British intelligence reports claim that Russia has suffered “limited overall gains” due to strong Ukrainian resistance.
The Ministry of Defence tweeted:
Latest Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/CeKxZDHRDk
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) March 2, 2022
What’s the latest?
Talks between Ukrainian and Russian representatives in Gomel, Belarus, ended without a breakthrough.
This is the current state of the Russian invasion of #Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/illzbY3OzA
— George Allison (@geoallison) March 2, 2022
1 March
- According to Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, the governor of Sumy Oblast, more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed during the Russian shelling of a military base in Okhtyrka.
- A Russian missile later hit the regional administration building on Freedom Square during a bombardment of Kharkiv, killing at least ten civilians, and wounding 35 others.
- In southern Ukraine, the city of Kherson was reported to be under attack by Russian forces.
- The Ukrainian government announced it would sell war bonds to fund its armed forces.
- The Ukrainian parliament stated that the Armed Forces of Belarus had joined Russia’s invasion and were in Chernihiv Oblast, north-east of the capital. UNIAN reported that a column of 33 military vehicles had entered the region. The US disagreed with these claims, saying that there was “no indication” that Belarus has invaded. Hours prior, Belarus’s president Lukashenko said that Belarus would not join the war.
- After Russia’s Defense Ministry announced that it would hit targets to stop “information attacks”, missiles struck broadcasting infrastructure for the primary television and radio transmitters in Kyiv, taking TV channels off the air.
- Ukrainian officials said the attack killed five people and damaged the nearby Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center, Ukraine’s main Holocaust memorial.
- An official from the US Department of Defense stated that Russian forces had captured Berdiansk and Melitopol.
2 March
- Around 02:12 (UTC), the BBC said there were reports that Russian forces had taken the southern city of Kherson. However at 08:16 the BBC reported that the regional governor stated that the city remained under Ukrainian control.
- The Ukrainian military reported a Russian paratrooper assault on northwest Kharkiv, where a military hospital came under attack.
- Zhyvytskyi stated that Russian forces had captured Trostianets after entering it at 01:03.
- The Associated Press quoted an anonymous Western official estimating that over 5,000 Russian troops had been killed or captured by Ukrainian forces until 2 March.
I think this Putin guy is completely insane. I mean to threaten a nuclear holocaust. These Oligarchs that support him should be detained and their asset stripped and used to help feed and support the Ukranian widows and orphans. Our government is too slow going after these Oligarchs that have aided and abetted this evil man. If this quietens down we have to put our defence spending to 4% of GDP for the next ten years at least and start developing anti-hypersonic missile technology ASAP using nuclear pumped lasers. We should also build up our naval fleet, ground forces and… Read more »
I don’t think we are going to get 10 years with Putin. Even if we had rolled over on Ukraine he just keeps adding demands to his list. Bit like the last guy who plunged the world into war.
unfortunately I think you are probably correct. But if the west shows resolve and strengthen itself it may be able to stabilise the picture. Russia and potentially China will push against perceived weakness, we need to remove that perception.
Insane or not some sort of direct dialogue is essential with Putin. The establishment of safe corridors for refugees is urgently needed, and that can only be achieved by direct contact with the Kremlin. Within a month Russia will be in the grip of serious shortages that will impact directly on the men and women in the street, and the disquiet will not stop there. As massive global stripping of international Russian assets percolates across the whole spectrum of Russian society, it will signal the end of Putin, the only question, just how long? At the end of Hitler’s rule,… Read more »
If cretan Putin gave the order to use nuclear weapons I don’t think his military commanders would obey him. They would surely understand that if they did it would be the end of the world as we know it as the West would have to respond.
Never assume anything when it comes to what they would or would not do. All we can do is prepare for the worst. Is funny Biden got elected because people thought my putting this old liberal in the WH there would be no more wars. In fact the voters just played in Putin’s hand.
Trump, if re-elected, would be rolling over to do anything for his masters in the Kremlin. It sickens me that my fellow countrymen (Americans) can’t see this or just flatly ignore it.
I am not sure people thought there would never be another war… What on earth would Trump have done differently? Given he uses similar tactics to Putin with regard to disinformation? Trump would likely have made this mess even worse, Remember he also threatened to use Nukes over twitter!!!
I agree with the sentiment of what you’re saying but I don’t believe the details are realistic. 4% of GDP equates to around £80 billion per year, almost doubling the defence budget. I cannot see any justification for that amount of extra spending based on what we’ve seen so far. I’d increase to 2.5% – an even £50 billion and a more modest increase of £6 billion per year. That could see real improvements and expansion in areas of defence without breaking the bank. 4%/£80 billion is just not a realistic amount for us to spend on defence. Even if… Read more »
I think you are about right with a £6-10Bn uptick.
Provided we stick away from too much blue sky stuff. That is always the temptation to create ‘tomorrows weapons today’ and to fund academics fantasies of what might be possible.
The exception might be Tempest but again use the T31 model and produce a supersonic stealthy twin engine airframe and worry about the rest later. Just use Radar2 as is and make the weapons bay long enough for what we currently have. Decouple it from other future projects. Don’t let perfect get in the way of good enough.
Why the focus on the air force? Putin’s invasion is all about the army.
I agree both have been just as poor.
I suppose the real point is that under any battlefield doctrine I’ve ever heard, air superiority is an enabler for ground forces?
And without air superiority ground forces are vulnerable.
You are right that air superiority is a prerequisite for successful land operations (Hitler lost the ability to invade our country when his Luftwaffe could not achive superiority over the RAF). I would argue that with Typhoon and (soon-to-be healthy numbers of F-35s) our air force has very good equipment already. Upgrades for Typhoon continue to be rolled out. The issue is that the army is not in a good place to fight a war in a high intensity conflict against a peer opponent. Most of its principle AFVs are 25 – 50 years old and have been modified only… Read more »
I agree that RAF is in the right path. Just needs numbers boosted and done munitions such as heavy AShM added for UK and costal waters defence. I would love to see Chally3 expedited and covering all the hills in service and any others that can be recovered form storage. I don’t accept Def Sec’s argument that armour is dead. Badly utilised armour was always more of a hazard than a help. We need more good AFV’s systems in numbers. Army also need to be separated from the procurement of them! Otherwise the price of another two QEC carriers will… Read more »
Def Sec makes much of his handful of years as a subbie in the Guards a very long time ago. He was wrong to say that BAOR back in the day was a hollowed out force and was wrong to say we should not cling on to old capabilities, clearly referring to tanks and other heavy metal last autumn, as he praised drones and cyber gadgets. If tanks are dead, would someone please tell Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, who have thousands and actually do upgrades from time to time. Our tanks have been used more on hard-edged deployed… Read more »
I’d agree with the general sentiment of what you say.
I believe we need decent number of tanks and/or armoured vehicles and modern ones at that
I’m less sure how £5Bn of FRES money would have gone to QEC as the budget over run, caused by Osborne, wasn’t that much anyway.
The FRES project was terminated before the money was spent so it went to another Programme. As the 2 carriers cost a total of £6.2bn the army effectively bank-roled the navy’s project.
Hi Steve R,
Don’t forget you need to train the engineers to design and build all this stuff. 10 to 15 years for to happen… Gapped industrial capability is even harder to make good than filling the more limited gaps in military capability you list.
Cheers CR
It doesn’t have to stay at 4%, but it needs to be at least that high for a few years just to overturn the dire position we are currently in.
If it wasnt for the pandemic im sure it would have been possible to uplift to above 2.5/3% however the countries finances are not exactly great and we cant just keep borrowing at the rates we have been.
I think the increase needs to be significant but you are correct that it does not necessarily need to be to 4%. Germany needs to spend big initially as it has a lot of holes to patch. We have a very good well functioning armed forces that just need more equipment and assets. We do not need this to be delivered tomorrow, we just need a solid plan to upgrade over the next 10 years and put in the ability to ramp that up quickly if needed.
Oddly if Russia don’t take Ukraine it’s a justification to lower defense not up it. Our main threat is Russia and if it turns out to be a paper tiger, then that threat vanishes. If it can’t beat Ukraine, there is no way it’s going to get through the rest of Europe.
You forgot China. Huge threat to the western world.
Not a miltiary threat to the UK. It’s a threat to the south China sea countries. Not saying we shouldn’t support them, but as a threat to the UK not really.
China is a threat to western democracies. That is a UK problem as well.
Not currently a miltiary threat though.
If we had a government that didn’t block the spy agencies from investigating russian interference, and put some proper rules on polictical donations, the threat would be removed. Luckily the CIA investigated it and released parts of the report so we know vaguely what happened.
Not saying we shouldnt be supporting our allies but Russia going away as a threat would be significant to how the miltary is funded and geared.
Clearly not just an issue here, since Trump also tried to block the investigation/release of the report.
Why do you stress building up the fleet and the RAF. Putin is using tanks, IFVs and trucks – build up our army first.
good luck with that public will never support it
War essentially means a massive economic hit. I’d rather pay 4% of GDP stop overseas aid completely rather than a massive war which would cost 200% of GDP.
