Ukraine War Watch Thread

[andmar74]

Seems like it's not sure the ship has been hit by an Ukrainian missile. Pentagon says that it's still afloat.

[weatheriscool]

America May Provide MQ-9 Reaper Strike Drones To Ukraine
Source: Defense Aviation Post

Ukraine is in talks to buy American-made heavy attack drones, which might tip the battle between Russia and Ukraine. Ukrainian officials met with General Atomics, a California-based maker of military drones, including the MQ-9 Reaper, the US Air Force’s principal reconnaissance and strike UAV, last week in Washington.

Though any sale must be approved by the US government, it is improbable that such conversations between Ukraine and a US weapons contractor would have taken place without the Biden administration’s blessing.

C. Mark Brinkley, a spokesman for General Atomics, informed me, “We have planes available today for quick transfer.” “With US government assistance, those planes might be in the hands of Ukrainian military pilots in a matter of days.”

snip...

Comparing the TB-2 (Turkish drone) to the MQ-9, on the other hand, is like comparing a Humvee to a passenger sedan. The MQ-9 has a 66-foot wingspan compared to the TB-2’s 39-foot wingspan. When fully laden with fuel and weaponry, the MQ-9 weighs around 11,000 pounds, compared to 1,400 pounds for the TB-2. The Reaper is twice as quick than the TB-2, reaching speeds of over 300 miles per hour vs 135 miles per hour.

Read more: https://defenceaviationpost.com/america ... o-ukraine/

[andmar74]

including the MQ-9 Reaper, the US Air Force’s principal reconnaissance and strike UA

The US really has a lot of stuff on the military shelves.

[andmar74]

Now it's official. The warship Moscow is gone.

[Xyls]

The neat-o new Ukrainian stamp:

https://globalnews.ca/news/8685206/ukra ... f-warship/

[raklian]

Now it's official. The warship Moscow is gone.

According to "official" Russian sources, it finally sank while being towed in the middle of a storm.

Someone already checked the doppler radar for the area. There was no storm to see.

Note that this version of what happened to the Moscow is just among several circulating about. The US military has yet to be able to independently verify what actually happened.

[Outlook]

Can you imagine any superpower having their lead ship sunk by a non-existent navy. The Russian armed forces are a joke. Whether they annex the Donbas or not, Russia has lost both its legitimacy and its respect. The rest of the world is laughing.

[Ken_J]

Can you imagine any superpower having their lead ship sunk by a non-existent navy. The Russian armed forces are a joke. Whether they annex the Donbas or not, Russia has lost both its legitimacy and its respect. The rest of the world is laughing.

Careful. that's a bit like saying "That big ape doesn't look so tough, I can take him." Just cuz somebody takes a lot of hits and some big hits too, doesn't mean the have lost, nor does it mean they can't cripple or destroy you and everybody you know. In the words of Han Solo, don't get cocky.

[wjfox]

The neat-o new Ukrainian stamp:

https://globalnews.ca/news/8685206/ukra ... f-warship/

[weatheriscool]

Russia warns U.S. to stop arming Ukraine
Source: Washington Post

Russia this week sent a formal diplomatic note to the United States warning that U.S. and NATO shipments of the “most sensitive” weapons systems to Ukraine were “adding fuel” to the conflict there and could bring “unpredictable consequences.”

The diplomatic démarche, a copy of which was reviewed by The Washington Post, came as President Biden approved a dramatic expansion in the scope of weapons being provided to Ukraine, an $800 million package including 155 mm Howitzers — a serious upgrade in long-range artillery to match Russian systems — coastal defense drones and armored vehicles, as well as additional portable anti-air and antitank weapons and millions of rounds of ammunition.

The United States has also facilitated the shipment to Ukraine of long-range air defense systems, including Slovakia’s shipment of Russian-manufactured Soviet-era S-300 launchers on which Ukrainian forces have already been trained. In exchange, the administration announced last week, the United States is deploying a Patriot missile system to Slovakia and consulting with Slovakia on a long-term replacement.

Shipment of the weapons, the first wave of which U.S. officials said would arrive in Ukraine within days, follows an urgent appeal to Biden from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as Russian forces were said to be mobilizing for a major assault on eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region and along the coastal strip connecting it with Russian-occupied Crimea in the south. Russian troops have largely withdrawn from much of the northern part of the country, including around the capital, Kyiv, following humiliating defeats by the Ukrainian military and local resistance forces.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national ... g-ukraine/

[caltrek]

Now it's official. The warship Moscow is gone.

While we have been chastised for showing disrespect toward Russian military personnel, the Russians have blamed the fire and subsequent sinking on Russian military personnel. Does anybody else find that ironic?

[caltrek]

Is Russia Committing Genocide in Ukraine?
by Zack Beauchamp
April 13, 2022

https://www.vox.com/23020696/ukraine-ru ... llegations

Introduction:

(Vox) On Tuesday, President Joe Biden made a striking declaration: Russia is committing “genocide” in Ukraine.

“It’s become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out even the idea of being Ukrainian,” he told reporters. “We’ll let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies [as genocide], but it sure seems that way to me.”

