China is in a very unique position , one very similar to the position of the USA prior to WW1 . A rising nation watching the old empires destroy themselves . If they are smart they will sit it out as long as they can ,then they will get the choice of pickings of the previous empires , corporate and countries assets .

Ha-ha! They won't have much to pick if Russia v USA ends up nuclear!

Yes they are.
Unlike that fool Wilson, Xi may be clever enough to stay out of it but pick and choose whom he lends money and other aid to.
That's not good for my country, but sitting in China and Looking it out, it might be the best way to play "the long game"

There are no degrees of unique, its rather like pregnancy, you is or you aint!

:sad:

Hmmm, I wonder where that might end up… :)

Something he will remember for the rest of his life.

You are correct IMHO, for what it's worth. The Chinese are indeed known to play the 'long game' and generally to play it very well - they are not overly encumbered by a 4 year political cycle and will make plans for 5, 10 or 30 years down the road. That said, we may of course now be in the sights of the plans they made some time ago...

China will not want to back a loser so they will be waiting to see who is likely to prevail in Ukraine, but equally I have read a pretty convincing argument that if Russia prevails in Ukraine then it would make the success of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan more likely, so perhaps if they think that Russia is getting 'close' then they will provide the necessary support to tip the balance? I don't know, but the article I read indicated that was probably a plan doing the rounds in Beijing. It appears though that what Russia needs is competent leaders, honest generals and motivated and well trained soldiers - perhaps a stretch too far even for China?

Either way, the obvious answer to me is to ensure Ukraine 'wins' - whatever 'winning' looks like here. Zelensky is clear that Russia will leave every single inch of Ukraine, including Crimea, and personally I fully support that view. If your neighbour demands 10 feet of your garden, you have a fight, and you agree to let him have 2ft, then he has learned that you will give him something he wants in return for a quiet life - better to throw him out with a bloody nose and no teeth.

Russia's ammunition shortage in eastern Ukraine is reportedly so severe that its troops there have reportedly been issued with completely unusable munitions, including shells which are so rusty they have simply disintegrated.

Vostok's Khodakovsky reveals that Wagner are now actually simply receiving the same amount of ammunition as everyone else, saying everyone envied Wagner.

He also adds that Russians had to preserve ammo for the Vuhledar catastrophe to have enough ammo for at least 1 (!) day!


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....a520437ee.jpeg


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....9735a42299.png
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Russian sources are claiming that a large number of Ukrainian forces are being moved towards the border with Transnistria and that they, alongside Moldovan forces, are planning to occupy the region between February 24th and 28th.

Cadets at the Moscow Police College have reported an attempt to forcibly mobilise them en masse under false pretences. They say they were locked in a hall while attempts were made to get them to sign up to join the army.

They had to call the police to be released…..

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1...645015554.html

It's one thing looking at the usual talking heads in Russian late night tv ranting on about bombing Europe.
Entirely different issue is someone standing virtually next to Putin in front of 200k people and singing that the red flag will fly over Berlin.
if Russia wins in Ukraine, there is certainty that it will not stop there.
More and better equipment needs to be delivered faster to the Ukrainians.

Kerch Road Bridge is restored and both lanes opened, though repairs are still on going on the rail element.

Popcorn anyone?

On the Redskins reporting Ukraine forces gathering at the Transnistria border, that sounds like a pretext to invade Modova. Wonder if Lord Farquard watched "Red"...

Not much that King Julienne says would have more merit than ear wax,

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....4cc9343b29.png

Looks cold...

Aviation Content:

Russian SU-25 returning from a mission down near Belogrod, the Pilot did not survive as reported.

Claymore-style mines have been widely copied and adopted by various nations, and I imagine that such might come in quite handy in case of Stalin-era-like infantry wave attacks by the RF. However, I have not picked up on any reports of their being deployed in the present conflict.

What comes to mind right now is that the RF appears to have been largely successful in preserving most of its air assets to date, and may be in a position to provide enhanced CAS for its ground forces in the event of shortage of local defensive measures [ e.g. Stingers and the like ] in Ukraine.

This leads me to wonder whether cheap ‘blunderbus’ munitions like the Claymores, suitably set up, might offer some useful protection for the Ukraine forces against low-level enemy CAS, particularly against hedgehopping RW attacks. Any views?

military = yes
aviation = almost (aerostat?)

When the war's over, they could sell a load to the US, to fill with Helium and use for target practice.

Cheaper Way.
 

Hydrogen would be more sustainable...... and more fun.