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

[Grim Reaper 6]

53 minutes ago, ThereWeAreThen said:

I honestly thought the 2nd photo was the ocean. Think I had too much last night. 

That’s ok my friend, man I am very very jealous I would really enjoy a stiff drink myself. However, in  my present condition do to severe lower back pain getting up to go to the bathroom is a challenge enough for me, plus with the medication I am on, I  may not wake up!

Hope you and your are doing well my friend!

I was going to post this Ukrainian Patriotic photo by itself in the thread, but hell I will just post it here so it doesn’t take up addition Space!

[Myles]

42 minutes ago, Manwon Lender said:

That’s ok my friend, man I am very very jealous I would really enjoy a stiff drink myself. However, in  my present condition do to severe lower back pain getting up to go to the bathroom is a challenge enough for me, plus with the medication I am on, I  may not wake up!

Hope you and your are doing well my friend!

I was going to post this Ukrainian Patriotic photo by itself in the thread, but hell I will just post it here so it doesn’t take up addition Space!

Photo op.

[Grim Reaper 6]

33 minutes ago, Myles said:

Photo op.

Really are you sure of that, because I have heard that but not a single person who has said that has been able to prove it. Do you have a source or some way to prove it?

[Grim Reaper 6]

Famous quote by President Zelenskyy!

[Helen of Annoy]

Zelensky was visiting front lines even before the invasion. (There was the front line since 2014.)

On June 6th he visited front lines near Sieverodonetsk, which made a lot Ukrainians (and the rest of us too) worried for his safety. But - unlike that maggot in Moscow - Zelensky is aware these are real people fighting and dying and he obviously wants to share their burden. But he is the president and a recognizable public figure, Ukraine needs him alive, doing his job, which is why he can't be on the front line too often. 

Ah, a link in English. I've got no idea if they covered it properly, I hope they did:  

https://nypost.com/2022/06/06/ukraines-volodymyr-zelensky-visits-front-lines-near-severodonetsk/

  

[Helen of Annoy]

Oh, wait, Zelensky is in Mykolaiv  Video is not translated, so it will be deleted, it'll be in the western news later, I suppose. 

 

edit to add: no translation, but look at them, comrades, brothers, legends. 

 

second edit to add a link in English (no video): https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-polytics/3509791-zelensky-arrives-in-mykolayiv-region.html

 

Bye, guys. If anyone asks, I wasn't here  

Edited June 18, 2022 by Helen of Annoy

[Grim Reaper 6]

15 minutes ago, Helen of Annoy said:

Zelensky was visiting front lines even before the invasion. (There was the front line since 2014.)

On June 6th he visited front lines near Sieverodonetsk, which made a lot Ukrainians (and the rest of us too) worried for his safety. But - unlike that maggot in Moscow - Zelensky is aware these are real people fighting and dying and he obviously wants to share their burden. But he is the president and a recognizable public figure, Ukraine needs him alive, doing his job, which is why he can't be on the front line too often. 

Ah, a link in English. I've got no idea if they covered it properly, I hope they did:  

https://nypost.com/2022/06/06/ukraines-volodymyr-zelensky-visits-front-lines-near-severodonetsk/

That is really cool Helen, I am very impressed by his Leadership style. Because of his Leadership Style the Ukrainian Military, and the Ukrainian people will never surrender. I went to YouTube and found the original video that the video your link taken from,  however the video I am posting is actually longer!

Well good night Helen!

 

[Myles]

1 hour ago, Manwon Lender said:

Really are you sure of that, because I have heard that but not a single person who has said that has been able to prove it. Do you have a source or some way to prove it?

No, just fits is all.   He his helping moral and he is very good at it.   I like the guy but I see things for what they really are.   I'm quite certain he didn't just sneak away and join the front line.   He had his staff organize the whole thing with security and cameras to take advantage of the opportunity for a photo op.   

[Helen of Annoy]

2 hours ago, Manwon Lender said:

That is really cool Helen, I am very impressed by his Leadership style. Because of his Leadership Style the Ukrainian Military, and the Ukrainian people will never surrender. I went to YouTube and found the original video that the video your link taken from,  however the video I am posting is actually longer!

Well good night Helen!

 

Thank you. 

The video you kindly posted is from June 6th, Zelensky visiting front lines near Sieverodonetsk, Donbas. 

