Just now, mayanh8 said:

 

Yeah, drones with anti tank missiles. Flown at night. It's hard to say whose drone it is or what country was operating it. CIA op. I'm down with that.

39 minutes ago, jsdarkstar said:

Pentagon official says Russian troops have 'deliberately punched holes' in their own gas tanks 'presumably' to avoid combat as morale declines: report

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pentagon-official-says-russian-troops-213818317.html

Katie Balevic

Tue, March 1, 2022, 4:38 PM

 

 

 

A man on crutches walks past the remains of a Russian military vehicles in Bucha, close to the capital Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022.Serhii Nuzhnenko/AP

• Some Russian troops are intentionally punching holes in their gas tanks, a Pentagon official said, per The New York Times.

• The official said that many of the Russian troops are young and inexperienced, per the Times.

• Some Russian troops are surrendering to Ukrainian forces as morale drops, Insider previously reported.

Some Russian troops have "deliberately punched holes in their vehicles' gas tanks" as morale among the Russians declines, a senior US official said.

The troops appear to be self-sabotaging in order to avoid combat, the unnamed senior Pentagon official said, per The New York Times. The official added that many of the Russian troops are young and inexperienced in combat, and they are facing dwindling food and fuel resources.

Stories like this come off like Western propaganda. And mostly because there's Eastern propaganda saying close to the same things

 

2 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Stories like this come off like Western propaganda. And mostly because there's Eastern propaganda saying close to the same things

 

It’s exactly why Putin took down tv stations and networks.  He couldn’t let anyone know how badly he was losing.  But thanks to Musk, that plan failed miserably. 
 

 

1 minute ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Stories like this come off like Western propaganda. And mostly because there's Eastern propaganda saying close to the same things

 

Do you actively read such stuff. Russian Propaganda. or did just you just stumble on it. I'll take the word of Pentagon Officials over Putin. 

2 minutes ago, DBW said:

It’s exactly why Putin took down tv stations and networks.  He couldn’t let anyone know how badly he was losing.  But thanks to Musk, that plan failed miserably. 
 

 

Taking out communications is SOP. We did it in Iraq. Russia is not losing, unfortunately.

 

8 minutes ago, jsdarkstar said:

Do you actively read such stuff. Russian Propaganda. or did just you just stumble on it. I'll take the word of Pentagon Officials over Putin. 

The tweet literally calls what Belarus is doing "straight out of NSDAP propaganda handbooks", so no, I'm not actively reading Russian propaganda. It's someone calling them out on it. 

And I never said believe one person over the other. Just that it will come from both sides.  Pentagon officials as well as hundreds more or going to want that out there to keep motivating Ukrainians to fight and not give up. It's just the reality of the situation. 

1 hour ago, TEW said:

You are far too optimistic. It is far, FAR more likely Ukraine is stuck behind a neo-iron curtain for the rest of our lives.

Naaah.  FAR more likely than that Putin gets strung by the balls in Red Square within 5-10 years.  He can't hold Ukraine, a country where 70% (at least) is against the occupation and will have every covert method of assistance available to them.  The true economic pain and inability to conduct international business is only going to avalanche.  And as is painfully obvious, the Russian militia is top heavy, sending more and more body bags of Russian kids as they continue to lose skirmishes.  Half of Ukraine is not worth this.  All of Ukraine is probably not worth this.  The oligarchs would rather screw underage girls on their yachts than deal with this shite and Putin's playing a game where you win or you die.

Also to add, I think too many people equate the word "propaganda" as being bad. It's a very thin line and depends how you use it, but it's not a completely bad thing. 

1 minute ago, dawkins4prez said:

Naaah.  FAR more likely than that Putin gets strung by the balls in Red Square within 5-10 years.  He can't hold Ukraine, a country where 70% (at least) is against the occupation and will have every covert method of assistance available to them.  The true economic pain and inability to conduct international business is only going to avalanche.  And as is painfully obvious, the Russian militia is top heavy sending more and more body bags of Russian kids.  Half of Ukraine is not worth this.  All of Ukraine is probably not worth this.  The oligarchs would rather screw underage girls on heir yachts than deal with this shite and Putin's playing a game where you win or you die.

You are really underestimating him. You think he hasn’t thought this through?

Just now, TEW said:

You are really underestimating him. You think he hasn’t thought this through?

Thinking it through and getting it right are swiss cheese to moon.  I think this was his lifelong plan, he thought he had done everything possible to make it viable (weaken US solidarity/get Europe on his Oil teets/put a mighty misinformation network in place) and figured it was now or never.  But if he's getting battered every which way in what was supposed to be the easy part, then his outlook is looking extremely dim in the mid to long term.

1 minute ago, TEW said:

You are really underestimating him. You think he hasn’t thought this through?

I said this to someone yesterday. Putin's not a dumb guy, so I don't wanna sound like I'm downplaying him.

But his "thinking things through" led to his own military entering a war without decent supply lines, involving some of his equipment running out of gas...during an invasion that HE wanted. So let's dial back the foreign evil genius idea, and look at him through the lens of any American politician. On some days when he's set up for a dunk, he can slam it home. And on other days, he's tripping over his own shoe laces. 

