Russia, due to fierce resistance from the Ukrainian military, has failed to achieve its first-day objectives and lost territory it had earlier captured but heavy fighting continues.

Independent military analysts noted that Russian forces in the north of the country appeared to have been heavily engaged by the Ukrainian military. Russian units were attempting to encircle Kyiv and advance into Kharkiv, but were bogged down in heavy fighting, with social media images suggesting that some Russian armoured columns had been ambushed. In contrast, Russian operations in the east and south were more effective. The best trained and equipped Russian units were positioned outside Donbas in the southeast and appeared to have manoeuvred around the prepared defensive trenches and attacked in the rear of Ukrainian defensive positions.

Meanwhile, Russian military forces advancing from the Crimea were divided into two columns, with analysts suggesting that they may have been attempting to encircle and entrap the Ukrainian defenders at Donbas, forcing the Ukrainians to abandon their prepared defences and fight in the open. The Ministry of Defence tweeted the following:

What are the recent developments as of noon 25/02/2022?

 

How much ground has been taken?

This animation shows the current status of the Russian ground invasion into Ukraine as of around 9am this morning. Russian troops have not advanced as far as they had planned after meeting fierce resistance from the armed forces of Ukraine.

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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267 COMMENTS

  1. good
    A surrender in a large army demoralizes
    Really!
    today, the President of Iran also called Putin and supported his work and said that we understand Russia’s concerns.
    One of our officials also said that IRIB reports like one of the Russian colonies.
    Why has my country become a slave to countries that do not even have mercy on their own people? china Square and the Soviet massacre

  2. My reading is that the Russians have tried to charge towards Kiev from various directions with armoured columns to encircle and decapitate the Ukrainian state, in the hope that having removed political and military leadership, resistance would collapse. Ahead of these, the Russians have helicoptered in airborne troops at Antonov Airport etc.
    So they’ve bypassed various Ukrainian defensive positions in this race to the capital, but now find risk being attacked from these. If the Ukrainians have planned a defence in depth strategy, then the Russian tactics have played into it.

    • Agree. The strategy will be to encircle Kyiv and use special forces to effect regime change. The strategy assumes Ukraine will roll over to avoid urban fighting.

  3. I wonder how long the Russians can maintain the momentum? I fear they will employ increasingly brutal tactics to achieve their objectives, if they start falling behind their battle plan objectives.

    Indiscriminate bombing and artillery strikes on civilian areas are a distinct possibility to force the Ukrainians to surrender.

    Putin has now gone ‘ full North Korea’ and he will fullfil his insidious evil plan by hook or by crook….

    Putin really is an absolutely vile excuse for a human being.

    God help the brave Ukrainians….

    • My head is saying they’re not part of NATO and we’re too weakened by decades of defence cuts and we could only offer a token military support, at least on land.

      My heart keeps saying we should be giving Ukraine full military support against Russia.

        • Your heart goes out to them Steve, watching this brutality against a completely innocent country take place, makes my blood absolutely boil….

          • Same, really angers me seeing what Adolf Putin is doing.

            Probably a good job I’m not in charge as I’d have sent in some SAS quietly and deployed a few F35s to sneakily avoid detection and shoot down Russian aircraft over Ukraine to give the Ukrainians a better chance.

            But then if I were in charge we’d have all planned 232 Typhoons, 30+ frigates and destroyers, 12+ Astutes and an army of 120,000+ with at least 300 tanks and twice the artillery we currently have!

          • Bringing up SF what is the realistic chance a few countries have said ‘advisors’ in the field offering ‘training’ to help coordinate whats going on?

          • It’s ripping me up inside too. Heart says help but head says reinforces NATO and wait. How Putin has been permitted to both take advantage of Ukraine’s internal turmoil and add to it by stirring the pot. Simply beggars belief. This is what happens when the Americans let a bumbling fool in the White House. Oh for Reagan or even Trump.


            I for one wish all Ukrainians well and hope they finally solve the mess left over from the dissolution of the defeated Warsaw Pact and USSR. With as little bloodshed and loss of life as possible. It’s a nightmare scenario but thankfully we do not have a mutual defensive alliance with them.

            On that subject, we should be deploying large numbers of troops to those NATO nations bordering Belarus and Russia. If one Russian soldier sets foot across those borders, he or she dies. Perhaps now our political leaders will regret shirking their primary duty of ensuring our nations are strong enough to deter military action against us. Bullies never bother those strong enough to defend themselves.

            Every PM since the 1960’s should be held accountable for the savage cuts to defence spending. NATO and GB in particular, need to double the size of the military as a matter of extreme urgency ASAFP. I wonder if those nations we sold our tanks and ships to, would be willing to sell them back.

          • Every Minister, Prime Minister and MP who never resisted the enormous defence cuts need condemnation.

            The good burghers of this site all agree that Defence should be at least double what it is today and our Armed Forces are a shadow of their once-great state. We don’t even appear in any top 20 matrices of Forces in the world. It’s OK spending 60% on the NHS, but not for Russia to come along and destroy it at will!

            Shame on them all.

          • No Frank, I’ve just been listening to Pres. Trumps’ take on the invasion. He emphasises the weakness of the current White House as the reason Putin has felt he could invade and get away with it. Emboldened by the Afghanistan withdrawal debacle too.
            There is more emphasis by the current US administration on self flagellation over the wrong pronouns and pulling down statues. Than actually standing up to international bullies. The biden shower do not want to enforces their own national borders never mind those of other nations. Regardless if said nations pay Hunter bribes or not.

          • Steve, I vote for you! (Dont you think we need 500+ Tanks, 2000 APCs, four times the AH64E (or their replacement) and an RAF & FAA at 85% of requirement).

      • I fully agree, I feel that if we don’t stand up to putin now then when will we? If not now, than we must rebuild at pace, ready for his next move. But I hate watching this happen on the sidelines.

        • Ukraine is the 21st centuries Sudetenland. This time, we must not leave Poland hanging out to dry. The same for the three Balkan states.
          The precedent has been set If I were in charge the isolated Kaliningrad enclave would be under extreme pressure from “internal dissident groups.” To the point they formerly ask NATO for help to prevent genocide.

      • What’s also irritating me about this is the ignorance of journalists when they are asking questions to politicians like the Defence Secretary. Seen a few interviews with him in the last few days and at no point did any journalist ask something like “Is now really a good time to be cutting army numbers by another 10000?!” or “why are so many of our procurements so massively overbudget and delayed (even without the effects of the coronavirus)?”

        They don’t seem to know anything about this issue and it allows the MoD to get away with it. Should be seen as a national scandal really.

