Russia begins moving troops into eastern Ukraine

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(02-25-2022, 04:49 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: ***Language warning!!!!***

I couldn't not share this, though. There were 13 Ukrainian personnel on this island. After this exchange, there was a bombardment and all 13 were killed.

I literally don't have words for how much admiration I have for these men.  To not only face death stoically, but to spit in its face for love of your country?  I honestly wish I was uber-wealthy so I could do everything in my power to lionize these astoundingly brave men.  A lot of our own citizens could learn a hell of a lot from these men, who defiantly stood up to real tyranny at the cost of their lives.  If I believed in an afterlife I'd certainly wish them the very best eternity possible.

[*Nately120*]

(02-25-2022, 04:56 PM)Bengalzona Wrote: Yeah. I wonder why we haven't heard anything about doing something like that?

I haven't kept up on this as much as others, but I was under the impression Biden's sanctions specifically mentioned the elites around Putin...you know, in addition to making the rank and file schlubs suffer.

[Belsnickel]

I have been watching so much of this footage and following this all so much. It really is insane what we are seeing unfold. This is also the most followed invasion as we haven't seen one that the western world cared about like this since social media, really.

[Bengalzona]

(02-25-2022, 04:45 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: FTFY.

Putin has been an issue for years. I'm not saying we have a spotless record over here, but given his autocracy in Russia he is ultimately responsible for so many heinous acts during his tenure.

There are accusations that he ordered the bombings of apartment complexes in Moscow that they attributed to Chechens as a false-flag operation to start the Second Chechen War in 1999.

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

In the same vein, there is currently a story making the round about the Ghost of Kyiv, a Ukrainian pilot who downed over five planes yesterday. It's very possibly propaganda from the Ukrainian's, but if he exists, continued success and Godspeed to this man.

https://www.newsweek.com/who-ghost-kyiv-ukraine-fighter-pilot-mig-29-russian-fighter-jets-combat-1682651

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(02-25-2022, 04:28 PM)masonbengals fan Wrote:  If possible it should have been done days ago.

(02-25-2022, 04:45 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: FTFY.

Putin has been an issue for years. I'm not saying we have a spotless record over here, but given his autocracy in Russia he is ultimately responsible for so many heinous acts during his tenure.

It's highly likely it wasn't done to avoid antagonizing him into making the kind of move he just made in Ukraine.  But that's over now and the gloves need to come off.  This guy needs to be reduced to beggar status before he's hung from a lamppost.

[*Nately120*]

(02-25-2022, 05:02 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: It's highly likely it wasn't done to avoid antagonizing him into making the kind of move he just made in Ukraine.  But that's over now and the gloves need to come off.  This guy needs to be reduced to beggar status before he's hung from a lamppost.

Technically, it's hanged, but solid post otherwise.

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(02-25-2022, 05:06 PM)Nately120 Wrote: Technically, it's hanged, but solid post otherwise.

You're right, he's not a tapestry.  Hung always sounds so much better than hanged, but you are correct, sir!

[Arturo Bandini]

Invading a country is a thing. Occupying it is another.

You guys know that.

[Bengalzona]

(02-25-2022, 04:49 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: ***Language warning!!!!***

I couldn't not share this, though. There were 13 Ukrainian personnel on this island. After this exchange, there was a bombardment and all 13 were killed.

"Just in case"

[masonbengals fan]

(02-25-2022, 05:10 PM)Arturo Bandini Wrote: Invading a country is a thing. Occupying it is another.

You guys know that.

All too well.

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(02-25-2022, 05:10 PM)Arturo Bandini Wrote: Invading a country is a thing. Occupying it is another.

You guys know that.

Ahahaha, you salty Frenchman!  You are absolutely correct, the partisan situation is going to be brutal.  IIRC the highest concentration of partisans was in Ukraine, they we're absolutely brutal.  I foresee a lot of butchered Russian soldiers in the future, literally nowhere in Ukraine will be safe for them.

[Bengalzona]

(02-25-2022, 04:49 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: ***Language warning!!!!***

I couldn't not share this, though. There were 13 Ukrainian personnel on this island. After this exchange, there was a bombardment and all 13 were killed.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/02/25/go-f-k-yourself-defiant-last-stand-of-ukraines-snake-island-defenders.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1645817375


"25 Feb 2022
Military.com | By Konstantin Toropin

In the early hours of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, defenders of a small island in the Black Sea received a transmission from a Russian warship -- consider your loved ones and surrender.

