re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

This was posted on the poli board, its a decent article discussing Ukraine's usage of technical vehicles.

For some reason, resident idiot STDtiger thinks this portrays Ukraine in a bad light.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ukraine-s-defenders-are-turning-personal-vehicles-into-technicals-to-fight-off-russian-forces/ar-AA11JsjR?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=f163f5ccf4a94defadb6d6eace5db712

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The Ukrainians have shown remarkable ingenuity in their fight against Russian forces. They have developed an anti-ship missile, the Neptune, that Kyiv said was used to sink the flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, the Moskva.

They have also developed a large arsenal of unmanned aerial systems by taking commercial drones and turning them into grenade-lobbing machines that are killing, maiming, and intimidating Russian troops.

Within a few weeks of the start of Russia's attack on February 24, shops and small factories had popped up inside and outside of Ukraine to convert pickup trucks and SUVs — many of them donated from abroad — into battlefield vehicles, adding armor, weapons mounts, and decorations before handing them over to Ukrainians.
Technicals are relatively easy to make and don't require specialized training to operate, and footage from the ground shows that Ukrainians have been quite creative in using them.

The standard configuration of Ukrainian technicals has a heavy machine gun — usually a Soviet-origin 12.7mm or a Western-designed .50-caliber weapon — on the back of the vehicle, but other inventive modifications have been seen in action.

In one instance, a Ukrainian unit used technicals to create mobile hunter-killer mobile anti-aircraft teams that could move around and engage Russian aircraft and drones. A video from the unit shows a small team of Ukrainians dismounting after spotting an enemy target and engaging it with FIM-92 Stinger missiles.

In another example, a Ukrainian unit turned a technical into a makeshift multiple launch rocket system, lobbing rockets at Russian positions before moving to a new firing position.

In yet another case, Ukrainian troops used technicals as hunter-killer anti-tank units, firing FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missiles from Peugeot pickup trucks.

Ukrainian forces are also using technicals to move around the battlefield quickly, allowing them to counter Russia's counter-battery fire.

"The platform offers so much flexibility it's stupid not to use," a retired US Army Delta Force operator told Insider.

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That technical looks like a latter-day Stalin’s organ.

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Lol, your circle jerk support for Ukraine is cringe

Question: how many more billions need to be sent there?

Where I come from, it’s survival of the fittest. Ukraine played with fire and is now paying the price. Also, elections have consequences.

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I'm going to explain this to you like you're 5. You probably aren't interested, but it's useful for everyone to understand these things.

Supporting Ukraine is in the US strategic interest for a number of different reasons:

1) Russia is still our enemy. Russia supports Assad in Syria and attacks US troops there. Russia often conducts cyberattacks on US companies. Russia is supporting Iran, just as Iran is building a nuclear weapon. Etc.

2) The fight in Ukraine is a fight for religious freedom. I am a Baptist and have a special interest in Ukraine, because it has the most Baptists in continental Europe. In areas that Russia conquered in 2014, Baptist churches were closed, the Baptist Hymnal was banned, and the Ukrainian Baptist Union was branded a terrorist organization.

Most Americans have no idea the extent to which Putin is fighting a religious war to re-establish the control of the Russian Orthodox Church (which is controlled by the Kremlin) over Ukraine.

I will be going to Ukraine next month in an attempt to support Ukrainian Baptists.

3) The Ukrainian victory over Russia help accomplish a number of US foreign policy objectives.
for example, it will eliminate outside support for the corrupt and cruel governments of Cuba and Venezuela, which cause regional instability and significantly contribute to our problems of illegal immigration.

Russian defeat will clarify our policies in the Middle East and South Asia, where we have often supported corrupt governments simply due to their geopolitical influence against Russia.

4) Most of the assistance that the US is providing to Ukraine is older weapon systems that we due for replacement soon anyway. The howitzers, for example, are really ancient tech. We used HIMARS in Desert Storm. A whole bunch of javelins and ammo that we sent to Ukraine was about to expire and be disposed of.

So, in one sense, we can brag that we sent $____ billion of weaponry to Ukraine, but the actual cost to the US taxpayer is far, far less.