I would do exactly what u suggest, stop foreign aid, build hospital ship crewed by nhs volunteers and naval staff, can deliver aid directly to the right people not war lords snd terrorists, after all we can still help people. Then the saved billions split three ways to gain public support
1 bolster military spending
2 pay off covid debts
3 social care for elderly living in terrible conditions even though paid tax’s all there life
I think the hospital ship is a good idea but I think it should be manned by NHS Volunteers as you say but with RFA sailors…
Cammell Laird proposed a hospital ship in 2019. https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/cammell-laird-helps-launch-plans-for-new-150m-disaster-relief-ship/
UKdefencejournal did do an article on a proposed relief ship from Cammell Laird.
Yes sorry didn’t mean the actual manning of ship😊
Foreign aid is actually going to be an essential enabler for Global Britain going forward – soft power and all that. Money spent on aid tends to more than pay for itself in the medium to long term and helps to prevent conditions that can lead to conflict and migration to our shores.
Cant say its doing much for solving the migration issue even before this conflict started!
Cutting foreign aid, then calling it less effective and then using that as a reason to cut it even more seems to make no logical sense at all to me.
Any money “saved” by cutting FA would not head into the MOD’s coffers in any case – it would be swallowed up into other budgets – social care, the NHS etc.
People claim that yet I have yet to see any proof of it when u compare U.K. to many countries that give nothing. I see no reason for us to maintain huge NGO charity companies returning huge profits while also giving cash to several countries that spent billions on nukes, space programs and military powers bigger than ours
Which NGOs are making huge profits. Do you have any evidence for that? What metrics and criteria are you using when you compare the UK to countries that give nothing and are you comparing like with like e.g. do Japan or the US get more value dollar for dollar than the UK?
Giving money to countries that don’t deserve it is a question of bad fiscal management, not an argument for reducing foreign aid in itself.
Ok here is a quote from a report from a report on foreign aid As an example, she points to research from the campaign group One, founded by U2 frontman Bono, which last year accused the government of misspending £1.6bn of aid on projects that were not helping the world’s poorest people. It also emerged last year that the UK had sent £71m in aid to China in 2018, despite the country having an economy five times the size of the UK’s. And a study by three economists published in February found that billions of pounds of aid allocated to… Read more »
If we stopped foreign ais it would leave China to have what they liked. Foreign aid is a soft weapon that is used both for humanitarian reasons and for keeping countries on side at time of conflict. Keeping countries stable and democratic is good for our security and far cheaper than any war…
Really? How much does China spend on foreign aid? Yet their tentacles spread. No we even give money to educate China poor! Ridiculous
China spends incredible amounts of foreign aid! They may not call it aid but it is essentially the same thing. They build huge infrastructure projects all over the world. Western Aid to some of these countries is the only thing stopping them from accepting Chinese finance… I am not sure we use foreign aid to educated Chinese poor but I would accept that is the case if there is any proof. Even if this is the case though. What do you think those poor people will think of their Government when the so called enemy is paying to educate them?… Read more »
Lee wrote: “”China spends incredible amounts of foreign aid! They may not call it aid but it is essentially the same thing. “” A lot of that so called Aid is actually loans, which is why Zambia which saw its debts cleared by the West in 2005, is back into debt, but this time with China,with the outlook that china will take control of Zambia’s huge copper deposits and its power generation capability in payment. in 2019 there were another 14 African countries caught in similar Chinese debt traps . The best example of such is how Sri lanka unable to… Read more »
I agree. I did not say they were actually helping people… I simply said they spend a huge amount on aid. Those loans are never likely to be fully repaid and they will use the leverage to control those countries.
That is a reason for us to potentially increase Foreign aid not a reason to stop it.
Especially given that more and more countries are seeing themselves pushed to desperation due to climate change.
If war breaks out with Russia, we will not be fighting them alone, so a more modest increase in defence spending will be required, say 3% overall, including 2.5% front-line spending(excluding pensons, research etc).
They might seeing what Poo-tin is doing at the moment, its impossible to ignore even for the most ignorant.
If we could come up with some effective defence against his ICBM’s, he won’t have anywhere near as much threat, I know that’s a big ask, but the 80’s star wars programme would have been useful. As it is powerful lasers and BMD missiles is achievable in the near(ish) term
Didnt the star wars program start heading in the direction of a nuclear confrontation in itself?
Putin lives in the past. He can’t handle that the West doesn’t fear Russia anymore and are concentrating on the Chicoms. Putin is trying to do everything he can to make Russia relevant on the international stage again and invading a neighboring country is only his latest attempt at that.
We clearly do fear them though so an extent as otherwise we could have stopped them invading Ukraine at all. Putins is facing issues in Russia as the young no longer believe what he says and do not support him. The problem is that his go to solution for this is war. We see this on a smaller scale in the UK etc as when there is a political storm we often get a dispute with France etc (The French do this too and start disputes with the UK). The difference is that these disputes are children having an argument… Read more »
Sad as the Russian invasion is, I doubt the UK defence budget will shift up 3 or 4 gears to a 4% of GDP rate. We will not go to war for a non-NATO country – and Putin will not attack a NATO country. So, in what scenario would our politicos advocate strengthening our force levels?
Question that is related to this war and also to previous threads about the MOD’s desire for tracked/wheeled reconnaissance and infantry protection/fighting vehicles……… Is the stalled Russian column an indication of the problems having all tracked or all wheeled vehicles or because they have a mixture of both? I have heard on social media and news outlets that the Russians are having logistical issues with this column but also that they can’t manoeuvre off of the road. So is this because both tracked and untracked are having problems? If so then how does this equate with our future vehicle purchases?… Read more »
Rasputitsa starting to bite. “General Mud” will affect everything.
Darren wrote: Is the stalled Russian column an indication of the problems having all tracked or all wheeled vehicles or because they have a mixture of both? I suspect none of the above. In 1944 during the Polish Warsaw uprising , the advancing Russian army which precipitated the above, decided to halt just outside and allowed the Germans to finish off the Poles. Why? Because it removed from any future equations hardened fighters who might take umbrage to Soviet hegemony. Yes the Russians have received something of a bloody nose going into the Ukraine and that tells them , that… Read more »
The West won’t go bankrupt from rocketing gas prices, it would take far more than that. And while Venezuela, Pakistan, Iran might welcome seeing a bankrupt West they won’t be buying any of it as their economies are worse basketcases than the West could ever be.
I would happily put Ukrainian refugees up in my home. I would want to be treated kindly by friendly countries if this was happening to us. The current immigration rules are cruel on the people fleeing Ukraine as they are onerous. These people left with nothing and have often left loved ones behind to fight. We do not need to offer infinite places here but we should not be putting restrictions on how we take them. Poland is currently being flooded with refugees and they are not making them fill out complex forms and moaning about where they are going… Read more »
Lee, You have me wrong, I stated I have no issues with Ukrainians (or other genuine refugees) to be resettled here. I stated where are they going to go? basing my point on how after 8 months we still have Afghans living in Hotels, not only that but when the gov started placing ‘so called refugees” – All healthy males from coutnries not in conflict- in army barracks, there was an outroar, which is strange as the people complaining never said a word when I had to pay for such accommodation when we were on range weeks down folkstone. again… Read more »
Which is why NATO needs to man up & offer Ukraine a safe haven around Lviv. Also develop all the remaining North Sea oil/gas fields. Buy a couple of giant LNG gas carrier tanker ships from the South Korean production line (just over $200 million each).
The russian forces sticking to the roads is also skewing the “Territory Held ” maps being put out. Russian forces are holding a lot of roads and not a lot else. The Ukrainian population control the muddy countryside.
Hi GB, if the Russian forces can be picked off on these major roads hopefully this will create a nice messy roadblock of their mega convoy as well as a big visual spectacle. All which could further enrage Putin however to do something even more nasty! We can’t really win with this guy, it seems to be a 22 check-mate at the moment.
This may in fact be the case! Ukraine conflict: Turkey airlifts additional TB2 UCAVs to Ukraine The TB2 is a medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that was developed to provide the Turkish Army with a tactical intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance capability. According to Janes All the World’s Aircraft: Unmanned, it is 6.5 m long and has a 12 m wingspan. With a maximum take-off weight of 630 kg, the air vehicle can carry up to 55 kg in mission system and/or weapons payload. Performance specifications give the Bayraktar TB2 a cruising speed of 70 kt, a range… Read more »
The long convoys are travelling slowly most probably because of Anti tank weaponry and Ambush positions would have to be cleared first they’ve given up on their first attempt at a speedy advance because of losses they have suffered now their doing a Syria bombing Civilian targets too undermine their morale Putin did the same to Aleppo Darren
A retired Indian Army General quoted online made an interesting point about ‘Civilian targets’ online…some of you may have seen it already in an interview giving his take on Russian tactics. Basically he said that in modern warfare it is virtually impossible to avoid hitting civilians as often there is no such thing. The moment the defenders of an urban area site an ATGM or machine gun on a civilian house it automatically becomes a military target…I agree with him. Thus the comedian running Ukraine boasting about giving out 10,000+ assault rifles has virtually ensured the complete destruction of Kiev.… Read more »
Er crack head Putin and his bell-end sheep like followers have ensured the destruction of the Kyiv, not the “comedian” who was elected to run Ukraine, after a democratic election (you don’t have them in Russkie land do you)! So get your calendar pin up boy Putin to back off, stop going all small penis/big guns on everyone and things will be better.