Biden’s assessment, grounded in recently discovered horrors like the slaughter of Ukrainian civilians in the town of Bucha, is by far the most high-profile assessment to date that Russia is committing genocide. While a handful of experts on war crimes have come to the same conclusion as the president, most experts and international authorities are still unsure.

“I don’t know yet, is the honest answer. [But] it’s not a crazy question to be asking,” says Rebecca Hamilton, an expert on the law of war at American University. “I’m not going to be surprised if, in time, evidence comes out and we can put together a picture that there is genocide.”

It’s easy to see this as a mere argument over definitions. It is clear that Russia is committing war crimes in Ukraine; these crimes do not become worse, in any legal or moral sense, if they are found to meet a legal or scholarly definition of “genocide.” Nor could any such finding legally require third parties, like the United States, to intervene directly in the war.

[andmar74]

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

Russian airstrike hits Ukrainian missile factory in Kyiv linked to Moskva sinking
Source: European Weekly News

A RUSSIAN airstrike has reportedly hit a Ukrainian missile factory in Kyiv on Friday, April 15, used to make the missiles that Ukraine claimed sank the Russian flagship missile cruiser ‘Moskva’ in the Black Sea.

In unverified video footage circulating on social media, heavy explosions can be heard in the Ukrainian capital as Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed to have targetted the Vizar Zhulyany Machine-Building Plant with their own cruise missiles.

According to Russia’s defence ministry on Friday, April 15, further intense attacks are planned for the capital after admitting to carrying out the attack on “the Vizar plant which makes, repairs anti-ship missiles.”

Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said: “The number and scale of missile strikes against targets in Kyiv will increase in response to the Kyiv nationalist regime committing any attacks of a terrorist nature or sabotage on Russian territory.”

Read more: https://euroweeklynews.com/2022/04/15/r ... tory-kyiv/

[raklian]

Just heard a retired General on CNN explaining how Russia might use tactical nukes in Ukraine. He said the means Russia is likely to deliver a tactical nuke is a nuclear-armed shell fired from an artillery. The United States has a stock of these types of shells as well. Now the question is - if Russia uses them, will the US give Ukraine some as well? Think about it - the US is in the process of handing 155 mm howitzers to Ukraine. These are the type of artillery the US used for delivery of tactical nukes when it conducted rounds of testing few decades ago. Makes you wonder? Hmm....

[caltrek]

Sunken Moskva Could be the Biggest Naval Combat Loss In 40 Years
by Thomas Newdick
April 14, 2022

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/s ... al-warfare

Introduction:

(The Drive) The Russian Navy’s Project 1164 Slava class cruiser Moskva sank in the Black Sea today (April 14, 2022), less than 24 hours later after claims emerged that it was struck by Ukrainian Neptune shore-based anti-ship cruise missiles. While we currently don’t know with any certainty what exactly happened to the Moskva yesterday, the fact it ended up sinking is highly significant in itself — if it were the result of enemy action it would be an extremely rare event. Indeed, we have to go back to the Falklands War of 40 years ago to find the last time a vessel of comparable size and prestige was sunk by enemy forces. Prior to that, a vessel of this size has not been destroyed in combat, while underway, since World War II.

You can find our original reporting on the Moskva incident here: (https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/r ... ff-ukraine), but once again it’s important to remember that the actual cause of the blaze on the Russian warship is so far unclear. While there are reports that the Ukrainian anti-ship missiles caused munitions aboard to explode, that cannot presently be confirmed. The Russians have implied it was an accident, but there is also a real threat from naval mines in the Black Sea, too. The Pentagon, for its part, has not revealed how it considers the damage was sustained. What seems beyond a doubt is that a blaze onboard the ship had such ferocity that all of the crew were forced to evacuate and that the resulting damage ultimately led to the demise of the vessel. Also keep in mind that the ship is packed with high explosive warheads, solid rocket motors, and fuel. The potential for massive secondary explosions during a fire is huge.

[Cyber_Rebel]

If we give Ukraine nuclear weapons, then WW3 is all but assured. That's a step beyond even the Cuban Missile crisis. Where else is Ukraine's going to deliver tactile nukes other than Russia itself? Perhaps this is another reason why Russia has been kidnapping so many Ukrainian citizens, aside from forced "repopulation" they also serve as hostages. Of course, using a WMD on Ukraine with potential fallout to neighboring countries gives NATO an impetuous to respond, but once it does there's no turning back.

Would be for everyone's best interest if Russia simply left Ukraine, and then decided to go on a long period of self-isolation, till they learned it's best not to meddle in the affairs of other nations. Yes yes, U.S. meddling since WW2, whatever, but at least that imperial power isn't threatening to nuke anyone, and really at this point is mainly a threat to itself. This is all also counterintuitive, as now more countries prefer the security guarantee of NATO and the United States.

[Xyls]

Oop, so maybe the crew wasn't rescued?

[Xyls]

Yes, yes... I know it's the Daily Mail, but there is some speculation:

Russia's 'broken arrow': Fears that NUCLEAR MISSILES sank with Putin's flagship Moskva amid claims that 452 of the 510 crew have drowned and top admiral has been arrested after cruiser was 'hit by Ukrainian missile'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... -sank.html

Although America doesn't think so...



The death toll sounds possible though as apparently Turkish ship responded to the rescue and only rescued about 58 sailors. Everyone else likely went down with the ship.