5) The war has both greatly strengthened NATO and revealed the astonishing state of Russian weakness. As a result, Europe will now much better be able to provide for its own defense. US taxpayers will save significant money in the long run, as we will not need so many bases there. More broadly, most of the US Army's force structure has been designed to fight Russia in Europe, and that will now no longer be necessary.

6) A defeated Russia means that the US (and, to a lesser extent, our NATO allies) can refocus on China and protecting Taiwan. We will be able to decrease Army spending in some areas so that we can increase spending on the weapons that will defend Taiwan from Chinese aggression, while supporting our other Asian allies, such as Japan and South Korea.

7) In the short term, the military buildup of our European allies will result in a number of weapons orders from US arms manufacturers such as Lockheed, Boeing, Raytheon, etc. And the whole world is getting to see the poor performance of Russia's weapons. No one is going to want to buy Russian equipment now, which will also weaken Russia in the long term.

8) With Russia denying natural gas to Europe, American production of LNG is way up. This is a windfall for US energy producers, who will help keep Europeans warm this winter -- another economic benefit for the US.

9) The end of this war is going to result in Vladimir Putin leaving power. This will mean that a new Russia will have the opportunity to develop in more freedom. In that sense, Ukrainians aren't fighting only for their own freedom -- they are fighting for a freer world.

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Apparently the Russians are running out of food, fuel, ammo, and arse wipe. They have not been resupplied in 10 days.

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That is probably an exaggeration, but there’s no doubt that their swift retreat to unprepared locations is making it extremely hard to supply the Russian troops in NE Ukraine. And the fact that Russian troops have been isolated in Kerson is hurting those troops.

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Picture of the woman in the link.

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A Russian Karen.

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1) Russia is still our enemy. Russia supports Assad in Syria and attacks US troops there. Russia often conducts cyberattacks on US companies. Russia is supporting Iran, just as Iran is building a nuclear weapon. Etc.

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Is Assad worse than Al Qaeda or ISIS?

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2) The fight in Ukraine is a fight for religious freedom. I am a Baptist and have a special interest in Ukraine, because it has the most Baptists in continental Europe. In areas that Russia conquered in 2014, Baptist churches were closed, the Baptist Hymnal was banned, and the Ukrainian Baptist Union was branded a terrorist organization.

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Um, where does this end? Do we have to pick sides in every religious fight across the globe?

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3) The Ukrainian victory over Russia help accomplish a number of US foreign policy objectives.
for example, it will eliminate outside support for the corrupt and cruel governments of Cuba and Venezuela, which cause regional instability and significantly contribute to our problems of illegal immigration.

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How about we just concentrate on our own border with Mexico?

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9) The end of this war is going to result in Vladimir Putin leaving power. This will mean that a new Russia will have the opportunity to develop in more freedom. In that sense, Ukrainians aren't fighting only for their own freedom -- they are fighting for a freer world.

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I doubt that happens and you will probably end up with someone worse than Putin.

Russian ground forces are being mauled in Karkhiv.

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That is probably an exaggeration, but there’s no doubt that their swift retreat to unprepared locations is making it extremely hard to supply the Russian troops in NE Ukraine. And the fact that Russian troops have been isolated in Kerson is hurting those troops.

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I was referring to the troops in Kherson on the west bank of the Dnieper. The Russian pontoon bridges were destroyed about 10 days. Two of the three ferries which had a limited capacity at best have been sunk in the last week. The third one was damaged beyond repair on Friday or Saturday. Since their supply dumps are on the east bank of the river it is highly likely that they have not gotten a full resupply in 10 days and judging by the reports that Russian artillery fire on the west bank of the river is virtually nonexistent now. I believe it is safe to say that the Russian supplies of arse wipe are running low.

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Picture of the woman in the link.

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A Russian Karen.

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Da comrade. Very good description of the traitor.

Video from another Russian Telegram Channel
https://t.me/c/1552544518/4721

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??Governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov urged residents of the villages of Zhuravlevka and Nekhoteevka, who still remain in settlements, to temporarily leave their homes ??

People, what the frick is happening, what are we preparing for????

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