Is Ukraine about to have a war?
In summary, a NO FLY ZONE is not a good idea. The risks of escalation is almost a certainty.
Best thing is to ensure every person capable on the ground has efective anti-air assets, and open the skies so that if it flies it is a target. No risk of blue on blue. Purely a defensive stance and reason to escalate reduced.
One advantage of doing this is that there is no fanfare i.e. can be supplied covertly, and their use is fairly deniable assuming dedicated radar systems aren't involved. I doubt even an the most experienced combat pilot will know what system they were engaged by.
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An AN124 carrying Covid test kits has been seized in Toronto. It was carrying the kits ordered by Canada to Canada and when it landed they seized the plane LOL
https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/v...ronto-pearson/
https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/v...ronto-pearson/
An Antonov An-124 cargo aircraft carrying Covid-19 test kits ordered by the Government of Canada has been grounded at Toronto’s Pearson Airport as part of the international sanctions imposed on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.
Like most of the European countries, Canada and the United States have issued executive orders closing their airspace to planes owned or operated by Russian companies.
The orders affect several Antonov An-124 aircraft owned and operated by the Russian cargo giant Volga-Dnepr Group, based in Ulyanovsk, Russia.
The Volga-Dnepr Antonov that landed in Toronto on Saturday 27 February at 07:00 was carrying rapid antigen tests ordered from China by the Canadian government. The aircraft, registered RA-82078, departed from an undisclosed airport in China on flight VI5854, stopping at Khabarovsk in Russia’s far east and in Anchorage before arriving in Toronto.
Like most of the European countries, Canada and the United States have issued executive orders closing their airspace to planes owned or operated by Russian companies.
The orders affect several Antonov An-124 aircraft owned and operated by the Russian cargo giant Volga-Dnepr Group, based in Ulyanovsk, Russia.
The Volga-Dnepr Antonov that landed in Toronto on Saturday 27 February at 07:00 was carrying rapid antigen tests ordered from China by the Canadian government. The aircraft, registered RA-82078, departed from an undisclosed airport in China on flight VI5854, stopping at Khabarovsk in Russia’s far east and in Anchorage before arriving in Toronto.
Zelenskiyy seems to think that artillery shells and missiles are the flying objects that need stopping.
Although Davef68 mentions the airport destroyed at Vinnitsia (sp?) it was only mainly the buildings apparently as Russia wants to save as many runways as possible for later use by their waiting VVS Air Force.
Although Davef68 mentions the airport destroyed at Vinnitsia (sp?) it was only mainly the buildings apparently as Russia wants to save as many runways as possible for later use by their waiting VVS Air Force.
I suspect that the lack of runway targeting has more to do with the limited effectiveness of such a strike than a desire to preserve the surface. The attack reportedly used only Kalibir cruise missiles which do not carry penetrating warheads. A 500kg HE warhead is unlikely to keep the runway out of action for more than a few hours if there is a will to repair it. Other airfield infrastructure will be more expensive and time consuming to replace.
I was musing whether Ukraine's geography, specifically its forest cover, could in part explain the progress or otherwise of Russian forces (I haven't heard any talk head mention this yet) and found this map. It shows the south and east of the country to be mainly steppe i.e. flat, open country, nowhere to hide etc, whereas the north and west are wooded to varying degrees, better cover for troops and equipment if you aren't restricted to roads for whatever reason.
Talking of forest cover, back in 2017 I visited Bialowieza in Poland and went out into the forest one evening on my own in the hope of spotting some of the rarer local wildlife. Have to say, I'm not easily scared out on my lonesome at night having spent many out fishing for sea trout, hiking etc, but for whatever reason I was genuinely unnerved at one point when I spooked something, probably a deer, which promptly came crashing towards me through the undergrowth. I guess the tales of partisans and locals being led away into the forest for reprisals during WWII, recounted by our guide earlier in the day, may have played on my mind. Or maybe there's something in eastern European forest animism.... Either way, its not a ground I'd chose to fight over.
Talking of forest cover, back in 2017 I visited Bialowieza in Poland and went out into the forest one evening on my own in the hope of spotting some of the rarer local wildlife. Have to say, I'm not easily scared out on my lonesome at night having spent many out fishing for sea trout, hiking etc, but for whatever reason I was genuinely unnerved at one point when I spooked something, probably a deer, which promptly came crashing towards me through the undergrowth. I guess the tales of partisans and locals being led away into the forest for reprisals during WWII, recounted by our guide earlier in the day, may have played on my mind. Or maybe there's something in eastern European forest animism.... Either way, its not a ground I'd chose to fight over.
Russia has been making moves on nuclear power plants by occupying (Chernobyl), shelling (Zaporizhzhia and test reactor at Kharkiv) and advancing toward other NPP's.
