War Games: Russia Takes Ukraine, China Takes Taiwan. US Response?

[StringJunky]

4 minutes ago, iNow said:

The former. Those massed along the border. Excellent clarifying question. 

Putin has deployed nearly 100% of pre-staged forces into Ukraine- U.S. official (Reuters)

[J.C.MacSwell]

Surely Putin would have moved more to the border as he moved the vast majority of them into Ukraine?

And if this represents just somewhere in the range of 20% of his 1,000,000+ military personnel, what is the need, and motivation, for hiring mercenaries?

 

[StringJunky]

19 minutes ago, J.C.MacSwell said:

Surely Putin would have moved more to the border as he moved the vast majority of them into Ukraine?

And if this represents just somewhere in the range of 20% of his 1,000,000+ military personnel, what is the need, and motivation, for hiring mercenaries?

 

Probably wouldn't look good with his Russian audience to use more conscripts  and his Wagner group of merceneries  are battle-ready.

Edited March 8, 2022 by StringJunky

[iNow]

1 hour ago, J.C.MacSwell said:

what is the need, and motivation, for hiring mercenaries?

Maybe bc Russian soldiers are not happy about being asked to kill their cousins 

[MonDie]

 I would say, long-game is de-radicalization, or to counter pro-Putin propoganda in Russia and neighbors like Belarus or Azerbaijan (where another conflict is ongoing).  Then, short-game is to engage in diplomacy with everyone interested in peace, at the official level, popular level and international level.  Nobody threatens a counter-attack hoping to be called on their bluff, unless they're a weapons manufacturer.

Has Putin already suppressed the protests in Russia?

[Sensei]

39 minutes ago, MonDie said:

Has Putin already suppressed the protests in Russia?

The more he tries, the more intelligence fly away, the less the IQ of remaining.. so, the future does not look bright.. the only real victim of his actions is the Russian people..

What dictator wouldn't do this to stay in power? Such people would vaporize the entire population of the world..

The Communists murdered the old intelligence (in the early 20th century)...

Then, they repeated the same thing a dozen years later..

 

Being a powerful, successful, and happy nation was never the destiny of the Russian people..

 

[J.C.MacSwell]

Russian society is pretty messed up.

https://bitterwinter.org/patriarch-of-moscow-blesses-war-against-gay-prides/

[iNow]

8 hours ago, MonDie said:

Has Putin already suppressed the protests in Russia?

Almost 4,400 protesters have already been arrested, some brutally beaten in the process.

He's shutdown access to non-state propaganda news sites, and blocked YouTube, FB, Twitter, BBC, and others.

He's passed a new law making it illegal to say anything about the Ukraine invasion that does not align with state approved talking points. Anyone breaking that law will be beaten and arrested, their businesses shutdown, and assets siezed.

Now China is following suit. The state censorship arm is blocking ALL pro-Ukraine communications, shutting down anything but pro-Putin commentary, blocked all hashtags that are not state approved, and has even taken down past articles and videos from things like the Olympics where people spoke in support of peace and non-invasion of Ukraine. 

EDIT: In parallel, Russian cyber army and bots are creating TikTok accounts by the thousands (also on other platforms, but those seem to be doing slightly better at policing) spreading false videos suggesting Ukrainian aggression and spreading fake news and disinformation here. The strategy is working better than we'd hope given how many people are now turning to TikTok for updates to what's happening in Ukraine. /EDIT

2 hours ago, J.C.MacSwell said:

Russian society is pretty messed up.

https://bitterwinter.org/patriarch-of-moscow-blesses-war-against-gay-prides/

For a moment there, I thought this was about Texas, Florida, Iowa, and other GOP led states. 

Meanwhile, US is seeking to block Russian sale of gold, something they've been using / can continue using to soften the blow from sanctions. 

Edited March 8, 2022 by iNow

[dimreepr]

1 hour ago, J.C.MacSwell said:

Russian society is pretty messed up.

That's a bias we all share...

[J.C.MacSwell]

26 minutes ago, iNow said:

 

For a moment there, I thought this was about Texas, Florida, Iowa, and other GOP led states. 

 

 

20 hours ago, iNow said:

FFS, really? So needless

😁

[Alex_Krycek]

On 3/6/2022 at 10:57 PM, SergUpstart said:

The Ukrainian army uses the tactics of Middle Eastern extremists, hiding behind the civilian population as a human shield.

As RIA Novosti reports, retired Colonel Douglas McGregor, a former adviser to the head of the Pentagon, said this on Fox Business.

According to him, this tactic is explained by the fact that the APU lacks mobility, there are no air defense systems and air cover.

"They have to hide in settlements, mixing with the population. We could see similar things in the Middle East. When we defeated the Islamists there, they fled to the cities, used people, civilians, as human shields and tried to avoid destruction. This is exactly what is happening now in Ukraine, where the army is using the population to avoid defeat," McGregor stressed.

The Ukrainians are fighting a guerilla war; what do you expect?  This is how any country under occupation tries to turn the tables back in their favor.  It doesn't somehow give the invading country the right to indiscriminately massacre civilians.  

[Sensei]

2 hours ago, J.C.MacSwell said:

Russian society is pretty messed up.

https://bitterwinter.org/patriarch-of-moscow-blesses-war-against-gay-prides/

46 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

That's a bias we all share...

They are victims of twenty years of propaganda and brainwashing.. Imagine children of the Fox News on steroids..

The V.P. mainly uses boys from small the far east villages, poorly educated (and therefore easy to manipulate), from poor families, with alcohol problems. Such people are easier to give orders to. They have fewer family members living in Ukraine than the Muscovites.