        • Just watching Sky News,im sure Armed Forces Minister James Heappey speaking in Parliament regarding Air Policing being carried out by the RAF using Tornadoes.

          • I wonder if any of the tornadoes are still in deployable shape, extra aircraft right now might not be such a bad thing.

          • How long has the veterans community warned government about the shocking state of our armed forces. We must use this opportunity to shout the message from the roof tops. Politicians need to learn from this and admit their mistakes with defence spending cut backs. A huge emergency investment is required and some serious incentives to boost recruiting. ASAFP.
            Cutbacks to fund promises of future wonder weapons are no longer acceptable.

        • I always find it funny when the news has “defence correspondents” who don’t have a clue about defence and probably couldn’t even point to which end of a gun the bullets come out!

          • Quite so. It amazes me how superficial our journalism in general has become (not event just for defence related issues). A proper journalist would be trawling through defence figures, policy decisions, contacting people who make those decisions and asking for explanations, etc.

            Instead now all we get is a flashy graphic and what some guy called Dave said on twitter (with apologies to anyone called Dave)

          • Sadly many of our journalists now appear to be promoted based upon how they appear on TV rather than the quality of their investigative powers and ability to conduct a quality interview that is not either a love in with the subject or simple grandstanding.

          • Gareth just read your post the go too person for up to the minute news is normally Debbie on Facebook and her sub-editor Chardina on tiktok both have all the bases covered because the BBC are no longer media savie

      • I’m no longer so sure. Russia seems inept. I wonder what the British military could achieve, were it thrown into the balance.

        WW3 probably, but I can’t help but wonder.

      • Realistically its too late now to help. If we or NATO was to help them they should have deployed before the invasion in a discouraging move plus it would have allowed the arriving troops to intregrate with the ukrainians and work out where best to deploy. Unforuntely now its just a matter of waiting and reinforcing the eastern borders of NATO, hoping it ends in Ukraine.

        • What was wrong was saying we won’t get involved we pretty much gave Putin assurrances. We should have left it ambiguous. That alone may have been enough to deter aggression.

          • Agreed. “Don’t do it, but we’ll not stop you”(to sumerise Biden & BJ) is demented & a betrayal of all we’ve encouraged Ukraine to be.

          • It wasn’t limited to Biden and BoJo tbh. And our opposition have not given any indication they would have done different. Every European leader took the same position.

      • I agree its really tempting. They are making all sorts of mistakes. If only we had declared 1.a No Fly Zone before Putin mouthed off we could have stopped him in his tracks. If 2. we had built up 50.000 in the centre he would never have dared if that clown hadn’t ruled out going into Ukraine. NATO shambles and another USA defeat.

    • I don’t think Russian soldiers will become particular brutal. I suspect their likely rather disheartened by the whole affair and don’t really want to be fighting the Ukrainians let alone commit war crimes against them. Their attack doesn’t seem to have much aggression and supposedly many conscripts are being forcefully “volunteered” to take part.

      • I wouldn’t doubt that Harry, I would imagine the ordinary Russian soldier is ( I would hope) deeply uneasy about what they are doing, but senior commanders will do as they are told, target packages will be issued and bombs dropped or artillery fired….

        Putin won’t (and can’t) allow the offensive to bog down, things will unravel militarily and his future will be ‘cut short’ as the Kremlin struggle to deal with the situation if it does.

        • Had we had this conversation a week ago i would agree. But we all know Russia has a artillery fetish and a well practiced one at that. However, besides a few limited pression bombardments, Russia mother of war has been noticeably quite. The Russian officer corps is not dumb, they would have spent time in the west, they would have known who the real aggressor is, and they will know how behind Russian civilization is to the west. The fates of the German generals at the end of ww2 will also be on their minds and I doubt many want to find themselves at the end of a rope.

      • Did you know that the majority of Russian troops are one year conscrpts.I have a feeling Russians won’t like Putin once the body bags arive.The war for Russia to win must be finished early .I have a feeling the Ukrainian high command have thought of this.

        • Equally most of Ukraine’s forces are short term troops, as it had to heavily miltiaries after Crimea. How that plays out we will see unforuntely.

        • There won’t be any Russian body bags, That’s what the mobile crematoriums are for. It will just be sons and husbands that don’t return, with no explanation.

      • Its how Russia took control of its break away regions, by brutally stamping down on the locals, including displacing hundreds of thousands and killing almost as much. No question they will do it again in Ukraine, as its a proven strategy.

      • I watched a clip earlier of a tank drive over an oncoming car, seemed a fairly brutal act against a civilian vehicle and occupant. Miraculously the driver somehow was not killed.

        • The vehicle was a Ukrainian air defense vehicle, that was taking evasive manoeuvres. It was not Russian nor did it intentionally hot the car.

          • Yep that’s now come to light, it shows how clips shared without further info can create a wrong impression.

    • I fear that you might be right John, just my take but I think its become more than just a military operation (or special operation) for Putin and its very personal. This has the potential to make things even shittier.

      I just hope The West are now realising that we’re going to have to deal with all this, sanctions in the short term and some serious spending on defence as soon as we can.

      Good luck to the Ukrainians.

      • Morning Andy, yep, Russia has turned into North Korea almost overnight, I just watched the usually level headed Russian Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, at a press conference, rambling on about taking down a Nazi regime and liberating the oppressed Ukrainian people, really quite bizarre, almost surreal…..

        Yep, it’s full on North Korea, god help the ordinary Russian people, they will be back to bread ques and grinding poverty before long as Putin drives Russia into self destructive oblivion…

        • Morning John, I saw some of the same interview and yeah, you wonder how Lavrov can sit there and come out with some of that stuff. I can only assume that a lot of these guys are having to strap in and ride the whirlwind.

          The most likely way to get rid of Putin will be internally, whether that’s because of biting sanctions pushing the people and/or others in high office to act I don’t know but its unlikely to be directly from an external source.

          You would hope that Russia could catch a break and get a decent democratic leader, they’re long overdue it.

          • What do you expect him to say? “Yeah Putin has lost his bits and we’re going off the deep end?” Not if he wants to live.

          • Yes Chris, I kind of covered that with the bit about strapping in and riding the whirlwind. There’s not a lot that those around him can do unless someone sticks their head over the parapet to oppose him. Its the party line and that’s it.

    • I doubt he’d go mental enough for the full nuclear option but given that Russia now control Chernobyl I wonder if he could be planning to use that as leverage.
      Do really love the fact the Ukrainians decided to lob a couple of missiles onto Russian soil though, give it back.

