Ukraine Is Not For Sale
1967 Blizzard
Well, boys and girls, it appears that Vlad Putin’s “plan” to “annex” Ukraine isn’t working out quite as well as he thought it would. Tanks mired in mud?
Gee whiz, folks, doesn’t OUR Army have tanks that can practically swim in a swamp?
And Ukraine has asked for membership in the European Union, which has announced sanctions against Russia for its attempts to attack Ukraine.
Per the link below: “Zelenskyy asks European Union to grant Ukraine immediate membership”
From the article: Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelenskyy has formally made his appeal for membership into the European Union.
Zelenskyy signed an application to grant Ukraine membership in the EU on Monday after urging the union publicly to expedite the process under a special procedure.
The request came after the European Union announced new actions against Russia, including plans to close its airspace to Russian airlines, bankroll weapons for Ukraine and ban pro-Kremlin media outlets. — Rick Rouan
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/02/28/russia-ukraine-updates/6969216001/
After viewing the stuff that Mason was kind enough to provide and getting a good laugh out of it all, it appears that this “attack” on Ukraine is showing the holes in Russian Army’s stuff firsthand for the world to see.
I never thought I would say this, but Vlad is apparently all show and no “go”.
So what will come out of this? Remember that 20 days ago, Putin said “Won’t happen”. He lied. Must have had his fingers crossed behind his back.
U.S. unimpressed by Putin’s nuclear threats and doesn’t increase nuclear alert level:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/1-u-western-allies-discuss-164447367.html
What’s the view of how the Russian army is performing? Every time a natio goes to war it’s showcasing its abilities. Unless Putin is intentionally pulling punches this doesn’t bode well for his forces abilities.
The impression I”m getting from news reports is that he may have thought it would be a walk-over/walk-through, as in “scare them and they’re done”.
It appears that he underestimated the Ukrainian people, just as Napoleon underestimated the Russian Army, as well as the Russian winter weather.
“It appears that he underestimated the Ukrainian people…”
Shack.
Mrs. Mick is Polish. Her informed opinion: the Ukrainians (and the rest of the Eastern Europeans, particularly the Poles) have put up with way too much shit from the Russians for way too long, and they’re simply not going to put up with it ever again. They’ll go down fighting rather than get trapped behind another Iron Curtain.
Vlad done bit off more than he can chew this time.
My grandma was first generation American, parents immigrated from Poland. Family had strong work ethic and did well in this country. Her Husband was also first generation, he fought in WW2. Family spoke English, and Polish only with other Poles. They wanted to be seen as Americans. I bring this up only because their connection to the old country that their parents left, largely because of Russians, never died, neither did their dislike of Russia. Grandma always blamed Roosevelt for selling Poland down the river. After the fall of communism she and her sister wanted to see where the family was from but all the villages were gone, destroyed by Germans and Russia. God bless Ukraine and also pray for the rest of East Europe. Russia has never been a good neighbor and the memories of their tyranny has stayed fresh.
And while it’s hard to tell how prevalent the sentiment is, the Ukrainians showed text messages from one Russian soldier that were sent to his mother where he expressed dismay because they were told they’d be greeted with flowers, and.. instead, they got NLAWs and Javelins. Pretty sure those ain’t much like roses, irises and sunflowers.
Thanks for that bit of info!
“…intentionally pulling punches…” Word S&l. See my comment on the update thread re that exact same thought. Kinda looks like the Red Army is actually Polk High going up against the SEC. (rtr/hbtd)
Maybe Ukraine ain’t for sale but rumor has it that some Ukrainian Politicians and Gas Company Officials has bought some American Politicians…and help out a starving artist.
If I were the Ukraine with Russia on my doorstep I would buy the whole US Congress if I could.
Well they did buy hunter and made payments to the “big guy”. I’d say they tried.
