Just now, athywhite1958 said:

Sluffy, can I offer a suggestion, when you copy and paste an article you. then type out the said article, this means reading the same stuff twice making it longer than was probably intended

A suggestion, not a criticism

Thank you,

There is a specific reason why I do this because what I am posting up are Tweets and to read the article you have to click on the Tweet.

Some people want to read the full article but won't click on links they are unsure of.

Therefore I post the Tweet (and you will see the tweet will include the first line of the article) but you can't read the whole of the article without clicking on to the Tweet.

So I'm not exactly posting the same article twice, I posting up the Tweet, and for those that don't want to click on the tweet, the full text for them.

I could of course not post up the tweet then everyone would be on my back telling me I should post the link instead.

In other words I can't win whichever way I do it,

4 minutes ago, royal white said:

You’ve just made those figures up haven’t you

I've generalised - and you know that.

I'm happy to converse with you if you want to discuss things sensibly but I'm not here to play your games,

Enjoy the rest of your day,

6 minutes ago, Sluffy said:

I've generalised - and you know that.

I'm happy to converse with you if you want to discuss things sensibly but I'm not here to play your games,

Enjoy the rest of your day,

Well the figures you said are totally unrealistic, refugees from other countries have managed to vote in the past. Saying Dimrons post was silly was, well a bit silly.

1 minute ago, royal white said:

Well the figures you said are totally unrealistic, refugees from other countries have managed to vote in the past. Saying Dimrons post was silly was, well a bit silly.

I'm not playing your game.

Go away.

Thank you.

14 minutes ago, Sluffy said:

I'm not playing your game.

Go away.

Thank you.

Oh it’s a game now you’ve realised how ridiculous your post was. 😆

Останній Капіталіст

@Ostanniy_Cap

6h

Translated from Ukrainian

Fedorov: There’s actually a lot of corruption

Look, there were department heads appointed by private companies. Department heads don’t attend Ministry of Defense meetings without employees from certain law enforcement agencies

When I found out why you, as a department head, are inviting a law enforcement officer to a meeting about shells or, say, about relocating an enterprise—I was surprised. And we started firing them, firing, firing, firing these people

There was once a case during a meeting—I wasn’t at that meeting, the first deputy was chairing it. And they were discussing a direct contract. These were the very first days there, or the first weeks.

A letter had been drafted with a specific company. And right then, there was a letter from the BEB, and this was well-known information in our circle that this company has margins of 200-300 percent, and it belongs to one well-known individual who doesn’t live in Ukraine

There you have it. And after a discussion with the General Staff, it was removed from the list—they properly removed this company, no issues. But who said what at that meeting became known to the entire market

We conducted an internal investigation, I called Ignatov, he says: “No problem, like, this can’t be, let’s fix it.” And we found out who it was, conducted polygraphs, found these people

I didn’t manage to sign the demotion in rank and suspension, I just didn’t have time physically because the investigation was ongoing. But I think those people got the message

That’s why there are a lot of such stories there that have started to change architecturally, and they’ll be able to save our country’s budget so that we can keep fighting, use the money on what we need

1 hour ago, Sluffy said:

Thank you,

There is a specific reason why I do this because what I am posting up are Tweets and to read the article you have to click on the Tweet.

Some people want to read the full article but won't click on links they are unsure of.

Therefore I post the Tweet (and you will see the tweet will include the first line of the article) but you can't read the whole of the article without clicking on to the Tweet.

So I'm not exactly posting the same article twice, I posting up the Tweet, and for those that don't want to click on the tweet, the full text for them.

I could of course not post up the tweet then everyone would be on my back telling me I should post the link instead.

In other words I can't win whichever way I do it,

Sluffy my ole mucker...

I am very, very aware of Eastern Euopean politics and have put up with a lot of "Putin apeasement" bullshit over the years with regard to my views.

In my defence, things have panned out precisely as I predicted... old fashioned industrial warfare comaparable to the US War of Independence and the trenches of WW1. The UK and others could, and should have put more effort into nipping this ridiculous waste of life and resources in the bud... but it all fell into our then Prime Minister's Churchillian poses and he sent Liz Truss over to negotiate.

Don't forget your "tweet feeds" are controlled by algorithms and only produce what you want to see and hear.

18 minutes ago, Dimron said:

Sluffy my ole mucker...

I am very, very aware of Eastern Euopean politics and have put up with a lot of "Putin apeasement" bullshit over the years with regard to my views.

In my defence, things have panned out precisely as I predicted... old fashioned industrial warfare comaparable to the US War of Independence and the trenches of WW1. The UK and others could, and should have put more effort into nipping this ridiculous waste of life and resources in the bud... but it all fell into our then Prime Minister's Churchillian poses and he sent Liz Truss over to negotiate.