The U.S. is not free of such people either (hence the success of politicians who are openly evil, descendants of the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis)

[swansont]

15 hours ago, J.C.MacSwell said:

 

And if this represents just somewhere in the range of 20% of his 1,000,000+ military personnel, what is the need, and motivation, for hiring mercenaries?

 

Not everyone in the military is trained in the necessary combat roles, and not all combat soldiers are fit to deploy. Training, like upkeep and maintenance of equipment, matters.

Russians conscript much of their military. Mercenaries are professional soldiers.

 

[J.C.MacSwell]

8 minutes ago, swansont said:

Not everyone in the military is trained in the necessary combat roles, and not all combat soldiers are fit to deploy. Training, like upkeep and maintenance of equipment, matters.

Russians conscript much of their military. Mercenaries are professional soldiers.

 

One would expect that the number of professional soldiers would be over-represented in the approx. 20% committed to Ukraine...and  their performance to date doesn't bode well for Putin, especially if the other 800,000+ leave him looking elsewhere for combat increases and replacements.

[swansont]

Just now, J.C.MacSwell said:

One would expect that the number of professional soldiers would be over-represented in the approx. 20% committed to Ukraine...and  their performance to date doesn't bode well for Putin, especially if the other 800,000+ leave him looking elsewhere for combat increases and replacements.

The anecdotes from the conflict suggest there are plenty of conscripts.

[J.C.MacSwell]

1 minute ago, swansont said:

The anecdotes from the conflict suggest there are plenty of conscripts.

Right. So where are his professional soldiers? Does he not have many?

14 hours ago, iNow said:

Maybe bc Russian soldiers are not happy about being asked to kill their cousins 

I think there may be something to this.

[swansont]

Just now, J.C.MacSwell said:

Right. So where are his professional soldiers? Does he not have many?

The one million number is apparently for the entire military, so that includes air and sea forces.

But the professionals are also the ones that are the senior enlisted and the officers, not many of whom are going to be included in the ground assault.

[J.C.MacSwell]

58 minutes ago, swansont said:

The one million number is apparently for the entire military, so that includes air and sea forces.

But the professionals are also the ones that are the senior enlisted and the officers, not many of whom are going to be included in the ground assault.

It would certainly be nice to think he's running out of combat troops. Hopefully the mercenaries, if they feel inclined to support his brutality, ask for pay in Euros or USD.

[beecee]

5 hours ago, iNow said:

Almost 4,400 protesters have already been arrested, some brutally beaten in the process.

He's shutdown access to non-state propaganda news sites, and blocked YouTube, FB, Twitter, BBC, and others.

He's passed a new law making it illegal to say anything about the Ukraine invasion that does not align with state approved talking points. Anyone breaking that law will be beaten and arrested, their businesses shutdown, and assets siezed.

I can only see this ending with the Russian people continuing such protests. IMO its up to his own people to bring this arsehole to heel and then trial him for war crimes.

[SergUpstart]

There are biological laboratories in Ukraine where research is carried out.
Izvestia
"Ukraine has biological research facilities," RIA Novosti quotes Nuland.
The Russian newspaper
"The United States is working with Ukraine to prevent biological research materials from reaching Russian forces," Nuland said.
Economy today
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Liqiang, commenting on information about US-funded biological laboratories in Ukraine, called on the US to clarify its activities on biological militarization at home and abroad.
RIA Novosti

[iNow]

Is your intent here to help spread the disinformation to more people, because that’s sure what it seems like. 

[J.C.MacSwell]

33 minutes ago, SergUpstart said:

"The United States is working with Ukraine to prevent biological research materials from reaching Russian forces," Nuland said.
 

Are those the same forces that were never going to invade, or the ones on the peacekeeping mission?

Edited March 9, 2022 by J.C.MacSwell

[Genady]

There are universities and academic institutions in Ukraine. They conduct scientific research, including that in biology. Here is a list of Biology in Ukraine: 31 Best universities Ranked 2021 (edurank.org)

[Sensei]

10 hours ago, SergUpstart said:

There are biological laboratories in Ukraine where research is carried out.
Izvestia
"Ukraine has biological research facilities," RIA Novosti quotes Nuland.
The Russian newspaper
"The United States is working with Ukraine to prevent biological research materials from reaching Russian forces," Nuland said.
Economy today
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Liqiang, commenting on information about US-funded biological laboratories in Ukraine, called on the US to clarify its activities on biological militarization at home and abroad.
RIA Novosti

Biological laboratories have every modern country (COVID-19 was discovered somewhere, after all).. If laboratories of no military significance are being bombed, it is no wonder that scientists fear the spread of viruses (such as COVID-19) that were in the lab..

 

An attack on a physics institute or nuclear reactor could lead to radioactive contamination of all of Eastern Europe..

"Russian forces have fired rockets at a physics institute in Kharkiv, which contains nuclear material and a reactor, Ukraine's national security service has claimed."

"The Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology houses a nuclear research facility called Neutron Source, in the active zone of which 37 nuclear fuel cells are said to be loaded."

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-kharkiv-nuclear-reactor-rocket-b2029663.html

https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.6.2.20220307a/full/

 

With current wind

https://www.windy.com/?49.000,29.000,5

you will contaminate Crimea, Turkey, Georgia, and South and Central Russia.

Edited March 9, 2022 by Sensei

[dimreepr]

20 hours ago, J.C.MacSwell said:

Right. So where are his professional soldiers? Does he not have many?

They have the motivation to fight; a honey badger will face down a lion.