US Intelligence said the Russians had upwards of 150,000 troops looking over the faces at the Ukraine…
Surely they would just roll over that country?
Nope…
The Russian military has been stymied by the concept of ‘urban warfare’ which stacks advantages to the locals against invading forces…
The two major Ukrainian cities have not be overran by Russian troops…
And the Russian should be worried…..
Despite President Biden’s worry about getting Putin pissed if the West does anything besides just sit on the side with their fingers up their asses….
NATO and YES the US has rushed to resupply the Ukrainian’s who seem up for the fight against the Russians…
Joe Biden has relented and will allow the US to help the Ukrainians….
The hold up on this had been Germany, which has their pipeline with Russia to worry about…
But they have also begun to help the Ukrainian military arm up….
All this points to a sobering dilemma for the Russian leader…
If for some reason his military cannot ‘take’ the major cities?
He will face a humiliating slam in the face….
That said…
Putin’s forces will obtain one objective…
The separative enclaves in the eastern part of the country close already annexed Crimea will be fall under Russian control, that why most of the Ukraine seems to be in no danger of the Russian forces….Indeed….The Russian aim maybe to just punish the Ukraine with destruction of its main cities….
The situation the ground there is fluid….
But the Russians have a fight on their hands that I don’t they bargained for…..
Kyiv residents braced Saturday for another night sheltering underground, as Russian troops closed in on Ukraine’s capital and skirmishes were reported on the outskirts. Ukraine’s leader, meanwhile, vowed to continue fighting the Russian assault as he appealed for more outside help.
“The real fighting for Kyiv is ongoing,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message in which he accused Russia of hitting infrastructure and civilian targets.
“We will win,” he said.
Central Kyiv appeared quiet on Saturday, though sporadic gunfire could be heard. And fighting on the city’s outskirts suggested that small Russian units were trying to clear a path for the main forces. Britain and the U.S. said the bulk of Russian forces were 19 miles (30 kilometers) from the center of the city….
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Russia claims its assault on Ukraine is aimed only at military targets, but bridges, schools and residential neighborhoods have been hit since the invasion began Thursday with air and missile strikes and Russian troops entering Ukraine from the north, east and south….
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Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine after he spent weeks denying that’s what he intended, all the while building up a force of almost 200,000 troops along the countries’ borders. He claims the West has failed to take seriously Russia’s security concerns about NATO, the Western military alliance that Ukraine aspires to join. But he has also expressed scorn about Ukraine’s right to exist as an independent state.
Putin has has not disclosed his ultimate plans for Ukraine but Western officials believe he is determined to overthrow Ukraine’s government and replace it with a regime of his own, redrawing the map of Europe and reviving Moscow’s Cold War-era influence.
It was unclear in the fog of war how much territory Russian forces have seized. Britain’s Ministry of Defense said “the speed of the Russian advance has temporarily slowed likely as a result of acute logistical difficulties and strong Ukrainian resistance.”…
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In addition to Kyiv, the Russian assault appeared to focus on Ukraine’s coastline, which stretches from near the Black Sea port of Odesa in the west to beyond the Azov Sea port of Mariupol in the east.
If the Russian troops succeed, Ukraine would be cut off from access to all of its sea ports, which are vital for its economy. In Mariupol, Ukrainian soldiers guarded bridges and blocked people from the shoreline amid concerns the Russian navy could launch an assault from the sea.
Fighting also raged in two territories in eastern Ukraine that are controlled by pro-Russian separatists. Authorities in the city of Donetsk said hot water supplies to the city of about 900,000 were suspended because of damage to the system by Ukrainian shelling.
Note…
No matter how much positive is coming from the Ukraine Military…
They ARE facing a numerically much bigger Russian military force…..
“Despite President Bidens worry about getting Putin pissed ..”
And the Republican playbook continues.Pretty soon one of those Republicans creeps over at Fox News/Entertainment could have this “card carrying Democrat” on their show to ape the Republican line.
Morning Consult
Pluralities of European adults share many Americans’ belief that NATO did not do enough to prevent Russia from invading Ukraine. morningconsult.biz/3hez5yF
No Jack
Other’s are concerned about Biden’s initial reluctance to do ANYTHING…..
He’s joining the fight….
I agree with him not to have American troops directly fighting the Russians
But he COULD have do more
And the comment that he would not help Americans stuck in the country was fucking stupid……
I know he wanted them out but he sometimes just doesn’t think……
I have avoided commenting on this subject because our host tends in these times to double down in his passive aggressive way in support of his silly uninformed opinions that he usually acquires from conversations with relatives or coworkers.
In this case: “Biden is weak.”
Putting aside his lack of knowledge on how any of this works, it should be apparent to even the most vile Russian or Republican apologist that Biden completely outsmarted Putin.
He undercut every pretext Putin cultivated to justify an invasion, leaving the world, especially the Russian people, without any plausible explanation for an invasion. Biden has unified our democratic allies in support of Ukraine’s defense and will, in the long run, drive Putin from office.
A few things and then I have to go, I actually need to talk with some of my cousins before it gets too late in the Ukraine. Although they haven’t been getting much sleep lately.
First, if the Afghans had fought like this with the weapons we gave them over 20 years instead of dropping those weapons and running away the Taliban might not be in charge right now.
Second, this current invasion is a lot like when the Soviets invaded Finland in the late 1930’s. They sent in an overwhelming number of troops and were bogged down for months. In the end, they had to ask the Nazis for help to finish the job. They have always won be using brut and overwhelming force. They don’t appear to have that this time.