  4. The Ukrainian MoD is saying there are Russian forces or ‘tanks’ in the North of Kyiv and have called on locals to make petrol bombs and engage the enemy. They are now saying that they are captured Ukrainain tanks with Russian troops waring Ukrainain uniforms – sounds a lot like the stories 5th columnists that were circulating in 1940 not that anyone appeared to have ever seen any!

    All very confusing.

    However, given that the Ukrainian forces are reportedly doing rather better on other fronts, including apparently still contesting and may be retaking the airport north west of Kyiv, I wonder whether these Russian’s are simply advanced units of the forces moving in from Belarus…

    The Russians are not having it all their way, so I hope we continue to supply weapons to the Ukrainain forces. They will need them in the coming days and weeks.

  5. A thousand people in a no to war protest arrested in Moscow. Protests in 58 Russian cities. More and more videos of the effects of Russian shelling on civilians…..

  6. The Ukrainian’s are out there alone fighting the return of fascism and imperialism in Europe. The British Army is not going to fight fucking anything, pretty much the entire Russian Army is in Ukraine. Let’s pump more and more weapons to the Ukrainian’s and give them a fighting chance.

    • With you in spirit DFJ123! We feel it too! I hope the Russians overreach and the Ukrainian’s fight back. I’d like to see more of those bloody ugly helicopters shot out of the sky and their planes. Sitting watching their freedom makes me angry. Can’t imagine the horror of all this. The world is watching. Putin won’t get away with it. Strength to the Ukrainian people. 🇺🇦 from all of us in 🇬🇧 🇦🇺 🇳🇿.

      • Sadly I disagree. Putin will get away with it. Everyone was pretty upset with crimea but got over it thanks to Russian oil and gas. Or if you prefer we can talk about Georgia.

  7. It’s interesting how the West are as guilty as the Russians when it comes to the media language. I see we have now gone back to the numbers game with respect to casualties, when in reality this is a huge failure by the west.

    If you have a strong military, then you project power and influence, whilst deterring aggressive advances by other nations. Complacent politicians have once again made the same mistakes with military investment and are now realising the strategic errors that have been made by successive governments.

    Guarantees by Western nations not to encroach on the Russian borders have been broken, and the arrogance of Europe have now played into the hands of Putin and his supporters.

    let’s now hope for a strategic rethink with politicians not taking their military for granted anymore.

    Time will now tell, but let’s not forget how differently the west react to a peer on peer confrontation- ineptitude springs to mind.

    My personal view is that China will now take a similar path with Taiwan within the next 6-7 months – let’s see if I’m right!

    • The United States has the Taiwan Relations Act with Taiwan and has 40 US military personnel stationed there. Also Russia’s been much more aggressive under Putin. I hope you’re not right.

    • PTT wrote:
      “”Guarantees by Western nations not to encroach on the Russian borders have been broken, “”

      That line is false and has been debunked

      • Hi Farouk
        You may be right but it depends on what you read and who you believe

        ‘In 1990, Western politicians repeatedly assured Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO wouldn’t expand east of Germany’s borders, but broke that promise less than a decade later’

        There are many versions around, but to to be honest it’s really irrelevant, since NATO and more importantly the EU have created a situation where Russia feels threatened through there actions. This was clearly shown last week when NATO still maintained their line with respect to NATO membership with Ukraine – Did they need to say that, and would it have made a difference? We will never know.

        • Nonsense. If Putin felt threatened he wouldn’t be carrying out an act that will inevitably see the biggest build up of nato forces on his border in decades and his nation become public enemy number one!

        • Where is the proof that Western politicians assured the USSR?

          There was an agreement between West Germany and the former USSR in 1990 to not to redeploy nuclear weapons and foreign troops to Eastern Germany.
          The agreement did not apply to the rest of Eastern Bloc.
          Also Russia signed the Russia-NATO Act of 1999 to accept NATO enlargement in full.
          if Russia didn’t like this agreement, why did they sign it?

        • Russias support of institutions like the Stasi pretty much ensured there would be a queue of countries joining as soon as they escaped Russian influence. Russia sealed NATOs expansion during the Cold War, simple cause and effect.

        • Total nonsense and Putin fed bile. The only reason NATO may be moving closer to Russian borders is, firstly, democratic and free countries have made the conscious decision by themselves to join NATO, which they are allowed to do, and secondly, they have a Nazi led group of criminals breathing down their necks who seem to think by replaying the Cold War they will become even richer and more popular. Please stop trying to justify criminality.

        • PTT, I fear your response is straight out of Putin’s grievances. You forgot that Russia and the USA guaranteed Ukraine’s territory and sovereignty in exchange for its nuclear weapons. I imagine that had they not given them up, Russia wouldn’t be doinging what it is. It is a big red flare to the world! “Have Nuclear weapons, guarantee your safety”.

          Russia created the Chechen war, the response from the West was to offer the EU accession members NATO membership.

        • Maybe so. But when ex-Soviet satallites/new nations democratically decide to leave Russian control they should be allowed to do so. What Putin has done is underline in red just why so many ex-Soviet states never want Russian control again & seek NATO protection.
          PRC are watching to guage how & when best to attack Taiwan. No easy options from here on. We stop it now or pay a far greater cost later.

      • And all the nations that joined NATO after the fall of the USSR did out of there own free will. I have a feeling they could see all this coming in the long term

    • All, Thank you for the really good level of debate around this subject, which has demonstrated the different levels of opinion – some more strongly than others, but that’s great.
      So, for someone who served during the days of larger numbers in the Cold War days and then the first Gulf War, let me put something else out there for debate.
      what do you think would have happened if Russia had invaded Kuwait? Would the West have intervened in the way they did with Iraq or would they have approached things in the same way they have with Ukraine?
      This could be very interesting to understand from you all.

  9. I still think NATO should move fast & offer Ukraine a safe haven around Lviv/Lvov, on former Polish/Slovakian lands. The Western diplomats have moved there. The Ukrainian government could move there if forced out of Kiev. It is vital that one small part of Ukraine stays free.

    • The best we can do is offer as much equipment as we can to help them fight and reinforce NATO’s frontiers and hope he isn’t stupid enough to try anything. We can then rebuild our capabilities that have been decimated in the last 20 years, which will take a decade and cost a fortune.
      As for the Germans and a few others it is about time they got there hands dirty again because they owe an historic debt to many of those Eastern European countries and the hand ringing has to stop.

      • Yep. NATO moving into Western Ukraine to offer refuge and direct support would be an extremely dangerous move towards a general and apocalyptic war.

        What we can do even if they occupy the entire country is make sure money, equipment and training is channeled to the resistance under the radar to ensure that they can continue to fight for their country and exact as high a price as possible from the Russians.

