Replies to post #405779 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[B402]

Nice piece,,right up to him expecting Zelensky/Ukraine to do the world's bidding for them...

Here is a comparison I was going to use but took out in a post to you...(I think I left out)....It was a little to soon after your attack...

Take the dog attack,,,,Imagine both dogs coming at you, then the fight/attack is on...It doesn't look good, as its not a fair fight....People start to gather around though, they are filming this dreadful scene,,,,,They won't intervene, afraid of being bit themselves mind you.... Sounds heartless, but never fear, they are trying to hand you sticks as you attempt to fend the dogs off and they continue to film....

[Zorax]

Amazing how many armchair 'war pundits' I have read, each one opposite of the other. pukein is a loser, pukein is a winner, etc etc etc.....

Most if not all intelligence even semi dependable has reported the russian north front on the ground is stalled, running out of everything and on the verge of collapse. This is said would put much pressure elsewhere causing a domino effect. Is this true about a domino, possibly. Is it true the north front is faltering? Likely.

But what does people like me even know about russia's war with Ukraine? In reality, not much except what the media and social sites construct to show us.

But there is the obvious assumptions that we can be sure of.
pukein is now a certified war criminal. War criminals usually meet their trials. pukein has painted himself into a bloody corner he will not exit whole. pukein can stop today, pull everything out and go home and he will eventually get caught and pay. pukein lost the second he invaded a country that isn't his own.

If Ukraine can last long enough while the sanctions and world pressure cooks russia, russian government will likely take care of pukein. After all they know where he is hiding right now. Let russian government find pukein and try him. Or just let pukein live in exile in his own beloved mother land.

[BOREALIS]

US view of Putin: Angry, frustrated, likely to escalate war

By NOMAAN MERCHANT an hour ago



WASHINGTON (AP) — More than two weeks into a war he expected to dominate in two days, Vladimir Putin is projecting anger, frustration at his military’s failures and a willingness to cause even more violence and destruction in Ukraine, in the assessment of U.S. intelligence officials.

Officials in recent days have publicly said they’re worried the Russian president will escalate the conflict to try to break Ukraine’s resistance. Russia still holds overwhelming military advantages and can bombard the country for weeks more.
And while the rest of the world reacts to horrific images of the war he started, Putin remains insulated from domestic pressure by what CIA Director William Burns called a “propaganda bubble.”

Putin’s mindset — as tough as it is to determine from afar — is critical for the West to understand as it provides more military aid to Ukraine and also prevent Putin from directly taking on NATO countries or possibly reaching for the nuclear button. Intelligence officials over two days of testimony before Congress last week openly voiced concerns about what Putin might do. And those concerns increasingly shape discussions about what U.S. policymakers are willing to do for Ukraine.

Over two decades, Putin has achieved total dominance of Russia’s government and security services, ruling with a tiny inner circle, marginalizing dissent, and jailing or killing his opposition. He has long criticized the breakup of the Soviet Union, dismissed Ukraine’s claims to sovereignty, and mused about nuclear war ending with Russians as “martyrs.” Burns told lawmakers that he believed Putin was “stewing in a combustible combination of grievance and ambition for many years.”

Putin had expected to seize Kyiv in two days, Burns said. Instead, his military has failed to take control of major cities and lost several thousand soldiers already. The West has imposed sanctions and other measures that have crippled the Russian economy and diminished living standards for oligarchs and ordinary citizens alike. Much of the foreign currency Russia had accumulated as a bulwark against sanctions is now frozen in banks abroad.

Burns is a former U.S. ambassador to Moscow who has met with Putin many times. He told lawmakers in response to a question about the Russian president’s mental state that he did not believe Putin was crazy.

“I think Putin is angry and frustrated right now,” he said. “He’s likely to double down and try to grind down the Ukrainian military with no regard for civilian casualties.”

Russia’s recent unsupported claims that the U.S. is helping Ukraine develop chemical or biological weapons suggest that Putin may himself be prepared to deploy those weapons in a “false flag” operation, Burns said.

