Anybody here read Tom Clancy's "Red Storm Rising" ? Looks like Putin may have.

https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE198.html

The Russian "Firehose of Falsehood" Propaganda Model

The fact Russian media keep broadcasting it, does not mean it’s happening either.

At the end of the day even if was happening, which it isn’t, at least by the Ukraine, the Ukraine is a totally independent European Country and as such Russia has no right to be interfering in it, or occupying parts of the Country.

I do hope your Country has got a good supply of body bags as sadly if it escalates they will be required on both sides.

A-Van. You used to talk s lot of sense a few years ago, giving a Russian side to discussions. If you are still the same person, and not a clone, I feel sorry for you. Obviously "Kremlinised", or given an offer you couldn't refuse.

TASS: Russia claims Ukraina has shelled to Russian territory. A farm house is claimed to have hit. No casualties reported.


https://tass.ru/proisshestviya/13768343

Well here we are, on the brink of a war apparently that nobody wants....the Americans are just hysterical about the whole business, and Putin has been saying it's not going to happen.

Someone is really unhinged here, as we all know, truth is the first casualty in a war. Well truth looks to have evaporated months ago.

It's not hysteria or denial now, the cards have been dealt and they have to be played. Looking back, all of the intent was there to be seen. As the guy on the Beeb, sitting in Kiev said, the Munich dog and pony show is completely out of touch with the reality of life on the front line in Eastern Ukraine. Twiddling thumbs come to mind.

Time to make up a foil hat.

IG

Lufthansa has announced it is suspending all flights to and from Kviv and Odessa from Monday.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...ay-2022-02-19/

The BBC is reporting that the rebel leaders in the breakaway provinces have ordered a mobilisation, and men between the ages of 19 and 55 are prohibited from leaving the region

As I understand it, this means that men living in the region, even patriotic Ukrainians, are now going to be drafted to fight with Russia and the separatists against their own people.

Nice.

Let’s see how that works out, giving weapons to a bunch of disgruntled Ukrainians and telling them to fight by your side against your own Country. I wouldn’t want to turn my back on them.

More on the claimed artillery fire towards Russia, an article by rossiskaja gazeta

February 19, 2022, 17:59
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine commented on the explosions of shells in Russia

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that the country's Armed Forces did not shell Russian territory.

“We resolutely refute all accusations that Ukrainian shells allegedly hit the territory of the Russian Federation. Ukraine has not carried out any such shelling,” he wrote on Twitter.

At the same time, Kuleba called for "immediately conducting an impartial international investigation into the incidents," which were previously reported by the Russian media.

In turn, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny said that units of the Ukrainian Joint Forces in Donbass did not fire at the territories of the DPR, LPR and Russia.

According to him, the information about the shelling of the Rostov region is "an outright lie and a provocation."

“It should be noted that artillery units from the Joint Forces are located in the areas of withdrawal at a distance of more than 21 km from the collision line, which exceeds the maximum firing range of Grad multiple launch rocket systems and 122-mm cannons in service with the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” Zaluzhny's Facebook post says.

Earlier it became known that two shells exploded in the Rostov region in the Tarasovsky district. It was reported that military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine carried out massive shelling with the use of heavy weapons near the border.

After that, a criminal case was opened in the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia on the fact of the shelling of the border territory of the Rostov region by the military of Ukraine . Investigators specified that among the civilian population, no one was injured as a result of the shelling.

https://m.gazeta.ru/social/news/2022...17315863.shtml

No one, and, I emphasize NO ONE shoots with that type of weaponry cross the border three times by mistake and I don't believe for a second that there would've been an order to fire.

Why would anyone start a war by shooting a farm house with artillery?

There is a reason why there has been no civilian casualties despite Russian claimed heavy artillery shelling throughout the week: the shelling has never happened. The only reason to claim such actions is to draw a picture of a warmongering nation (Ukraine) to justify the Russian invasion. Once the Russians start announcing civilian casualties the troops start moving.

"Seit 5:45 Uhr wird jetzt zurückgeschossen"

Where did I hear that one? :ugh:
History can repeat itself, I hope not.

Well if they’ve been waiting till after the olympics to avoid offending the Chinese, the closing ceremony finishes at 1400 UTC tomorrow.

TOS-1A thermobaric MLRS being moved up.


A particularly nasty bit of kit - export video here:

Off topic but

If you cannot see the twitter embeds then it is caused by upgrading your edge browser and it neatly comes with "Tracking" in the privacy settings to "Strict". Change back to "Moderate" and you are away.

Apologies if this already advised earlier but I did not see it.

IG

Invasion stripes?