[RD] Russia Invades Ukraine: Eight

[Snowygerry]

What benefits are there for the EU in having Russians consumers switch from EU to Chinese goods ?

To kick them from our market place and limit their ability to disrupt our economy, like they could in the beginning of the war.

Like a drunken uncle you throw out at a wedding.

They could manipulate gas prices with a single press of the button, now Western Europe buys "Belgian" gas and prices are stable.

We should prepare for a power struggle that will last 10 to 20 years, until Putin is dead, and a stable market is part of that.

 

[Verbose]

What benefits are there for the EU in having Russians consumers switch from EU to Chinese goods ?

We primarily don't want Russia to get hold of dual-use stuff from exports.

The chip challenge: Keeping Western semiconductors out of Russian weapons

When Silicon Valley chipmaker Marvell learned that one of its chips was found in a Russian surveillance drone recovered in 2016, it set out to investigate how that came to be. “We couldn’t trace it any further,” Marvell Technology Group Ltd Chief Operations Officer Chris Koopmans said in a...

uk.movies.yahoo.com

 

[Thorgalaeg]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1790678574015386098

Belbek air base in Crimea has been hit pretty hard by ATACMS debris obviously. ATACMS debris again proving to be more deadly than ATACMS itself.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1790717031882363072

In Belbek too, a S-400 missiles has astutely intercepted incoming ATACMS without even leaving its canister. A S-400 radar has also sacrificed itself in the name of the motherboard.

 

[Klaus Hergersheimer]

ATACMS = ''Attack 'ems''. Was that intentional?

 

[Lexicus]

Not directly war related, but I have to wonder if this attack was related to Fico's pro-Putin stance.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/15/europe/slovakia-prime-minister-fico-shooting-intl/index.html

 

[Verbose]

Not directly war related, but I have to wonder if this attack was related to Fico's pro-Putin stance.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/15/europe/slovakia-prime-minister-fico-shooting-intl/index.html

Dunno yet. The shooter is apparently a 71-year old man. No word so far about whatever motives he might have had.

 

[Lexicus]

Dunno yet. The shooter is apparently a 71-year old man. No word so far about whatever motives he might have had.

Oh, maybe just disturbed then.

 

[red_elk]

Street fights in Volchansk are reported.

Ukraine is starting to lose ground in the area of last year's counteroffensive too.
Rabotino is lost, fights reported in the center of Staromayorskoe.

Three Ukrainian Helicopters Landed Near The Front Line. A Russian Drone Was Watching—And A Russian Strike Force Was Ready.​

The Ukrainians keeps losing helicopters at front-line refueling points.

For the second time in two months, Ukrainian army helicopters landed near the front line in eastern Ukraine to refuel and rearm—and were spotted by a Russian drone winging overhead. Moments later, a long-range Russian munition—possibly an Iskander ground-launched ballistic missile—blew up three of the helicopters near Pavlohrad, 70 miles west of the line of contact around Berdychi.

The loss is a devastating one for the Ukrainian army’s small aviation force, and yet another sign that the Ukrainians are still struggling to maintain adequate air defenses all along the 600-mile front line of Russia’s wider war on Ukraine. The pair of Mil Mi-24 attack helicopters and an accompanying Mil Mi-17 assault helicopter were flying daytime missions on or just before Saturday when they landed at what’s called a “forward arming and refueling point,” or FARP.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davida...watching-and-a-russian-strike-force-was-ready

 

[saamohod]

Rabotino is lost

Again? I'm pretty sure you already posted it weeks ago.

 

[Sommerswerd]

Oh, maybe just disturbed then.

That's ageist Lex... 71 year olds can be political radicals just as much as anyone else.

 

[Lexicus]

That's ageist Lex... 71 year olds can be political radicals just as much as anyone else.

Nah, I just think that if he were a big Ukraine supporter or something there'd already be reporting on it.

 

[Sarin]

Not directly war related, but I have to wonder if this attack was related to Fico's pro-Putin stance.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/15/europe/slovakia-prime-minister-fico-shooting-intl/index.html

I doubt so, although it is possible..I mean, the would-be assassin is 71 years old. He remembers times before 1989, hell he remembers 1968. If he felt, justifiably in my opinion, that Fico is dragging the country back to those times...well, it could have pushed him over the edge.

But at least as likely is that it's related to the internal politics. Fico is breaking up the democracy and freedom in Slovakia piece by piece and building a corrupt oligarchy in Russian style in its place.

 

[Verbose]

Nah, I just think that if he were a big Ukraine supporter or something there'd already be reporting on it.

The Slovakian government certainly already claims the attack was politically motivated.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

Spoiler :

Meanwhile in Ukraine...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1790836457663279444

Again more attacks on Belbek and other places in Crimea happening just now. Ukraine may be taking advantage of the previous attack weakening Russian air defenses or something.

 

[saamohod]

Spoiler :

Meanwhile in Ukraine...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1790836457663279444

Again more attacks on Belbek and other places in Crimea happening just now. Ukraine may be taking advantage of the previous attack weakening Russian air defenses or something.

Heat map confirms something was burning again in Belbek airbase last night

 

[Sarin]

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukrainian-strike-crimea-airbase-destroys-three-russian-warplanes-satellite-firm-2024-05-17/

Two MiG-31 and Su-27 destroyed in strike at Belbek.

 

[amadeus]

What are the operational ranges of these aircraft? I would think that if they are able to fly further than the Ukrainians have operational missiles, I would think it wiser to base them further away.

Someone with more knowledge of air warfare can probably explain why I’m wrong.

(Yes, I thought of fuel… are the Russians short on that?)

 

[Sarin]

What are the operational ranges of these aircraft? I would think that if they are able to fly further than the Ukrainians have operational missiles, I would think it wiser to base them further away.

Someone with more knowledge of air warfare can probably explain why I’m wrong.

(Yes, I thought of fuel… are the Russians short on that?)

Those aircraft are also engaged in defensive duties, in which case the loiter time and response times are very important, so placing them close to frontline is necessary.

 

[Verbose]

What are the operational ranges of these aircraft? I would think that if they are able to fly further than the Ukrainians have operational missiles, I would think it wiser to base them further away.

Someone with more knowledge of air warfare can probably explain why I’m wrong.

(Yes, I thought of fuel… are the Russians short on that?)

About 1500 km for the Migs and 3000 km for the Sukhoi. Which is longer maximum ranges than most current Ukranian missles afawk. But then if you want to flying artillery to turn up in any half-expedient manner, then maximum ranges are not something you want to be operating at.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

I think it is a matter of prestige. Russia doesn't need its mig-31s in Crimea to scramble for any incoming Ukrainian fighter since Ukraine has practically no air force (for now) and they supposedly have an air defense which should be able to do that work without much issue, even if it has showed pretty inoperant against Storm Shadows / SCALP cruise missiles.
Now the problem for Russia is if they want to have any aircraft in Crimea at all they are going to be under ATACMS range. It the same story as with the Black Sea fleet again. If it was humiliating to leave Sebastopol and the whole western black sea (worst defeat for Russia so far IMO), leaving Crimea without any Russian air force sounds even worse. Soon it will become a demilitarized zone. LoL.