The 13 Ukrainian border guards stood fast, held the island for about 12 hours, and delivered a final, defiant message to the Russians: "go f--k yourself."

According to Ukrainian government posts, the border guards were stationed on the tiny but strategic Snake Island, located about 30 miles off the southern tip of the Ukrainian mainland, near the Romanian border. It's less than a square mile in size but vital to the country's territorial claims.

Several hours after the first call to surrender came over the radio, Russian warships opened fire, the Ukrainian government said. The flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet -- the missile cruiser Moskva and the patrol ship Vasily Bykov -- were reported in the area, according to the Ukrainians.

Read Next: US Forces Watch as Ukraine Invasion Unfolds and Citizens Flee Violence

Yet, despite hours of bombardment, the defenders held on. An hour later, the Ukrainian government said that the island was still under its control, despite attacks from the air and sea.

At some point in the attack, the Russians offered Snake Island's defenders one last chance.

According to an audio recording, initially posted to Telegram by an adviser to Ukraine's interior minister, the Russian warship radioed: "I am a Russian warship, I repeat: I suggest you lay down your arms and surrender otherwise you will be bombed."

The recording goes silent, and the defenders are heard saying, "This is it." Then came their reply.

"Russian warship - go f--k yourself."

The recording went viral on the internet and was posted on the Ukrainian news outlet "Ukrayinska Pravda", as well as many Western media outlets. The Washington Post reported that it had confirmed the recording's authenticity with a Ukrainian official.

Late on Thursday, Ukrainian officials said that the island's infrastructure was destroyed and all contact with the defenders was lost. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in an update after the first day of fighting, said all of the island's defenders were killed. He added that he was conferring the title "Hero of Ukraine" -- the nation's highest honor -- on all the defenders of the island.

In all, Zelensky said the defenders were among the at least 137 Ukrainians who were killed in the first day's fighting.

Although tiny, the island's defense at all costs underscores its strategic importance to Ukraine. The Atlantic Council think tank called the spit of land "key to Ukraine's maritime territorial claims" in the Black Sea in an article last year. Zelensky chose to highlight the island's importance by hosting an interview with Ukrainian media in advance of a summit over the annexation of Crimea last year.

"This small island, like any other of our territory, is Ukrainian land and we will defend it with all our might," Zelensky told reporters then.

Now, "despite its acquisition through illegal annexation, Russia could declare that it is entitled to the island's maritime claims," security analyst Michael van Ginkel wrote in a message to Military.com.

Controlling the island and its sea lanes "allows Russia to regulate traffic between Ukrainian Black Sea ports like Odessa/Kherson and international markets," van Ginkel noted.

"Likewise, it is strategically placed to regulate trade that transits the Danube River, which is a major EU transport corridor for commerce," he added.

The island's siege and capture also underscores the uncontested naval presence that Russia has in the Black Sea. The ship that reportedly took part in the attack -- the Moskva -- is a massive, 11,000-ton cruiser that was launched by the Soviet Union in the 1980s to take on U.S. aircraft carriers by overwhelming them with volleys of high-speed cruise missiles.

The U.S. Navy has deployed 14 ships, including a carrier strike group, to the European area of operations -- a number of ships that has not been seen since the Cold War. However, a spokeswoman for the branch told Military.com on Thursday that none of them is in the Black Sea.

-- Konstantin Toropin can be reached at konstantin.toropin@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @ktoropin."

[StrictlyBiz]

(02-25-2022, 05:00 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: I have been watching so much of this footage and following this all so much. It really is insane what we are seeing unfold. This is also the most followed invasion as we haven't seen one that the western world cared about like this since social media, really.

It is crazy seeing war through the lens of the everyday person's phone camera. I think it might change things. It's really going to humanize war and maybe that's what civilization needs. 

Saw a video on FB today of a Russian tank running over a moving car, crushing it. Inexplicably the man survived. The treads passed over the hood and trunk. The next shot was several men prying him out (adding some levity to what could've been a gruesome scene, he was wearing a mask alone in his car!)

My wife watched and said "That's F-ed up." I said "It's war and war is ugly and we're seeing it live." That's never happened before.

