Ukraine War | Zelensky seeks NATO guarantees for unoccupied Ukraine for peace
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Centerpiece
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Somebody ask Mundial if they have any Intel going forward on the Belarusian “exercises” or if Russia is planning another hit on that dam.
Agreed. That’s my vote also.
I don’t think Biden wants to make any escalations before the election though.
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An F-16 fighter jet used by Ukraine crashed on Monday, Kyiv's military said, the first such loss reported since the long-awaited arrival of the U.S.-made planes in the country was confirmed this month.
The jet came down and its pilot died while it was approaching a target during a Russian airstrike, the Ukrainian General Staff said on Thursday in a statement on Facebook.
The F-16s had "demonstrated high efficiency" and downed four Russian cruise missiles, it added. "Connection with one of the aircraft was lost while it was approaching the next target. As it turned out later, the plane crashed, the pilot died," the statement added.
Ukraine has not given detail on the size of its new fleet, though the loss is likely to have left a significant dent. The Times of London has cited a source familiar with the matter as saying Ukraine had six of the jets.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy confirmed on Aug. 4 his pilots had started flying F-16s, hailing the moment as a major milestone in the fight against the invasion Russia launched 29 months ago.
He said on Tuesday F-16s were used to repel a major Russian attack a day earlier of more than 200 missiles and drones, which targeted the energy sector.
Monday's crash did not appear to be the result of Russian fire, and possible causes from pilot error to mechanical failure were still being investigated, a U.S. defense official told Reuters.
Military analysts have said the arrival of the small number of planes, while significant, is unlikely to be a turning point in the conflict.
Batt Boy
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Russians suggest the F-16 was actually a friendly fire shoot down
According to my information, the F-16 of the Ukrainian pilot Oleksiy "Moonfish" Mes was shot down by the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system due to a lack of coordination between the units. In the reports, it was noted that he "failed to manage." The event happened during one of the most powerful Russian air attacks on August 26. War is war, such episodes are possible. But the culture of lies in the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as in other higher military headquarters, leads to the fact that the system of managing military decisions does not improve on the basis of truthful, consistently collected analytics, but deteriorates and even collapses, as is happening in the Pokrovsky direction. And none of the generals was punished. General Oleschuk remains in office.
Photo: Oleksiy "Moonfish" Mes (right) together with Andrii "Juice" Pilshikov, who died earlier (the investigation into his death also did not clarify anything and no one was punished).
According to my information, the F-16 of the Ukrainian pilot Oleksiy "Moonfish" Mes was shot down by the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system due to a lack of coordination between the units. In the reports, it was noted that he "failed to manage." The event happened during one of the most powerful Russian air attacks on August 26. War is war, such episodes are possible. But the culture of lies in the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as in other higher military headquarters, leads to the fact that the system of managing military decisions does not improve on the basis of truthful, consistently collected analytics, but deteriorates and even collapses, as is happening in the Pokrovsky direction. And none of the generals was punished. General Oleschuk remains in office.
Photo: Oleksiy "Moonfish" Mes (right) together with Andrii "Juice" Pilshikov, who died earlier (the investigation into his death also did not clarify anything and no one was punished).
NYT reporting American officials doubtful of that theory
As Ukraine Mourns a Pilot’s Death, Jet’s Crash Is Still a Mystery
In a reversal, two senior U.S. military officials say the cause of the F-16’s crash was probably not friendly fire.
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Russia’s imperialist invasion is likely to result in Russia gaining territory, but at the expense of Russian centers of government, infrastructure, and cultural significance living under threat of terrorism, for decades, in addition dramatic economic and military degradation.
fsclark1
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This nuclear rhetoric isn't anything different than what Russia has put out numerous times over the course of the war. I seriously doubt Russia came "dangerously close" to using a weapon within Ukraine in 2022. I don't know what Sciutto is wanting to accomplish with this tweet. Ukraine absolutely needs enhanced Western support, and we shouldn't allow the latest in a long line of empty threats to curtail our aid.
genevabuck
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If Putin wanted to use a nuke he would. No amendments to documents needed.
Seriously. I can only imagine Putin going to his generals and saying “we must fire nuclear weapon now!” and them saying “well this document won’t allow us to until we change it.” More Sabre rattling.
gtyellowjacket
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Frankly, I can't imagine we would be much different if the United States was under dire threat. I can't imagine a scenario where Russia or China was closing in on DC and we didn't use nukes.
Which is one reason I can't imagine why we need to spend so much money to protect against China and Russia. First of all they aren't capable of invading ys but even if they were, we are going to Nuke them and to hell with the world before we let them conquer us. And they are going to do the same thing.
We're protecting our markets, not our territory. You're correct that no on is going to invade the US.
Russia is inherently aggressive and while it might be Ukraine today, they'll keep going. Or would have if we didn't prop up Ukraine's defensive capabilities. Eventually that would have come to a head. We kicked that problem down the road by decades for a fraction of our overall military budget, and not even a blip compared to our GDP.
We also need Taiwan to remain independent, at least until chip manufacturing can be domesticated or otherwise protected from rival countries. Imagine what would happen if we lost our ready supply to chips. The stock market would collapse.
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When I was in the Army in the early 1970's, I was assigned to a Lance missile unit in West Germany. The Lance missile had a tactical nuclear warhead. The authority to launch a Lance warhead was at the Corps Commander Level (a Lieutenant General, O-8) in our case the Commander of V Corps, which consisted of two Infantry divisions and various auxiliary units such as mine which was part of Corps Artillery. We were briefed as part of understanding what we were doing that the authority to launch tactical nuclear missiles in the Soviet Army was at the Battery Commander level, i.e., the Soviet equivalent to a US Army Captain. So in the Soviet Army an O-3 had authority to launch tactical nuclear weapons. In the US, such authority was at the O-8 level. If Russia is finally bumping up the level of authority needed to launch nukes, then that is a good thing.