By stating what is absolutely obvious to anyone whose conception of war isn't based on newspaper articles? — Tzeentch
As Russia launched its invasion, the U.S. gave Ukrainian forces detailed intelligence about exactly when and where Russian missiles and bombs were intended to strike, prompting Ukraine to move air defenses and aircraft out of harm’s way, current and former U.S. officials told NBC News.
That near real-time intelligence-sharing also paved the way for Ukraine to shoot down a Russian transport plane carrying hundreds of troops in the early days of the war, the officials say, helping repel a Russian assault on a key airport near Kyiv.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/us-intel-helped-ukraine-protect-air-defenses-shoot-russian-plane-carry-rcna26015
The aircraft is equipped with a defensive aids suite, comprising radar warning, jammers, infrared flare cartridges, chaff dispenser and two guns with a fire-control radar. Aerial bombs or radio beacons are suspended from external bomb racks on detachable pylons.
https://charter.capavia.com.tr/en/ilyushin-il-76/
experts say there is one place, more than anywhere else, where Putin’s vision of a lightning strike victory ran aground: Antonov Airport.
This sprawling cargo airport and military base 15 miles northwest of downtown Kyiv was supposed to be the principal staging ground and logistics hub for a battle-defining Russian thrust into the heart of the capital.
The Ukrainian government was supposed to fall and President Volodymyr Zelensky was supposed to be killed, captured or forced into exile. Experts said that Putin probably planned to install a puppet leader.
“They needed to get into the middle of Kyiv as quickly as possible and raise the Russian flag over a government building,” said John Spencer, a retired U.S. Army major who now chairs urban war studies at the Madison Policy Forum think tank in New York. “At that point you’ve won the war. Yes, you may start the greatest insurgency in history. But you’ve won the war.”
He said capturing the airport was “critical” to the Russian strategy. Antonov has a long runway, ideal for flying in supplies and troops on heavy transport planes.
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2022-04-10/battered-ukraine-air-field-was-key-to-russian-plan-to-take-the-capital-the-airport-fell-but-resistance-continued
The Russians would of course have to have suppressed the Ukraine air defences before the transport planes could land. — apokrisis
The Ilyushins have flares and electronic countermeasures, showing they are intended to have some chance of landing in defended forward areas. — apokrisis
My choice is between understanding what I can glean from named public sources or believing some random internet “military expert” pushing apologist talking points. — apokrisis
The best commentary I have heard paints Putin as the head of a crime mob who has become stuck in escalation mode by his miscalculations. Partly Ukraine is just about staying domestically popular. But also, he actually does seem to have a personal and irrational hatred of the West’s imposition of a global rules framework, so would be happy to smash it.
Putin may not actually have planned to go further than smash the emergence of such order right on his own doorstep. Maybe Poland, the Baltic States, Finland, could all be left as no kind of real threat to the Russian kleptocratic, fossil fuel, crime syndicate at all. — apokrisis
the whole planet should find Putin worth stopping - but in the context of the degree to which he threatens the world order that we need to construct, rather than the degree that it protects the world order that underpinned a fossil fuel consumption based model of humanity these past 70 years. — apokrisis
Yet Ukraine does get to have a say in what it people believe. — apokrisis
And the whole planet should find Putin worth stopping - but in the context of the degree to which he threatens the world order that we need to construct, rather than the degree that it protect the world order that underpinned a fossil fuel consumption based model of humanity.[/quote]Yet Ukraine does get to have a say in what it people believe. — apokrisis
Yet the fact is that the battlefield here is limited: Ukrainian troops will stop at the Russian border. The West can keep up such aid as it's giving now for quite a while. And now the mobilized troops can basically be formed into meaningful units for a spring offensive. Putin can likely continue the war longer than anticipated. Still, a collapse is also possible, although rather unlikely. — ssu
Yet the fact is that the battlefield here is limited: Ukrainian troops will stop at the Russian border. — ssu
Ukraine is a democracy, while Russia is not. It makes a difference in my book, and obviously for Ukrainians. — Olivier5
What criticism of Russian democracy does not also hold for Ukraine? — boethius
Ukraine is a democracy, while Russia is not. It makes a difference in my book, and obviously for Ukrainians. — Olivier5
SEAD strikes to facilitate landing large, slow-moving cargo planes on the frontline?
What scale of suppression do you have in mind? A nuclear strike on Ukraine?
You understand that even MANPADS, IR AA or unguided AAA batteries would be having a turkey shoot? — Tzeentch
And you're suggesting to land 18-20 of them under fire while loaded up with battalions worth of men and material. — Tzeentch
And for the record, you can continue linking articles that state experts supposedly said things - those have zero value. — Tzeentch
That the same guy heads the country for decades. — Olivier5
That most opposition figures have been killed or jailed, and their parties persecuted. — Olivier5
That all free press is banned from the country. — Olivier5
That entire regions have been massacred like Chechnya. — Olivier5
That one can go to jail for 15 years for criticizing the war, even if only by wearing a tshirt. — Olivier5
What kind of argument is this? — boethius
Same as Ukraine. — boethius
Just produce evidence to back your speculation. — apokrisis
No one suggested that. So strawman. — apokrisis
By some accounts, Russia had intended to land 18-20 Ilyushin IL-76 transport planes at the Hostomel airfield invasion’s opening hours. An aerial convoy this size could have potentially brought two entire battalion tactical groups (BTGs) worth of troops and equipment to the capital’s doorstep within the first hours of the invasion.
Again, the counterfactual is that no one in any of the reporting raised this as something making the Russian plan impossible. — apokrisis
An argument against people staying in power too long, nominating puppets to reign in their place, and changing the constitution to retain power beyond set limits. Power corrupts. — Olivier5
Nope. A lot of independent journalists operate there. Likewise, Ukrainian opposition has not been persecuted, and the war in Dombass has nothing to see with the mass killings in Chechnya. — Olivier5
Ukraine shuts TV channels it accuses of spreading ‘Russian disinformation’ — Financial Times
Ukraine: Zelenskiy bans three opposition TV stations — DW
That isn't speculation. You don't seem to be aware of what SEAD is, — Tzeentch
By some accounts, Russia had intended to land 18-20 Ilyushin IL-76 transport planes at the Hostomel airfield invasion’s opening hours. An aerial convoy this size could have potentially brought two entire battalion tactical groups (BTGs) worth of troops and equipment to the capital’s doorstep within the first hours of the invasion.
Enemy operatives spreading propaganda cannot be classified as "free press". They are on a mission to disinform. — Olivier5
Since WW2. It is forbidden in many democratic countries to spread hateful lies by way of press. — Olivier5
Where’s the contradiction? The cruise missiles were supposed to have done a large part of the job even before the paratrooper first wave. — apokrisis
Again, why have paratroopers ring a cargo airfield unless you planned to use that airfield pretty soon. — apokrisis
I’m finding it quite amusing, — apokrisis
Where's the proof, in a fair court, these 3 TV stations were spreading "hateful lies"? — boethius
It is forbidden in many democratic countries to spread hateful lies by way of press. — Olivier5
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