Russia is already fucked.  They are completely dependent on the super majors - who have all pulled out - to exploit their oil and gas resources.  Without their expertise and equipment and technology, Russian production will decline precipitously.  And Russia's wells can't just be restarted if they are capped, they basically have to be redrilled.

What people tend to forget is that these weapons are being expended against exactly the enemy they were intended to be expended against, and we don't even have to do it ourselves.  Send them all, its the bargain of a lifetime!
China will be an air/naval war.

Just remember that it is possible to pitch a no-hitter and lose.  It's happened 6 times so far.  The last losing no-hitter just a few days ago.

Reds having one heck of a season.  Coincidence with having the same nickname as the Russian Army?  Things that make you go hmmmmm.....

Your excellent point is WHY Russia’s defeat must be total and spectacular. Look:

- Germany has profound regret for Nazism primarily because we forced the death of Hitler, put all the top leaders on public trial, and EXECUTED those most responsible.  

We also marched locals through the concentration camps and forced them to look at the corpses.

Until we do something very similar to the vast majority of the Russian population, they will continue to support Putin, or someone just like Putin.  

This cannot be only about regime change in Russia.  We need major societal change.  

The very worst outcome would be to follow France’s proposed surrender / negotiated-ceasefire with Putin still in power.

Russian marines under Ukrainian artillery fire, notice the Russian drone operator in the trench.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CombatFootage/comments/usfpzc/russian_marines_take_cover_in_a_trench_as/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

What?  Its a win-win for the US and India.  The only reason India was sucking up to Putin was weapons contracts.
We get some money, but more importantly a highly useful proxy against China.
India gets weapons that will actually be effective, and backing against China.  With Russia out of the equation, India’s interests become much clearer.
The West in general probably feels that India is a far more reasonable and less threatening global partner than China, in the long run.  India wil have to fight the war themselves, but with our help they’ll come out on top as the dominant regional power free of China’s threat and probably with some extra territory.
Who loses?  Pakistan and China.

I, for one, thank you for that and, it's
a reasonable request.

Did you watch that video from that Finnish Intel guy? His experience is that the obvious lies are just to distract you from the more subtle lies.
So you can stop being offended

My wife saw an article that said they would remove their objection if they could get F35s and S400s again.

My shocked face.

Looks like the Swiss are joining the stealth club.


Swiss to sign contract to buy 36 F-35 fighters before referendum on deal

Very much so, plus with India supercharging their economy with cut rate Russian oil & gas, they get to go head to head with China on an economic scale they have been dreaming about for decades.

True, but hypothetically those contractors could return tomorrow if they wanted to.
On the other hand, once all of Russia’s biggest customers have long-term energy contracts in hand elsewhere, there’s no going back.  We’re talking 10 years minimum.
The side benefit for us is that the Germans have to at least pretend to be nice to us again.  Their new contracts will be with the US, Canada, and various gulf states.  And who ensures supply from the often-troubled gulf?  We do!

True.  Russia will need all the revenue it can get and will not be in the position to say “buy our weapons or we won’t sell you energy.”  So theres no reason India can’t benefit both ways.  Strategically India is in a good position going forward, though they should be preparing for war with China at some level.

The way things are going, about the only country, beside the Ukraine, that will NOT get the F-35 will be Northern Korea.

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There is that whole thing about us supporting their arch enemy Pakistan.  Then the colonialism, I know it wasn't us but the Indians blame us also.

Agreed.

Time's up!

The waiver, issued shortly after the U.S. levied sanctions, has given Russia room to repay sovereign debt to foreign investors


Final straw in Russia's debt saga looms on May 25 when U.S. bond waiver lapses

Worth a read.  In an article dated Feb 3, Russian defense analyst predicted course of war before the invasion, concludes that “war against Ukraine is fundamentally against Russia’s national interests.”
https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/usdhsg/russian_defense_analyst_mikhail_khodaryonok/

Text of article follows:

