Mar 19, 2022·edited Mar 19, 2022Liked by Graham Seibert
This is odd: "in a village near Bela Tserkva, about 70 mi. south of Kyiv, 3 teenage girls were arrested for putting targeting marks on sites for use by Russian aircraft. Most of the diversionary groups are led by a Russian national but the bulk of their members are Ukrainian citizens. The Ukrainian’s primary motivation is to make money, as interviews and their history indicate they are apolitical." It doesn't make sense, seeing the attacks on civilians, the rapes and so forth attributed to Russian soldiers. The question is why they would want to see the Zelenskyy government fall and be replaced by a Russian puppet regime. There's more to this, it can't just be solely for monetary gain - either they have no connection with the Zelenskyy government or actively oppose it - and the question here is why that would be the case.
Task & Purpose, which has been a reliable US publication devoted to military affairs, seems to think that one way or another, the Zelenskyy government has two weeks to go, either by negotiated settlement or unconditional surrender. A quick ceasefire as part of a settlement would be the better part of that, else it's bombardment by cruise missile and a lot of death and destruction... Putin has demonstrated that he can hit all parts of Ukraine at will, either from the Black Sea or within Russia or Belarus, with these cruise missiles.
Good cruise missiles are fairly complex weapons. The US cost is ~ $1.5M each so they are normally reserved for targets with tolerably high value. Using them in the quantities reported in the news suggests they aren't that effective and that stockpiles may get depleted soon. Ship board missiles are of limited supply and more difficult to resupply.
In any war, there are always people who will do anything for money. It isn't surprising. And I wonder how many of those extremely expensive 'cruise missiles' the Russians actually have to fire away.
This is odd: "in a village near Bela Tserkva, about 70 mi. south of Kyiv, 3 teenage girls were arrested for putting targeting marks on sites for use by Russian aircraft. Most of the diversionary groups are led by a Russian national but the bulk of their members are Ukrainian citizens. The Ukrainian’s primary motivation is to make money, as interviews and their history indicate they are apolitical." It doesn't make sense, seeing the attacks on civilians, the rapes and so forth attributed to Russian soldiers. The question is why they would want to see the Zelenskyy government fall and be replaced by a Russian puppet regime. There's more to this, it can't just be solely for monetary gain - either they have no connection with the Zelenskyy government or actively oppose it - and the question here is why that would be the case.
Task & Purpose, which has been a reliable US publication devoted to military affairs, seems to think that one way or another, the Zelenskyy government has two weeks to go, either by negotiated settlement or unconditional surrender. A quick ceasefire as part of a settlement would be the better part of that, else it's bombardment by cruise missile and a lot of death and destruction... Putin has demonstrated that he can hit all parts of Ukraine at will, either from the Black Sea or within Russia or Belarus, with these cruise missiles.
Thanks for the reference to Task. A recent post https://taskandpurpose.com/news/video-russian-troops-ambush-ukraine-everything-wrong/. Given their analysis, it seems that Russia needs to find a good way to get out of this with some dignity.
Good cruise missiles are fairly complex weapons. The US cost is ~ $1.5M each so they are normally reserved for targets with tolerably high value. Using them in the quantities reported in the news suggests they aren't that effective and that stockpiles may get depleted soon. Ship board missiles are of limited supply and more difficult to resupply.
In any war, there are always people who will do anything for money. It isn't surprising. And I wonder how many of those extremely expensive 'cruise missiles' the Russians actually have to fire away.
Teenage girls? I doubt volunteers. Perhaps another crime to investigate later.