Don't forget your "tweet feeds" are controlled by algorithms and only produce what you want to see and hear.

If that is the case, why is the battlefield almost exclusively being controlled and dictated by drone warfare?

1 hour ago, Dimron said:

The UK and others could, and should have put more effort into nipping this ridiculous waste of life and resources in the bud...

What would you have proposed?

41 minutes ago, Dimron said:

Sluffy my ole mucker...

I am very, very aware of Eastern Euopean politics and have put up with a lot of "Putin apeasement" bullshit over the years with regard to my views.

In my defence, things have panned out precisely as I predicted... old fashioned industrial warfare comaparable to the US War of Independence and the trenches of WW1. The UK and others could, and should have put more effort into nipping this ridiculous waste of life and resources in the bud... but it all fell into our then Prime Minister's Churchillian poses and he sent Liz Truss over to negotiate.

Don't forget your "tweet feeds" are controlled by algorithms and only produce what you want to see and hear.

Thank you, I did know that everyone's feeds are controlled by algorithms and I'm consistently reminding people not to believe anything on social media unless they check it out for themselves first - indeed I posted something very similar on the very first post I made on this thread today.

I've not really followed your work but some of the stories you've posted about yourself have had a whiff of BS to my nose, no offence intended.

No one predicted WW1 trench warfare, indeed the first year of the war was characterised by very fluid warfare, Russia's dash on Kyiv and to create a land bridge to Crimea, and on to Odessa, then Ukraine's stunning counter attack to liberate Kherson and sweep the Russians away from Kharkov and south and eastwards to the boarders of Luhansk Oblast.

Since then Russia has advanced at a snails pace up to the autumn of last year when Ukraine drone power started to become effective. Now we see modern warfare where there is in effect a 30km kill zone between the warring parties.

There's all sorts of reasons why the West didn't stand up to Putin in 2014 when he annexed Crimea and continued to do so to this day.

The thinking as I understood it was a fear of Russia imploding and various factions gaining control of nuclear weapons - and using them.

Whether that's true or not I'm in no position to judge.

Clearly no one is in any position to hold an election when something like 700,000 troops are busy fighting an existential war for their country.

In fact holding elections is one of Putin's many attempt to undermine Zelenskyy's position, echoed frequently by Trump.

The fear as I can understand it at the moment is that Putin will win the next round of Russian elections and call for a mobilisation as a desperate attempt to win the war (or at least enough to declare himself the winner) and that the only counter to that is for Zelenskyy to hold one too (mobilisations being highly unpopular to the public. in both countries).

Currently Ukrainian recruitment is under the head of the armed forces and they seem to be recruiting by basically 'shanghaiing' people into the armed forces, whilst the young Defence Minister wants to take on that role armed forces recruitment and be honest with people who will fight because they want to and not because they are forced to.

There's probably a lot more to it than that - and seemingly corruption is still rife as you mentioner earlier.

I've no understanding of what is going on other than the feeds I can find in English which I take with some caution.

If you do like to be informed then possibly the best site I can recommend to you is the Washington think tank's Institute for the Study of War but even then I'm sure it carries some bias within it

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, July 15, 2026 | ISW

13 hours ago, Winchester White said:

If that is the case, why is the battlefield almost exclusively being controlled and dictated by drone warfare?

A drone is a 21st century "smart" artillery shell

12 hours ago, Lt. Aldo Raine said:

What would you have proposed?

It was not an overnight attack by the russians... US/UK Intel warned Mr Z of the action exactly to the day but he refused to believe it... everyone told him "sorry mate but you've had it" over the preceding weeks and the US offered to evacuate him but he did not believe it would happen, he and his family were moved to safety in his jim jams on the day. BUT no one expected the Russian military to be so run down and inept using inferior Chinese made equipment... the advance on Kiev was stalled mainly because of mass punctures to Chinese tyres! We all expected a 1960s Hungarian style occupation.

The entire situation had been brewing since Condoleezza Rice reached a face to face agreement with Putin regarding NATO and perceived eastern expansion which was subsequently turned down by President Bush.

We and Europe needed to preserve our energy supplies from Russia in order to protect our econmomy, so we needed to get to grips with Russia's dislike of the cheeky media savvy "Servant of the People" Party and engineer an agreement where a more conservative and less disruptive government were in office in Ukraine (via EU Membership?) along with revisiting Ms Rice's agreement. Lots of work involved but the propspect then was of another Hungary style invasion.

