914Driver said:Putin painted himself into a corner. Invasion's not going well, he's about out of options but if there's a bright side he's two years shy of the lifespan of the average Russian.
The average Russian does not have the kind of access to good health care or healthy environment that he does.
Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:Ukrainian refugees are still lined up on the border and coming across, and lots of organizations are headed that way. Most hotels in that area have canceled their bookings and are taking people in. Lots of Hungarians in POV's have been giving rides to people crossing on foot. I'm starting to see Hungarian speaking Ukrainians post in my feed sharing their thanks for the help they've received from locals. I'm also seeing lots more from Ukrainians asking for assistance for themselves or for family they have coming this way (these posts are usually met with dozens of offers).
Life here couldn't be said to be completely normal anymore. There aren't lot of people out and about, and those that are are talking about the fighting (Mostly talking about how bad the Russians are doing). Some are afraid that the base (adjacent to the town) will be a valuable location for the Russians to attack, I still think we'll have a fair bit of warning beforehand even if NATO gets involved. Seeing things like Russian armor driving over old men in POV's hasn't done much to ease the locals concerns. Leadership is still silent.
If you watch local news, the Russians are all but dead in the water. Looking to western news, it looks more like they're still very much in the fight. The only thing that's consistent is the reporting of how much absolute butt kicking the Ukrainians are doing.
A donation station was opened in town yesterday and we made our first drop off. They're asking for the usual stuff you'd need while fleeing on foot (baby stuff, warm stuff, quick eating stuff, and hydrating stuff), and we were happy to see a fair bit of traffic there when I dropped stuff off. They're going to finish filling the truck today and send it to the border tomorrow I think.
I tried reaching out on FB as Papa is host to a small number of migrant Ukrainian workers, but it seems that no one I know has any direct contact with them. I only know of one other Ukrainian in town, and I'll talk to him tomorrow when he opens his store.
I may or may not have bought one of these stickers for the 4-Runner. I wouldn't cry one bit if this all ended before the mail could deliver it.
Ukrainian Sunflower Curse
Thanks for the sunflower link. That is a sad but enduring statement made during this conflict.
In reply to tuna55 :
And this morning Canada closed its airspace too, effective immediately.
Putin is a father. Hopefully he won't doom his own children. Hopefully someone on the inside stops him if he tries.
eastpark said:In reply to tuna55 :
And this morning Canada closed its airspace too, effective immediately.
Well, that IS concerning...
Pete. (l33t FS) said:eastpark said:In reply to tuna55 :
And this morning Canada closed its airspace too, effective immediately.
Well, that IS concerning...
Closed its airspace to Russian planes not completely
93EXCivic said:Pete. (l33t FS) said:eastpark said:In reply to tuna55 :
And this morning Canada closed its airspace too, effective immediately.
Well, that IS concerning...
Closed its airspace to Russian planes not completely
This is what I've read as well
I wonder if some senior members of the People's Liberation Army are going to be unsettled with the notion that an "ethnic sibling" (aka "breakaway republic") like Ukraine is standing their ground and giving the Russian Army a bloody nose (if that's really what's happening), but that they will never voice those concerns to Xi and the leadership of the PRC.
Canada is a very large chunk of airspace on the great circle air routes. I wonder how many more miles of detour the Moscow-Havana route has with Canada and whatever Euro countries barring Russian flights?
Not much change in the occupied territory map to day, which of course is a good thing. There is an obvious attempt by the Russians to push through to Kiev from the east. Also where the note of a destroyed Russian column is. Not sure what is going on in Kiev, a slightly strange lack of info from there.
It does appear the Russians are stepping up their artillery barrages into cities, which of course is going to increase civilian casualties. This seems to be a bit of a desperation move. If those thermobaric rockets come into play in a city that could of course cause massive civilian casualties.
I also noticed a note that there apparently is still some active Ukrainian anti-air and even aircraft! I think this speaks to a lack of capability of the Russian air force. As noted previous, knocking out anti-air should be a day 1 activity. Perhaps the Ukrainians have be tricky in hiding their emplacement? I don't know where any fighter are flying from, but the Mig-29 is very capable of flying from rough airstrips (it has an alternate air intake system for takeoff and landing) and of course roads. One wonders what the "legality" of flying a Ukrainian Mig form a NATO country, with a Ukrainian pilot? (not like Putin would follow any of these "rules").
