Putin and the West

[Monty]

https://www.thesun.ie/news/8634354/russ ... -arrested/

Speechless

Man, that's next level **** up!

[Kwacky]

There's a lot of troops gathering in Makeeva. It's in Russia, about half way between Moscow and Kharkiv (Ukraine). These will no doubt be joining those already in Belgorod (just north of Kharkiv).

I'm guessing, but I expect a large push directly southwards with the intention of creating a Russian corridor from Kharkiv to Donetsk to Mariupol. That will slice the eastern part of Ukraine which Russia will then try and claim.

There's not been much happened on the updates so I'm guessing apart from Mariupol that both sides are getting ready for the next phase of the war. Ukraine has pushed back the Russians around Kyiv and north-eastwards around Sumy and towards Kharkiv. There's also been a Ukrainian counter offensive between Mykloaiv and Kherson.

In other news:

Putin has asked for a section of Mariupol to be cleared so they can hold a May Day parade there.

Sweden has said it will join NATO. Finland is thinking about it.

France has sent police to Kyiv to investigate potential war crimes.

Russia is relocating Ukrainians right across Russia



There are suggestions that Belarus is being invited to formally become part of Russia.

Russia has said that any vehicle in Ukraine is a fair target, even if it is a NATO vehicle making a delivery.

[Jack]

I imagine Putin will want to push along the coast and completely cut Ukraine off from the sea and its trade if the next phase is successful .

[Cav]

I imagine Putin will want to push along the coast and completely cut Ukraine off from the sea and its trade if the next phase is successful .

Agreed but they haven't even managed to try for Odessa yet. It's been a real shit show on Russias part

[Kwacky]

To Russia with love

[D41]

Those M113s have been around for a long time... probably sixty years, maybe longer.

[Kwacky]

It's a good design though. It's been copied by a few countries which is always a good sign

[Kwacky]

Ukraine has started a massive counter offensive in Kherson tonight.

[D41]

It's a good design though. It's been copied by a few countries which is always a good sign

Yeah... it's basic configuration is not that far removed from that of 'Little Willie', the first ever tank....which shows just how well they nailed it from the get-go.

[Kwacky]

Ukraine say they've hit the Russian cruiser Moskva with anti ship missiles.

A few hours later Russia admitted that the ship was damaged but say that a fire in the ammunition storage area caused the damage. The crew have been evacuated and the vessel is being towed back to port.

It's a huge PR stunt for Ukraine if they did hit it. Moskva is a huge guided missile cruiser and the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet.

[Kwacky]

Russia has confirmed that the Moskva has sunk

[D41]

Now that is good news.

And how often do you get to say that about a sinking ship...??

[Kwacky]

The service @GoogleMaps opened public access to satellite imagery in HQ of all Russian military bases, fortifications, facilities, airports, jets, ships, anti-air systems, nuclear rocket launchpads, etc. On this photo you can see Su-57, a 5th gen fighter jet. #OSINT https://t.co/0aG58yswNQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[D41]

Just had a quick read-up on the Su-57.... that thing has had an extremely protracted development, going back to a brief way back in the late '70s, that required the planned aircraft to be operational by the '90s. Better late than never, I suppose.

[Cav]

Without more details those 20 years don't tell you anything.

At my old place it took 16 years to develop a new technology because they had to keep inventing new technologies along the way. 200 or so patents and 16 years later it launched.

[Kwacky]

Some people are finding a lot of good stuff from Google maps

[D41]

I like the forward-swept wings on the black one. It's like a video game plane.

[Kwacky]

There's about 60 years of Russian aviation history in that photo.

[Kwacky]

The Battle for Eastern Ukraine has begun. Both sides are exchanging heavy shelling, the Russians are backing it up with air support. It looks like a huge front. I suspect Russia is looking to stretch the Ukraine defence then we'll see any gaps being exploited. This is more open fighting terrain so it'll suit the attackers more but the weather forecast looks very wet this week.

[Kwacky]

There's a lot of questions about the Russians convictions for this second offensive. It's been pretty quiet today. Maybe yesterday was just a test to see where the UA was and the numbers

https://twitter.com/mdmitri91/status/15 ... Pv0tA&s=19" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;