Gallipoli comes to mind.

As to the counter offensive. I read a few news bits about the "break through" and remembered an old reminder from an Armor Branch colonel who I once worked for.
"When you make a break through and try to exploit it, you have a ticklish risk assessment to do since you now have two flanks as you penetrate and try to exploit the breakthrough."
He further went on to observe
"Here is where I appreciate the aviation units in the Cav...when the weather is good. "

Which takes me to:

1. How well have Ukraine established local air superiority in the vicinity of the breakthrough" ... and ...
2. How well have Ukraine established EW spectrum dominance / superiority in the area (let's say 10-20 nm radius) around the breakthrough?
3. For Ukraine to exploit this they need to be able to spoil and/ or stall various counterattacks. More importantly to interfere with the sensor-to-shooter links between local Russian forces and Russian artillery.

It matters not what pommy warriors [or descendants of convicts] think: what matters is that an independant country has been treacherously attacked, robbed, raped and trashed by the embodiment of evil.

What's the point here, is it degrading russian military forces long term or is it a fight for Ukrainian land and people? just asking for a friend

The point is to defeat the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine. To defeat Russia militarily and politically. The aim is to push Russia out of Ukrainian territory permanently.

The most shocking thing you said is that you have a friend!

At the risk of stating the obvious, I'd have thought it's easier to retake land and liberate people if the enemy's military forces have been degraded. Maybe I'm wrong...

Note: this thing was pretending to be Polish a few days ago. Now it's pretending to be Australian. It's a troll.

In case anyone missed it, the point is to get Russia to pull out of annexed lands.

For the hard of thinking;

One of those things is made easier, once you’ve achieved the other.

The point is to make continuing with the war too expensive to the extent where they give up.

Kremlin approved history doesn't have much to say about the occasions in the past where even the USSR gave up.

The Berlin airlift and the war against Finland come to mind. ( Stalin vowed to destroy Helsinki )
​​​​​

About Zelenskyy’s words at the UN: “I listened to [the sentence about Poland] with great regret. I must admit, there is some bitterness in my heart. I understand all those who feel bitter perfectly well.”
I don't think this turbo-diplomacy of Zelensky playing out well. Ask for 80 billion that you need next year to keep Ukraine running and you shall receive.

First opinion is that Zelensky has made a big mistake there. Second opinion is that you are a {Deleted}
The next time you are tempted to do that, step away from the keyboard until you cool off.
T28B

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Another point disconnected from above.

Zelensky's legal attack on Poland for tariffs on Ukrainian grain is astonishing and, imo, a huge mistake. He's completely ignoring the fact that Poland is a massivey important supporter - both militarily and politically - for Ukraine 2) Position as most important transit point for supplies to Ukr 3) The uocoming Polish election and the importance of farmers support for the current government 4) Poland's right to levy tariffs on products that risk disrupting its producers ( I write that as a personal opinion as I am not certain of legal position ).

I really really hope that this doesn't mean he is losing touch with (political ) reality as that could be disastrous: it is already a self-inflicted wound.

I kind of gathered at some point down the line, a situation like this would happen, that Zelensky would ruffle an ally's feathers Just wondering who else will gradually withdraw support, perhaps its naivety on Zelensky's part. this situation could have a knock on effect on food prices here in the UK?? Putin' is probably chuckling quietly to himself.

Here is another question if Zelensky apologises to the Poles, and stops what hes doing, then it be back to business as usual...

cheers

The call for calm is a good one. Maybe he should also be cut a little slack. He has been under enormous pressure for a long time.

That supposes that he is making unilateral decisions which is not a good idea- what on earth were his advisors thinking ? It would also indicate a kind of megalomania becuase, to many people, it indicates a total lack of awareness of reality. I hope he gets some straight talking in the USA to bring him to his senses so he perhaps then visits Poland , says he has been a fool and asks forgiveness.

Fatigue would have to be a factor. It must be soul destroying to watch the loss of so many of your own while NATO countries get the easy ride. Poland cannot withdraw support to Ukraine, to do so means engaging Russia themselves and therein lies the key. Imagine the consequence of Zelenski throwing in the towel.

I thought the idea was to move these grain supplies west, to allow export safe from Vlad's forces. Selling in Poland, below Polish prices doesn't make sense that I can see.

“If the Polish government no longer wants to supply Ukraine with weapons for reasons of domestic political sentiment, Germany should consider transferring it’s anti-aircraft missile systems currently stationed in Poland directly to Ukraine,"

Says Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the chairwoman of the defence committee in the Bundestag…..

Five Bulgarian suspects charged with spying for Russia

A 29-year-old beautician is one of five Bulgarians charged with spying for Russia.

Vanya Gaberova, who owns a nail and eyelash beauty salon in Acton, west London, and four compatriots are accused of being part of a spy ring suspected of conducting surveillance in the UK and mainland Europe and passing information to the Russian state.

Gaberova and her compatriots, Ivan Stoyanov, 31, Orlin Roussev, 45, Bizer Dzhambazov, 41, and Katrin Ivanova, 31, will appear at Westminster magistrates’ court on Tuesday to face charges of conspiring to gather information that would be useful to an enemy of the state between August 2020 and February 2023.

Roussev was the alleged ringleader and Dzhambazov and Ivanova, who were in a relationship, had previously been charged with possessing 19 fake passports and other identity documents with “improper intention”.

They included documents for the UK, Bulgaria, France, Italy and other countries allegedly made by Roussev. All three have yet to enter pleas to that charge and are due to face trial next year.

The three men and two women had all lived in Britain for several years and were arrested in February. They are accused of posing as journalists and carrying out alleged surveillance operations in the UK, Germany and Montenegro…..

Roussev, who is suspected of acting as a link between the group and those who received the intelligence, had previously owned a business involved in signals intelligence — the interception of communications. He was once an adviser to the Bulgarian ministry of energy and moved to the UK in 2009.…

The charges follow an investigation by the Metropolitan Police.

Nick Price, head of the Crown Prosecution Service special crime and counterterrorism division, said: “The CPS has authorised a charge of conspiracy to conduct espionage against three men and two women suspected of spying for Russia.”

​​​​​​​They would be charged with “conspiring to collect information intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy for a purpose prejudicial to the safety and interest of the state between 30 August 2020 and 8 February 2023”.

Wounded Russian soldiers and their relatives say they are being sent back into battle without being treated, and in some cases are not paid injury compensation or even their regular salaries. It's been blamed on a shortage of frontline manpower. Some are choosing to flee.​​​​​​​

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1...464648494.html