Yes, it all looks pretty grim. I guess one can only hope the rumours of Putin’s illness prove to be true.
And now are we into reprisals against civilians?
I can only imagine he will try for maximum destruction of whatever he can reach.
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I think the US and allies misunderstood Russia’s aims from the start, which I think were always to create the ‘independent’ but pro-Russia state in the Donbas - that has to some extent existed for some years on the ground there anyway - and land link to Crimea. I still don’t see any other outcome.
The move towards Kiev I think was speculative, aimed at instigating regime change there, but not at occupying the whole country. However, the fiction that this was Russia’s aim might prove useful - enabling a settlement on the Donbas and Crimea to be presented as a partial victory for Ukraine, and therefore more palatable.
The other aspect that I think has been rarely discussed is the double-edged sword nature of nuclear weapons. They are habitually thought of as a deterrent - but it’s rarely seen that this cuts both ways. The Ukrainians had to fight - but no other country could really help them, because they simply had to avoid escalating the conflict to the nuclear level.
I thought it was for leverage. Actually there’s an article I linked to in March/April which says exactly what seems most likely far more eloquently than I can.
The conflict may spread to a wider section of cyberspace:
More not good news…!
Very true and rarely mentioned that nuclear weapons and the unthinkable risk of escalation stopped NATO putting boots on the ground, ironic really.
I wonder, if the 2 Brits and the Moroccan currently held by the Russians in Donbas are shot, whether that will precipitate the entry of other states into the war. I can’t believe it will benefit Russia.
I was about to post the same but then saw you already have!
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Well I know whom I regard as totally evil.
Are you talking about Conservatives as a whole. When does it become socially embarrasing to be Conservstive?
I’m not sure which post of mine you are referring to. However, to answer your question, my considered opinion is when the leadership goes rogue and one ends up trying to defend the indefensible.
There’s obviously nothing wrong with being a member of the Conservative and Unionist Party nor in buying into the Party’s values, but these values are now being thrashed by the Conservative Party leadership and the ERG.
So, it must be embarrassing for party members and activists, especially long term ones, to have to try and explain to friends and acquaintances why the Boss and his team are blatantly lying all the time, breaking the law (national and international), screwing over the people of Northern Ireland, dumping refugees in an African country to “build a new life” where 90% of the population live on less that $2 a day, etc. etc.
Look at this poor idiot destroy his credibility on the alter of Johnsonian worship.
If I was a member of the Conservative party watching this I’d be ashamed. Johnson has dragged the whole party down to his low level.
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I’ve not posted anything previously on the war in Ukraine because I had nothing useful to add, however, there’s a very moving, but hard -headed essay by a Ukrainian soldier in today’s NY Times:-
[Opinion | I’m a Ukrainian Soldier, and I’ve Accepted My Death - The New York Times (nytimes.com)](https://)
If you’re excluded by having hit the pay-wall’s monthly free articles limit, let me know and I’ll make it into a PDF
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My question is about this nuclear plant. With all the high tech gear employed in this lamentable war, how come nobody can tell where the shells exploding there are coming from. 
It would be a terrible own goal if it turned out they were Ukrainian.
Apparently the Russians moved their Rosatom staff before the explosions and the Russian soldiers were unsurprised. This is according to a Ukrainian person who was working at the plant about three weeks ago.
Counter-Battery Radar has been a thing since the 1960s. It’s now very compact, mobile and accurate.
The USA supplied the Ukrainians with AN/TPQ-36 Counter-Battery Radar in May of this year, so if the Ukrainians say they can’t tell where shells came from in Location X on Date Y, they either didn’t have this equipment within detection range of Location X on Date Y or they are lying.
They are all lying.
wasn’t it a Ukrainian shell that hit that Malaysian Airlines flight full of civilians on their way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, a few years ago and downed it?