US intelligence: Russia plans to attack Ukraine early next year

It was smart. Tanks and trucks are gas guzzlers. They need lots of fuel when moving from north of Kyiv to eastern Ukraine. Taking out their gas station was a very smart move.

 

On another news outlet the reporter stated that it was misfire by the Russians who

 

Pretty sure that Russia is now claiming they did it to themselves accidentally so they don't have to admit that they don't have air superiority in their own country. Pretty embarrassing for a country at war (or even just with "active military operations ongoing")!

 

Just thinking about this horrible situation in Ukraine.

One possible escalation would be for Ukraine to start sending long range missiles into Russia hitting fuel depots around the country inside Russia. Perhaps Ukraine might even use this possibility as some kind of bargaining chip? Like don't send Russian missiles into the western half of Ukraine or we'll go after valid military targets in Russia. Then Russia could threaten to start sending missiles into whatever country provided the missiles to Ukraine. I hope it doesn't come to that but we're heading down that road.

Another thought, remember the Putin rally held in Moscow the other day? If Zelensky tried to hold a rally in Kyiv I suspect the chance of a Russian long range attack on Zelensky would be high. Now I can't imagine Ukraine trying something similar even if they had the technical capability. I think the reason is that at this point Ukraine is on the high road and Russia took the low road with their invasion and have just gotten worse from there.

 

Mitt Romney stated back in 2012 that our most dangerous adversary was Khuylo Putin. Folks especially Democrats laughed. Trump has stated many times that Khuylo Putin is genius/great/wonderful/etc. leader. Mitt was 100% correct. Trump is 100% wrong. I really wish that Republicans would embrace Mitt rather than Donald.

The question in my mind is whether or not the Ukrainian war is hurting Trump's standing with the Republican base?

 

I doubt it. They still seem to be lapping up whatever he says about Putin being awesome. Also, "purifying" a country is something that appeals to... well, you know...

 

It is so weird when I watch Russian main TV channels damage control spin propaganda is 100% opposite of what Western media is reporting.
All the atrocities are blamed on Ukrainian armed forces. Be it the latest bombing of train station, were they show the rocket fired is old and not the type used by Russian military or Bucha etc.
Russians reverse everything, like it is Ukrainian forces that hold Mariupol residents locked and not allowing to leave the town.
And much much more.
Smart Russians don't buy it but many are.
Maybe their propaganda is partly working, France sent forensic investigators to Bucha.

 

Here is what I meant

 

I think I found a very recent poll relevant to the question.

Donald Trump's Popularity Declining Among GOP Voters in These States
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-poll-morning-consult-gop-1697226

The poll seems to support your post as being accurate! I find it amazing that Trump's praise of Putin hasn't hurt him with Republicans. I guess most Republicans are not as disgusted by the Russian war crimes?

 

France is having elections right now. One of the top candidates is a huge Putin supporter/fan. The current French President may not believe what Russia says, but sent the investigators to Bucha as a political move to try to get more votes.

 

I'm a little confused why anyone thinks France sending forensic investigators to Bucha is to prove Russia right. They're gathering evidence of war crimes: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/french-forensic-experts-bucha-help-ukraine-investigate-possible-war-crimes-2022-04-12/

 

So... Is the Canadian military training Neo ,-Nazis? https://then24.com/2022/04/11/radio-canada-members-of-the-neo-nazi-azov-battalion-would-have-participated-in-the-training-programs-offered-by-ottawa-to-kyiv/

 

This article puts things into context;

https://www.newstatesman.com/world/europe/ukraine/2022/04/why-focusing-on-the-azov-battalion-means-we-are-falling-into-putins-trap

 

Oh thanks God, an article on Azov with some sense in it!

One thing I wanted to maybe correct: while Russia's attack has nothing to do with Azov, the battalion has a lot to do with Russia's attack. Volunteer militias were formed in response to 2014 Russia invasion. Imagine the US is attacked, and for whatever reason the military is not in fighting shape and has to call for civilians to push back he enemy. ho would respond first? Well, it will be pretty much the same people who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6th - far-right militia groups. They are already paramilitary, have organizational structure, and some sense of tactics and how to fight as units (remember, in this scenario, US Army is in dire need of supplementation). Moreover, a lot of people who just want to go protect their country would end up joining these "far right" units, because of their perceived battle readiness. I completely believe the figures that about 10 to 20%, at most, of their soldiers have any affiliation with any far-Right ideology at all. The fact that these guys went from far-fringe LARPers and soccer hooligans to a position of relative prominence has everything to do with Russian aggression. Moreover, speaking specifically about the Azov Regiment: since they were integrated with the National Guard of Ukraine, I have yet to hear about them disobeying the order (or, to be honest, credible reports of their actual crimes even before - not counting few leaders who did, in fact, express far-right views). No wonder even smears keep getting focused on the shape of their patches. Previous prez, Poroshenko, is credited with rebuilding the Armed Forces AND taking the volunteers under control.
Of course, the obscene part here is how this switches the attention from Putin. Even though, well, he does have exactly the same kinds of elements on his side (Wagner private militia is just the one with closest connections to him) and is now hard at work on getting Russia into full Nazi mode (their troops are already there). Not to mention the fact that Vladimir Putin is THE sugar daddy of pretty much all neo-Nazi groups in Europe, some in USA, and has sway in some corners of Trumpism

 

In any context, I disapprove of the U.S. Military and/or U.S. Military funded contractors training Nazis anywhere. I ask Canadians - are you O.K. with your badass JTF2 or any other part of your military providing training to Nazis? Neo or any other sort?

 

Any context? Here's a theoretical context.

Let's say that there was an invasion force of space aliens that were invading the Earth. The only way to stop them was for the U.S. Military to train a small neo-Nazi force and these neo-Nazis would stop the space aliens cold. Would you approve of the U.S. Military training in this case?