Af note in the middle right of the map is a note about the attack there:
Kharkiv is under control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, there is a sweep, invaders are surrendering en masse – Head of the military-civil administration
Locally, they interviewed some Russians flying into LAX from Moscow. The ones that talked mentioned how this was unfortunate, but they are only attacking military targets and are just trying to take back Russian land (!). These are almost certainly wealthy people, who have some obvious reasons to support Putin.
A weird note about Ukrainians being warned not to board evacuation buses, they are apparently a trick by the Russians to collect hostages!
There is a note about the Russians apparently be willing to talk, without preconditions. Now, I certainly won't fault Ukraine from doing what they feel best to make this stop, but I really hope it would go something like this
(to be clear, these are MY thoughts):
(Ukraine): Our offering Russia, is that we let you leave our country and we won't kill every one of you F'ers. F'k you, rot in hell to anyone who supported this. Get the F out of our country.
Any bets on Putin getting taken out by one of his own?
Oh no, not the Gypsies!
BTW - the Nazi really hated the Gypsies, strange that they would steal the tank of the force that is saving them from the Nazi's! 
In reply to Mr_Asa :
Now, if they could just swipe a few of those thermobaric rocket launchers and turn them on the invaders.......
93EXCivic said:Putin is a father. Hopefully he won't doom his own children. Hopefully someone on the inside stops him if he tries.
That has been my prayer from the start of this. And my personal opinion is it's a likely option.
Can anyone confirm the stories about African immigrants being held back at the border to Poland or Hungary? The Moroccan and Nigerian governments have basically left their citizens (many of them students) to fend for themselves.
In reply to aircooled :
I mean part of me wants that but I really hope that they can come up with something that doesn't make Putin look like a complete loser but really gives him nothing and stops the killing. Cause it is easy to sit here in the west and say that but Ukrainians are dying. Obviously the chances of this are very low but I hope and pray that something good comes from this.
While I am so proud to see the Ukranian people successfully defending their land I am worried about the next steps it will force. Vlad is not a guy to be embarrassed and I would be unsurprised by any level of heavy handed response. This would likely mean massive civilian casualties.
I read that Belarus has both joined the fight as well as launching short range missile attacks into Ukraine. I'm unclear how Putin can be de-nazifying a country while Belarus declares war to come to his aid? It's not like we don't all know this is a farce but the upkeep of a farce / defense may aid him in later world court trials.
84FSP said:While I am so proud to see the Ukranian people successfully defending their land I am worried about the next steps it will force. Vlad is not a guy to be embarrassed and I would be unsurprised by any level of heavy handed response. This would likely mean massive civilian casualties.
I read that Belarus has both joined the fight as well as launching short range missile attacks into Ukraine. I'm unclear how Putin can be de-nazifying a country while Belarus declares war to come to his aid? It's not like we don't all know this is a farce but the upkeep of a farce / defense may aid him in later world court trials.
For what its worth, based on the civilian casualty numbers reported by the UN and the Ukrainians, it does seem that the Russians have made an effort to avoid indiscriminate bombardment of civilians. After 5 days of heavy urban combat, the fact the civilians death tolls are not much higher is a small miracle. My heart goes out to the innocent people caught up in all this, especially children.
FatMongo said:84FSP said:While I am so proud to see the Ukranian people successfully defending their land I am worried about the next steps it will force. Vlad is not a guy to be embarrassed and I would be unsurprised by any level of heavy handed response. This would likely mean massive civilian casualties.
I read that Belarus has both joined the fight as well as launching short range missile attacks into Ukraine. I'm unclear how Putin can be de-nazifying a country while Belarus declares war to come to his aid? It's not like we don't all know this is a farce but the upkeep of a farce / defense may aid him in later world court trials.
For what its worth, based on the civilian casualty numbers reported by the UN and the Ukrainians, it does seem that the Russians have made an effort to avoid indiscriminate bombardment of civilians. After 5 days of heavy urban combat, the fact the civilians death tolls are not much higher is a small miracle. My heart goes out to the innocent people caught up in all this, especially children.
There are stories of Russians specifically targeting homes. They did the same thing in Syria.
The only reason there aren't more civilian casualties is because they are not there.
https://www.dw.com/en/antiwar-rally-draws-at-least-100000-in-berlin/a-60934518
100,000 protest in Berlin
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-business-dmitry-medvedev-global-trade-858a23b058209e5662ee59d768b615bd
Russian lawmakers and others in the government condemn putt putt and the war.
The Global Hawk coverage in the Black Sea has gone dark from flight trackers. Still 3 KC135R's orbiting so the RQ-4 is there, it's just not broadcasting in the clear anymore.
Bank runs started on Russian banks.
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