Originally Posted by
ORAC
One of the first photos of the Askold after the Ukrainian missile attack in Crimea.
That won’t buff out….
The video that has come out of the impact appears to show the missiles both overflying the center of the vessel, and impacting somewhere on the port side of midship, with a fair amount of blast out towards the wharf area. The closeup shows the blast was out to port. Would suggest that the targeting of the system is so accurate that they can adjust their aiming point for the final approach path and achieve a greater damage outcome by impacting slightly short of the center towards the direction of flight.
Just sayin', that is a remarkably accurate final point of impact, projecting the detonation into the center of the ship may give a better bang for the bucks. However, that boat is not going anywhere other than an artificial reef anytime soon.
Slight change of topic, the Ukrainians plead for tanks and better weapons, and dragging our feet, we finally overcame our reticence and fears to give them a minimal amount. What Ukraine has done is remarkable. With or without our heavier systems, they have effectively put the Russian military capability back to an extent that Eritrea is now more of a conventional military power than Russia. Ukraine did that, in most cases in spite of our pitiful level of support. We are obliged to assist, that is the obligation that all UN members have if they have an intent to comply with the UN Charter. That the UN is absolutely gutless as far as the UNSC is concerned is a separate matter. The simple fact is, UN members are supposed to comport themselves in compliance with the charter, which apparently Russia continues to use as it is soft and thoroughly absorbent, as sanitary waste. Ukraine has earned the right to be armed accordingly, and we collectively have the stain of the losses that Ukraine have suffered from our tardy response to the moral obligations that exist from supposedly being part of a civilised community. Russia elected to forgo civility for criminality, Ukraine has an existential threat, and in the end, failure to provide Ukraine the tools to do the job will assuredly cause the extension of Russia's learned response, that aggression is responded to by Chamberlain like appeasement, which is still where we are, irrespective of the noise from the MAGA crowd, (the ones who will take up arms against their own government, but are absent from he front like in Ukraine) Slovak and Hungarian govt that seem to have a fondness for the days where they were part of the fascist agression against civilisation, including extermination of Hungarian jews by the same attitude that is now in fashion in Budapest.