Today he was in Mykolaiv, that's down south (Mykolaiv oblast is between Kherson and Odesa oblasts. "Oblast" could be translated as "region".). It is firmly under Ukrainian control, but far from safe. (You can see they're having a meeting and short ceremony in an underground facility, much like it was in Donbas.) 

 

I think I'm confused with time zones now  It's afternoon over here. But I didn't sleep much last night so I responded to your Gute Nacht with Guten Morgen  

Auf jeder Fall, wünsch ich Dir viel Spass!   

(Any mistakes in German spelling and grammar are consequence of my functional illiteracy in German  ) 

[Helen of Annoy]

@Myles It seems you don't understand the difference between a photo-op and the usual reporting. 

When an event is staged with purpose of creating propaganda material, that's usually called a photo-op. (An example: Putler visiting "wounded" soldiers in "hospital". Ever the same guys, in highly unconvincing, theatrical setting.) 

When it's reported in the news about an actual visit done by a president or other officials of a country, that's called reporting.

(Few examples: Zelensky actually visiting wounded civilians and soldiers, in very normal atmosphere, everyone behaves naturally, everything's full of normal, expected details that are absent in Putler's photo-ops.

Then Zelensky taking foreign presidents, prime-ministers, ministers and other officials to see Bucha, Irpin or Kyiv.

Zelensky visiting Donbas front. Zelensky visiting Mykolaiv.

Zelensky attending numerous conferences via video-link because he is invited everywhere, while Putler has to bring damn Taliban to fill the empty seats at his propaganda festival.)  

 

In short, there's open Ruzzian propaganda and there's Ruzzian propaganda cross-dressed as "both sides are bad" narrative.

But "both sides are bad" doesn't work in Ukraine. Because it was Ruzzia that invaded Ukraine, it's Putler's orcs that are torturing and murdering civilians, reducing Ukrainian homes into rubble, stealing grain, destroying crops, shooting dogs etc etc.  

Edited June 18, 2022 by Helen of Annoy

[Helen of Annoy]

5 for 5 type of exchange of prisoners has begun. 

May it all goes well. *knocks on wood* 

The first 5, though it's all under seven veils so they're probably not the first, which doesn't matter, as long as they're not the last  

 

The released Ukrainians return from captivity

On June 18, five civilians illegally detained by the occupiers as prisoners returned home. At present, they are already in the territory controlled by Ukraine. Congratulations to everyone who was released and we continue our work so that every Ukrainian who remains in captivity returns to a peaceful life. Glory to Ukraine! source: Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine

 

Edited June 18, 2022 by Helen of Annoy

[DarkHunter]

Rumors that the colonel general in charge of Russia's airborne forces has been fired due to the high losses the airborne forces have suffered.

An unconfirmed intercepted Russian communication has losses at 37,500, not clear from available information if its killed or casualties but killed seems more likely given past information.

[Helen of Annoy]

Fun fact of the day: Zacarpathian dialect speakers need no encryption or secret code   

Like Navajo code talkers, only funnier because you'd expect a dialect that is Ukrainian in basis can't be that unintelligible to other Slavic languages speakers. But it is apparently "like Chinese" to Russians  

Zacarpathian has own subdialects and is a subdialect of Transcarpathian. It's archaic Ukrainian in basis, but through the centuries it has borrowed a lot from neighbouring languages: Czech, Slovak, Romanian, German and especially Hungarian. Ah, that explains it    

Edited June 18, 2022 by Helen of Annoy
forgot to english and also, I'm amazed that my own Slavonski dialect of Hrvatski has borrowed some of the same words from the same languages like Zakarpatski dialect of Ukrainian did.... yeah, I know... but it's interesting to me, damn it.

[Helen of Annoy]

Huge blast and a gigantic orange cloud in vicinity of Sieverodonetsk, where Azot chemical plant is, with at least 500 civilians in the shelter under the plant. 

 

edit to add: and in Mykolaiv oblast. And several other places. Ruzzia is apparently shooting their remaining long-range missiles at Ukraine. 

Edited June 18, 2022 by Helen of Annoy

[Grim Reaper 6]

5 hours ago, Helen of Annoy said:

Thank you. 

The video you kindly posted is from June 6th, Zelensky visiting front lines near Sieverodonetsk, Donbas. 

Today he was in Mykolaiv, that's down south (Mykolaiv oblast is between Kherson and Odesa oblasts. "Oblast" could be translated as "region".). It is firmly under Ukrainian control, but far from safe. (You can see they're having a meeting and short ceremony in an underground facility, much like it was in Donbas.) 

