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Post by stuart1974 on Jun 27, 2023 10:01:56 GMT
Some reports from the MOD suggesting Ukraine has retaken some territory held by separatists since 2014. Small amount but perhaps an indication of where things may develop over the coming months.
Also, news that "Germany plans ‘permanent’ troop presence in Lithuania to strengthen Nato’s eastern flank". Germany is the lead nation in Lithuania (we are the lead nation in Estonia and Canada in Latvia).
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Post by stuart1974 on Jul 3, 2023 15:49:45 GMT
Orban in Hungary playing at being awkward again, in the meantime we are living rent free in the minds of some. Makes you feel proud, if only we were actually that good. 🧐
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Post by Gassy on Jul 3, 2023 20:55:29 GMT
Orban in Hungary playing at being awkward again, in the meantime we are living rent free in the minds of some. Makes you feel proud, if only we were actually that good. 🧐 100% this is true. Boris did it on Brexit didn’t he? Get Russia Done. |
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Post by aghast on Jul 6, 2023 22:05:48 GMT
Did anyone see BBC reporter Steve Rosenberg challenge Belarus leader Lukashenko about his policies on Russia, Ukraine and the Wagner group?
I hope he keeps his hotel door firmly locked tonight.
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Post by stuart1974 on Jul 9, 2023 18:52:07 GMT
500 days and counting. What has been achieved apart from death and destruction? Russia is a pariah state in much of the world and has driven most of Ukraine away from ties with Moscow into the arms of Nato and the EU.
Nato meet this week and amongst other announcements, is likely to provide a path to membership with even Turkey on board.
I was reading the other day how rejecting the Russian language has become a symbol of defiance even among native speakers and in a separate development, Ukraine is passing a law making English compulsory for many top jobs in an attempt to open up to international investment.
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Post by gasmania on Jul 10, 2023 0:21:00 GMT
500 days and counting. What has been achieved apart from death and destruction? Russia is a pariah state in much of the world and has driven most of Ukraine away from ties with Moscow into the arms of Nato and the EU. Nato meet this week and amongst other announcements, is likely to provide a path to membership with even Turkey on board. I was reading the other day how rejecting the Russian language has become a symbol of defiance even among native speakers and in a separate development, Ukraine is passing a law making English compulsory for many top jobs in an attempt to open up to international investment. Saw some rumours, but nothing official yet, that Turkey might send its navy to protect grain ships in the black sea even if Russia does not renew the grain deal. |
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Post by stuart1974 on Jul 10, 2023 16:10:06 GMT
500 days and counting. What has been achieved apart from death and destruction? Russia is a pariah state in much of the world and has driven most of Ukraine away from ties with Moscow into the arms of Nato and the EU. Nato meet this week and amongst other announcements, is likely to provide a path to membership with even Turkey on board. I was reading the other day how rejecting the Russian language has become a symbol of defiance even among native speakers and in a separate development, Ukraine is passing a law making English compulsory for many top jobs in an attempt to open up to international investment. Saw some rumours, but nothing official yet, that Turkey might send its navy to protect grain ships in the black sea even if Russia does not renew the grain deal. It could be Erdoğan is seeing a weakened Putin and looking to assert Turkish interests in the Black Sea and Syria where Russia is traditionally stronger. Certainly the recent prisoners release won't have gone down well in the Kremlin. |
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Post by stuart1974 on Jul 17, 2023 9:36:15 GMT
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Post by stuart1974 on Jul 19, 2023 16:41:53 GMT
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Post by trevorgas on Jul 19, 2023 20:38:17 GMT
Russia attacks Black sea ports housing grain silos destroying 60000 tonnes of grain hours after the grain deal ended.
Is there a more despicable world leader than Putin!!
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Post by stuart1974 on Jul 20, 2023 6:21:56 GMT
Russia attacks Black sea ports housing grain silos destroying 60000 tonnes of grain hours after the grain deal ended. Is there a more despicable world leader than Putin!! Putin holding the world to ransom, yet many of those affected, particularly in Africa, will still either actively support him or remain neutral. "Wheat prices have risen sharply on global markets after Russia said it would treat ships heading for Ukrainian ports as potential military targets. Moscow pulled out of a deal this week that had guaranteed safe passage for grain shipments through the Black Sea. A White House spokesperson accused Russia of planning to blame Ukraine for attacks on civilian ships. Russia's President Vladimir Putin said he would return to the grain agreement immediately if his demands were met. They include reconnecting Russia's agricultural bank to a global payment system." www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66253143 |
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Post by stuart1974 on Jul 24, 2023 8:03:53 GMT
Pretty conclusive response.
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Post by stuart1974 on Jul 24, 2023 17:07:50 GMT
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Post by stuart1974 on Jul 25, 2023 15:05:31 GMT
Q&A on Sky News, this is pertinent to the earlier discussions on this thread.