In summary, he probably knows what he's doing, and his decisions are based on some research and intelligence. But he's also capable of gross miscalculations, like anyone else.  

1 minute ago, Lloyd said:

I said this to someone yesterday. Putin's not a dumb guy, so I don't wanna sound like I'm downplaying him.

But his "thinking things through" led to his own military entering a war without decent supply lines, involving some of his equipment running out of gas...during an invasion that HE wanted. So let's dial back the foreign evil genius idea, and look at him through the lens of any American politician. On some days when he's set up for a dunk, he can slam it home. And on other days, he's tripping over his own shoe laces. 

In summary, he probably knows what he's doing, and his decisions are based on some research and intelligence. But he's also capable of gross miscalculations, like anyone else.  

I don’t think anything this far has been a gross miscalculation. And we should distinguish between military planning (which he would not be doing) with strategic decision making and palace politics (which he would be doing).

The guy is brilliant, like it or not. But war also isn’t some marvel movie where nothing ever goes off plan. He has far more insight into his control over the oligarchs than he does in military logistics. Be that as it may, Russia is still advancing at a very high rate.

 

7 minutes ago, dawkins4prez said:

Thinking it through and getting it right are swiss cheese to moon.  I think this was his lifelong plan, he thought he had done everything possible to make it viable (weaken US solidarity/get Europe on his Oil teets/put a mighty misinformation network in place) and figured it was now or never.  But if he's getting battered every which way in what was supposed to be the easy part, then his outlook is looking extremely dim in the mid to long term.

He’s not though… he’s winning, decisively. He’s taken about half the southern coast in less than a week and should have the capital in another week or two.

Im really not sure where people are getting the idea that the war isn’t going well for him.

I think it's perfectly reasonable to recognize that Putin has a long history of savage but savvy foreign policies and absolutely shouldn't be underestimated,  but also acknowledge that based on the data available to us appears as if he underestimated both severity of the West's response and the resistance he has met in Ukraine.  

I mean Switzerland has frozen Russian assets and Germany is actively increasing military spending and arming Ukrainians.  Neither seem like scenarios anyone was really anticipating, nor are either things that seem particularly good for Putin. 

One of the Problems for Putin's Convoys is the weather. The convoys have to stay on the road because the land isn't frozen over. 

Ukraine needs to attack stalled convoy with some drones. 

 

Just now, DEagle7 said:

I think it's perfectly reasonable to recognize that Putin has a long history of savage but savvy foreign policies and absolutely shouldn't be underestimated,  but also acknowledge that based on the data available to us appears as if he underestimated both severity of the West's response and the resistance he has met in Ukraine.  

I mean Switzerland has frozen Russian assets and Germany is actively increasing military spending and arming Ukrainians.  Neither seem like scenarios anyone was really anticipating, nor are either things that seem particularly good for Putin. 

He’s about to capture the capital and he almost owns the entire coast at this point. He invaded what, 6 days ago? Not sure I’m seeing this resistance everyone else is…

Remember Fallujah? 

To take and hold Kyiv, the Russian Army is going to have to go house by house, street by street, apartment building by apartment building. The Ukrainians will have the advatange and the fighting will be gruesome for the Russians. 

21 minutes ago, TEW said:

You are really underestimating him. You think he hasn’t thought this through?

I think dawkins4prez is being a bit optimistic. But it's pretty clear Putin did not think this through. 

Just now, JohnSnowsHair said:

I think dawkins4prez is being a bit optimistic. But it's pretty clear Putin did not think this through. 

You think he didn’t realize there would be sanctions? Come on man…

6 minutes ago, DEagle7 said:

I think it's perfectly reasonable to recognize that Putin has a long history of savage but savvy foreign policies and absolutely shouldn't be underestimated,  but also acknowledge that based on the data available to us appears as if he underestimated both severity of the West's response and the resistance he has met in Ukraine.  

I mean Switzerland has frozen Russian assets and Germany is actively increasing military spending and arming Ukrainians.  Neither seem like scenarios anyone was really anticipating, nor are either things that seem particularly good for Putin. 

Don't forget Poland! They've been a catalyst for both direct aid and support in the UN and EU.

Also Finland has moved significantly closer to NATO membership inside a week.

14 minutes ago, TEW said:

I don’t think anything this far has been a gross miscalculation. And we should distinguish between military planning (which he would not be doing) with strategic decision making and palace politics (which he would be doing).

The guy is brilliant, like it or not. But war also isn’t some marvel movie where nothing ever goes off plan. He has far more insight into his control over the oligarchs than he does in military logistics. Be that as it may, Russia is still advancing at a very high rate.

He may have been, but ego clouds judgement. Leaders who have met with him recently also said he's not the same guy, so neurological factors change. If you think anything he has done since the moment he passed the areas who wanted to break off you are giving him way too much credit. This has been an epic crap show for him...and I've never seen the world this united against someone before.