(May 3, 2023 at 10:16 pm)The Grand Nudger Wrote: I doubt I had much to do with it.  These loons are constantly surprised by their own idiocy and that's why they fuck off when they do.  Just a few posts back IA was saying what..that russia would do something, bigly, if ukraine hit the kremlin.  Like what...invade ukraine?

(April 26, 2023 at 10:15 am)The Grand Nudger Wrote: The article points out that the problem is not actually the -task- of cleaning up or lengthening runways - or a "problem with the f-16".  Monkeys can do this.  It's that it would be highly visible, and so present a clear target for russian strikes.

It would make sense, truly, if russia hasn;t always had clear targets within reach and opted to shell apartment complexes and hospitals and schools, instead.  I doubt there would even be a ukrainian force left to go begging for f16s if they'd dropped all of that on the heads of the actual forces, logistics hubs, and production centers that ukr relies on.  I get why russia is fucking up this way, because some criminal back in moscow has dibs on the facilities and gear..but it seems like a particularly good way to lose a war to me.

(May 3, 2023 at 3:10 pm)Irreligious Atheist Wrote: So first we got the Pentagon papers that show Ukraine has no choice but to negotiate because they will run out of soldiers, and China is actually willing to arm Russia, and now someone is trying to drone strike the Kremlin? Zelensky or someone else or false flag, I do not know, but if this was Zelensky, giving him weapons was far dumber than arming Al Qaeda and ISIS as Zelensky is the greater threat to the planet.

These “leaks” are said to be modified as they are being spread through news outlets and social media. Many facts are being distorted so I chose to stick on what I really know and discard everything that could potentially be false information

(May 3, 2023 at 4:42 pm)Irreligious Atheist Wrote:

(May 3, 2023 at 4:21 pm)arewethereyet Wrote: Did someone make you come back?

Do you have a remark about Russia Ukraine, or are you just going to keep posting off topic personal attacks and dragging the thread down into the mud? Another case where the moderator gets to break all the rules, while I'm accused by an admin of posting hate speech and slurs against trans people, with no evidence that I did any such thing, and no pointing me out to any such quote that was written by me. A blatant lie. Rules for thee. Not for me. Just a tip. In the OP of the trans thread, please let posters know that it is basically an upset wife thread, meaning, "I don't want your input on the problem or a solution on how to improve the things I'm talking about. I just want to be heard and agreed with and a shoulder to cry on." If that's what you wanted the thread to be, you should have made that clearer. I remember a time when atheists were proud of the label free-thinker and we actually had discussions about things.

So, what are your thoughts on the Pentagon papers and the drone that was blown up over the Kremlin? You thinking false flag? Have any thoughts on the actual topic of the thread? Or is turning the conversation into a petty attack on me more important to you than discussing a major world event, and the implications of that major world event, that just happened?

(May 3, 2023 at 10:43 pm)Fireball Wrote:

(May 3, 2023 at 10:16 pm)The Grand Nudger Wrote: I doubt I had much to do with it.  These loons are constantly surprised by their own idiocy and that's why they fuck off when they do.  Just a few posts back IA was saying what..that russia would do something, bigly, if ukraine hit the kremlin.  Like what...invade ukraine?

I hope it isn't a setup for nukes. I'd like to think that the specter of nukes is enough deter their use, but I'm seeing a lot of crazy in the world today.

(May 3, 2023 at 3:10 pm)Irreligious Atheist Wrote: So first we got the Pentagon papers that show Ukraine has no choice but to negotiate because they will run out of soldiers, and China is actually willing to arm Russia, and now someone is trying to drone strike the Kremlin? Zelensky or someone else or false flag, I do not know, but if this was Zelensky, giving him weapons was far dumber than arming Al Qaeda and ISIS as Zelensky is the greater threat to the planet.

Quote:Russia likely staged this attack in an attempt to bring the war home to a Russian domestic audience and set conditions for a wider societal mobilization. Several indicators suggest that the strike was internally conducted and purposefully staged. Russian authorities have recently taken steps to increase Russian domestic air defense capabilities, including within Moscow itself, and it is therefore extremely unlikely that two drones could have penetrated multiple layers of air defense and detonated or been shot down just over the heart of the Kremlin in a way that provided spectacular imagery caught nicely on camera. Geolocated imagery from January 2023 shows that Russian authorities have been placing Pantsir air defense systems near Moscow to create air defense circles around the city.[4] A strike that avoided detection and destruction by such air defense assets and succeeded in hitting as high-profile of a target as the Kremlin Senate Palace would be a significant embarrassment for Russia. The Kremlin’s immediate, coherent, and coordinated response to the incident suggests that the attack was internally prepared in such a way that its intended political effects outweigh its embarrassment. The Kremlin immediately accused Ukraine of conducting a terror attack, and Russian official responses coalesced rapidly around this accusation.[5] If the drone attack had not been internally staged it would have been a surprise event. It is very likely that the official Russian response would initially have been much more disorganized as Russian officials scrambled to generate a coherent narrative and offset the rhetorical implications of a clear informational embarrassment. The Kremlin has notably failed to generate a timely and coherent informational response to other military humiliations not of its own making, including the falls of Balakliya and Kherson City in September and November 2022.[6]

The rapid and coherent presentation of an official Russian narrative around the strike suggests that Russia staged this incident in close proximity to the May 9th Victory Day holiday in order to frame the war as existential to its domestic audience. The Kremlin may use the strike to justify either canceling or further limiting May 9th celebrations, actions that would likely augment the information effort framing the war in Ukraine as directly threatening Russian observance of revered historical events. ISW has previously assessed that Russia is employing an array of measures to frame the war in Ukraine as existential to Russia’s domestic audience and to prepare for wider societal mobilization.[7]