"The latest question comes from Dave, who asks: What measures are Ukraine taking to prevent another vast openly neo-Nazi extreme group (like Azoz were reported to be) from entering its ranks?
Our defence and security analyst Professor Michael Clarke says...
²
They don't have to do much at all, since there is nothing much to prevent on the Ukrainian side.
The Azov battalion was formed around some neo-Nazi individuals in its ranks around 2014.
Neo-nazi groups have been a feature of many European societies, especially the post-Soviet states in recent years, growing generally out of the soccer hooligan fringes in all of them.
The Azov battalion that fought at Mariupol was not neo-Nazi in its make-up, despite Russian strategic communications trying to argue the contrary.
Russian TV ran images of Azov, and other Ukrainian troops, where they added Nazi badges to bits of their kit in the background of the shot, so they were not immediately obvious but would be picked up in social media within a few hours.
There appear to be considerably more neo-Nazis in the 20 plus mercenary groups fighting for Russia and within the official Russian armed forces, than in Ukraine.
The incidence of neo-Nazis in the militias raised by the breakaway Luhansk and Donetsk "people's republics" has been well documented.
Neo-Nazis and far right groups in Ukraine have remained on the political fringes since 1991, even when there might have been an upsurge of support after the Russian invasions of 2014.
No party or group gets representation in Ukraine's parliament unless it gets a minimum of 5% of the vote.
In the last elections in 2019, the ultra-right coalition, which included all the neo-Nazi politicians, managed 2.1% and therefore has no seats at all.
Meanwhile, the ultra-right AFD party in Germany, where its own neo-Nazis are represented, has risen from 10% to 20% in the "poll of polls" as of 10 July 2023.
That puts it ahead of the SPD in terms of current popular voting intentions. Now that is something worth worrying about."
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Post by stuart1974 on Jul 26, 2023 7:12:49 GMT
"The UK government has been sharply criticised by the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) for under-estimating the dangerous growth of Russia's Wagner mercenary group. In a scathing report, the cross-party committee of MPs accused the government of what it called "a dismal lack of understanding" of Wagner's activities in Africa. "We are deeply concerned by the government's dismal lack of understanding of Wagner's hold beyond Europe, in particular their grip on African states," says the Committee's chair, Alicia Kearns MP. Meaning what, exactly? The report itemises seven states where Wagner's military activity has been detected: Ukraine, Syria, the Central African Republic (CAR), Sudan, Libya, Mozambique and Mali. Wagner has developed a highly successful and profitable business model in these countries, enriching itself and its client rulers, mostly at the expense of the local population. The FAC report has used evidence provided by a well-placed and senior Wagner source, a "defector", who revealed that his organisation had boasted of teaching local police authorities in the CAR how to torture civilian captives. The Wagner Group is accused of murdering hundreds of civilians in that country while helping to prop up the regime that pays their salaries. Mali is a prime example of a country where the Wagner Group has successfully supplanted Western, French-led forces, while ingratiating itself with an autocratic government that recently seized power. "Where the West moves out, Wagner moves in, seeing opportunity in suffering and profit in chaos," says the report. "The UK must provide an alternative for countries that are struggling', it adds. "It is a foreign policy goal of the Kremlin to force failing states to rely on the Wagner network." "Sanctions are not enough," says Ms Kearns. "The UK needs to proscribe the Wagner group for what it is: a terrorist organisation." " www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66308864 |
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Post by stuart1974 on Aug 21, 2023 19:12:40 GMT
Netherlands and Denmark now being joined by Greece in the F16 partnership for Ukraine, that will increase numbers.
Meanwhile, Finland feeling they can start getting a bit assertive:
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Post by yattongas on Aug 23, 2023 18:07:29 GMT
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Post by stuart1974 on Aug 23, 2023 18:47:44 GMT
Just a matter of time, makes a change from a 7th floor window. |
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Post by aghast on Aug 23, 2023 18:48:58 GMT
Pretty likely he was seen to. What a tragedy though for the other passengers and crew. Maybe it was just an accident but I'm thinking a new unknown ground engineer was busy with some last minute maintenance. |
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Post by stuart1974 on Aug 23, 2023 19:08:48 GMT
Pretty likely he was seen to. What a tragedy though for the other passengers and crew. Maybe it was just an accident but I'm thinking a new unknown ground engineer was busy with some last minute maintenance. The Wagner founder was apparently on board too, he is (was!) a neo nazi, so quite ironic in many ways given one of Putin’s objectives at the start. Be interesting to see what the rest of Wagner do now, they are vital to Russia's influence in Africa. Chinese money and Russian hardmen are what many African leaders are looking for. |
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