Instead there was nothing but empty rhetoric and the inevitable happened. In my view (also western intelligence) Ukraine was now a lost cause, but we then started to pour billions in weponry into the region thereby prolonging the already faltering Russian invasion and producing the current stalemate and damage to our economies.

European wars tend to last 5-6 years before fizzling out owing to depletion of resources and manpower. What would I do now? We have no alternative to put boots on the ground and kick the Russians out but this would be very unpopular so instaed it will grind on and on.

57 minutes ago, Dimron said:

It was not an overnight attack by the russians... US/UK Intel warned Mr Z of the action exactly to the day but he refused to believe it... everyone told him "sorry mate but you've had it" over the preceding weeks and the US offered to evacuate him but he did not believe it would happen, he and his family were moved to safety in his jim jams on the day. BUT no one expected the Russian military to be so run down and inept using inferior Chinese made equipment... the advance on Kiev was stalled mainly because of mass punctures to Chinese tyres! We all expected a 1960s Hungarian style occupation.

The entire situation had been brewing since Condoleezza Rice reached a face to face agreement with Putin regarding NATO and perceived eastern expansion which was subsequently turned down by President Bush.

We and Europe needed to preserve our energy supplies from Russia in order to protect our econmomy, so we needed to get to grips with Russia's dislike of the cheeky media savvy "Servant of the People" Party and engineer an agreement where a more conservative and less disruptive government were in office in Ukraine (via EU Membership?) along with revisiting Ms Rice's agreement. Lots of work involved but the propspect then was of another Hungary style invasion.

Instead there was nothing but empty rhetoric and the inevitable happened. In my view (also western intelligence) Ukraine was now a lost cause, but we then started to pour billions in weponry into the region thereby prolonging the already faltering Russian invasion and producing the current stalemate and damage to our economies.

European wars tend to last 5-6 years before fizzling out owing to depletion of resources and manpower. What would I do now? We have no alternative to put boots on the ground and kick the Russians out but this would be very unpopular so instaed it will grind on and on.

VZ stayed in Kiev didn't he? I always assumed it was the opposite and that he refused to be evacuated? Didn't he say something along the lines of 'I need weapons. Not a route out' at the time?

There were loads of reasons the Russian advance failed. Chinese tyres might have been one of them - but there were loads more.

From what I've read, I don't think there's any documented evidence of that meeting between CR and Putin you've discussed. There were verbal assurances in the early 90's that were on record though. 'Not one inch further east' or whatever?

I like these discussions as it makes me feel like Mark Corrigan off Peep Show! 😂

17 hours ago, Sluffy said:

Ha, ha, ha!!!!

What an utter clown you are!

You "follow the situation there a lot" you say yet when I post up 'live' comments from those actually involved, in their own words, you refuse to read them!!!

How the fuck do you follow what is going on if you can't be arsed to read what the actual people involved are saying right now???

Q.E.D.

Ignorance is bliss.

7 minutes ago, kent_white said:

VZ stayed in Kiev didn't he? I always assumed it was the opposite and that he refused to be evacuated? Didn't he say something along the lines of 'I need weapons. Not a route out' at the time?

There were loads of reasons the Russian advance failed. Chinese tyres might have been one of them - but there were loads more.

From what I've read, I don't think there's any documented evidence of that meeting between CR and Putin you've discussed. There were verbal assurances in the early 90's that were on record though. 'Not one inch further east' or whatever?

I like these discussions as it makes me feel like Mark Corrigan off Peep Show! 😂

Yes, he did stay.

As for the Intel that the war was imminent, what the fuck was VZ supposed to do about it, other than prepare as best he could?

Ukrainians repelled the assault on Hostamel, despite overwhelming opposition force numbers.

Maybe the west could have been far more supportive in 2014, instead of turning a blind eye, and ultimately giving Putin belief that he could go for the rest of it.

If the west had been supportive in a much quicker and larger way initially this time, then maybe the war wouldn't have lasted this long.

Nevertheless, we are where we are, and VZ has played a blinder.

Has he made mistakes? Of course.

Has he stayed the course and done so much right? Absolutely.

1 minute ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

Q.E.D.

Ignorance is bliss.

What are you trying to say?

My reporting LIVE is an example of ignorance?

Or are you agreeing that you not bothering to read LIVE reporting is an example of YOUR ignorance?

Either way it reflects badly on YOU not me.

I can't believe that was your intention.

(but either way you've basically shot yourself in the foot!)

24 minutes ago, kent_white said:

VZ stayed in Kiev didn't he? I always assumed it was the opposite and that he refused to be evacuated? Didn't he say something along the lines of 'I need weapons. Not a route out' at the time?