        Putin wants a quick victory and to then install a puppet government to keep Ukraine in the Russian sphere of influence. A protracted, costly insurgency will eat away at his resources and domestic support.

        Meanwhile The West needs to hammer them with sanctions and finally get our act together in modernizing/growing our military capabilities to provide a firm NATO presence on the eastern flank.

    • I’m not sure how it would work legally. But I believe Ukraine can ask for the UNs help, to set up a humanitarian relief centre in case of national emergencies. The UN are allowed to send in peace keepers to act as a police force and to guard the centre against attack. I’m not sure if that can be vetoed by the security council members, but it would be worth a try set up around Lviv?

      • I think that would have to be voted on by the General Assembly.

        Russia would simply veto it if was voted on by the Security Council alone.

        • Those were my thoughts too. If the General Assembly voted on it, I’m positive it would go through by a majority vote. Perhaps its something we could suggest to the Government to put forward to the UN?

          • Well you would hope the politicians are already on it, but let’s be honest, the UN is pretty pointless organisation in the 21st century.

            Nations routinely ignore it’s resolutions.

            In any event, assuming there was a resolution passed by the General Assembly, who’s going to put on the blue beret’s and stand in the firing line?

            If NATO troops are wearing it and the Russians decide have a go anyway, I don’t think that would count as an Article 5 moment.

            I can’t see any countries outside Europe or North America having either the will or the capability of deployment to Europe.

            Probably a non-starter unfortunately.

          • Veto only applicable in the security council(or so I learnt today), in the general assembly veto is not an option.

          • Surprisingly China did not Veto last night which I think has now isolated Russia even further. India was a worrying one to not cast a vote.

      • Russia should pay a permanent price for its war crimes in Ukraine. Not one Western sanction should be lifted, until Russia gives up its veto on the UN security council. They have lost their moral right to it.

      • Countries like Poland could put Patriot batteries right on the boarder and declare an aerial exclusion zone under the pretext it will not wait for Russian jets to enter its airspace before acting. Now I wouldn’t suggest Poland actually had any intention if firing on Russian aircraft. This would be brinkmanship but could prove effective enough to provide a Ukrainian stronghold with some umbrella and a place where they regroup train and get their iwn air defence up and running etc. I think Putin is expecting the West to play by the rules go throughthe UN and be in effective. Infact he’s counting on it.

    • Ukraine should make Lviv area and its airport a last redoubt. We should ship over a Land Ceptor battery from Poland and give the Ukranians a lesson in how to use it, We should drive in arms, ammunition and provisions. Its only 2 hours from the border with Poland. Are there any serviceable Lynx helos available. These can be fitted with TOW missiles, perhaps even Mavericks. Could we get C130s to drop stuff deeper into Ukraine? I’m sure we could train some Ukraine pilots.

  10. Did we not send a small contingent of troops to Ukraine to train their guys on how to use NLAW (have I got that acronym right?)? Will they have left already?

    • Yes they have left already, as did Canadians and US training teams. Sure plenty of Intel is flowing to the Ukranians. Ukrainians would take every javelin and NLAW the West can give them.

      • That is good, I would have hated for any of them to be caught up in this mess. If they’d stayed and been caught I dare say Putin would have made some big propaganda headlines out of them. I really hope the Ukrainians make the Russians pay for this but appreciate the odds are stacked against them.

        • I am pretty sure the Russians knew they had gone before starting their push into Ukraine, attacking whilst they were there would have given NATO a justification to intervene and that is something Russia clearly doesn’t want, hence why they are using threat of tactical nukes to dissuade NATO intervention

          • Again – we have them as well – so we have to decide if he is bluffing – and/or if we call his bluff.

    • Thats a huge slap in the face for the apparently undefeatable Russian air defence network, unless of course they wont turn the systems on so the west cant gather data on it.

  12. It was Yamamoto who said after Perl Harbour, ‘I fear all we have achieved is to awaken a sleeping tiger.’ I’m beginning to wonder if Putin will be thinking the same once he’s established his puppet government in Kyiv, and the real Ukrainian resistance begins? No Russian occupier will feel safe, as one by one, they are subject to underground resistance. Ukraine is a large country and many thousands of its citizens will be determined to make life hell, and possibly for years? If one then includes the misery of international sanctions on the folks back home, plus the regular conveyer belt of dead troops arriving home, things would only get worse for that miscreant.

    • If the west can keep weapon supplies open too the Ukrainians Putins Invasion could end up like the Soviet gamble in Afghanistan extremely Costly the only winner there was makers of Bodybags that won’t please the Russian public fingers crossed

      • I don’t see how we can if Russia go on to occupy the entire country and fortify the border area like that between GSFG and NATO.

        • Where there’s a will there’s a way Daniele the Soviets where in the Stan for 10yrs and the CIA and others managed too supply certain groups with arms such as Stingers going for what became Russia’s Vietnam

          • Hi Tommo, of course, there are differences though! The wild border areas of Afgan with Pakistan are a bit different, I’m not aware of any fortification of the border?
            MI6 using “contractors” that is temporarily retired SF, and thus deniable, also got hold of a Hind I believe.
            So yes, anything is possible. Agents and small items were regularly moved to and from eastern Europe, smuggled openly across the east German border to Berlin, easy enough given air and rail access to it and BRIXMIS.
            AT weapons and so forth are hardly easily smuggled items. Submarine from the sea? Black Sea states only I believe?

          • Hi Daniele just plonked down watching SKY news one headline coming out from Russia stating that their forces have just Killed 400 Ukrainian Special forces at an Airbase taking that with a Large pinch of salt the claim doesn’t seem too be proven ?

          • Not seen that.

            I prefer Twitter, lots of footage there, including a smashed Russian column of towed artillery and one intriguing night time shoot down over Kyiv which is being labelled as either Russian or Ukrainian SU27. I’m not expert but as it flies over before being hit it sounds wrong, like a much larger aircraft.

          • Now the Russians have downgraded the Amount too 200 SF and Putin is asking the Ukraine troops too lay down their weapons come over too Defeat the Nazi’s who are in power of the Ukraine its getting better than One flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest

          • What I meant by the last line was in that film the main character ended up with a frontal lobotomy and was then done away with Daniele

          • Fantastic Sean. I was only 16 in 1988 so unaware of them at the time, as most no doubt.
            The book I have has some amazing stories of all 4 missions and the spying that took place.

          • I’d heard someone was writing a book about them; though I suspect even now some of the stories still can’t be made public.
            Would appreciate the details.

          • I’m at work now but will look when at home tomorrow and let you know ISBN. It is not a new book btw, quite old.