On enthusiastic hawks and hasty cuckoos
Some members of the Russian political class today argue that Russia is capable of inflicting a crushing defeat on Ukraine in a few hours (shorter periods are also mentioned) if a military conflict breaks out. Let's see how such statements correspond to reality.
In the expert community of Russia, the opinion has recently taken root quite strongly that it will not even be necessary to send troops to the territory of Ukraine, since the Armed Forces of that country are in a deplorable state.
Some political analysts emphasize that a powerful Russian fire strike will destroy almost all surveillance and communication systems, artillery and tank formations. Moreover, a number of experts conclude that even one crushing blow from Russia will be enough to end such a war.
On top of that, some analysts highlight the fact that no one in Ukraine will defend the “Kyiv regime.”
NO EASY WALK
Let's begin with the last one. To assert that no one in Ukraine will defend the regime illustrates, in practice, complete ignorance of the military-political situation and the mood of the broad masses of the people in the neighboring state. Moreover, the degree of hatred (which, as everyone knows, is the most effective fuel for armed struggle) in the neighboring republic in relation to Moscow is frankly underestimated. No one will meet the Russian army with bread, salt and flowers in Ukraine.
It appears that the events in the south-east of Ukraine in 2014 did not teach anyone anything. Then, after all, they also expected that the entire left-bank Ukraine, in a single impulse and in a matter of seconds, would emerge as Novorossiya. We had already drawn maps, estimated the personnel of future administrations of cities and regions, and even developed state flags.
But even the Russian-speaking population of this part of Ukraine (including that of cities such as Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnepropetrovsk, Mariupol) did not support such plans in their vast majority. The project “Novorossiya” was somehow imperceptibly blown away and quietly died.
To put it simply, the liberation campaign in 2022, following the model and likeness of 1939, will not succeed in any way. In this case, the words of Soviet writer Arkady Gaidar are more true than ever: “It is clear that we will now have not an easy battle, but a hard one.”
“A LITTLE BLOOD, A POWERFUL BLOW”
Now with regard to the “powerful fire strike by Russia,” which allegedly will destroy “almost all surveillance and communication systems, artillery and tank formations of the AFU.”
That expression alone shows that only political careerists could say such a thing. For reference: in the course of hypothetical military operations on the scale of a theater of operations, strikes are carried out on priority targets in addition to massive fire strikes. Note that in the course of operational-strategic planning, the epithets “powerful” (as well as “medium,” “weak,” etc.) are not used.
Military science emphasizes that strikes can be strategic (this mostly applies to strategic nuclear forces), operational and tactical. According to the number of forces involved and objects hit, strikes can be massive, group and single. It is still better not to introduce or use other concepts, even in works of a political science nature.
Attacks on priority targets and massive fire strikes may be carried out within the front (fronts on the western borders of Russia have not yet been formed) or the main command center of the armed forces in the theater of operations (so far, one has not been created in the South-Western strategic direction either). Anything less than that is no longer a massive strike.
And what is, for example, a massive fire strike (MFS) of the front? To begin with, it should be noted that the maximum number of combat-ready forces and means of aviation, missile troops and artillery, electronic warfare equipment at the disposal of the commander of the front forces (operational-strategic formation) is involved in the МFS. The МFS consists of one massive air sortie, two or three launches of OTP and TR missile systems, and several artillery fire raids. Well, only if the degree of fire damage to the enemy is 60-70%.
What is the most important thing in this matter in relation to the conflict with Ukraine? Of course, the MFS will inflict heavy losses on a potential enemy. But to expect to crush the armed forces of an entire country with just one such blow only shows unbridled optimism in the course of planning and conducting combat operations. In the course of hypothetical strategic actions on the theater of operations, such MFSs will need to be applied not once or twice, but much more times.
It must be added by all means that the reserves of promising and high-precision weapons in the RF Armed Forces are not unlimited. Hypersonic missiles of the Zircon type are not yet in service. And the number of Kalibr (sea-launched cruise missiles), Kinzhals, Kh-101 (air-launched cruise missiles) and Iskander missiles is measured in the hundreds at best (tens in the case of Kinzhals). This arsenal is absolutely not enough to wipe out a country the size of France and with a population of more than 40 million from the face of the Earth. Namely, Ukraine is characterized by such parameters.
ON AIR SUPERIORITY
Sometimes it is asserted in the Russian expert community (by fans of the Douai Doctrine) that since the hypothetical military operations in Ukraine will take place under the conditions of complete dominance of Russian aircraft in the air, the war will not only be extremely short but end in the shortest possible time.
At the same time, it is somehow forgotten that the armed formations of the Afghan opposition during the conflict of 1979-1989 did not have a single aircraft and not a single combat helicopter. And the war in that country dragged on for as much as 10 years. The Chechen fighters did not have a single aircraft either. And the fight against them lasted for several years and cost the federal forces a lot of blood and casualties.
And the AFU still have some kind of combat aircraft as well as means of air defense.