The Russian army has many of the faults of the USSR military. Troops are almost all draftees, most serving for one year. Marksmanship training is minimal. Initiative and thinking at the lower ranks neither encouraged nor tolerated. They do have fancier toys, but not many people with the skills to use it effectively in combat. Officers at Battalion and lower levels have no practical experience, and the NCO’s really have neither authority nor ability. Kill a Russian officer, and you kill their unit for all intents and purposes.
Aim for the tank with all the antennas.
They haven’t invaded and crushed anybody for years– perishable skill, you know.
Well, Biden’s handlers said that anyway. If you look closely, you can see Homie the Klown’s hand up Biden’s ass.
Hard for tanks to roll when the needle on the fuel gauge is on “E.”
Amateurs talk strategy. Professionals talk logistics.
Omar Bradley
Amen
Doesn’ t E on the fuel gaige mean enough?? That’s what we said when our FD bus ran out of gas with a patient onboard.
Yes! Who in the Hell sends armmor off on a miossion and can’t figure out what to do when they need gas? Pull up to the Ukraine version of the AM/PM and fill up there and get a 64oz soda?
Back in the day, if a Marine commander didn’t have his shit wired for stuff like this, they were relieved.
Gets me thinking that Putin’s military guys may have it in for him, the way this was planned….
That is a very good point, Senior Chief.
Poor Prior Planning Produces Piss-Poor Performance
“Proper Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance’, “P” to the 6th power!
They can’t even operate at night. What little capability they have is a statistical zero comparatively. Every US combat arms soldier had a NoD and probably 90% of HHC people. And this is when I got out in 2008. Guard unit’s have %100 isssuance, for God’s sake. A good infantry unit would absolutely terrorize an enemy unit with out NVG capabilities.
So, are you saying a bunch of Women Marines from the 1970s could beat these guys up without any effort, Sgt K?
I really need a good laugh.
You ever see WM’s from the late 1970’s? Hell, they terrified me.
“Russia would not have run out of fuel if they had electric (green energy) tanks”.
AOC
Sapper, you could post a spew warning for something like that – just out of pity for the poor souls that are caught by surprise….. 😂
https://youtu.be/1vdiEABLFoo
Found this take at the Last Refuge in the comments, a Coach Red Pill….interesting, as that small German once said.
I watched about five minutes of that bullshit. This guy is lying about how we fight wars. I have been an observer of them for fifty years. The first one up close and personal. The US does not destroy infrastructure willy nilly. Otherwise, we would have bombed the Red River dikes in N. Vietnam and drowned Hanoi.
well, he would have a point… in like 1943.
I like how he says the Russians don’t want to alienate the Ukrainian population… so this is Vlad’s way of making friends?
But the timing had to be just right, otherwise all that flooding would have put out the fires from the carpet bombing.
Saw an ad a couple of decades ago for Vietnam as a great tourist destination. One sentence touted the charming French colonial architecture of downtown Hanoi.
I made to the first three lies (39 seconds). One of the first things Russia did was blow up the main gas terminal for the country. Last I checked that was major infrastructure. Dude needs to stay in his parent’s basement.
Obama & Kerry tried developing a strategy once to bully Vlad…….but I don’t think it worked.
ROFLOL!
Moochelle (Michael) has more muscle then those two combined.
So does my cat.
Man Hands
About as well as anything else then:
Vlad is all hat and no Kodiak.
In Russia’s tankers defense, thick mud is the bane of all vehicles. Even US tanks. If he had invaded a week or two earlier, it would have been on frozen ground. No issues then.
No argument from me: the same thing happens with farm tractors if the ground is plowed too soon in the spring. But you’d think a good strategist would know about these things, wouldn’t you?
Not blaming the tranker crews here…. Bad leadership, in my view.
Don’t want to piss off the ChiComs by disrupting their Olympics So you wait until afterwards and the terrain in front of you melted and no longer supports your maneuver plan. What was plan B?
