Russia Masses Military Equipment Near Ukraine Borders: A Prologue to WWIII?

[jmccr8]

1 minute ago, Occult1 said:

How is it moronic? It's the same general who led the Russian intervention in Syria that is now in charge of the operation in eastern Ukraine.

It's probably not a coincidence.

Hi Occult

Your predictions are not so reliable, the Russians have lost a lot of equipment and the Ukraine is being supplied with updated tech to protect themselves with. Nothing is over yet and am waiting to see if there are more fires at Russian military use sites as that could mean that the Russians would have security problems in their own nation which is not good when you are fighting some place else.

[Occult1]

43 minutes ago, jmccr8 said:

the Russians have lost a lot of equipment and the Ukraine is being supplied with updated tech to protect themselves with.

It won't be enough.

Russia has been striking military targets across Ukraine including troops, military equipements, ammunitions, fuel depots etc. Ukraine's military capabilities are seriously degraded. Assuming Western heavy weapons deliveries make it safely into the battlefield, it will likely prolong the conflict but not cause victory. Russian forces still have more artillery, tanks and heavy fighting units. They also have air superiority, which is a critical advantage people tend to overlook.

Edited April 24, 2022 by Occult1

[jmccr8]

7 minutes ago, Occult1 said:

It won't be enough.

Russia has been striking military targets in Ukraine including troops, military equipements, ammunition, fuel depots etc. Ukraine's military capabilities are seriously degraded. Assuming the Western heavy weapons shipments make it safely into the hands of Ukrainian defenders, it likely prolong the conflict but not enough to win.  Russian forces still more artillery, tanks and heavy fighting units. They also have air power , which is a critical advantage people here tend to overlook.

Hi Occult

They have been throwing everything they have at the Ukraine and, oh, look, it's still fighting. Russia may have numbers of aircraft, so what how many are combat ready as we already know that not everything they have works but looks pretty in a picture.

[DarkHunter]

5 hours ago, Occult1 said:

The Russian offensive in Donbass is only beginning.  Do you seriously believe it would be over in a few days? That's not how it works. Russia seems to have adopted a similar strategy to that of Syria. Moscow initially enjoyed limited success there. By the end of 2015, Kremlin airpower had stopped the Assad regime from losing further territory, but even reinforced by Hezbollah and some Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces, it had barely retaken any territory from opposition groups. Only in 2016 has the Kremlin operation begun to produce substantial territorial gains. The Russian airpower will tip the balance in eastern Ukraine, but it will take some time before major effects are seen.

Syria is not comparable to Ukraine at all.  In Syria the opposition was fragmented between an insane amount of rebel groups, if I remember at times over 100 before being condensed to Turkish backed rebels and the American backed SDF.  Even then it wasnt Russian airpower that turned the war, it did help, but what turned the conflict in Assad's favor was Iran sending Quds force along with an insane amount of militias from mostly Afghanistan but other areas too while having Lebebese Hezbollah enter Syria and fight for Assad.

Considering Russia is approximately a week into an offensive that was supposed to result in a conclusive victory before May 9 and so far all that has been achieved is a few km of land taken in a handful of areas, failed assaults resulting in significant loss of life and war materials, and getting pushed back towards the Russian border north of Kharkiv.  That is simply another failure for the Russian military.

[ExpandMyMind]

5 hours ago, Occult1 said:

Do you seriously believe it would be over in a few days? That's not how it works.

Seems you might want to tell Putin that, considering they thought they’d take the entire country in a few days.

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

7 hours ago, Occult1 said:

The Russian offensive in Donbass is only beginning.  Do you seriously believe it would be over in a few days?

Dude… Russian tanks turned up in parade livery and the troops were given enough food for a week.

That’s not the actions of someone planning for a long term offensive.

[Duke Wellington]

9 hours ago, jmccr8 said:

With the media propaganda on both sides of this conflict then its pretty obvious that in a social context people lack critical thinking skills and the ability to question what they are told.

The best one so far is the Russian tanks being parked outside of Kiev because they have run out of petrol. Next thing you know they all drive out, move around to Eastern Ukraine, and enter the conflict there. Not bad for no petrol lol. It had nothing to do with getting Ukraine to split its forces diverting many to Kiev to counter the threat. So Russia could secure its foothold in Eastern Ukraine.

Now I am not pro-Putin or pro-Russia. I am pro NATO. But that doesn`t mean the moment I hear some garbage on the news which sounds more like just trying to shoot down an opponent rather than being supported by any kind of evidence, that I am going to believe it.

[+Nuclear Wessel]

4 hours ago, ExpandMyMind said:

Seems you might want to tell Putin that, considering they thought they’d take the entire country in a few days.

