A problem I have with the escalation argument is why would russia be allowed to strike ukrainian civilian using bombers from bases inside russia but ukraine can’t strike the bases the bombers take off from? I think ukraine should be able to strike those base.
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I agree totally. Ukraine has done wonders with long range drones but hitting airbases would be better with cruise missiles carry cluster munitions. It’s what they were designed for. If Russia can hit hospitals, we should let the gloves come off, at least for military targets.
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What I am interested to see is how Ukraine will use the F16s. Right now Ukraine apparently has 10 in combat service at the moment but what is difficult to find out is how many pilots have been trained on the Jet. I’ve heard as few as 14 and as many as 25 pilots are now F16 trained pilots which means they are high value targets even higher than President Zelensky.
One of the things that I have read about is many Ukrainians who are training to be ground crew and pilots are having issues learning English which is mandatory to either fly or work on the aircraft as these aircraft are highly sophisticated and any nation that flies the aircraft must learn to read and write in English and be proficient in it due to how complex the aircraft are. This is apparently the biggest stumbling block in training air and ground crew.
On that note the ones who are now trained to fly and work on the aircraft I am very interested in seeing how they will use the aircraft as Ukraine has basically redefined modern warfare by thinking outside the box.
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I saw that, the worst part for the russian soide is they seemed to apparentky ahve known about kursk yet somehow didn’t prepared well for it
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Not only was Russia surprised, so was everyone else. They haven’t stated an objective I have heard but they seem to have committed multiple brigades for some purpose. Maybe they will turn towards Moscow. I personally feel they are fighting on unprepared ground to hunt Russian troops no defensive lines.
Long term I don’t know. I think they play it by ear.
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It is possible they are aiming for the nuclear power plant there. It is very important to Russia for multiple reasons but for Ukraine it could become a very powerful bargaining chip and a huge very public black eye to not only Russia but Putin himself.
Everybody is waiting to see what Ukraine will do next.
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Interesting video on how civilians view the Ukrainian invasion of Kursk
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Update on Kursk offensive from a German armored commander. He did not estimate if they could reach Moscow before the snow falls……sorry couldn’t help it.
Recently several Journalists from news media from around the world were in Georgia talking to Russian refugees in the country and several things became abundantly clear.
First off many still supported Putin and his ideas even if they did not agree with his policies and conscription. Many still believe in his vision for Russia.
Many Russians had trouble believing the amount of destruction in Ukraine and the daily bombing by Russian military of civilians. As one refugee put it this was a scare tactic put on by western media to vilify Russia as the aggressor and Ukraine was actually bombing its own country to make it look worse. Even with verified independent sources verifying the damage by Russian bombing many Russian refugees could not nor would not believe their own country was capable of this.
Ukrainians are playing of western sympathy in order to get needed weaponry, humanitarian aid and financial support in order to fool the west to believing that Russia is the aggressor and Ukraine is just a victim. As several Russian refugees stated we have to stamp out nazism in Ukraine for good.
Finally when asked if they feel confident in Putin and his policies why are you choosing to live as a refugee to which could not provide an adequate answer. Answers varied from conscription worries to being scared of the secret police to escaping poverty.
It was quite eye opening in my opinion
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This sounds like it’s being echoed in Western media as well as a method to slow aid to Ukraine.
The only thing missing is that the US and NATO expansion are responsible.