Quote from: be.open on April 25, 2022, 05:55:18 PM

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You are right, a real civil war has been going on in Ukraine for 8 years,
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. Russia is not at war, she came to stop it. I call a spade a spade.
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Again, following the argument of "Russia is not at war" (which is already unbelievable), you say "Ukraine is in a civil war", that means that you admit that all the Donbas is Ukrainian territory at contest between two Ukrainian factions (Ukraine surely thanks you for that). You also say that Russia came to stop it. Thus Russia has sent troops into Ukrainian territory and has military presence there.

Invading another country with military forces is an act of war. Russia is at war with Ukraine. Ukraine can use any means to destroy Russian war infrastructure, including logistics, depots, factories, command centres, military installations, etc.

And let's now follow the opposite argument: If "Russia is not at war", then Putin is committing acts of terror in Ukraine which makes him a terrorist and makes Russia a terrorist supporting state. Ukraine is then in the right to capture, put to trial and sentence any member of the Russian government or military involved in these terrorist acts. They are lucky, if it were the US they would be sent to Guantanamo without trial and for an indeterminate period of time.

But, none of that is true - Russia has started a war with Ukraine. And, as the saying goes, you only know how wars start, not how they end.

In practical terms, Russia will deny there is a war, and Ukraine will "not deny nor confirm" any activity in Russian territory. But words are just wind.

Quote from: be.open on April 25, 2022, 05:55:18 PM

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The Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia together sent about 200 T-72 tanks of various modifications to Ukraine. I do not consider German Leopards-1 a serious weapon, but nevertheless. The number of armored personnel carriers and self-propelled howitzers supplied by the West to Ukraine is no longer in the hundreds, but closer to thousands. Also, the West sent anti-tank systems of various types to Ukraine at the rate of ten complexes per one Russian tank. This is only from the West, and there are still huge stocks of weapons inherited from the USSR. Recently, in Balakliya, the Russians took control of the "65th Arsenal" ammunition depot with about 150,000 tons of shells.

Ukraine still has a very impressive arsenal of weapons and ammunition, even considering the very serious losses after two months of demilitarization.

The numbers you are providing are impossible. The self propelled howis are in the range of tens. Should UKR have 1000 Putin's army would already be on their way to Moscow. Interesting that you add numbers of APCs and howis which are completely different. The number of ATs as you mention is nearly impossible.

Quote from: be.open on April 25, 2022, 05:55:18 PM

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As Francis Scott Fitzgerald said, "The mark of a first-class brain is the ability to keep two mutually exclusive thoughts in mind at the same time without losing the ability to think". There are rumors that I am the best analyst of the Russian locale, but this is not certain. Grin

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That refers to the possibility of pondering different opinions when there is no data or the data is incomplete, it does not mean purposely changing facts.

Quote from: DaRude on Today at 04:56:47 AM

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Australian PM warns Chinese that new base would be 'red line' for Australia and the US...Western countries are scrambling over a security pact reached between China and Solomon Islands

https://www.foxnews.com/world/australian-pm-says-new-chinese-base-would-be-red-line-for-australia-us

Think we're hitting the peak of the irony here. So how many here are going to start yelling about Solomon Islands' right to join whatever pact they want? Or Chinese cookies are different than Nuland's cookies? Surely China can find a lot more countries around the globe where it can offer some irresistibly profitable trading terms in exchange for some military cooperation. That's the problem with precedents, once you set them then you reap what you sow.

The justification for US screwing Cuba was that Cuba's proximity to US was an existential threat, that got us through cold war. Why, why did they have to challenge that and rock the boat now?

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As far as Cuba, Castro's regime is not a representation of the people of Cuba, thus does not represent the will of the people living there. I will get flames for this, but that government, IMHO, while de-facto is the Cuban government, cannot be assumed to speak of behalf of the Cuban people and any agreement entered by it is not legit.

Chinese cookies are China's Communist Party's cookies, clearly a regime that cannot in anyway be assumed to represent the majority of the Chinese, even less now that Xi has decided to perpetuate himself in power. Again, I will get flames for this, but their government lacks legitimacy to act on behalf of their people.

If the majority of people of the S.I. and majority of people in China wish to have an agreement and are informed of the consequences (economic, political,...) then they should. There are some doubts about the level of representativeness of the current Prime Minister, who is accused of being in China's pocket.

Now, back to Putin's Russia, currently at war with Ukraine.

Quote from: suchmoon on April 25, 2022, 09:16:10 PM

Your reenactment of 1984..

In the meantime, the EU is censoring the internet lol. I hope no one gets arrested for reading my post. Take care of yourself there in the stronghold of the victorious democracy.