There were loads of reasons the Russian advance failed. Chinese tyres might have been one of them - but there were loads more.

From what I've read, I don't think there's any documented evidence of that meeting between CR and Putin you've discussed. There were verbal assurances in the early 90's that were on record though. 'Not one inch further east' or whatever?

I like these discussions as it makes me feel like Mark Corrigan off Peep Show! 😂

Dimron lives in his own little fantasy world when it comes to Ukraine.

52 minutes ago, kent_white said:

VZ stayed in Kiev didn't he? I always assumed it was the opposite and that he refused to be evacuated? Didn't he say something along the lines of 'I need weapons. Not a route out' at the time?

There were loads of reasons the Russian advance failed. Chinese tyres might have been one of them - but there were loads more.

From what I've read, I don't think there's any documented evidence of that meeting between CR and Putin you've discussed. There were verbal assurances in the early 90's that were on record though. 'Not one inch further east' or whatever?

I like these discussions as it makes me feel like Mark Corrigan off Peep Show! 😂

Speaking of which.

I quite often feel like MC in the clip which has just popped up on my newsfeed on Wanderersways 😂

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BViuHESLb/

1 hour ago, Dimron said:

It was not an overnight attack by the russians... US/UK Intel warned Mr Z of the action exactly to the day but he refused to believe it... everyone told him "sorry mate but you've had it" over the preceding weeks and the US offered to evacuate him but he did not believe it would happen, he and his family were moved to safety in his jim jams on the day. BUT no one expected the Russian military to be so run down and inept using inferior Chinese made equipment... the advance on Kiev was stalled mainly because of mass punctures to Chinese tyres! We all expected a 1960s Hungarian style occupation.

The entire situation had been brewing since Condoleezza Rice reached a face to face agreement with Putin regarding NATO and perceived eastern expansion which was subsequently turned down by President Bush.

We and Europe needed to preserve our energy supplies from Russia in order to protect our econmomy, so we needed to get to grips with Russia's dislike of the cheeky media savvy "Servant of the People" Party and engineer an agreement where a more conservative and less disruptive government were in office in Ukraine (via EU Membership?) along with revisiting Ms Rice's agreement. Lots of work involved but the propspect then was of another Hungary style invasion.

Instead there was nothing but empty rhetoric and the inevitable happened. In my view (also western intelligence) Ukraine was now a lost cause, but we then started to pour billions in weponry into the region thereby prolonging the already faltering Russian invasion and producing the current stalemate and damage to our economies.

European wars tend to last 5-6 years before fizzling out owing to depletion of resources and manpower. What would I do now? We have no alternative to put boots on the ground and kick the Russians out but this would be very unpopular so instaed it will grind on and on.

This is utter bullshit.

Yes western intelligence predicted the attack in advance, and the huge Russian build up of force on Ukraine's boarders (including the Belarusian one) were clearly evident of a potential to attack for several days before they actually did.

I've no idea what Zelenskyy believed but to his credit he did not leave Kyiv when the invasion took place even though the US offered him safe passage.

Why the invasion failed wasn't because of 'Chinese made equipment' although there were reports about inferior tyres (however tanks and armoured fighting vehicles run on tracks not tyres) it was simply because the plan was to take the country in 3 days (capture Kiev and take the government and replace it with one of their own) so they carried insufficient fuel to power their army once the war started to turn in to weeks rather than the days they planned for.

Ukraine had of course made preparations for the attack one of which was to defend the airport at Hostomel just outside Kyiv to prevent Russian troop reinforcements flying in, to capture the capital and the government.

I don't understand the bollocks you seem to be talking about Rice and Putin?

President Bush and Secretary of State Rice were pro-NATO for Ukraine, it was Germany and France who BLOCKED it...

The United States has consistently advocated n a t o membership for Georgia and Ukraine. In spring 2008 the George W. Bush administration pushed for Membership Action Plans—the path to membership, for both nations. Our core n a t o allies, with Germany and France leading the way, blocked the effort, a move that in retrospect might have prevented August’s dustup between Russia and Georgia from escalating into a nuclear standoff.

friedman_logan_hittingstopbuttononnatoexpansion.pdf

And European wars last 5-6 years do they?

The United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR; also known by its French acronym FORPRONU: Force de Protection des Nations Unies) was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav Wars. The force was formed in February 1992 and its mandate ended in March 1995, with the peacekeeping mission restructuring into three other forces (the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) in the Republic of Macedonia, and the United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia (UNCRO) in Croatia, with restructured UNPROFOR operations ongoing in Bosnia and Herzegovina until their replacement by NATO and EU missions in December 1995).