Was that something Putin thought, or was that what the media was saying? I recall something to the effect of “experts” claiming that the capital could be stormed and fully controlled within 72 hours, but here we are. 

[ExpandMyMind]

1 hour ago, Cookie Monster said:

The best one so far is the Russian tanks being parked outside of Kiev because they have run out of petrol. Next thing you know they all drive out, move around to Eastern Ukraine, and enter the conflict there.

You mean after something like 3 days of being parked up

Edited April 24, 2022 by ExpandMyMind

[ExpandMyMind]

57 minutes ago, Nuclear Wessel said:

Was that something Putin thought, or was that what the media was saying? I recall something to the effect of “experts” claiming that the capital could be stormed and fully controlled within 72 hours, but here we are. 

There is plenty of evidence to suggest that. They were even phoning Kyiv restaurants to make a booking for 3 days or something after the initial breach of the border.

They brought military parade gear, only enough food for a few days, and the main Russian propaganda outlet (we know it over here as news) preemptively posted a victory article as the war began.

Yes, it’s safe to say they thought they could walk right through Ukraine without any trouble. In days.

[Duke Wellington]

10 minutes ago, ExpandMyMind said:

You mean after something like 3 days of being parked up

The enemy are coming to our capital, panic stations!!!

Look at them, there are loads of them right outside, we best redirect our forces there to save the government. Now you get it. Do you really believe an army would send in a column of tanks and vehicles 40km long without sufficient fuel to achieve its objectives? Kiev is only just across the border from Belarus, what did they give them in this bizarre distortion, quarter fuel tanks full? From a country swimming in oil and gas? Get real lol.

The quality of media reporting has been laughable. Russia will win just watch.

[ExpandMyMind]

25 minutes ago, Cookie Monster said:

The enemy are coming to our capital, panic stations!!!

Look at them, there are loads of them right outside, we best redirect our forces there to save the government. Now you get it. Do you really believe an army would send in a column of tanks and vehicles 40km long without sufficient fuel to achieve its objectives? Kiev is only just across the border from Belarus, what did they give them in this bizarre distortion, quarter fuel tanks full? From a country swimming in oil and gas? Get real lol.

The quality of media reporting has been laughable. Russia will win just watch.

Believe what you want.

But they certainly did not bring enough fuel. They were relying on their supply lines. The problem with that was that Ukraine concentrated a great deal of their attacks on said supply lines.

Edited April 24, 2022 by ExpandMyMind

[Gromdor]

40 minutes ago, Cookie Monster said:

The enemy are coming to our capital, panic stations!!!

Look at them, there are loads of them right outside, we best redirect our forces there to save the government. Now you get it. Do you really believe an army would send in a column of tanks and vehicles 40km long without sufficient fuel to achieve its objectives? Kiev is only just across the border from Belarus, what did they give them in this bizarre distortion, quarter fuel tanks full? From a country swimming in oil and gas? Get real lol.

The quality of media reporting has been laughable. Russia will win just watch.

You do realize that half of the armored vehicles lost by Russia wasn't because of battle damage, but rather because they were abandoned: Why Russia keeps losing armored vehicles: "It's finders keepers" (msn.com)

When they retreated from Kiev they left many behind.  It's why we have all those tractor memes.

[Duke Wellington]

49 minutes ago, Gromdor said:

You do realize that half of the armored vehicles lost by Russia wasn't because of battle damage, but rather because they were abandoned: Why Russia keeps losing armored vehicles: "It's finders keepers" (msn.com)

When they retreated from Kiev they left many behind.  It's why we have all those tractor memes.

According to which independent source?

[Gromdor]

1 hour ago, Cookie Monster said:

According to which independent source?

Like some random Ukrainian farmer's social media posts of him towing a tank with a tractor and laughing about how they ran out of gas?

[+and-then]

3 hours ago, Cookie Monster said:

 Do you really believe an army would send in a column of tanks and vehicles 40km long without sufficient fuel to achieve its objectives?

Normally, no.  Then again, I'd never imagine any Great Power military with an officer corps so clueless that they'd leave a convoy exposed on a road over tens of kilometers, early in a conflict when air superiority is in doubt.  American A-10s alone would have made that the longest, largest scrap yard in Ukrainian history.

[Duke Wellington]

12 minutes ago, and then said:

Normally, no.  Then again, I'd never imagine any Great Power military with an officer corps so clueless that they'd leave a convoy exposed on a road over tens of kilometers, early in a conflict when air superiority is in doubt.  American A-10s alone would have made that the longest, largest scrap yard in Ukrainian history.