Third, the internet is now flooded with what I can only assume are Russian bots who are parroting our host’s basic line that Biden is weak and if Trump was still in office this would have never happened. 1984 anyone?
Finally, Putin has been in power for over 20 years and his stitch is getting old. I believe he has overplayed his hand big time and the sanctions, while not immediate, will get his ruling class to look for other alternatives.
I noticed Jack’s comment that his posts were less frequent and so have mine been. I simply don’t want to argue with a rock head who is incapable of understanding the world order, diplomacy, or the basic constraints that any Administration has to negotiate before they can take action.
Thank God for President Biden.
I stand by my feeling that President Biden has been perceived as ‘weak’ in dealing with the Ukraine situation……
What little climbs in his polls last week are gone……
He is moving on a course correction…..
Good….
Good point on the faults of the Russian military…..
My view of Biden’s weakness is supported by his poll
Numbers.,..
And actually?
We had two of best ‘hits’ days in a while
this week….
What “course correction?” What is he doing differently?
Explain please?
The US has begun to ship weapons to the Ukraine
And troop moves to NATO COUNTRIES
And Sanctions on Putin himself
ALL things Biden would NOT do going in
Not true James, not true at all. Biden said, “everything is on the table.” Try to keep up. You have the Republican lie down pat now don’t you, and you clearly don’t understand how any of this works.
Come On Keith!….
Everything was on the table and NOT a DAMN thing was done….
Sanctions?…The EU has dragged him to include Putin and SWIFT...
Troops?…He was ‘afraid’ to piss off Putin….
NATO and media pushed him to sent them…
He wanted to talk about the Court…
Bull SHIT….
I’m on this….
You’re just cheerleading for our President …
He IS a Good man…
He is also AFRAID to project our second strength behind our economy
Our military might…
He IS right not to ‘directly’ engage with Russian Troops…
But he’s gotta move from being a lawmaker and VP to being a President…
You need to keep up…..
DEMOCRATS ARE repeating my view…..
So let me put it to you in a way you might actually understand James.
These sanctions, the crashed Russian Stock Markets and Ruble, the ruined Russian economy, and now the removal of Russia from SWIFT was all set in motion by the Biden Administration. His accomplishment with some very reluctant allies being drug along.
The latest cyber attacks are mostly on Biden too.
These things would not have happened without Biden signing off. They had to force Germany and Italy to expel Russia from SWIFT.
The facts simply don’t back up your opinion, that you got from some relative, that Biden is weak or had to be forced into taking action.
You can keep typing James, but you can’t back your assertions unless you start posting Republican press releases or Fox News talking points.
But feel free to try. Jack is right though.
Biden led from BEHIND Keith….
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted President Joe Biden to announce a slew of sanctions on Thursday. But he held back on one option, seen as among the most damaging nonmilitary actions that that could be taken: cutting off Russia’s access to Swift….
More…
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President Joe Biden said booting Russia from the critical Swift global financial messaging system is off the table for now even as leaders in his own party urge him to take a step that would carry significant consequences for European nations, many of which oppose the move…
More…
Ya gotta do better than this…..
The White House had faced calls from Ukraine, and US lawmakers in Congress, for Russia to be removed from SWIFT after Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine on Thursday. The United Kingdom, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia were among the early countries to back Kyiv’s calls to cut Russia off from the network….
More…
This is so sad James. You really don’t understand how this whole thing works, now do you.
As far as SWIFT is concerned, the sanctions began in earnest this weekend because Germany and Italy were not onboard until now.
Who do you think got them there?
The same with the gas line from Russia. The Germans were slow to cancel the new pipeline because they need the gas.
Who do you think got them to stop construction?
Do you understand how these negotiations work or are you so determined to maintain a position you appear to arrived at after a conversation with a relative that you will, once again, keep typing nonsense.
You decided Biden was “weak” because he exited Afghanistan when you thought an endless war was the preferred option.
You appear to equate strength with folks that keep doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
It doesn’t work that way, and neither do sanctions or an international effort to stop an insane criminal that just invaded his neighbor.
I gotta do better? You gotta understand, for once, what you are talking about.
You have, once again, embarrassed yourself over an stubborn ignorance that you should be ashamed of.
Biden FOUGHT against shutting down the Nord 3 pipe line …….
Cruz held up his state dept picks because of of Biden’s position…..
My point about Biden being seen as weak politically IS backed up by a new drop in his poll numbers…..
You and Keith can defend his actions all u want
President Joe Biden was slow to find his way on this….
It is costing him more politically….
He simply does not have the natural feel on how to lead in situations that require ‘flexing’ militarily or economically……
He’s got less than a year to fix this for himself and Democrats……
Only when pushed like I said here has he changed his mind……
The SWIFT move , as I pointed out was again only after he was pressured…..
I second the above post from Keith.
I also agree with Keith. Biden continues to excel at the world stage.
Putin just said he will come to the table and talk, a good first step especially since his economy will fall through the floor tomorrow.
Thank you Joe Biden.
Biden HAS used Putin’s action’s to unite the West against a common enemy…..
I n doing that he has reversed the Trump missteps in foreign policy for America…..
Biden and actually Putin should get credit
Day 3 Ukraine Update…
– Reports of some Russian troops surrendreing to to Ukraine forces…
– With agreements from Western Nations that they will ship weapons to the Ukraine …How does those weapons actually get TO Ukraine forces in a timely manner?
– Report of a large Russian military convoy enroute to the Russian Capital
– Run on Russian banks by their citizens
Preview for the AM….
Reports are that Putin will need troops from Belarus to help his 150,000 troops in the Ukraine….