any form of 'freedom' as very widespread and there is precious little aspiration toward achieving such a state.  If anything 'freedom' seems to be a dirty/scary word.  My upbringing in my culture actually did value and aspire to such a state of being and I am genuinely chauvinistic toward people who don't value independence and freedom although I don't discount the advantages of a population being wired for what is effectively slavery.  My guess is that I would not be very happy in Russia (or almost any other place really.)

Economically speaking they would need at least 40 years to catch up with the developed world so I wonder why are some people still saying Russia is winning the war when they have already lost it in a lot of very important fronts.

That doesn't comport with the observation the Russians are winning handily in Ukraine on almost all fronts, and especially in terms of the technical capabilities of their advanced weapons systems.  That is not what would be expected of an economy and a society which doesn't allocate resources in a sensible way.  At least not one which is rich in resources.
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Your observation does not comport with any real observation.

[LTU_btc]

Today 9th May parade happened in Moscow. Not in Kyiv as someone would like to see in his wet dreams. But this year parade was scaled down significantly. I'm wondering, why, what happened? Instead of showing new tanks like Armata, they only had one tank in aparade - T-34 from WW2 times. Some armored vehicles and few RS-24 YARS ICBM's. No air force display. In total, 51 vehicles, probably lowest numbers in many years. It looks that something happened. I can only insert this meme which relfects situation perfectly;

Meanwhile, Ukraine made some counteroffensive operations in Bakhmut and regained 3 km² of city (not official information). And Prigozhin continue to cry.