 

I think I'm confused with time zones now  It's afternoon over here. But I didn't sleep much last night so I responded to your Gute Nacht with Guten Morgen  

Auf jeder Fall, wünsch ich Dir viel Spass!   

(Any mistakes in German spelling and grammar are consequence of my functional illiteracy in German  ) 

Your very welcome Helen

[Grim Reaper 6]

10 hours ago, Myles said:

No, just fits is all.   He his helping moral and he is very good at it.   I like the guy but I see things for what they really are.   I'm quite certain he didn't just sneak away and join the front line.   He had his staff organize the whole thing with security and cameras to take advantage of the opportunity for a photo op.   

No one ever said that he sneaks out in the middle of the night, come on man! There is no doubt his visits to the front are organized his life is far to valuable to risk needlessly. But the way you make is sound is that he is like the last two American Presidents who smile at the cameras for political and personal gain / nothing else. This could not be further from the truth, unlike the American  heads of state I mentioned his actions are those of someone who is totally dedicated to his Nation and his people not fir his own benefit.. These visits to the front lines are not for his political benefit they are designed to build and keep the moral of a Nation, Military, and People at its highest point possible. So please don’t cheapen his actions by attaching the same political thought process Other heads of state use for their own political gain, because his actions in no way are similar to that!

Can you imagine Biden or Trump doing what President Zelenskyy is doing, it would end in disaster. President Biden would get lost, and President Trumps hair would be a target for Snipers!

Take care

Edited June 19, 2022 by Manwon Lender

[Grim Reaper 6]

8 hours ago, DarkHunter said:

Rumors that the colonel general in charge of Russia's airborne forces has been fired due to the high losses the airborne forces have suffered.

An unconfirmed intercepted Russian communication has losses at 37,500, not clear from available information if its killed or casualties but killed seems more likely given past information.

That’s some good information, thanks for posting this and all the other contributions you have made  to this thread. But, while I don’t need sources to follow what you posting. Apparently others seem to, would it be so difficult to post some sources for everyone’s benefit, if you think that’s a waste of time cool, if not it would certainly be appreciated by many others!

Thanjs for your support in this thread, it’s much appreciated!

[DarkHunter]

On 6/17/2022 at 6:17 PM, Black Red Devil said:

Oh, the proportions are off are they?  So what's the NATO count, General Schwarzkopf? Give us your proportional variety amount of both armies and let's see how far my proportions are off. 

I'm not going to bother going through every single catagory of military vehicles, mostly cause I'm lazy and dont have the time, energy, or really desire to do so.

Tanks are a good indicator of why counts from global firepower are essentially useless.

NATO has combined approximately 14,832 tanks in service of which approximately 9,841 are active and approximately 5,022 are in reserve/storage.  These are pre-invasion numbers as a couple hundred tanks have been sent to Ukraine.

Before the Ukranian invasion Russia had approximately 2,927 active tanks and approximately 10,200 in reserve with some unknown stockpile of T-64, T-62, and T-55 tanks in various states of conditions.  Some T-64, T-62, and T-55 were being scrapped for the metal while others were being sold to various countries so it's not clear what their numbers currently are.  In total Russia has approximately 13,127 tanks.

Initially that would look good for your argument but it doesnt really hold when looked at deeper or in any meaningful way.

Of the 9,841 tanks NATO has approximately 2,782 are practically worthless as they are mostly M60 variants (1,532) and M48 variants (1,150).  Turkey has 200 M47 variants but they are in storage/reserve.  There might be more M60, M48, and M47 but they wouldn't exceed double digits as I just remember Turkey and Greece largely fielding them but there might be a few other countries who have them.  I know there is one eastern European country with a couple hundred T-55 variants in storage too but I'm too lazy to look it up or the number.

For Russia all of its tanks that it officially fields are T-90, T-80, and T-72 variants.  Generally the updated variants are fielded with older variants in storage/reserve but there are units that actively use older T-72 variants but those are largely units based in the far east who generally get the oldest and least updated equipment.  Active tanks for Russia are at approximately 2,927 while for reserve its approximately 10,200.  Unlike with NATO countries which generally keep their reserve tanks in somewhat good condition at minimum the Russians have not done so largely due to corruption and expense of doing so.  Of those 10,200 tanks its impossible to accurate determine how many are beyond repair at this time but it is a significant percentage, same for tanks that can be repaired within a couple of months to a year which would be of little use if the war is quick or at minimum highly destructive at the beginning.