That suggests high confidence that they had air supremacy, contrary to Ukrainian claims.

[DarkHunter]

11 minutes ago, Cookie Monster said:

That suggests high confidence that they had air supremacy, contrary to Ukrainian claims.

Or knowledge that Ukraine had between 98 and 131 aircraft and that the convoy was close to the border and under the protection of Russian S-300 and S-400 anti-air systems stationed in Belarus and Russia.

[Occult1]

10 hours ago, DarkHunter said:

Considering Russia is approximately a week into an offensive that was supposed to result in a conclusive victory before May 9

Who says they are supposed to have a ''conclusive victory before May 9 '' ? Do you have sources inside the Kremlin that can attest to that?

Seems you are just speculating or pushing Pro-Ukrainian propaganda.

Quote

so far all that has been achieved is a few km of land taken in a handful of areas, failed assaults resulting in significant loss of life and war materials, and getting pushed back towards the Russian border north of Kharkiv.  That is simply another failure for the Russian military.

As far as I know, they are progressing slowly but quite steadily. Figthing are raging in Kharkiv region, and the city is partially blockaded. Gains have been made around the Izyum area, where they are slowly clearing more territories to advance towards Slavyansk, Kramatorsk and Barvenkovo on villages at a time. I see absolutely no indication that the Russian operation is failing. On the contrary, it seems to be expanding.

Edited April 24, 2022 by Occult1

[DarkHunter]

25 minutes ago, Occult1 said:

Who says they are supposed to have a ''conclusive victory before May 9 '' ? Do you have sources inside the Kremlin that can attest to that?

Seems you are just speculating or pushing Pro-Ukrainian propaganda.

UK intelligence who unlike you has been rather accurate with their predictions.

25 minutes ago, Occult1 said:

As far as I know, they are progressing slowly but quite steadily. Figthing are raging in Kharkiv region, and the city is partially blockaded. Gains have been made around the Izyum area, where they are slowly clearing more territories to advance towards advance to Slavyansk, Kramatorsk and Barvenkovo on villages at a time. I see absolutely no indication that the the Russian operation is failing.

Just about none of that is accurate but you dont see the Russian offensive as failing cause you only get your information from Russian media or pro-Russian sources.

I dont think you understand what partially blockaded means

To be partially blockaded some number of major highways and rail lines from the rest of Ukraine would need to be cut off and they simply arent.

The frontlines have not really moved significantly beyond where they were before the Donbas offensive started.  This front the Russians have had the most success on but it's barely any gains.  The Russian forces in the south who were supposed to push north for the pincer movement havent made any progress at all.

Edited April 24, 2022 by DarkHunter

[Occult1]

22 minutes ago, DarkHunter said:

UK intelligence who unlike you has been rather accurate with their predictions.

Wasn't it Boris Johnson who claimed 2 days ago that the war in Ukraine could last until the end of 2023 ?

 

Quote

To be partially blockaded some number of major highways and rail lines from the rest of Ukraine would need to be cut off and they simply arent.

''Just outside the Donbas, Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, is partially blockaded by Russian forces, the Ukrainian military said Saturday. The city, once home to nearly 1.5 million people, has been pounded by almost nonstop bombardment for weeks.''

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/ukraine-fends-off-russian-attacks-085958313.html

 

This comes from the Ukrainian military itself.

Edited April 24, 2022 by Occult1

[Buzz_Light_Year]

In case anyone is interested in what Russian equipment marking represent.

Seems Legit.

 

[DarkHunter]

18 minutes ago, Occult1 said:

This comes from the Ukrainian military itself.

You might want to look at the time stamp, Kharkiv being partially blockaded was a month ago, the Russians have been pushed back since the article was wrote.

[Occult1]

12 minutes ago, DarkHunter said:

You might want to look at the time stamp, Kharkiv being partially blockaded was a month ago, the Russians have been pushed back since the article was wrote.

Russian forces are partially blockading the city of Kharkiv, according to a Saturday (23 April) update from Ukraine's general staff.

 

''In the Slobozhanskyi direction, Russian troops continue to partially blockade the city of Kharkiv, launch artillery strikes on the positions of Ukrainian forces and civil infrastructure facilities near Chuhuiv, Korobochkino and Dovhenke.''

https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/3465674-russian-troops-attempt-to-speed-up-the-offensive-in-eastern-ukraine-general-staff.html

 

Are you saying you know better than the Ukrainian Military?

Edited April 24, 2022 by Occult1

[+and-then]

11 minutes ago, Occult1 said:

launch artillery strikes on the positions of Ukrainian forces and civil infrastructure facilities

Did you notice that they are openly admitting to bombing CIVILIANS?