I wish you were the foreign secretary. 😂
I reckon we could get a decent cabinet together from some of the lads on here!!!! 👍😂
No we’d have 20 Def Sec’s and one poor bastard lumbered with the boring stuff. 😁
😂👍!
Pity the poor bastard that becomes chancellor.
I’ve got a masochistic streak in me so that would probably end up being me !
PMSL !
👍
But shelling built up urban areas with unguided munitions is justification for this?
As I say once you start fighting in built up urban areas with people who have been actively encouraged to drop Molotov cocktails on armoured vehicles and shoot from their balconies with AKs then things suddenly aren’t so clear cut. Personally… much more humane to let civilians out which is what Russians have been trying to do, although the Neo Nazi Azov battalion types are reported to be shooting civilians trying to escape or rounding them up in booby-trappped schools and public buildings prepared to detonate the explosives then blame the Russians or LPR/DPR militias. Sooner or later unguided munitions… Read more »
Ah a common link between Kayak boy and another confirmed troll is the Neo Nazi Azov untruths! Come on son, you trolls need to work much harder. And as I say if Putin the dangler didn’t order his useless 80s bag of shit Army into Ukraine then civvies wouldn’t have to be in built up areas lobbing petrol bombs would they! Pathetic reasoning and post.
And only started to post 21 days ago and every comment is on the Ukraine story and Ukraine articles. FFS you boys make it far to easy to ID you! Next thing we know, you will be only be here to see Salisbury cathedral spore!
Beat me to it shippers…He was born 21 days ago.
Please can we have this russian operative thrown off the forum?
More deflection from Cosy Bear. Russian military find it easier to attack civilian targets as they don’t really have the skills, tactics, training etc.to go toe to toe with professional military forces. From Grozny to Aleppo they reduced everything civilian into rubble and dust.
Correct 👍
Just a troll mate, a few minutes of recce and int checks confirms it!
So when the Russians resort to all out shelling of Kiev, with massive civilian casualties, what will the free world do? Do Boris/Biden/EU have a plan for that?
Hello Vlad. I would have thought you had better things to do like putting more nursery school children in prison for threatening you with flowers…
As Daniele says: “Rasputitsa starting to bite.” This will affect the ability of vehicles to move about off road. At the moment the land is frozen. The great thaw normally kicks in towards the middle of March. But that is dependent on the ambient temperature. It will turn fields etc to soggy and clingy mud. The Axis troops found this out to their cost during WW2. This is not just a wheeled vs tracked issue. Heavy tracked vehicles have an equally bad time when in the mud. previously ploughed fields will make it worse. Russia knows all about Rasputitsa, as… Read more »
Thanks everyone for their insightful comments.
So really this type of war, tactics, geography has no real bearing on our future vehicle acquisitions? Or should we learn from this in relation to our future vehicle decisions?
Yes it does, as it shows their doctrine and what you can expect, if you need to face the Russians in a similar conflict. Some of the issues is the design and theory behind the Russian MBT. Their ethos is a tank with a small silhouette, that is highly mobile and carries a hard hitting gun. This is all designed to make it harder to hit. It also means the tank can be made lighter, requires less expensive passive armour, plus by using an autoloader, you save space taken up by a loader, thereby making the tank’s turret smaller. To… Read more »
The new T-14 is a western style tank though albeit with an autoloader. (3 crew) Expected to enter service later this year.
On paper it looks impressive.
On reality it will be a shit show, with only a few built and being taken out by the Leopards planned new 130mm and pretty much every other NATO countries tank. Welcome Russkie tankies to the 21st century, western tanks have been here years troll boy!
Ah, the mythical T14. Its like the Ghost of Kyiv, but even less believable! The T14 Armata follows the older heavy tank Soviet doctrine of a breakthrough tank. It places the majority of its heaviest armour around the forward arc of the tank. Which is beefed up with ERA. The tank is a massive gamble. By removing the crew from the turret and placing them all together in a forward armoured box, where the driver is normally located. Means it can use a fully automated turret, thereby requiring only a small turret. So less passive armour is required and making… Read more »
They certainly cannot afford to build it now ..The Russian army will be lucky if their next tank looks like this ( Pic blatantly robbed from Think Defence!)
😂😂😂👍
As normal a decent appraisal of the situation mate 👍
Cheers bud. Guess you’re not going with the others?
Few lads planning to, but we need to be carful of knee jerk emotional reactions mate! This crap could go on for ages and spill over numerous borders! We may need our blokes here as well!!!! Cheers mate.
There’s a few in my network who have applied to the embassy in London. I fully support their reasons. It’s easy to view the Russian Army as shambolic and unorganized. But they have been fighting with one hand behind their backs, due to propaganda they’ve been told. But also due to the historic and religious ties they have. This will change, with the number of Russians being killed. I fully expect the situation to get a lot nastier in the coming weeks. How the World will react to the violence that Russia will unleash, is the one question that Governments… Read more »
Agreed mate, it will turn nastier before it could get better. A lot of the none ex volunteers, while great intentions, will need to learn very quickly otherwise become a liability! Need to see how things progress and to see if Moldova is actually on the list of future intentions. Possibly more to do with scaring NATO in order to let him back down and save face with whatever gains he has accumulated at that specific time! But he could just be a crazy guy getting worse! There must be some level headed professionals in the Russkie head sheds who… Read more »
Not sure, as I believe Russia are in it now for the long run at least for another week or two. This is mainly to save face. The ceasefire talks will be pointless in Russia’s view, unless Ukraine accepts losing lots of land and remaining neutral with regards to the EU and NATO. If things are going pear shaped after two weeks, perhaps we will see a change! There are too many people who are over analysing the seemingly shambolic performance of the Russians so far. Me included until I took a step back. I and few others now believe… Read more »
I’ve been watching videos of Ukrainian civilians towing off Russian kit with agricultural tractors.
So Russia threatens nukes & deters any military invervention by Europe & the USA, though USA & UK were very quick to say no USA/UK forces would get involved even before the invasion. So what is there to deter Putin finishing the job, destroying independant Ukraine, killing 10,000s/100,000s/millions & creating millions of displaced Ukrainians with little hope of returning to their homeland? Nazi is as Nazi does Mr Putin. Stalin would be proud of you. Nato hasn’t threatened to invade or deny the nationhood of Russia. This is your playbook. This is your paranoia. Nor are we inventing excuses to… Read more »
People are wondering about Putin’s mindset. Putin does not want to destroy Ukraine. He wants to assimilate Ukraine into his vision of the greater Russia; Russia, Belorus and Ukraine. He is re-enacting the 1686 annexation of the Kyiv Orthodox Patriarch by the Moscow Patriarch of the Orthodox church. He wants to reverse the declaration of 2018 when the Ecumenical Assembly of Orthodox Churches met in Istanbul and formally re-established a single Ukrainian Kyiv Patriarch which disconnected Russian Orthodox speakers in Ukraine from their allegiance to Moscow and re-pointed them to Kyiv. He is prepared to sacrifice as few or as… Read more »
I think Putin’s attitude has changed….he’s meeting resistance of a determined kind and taking casualties, this isn’t what he planned /expected. So now he’s just reverting to mass killing and destruction instead of invade and occupy. Meantime NATO plus others just sit back and watch…sure Russia has Nukes, but so do we…..
The NATO reason for not intervening; to avoid a nuclear war, applies equally if Russia invaded a NATO member. Article 5 says it’s an attack on all, but would we respond if Putin threatened with his nukes if we did.
Putin can do what he wants in the world if we’re going to throw in the towel whoever he waves his nuclear big stick.
Exactly, and herein lies the problem…..does mad Vladimir want to commit nuclear suicide? We’re watching murder of civilians and mass destruction, on a scale not seen since WW2 on the possible basis he does…..well at least he likes to let us think he does……
If he steps into a NATO country, then NATO has to respond regardless…
Spot On!
Well, I’m not a qualified psychiatrist so how people ill in this way behave when they are thwarted I can’t say. I’m just hoping that Biden and CIA have a few on their books. Certainly as you say, on the evidence so far its not looking good. In the Cuban missile crisis the US was dealing with a Russian leader who was sane enough to realise that a nuclear war should not be fought so a discrete quid pro quo face saving climb down was possible. It’s difficult to see the same path to peace in this situation unless some… Read more »
The best answer to the whole scenario would be for someone to get shot of Putin, but is there anyone person or group that will actually do that?
Pay someone enough money and they will! …..mmm Anyone know his address 🙂
The Kremlin, Moscow, hiding behind tight security
Ukraine is a strategic position near the old soviet borders, where forces are narrowed before opening up onto the steppes and plains of Asia. Also the threat of Ukraine using newly found gas reserves threatened Russia’s gas/oil revenues. There are many excuses for the attack, none genuine of course. Meanwhile people die and Russian civilians bear the economic shit storm that Poo-tin the Impaler has created.
Taking into account on what is going on in Ukraine and the possibility of Russia cutting off energy supplies, especially to Europe, it is now vitally important to go ahead with the Cambo oilfield off the Shetland Islands. Little Wee Krankie is against it of course, as are the mud hut people the Greens, but she knows she isn’t in the decision loop so can parade her hypocritical green credentials to all and sundry.
The last thing we need on this defence-related site is a representative of the fossil fuel lobby demanding yet more subsidy to develop un-economic offshore oilfields. What we actually need is to double the number of offshore windfarms – harvesting absolutely free wind energy – and to develop grid-scale energy storage systems, ready for the UK’s net zero electric vehicle revolution.