While your list has Russian tanks close to parity in number with NATO tanks the reality is that NATO on paper has approximately 3 times the tanks it can bring to war immediately, or if looking at numbers of tanks that would be actually useful and ignoring the M60s and M48s it's still a 2 to 1 advantage in number of tanks.  It can be safely be assumed that approximately 30% to 50% of the stored tanks would require a couple of months to repair to being repairable.  NATO reserve tanks could in general be brought to combat much quicker due to being in better condition.  At best Russia could be expected to quickly field another approximate 5,000 to 7,000 tanks most of which would be early model T-72 tanks while NATO would be able to field quickly approximately 5,000 more tanks of which most are either Abrams or Leopard 1 tanks.  

While your list suggest parity in tanks the reality is NATO has at the start of a conflict a 2 to 1 advantage in tanks and within a first few months, assuming losses were roughly equal which is unlikely it would change to NATO having between 25% to 50% more tanks than Russia.

One last area I'm covering is number of soldiers which again is massively off.  America and Europe generally have a very small percentage of the population engaging in the military while Russia has a decently larger percentage engaging in the military largely due to lack of economic options and conscription.  The population of Russia is about 144 million people, population of NATO is approximately 948 million people.  In relatively short order, with a draft or a good recruitment drive, which a war with Russia would cause, NATO would drastically out number Russia in military personnel quickly.  Your numbers suggest a 5 to 1 advantage in NATO's favor but it would quickly become closer to a 10 to 1 advantage.

Aircraft numbers from the list are just off and naval numbers are just wrong considering Russia only has 10 destroyers and not 15, that being off is a massive problem as naval numbers are easy to figure out as it's hard to hide large warships.

[Grim Reaper 6]

10 hours ago, Helen of Annoy said:

Thank you. 

The video you kindly posted is from June 6th, Zelensky visiting front lines near Sieverodonetsk, Donbas. 

Today he was in Mykolaiv, that's down south (Mykolaiv oblast is between Kherson and Odesa oblasts. "Oblast" could be translated as "region".). It is firmly under Ukrainian control, but far from safe. (You can see they're having a meeting and short ceremony in an underground facility, much like it was in Donbas.) 

 

I think I'm confused with time zones now  It's afternoon over here. But I didn't sleep much last night so I responded to your Gute Nacht with Guten Morgen  

Auf jeder Fall, wünsch ich Dir viel Spass!   

(Any mistakes in German spelling and grammar are consequence of my functional illiteracy in German  ) 

Here is the latest Ukrainian battlefield update for Sunday 19 June 2022 at 12:41am

 

[DarkHunter]

1 hour ago, Manwon Lender said:

That’s some good information, thanks for posting this and all the other contributions you have made  to this thread. But, while I don’t need sources to follow what you posting. Apparently others seem to, would it be so difficult to post some sources for everyone’s benefit, if you think that’s a waste of time cool, if not it would certainly be appreciated by many others!

Thanjs for your support in this thread, it’s much appreciated!

I'm just mostly lazy and posting links from my phone can be mildly annoying.  Generally I try to post links for really big events and stuff that has been confirmed.  Rumors I generally dont post links for as they are just rumors I have come across.  Also generally only post links if they are from an English source as there was an issue with links to non-English sources which I didnt agree with it being an issue but I'm not getting into fights with what is acceptable or not.

[Grim Reaper 6]

20 minutes ago, DarkHunter said:

I'm just mostly lazy and posting links from my phone can be mildly annoying.  Generally I try to post links for really big events and stuff that has been confirmed.  Rumors I generally dont post links for as they are just rumors I have come across.  Also generally only post links if they are from an English source as there was an issue with links to non-English sources which I didnt agree with it being an issue but I'm not getting into fights with what is acceptable or not.

Thanks fir your reply, and keeping posting the information you are it doesn’t matter if links are included or not. It’s your choice and everyone should realize that time can certainly be fact at times for all of us.

Thanks

[Occult1]

Russia's war in Ukraine could last years, NATO's Stoltenberg says

''FRANKFURT - Russia's war in Ukraine could take years, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told a German weekly newspaper, adding that the supply of state-of-the-art weaponry to Ukrainian troops would increase the chance of liberating the Donbas region from Russian control.

"We must prepare for the fact that it could take years. We must not let up in supporting Ukraine," Stoltenberg told Bild am Sonntag. "Even if the costs are high, not only for military support, also because of rising energy and food prices."

