Both sides desperately need artillery ammunition in quantity, but quality still matters. There are a number of reports recently about how terrible Pakistani (used by Ukraine) and Iranian (used by both sides, mostly Russia) shells and rockets are. These will explode prematurely, fire incorrectly, and have a tremendous dud rate. A while back we heard that Russians would simply refuse to use North Korean shells after a brief experience with them, although I don't know what is happening with that currently. Every dud is not only a lot of wasted effort, but it makes some Ukrainian farm that much more dangerous in the future. The US and Europe are working hard to increase their production rates, but the fruits of that effort won't be seen until 2024.
Large number of Black Sea fleet ships missing from Sevastopol. Relocating is a major defeat, as the invasion of the Crimea was about getting complete control over harbours for that fleet. Now let's arm Georgia to the teeth to give them the means to undo the Russian grabbing of the Abkhazia and denying the Russians a naval port in the Black Sea.
Abkhazia doesn't have any ports of consequence. The only other Russian harbor on the Black Sea is Novorossiysk.
Not yet, but the Rvssians can build one there. Anyway, the less coastal shores under their control, the better.
Anyway, the further the ships have to move, the better for the accessability of the Ukrain ports. Rockets and drones having longer distance to cover are easier to shoot down.
I'm sure this thread's Putinistas can barely contain themselves right now. The main reason they're not here posting is because they're busy trying to get pictures of the dead children's bodies to add to their porn collections.
The great thing about the war is the rapid advancement in drone technology. Great for drone enthusiasts, not so much for privacy advocates and airport security.
So apparently, Putin is claiming that Prigozhin and everyone else on his plane were coked up, and that somehow this induced them to set off grenades on their own plane. What's your opinion: is this more or less absurd than suggesting people inject bleach to ward off COVID?
Well, I dunno if you saw that video of those coke gangsters, who executed an attack ment to be finished with a handgranade towards a competing gangster?
I even watched Breakin' just because Jean-Claude Van Damme had a bit role as a fan of the dancers who claps along with the beat in the beach dancing scene, and then glowers menacingly at the inappropriately heterosexual Electro Rock crew.
"It's the fault of theUkrainians who chose the Nazi Jewish pedophile West over Holy Mother Russia!!!" -vatniks,unironically.
You should read the reviews. They are remarkable, and a distinctive piece of writing. And, yes, I know that I am not making a qualitative assessment in saying that. So I will say they are extraordinarily good. I have not seen a single Van Damme movie, and most likely never will, but I read each review with interest and appreciation for the craft and the understanding on display.
There's a line of reasoning behind a thought like that which is both extremely ignorant *and* looks very reasonable to the ignorant. Russia has a tremendous amount of surface area that's basically worthless, and you can imagine how someone would think that that land could be made agriculturally useful if only it were warmer. That's tremendously ignorant, because there's no useful topsoil underneath the permafrost; but you can see how someone that hasn't really thought about it could imagine that it works that way.