The fossil fuel industry inflicted the tremendous energy price increases on us well before Putin’s invasion. They see renewable energy as an existential threat to their business model, which it clearly is
What a load of tosh and rubbish – security of energy supplies and defence are explicitly linked. What happens when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine, especially in winter, and everybody wants a cup of tea at 5 o’clock and to recharge the car – you are rather naive in my opinion and no doubt on the left of the left of the Labour Party. Energy is going to cost a lot more in future as the oil firms are cutting back on capex for oil and gas exploration. They are, of course, also investing in renewables… Read more »
Yes, spot on.
There are too many people, creating too much polution, using up too much of everything and killing too many animals and chopping down too many forests.
Who will ever touch that elephant in the room? Dan Brown tried!
What is the ideal world population? A few billion?
There would be enough for everyone if we were not so greedy: the key social and environmental tests we should apply to policies going forwards need to be:
-self-sufficiency,
-sustainability and ( dare I say it)
-self-control.
In short no there isn’t enough for everyone on the planet to have a good standard of living. And by the end of the century there wl.be billions more of us.
C’mon. Yes there is if we don’t panic and share everyone can have a decent life. The population growth of China is 0.59% (wiki). They are worried they are not having enough children to care for the elderly. Demographics are brought into balance when countries stop striving for population growth in order to fuel economic growth and instead prioritise sustainability ..how many cars, boats, TVs and foreigh holidays do you need?What we have to change is our belief in the wealth leads to contentment and that in the trickle down model. It doesn’t work. What happens is that the divide… Read more »
It appears we’re aligned that growing population should not be a driver for economic growth. But I measure quality of life in the space I have and the time I have. Overpopulation decreases both of these. Did you travel on London underground before lockdown, despite trains every couple of minutes the wholesystemwas overcrowded The socialist eco future will deprive people of time, for which there is no replacement and living space unless population is in the debate. Its not about the super rich worrying about their privileges because there’s to many babies. We’re now talking about removing meat from people’s… Read more »
We can agree on the current direction of the eco discussion. It’s defined by fanatics I like a piece of beef too. Not in Lent of course 😂 Sustainable farming includes arable and pastoral. The economic order needs to change. Third world countries often suffer from war and corruption. They grow cash crops like coffee for Ist world countries rather than food to feed the population. Meanwhile the president of Brazil is trashing the Amazon and the climate for profit and beef burgers. Getting these basic issues sorted would be a very good start. And yes, I do drink coffee… Read more »
Yes, that is why China brought in the One child policy over 40 years ago. Their population was growing out of control then.
The world population at the moment is about 7.5 million. It is estimated to go up to 10 billion by 2050 and 15 billion by 2100. It is estimated 3.25 million is what the world could cope with. The ballooning population is far more damaging to the world’s climate than the farting of cows.
This is why vegans are so dangerous 😂
I thought the Chinese recently had a go, a couple of years ago!
We have the ability to feed the world, right now with current methods we grow more than enough food to do it, its simply the misallocation of resources caused by the profit motive that lead to starvation. What we do not have is the will to feed everyone.
Wish i knew how to change that.
🙏
If people really cared about the planet they be supporting depopulation but the reality is the eco agenda has been hijacked
can’t agree more. My guess to world population would be 2-3bn at most. When my parents were born in the 30’s it was around 2.5bn. The post-war boom is where it has all gone to pieces. Especially as most of the stuff we buy now is plastic based so almost indestructible. Sad times are inevitable given the amount of over population, plastic pollution, environmental destruction and as for global warming its already out of control – the 2050 target is just nonsense – tipping point is likely here already or will be in a decade or so there is just… Read more »
Central Africa is going to be a problem, population wise in the next few decades, Daniele.
Tidal, hydro-electric, geo-thermal.
Both security of energy supplies and food supplies are going to the next ‘big things’ governments are going to have to manage whether they like it or not.
I agree, in that they are both linked with defence. It will nor be an easy pathway, I suspect that BJ and his green pals may just have to swallow some pride and attack the energy conundrum from several different angles, nuclear included.
Hi have to disagree on this one. Off shore wind alone has the potential to generate 36 thousand terawatt hours globally ( present global usage is around 23 thousand terawatt hours). If you add in solar and tidal could produce around 3600 terawatt hours. The great thing about off shore wind and tidal is that you use a good a of generating capacity to produce hydrogen, than means your producing gas for use in generation at peak demand. Even without Solar and Nuclear in the mix the sea and offshore wind is a vast energy source. The important thing to… Read more »
The world population isn’t going to be 15billion. Birth rates are dropping around the world and forecasts are it’ll stabilise around 8-9 billion.
Stop with the hysteria 🤷🏻♂️
Quite right Sean. Even China is concerned about their rapidly declining birth rate. Same development in first world countries. It’s an expensive exercise raising kids in today’s world.
Got in in one. Been several scientific studies showing that cost of housing is discouraging young couples from having children. You don’t want to try and raise kids in private rented accommodation where you might have to move home, and schools, every couple of years. Within a few years the number of people renting in the U.K. will be larger than the number that own their own home.
It’s not just a problem in Europe or Japan, it’s even as issue in Chinese cities.
9 billion is still far too high so I’ll carry on with my hysteria thank you. As I said in my comment 3.25 million is estimated to be what the living world can cope with – a long way down from 9 billion.
No idea what conspiracy theory website you got 3.25 million from 😂🤣😂🤣
The same place you get your’s from.
Spot on 👍
As an engineer what you say is just total and utter non-sense. We need nuclear power to increase and yes we do need gas. Base-load is the issue and wind, solar and tidal cannot provide that. We just need to ignore calls for more wind farms and invest in nuclear and yes start to exploit the north sea and shale gas.
Totally agree with you Andrew. I believe the impending energy price hikes will start to make people realise that we need a drastic policy shift wrt energy production in this country.
A majority of renewables, a minority of nuclear and a reserve of gas an oil electricity generation is what we should aim for, good luck getting the politicians to agree on that.
We can transition to mass renewables only if we have increased our storage capacity.
Energy independence should be a goal of national security.
imho
And in order to store it you need massive amounts of battery storage needing regular replacement using rare earth elements recovered by slave labour destroying West Africa for Chinese backed mining companies. Tiny flaw in the idyll?
Yep – and soon to be destroying Afganistan by all accounts – so instead of a rich Megolomanic Russian nutjob we get a Rich Religious Islamic nutjob.
Damned if you do damned if you dont
Actually we’ve had the solution for some time. Pumped hydro.
That sounds about right. Though I think you are underplaying solar (though not solar on farmland unless a better solar / food production model emerges), and energy use reduction has a very important part to play – though for Europe we are a long way down that road already.
And an intelligent grid to optimise it.
You’ve got my vote 👍
Spot on, it’s not just the base load it’s the cost. I’ve actually done the math myself. The UK would need to build around another 40’000 wind turbines (IIRC 15 MW turbines) to make us energy independent. At a cost of roughly TWO to THREE TRILLION pounds, £3,000,000,000,000. Two to three TRILLION pounds that constantly needs reinvesting every 20 to 30 years. As the Windturbines will constantly need replacing. That’s all so we can produce electricity at around £150 per MWh. That is expensive as hell, Coal is around £40 per MWh. Gas with what’s going on and the massive… Read more »
What we really need is safe , cheap nuclear fusion. A small quantity of Helium 3 (available from the Moon in large quantities)
would apparently allow for the development of the same.
No more energy crisis…as much energy as you want…however that might upset a few very rich people/corporations so unless
people start demanding this or something close it will never happen. (at least for the benefit of the 99%)
The problem with fusion is it’s always just 20 years away. I’ve been following ITER progress for nearly 15 years, and it’s still just 20 years away. The best thing so far I’ve heard about nuclear fission are small modular reactors (SMR). Rolls Royce is leading a consortium in the UK to build them. Basically, from what I understand as a layman. They’re taking the proven reactor tech from nuclear submarines. They’re then going to mass produce those reactors in factories. So they can be shipped around the UK by lorry and then networked together to produce large amounts of… Read more »
I’ve been following fusion once a decade since the 1980s :-).
Are we getting any closer?
Where are these numbers from please, @Excalibur?
Your cost for a 15MW capacity offshore turbine is about 5x the actual cost (~£12-15m not £75m), and your number for the number we need is about 4-6x the actual number (7-10,000 not 40,000) .
I used the cost from the install at doggers bank. Which is around 80M per windturbine. Instead of the £20 Mill i saw quoted at the time. I took that as a more realistic number as you always get those kind of increase with any national project. Look at HS2 it started of around £20 bill when it started and now it’s going to cost £100+ bill. All these big projects you have lots of fingers in the pie and everyone taking a slice and ramping up cost. The number of windturbines also includes all vehicles switching to electric. That… Read more »
Thanks for the reply.
Personally I am much more optimistic about costs. Time will tell.
I don’t think they know about the costs of hydrogen yet – as the existing infrastructure can only take a small fraction (like the “eco” bit of ecofuel) due to different gas characteristics.
It is notable that the first big install (JCB) seems to be using hydrogen delivered other than through the existing pipes.