There’s no apparent path to ending the war. It is nearly inconceivable that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has won admiration around the world for leading his country’s resistance, would suddenly recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea or support granting new autonomy to Russian-friendly parts of eastern Ukraine. And even if he captures Kyiv and deposes Zelenskyy, Putin would have to account for an insurgency supported by the West in a country of more than 40 million.

“He has no sustainable political end-game in the face of what is going to continue to be fierce resistance from Ukrainians,” Burns said.

European leaders are still trying to maintain dialogue with Putin. Prime Minister Xavier Bettel of Luxembourg spoke Monday with Putin and “pleaded for an immediate ceasefire,” according to Bettel’s tweet. A spokesperson said Bettel was encouraged to contact Putin by other leaders who “wanted to make sure Putin would continue talking with them.” Bettel also spoke with Zelenskyy.

Avril Haines, President Joe Biden’s director of national intelligence, said Putin “perceives this as a war he cannot afford to lose. But what he might be willing to accept as a victory may change over time given the significant costs he is incurring.”

Intelligence analysts think Putin’s recent raising of Russia’s nuclear alert level was “probably intended to deter the West from providing additional support to Ukraine,” she said.

The White House’s concern about escalation has at times frustrated both Democrats and Republicans. After initially signaling support, the Biden administration declined in recent days to support a Polish plan to donate Soviet-era warplanes to Ukraine that would have required the U.S. to participate in the transfer. The administration previously delayed sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and would not send Stinger air-defense missiles to Ukraine before changing course.

Questioned on Thursday, Haines said Putin might see the plane transfer as a bigger deal than the anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons already going to Ukraine. Haines did not disclose whether the U.S. had intelligence to support that finding.

U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, an Illinois Democrat who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, said the Biden administration had been “always a step or two late” out of fear of triggering Putin. He urged the White House to agree quickly to the transfer of planes.

“I think it comes off as quibbling,” Quigley said. “If anyone thinks that Putin is going to distinguish and differentiate — ‘Oh, well, they’re taking off from Poland’ — he sees all of this as escalatory.”

Meanwhile, as the violence worsens and more Russians die, the West is also watching for any sign of holes forming in Putin’s “propaganda bubble.” One independent Russian political analyst, Kirill Rogov, posted on his Telegram account that the war is “lost” and an “epic failure.”

“The mistake was the notion that the West was unwilling to resist aggression, that it was lethargic, greedy and divided,” Rogov wrote. “The idea that the Russian economy is self-sufficient and secure was a mistake. The mistake was the idea of ??the quality of the Russian army. And the main mistake was the idea that Ukraine is a failed state, and Ukrainians are not a nation.

“Four mistakes in making one decision is a lot,” he said.

Before the invasion, polling conducted by the Levada Center, Russia’s top independent opinion research firm, found that 60% of respondents consider the U.S. and NATO the “initiators” of conflict in eastern Ukraine. Just 3% answered Russia. The polling was in January and February, and the Levada Center has not published new polling since the war began.

Outsiders hope ordinary Russians will respond to the sharp decline in their living standards and find honest portrayals of the war through relatives and online, including by using VPN software to bypass Kremlin blocks on social media. Russian state television continues to air false or unsupported allegations about the U.S. and Ukrainian governments and push a narrative that Russia can’t afford to lose the war.

“Otherwise, it will lead to the death of Russia itself,” said Vladimir Solovyov, host of a prime-time talk show on state TV channel Russia 1, on his daily radio show last week.

___

Associated Press journalists Lynn Berry in Washington and Philip Crowther in Lviv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.

https://apnews.com/article/ussia-ukraine-war-us-view-of-putin-1271f76008b3e639df6ff21e3644e339

[fuagf]

Russia-Ukraine war military dispatch: March 14, 2022

A roundup of the key battleground developments on Day 19 of Russia’s multi-pronged invasion of Ukraine.

INTERACTIVE_Miltiary Dispatch Day 19
[Al Jazeera]

By Ruslan Trad

Published On 14 Mar 202214 Mar 2022

Russian missiles and artillery fire have continued pounding several Ukrainian cities, as Moscow’s slow advance continued for its 19th day and officials from the two sides held a new round of negotiations.