I served in Plans once and one rule was don’t don’t assume away a capability. Later in life I flew in support of a couple Army NTC rotations and was impressed by how our Army develops Most likely Course of Action most dangerous COA, etc. Start teaching them young.
The Russian/Soviet/Tsarist army has a long tradition of poor planning, corruption, and incompetence. Still, I am surprised by what little I have seen and read about Russia’s, uh, “difficulties” so far.
Do you think some of the Russians military have been fudging their equivalent of SORTS reporting? I don’t know if they still have the dual structure of commissars. But I suspect someone’s shit is in the wind.
So far, their version of shock and awe has been underwhelming.
Let’s not get over exuberant. But we can hope A they really dosuck andB the ChiComs do too.
“Do you think some of the Russians military have been fudging…”
LOL
The Soviet army was famous for its scripted military exercises and corruption. From what I have read the Russians have been trying to reform the system, evidently with not much success.
To be fair, our military likes them some scripted exercises too.
I think the Chicoms are/ were waiting for us to jump in. If that never happens then it may delay their plans a bit.
Sort of an interesting article I just read today.
Apparently former former foreign secretary and medical doctor Lord Owen said changes in the Vlad’s face made it appear he had been taking the muscle-boosting drugs and possibly has “roid Rage”.
Condollezza Rice recently made the statement:
“She went on to say she met directly with the Russian leader “many times,” saying that “this is a different Putin” now. “He had that tough veneer, he was always calculating and cold, but this is different,” she said, adding, that he “seems erratic.”
https://www.the-sun.com/news/4784887/vladimir-putin-steroids-super-aggressive/
https://www.newsweek.com/vladimir-putin-increasingly-erratic-delusional-condoleezza-rice-1683043
One guy said his face was puffy, likely from anti-depressants. I didn’t know vodka was an anti-depressant?
Putin could deploy Stevin Segale, Who lives in Russia (darn IRS)(casting couch) things.
The Rubel is going like Bernasty!
OVER!!!!!!
Saw a report earlier that the Russian central bank has raised interest rates to 20% as the Ruble nosedives.
Just saw a report on Fox News that the ruble’s value is now less than one US penny.
The Russian economy may well collapse. We’d better pray it doesn’t bring down the entire world system…
Watching this I’m starting to think that maybe the sanctions will work. Then I realize that I can’t remember a time that economic sanctions really worked.
They haven’t forced regime change in North Korea, Iran, or Venezuela. They haven’t stopped NK from getting nukes or Iran attempting to get nukes. If anything they seem to slow things down a bit, but they give the embattled dictator an enemy he can blame domestically for all their problems.
The central bank ordered Russian corporations to reduce foreign currency reserves to 20%. Looks like they will all be going down with the ship.
newsmax had an article that their is a Mercenary hit team to kill Mr. Zelensky
There should be one to kill Putin as well. Were I the Ukrainians, I would have been training several of those after the Russians stole the Crimea.
y’know, I wasn’t worried about this going nuclear before, but Biden came out today and said it ain’t gonna happen. Feel like I should worry just cuz he said not to. https://www.yahoo.com/news/biden-americans-not-worried-nuclear-210604597.html
Since Biden’s battling 1.000 on always having the wrong answer for policy decisions, your fears are well founded.
I was a Russian linguist in the Navy. After I retired totally from the government, I decided to pick up the language studies again. I work every week with two lovely ladies who live in Russia.
I had my weekly lesson with one of them this morning and she assures me that Putin and the rest of the “criminals” are not supported by the vast majority of the Russian people. I’m sure my other teacher feels exactly the same. They are besides themselves with disgust for what Putin has done.
So, it’s going to be pretty damn ironic that the people who suffer the most from sanctions will be these women and their friends and families. That pisses me off.
I told my teacher this morning that if she ever wondered what it was like to live in the Soviet Union, all she has to do is open her eyes and ears.
How Putin ever thought that the Ukrainian people would not fight to the last man, woman, and child is beyond me.