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2016/05/04/wind-and-solar-a-waste-of-money-for-uk-prof-sir-david-mackay-said-in-final-interview/
Tidal energy needs to be invested in & bought into operation as tides never fail. More fossil fuels will just bring more climate change & sea level rise.
Offshore wind is far cheaper per KW and doesn’t have the environmental impact of tidal barrages.
wind turbines have plenty of environmental impact – and as for protecting them …well …good luck with that.
Offshore wind is not the answer contrary to what you have been led to believe.
All forms of energy generation have an environmental impact, but wind turbines are far less than any other option.
As for protecting them, a single missile will take out a conventional power station. You’re going to need a lot more to take out a farm of 175 turbines.
At with most anti-science climate deniers you feel the need to misrepresent your opponents. I didn’t say wind turbines were the answer, but they are a significant part of the mix, together with nuclear.
On your flat-earth things may be different…
£150 per MWh is not cheap, it’s extremely expensive.
I think your identity says enough about how out of touch you are with the real world…
That’s such a nice thing for you to say, petal.
It still though doesn’t dispute the fact that £150 per MWh is extremely expensive.
Just to point out that when the wind turbines are retired after 25 years, their giant blades are proving very difficult to recycle. Most of them are cut up using lots of energy (oh the irony) 7 go into landfill.
Up to recently 85% of turbines have been recycled, the exception being the blades. But now companies are recycling these too. Companies such as General Electric and Global Fiberglass Solutions (GFS) are now recycling the blades for use in everything from the manufacturing of cement to making pallets, piping etc.
this means wind turbines are now 100% recyclable.
That may be the hype, but it is proving difficult in practice. There are fields in USA & Germany, not growing food as they are covered with old turbine blades.
No your wrong again.
Those buried turbine blades predate the development of recycling methods. No doubt at some point it’ll occur to a bright spark that they can make money from digging up those old blades and recycling them.
If you can’t be bothered to stay current on a subject, please don’t bother commenting.
Those fields of non recycled blades are still there.
FFS give them time, they only just mastered the recycling methods over the last couple of years, and haven’t scaled up yet… there’s been the small issue of a global pandemic that slowed a lot of business plans, or hadn’t you noticed?
So you admit they are not all recycled like you claimed in your earlier post.
No what I admit is that you don’t understand tenses and other basic grammar.
Just because they have now developed a method of recycling and have started to use it, doesn’t mean that all the current buried blades are going to be magically be recycled in a flash.
I suggest you try reading posts before you rattle off some stupid comment that shows you didn’t comprehend it. Alternatively just go back to fly-fishing grandad.
What we actually need is for those companies building windfarms to install some backup storage!
And you don’t think that’s already being done? 🤷🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
No.
More fossil fuels are the opposite of what we need.
Solar, wind and nuclear power should be not only our priority but that of all of Europe, too. Renewables and nuclear are the key to our energy independence and self-sufficiency. double the number of nuclear power plants, solar panels and wind farms.
The world is moving forward re: energy. Can’t take it backwards.
Might need to keep the existing fossil fuel plants online which the other kit is installed and built.
But in the short term making rooftop solar with battery storage more attractive for homeowners and business would take a lot of burden off the grid. There is a lot of roof area out there that can help take the strain.
We are going to have to live with oil & gas for a long, long, long time yet – anybody who thinks differently is living in cloud cuckoo land. I hear the Greens are pushing for electric charging points to be fitted to every third palm tree in the Central African Republic. Year 2230 is fast approaching and the manufacture of diesel or petrol engines will be history.
Anyone who thinks we can continue indefinitely with fossil fuels as our main source of energy is living in cloud cuckoo land.
I don’t deny that it will be decades before we’re operating on renewables and nuclear but that’s the way it’s going to go, whether you like it or not.
Switching to renewables will also shrink Russia’s economy even further in the long run and ensure that we don’t have to suck up to the likes of Saudi Arabia in future.
I agree with you actually, we cannot indefinitely rely on fossil fuels. My argument is that getting rid of them is going to take a very very long time and the ballooning world population will only make matters worse. The idea of using small nuclear reactors is a great idea – pity it hadn’t been thought of years ago, after all they have been fitted to nuclear submarines for years. It is estimated such a small plant could provide all the power for a town the size of Swindon.
I can think of a better use for Nuclear in Swindon …..:) In all seriousness, I believe small nuclear was discussed many years ago and dismissed- its got to be revisited now surely. Instead we’ve finally gone for large nuclear from….China…anyone else see the flaw in that. In the same way the government are now looking to try and extract Russian money from the UK economy I would be looking to constrain Chinese money – starting with Nuclear Power – and Water, and I’d do it now. I believe(don’t quote me ) there are some even in and around the… Read more »
The government is funding a Small Modular Reactor (SMR) programme headed by Rolls Royce to develop a reactor than can be built almost on a a production line.
There’s no such thing as ‘clean coal’.
We should be building the Severn & Wash barriers. It would be expensive, but then you get clean energy for 150 years (300 if you refurbish). Wind turbines last 25 years, nuclear reactors 60-80 years.
World population isn’t ballooning, it’s moving towards a constant 8 to 9 billion due to declining birth rates.
It is declining in the developed world, but increasing in the third world.
Another subject you don’t understand.
You really are a rude and arrogant little man – you know all the answers – nobody else does. On the question of the present world population of 7.9897657655 million (conspiracy theory no. of course in your opinion) the world is being screwed up by the human race – haven’t you noticed. Let’s all go and hug a wind turbine or a solar panel; the trouble is you cannot rely on them to reach base load required to keep the lights on.
Wrong all three adjectives, but I’d expect that if you.
Clearly you’ve never heard of the concept of energy storage… or even following the science.
Go and pickle some onions swell head. I’m well aware of energy storage and the science behind it. Mass energy storage is still a very long way off and, in it’s turn, will help pollute the planet. I am a retired chartered mech/elect engineer and as a student engineering apprentice helped with the commissioning of Sizewell A No. 2 reactor. I also helped with the commissioning of the 4 600 mw turbines at West Burton power station. So I know something about electricity.
What’s your experience and job in life?
You’ve gone very quiet swellhead. Let’s have a few more of your erudite opinions on all the world’s problems. Have you finished pickling the onions yet?
No one thinks we should rely on fossil fuel forever. But common sense dictates they will phased out overtime. Your not going to dispose of ships, trucks powered by FF overnight. The world’s energy demands are complex and will take until the end of the century to solve completely. Whether we use our own reserves or someone else supplies it whist we switch is a political argument not a Eco debate. Simply the World needs to consume x amount of FF to get off of FF.
With Euro 7 regs coming out in the mid 2020s, ICE cars will be so clean, I have to ask why ban them? Even if you only spare small, light cars/vans with small engines, so the working poor still have transport.
Totally agree, small lightweight vehicles with engines as efficient as they will be makes very little sense to stop producing them. Then throw in they can be ran on synthetic fuels basically outweighs most of the short term arguments for electric cars. Reality is an awful lot of people in most countries live in street houses or apartment blocks, charging in these scenarios is either very difficult or not possible, what about all of these people are they no longer allowed to buy a vehicle? Run an extension cable from number 23 along to 47 as thats the only parking… Read more »
In the 1950’s it took 2% of the energy in a barrel of oil to drill and refine a barrel of oil. Today that % is 18% , it’s projected to be 24 to 25% in 3 to 4 year’s time. Pretty much all the easy oil has gone. All the fracking in the world isn’t go to do us any good when the ratio hits 50/50. Fortunately Gas is a different matter – however a lot of it is controlled by the wrong countries. We could convert coal into petrol/diesel like they did in SA during the apartheid fuel… Read more »
Excellent bunfight. Ra Ra Ra ! Last time I checked there was about another 4 GW (actual not capacity) of offshore wind coming on stream this year, plus another couple of interconnectors coming on or being repaired (eg one to France caught fire). And I think offshore wind is already going to treble or quadruple by 2030 over 2020. That’s before the recent tranche of new Scottish potential windfarms, which will be mainly be onstream in the 2030s. So at present we have security of supply, but prices impacted by world market prices. And yes we need sufficient security of… Read more »
And when the sun don’t shine and the wind don’t blow? The present crop of heavily subsidised wind turbines and solar panels can generate between 8% to 70% of the country’s electricity needs. The base load required is certainly not covered by the 8%.
Offshore wind no-longer needs subsides as it is now so economical. The government could easily have dropped the ‘green levy’ off energy bills but this would have see less funds for the Treasury.
As for solar, we’ll the sun shines all the time – bar nighttime and solar eclipses. Even on cloudy days you get electricity generated.
Offshore wind is NOT economical. It looks that way only because the companies installing it are not required to install the storage required to make it reliable.
Don’t forget freezing, PB. Last winter, after the Green Governor of Texas (yes, TEXAS) had moved over to acres of wind-farms instead of oilfields, a bad winter froze the windmills and thus froze their homes. They were shipping in fossil fuel as fast as they could to stave off disaster! Speaking of which, Biden – who has shut down US pipelines and banned new drilling for gas and oil to appease the green lobby – buys 500,000 barrels of oil per DAY from Russia (which he has specifically excluded from the recent sanctions placed on trade with Russia). Current cost… Read more »
pathetic isn’t it – still Im sure the Green Party think its marvelous.