Another video of the tank taken at a different angle shows that it was involved in an incident where several Ukrainians ambushed a Russian truck as it was driving through the city. When it came to rest you could see all of the windows shot out and a flat right front tire. Another Ukrainian pumped several more rounds into the cab to finish the job. A third soldier, wounded, climbed out of the back of the truck which housed a large automatic weapon, and fell to the ground against the truck. As he lay there, still alive, the Ukrainian walked around the truck and pumped 4 more shots in him. 

Absolutely crazy and a piece of me is thinking "Hell ya!"

However, it dawned on me that I just witnessed 3 guys, most likely young men...kids to me....lose their life. That's some heavy ? regardless of wether or not they're Russian. Someone's son lay dead against the side of a truck, his story is over. And how is that kid any different from our boys in Iraq and Afghanistan? Would we want a Russian cheering one of our kids being slaughtered on the street in Kabul? 

[Arturo Bandini]

(02-25-2022, 05:15 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Ahahaha, you salty Frenchman!  You are absolutely correct, the partisan situation is going to be brutal.  IIRC the highest concentration of partisans was in Ukraine, they we're absolutely brutal.  I foresee a lot of butchered Russian soldiers in the future, literally nowhere in Ukraine will be safe for them.

Especially when the resistance has your face and speak your language. Russia just made 44 millions enemies.

[Arturo Bandini]

What will be interesting to see and I mean worldwide if the russians will get out of the SWIFT banking protocol is how many political parties will suddenly be short of money ...

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(02-25-2022, 07:01 PM)Arturo Bandini Wrote: What will be interesting to see and I mean worldwide if the russians will get out of the SWIFT banking protocol is how many political parties will suddenly be short of money ...

I get where you're going with this, but I think you're going to be disappointed in that regard.  This was always much more of a talking point than an accusation grounded in fact.

[Belsnickel]

(02-25-2022, 06:23 PM)StrictlyBiz Wrote: It is crazy seeing war through the lens of the everyday person's phone camera. I think it might change things. It's really going to humanize war and maybe that's what civilization needs. 

Saw a video on FB today of a Russian tank running over a moving car, crushing it. Inexplicably the man survived. The treads passed over the hood and trunk. The next shot was several men prying him out (adding some levity to what could've been a gruesome scene, he was wearing a mask alone in his car!)

My wife watched and said "That's F-ed up." I said "It's war and war is ugly and we're seeing it live." That's never happened before.

Another video of the tank taken at a different angle shows that it was involved in an incident where several Ukrainians ambushed a Russian truck as it was driving through the city. When it came to rest you could see all of the windows shot out and a flat right front tire. Another Ukrainian pumped several more rounds into the cab to finish the job. A third soldier, wounded, climbed out of the back of the truck which housed a large automatic weapon, and fell to the ground against the truck. As he lay there, still alive, the Ukrainian walked around the truck and pumped 4 more shots in him. 

Absolutely crazy and a piece of me is thinking "Hell ya!"

However, it dawned on me that I just witnessed 3 guys, most likely young men...kids to me....lose their life. That's some heavy ? regardless of wether or not they're Russian. Someone's son lay dead against the side of a truck, his story is over. And how is that kid any different from our boys in Iraq and Afghanistan? Would we want a Russian cheering one of our kids being slaughtered on the street in Kabul? 

I saw that sake footage and had those same thoughts.

I try to focus on the heroes we are seeing, though. We are getting to hear the stories of bravery much more. Stories like the 13 on the island, the young soldier who sacrificed himself to blow up a bridge, or the woman that told a Russian soldier to fill his pockets with seeds so that flowers would grow from the ground where he died.

[*michaelsean*]

(02-25-2022, 03:31 PM)Tiger Teeth Wrote: Me either man.  I'm 58 and I stayed up all night and watched the news.  Tbh, I'm pretty damn nervous over this crap.  They have 6000 nukes now.  That's more than all of NATO has...combined.  And Russia supposedly has that supersonic technology making their shit faster, too.

Eventually it’s just a number. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe just one of our subs has the ability to pretty much wipe out Russia.

[*michaelsean*]

And like SSF said, let’s get back to the Cold War mindset on Russia. They suck. I’m glad my friends on the left finally think so and I’m dismayed that there are those on the right who don’t.