Whose popularity is falling faster?
a) Bite-me
b) Blackface
c) Bear-rider
d) they are all declining at speeds approaching that of light
Don’t forget the dogs and especially the cats.
It’s a wonderful thing to watch the Russian Army getting its ass handed to them. I’ve been telling my wife that if the Chicoms are stupid enough to do the same in Taiwan that they will be as surprised as Putin. I suspect that the Taiwanese have a much more professional military than the Ukrainians and most importantly, just as much heart.
An even more intriguing thought is that the Chinese have to be closely watching how ineffectual these Russian forces appear to be. The Chinese may be having naughty thoughts about what China’s manufacturing economy could accomplish with all those natural resources up there in Siberia–resources that the Russian army currently on display in Ukraine likely couldn’t defend.
All that oil, gas, coal and timber sitting up there in Siberia should make Taiwan look like a third tier target…
Poe, I think it was Clancy’s The Bear and The Dragon that had that as the plot.
Do believe you’re right, KoB. My father, an unschooled but highly intelligent and insightful man, told me almost seventy years ago that the next great land war between two major powers would take place in Siberia between China and Russia for precisely the reasons I stated above.
If Russia continues to show weakness in Ukraine they may be inviting the greatest territorial loss of modern times.
Now THAT would be something worth watching on Pay Per View!
Yup, just taking everything west of Lake Baikal could more than double China’s size and enrich her beyond belief.
And unlike the Russians, the Chinese would make the most of all that natural wealth.
They would truly rule the world…
That would go nuclear quick. Casualties would be in tens of millions.
China wants their northern maritimes back.
China’s gonna start talking about Lebensraum shortly.
Heart is tough to gauge until you see it; but Taiwan is under no illusion. Life under China would be a nightmare and there is no where to run away to. It will be a genocide that makes The Holocaust look downright humanitarian.
Russia, want to do yourselves and the world a favor? Hang your bastard pres and every corrupt general from the tallest lamp post.
It may come to that. If Putin goes all Stalin and starts to (justifiably) purge the officer corps for their treasonous incompetence they may decide to strike first. Or if Putin starts edging closer to the use of nuclear weapons they may decide to take their chances with the wrath of the people rather than a deluge of nukes. At least the people will probably spare their families.
I think that the majority of Russians would be thrilled to see Putin go.
I seriously doubt that ditching Putin is going to anger that large a section of Russia’s population.
Upside down so the people can beat them like a Pinata.
some difference between the WW2 russians and the ones we see today
HERE’S the way I look at it right now, the EU has denied ALL flights to, from and over EU Air Space along with many other Nations freezing Russian Finances to include the Swiss and Swedes, two nations who have prided themselves over their neutrality for centuries as well as other nations’ actions. IMHO Russia has made itself this World’s pariah with its recent actions much like the USSSR did when the Soviet Air Force shot Korean Air Lines Flight 007 down, only worse this time. The Russian Bear fucketh himself and I hope that Putin gets dethroned even worse than Kruschnev did after his shit-fit at the podium of the United Nothing.
Kruschnev at the UN:
“we will bury you”
Vlad should really think about backing the Ukrainians into corner because those pipelines into Europe could go up in smoke and there goes your cash cow. Maybe the Europeans have thought of that already and that is why they are starting to help out with arms instead of blankets.
Poland gifting combat ready MIGS, Ukraine sends its pilots.
BEST GIFT EVER!! 💘 ✈
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That might make up for all the ones killed on the ground by Russian Special Forces. Really guys base security is a thing.
Unfortunately the reports are false, seems that the wonderful truth seeking worldwide mainstream media mixed up will send with could possibly send.
https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/europe/2022/03/01/poland-says-it-will-not-send-jets-to-ukraine/
Anyone who wonders why the Ukrainians are fighting so hard needs to read about the Holodomor.
But “bread lines are good”?
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