Probability of it happening anyway is rising by the hour.
He'll do well (for him) to see next week I'd think.
The possibility of him getting Mussolini'd should weight heavy on his mind if he tries it.
12/ In China, this is a huge embarrassment for Xi in the lead up to the 16 October Party Congress. Not only has he shackled himself to a loser (Putin), but his ‘decline of the west’ narrative is again challenged. And support for defending #Taiwan is probably growing.
SourceVLADIVOSTOK, September 7. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed that he plans to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Samarkand on September 15-16.
You used the term "playing rope-a-dope" - that is implying Ukraine had control over events and they were playing out as they had planned.
Clearly, that is not the case as at several points during this war, it was overwhelmingly luck and Russian incompetence that saved Ukraine, not intervention from their armed forces.
Furthermore, there hasn't been an instance like the Kursk salient of the 2nd world war, where the Ukrainians tried to overextend the Russians, then cut off the base.
The first section in the post quoted is absolutely correct. But that doesn't reconcile with a strategic "rope-a-dope".
That's enough machinery to have one dedicated chassis to each implement on the farm.
Ploughing, drilling, fertilising, spraying, harvesting, transporting....
Now... how easy is it to get a PTO into the T-72 engine...
the part you quoted isnt from the video, just my general takeaway after the decades of soviet pr debunking after the west got data on actual usage. so dont blame the videos.I didn't watch any of the videos, as based on your summary, they must be full of rubbish.
The Flanker series is *by far* the longest ranged air superiority fighter in the word. It doesn't have an equal in that regard (excepting maybe an F-15E with CFTs - and its not really meant to be an air-superiority fighter, its just based on f*king brilliant one F-15C).
Furthermore, in the early-mid 1980s, with the Fulcrum, AA-11 Archer and the HMS, the MiG-29 would probably have been the dominant factor in any air war between 4th generation jetfighters.... and that's not just my opinion, that's the opinion of most of the NATO (including US) aircrew that flew DACT against the old East German Fulcrums after "the wall" came down.
After that, as you said, funding gaps and an emphasis on kinematic warfare over electronic warfare has left them 30 years out of date from the point everyone else migrated from 4th generation (F-14, F-15, F-16, F/A-18 A-D) to 4.5th generation (F/A-18 E/F, EuroFighter, Rafale, Gripen) never mind 5th gen (F-22, F-35).
So many new pieces of hardware for the Ukraine. To lose so many T-80s to the enemy when you are having to filed old worn out tanks can't be good
Source20/ The possibility of images of large numbers of retreating and captured Russian troops will be a strategic calamity for President Putin. His narratives about the greatness of Russia, and the effectiveness of its wonder weapons, will lay in ruins.
SourceBut this illustrates some wider issues. 1) The Kremlin seems stunned, and has not yet come up with a plan as to how to try and spin this, so to a large extent the media are ignoring the bad news until they get a directive. No one wants to show initiative lest they get it wrong 6/
2) The Kremlin is happy to lie, but can't just ignore realities, and so is really struggling to create any positive narratives on issues where some basic fact-checking is possible. This is the kind of dilemma we saw in Chechnya (x2) and the Sov war in Afghanistan, and... 8/
...Tends to be a sign that the state's control over the narrative is cracking. It is not so much IMO that Russians up to now have necessarily *believed* the official line so much as that they have had no reason to both *disbelieving* it as that is dangerous... /9
...both politically and also morally.
This was probably the welcome the Russians expected...AFU seems to have reached Vovchansk. Russians appear to have pulled out back across the border very quickly.
Plus gone from north of the city now too. Hopefully they will also cease pointlessly shelling the suburbs with unguided MLRS.
I hope the people of Russia and China are paying attention to how full of shit their dictators are.
Sorry Beijing, the West ain't crumbling, it's actually putting your sidekick into a wheelchair. Have fun wheeling that gimp around, and if you try to take Taiwan there's a wheelchair in it for you too!
I have a feeling that nobody is allowed to carry a gun (or other lethal weapon) in his presence.A good lead General would give Putin exactly what he needs. A mercy kill.
Sanctions are a relative thing. If Russia uses nukes of any kind, chemical agents, the international reaction will be nasty. Russia's in a tough spot, whatever its elites or citizenry thinks. The simplest solution is Putin losing power, which can happen in various ways. It's the easiest way for the situation to deescalate.Not useless if they use a lot. Ignoring the political calculations they could gut Ukraine's army and major cities. I think this is politically non-viable and also an order unlikely to be followed although.