There is worrying thought that the Russians are creating a pretext for a nuclear disaster, ultimate area denial by exploding a NPP and blaming the Ukrainians for it. This was unthinkable two weeks ago, now it is in the realm of possibility.
i hope I am wrong.
There is worrying thought that the Russians are creating a pretext for a nuclear disaster, ultimate area denial by exploding a NPP and blaming the Ukrainians for it. This was unthinkable two weeks ago, now it is in the realm of possibility.
i hope I am wrong.
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My thoughts would be to turn the juice off, probably why they are working to connect the EU to Ukraine
https://nypressnews.com/news/world/e...energy-sector/
https://nypressnews.com/news/world/e...energy-sector/
Given that Russian aircraft are being brought down frequently with manpads and very little damage is reported as a result of bombing, but rather artillery and rockets, I think this must be ignored. I have now moved completely to the view that Selensky is cynically trying his best to drag any NATO country into this war, so that it broadens the conflict and relieves pressure on Ukraine.
This must not happen. His words and pictures of suffering children must be ignored ( in this case ). There is a very real risk of this moving to some kind of nuclear level if NATO becomes involved, and for that Selensky becomes a total **** in my eyes in trying to engineer this. The help he is getting with ATGW and manpads is the most effective at the moment and, by all accounts, very large numbers are getting through;
This must not happen. His words and pictures of suffering children must be ignored ( in this case ). There is a very real risk of this moving to some kind of nuclear level if NATO becomes involved, and for that Selensky becomes a total **** in my eyes in trying to engineer this. The help he is getting with ATGW and manpads is the most effective at the moment and, by all accounts, very large numbers are getting through;
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Russia has been making moves on nuclear power plants by occupying (Chernobyl), shelling (Zaporizhzhia and test reactor at Kharkiv) and advancing toward other NPP's.
There is worrying thought that the Russians are creating a pretext for a nuclear disaster, ultimate area denial by exploding a NPP and blaming the Ukrainians for it. This was unthinkable two weeks ago, now it is in the realm of possibility.
i hope I am wrong.
There is worrying thought that the Russians are creating a pretext for a nuclear disaster, ultimate area denial by exploding a NPP and blaming the Ukrainians for it. This was unthinkable two weeks ago, now it is in the realm of possibility.
i hope I am wrong.
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Given that Russian aircraft are being brought down frequently with manpads and very little damage is reported as a result of bombing, but rather artillery and rockets, I think this must be ignored. I have now moved completely to the view that Selensky is cynically trying his best to drag any NATO country into this war, so that it broadens the conflict and relieves pressure on Ukraine.
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AWOL Guardsman bought ticket to Poland.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60675671
Also
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-60669763
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60675671
Also
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-60669763
Wanted: multilingual former soldiers willing to covertly head into Ukraine for the handsome sum of up to $2,000 (£1,523) per day - plus bonus - to help rescue families from an increasingly grim conflict.
It sounds ripped from the script of an action movie, but the job advert is real - taken from an employment website, Silent Professionals, for those working in the private military and security industry.
And, insiders say, demand is growing. Amid a gut-wrenching war in Ukraine, US and European private contractors say they are increasingly eying opportunities, ranging from 'extraction' missions to helping with logistics.
There is "a frenzy in the market" for private contractors in Ukraine today, said Robert Young Pelton, a Canadian American author and expert on private military companies (PMCs).
But the demand for paid security workers - many of them former soldiers with ability to fight and kill - in the midst of a war leaves plenty of room for mistakes, and the potential for bedlam.
It sounds ripped from the script of an action movie, but the job advert is real - taken from an employment website, Silent Professionals, for those working in the private military and security industry.
And, insiders say, demand is growing. Amid a gut-wrenching war in Ukraine, US and European private contractors say they are increasingly eying opportunities, ranging from 'extraction' missions to helping with logistics.
There is "a frenzy in the market" for private contractors in Ukraine today, said Robert Young Pelton, a Canadian American author and expert on private military companies (PMCs).
But the demand for paid security workers - many of them former soldiers with ability to fight and kill - in the midst of a war leaves plenty of room for mistakes, and the potential for bedlam.
Last edited by NutLoose; 9th Mar 2022 at 12:03.
I certainly hope so, but I have been disturbed by both Blinken's comments about supplying F16's if Poland chose to send its Migs to Ukraine ( which I see as tacit approval ) and then by Poland's offer to lend its Migs to the USA As far as the second point is concerned, I am not sure if this wasn't a way of telling Blinken to shut his big mouth, which seems to have worked as the USA has backtracked quickly; I don't understand however, why comments such as Blinken's are uttered at all. Imo opinion he should have said that the current position is that NATO is not going to get involved and made any other comments in secret discussions. It is necessary to keep making public statements about no NATO involvement every time Selensky makes an appeal.
On March 9, 2022, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said that the United Kingdom was looking into delivering Starstreak missiles to Ukraine, to prevent Russian air supremacy amid the Russo-Ukrainian War.