          • ISBN 0 00 638673 3
            “BRIXMIS The untold story of Britain’s most daring Cold War spy mission”
            Tony Geraghty.

            From 1997!

          • Thanks for that, surprised to hear a book on this had even been published. Will definitely be seeking it out.

          • Yes, I agree. As this will undoubtedly link to the intelligence community as well as the British military there must be lots that won’t see the light of day.
            The system seemed fair but was obviously ripe for some extra curriculum activity, including an apple core applied to Soviet gun muzzle.

    • Not quite sure there. There is no argument that Ukraine is stronger than Russia or is a sleeping tiger; I do agree with the general direction though. I would compare it more to the opening of an ulcer that is impossible to close, comparable to Napoleon’s Spain.

      • One of the reasons Hitler left the Swiss alone was the fact it was a huge militia, and it appears Ukraine could become one, particularly if generously supplied by the West.

  13. Reports 1 hour ago two huge blasts were seen in Millerovo Rostov Region—main military base of Russia with stock of ammo, missiles, tanks. Blast was seen for 20 km. Inside Russia! Stunning if true.

    Ukraine has 4000+ elite special forces / Spetsnaz. Trained over the last few years by US Special Forces & British SAS/SBS. I fully expected they would be in deployed behind enemy lines at some point. Hope this is the case, may of course be an accident but sounds like something out of the SAS playbook. Brave guys.

    • I suggests an NLAW has been captured.

      How advanced is it compared to the Russian examples? I guess if it was that advanced we’d not let them have so many as Russia now has it.

      • Yeah Daniele a bit of a catch 22,you try and supply modern effective equipment but run the risk of it falling into the wrong hands.I wouldn’t have thought it would provide the Russian’s with any Technology they don’t already have or are aware of.

      • Now the Russians know what is waiting for the tanks and IFVs as they drive into the streets of Kyiv. No co-incidence Putin is proposing talks, perhaps?

  15. Ha, Russia has blocked British Airways . . . erm like anyone wants to go to Russia ! On another note, is it just me or has Russia only been using T-72’s, the B3’s are pretty neat but I don’t think I’ve seen any T-80s or T-90s.

    • There was an image of a T80 minus its turret. I’ll see if I can find it again. It looked like it had a carousel detonation, as the turret was blown off. It could also have been a Ukrainian one, as they have about 300 of them!

        • It’s a fatal design flaw in all Russian and some Chinese tank designs. They use a two part ammunition that is stored in a two tier carousel on the floor of the turret. On the T72/90 series the propellent charges are stored underneath the shells/rounds. Whilst on the T80 series, the propellent charges are stored vertically behind the horizontally laying shells/rounds. Which is under a “protective” floor plate that the commander and gunner sit on.

          Due to the auto-feeder mechanism, the propellent charges cannot sit in a protective water bath, like say on the Challenger. Once the propellent has been ignited there’s only one place for the pressure to go. Normally, it blows open the turret hatches, but after one charge detonates, it sets the others off, thereby creating a massive overpressure which will lift the turret clean off the hull and can pitch it several metres away. I saw lots of Iraqi T72s that had this done to them. There is very little chance the crew can escape!

          In some parts, changing over to one piece ammunition (Abrams, Leopard 2 etc), has made the crews lives much safer. Due to the length of the rounds (>800mm), they could not be stored on the floor of the turret, as the loader could not manoeuvre the round into the breech. Instead the rear bustle was used. Which incorporated a sliding armoured door for access and turret roof blow out panels. So if the bustle is penetrated, the ammunition detonation will blow off the roof panels allowing the crew to survive (in theory). The downside is it makes the turret much bigger and therefore, easier to spot and aim at.

          • Saw quite a few T72s as you say Daveyb in the Desert around Kuwait most minus their Turret wasn’t much that could be done for their crews there was apparently Russian observers during OP Granby who saw how bad their Tanks faired

    • We need to watch China. They supplied Iranian airlines with Western spares when Trump sanctioned Iran. Make sure Airbus/Boeing spares do not leak to Russia via China.

      • Indeed. PRC is the biggest, most dangerous menace. Putin may just be “testing the waters” for them & their own imperial ambitions.

        • Interesting that China sat on its hands at the UN last night. The Chinese look like they don’t want to attract Western sanctions aimed at Russia.

  16. The IRIB was lovingly broadcasting the Russian Foreign Minister’s speech. The damn thing did not answer the last question of whether or not they would establish a puppet government in Ukraine and evaded it. Afterwards, the ridiculous experts of this Iranian news network commented. Everlasting words. Bullshit. Do your cruise missiles reach the location of Iran Radio and Television? Their reporters must be tortured.

  17. Encouraging to see multiple reports of Russian losses/delays. Can’t see how this will end well for them as 40 million proud, united and determined Ukrainians aren’t suddenly going to all lay down their arms and accept Putin’s dominance.

    This looks like it’ll end up as a slow, grinding bloodbath where the Russian’s may be able to occupy the cities and claim victory by shattering the Ukrainian forces but a prolonged insurgency with small arms and IED’s in the urban centres will start to pile up the body bags and cost Putin both support and treasure.

    • True, I expect the Russians will encounter stiffer resistance inside the major cities, hence why they’re trying to push the Ukrainians into the open and avoid another costly bruising like they got in Cechnya

      • Maybe outside the major cities as well? More diffuse? War of attrition?

        That said inside the major cities MLAWS would be devastating against any armour.

        Ukraine is a very, very big place that will be hard to control with a well armed and motivated population.

        I can see this grinding on for a very, very long time.

        Although I can see the Russian aim to get the poor old Ukrainian president freely on TV to call for everyone to lay down arms and give the Russians big hugs.

        As soon as they can capture him and hold a gun to his kids heads that is.

    • Putin will be hell bent on getting Ukraines leader to either sign over power or worryingly he will vanish with the hope the Ukraine forces and people simply give up.

  18. I don’t believe that the Ukrainians will be able to hold out militarily. The Russians were successful in Syria because they were totally ruthless. They didn’t care about civilian casualties (so far, the conflict there has caused an estimated 200,000 civilian deaths). Expect the Russians will be ruthless in Ukraine. I don’t know much about the terrain in Ukraine, if it’s anything like Afghanistan in certain places (ie: one that provides a good environment for guerrilla warfare), probably not. Can the Ukrainians maintain a French Resistance style level of insurgency against the Russian army? Or will they, as Putin assumes, just give up? If the western response amounts to a few pathetic sanctions, which seems to be the case, Putin is likely to see this as a huge personal vindication and victory, this will embolden him to look for more ways to consolidate his Russian Empire 3.0. In the long term, what will his legacy be? A house of cards that’s liable to fall down? Maybe, maybe not. Ukraine tells us one important thing – this is what happens to a nation that gives up its nuclear deterrent and runs down its military with crippling cuts.