Those issues are gradually diminishing, and are turning into red herrings. Causes: availability of wind turbines has increased and is now over 50%. As the stock of wind turbines increases, one sub-segment being becalmed or galed affects a smaller proportion, and more rarely, and generation continues from the rest plus other sources. Current wind turbines have gone beyond the point of needing subsidy, and are now the cheapest form of electricity. Then we have a rapidly increasing number of export/import interconnectors to other countries coming on stream each year. Which is protection for countries both ends of the interconnection. See:… Read more »
Sorry – but 50% of what?
I am using the term “Availability” for “The amount of electricity delivered vs the rated capacity”.
So a 900 MW offshore windfield can be regarded as delivering an average of 450 MW electricity on that 50% calculation.
We need to keep increasing offshore wind turbine numbers as due to climate change we’ll see a drop of 30% in the amount of electricity that will be generated by our existing turbines as there will be a reduction in temperature differentials resulting in ‘less wind’.
Simple fact is that we’re cutting out fossil fuels and nuclear energy before the green alternatives can do the whole job. So yes, I’m a fan of using renewables. But I also think we need to think about upping the use of dirty energy in the UK for a few years.
Yep. We need to consume fossil fuels to allow us the remove them. It’s not a binary problem of turning one off a switching the other on as many like present this as.
The numbers I have suggest a more marginal reduction of perhaps 5-10%. eg Ref: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/11/global-warming-will-weaken-wind-power-study-predicts#:~:text=466-,Wind%20farms%20are%20key%20to%20tackling%20climate%20change%20but%20warming,Mediterranean%2C%20according%20to%20new%20research. I don’t see that increasing wind turbine numbers offshore, as the size of turbines themselves are increasing much faster. eg Offshore wind built in say 2000 used ~2MW capacity wind turbines eg Blyth Offshore. In 2006-2008 used 3-5 MW capacity wind turbines. Fields such as Barrow and Burbo Bank. Ones going live this year are using 9-10 MW capacity turbines eg Triton Knoll, Moray East. In 5 more years 14-15MW turbines will be the norm eg Sofia Offshore. On that lot the fall in wind… Read more »
‘You can’t sail a T45 or fly an F35 with electricity ‘ actually you can….. You just need to use the electricity to make the fuel.
You need a feedstock of hydrocarbons ( Coal works well) heat, pressure steam and cobalt ( if my memory serves me correctly as a catalyst) and voila you can create liquid fuel. The South Africans mastered it when the apartheid fuel embargoes kicked in. Sasol I think the company was???… but yes it’s much more energy efficient to refine a liquid fuel instead of making one from a solid fuel.
In this age of hybrid warfare, please support Ukraine by sticking their blue & yellow flag in your front window. If Russians in the UK ring home & say their are Ukrainian flags all over Britain, it helps to counter Putin’s propaganda.
People are going onto Russia review sites for restaurants etc and posting the truth about the ongoing war.
Very good that
How long does it take to learn how to drive an A10 Warthog?
Are there any USAF Warthog pilots with dual US- Ukraine nationality?
How long does it take to fit Hellfire to a Mig 29 or SU 25?
One of the reasons why Putin’s 40 mile convoy is moving so slow could be that every house, building etc along the way has to checked for ATMs. It only takes the lead tank in a narrow part of a road to be knocked out for the whole convoy to grind to a halt. The Germans learnt that trick during the siege of Berlin in 1945.
And every culvert and bridge?
Nearby bits of forest….
Hard to sanitise a corridor with lots of armed unfriendliness around.
Hi Billy, There were reports yesterday that the convoy was actually a number of convoys with gaps in between. The reason for the slow advance appears to be a combination of limited Ukrainian attacks at choke points as you describe and breakdowns..! It appears that the Russian logistical effort is creeking. There is another issue here – the weather. It is still winter in Eastern Europe but spring is obviously close so they are faced with freezing conditions at night and mud during the day. This is not the best time for go to war even if you are Russian.… Read more »
Just to let you know that I originally posted this 4 days ago, but it was moderated.
Cheers CR
Or the inhabitants of villages along the route standing in the middle of the road.
The problem with Dictators as history will show is that they are quite prepared to take thier people and country down with them.
Not one as I can remember has ever possessed an arsenal of nuclear weapons.
Depends on what you mean by “arsenal.” North Korea has nukes, but it’s a tad generous to call it an arsenal.
As yet I don’t see rocket man invading any country yet, and the capability to launch nukes is questionable. Yes he has 50 warheads according to the latest intelligence assessment and he is someway off putting them on a launch vehicle.
S Korea is permanently under N Korean threat. Russia & China would love that. USA don’t permanently station forces there for no reason.
Yes agreed. The original argument was the character make up of Dictators. Name me a Dictator that hasn’t bought thier country and people down with them. Putin has the largest arsenal of nukes in the world, would he be prepared to bring the rest of the world crashing down around him? A dictator with nukes who has more or less threatened to use them if he doesn’t get his own way.
All the more reason to stand up to Putin, ideally just before or just after the invasion, so we don’t give the deafening message that by owning nukes you can demand whatever you like.
I think through diplomatic channels that has been made pointedly clear to him. You don’t go around and threaten the rest of the world with annihilation if you don’t get what you want.
Interestingly…or not…as the case may be. Some renowned ‘Remote Viewers’ working for the US government I think a decade or so ago
were asked to forward details of the last chronological event they were able to perceive…apparently it was the destruction of Seoul in a nuclear explosion. I presume this meant that the end of the world happened shortly after…either that or no one was able to ‘see’ beyond this point.
Did they give a time for this event? -nearest 5 years should do!
I need to know if I should cash my pension in now and how much I should spend a year.
Waste not,want not.
No …don’t think they did otherwise i’d have marked it in my calendar! What was reported though was that the ISS was evacuated about a fortnight before the event…some sort of emergency onboard or approaching threat…can’t remember exactly. Apparently though there are multiple ‘timelines’ running parallel to each other and it is possible in certain circumstances to swap from one to another which can change the path taken altering the near time ‘end event’ to a possibly completely different one…depending on whether or not the paths ‘rejoin’ the mainline before it reaches the previously viewed end event. That was the… Read more »
Trump perhaps……
Trump? The last time I looked he was elected and then voted out of office. The man may have sociopathic tendencies but not quite a dictator.
Really, well Putin was elected once Mark …. Trump actually attempted to circumvent and deny a democratic vote, the only difference is Putin ‘succeeded’ and remains on the throne!
Both delusional and barking mad, check!
The US judiciary decided the out Come of the presidential election and found in favour the republican candidate Trump. Putin was put forward by the Duma after Yeltsin put Putin forward. He has remained as president or prime minister and president ever since. Like all good dictators he surrounded himself with cronies, any Oligarchs who questioned him were asset stripped and jailed. All I was describing was the character of your typical dictator.
I watched the documentary about Putin on CH4 (I think) last night as I missed it the first time.-an interesting insight – Putin was never really elected in the first instance he was sworn in as ‘interim’ president and has ensured he has stayed there ever since by hook or by ‘crook’.
Yes and a good docu series on BBC iplayer I believe grizzler.
Didn’t see it but as I understand it, Putin was appointed by Yeltsin because he was the one candidate that promised that there would be no criminal charges filed against Yeltsin. Then he solidified his hold on power by destroying Grozny in the 2nd Chechen War and pacifying the republic.
Me too😆
Joking aside, Trumps kind words for Putin during his term in office helped spurn on that Rabid dog of a man to carry out his nefarious plan….. I think Trump hugely damaged the US (domestically and abroad) and seriously damaged NATO, his bizarre online hate filled rambling rhetoric, made NATO look weak and utterly divided. A truly hateful, utterly vile individual who respects no-one, the whole world breathed a little easier when that nut job finally chopper’d away from the White House lawn for the last time! So ‘technically’ Trump wasn’t a missile armed narcissistic dictator, but he came extremely… Read more »
The man was devisive for sure and abused position to further promote his businesses. The US makes great play that it is a classless society, it isn’t and Trump exploited that. I have spent alot of my working life in the US and have good friends there, the east coast especially loathed Trump and what he stood for but between the two candidates who was the better to be president. Many Americans dispair of their politicians much like we do.
Absolutely, oh for a good choice polically! None of them can hold a candle to the Ukrainian leadership, what a deeply impressive leader and an exceptional people ….
Agreed. A gift to Putin. Nearly bought the whole USA democracy crashing down & a civil war.
Protesters crashing capitol Hill hardly counts as near civil war. Shocking yes. In the sixties the US went through the civil rights movement far more concerning and unsettling especially at the height of the Cold War.
It wasn’t only that though was it. It was defining anyone opposing him as “nasty people”, “enemies of the state”, playing up dividing people, praising other dictators, encouraging breaking rule of law. His belief in his own genius, hijacking the Republican party. Rampant narcissism.
More a Mussolini in making than a Hitler. At least that’s my take. To say what he said, too intellectually challanged to care or try to undo the mob he incited to invade congress, showed his true colours & contempt for democracy.
Absolutely agreed I would have liked to have seen him impeached and had the book thrown at him but Nancy Polanski messed that up.
Pence is nobody’s favourite, but when the time came, he did his duty.