United Nations Protection Force - Wikipedia

3 hours ago, kent_white said:

VZ stayed in Kiev didn't he? I always assumed it was the opposite and that he refused to be evacuated? Didn't he say something along the lines of 'I need weapons. Not a route out' at the time?

There were loads of reasons the Russian advance failed. Chinese tyres might have been one of them - but there were loads more.

From what I've read, I don't think there's any documented evidence of that meeting between CR and Putin you've discussed. There were verbal assurances in the early 90's that were on record though. 'Not one inch further east' or whatever?

I like these discussions as it makes me feel like Mark Corrigan off Peep Show! 😂

Condaleezza met with Putin several times (she is a fluent Russian speaker) around 2004.

There was one particular meet in his personal dacha, it was his birthday and they really pushed the boat out... she managed a one to one conversation where they informally agreeed that the Russians could place observers in the proposed US missile bases in Poland, the US wanted to be able to strike Tehran but Putin pointed out that they could be used against Moscow... Bush over-ruled and offered inspections rather than observers... this was hen it all stareted going wibble

2 hours ago, Sluffy said:

This is utter bullshit.

Yes western intelligence predicted the attack in advance, and the huge Russian build up of force on Ukraine's boarders (including the Belarusian one) were clearly evident of a potential to attack for several days before they actually did.

I've no idea what Zelenskyy believed but to his credit he did not leave Kyiv when the invasion took place even though the US offered him safe passage.

Why the invasion failed wasn't because of 'Chinese made equipment' although there were reports about inferior tyres (however tanks and armoured fighting vehicles run on tracks not tyres) it was simply because the plan was to take the country in 3 days (capture Kiev and take the government and replace it with one of their own) so they carried insufficient fuel to power their army once the war started to turn in to weeks rather than the days they planned for.

Ukraine had of course made preparations for the attack one of which was to defend the airport at Hostomel just outside Kyiv to prevent Russian troop reinforcements flying in, to capture the capital and the government.

I don't understand the bollocks you seem to be talking about Rice and Putin?

President Bush and Secretary of State Rice were pro-NATO for Ukraine, it was Germany and France who BLOCKED it...

The United States has consistently advocated n a t o membership for Georgia and Ukraine. In spring 2008 the George W. Bush administration pushed for Membership Action Plans—the path to membership, for both nations. Our core n a t o allies, with Germany and France leading the way, blocked the effort, a move that in retrospect might have prevented August’s dustup between Russia and Georgia from escalating into a nuclear standoff.

friedman_logan_hittingstopbuttononnatoexpansion.pdf

And European wars last 5-6 years do they?

The United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR; also known by its French acronym FORPRONU: Force de Protection des Nations Unies) was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav Wars. The force was formed in February 1992 and its mandate ended in March 1995, with the peacekeeping mission restructuring into three other forces (the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) in the Republic of Macedonia, and the United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia (UNCRO) in Croatia, with restructured UNPROFOR operations ongoing in Bosnia and Herzegovina until their replacement by NATO and EU missions in December 1995).

United Nations Protection Force - Wikipedia

I posted this previously, it makes a good read

https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2026/feb/20/a-war-foretold-cia-mi6-putin-ukraine-plans-russia

3 hours ago, Cheese said:

Dimron lives in his own little fantasy world when it comes to Ukraine.

Dimron believes it is easy to start a war but very difficult to find peace.

6 minutes ago, Dimron said:

Dimron believes it is easy to start a war but very difficult to find peace.

Does Dimron know the difference between an invader and the invaded?

15 minutes ago, Dimron said:

Condaleezza met with Putin several times (she is a fluent Russian speaker) around 2004.

There was one particular meet in his personal dacha, it was his birthday and they really pushed the boat out... she managed a one to one conversation where they informally agreeed that the Russians could place observers in the proposed US missile bases in Poland, the US wanted to be able to strike Tehran but Putin pointed out that they could be used against Moscow... Bush over-ruled and offered inspections rather than observers... this was hen it all stareted going wibble

Fair enough. Yeah that one did take place. But it was about missile placements - not the advance of NATO further into Eastern Europe or Ukraine.

27 minutes ago, Dimron said:

I posted this previously, it makes a good read

https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2026/feb/20/a-war-foretold-cia-mi6-putin-ukraine-plans-russia

Thank you it is a good read but doesn't back you up on anything you claimed in your earlier post other than Zelenskyy not expecting the invasion and which I said in my reply that I had no idea what if he was or if he wasn't expecting.

I stated earlier that I had not really followed your posts much to date because I kept catching a whiff of BS from them.

Unfortunately my nose continues to keep catching that whiff.

No disrespect intended.

Thank you for the news article link.