    • I think it will have to be more a Yugoslav resistance than French. To be honest the French resistance movement whilst in some cases brave wasn’t overly effective. Part of that was the terrain didn’t favour it (unlike mountainous Yugoslavia). I think if I recall rightly Ukraine is quite open steppe in many parts so good for mobile combat (until the mud comes) so it favours the Russians tank/air tactics. I just hope the Ukrainian dispositions were sound to start with – they need to preserve mobile reserves and allocate most air defence to it) otherwise they will be outflanked etc.

      In the medium term lets hope its a wake up call for NATO in terms of defence.

      • That’s probably a more apt (and optimistic) analogy. There were many exceptionally brave members of the French Resistance, but also many traitors in the French population. There will be many brave fighters in Ukraine. And – even if they are forgotten in time – they will go to their death knowing that they made the ultimate sacrifice. There’s not much more you can say than that.

        • Not sure why they should be forgotten. Irish republicans fought long and hard against rule by the forces of the British Empire over centuries and even when they did not always have the full support of the local population they eventually prevailed. Many of those rebels/volunteers that had made the sacrifice, and their exploits, are still fondly remembered in song and ballad.

          • Yes, there are similarities there with Ukraine. I know what you’re talking about. I have Irish, Scottish, and German roots… but I see myself as English. (We share the same surname.) Empires do these terrible things to their neighbours. But, I do have a deep sense of respect for the British military personnel who put themselves on the line during The Troubles.

    • Hi TM

      On the point of civilian casualties ….

      For the moment, it looks as though the Russians are (relatively) concerned about civilian casualties – for instance, it would look bad for Putin if his “special operation/liberation” slaughtered thousands of innocent Ukrainian civilians.

      For that reason, so far – it’s been reported Russians have not prepared advances with their usual heavy artillery bombardments. They are not fighting using normal Russian doctrine. This may explain the only “limited” success Russia has achieved so far in the first 48 hours (Limited according to the UK MoD).

      But it’s early days yet, and we know the Russian “Way of War” is brutal – and further setbacks may cause its military to revert to type.

      • They think the Ukrainians are ‘untermensch’. They’re more concerned about their home audience. The ‘mobile crematoriums’ are there to get rid of the evidence.

        • Hi TM …. As you know, “untermensch” (German for “sub-human”) was the outrageous Nazi view of Slavs – and resulted in genocide, not only to Jews, but throughout eastern-Europe.
          Whatever is in Putin’s mind – I don’t believe he is waging a racial war against Ukrainians (as Hitler did). He is conducting an old-fashioned war of conquest – essentially, he’s a brutal 21st century Tsar.

          • You’re right, I don’t think he’s that ideological. He just sees them as ‘scum’. But, at the end of the day, what’s the difference?

          • Hi TM, I don’t feel Putin sees Ukrainians as “scum” – that again has echoes of a racial conflict. He’s written that he sees them as cousins (albeit ones that are in need of brutal correction to rid them of some dangerous ideas about sovereignty!!).
            But lets agree that Putin probably sees Zelenskyy and his government as “scum” – and will no doubt try to kill many of them during the imminent assault on Kyiv.

          • Putin’s gangsters describe Zelensky and his government as “Nazis” and “drugtakers”. Weird combination of insults….

    • Yes, but in Syria, it was Russian Air Force & full time special forces. To invade Ukraine, Putin needs greater numbers & is using 18/19 year old conscripts plus unenthusiastic reservists.

    • Perhaps they could also set one up for MOD to held accountable for its constant stuff ups in procurement (Army in particular….. isn’t a report n AJax coming out next month….????)

      • Now, now. If this and admittedly I am being extremely and overly optimistic but with this, coupled with events into Russia, perhaps people will finally realise the importance of increasing defence spending.

        • Problem is increasing it is not enough – it needs to be spend efficiently – hence my dig at Army in particular. One poster here wanted 300 tanks – if Army had not wrecked its own equipment budget (Warrior, Ajax etc) we probably could have had them (and other goodies too!).

          • Tell me, is the Army the Delivery Agency for procurement of Army Equipment? I thought DE&S was.

            Also, why do people keep bashing the Army in particular, the whole of Defence procurement is woeful and has been for some time. Just look at the Navy!

            • aircraft carriers – almost 100% over budget
            • Type 45 29% over budget and delivered fewer hulls than intended
            • Astute Class 53% over budget and 5 years late

            Just because stuff is now in service with them doesn’t mean they smell of roses. One of the reasons for the Levine reforms and delegated TLBs was actually to protect the Army from Navy cost over-runs!

          • Because going for TRACER, then Boxer, was an army decision.
            Because changing mind for FRES, was an army decision.
            Because starting the upgrade of Tanks, Warrior, Artillery in A2020 was an army decision.
            Because the army then changing their mind for the upteenth time and instead going for Boxer, meaning funding was lost for armour and WCSP, was an army decision.
            Because the farce that British Army procurement has become, is of the army’s own making, being unable to decide and stick to a path.
            The QEC carrier increase was due to Labour’s DS in 2009 deffering spend which increased their cost by over 1 billion.
            T45 reductions due to HMG cuts, not the RN.
            Astute costs due to HMG not starting program in good time after Vanguard, resulting in skills lost.
            Finally, for the errors made with other services, they at least have workable, effective kit, the army has spent over 11 billion so far for zilch.
            No FRES. No WCSP. No Ajax. Boxer order so far with nothing but machine guns.
            Finally, the army budget continues to be larger than all others bar submarines.

            Of course, there are problems elsewhere and wider MoD and HMG.
            But this is why the army is mentioned above all.
            It seemingly has no idea what it wants to be and is busy mutilating itself.

          • ….”but apart from that, What have the Romans ever done for us?!”
            Where has the wasted money gone with all the disasterous procurement? I suspect lots of Tory donors pocket much of it, hence why little is done about it.

            • “aircraft carriers – almost 100% over budget”

            To be totally fair to MOD and BAE there were two main reasons for budget blow out.

            Osbourne deciding to slow down the build rate so TOBA kicked in; and

            The messing around with the F35C idea added about £800m to the bill.

            The miracle was that the two QEC were delivered so very cheaply after that stuffing around.

          • I agree. Personally, I blame the MOD’s obsession with having the vehicles manufactured in the UK, we simply don’t have the manufacturing capability anymore.