Agreed the ‘insurrection’ would have been comical if lives hadn’t been lost. They stormed the Capitol building and then we’re at a loss as to what to do next, clueless bunch of losers .
I cant see why we cant assist the Ukrainians militarily, using (in)plausable deniability. After all, these are the people who shoot down civilian airliners with impunity, use nerve agents against civilians in UK cities, and simply deny everything afterwards. How about reaper drones flying at night to take out those stalled ground vehicles? B2 stealth bombers launching stand-off missiles at Russian air defence sites? Maybe a cruise missile or six, launched from Poland or the Aegean sea against logistics sites or even the air bases in Russia? – The Ukrainians have already hit Rostov, and could claim too again. OK,… Read more »
Putins going too love this Sky News has just interviewed a Nigerian student studying in Kiev that him and others from various countries have been abused ( Racially) by Ukrainian border guards whilst trying to cross into Poland that’s just the kind of Ammo Putin loves for his deNazifacation invasion of the Ukraine
Crimea bloody river. It’s a war, its not going to be all happy and smiles from everyone. People are just obsessed with race; meanwhile, kids are being burnt to a crisp in fighting
Really!
SKY NEWS the Person interviewed name was Christopher from Nigeria
To move there is a war on, racism of all kinds is unacceptable and has no place in a peaceful and civilised society.
And Putin will justify his actions if he ser’s that Sky Report Mark
I’m listening to the Russian Federation UN ambassador speaking, no mention of racism but lots about Neo Naziism and fascism. Look at the bigger picture mate,
I’m just putting down what was stated by Sky News about the Person stating Racial abuse at the Border And then think about Nazism and race that’s all Mark
Of course,Tommo and I’m not criticising you. Tommo it happens every hour of every day all over the world. I’m saying I think Putin has bigger things on his mind.
Agree Mark ,it was just how an event real or imagined can be twisted too his advantage I don’t think Mr Putin will be addressing the UN anytime soon though
Racism is so linked to the Nazis that it’s part of the bigger picture!
Is it the Ukranians, the Poles or both that are guilty here? Whatever, they are giving Putin a lot of ammo to use and the relevant governments need to stamp down hard on it!
The Gentleman in question said that it was the Ukrainian border guards that had a go not only at him but also Asians and other people from African countries this was also taken up later by the BBC
Naturally it was taken up by the BBC, anything at all along those subjects they are all over like a rash regardless of the bigger issue at large that takes priority.
Reality is the border guards are letting women and children through on a priority. The Man being interviewed does not fit into the priority list on the basis of gender. Oh god I mentioned the other buzzword these days.
Next BBC news article be based on Ukraine not advocating people who wish to be a teapot.
James Thank the Lord the BBC didn’t mention the “Black and White ” Minstral Show That would of caused a meltdown with the “you can be what you want too be ” brigade I call that Identity Theft but I’d by pillared for that by the non bias BBC
They should have a mental help hotline for those denying what they are, in previous times denying reality would have had a person sectioned but times have changed.
Ooh such a DRAG can I put that without recrimination James I’m so fuming I could rip a tissue or Smear my Lippy
Oh and another little thing whilst all eyes are fixed on women and children crossing into Poland Boat loads of men are again crossing the Channel illegally these are not fleeing from Putin though
No they are not but I bet the mass majority of them now claim they are as justification!!
Yeah ,they’ll probably state that they left in such a hurry that all their Documents are now in Russian controlled areas James
I bet Putin is doing a full Fuhrer bunker Downfall rant right now having just seen his only ally, Lukashenko, give a full briefing of his attack plan on live TV.
I’ve said it since the start of this conflict – The West (not NATO specifically) will have to make a decision on what they do about this-Putin will not go away now. Either let him carry on with his empire bulding whilst tut tutting & shaking our heads all the while ‘hoping’ sanctions are both upheld and are successful. Or they need to make more of a stand – militarily. Unfortunately I hink America still has one eye on China & Tiawan so they may not want to commit like Bush did in in the case of Georgia- It may… Read more »
Ukraine are doing remarkably well. However if the Russians seize all the Dnieper crossings (they’ve already got Kherson) then they will lose the ability to resupply all forces east of the river. Would the Russians stop then? I doubt it because Ukraine would fight on. If Russia then occupies the whole of Ukraine what’s next. They will have to pacify 40 million people in a country twice the size of France. I don’t see a military solution which is long term favourable to Russia.
I did think initially Putin just wanted to grab the eastern Russia speaking break away regions, maybe up to the river -maybe thats still true but listening to a Russian economics guy a couple of night ago he gave the distinct impression Putins aim is the whole of Ukraine …to “re-Russian-ise them” (my term not his).
Maybe thats just what hes telling everyone so that when he just asks for the two breakaway regions they take it …or maybe he does want it all…and then some more …and some more…
sorry Eastern Ukraine-Russian speaking – not Eastern Russia …Xi would probably have something to say about that 🙂
at least 500 dead and 1500 wounded russian soldiers seems to be the weekly cost of that strategy, not to mention the amount of destroyed kit, a good portion of which appears to be newer variants/systems, how long will it take?
Putin doesn’t believe Ukraine should be a separate country, he want to ‘reintegrate’ it into a greater Russia. Same applies to Moldova and Georgia, neither NATO members.
If he wants to go all historical, he may try to reincorporate the Grand Duchy of Finland back into the Russian Empire; again not a NATO member.
I think Moldova and Georgia are in his plan – obviously a megolomaniac. Interesting you mentioned Finland – Finish Defence Minister was on the News a few nighths ago – The interviewer mention them not being part of NATO – he tore him a new one – basically said he was sick of hearing that – that they were integrated with NATO undertook training with NATO had other agreements (one with the UK I think?) and that the only thing they wern’t signed up to was Article 5 . Now thats probably a biggie – but he was pretty adamant… Read more »
Yes the Finnish are partners, and they and Sweden were invited to the NATO emergency summit last week. BUT they aren’t covered by Article 5, so he’s kidding himself if he thinks they’d be treat any differently to the Ukraine. Western politicians are terrified of a war with Russia, due to the nuclear possibilities, and will only engage militarily when there is an existential threat to them. It’s a bit depressing really.
I’m not sure about that tbh – I have a feeling Sweden & Finland would be a little too close for comfort.
Or maybe thats wishful thinking.
Yep. Google Joint Expeditionary Force.
Georgia is now trying for EU membership, that really will wind Putin up.
The Ukraine during the Soviet era was the Bread basket for Russia with the flat Steppe it produced Wheat and Sunflowers the wheat for Bread the Sunflowers for cooking Oil since the fall of the Soviet Union that produce was no longer free Putin longs for a return of those Soviet spheres of influence Puppit government in line with the Kremlin Sean
Ukraine and Russia produce 30% of the wheat on world markets. It looks like at least one harvest from Ukraine will be lost and wheat prices have already started rising.
Putin want to absorb Ukraine into the Russian Federation so it’s like any of the existing republics it contains.
Putin isn’t in the same League as Stalin but he seems too have the same loathing for the Ukrainians west of the Donbas hope he doesn’t get the chance too implement his desire too subjugate the Ukraine into his warped idea of a Greater Russia Sean
Well if we cant stand up for Ukraine what do we expect .
We can’t have our bread and eat it can we…
It’s hard to imagine an army of ~200 000 successfully occupying a hostile population of 40 million. The Pentagon estimated that the total cost of the war in Afghanistan was ~$830 billion and that was with deployments of fewer troops and even more tenuous supply lines than the Russians currently have in Ukraine. The UK spent another $56 billion in the same war. At most the ISAF forces in Afghanistan had about 130 000 troops stationed there at any one time. Given that an estimated 150 000 of the Russian soldiers currently in Ukraine are very young, low-morale conscripts, and… Read more »
Gareth I agree. The only way to pacify such a large population would be to extremely violent all of the time and persecution (like shooting hostages, deliberate starvation etc). Surely he doesn’t intend that?
If the Ukrainians/the West does not stop Putin, he will probably go into Moldova, after he conquers Ukraine.
He intends to. It was on Lukashenko’s map.
Putin really, really needs to die.
Assuming he can conquer and hold Ukraine whilst he is still breathing.
Either Ukraine falls or Putin falls.
In launching a full scale invasion, rather than just the two separatist republic, Putin has gone ‘all in’ on Ukraine. It’s existential for him now.
Stalin did the starvation angle during the 30ts when he took 3/4 of the wheat produced by the Ukrainians and left them too starve over 500,000 died through his Collective actions Rob
Hi Tommo … It’s a bit more even than half-a million.
It’s estimated at least 3-4 million died during the Holodomor in Ukraine (1932-33).
Alan ,I Put that amount so as not too upset any of Heroic saviour of the Motherland Uncle Jo Stalins fan club , His 5 year Programme of Collective Farming only benefited Moscovites not the Ukrainian population they Starved Moscow didn’t
Stalin killed even more within Russia than the Nazis.
Cheers Frank ,I’m quite aware of Uncle Joe’s purges and failures that caused the death of Millions, Shame Historians don’t talk openly about those Atrocities, As the Victor’s always write the story it took the collapse of the Soviet Union that the truth such as the Katlyn Forest Polish Officer/intelligencer would finely come too light
Perhaps ask an East German.