A NATO summit in Madrid later this month is expected to agree an assistance package for Ukraine that will help the country with the move from old Soviet-era weaponry to NATO standard gear, Stoltenberg said earlier this week. ''

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/russia-s-war-in-ukraine-could-last-years-nato-s-stoltenberg-says-1.5953419

 

The NATO chief expects Western citizens to shoulder the cost of the Ukraine war for years, by paying a lot more for gas and groceries.

Edited June 19, 2022 by Occult1

[Helen of Annoy]

Those who think genocidal war in Ukraine that is being committed by Putin should be ignored because of grocery prices are wrong. 

Even if you disregard Ukrainian lives as worthless, you are still wrong, your groceries won't be cheaper because your Putler is using food and gas to manipulate the prices. Causing hunger in less developed world is a part of his plan. Driving prices of energy up too.  

Putin started the war. 

Putin is blocking export of Ukrainian food. Putin is using gas as an extortion tool.  

You are paying more because of Putin. 

 

Surrendering wouldn't help you. When you surrender to a psychopath, the terror becomes worse, not easier to bear. 

Each and every idiot in the western political scene who ever said anything implying that Putler should be appeased is now evidently proven to be a imbecile, psychopath or both. May they all end up in Putler's Ruzzia and subsequently on the front. 

[Grim Reaper 6]

4 hours ago, Occult1 said:

Russia's war in Ukraine could last years, NATO's Stoltenberg says

''FRANKFURT - Russia's war in Ukraine could take years, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told a German weekly newspaper, adding that the supply of state-of-the-art weaponry to Ukrainian troops would increase the chance of liberating the Donbas region from Russian control.

"We must prepare for the fact that it could take years. We must not let up in supporting Ukraine," Stoltenberg told Bild am Sonntag. "Even if the costs are high, not only for military support, also because of rising energy and food prices."

A NATO summit in Madrid later this month is expected to agree an assistance package for Ukraine that will help the country with the move from old Soviet-era weaponry to NATO standard gear, Stoltenberg said earlier this week. ''

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/russia-s-war-in-ukraine-could-last-years-nato-s-stoltenberg-says-1.5953419

 

The NATO chief expects Western citizens to shoulder the cost of the Ukraine war for years, by paying a lot more for gas and groceries.

Well you seem a bit disappointed because of the fact that NATO will not leave the Ukrainians unaided. Wait to this winter Moscow will have riots in the street, and sadly Putin has done these to not only his own people, he has caused problems span the entire Globe

So don’t worry about Western Nations there will get through this alright, your concern should lay with the Russians they are going to suffer more than any other Nation! Below is only the beginning, like I said by winter it will be out of control.

Russia reaches out for food, grocery supplies from India

BENGALURU : With its departmental stores running out of groceries, sanctions-hit Russia has reached out to Indian retailers and agro exporters for urgent supplies, more so as the EU has stopped supplies for the second month in a row.  The list includes orange marmalade, mango jam, pasta, oats flakes, pancake mix, spaghetti, basmati rice, coffee, tea, cornflakes, rum, ketchup and prawns. Russians are reaching out for supply of food and groceries as they were earlier supplied by the EU, the UK and the US. They have sent an elaborate list of items that they require immediately. We have already circulated the list to traders across India," said Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general, CAIT.  https://www.livemint.com/news/world/russia-reaches-out-for-food-grocery-supplies-from-india-11650046397324.html

 

[Grim Reaper 6]

18 minutes ago, Helen of Annoy said:

Those who think genocidal war in Ukraine that is being committed by Putin should be ignored because of grocery prices are wrong. 

Even if you disregard Ukrainian lives as worthless, you are still wrong, your groceries won't be cheaper because your Putler is using food and gas to manipulate the prices. Causing hunger in less developed world is a part of his plan. Driving prices of energy up too.  

Putin started the war. 

Putin is blocking export of Ukrainian food. Putin is using gas as an extortion tool.  

You are paying more because of Putin. 

 

Surrendering wouldn't help you. When you surrender to a psychopath, the terror becomes worse, not easier to bear. 

Each and every idiot in the western political scene who ever said anything implying that Putler should be appeased is now evidently proven to be a imbecile, psychopath or both. May they all end up in Putler's Ruzzia and subsequently on the front. 

Helen you are certainly right, and no amount of misinformation, disinformation and Russian Propaganda that will change any if that.