            As for Ajax, I was under the impression they planning on cancelling it as I heard back in December that a lawyer was bought in to go through the contract.

        • Germany – GERMANY – has announced a E100bn boost in defence spending…….
          This has clearly acted as a wake up call in Berlin. Let’s see if it has that effect on our ridiculous buffoon….

    • Excellent! Signed & confirmed. Too long our so called leaders have gotten away with dismantling our ability to defend ourselves & freedom worldwide.

    • Yeah, I heard about that. Also about a Ukranian who sacrificed himself to manually detonate some mines. Amazing bravery from the Ukranians.

      • Very brave and determined people, they will fight hard and make Russia think twice.

        Hopefully, the west will continue to supply arms via a back door to keep them from succeeding.

      • Please quantify the statement that they are a lot braver and patriotic than anyone here in the UK? Silly statement which negates thousands of peoples bravery and dedication to their profession and the country, past, present and indeed future.

    • I suggest you could help by countering pro Russian outfits of propaganda, like STWC and CND. They are even against arms for Ukraine to defend themselves.

  23. Interesting new footage in northern Kyiv outskirts. The earlier film showing a car being deliberately hit by a Russian armoured vehicle may be explained by the evasive action or distraction driver was under as new footage shows a gun battle going on alongside where a Russian AA vehicle is being fired upon.
    The Ukrainian soldiers killed the occupants.

    I’m a fossil with tech, sorry, I don’t know how to link the Twitter footage.

  24. Iran Network (Iran News) said: it is better for the Ukrainians to hand over the cities of Kiev and Kharkov in the framework of dialogue so that more people are not killed! And Chechen forces want to help Russia. How low and …… If you were very upset about the massacre of the Ukrainian people, you would say that Russia should leave Ukraine. And then he said that if they do not surrender the city, Russia will be “forced” to kill civilians and has no other choice !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Is the situation in Ukraine too bad? Is it falling?

    • Well it got him what he wanted in Ukraine so why wouldn’t he- a bully never changes.
      Fron what I heard the UK wanted Ukraine in NATO but others didnt- It would be interesting to know who didn’t and why?
      It will also be interesting to see if Sweden & Finland now decide to join if anyone ‘black balls them’.

      • His threats seem to validate my earlier concerns that Russian forces were holding back much of their more modernised equipment as part of a much larger operation. I seriously doubt he would be threatening Finland and Sweden without plans to invade the Baltic states.

        • I think he’s letting the moment get to his head.
          Surely even if they aren’t in NATO they couldn’t sit by and let him invade those countries?
          As I say I think this ‘not in NATO’ tripe is a useful excuse for some.

          • Agreed. UK & USA are signatory guarentors for Ukraine soveriegnty, so NATO is just a fig leaf for not really caring.
            For all the horrors Putin is doing now, we’re broadcasting far & wide what fickle friends we are. I expect us to do far more than the little we’ve comitted to.

          • Agreed, it’s not about NATO or not, it’s about not having the forces to take on Russia. I suspect would be same picture if Russia had gone into one of the NATO countries.

      • France, Germany, and the US opposed NATO membership for Ukraine and it would require all 30 member states to approve. The main issue is Ukraine’s status as an emerging democracy with low scores in rule of law and corruption. Ukraine’s instability was an issue after two democratic revolutions and the East-West language/identity division issue. NATO didn’t want to admit states that might turn authoritarian and repressive, since the alliance’s underlying principles contain liberal ideas about democracies not fighting one another. But in this case, Ukraine is really serving as Europe’s shield and, in my opinion, definitely deserves membership. The rest of the continent owes it to them.

  26. These two countries must be added to NATO as soon as possible, even tomorrow, and NATO forces must enter them, and all forces must be on full alert.

  27. The Finnish President was in an interview last week on the BBC and stated then that although Finland has been neutral for most of its history he was serious thinking about applying for Nato membership if the Russians invaded Ukraine.
    The Finn’s and the Sweed’s were invited to the Nato crisis meeting held this morning.

    • Are the Swede’s not Associate Members or something along those lines?

      Don’t know about Finland but if I recall correctly, they’re committed to more F35’s than we are at the moment, so they know which side their bread is buttered.

      • No they are not but both Sweden and Finland are in a defensive pact with the UK along with most of the other Baltic countries. We have had a number of exercises over the last few years mainly in the Baltic area.

    • The Finns gave Stalins troops a good hiding in the winter war of 39 it wasn’t until the Soviets had out numbered the Finns 10to1 that they had too give ground the Finns were infact the first too produce the Petrol bomb factory made Not Molotov so I hope they see sense and sign up for NATO and we can put 45CDO up there

      • It would be good to see all of the Scandinavian countries standing together in Nato that would strengthen our Northern flank some what.

        • Your right there Steven , if Finnland where join Nato at least they would have some comfort in knowing the west wouldn’t standby if Putin tried anything

          • It is quite telling as the Finnish president meets with Putin on a regular basis but in the interview I mentioned above he stated that he dose not recognise the the man any more saying he (Putin) has grown more unpredictable this last 2 years and that is why he was looking at Nato membership to help protect his country from any possible moves against his country by Putin.

          • He probably realised that being chummy with Putin comes at a cost or its a case of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer ?

  29. Whilst I think we should be sending a lot more troops to the NATO border, it still makes me feel proud seeing the videos of the chally/warriors arriving in Estonia.

  30. Given sanctions will target Russias ability to maintain its oil and gas infrastructure perhaps spiriting a few Ukrainian special forces out of Ukraine and into Russia to sabotage the oil and gas infrastructure could make sanctions effective much quicker as spares would be difficult or expensive to procure via alternative sources. Using Ukrainian special forces plays Putin at his own with the west able to deny involvement.

    • Could be there already & in Ukraine too. Lucky if anything leaks out for another 30+ years though, very hush, hush of course.

  31. Just an observation, those leaving Ukraine as refugees are mostly women and kids. Other conflict areas it appeared to be mostly men doing a runner.

    • No training, knowledge, support, spares, pilots, mechanics. Might as well give them a brick.

      The best would be SLAMRAAM’s. Their fixed Anti air defenses are easily targeted by Russian missiles. 100 of these driving around would make Ukraine’s airspace criminally dangerous to anything.

      https://youtu.be/wipZtm4hnAs

  33. Upon reflection of the last 48 hours, can I double the defence budget, the Royal Navy, Army and quadruple the RAF, please?