I’d rather see European NATO deploy to resist & repulse the Russian invasion, even without American support. We should not be allowing a major European nation to be conquered by a neo imperial power led by a derranged tyrant. We have deterrents to counter Putin’s threats & the conventional ability to prevent the loss of Ukraine. Match force with force & make it clear if any tactical nukes are used, we’ll return strike for strike, though we’d naturally target military, not civilian sites. It’s the only language dictators take notice of. Sanctions take years, if effective at all, Invading &… Read more »
NATO should offer Ukraine a safe haven around Lviv/Lvov. These are old Polish/Slovakian lands. Countries with high end SAMs (SAMP-T, Patriot) would need to deploy fast. Reaper drones could deter any Russian armour.
I doubt Europe has got the balls -or the inclination.
However I also dont think we should be standing by and using ‘not part of NATO’ as an excuse.
Bush basically stood up to Putin when he invaded Georgia by saying he was sending peace keeping/medical forces in.
We havent seen that from Biden have we. (or Obhama in 2014 btw).
Hopefully this UN resolution will escalate things a tad ..and focus a few minds on whats going on rather than acepting it ‘cus they aint in NATO’ let us see shall we.
I Was shocked too see Sleepy Joe Biden still awake for his State of the Union Address someone in S service must of put uppers in his Cocoa he was going like Billy Whizz
Whizz being the operative word there hey 🙂
👍👍👍
Putins done so bad in Ukraine its becoming clear if even European forces engaged him he’d be on loosing end quickly and that may mean he goes tactical nuke it’s all downhill from there.
To be honest if we sent even a single armoured brigade with a few Apaches and a squadron of Typhoons to fight alongside the Ukrainians it would smash Russian forces, from what we’ve seen if them the past 8 days.
I’m a great follower of the Hitler Rant Parodies on YouTube they’ve already done a couple on Putin and the Ukraine Rob
Me too! Links please!
We have an Amazon firestick on our TV that has YouTube and then type in Hitler Rant Parodies there is loads of 3/5 min sketches From Trump to Biden Putin Kim Jong Un even Baked beans
Thanks Tommo.
👍
lol, I thought it was possibly a deception operation as who in their right mind would broadcast that!
The clue is in your statement, ‘in their right mind.’
BBC News now from The UN in New York the Russian Federation Spokesman better than watching Pinoccho his Nosr wouldn’t stop growing
UN General Assembly just voted 141 to 5 in favour of condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine and call for the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops.
Of course the Russian’s won’t do it but they are now officially in breach of a UN resolution.
Could this mean Blue helmets on the ground Rob
It may mean a safe haven in western Ukraine. Some countries who voted against Russia include: Yemen, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, SERBIA, Lebanon, Venezuela & Afghanistan! Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Iran and CUBA abstained!
Russia’s only friends were North Korea, Belarus, Syria and Eritrea. Putin is running out of friends.
what does that mean? why? Our leader said he did not support war, so why did Iran abstain? My country is colonized. damn it.
Ah Strong Democratic countries I see and now their probable eying eachother up too see which leader is more despotic
((:
No real surprises apart from South Africa that abstained and Serbia voted for sanctions
https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/gHvaMkZSyTr2JMoYDFTcyQ–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTcwNTtoPTM5NztjZj13ZWJw/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/gL4RZCB_FARDqJC4Qinluw–~B/aD03MjA7dz0xMjgwO2FwcGlkPXl0YWNoeW9u/https://media.zenfs.com/en/axios_articles_623/cfcb1556d164bc4a627c2a0e2e384864
Yes I found that odd with Serbia Russia was always seen as Allies since the days of the Czar Serbia looked upon Russia as Slavic brothers , Unless now Serbia wants to Join the EU and is distancing themselves from Vlad Lord Templar
Yes that could be a reason, but it will be hard for Serbia to join with a probable Croatia veto
Noticed Myanmar voted for the resolution, i would have thought they would have abstained
Even some dictators are dumb enough to say its OK for you neighbour to invade you , but then again some clearly are.
Myanmar, I would have thought that as well seeing the Civil unrest ,and crackdowns by the JUNTA there sorry military protection regime Someone in the background doesn’t want to be Tarred with the same brush as Mr Putin is on the world stage Democracy is alive and well in Myanmar its just behind Bars Lordtemplar
Even Argentina voted for sanctions?
Ah the twitter generation, always so impatient. It’s been a week, seems like they are at the doorsteps of Kiev and Khariv and moving towards Odessa and Meriopol. FYI during Desert Storm, the air campaign alone lasted a month. In 2003 it took over 3 weeks to capture Bagdhad, and that was a lot of open desert, no opposing air force, a weakened Iraqi army and very little resistance from the population. And then everything went tits up with the insurgency which resulted in a withdrawl 8 years later. Way too early to draw any meaningful conclusions at this point.… Read more »
Well the Russian’s are admitting 1,500 casualties. We can easily double that figure to be real. In which case the Russian’s have already lost more people in 7 days than the West lost in 8 years in Iraq. That’s a lot of KIA letters going out to Russian mothers.
Yes, I read estimates of about 3 to 5k, but Russians are less thin skinned about losses like us in the West. Russians have a meat grinder approach. That count will seem like a drop in the ocean when shit gets real when they force their way in the major cities, unless Russians decide to encircle the town, wait them out and let them run out of food.
Ukraine are claiming 7000 to 8000 today. That’s getting towards a division already.
They also claimed they shot down two IL-76s but no proof of crash site has been seen in 3 days, Both sides are understating their losses and inflating the other sides loss.
No need too repatriate those bodies back to Mother Russia for burial , Putin has portable Crematoriums so the Number will never be known Rob
Georgia is asking for Immediate EU membership, I would say that is very wise, considering. I suspect Georgia thinks it would probably be next and you could not disagree with that.
Not Cotton picking out, out ,damn Yankees Georgia sorry Johnathan couldn’t resist
Do you think there would be a new civil war if Georgia ceded from the US and joined the EU…that would be unexpected. I wonder what odds paddy power will give on that.
They’d have too use the Euro if they did Johnathan could be awkward,
What about the regions Putin controls in Georgia? Will they join as one complete country or those areas be kept seperate?
Yes they would as the international community does not recognise them as separate. If Georgia did join It would mean that Russia had occupied part of an EU nation. It would effectively place the EU and Russia in a completely adversarial state. As there is article 42.7 which is a mutual aid ( by all means in their power) in case of an attack on a EU nation.it’s not an explicit mutual defence “one attacked all attacked” like NATO clause 5. But it would mean the EU and Russia would be in a defacto almost war/Cold War.
Thank you for the explanation. I really cant see Georgia getting EU membership until after regime change in Russia then.
Article 42.7 of the TEC ( treaty of the European community). It’s the mutual defence article of the EU. Anyone attacks an EU state on their own soil, all other EU states must provide all possible support including direct military to defend the nation sovereign border.. as most EU members are also NATO members it would end In the triggering of article 5 due to the way article five is constructed. Little know fact it’s why Ireland can get away with not being in NATO, because an invasion of Ireland would end up triggering article as a cause and effect… Read more »
Morning from Sydney, so much to read below. All good stuff. I’m hoping for some more news on this bloody Russian convoy. Are the Ukrainian forces able to get close to any of it at all on the ground? If they can pick bits off here and there they could create “a beautiful mother of all roadblocks”. I’m sure they’re very aware of this! I hope they’re still able to conduct drone ops over it. It’s hard to sit back in our comfortable and safe homes and watch all this going on tv. The bloody reality of it must be… Read more »
Hats off to the Brits for leading the way to help Ukraine defend themselves! Only after that did everyone else start to hop on the bandwagon.
Even Boris seems to stepping up and speaking with more conviction now. A bit of fire and fight coming through. He likenshimself to a bit of a “Churchill”, well here’s his chance! And also repulsion of all this from the EU, UN and world sporting bodies. Hope Putin is not totally deaf and blind to the overwhelming World opinion.
Can’t see Boris with a Cigar though Quentin
I’m sick of seeing the above image. It’s time someone shot all these buggers out of the sky! Hope Ukrainian 🇺🇦 forces have still got plenty of Stingers or even have a go with the NLAW! Russia is bloody lucky we’re still on our side of the European fence!
I should imagine all the drivers of the vehicles in the nose to tail 40 mile Russian military convoy heading to Keiv are keeping their heavy fuel consumption engines running to keep warm. Maybe it is proving difficult to keep them resupplied with fuel and food.
If that’s the case ,running their Engines will incur the Wrath of Greta thornburg she’ll convince them too Switch from Fossil fuel too Baked bean
Maybe a solution to the energy crisis – let us all eat bake beans and fart in the general direction of a wind turbine.
I can power a city without even eating 1 baked bean with my wind!
😊
Just an open question, could this be a problem? We know testosterone levels in men (in the west at least) are dropping by around 1% per year. We know the Russians are a dab hand at injecting ‘secret sauce’ into their athletes when they feel like it so it’s possible other members of the Russian regime may be injecting. So is it possible that at some point we ( the west) could find ourselves spending $Trillions on weapons each year but find that our leaders literally don’t have the Bo***x to use them? Could that time be now? I’m all… Read more »
Last week I wrote about how,we had taken our eyes off Calais Now economic migrants would play the fleeing from Putins aggression in the Ukraine ,and guess what it started today they were presently told too Foxtrott Oscar