Amid the heavy bombardment, Russian forces regrouped around the capital, Kyiv, and also in Ukraine’s south and east in a bid to deal with logistical challenges exacerbated by Ukrainian counterattacks and poor planning.

Keep reading

* Analysis: Can the UAE be a safe haven for Russian oligarchs?
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/14/analysis-can-the-uae-be-a-safe-haven-for-russian-oligarchs

* Could China help end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?
https://www.aljazeera.com/program/inside-story/2022/3/14/could-china-help-end-russias-invasion-of-ukraine

* Ukraine’s foreign legion joins the battle against Russia
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/14/russia-ukraine-war-international-legion-foreign-fighters

* First convoy of civilians escapes besieged Mariupol
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/14/ukraine-russia-war-mariupol-evacuation-convoy

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom’s defence ministry said Russian naval forces have established a “distant blockade ..

Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 13 March 2022

Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/cz8Q0vnsA5

🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/o28zuSsk3K

— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) March 13, 2022

” of Ukraine’s strategic Black Sea coast, effectively isolating it from international maritime trade.

People fleeing to Kyiv

A residential building in northern Kyiv’s Obolon area was hit .. https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/3429053-two-killed-as-shell-hits-apartment-block-in-kyiv.html .. by Russian strikes in the early hours of Monday, killing at least one person and wounding 12 others, including three who required hospital treatment, according to Ukrainian authorities. The figures could not be independently verified.

As Kyiv braces for an all-out assault, its Mayor Vitali Klitschko told Al Jazeera .. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/14/kyiv-mayor-vitali-klitschko-russia-ukraine-war .. the capital will “never give up” and Russian forces will “never ever” be able to take it.

Half of the city’s four-million population has already fled, but more people from surrounding areas that are likely to become active combat zones are trying to reach the capital. Sixteen buses with local residents were evacuated from the village of Nemishayeve, while eight more departed from the village of Dmytrivka.

Insert map



Shelling, meanwhile, continued causing widespread damage in Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, as well as in Sumy and the blockaded port city of Mariupol, where conditions remain dire. Still, more than 160 civilian cars were able to leave Mariupol after several failed attempts at evacuating residents from the key southern city.

Military activity in the south

In the Melitopol area, in southeastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian army said it had destroyed a Russian convoy consisting of 200 units of armoured hardware. The claim could not be independently verified.

In Melitopol itself, which is in Russian hands, citizens continued ..

Melitopol continues to fight back against occupation and the kidnapping of its mayor. Things likely to take a dark turn but I wouldn’t want to be one of these Russian soldiers. pic.twitter.com/REKceqWXJo

— Oliver Carroll (@olliecarroll) March 14, 2022

.. to stage protests against Russia’s presence and the kidnapping .. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/12/ukraine-accuses-russian-forces-of-abducting-melitopol-mayor .. of the city’s mayor.

A little to the north, Russian forces were accused of bombing a bridge near Kamenskoye, cutting off transport and supply links between Zaporizhzhia and Enerhodar.

Deaths reported in Donetsk

Further east, pro-Russia separatists said fragments from a downed Ukrainian Tochka-U 9M79-1 tactical ballistic missile fell in the city centre of Donetsk, killing at least 16 people and wounding more than 20. Ukraine denied responsibility.

In Luhansk, meanwhile, local Governor Serhii Haidai accused Russian forces of destroying “residents and settlements” in the province and warned that “ghost towns” were being created due to the ongoing attacks.

Russia not ruling out taking ‘full control’ of major cities

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin initially had ordered troops “not to assault the cities immediately, including Kyiv”, citing the large number of casualties that would be caused amid “the deployment of weapons by militants in the cities”.

However, Peskov added that the defence ministry now did not exclude “the possibility of taking major population centres under full control”, while “ensuring the maximum safety” of civilians.

Source: Al Jazeera

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/14/russia-ukraine-war-military-dispatch-march-14-2022