Ukraine has apparently attached air to air missiles to a naval drone. I wonder if that’s how they have downed planes over the Black Sea. Second link shows a Russian helicopter attacking the drone. It looks like one of the missiles has been fired.
I suspect the drone was self destructed.
non breakingnews post
That’s a bit rich - it’s unreasonable to expect America to put European interests on the same footing as its own (or Europe to do the same for American wars). In the case of WWII, those same European countries waited until the threat to their own empires was nearly imminent and then (some people) judge the US negatively for not getting involved then, even though they sure as hell weren’t getting involved when the risk to them was that distant
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I know it’s just a drone, but inflicting Russian Heavy Metal on it (and viewers of that vid) should still be a war crime.
Not the thread for posts like this.
Moderating
Russia’s Spring offensive is hitting hard. I hope the Aid package with missiles makes a difference.
Here’s a BBC article with another description of the Russian push:
Could be a classic maskirovka on Russias part
Isn’t “just walking in” how infantry usually works?
The border with Russia is a grey zone mostly because the West won’t allow their weapons to be used within Russia (The UK recently changed this stipulation). Consequently Ukrainian defensive positions are located several kilometers from the border. This means that Russia can take these undefended areas by just “walking in”. Russia figures Ukraine can’t/won’t be able to retake the land once they have occupied it so they might as well grab as much as they can.
Here’s a discussion from George Barros with ISW on the results of western weapons not being used in Russian territory.
Note that the Ukrainians have been sneaking PATRIOT launchers closer to the border and dropping multiple Russian aircraft at a time. The interruption of missile supplies halted this. Hopefuly the renewed assistance will correct the imbalance. I expect the arrival of F-16s imminently armed with AIM-120s will seriously dent Russian ambitions.
ISW has a more optimistic view of the barttlefield. I’m surprised there is any Russian commentary critical of their forces.
The BBC reporting sounds more ominous. Ukrainian troops are retreating and President Volodymyr Zelensky has cancelled all upcoming foreign trips. Apparently this isn’t a good time for him to be away and out of direct control of the government.
Link Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, May 14, 2024 | Institute for the Study of War
Looks like Secretary of State Blinken said Ukraine can use American weapons in Russian territory. About time.
I don’t think we’re going to see a big rally from Ukraine. Their lines are very thin in the Kharkiv area. Interesting analysis but it’s disturbing for anyone that supports Ukraine.
There are several embedded links about the war.
Continuing the discussion from Russia invades Ukraine {2022-02-24} (Part 1) - #10091 by Walken_After_Midnight.
Previous discussions:
Not sure what you were trying to include, but I removed the thread bannings that were in your post from the OP.
That stuff just popped up in my post. It was tangled up in my quote from the article. I moved my [/quote] tag so the mod stuff wasn’t in my quote. I was quoting from the Guardian. Not sdmb
We’ve been seeing big rallies from Ukraine. Haven’t you heard about all the refinery strikes? That’s the kind of strategic attack that’s going to win the war, not scrabbling for a kilometer here or there on the ground.
Nevermind