The Ukraine war thread

[Renauda]

Well at least Russia has moved past some its medieval mythology to justify the war. It’s now moved on to early modern history lessons from the time Peter the Great:

“The Great Northern War with Sweden lasted 21 years. Twenty-one years. But just a few years after it began, Peter the Great offered peace to the Swedes… What did the Swedes say? ‘No, we will fight to the last Swede’,” Medinsky said in an interview with pro-Kremlin TV host Yevgeny Popov.

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/05/16/kremlin-negotiator-invokes-peter-the-greats-21-year-war-with-sweden-in-ukraine-talks-a89109

Still, the Russians get the history of the war with Sweden wrong and lay a back handed insult to all members of NATO at the same time. But that is only to be expected of an aggressor state.

Kremlin is not interested in any terms short of Ukraine’s total capitulation.

[Horace]

[Renauda]

I can’t see what or when Klaus posted it.

[Mik]

It still has Twitter as the site, so probably old.

[Renauda]

I can only guess - possibly a thermobaric rocket mortar. Nasty for sure, but effective and permissible as an anti-infantry weapon. Sucks the O2 out of the blast area. Russians have used them regularly since the 2022 invasion.

[Axtremus]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/23/ukraine-russia-drones-fiberoptic-jamming/

Fiber optic drones -- drones that fly tethered to a fiber optic strand; not susceptible to wireless signal jammers. The article says something about "12 miles" range and risk of cable entanglements. Hard for me to imagine a flying object going 12 miles tethered to a cable, much less a swarm of those going at the same time.

[jon-nyc]

"Trump felt that he knew Putin and that the Russian leader would end the war as a personal favor."

https://archive.ph/GX4bM#selection-3179.9-3179.105

[89th]

Delusional.

[Renauda]

Nothing happened to Putin, he is what he always has been. A KGB hood.

Trump is only beginning to come to terms that Putin has all along been playing him for the political Muggins he really is. The latter is not the least bit serious of agreeing to any peace deal short of the total capitulation of Ukraine to Russia’s stated objectives.

Yesterday’s comment from the Kremlin that Trump is merely experiencing “emotional overload” is a patronising insult designed to show the total disregard Putin himself holds towards Trump as a leader and person.

[Mik]

Putin lays out his conditions. Basically keep all the territory, no NATO, lft sanctions and give us our frozen assets.

"Bygones".

He's probably thinking he's gone as far as he can with this and there's nothing more to be gained.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/putin-lays-out-conditions-to-end-ukraine-war-reuters-reveals-list/ar-AA1FDwZ5

[Renauda]

The article leaves out a few salient points. Namely that Ukraine must give up all occupied and annexed but unoccupied Ukrainian territory and that NATO must abandon its open door policy regarding membership. As well, the term neutrality in context of Ukraine means becoming a puppet state of the Kremlin.

There are no concessions in the stated proposal outline. Rather they are terms of surrender for Ukraine, the US and the Western Alliance. Quite unacceptable to my thinking on the matter.

[Mik]

Agreed. I think we stay the course. But I thought that to begin with.

[Renauda]

Yes, stay the course and up the ante. I am of the mind that so long as Putin is in the Kremlin there can be no chance of peace.

[Mik]

Not a reliable one, anyway.

[Renauda]

Putin might be locking out US diplomatic efforts towards a settlement.

https://www.kyivpost.com/post/53548

Personally I think the Kremlin is about to deliver a one way ultimatum for Kyiv’s unconditional surrender.

[jon-nyc]

[89th]

Link to video

[Renauda]

Two weeks depending only if Witkoff can find a qualified interpreter not in the pay of the Kremlin…..if not, longer, possibly not at all.