OV9

I’m assuming the reservists will need to bring their own weapons systems & a large packed lunch to share ? If the Army can’t feed & water the current troops they sure as hell can’t do an extra 300,000.

I wonder how many new volunteers UKR will get if this lot get deployed

Apparently if you protest the wa....special operation you can expect to be conscripted.

Yes, arm the people who hate you. I can't see that going badly

Things must be really grim for them (which is pretty much what the rest of the world has known for a while) given they're now resorting to a larger mobilisation and Wagner have been seen recruiting from prisons in recent weeks. But as some commentators have pointed out on twitter, this isn't going to happen overnight - they need more troops on the ground now and its also not going to sort out their logistical issues.

He seems to be using the same rhetoric from months ago... I do wonder if patience is running out with those around him yet.

Beany wrote: Wed Sep 21, 2022 12:06 pm Apparently if you protest the wa....special operation you can expect to be conscripted.

Yes, arm the people who hate you. I can't see that going badly

Sounds like everyone is going to end up conscripted at this rate....

The rhetoric is for internal propaganda, not the west, I expect. No serious person believes that Ukraine is full of neo-nazis. But low information peasants living in villiages without paved roads and the internet might, because the only info they get is from TV.

That's about 50% of the population IIRC.

Beany wrote: Wed Sep 21, 2022 12:12 pm The rhetoric is for internal propaganda, not the west, I expect. No serious person believes that Ukraine is full of neo-nazis. But low information peasants living in villiages without paved roads and the internet might, because the only info they get is from TV.

That's about 50% of the population IIRC.

Yip, I think that's right - about 50% of the population get their news from state tv and are 100% behind whatever it says and Putin.

Putin has spent many, many years developing the narrative that the West will victimise Russia at any given opportunity, and of course a lot of people believe it. It's easy for him to achieve. A huge proportion of the population remember when Ukraine was part of the soviet union and therefore are perfectly happy with the special operation. A bit like Brexit really, a lot of older people supported it. When those people see the West getting involved in what they believe to be a dispute between Russia and a neighbour, by imposing sanctions, it perfectly fits Putin's narrative that the West are getting involved and targeting Russia when it's none of their business. Those Russians aren't stupid, they just don't have the luxury of having spent any significant time outside of their own country to gain any perspective.

Beany wrote: Wed Sep 21, 2022 11:52 am I wonder how many new volunteers UKR will get if this lot get deployed

Isn't it lately that they've so many volunteers that they're turning them away so training can be done properly?

I was surprised to see another stat that 20% of frontline UKR troops are now women. Russia have managed to enrage an entire population haven't they.

Latest conscription news makes me think about all the guys I worked with at Nissan's Russian division. Well overdue for mad-Grandpa Putin to take the express descent from the top of Gazprom tower.

Ah hear, for fuck sake...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-63044747

Bit of a weird move from Russia if they did do it. I’d have thought they may have had a slight chance of some negotiation during winter once things got really bad for Germany but that’s all over now.

On the same day the new Norway-Poland pipeline is opened. That cannot be a coincidence.

https://www.euronews.com/2022/09/27/bal ... -on-russia

Is this Russia making a threat to do the same to the new pipeline ? Carrying out a direct attack on Euro (NATO ??) civilian infrastructure is getting very close to needing to have a serious conversation about Article 5.

You know, if you consider RF's ultimate goals in this war, and how they're trying to annex more territory then use the claim that these new areas are Russian as an excuse to use nukes, I think we should've gone in with troops early on. It's clear that Russias's conventional forces are not a match for even 20% of NATO. Putin is a bully and bullies only respond to strength.

In fact, they should've done all this back in 2014 with Crimea rather than look the other way like they did.

Simon wrote: Tue Sep 27, 2022 4:46 pm Putin is a bully and bullies only respond to strength.

I genuinely belive that Trump was a deterrent for Putin, because Trump was an erratic power-hungry loon and would have bullied him back. And if Putin had started this during Trump's presidency, we'd have gotten within a gnatt's chuff of WW3 as a result, so I'm not saying Trump would have been a good thing but I get your point.

Nordstream 1 and 2 have possibly been sabotaged. Explosions registering 2.3 on the Richter scale have been measured and the pipes are now leaking. Initial suggestion is that Russia is behind it.

No surprises on the early vote counting:

RIA said the initial counts from voting stations on Russian soil showed huge majorities in favour of joining Russia. They ranged from 96.97% for Kherson region, based on 14% of votes counted, to 98.19% in Zaporizhzhia, based on 18% of the count.

The majorities for the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics were just under 98%, with 14% and 13% respectively of votes tallied.

98% ? Come on. If you're going to mark your own homework, at least try to make it believable

Also, if you ever think your own job is pointless, spare a thought for these folk. Counting ballot papers in a Russian "referendum".

There are some colleagues who have had to suspend work as drones are being spotted over North Sea oil rigs too.

Dave!

Mildly amusing

That’s quite astonishing.