  34. This is going to be a classic one two punch
    Draw attention away from the pacific where we were focused into bolstering European defence then china will take Taiwan in a similar fashion
    Perhaps this pattern will repeat
    Best options would be the immediate inclusion of Sweden in nato along with any other European nations to show solidarity and consolidate defence
    Formation of a pacific “nato” with countries threatened by china
    Finally someone actually taking charge of our military procurement and ensuring we actually have the right assets such as anti ship missiles and armoured fighting vehicles when the old one go out of service

  35. I have a question about a video of a ‘dogfight’, which looks genuine – to my _completely_ untrained eye. But I saw a text on disinformation on the beeb yesterday, and among some (new) examples of disinformation / fake images, they mentioned the video of this dogfight on Ukraine MOD side, as fake, and claimed it’s a ‘known’ sequence from a combat simulator (the exact name escapes me). Perhaps a sort of ‘red flag’, or at least a question mark, is that it’s clearly showing (or supposed to show) how inferior Ukrainian aircraft takes down 5th-gen Russian one, so a great morale booster, and original watermark, slava = glory [to the Ukraine], clearly indicates the sentiment.
    Could anyone with a little bit of knowledge comment on the authenticity? I don’t mean going into details of mig-29 taking down su-35, etc, but just if the video _appears_ genuine to those who know a bit more about aerial combat, or whether there are traits to identify it’ as sim or, more likely, prior footage? There were some comments under the video about how the first plane disappears, moments before it was hit, but it might have become momentarily obscured by a cloud. Also, there was at least one comment on how debris does not fit direction of travel. But, if it’s fake, I must say, the audio, particularly woman’s voice, is a very convincing element.
    youtube.com/watch?v=pGS1FOOcbxY

    Regards,
    n.

  36. The MOD reports that Russia has failed to obtain control of the air and that the bulk of the Russian forces are about 30km from Kyiv.

    • It amazes me that the Ukraine defense has held up so far, although based on the news footage the main russian assualt hasn’t yet started, seems to be more about probing the defenses than a serious attempt to take the city so far.

      • The Russians are probably considering options. They were probably told there would be little resistance and that they would be welcomed as liberators by crowds waving Russian flags and showering them with rose petals. Having had several armoured columns trashed by NLAWs, lost a couple of Antonovs carrying hundreds of elite troops, failed to establish air dominance and seen their special force inserts fail to capture the presidential building they are having to consider plan B; either drive armoured columns into Kyiv from multiple directions and take heavy losses but probably succeed; or turn Kyiv into Grozny and then fight your way in against the 20,000 + home guards with AK47s, body armour and helmets supplied by the UK and allies. I wouldn’t be surprised if the commanders are asking Vlad what to do: dead Russian soldier or dead Ukraine civilians? Decision time for Vlad.
        Pray for peace.

        • It’s hard to tell, as the pictures show a handful of Russian vehicles destroyed, which doesnt’ sound like a major offensive. Certainly the NLAWs are helping, as you can hear the Ukraine troops calling for them in a few news vidoes on youtube.

          • It would be interesting to know how many we have sent out of how big a stock, i can’t help thinking our stocks were probably low to start with.

          • If I recall correctly we sent 2000. We are sending more. The Germans are sending 1000 ‘anti-tank’ weapons and 500 stingers.

          • I suspect they will be used up fast. Based on the pictures they have been used against trucks etc, rather than just against armoured vehicles.

    • Shows you the leadership of the country, not trying to get the last few high tech components for weapons systems or special materials that can be domestically manufactured before the seas are closed to them. No the are trying to get a bunch of luxury cars.

  38. Seeing how Russia’s advance is being checked, first well done Ukraine’s armed forces. Hope & pray they’re completely successful. I pray Putin wises up & pulls out.
    Secondly we are so wrong not deploying. If the gloves come off & Russia reverts to type(i.e. Indiscriminate & brutal devestation v all resistance) we will be culpable for just standing by.
    Thirdly, I see the BBC highlighting petrol bomb making by crowds in the capital, giving the Russians the exact location to strike. Sickens me how the BBC has no discrimination or responsability for the risks it disregards to get news & plaudits. Reminds me of the valuable info they gave the Argies defending Goose Green in Falklands 82.

  39. Anyone been seeing these videos of Russian armour going over the boarder. Where are the much vaunted new forces that Putin has built up since the debacle in Georgia. Why can I only see crap T72 with little or no reactive armour and some with metal deck chairs welded to their roof to stop javelin. Is it Russia having to pull in reserves? Or is he keeping back his better troops and T90’s or is it that the Russian army remains the same crappy conscript plus force that got whipped in Grozny and Georgia.

    Also seeing a lot of Russian attack helicopter runs in day light which seems to be suicide in the face of stingers. I have a perception that you would not see that from a similar NATO style force that would rely on darkness. Do the Russians just lack the optics for night flying helicopters?

    Also how can the Ukrainians still be flying mig29 over Kiev much less scoring air to air victories you would think even a half decent AWACS with Su35 would make short work of an air space just 25km in to occupied territory.

    https://youtu.be/tglAJq0Yz6k

  40. Hope everyone’s eyes is on those tracked thermobsric launches. Hope they get taken out by ATM’s asap. Bloody disgustingly gross weapons. Putin is sick in the head. Hope Ukraine’s people kick his forces arse and someone in Russia take him and his cronies. down. They’re dead old men. Strength to Ukraine, it’s forces and people!!
    🇺🇦 🇦🇺 🇳🇿 🇬🇧

    • And may all their fuel and logistics trucks be sitting ducks for you know what!
      Better watch Kaliningrad too, a little of Russia that could attack from behind.

    • Why on earth would he go there? Belarus is to all intents an enemy country, IF he was to go there what are the chances he would meet with a fatal ‘accident’?
      Still we have all seen what the word of the Russian govt means! any agreement would soon be swept away.
      Keep hitting those convoys and rear elements!

      • Absolutely. The Ukraine resistance is working. We need to keep the NLAWs and Stingers coming. Talks anywhere other than Belarus is a defeat for Putin.

  43. Personally I think he will drop a tactical nuke on Kyiv or another city. If Ukraine doesn’t cave in. Like the USA did in 45 to end resistance. Which it will. Its look at me, I will use all means at my disposal. He sees the old Soviets comparative restraint as a failure. NATO won’t do anything about it either.

    • If Putin attempts to use any nuke, he risks a bullet from one of his own generals. If a nuke was used on Ukraine, then total sanctions on Russia for decades. No taking part in Olympics or World Cup. For decades. No lifting of any sanctions, until Russia gives up its Veto on the UN security council. If Russia uses a nuke in anger, then not one sanction lifted until it cuts its huge nuclear arsenal to a maximum of 350 warheads for self defence. The world will not stand for Russia having thousands of nukes, if it uses one on Ukrainian cities.

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