By the way, the Ukrainian crews of the anti-aircraft missile forces (by no means Georgian ones) significantly pinched the Russian Air Force during the 2008 conflict. After the first day of hostilities, the leadership of the Russian Air Force was in shock from the losses incurred. And we shouldn't forget about it.
MOURNED IN ADVANCE
Now when it comes to the thesis "The Armed Forces of Ukraine are in a deplorable state,” of course, the AFU have problems with aviation and modern air defense systems. But the following must also be acknowledged. If until 2014 the AFU were a scrap of the Soviet army, over the past seven years a qualitatively different army has been created in Ukraine, on a completely different ideological basis and largely on NATO standards. And very modern weapons and equipment are being supplied and continue to be supplied to Ukraine from many countries of the North Atlantic Alliance.
As for the weakest point of the AFU - the Air Force, it cannot be ruled out that the collective West may, in a fairly short time, supply Kyiv with fighters, as they say, “from the current armed forces” - in other words, second-hand. However, these second-hand fighters, in terms of its tactical and technical characteristics, will be quite comparable with the majority of aircraft in the Russian fleet.
Of course, today the AFU are significantly inferior to the RF Armed Forces in terms of their combat and operational capabilities. No one doubts this, neither in the East nor in the West.
But that army cannot be taken lightly either. In this regard, one must always remember the testament of Alexander Suvorov: “Never underestimate your enemy, do not consider him stupider and weaker than you.”
Now with regard to the assertion that Western countries will not send a single soldier to die for Ukraine.
It should be noted that this is indeed likely to be the case. However, in the event of a Russian invasion, that does not at all rule out massive assistance to the AFU from the collective West with a wide variety of weapons and military equipment and bulk deliveries of all kinds of materiel. In this regard, the West has already exhibited a consolidated position, unprecedented until now, which, it seems, was not predicted in Moscow.
There is no doubt that the USA and the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance will begin a kind of reincarnation of Lend-Lease, modeled after the Second World War, there is no doubt. An influx of volunteers from the West, which can be very numerous, cannot be ruled out.
PARTISANS AND UNDERGROUND
And finally, when it comes to the duration of a hypothetical campaign, in the Russian expert community, several hours are called, sometimes even several tens of minutes. At the same time, it is somehow forgotten that we have already gone through all this. The phrase “take the city with one airborne regiment in two hours” has already become a classic of the genre.
It is also worth recalling that the mighty Stalinist NKVD and the multi-million Soviet army fought the nationalist underground in Western Ukraine for more than 10 years. And now there is a possibility that the whole of Ukraine can easily go into the partisans. In addition, these formations can easily begin to operate on the territory of Russia itself.
The armed struggle in large Ukrainian cities is generally difficult to predict. It is common knowledge that big cities are the best battlefield for the weak and less technically advanced side of the armed conflict.
Serious-minded experts emphasize that in a metropolis it is possible not only to concentrate a grouping of thousands and even tens of thousands of fighters, but also to hide them from the superior firepower of the enemy. And also to supply them with material resources for a long time and make up for losses in people and equipment. Neither mountains, nor forests, nor jungles today provide such an advantage.
Experts are convinced that the urban environment helps the defenders, slows down the movement of the attackers, allows you to place a record number of fighters per unit area, and compensates for the lag in forces and technologies. And in Ukraine there are more than enough large cities, including those with more than a million inhabitants. So the Russian army in the course of a hypothetical war with Ukraine may meet with far more than just Stalingrad and Grozny.
CONCLUSIONS
To sum up, there will be no Ukrainian blitzkrieg. The statements of some experts such as “The Russian army will defeat most of the units of the AFU in 30-40 minutes,” “Russia is able to defeat Ukraine in 10 minutes in the event of a full-scale war,” “Russia will defeat Ukraine in eight minutes” have no serious grounds.
And finally, the most important thing. An armed conflict with Ukraine is currently fundamentally not in Russia's national interests. Therefore, it is best for some overexcited Russian experts to forget about their hatred-fueled fantasies, and in order to avoid further reputational damage, to never mention them again.

You do realize Swedes and Swiss are different peoples from different countries, even though both have historically been neutral?

Article says Switzerland not Sweden.

I ALWAYS get this wrong....

Edited.

Whip me, beat me, make me write bad checks!

Any updates on the blown up russian armored train? As the russians are super dependent on their rail system for moving troops and weapons, I am super stoked that one of them may have gotten hit. Maybe ukraine already destroyed their small number of trucks and had no choice but to move on to their trains.

So far it just looks like regurgitation of the initial report. I'm hoping someone will eventually post an article with photos.

Correction.  Swedes are not people.

Artillery units of the Assault Troops as part of the Defense Forces destroyed the automated obstruction station R-330Zh of the occupiers.

The complex is designed for automated detection, direction finding and analysis of radio signals in the operating frequency range. pic.twitter.com/gpZ2PyoqqJ

— ???????English (@TpyxaNews) May 18, 2022

If you're going to try and jam up drones, "halfway working" isn't a good place to be.

LOL, that's at least as good as the US using a JDAM to blow up a Russian supplied GPS signal jammer in GW1.

Attached File

U.S. Embassy in Kyiv resumes operations 3 months after closing because of war