Yeah. It was expanding gas (pressure) that blew the cap, not an explosion.
Ukraine could target Russian oil wells and start fires that can’t easily be put out.
That happened in Kuwait at the end of the Gulf War. I remember Red Adair’s company was contracted to extinguish the fires and cap wells.
John Wayne portrayed Red Adair in Hellfighters 1968.
Couldn’t tell you why, but the brit’s seem like they are the absolute masters of dry wit.
You are right, it was an own goal.
So is some Russian Snafuovich going to get transferred straight to the front?
Defenestration is customary.
Wait, they’re trying to use heat-seeking missiles against drones!? What did they think was going to happen?
Perhaps the same thing they were thinking when launching air-to-air missiles that rely on picking up the doppler shift return from incoming jets to target drones moving at 160 kilometers per hour.
Well, the drones normally have pretty hot exposed engines on them. I imagine it’s an OK targeting system when that engine is the hottest thing in the area. Probably not so OK once you have a refinery burning nearby providing a larger, hotter target.
That video looks like a trailer for the upcoming movie sequel “Putin vs Acme”.
Aren’t the drones using small internal combustion engines (lawnmower engines)? I’d guess that any urban environment is teeming with heat sources of a similar temperature. Don’t be out running a lawnmower during an attack…
I had a question from the news thread, but didn’t want to hijack:
Would it be a viable strategy for Ukraine to only isolate Crimea? Not try to hold it themselves, but prevent Russia from holding it? Or is that not a meaningful distinction from the current situation?
That was more or less what this YouTube was claiming:
BTW: is the default here on the Dope that we should or should not embed YouTube videos?
Moderating: Please put the links on their own line so we see the preview.
I fixed yours.
Also, never bare link please. Give some description of what the link is for. With the preview and context, your link is fine.
Embedded videos are probably a bit more convenient, but there’s a long-standing bug that makes it trickier to make it work. Details can be found in the Site Feedback forum.
Putin Humiliated as Troops Threaten to ‘Turn Their Weapons’ on Him.
I foresee a terrible accident as he falls out a window.
I mean, let’s scale back from the headlines. It’s a disgruntled ex-volunteer squad commander sounding off and claiming to have support from …‘unnamed military officials and members of the security services’. Which could mean just about anything, but probably not much at all.
I’m sure Russian morale sucks. Russian morale always kinda sucks in a long war, because Russian political leaders and military officers have been treating front-line soldiers as disposable bullet-sponges since at least the 18th century. But that headline is just pure yellow journalism.
I wonder if Prigozhin had waited a bit longer what would have happened. He must have thought he had support at the time that didn’t materialize and the war was going better for Russia at that time. Of course Wagner was also used in some of the toughest fighting; Bakhmut was was turned him in the first place. So it might be that his troops would all be dead by now, but I think he chances of actually getting defections amongst the actual military would be higher now.
Indeed, as follows:
Step 1: Threaten Putin into having a meeting.
Step 2: …
Step 3: Die in agony, having accomplished nothing.
I wonder what Prigozhin thought was going to happen. He was halfway to Moscow unopposed! Quit telling Putin you’re coming for him and just do it FFS! Or is this some weird Russian form of ritual suicide that I’m not aware of?
True, Yahoo / Daily Beast are by no means paragons of journalistic integrity, coupled with the commander’s possibly dubious support claims, but it’s still the first of its kind (to me, anyway) of any steam-blowing voice coming from a commander, against Putin.
A situation not contained by Putin this time.