The HIMARS are making quite a difference. They just need more of them… They are being ultra careful with them, making sure no informant / 5th columnist has time to spot their location and message the Russians with the coordinates. I reckon they are moving 100% of the time, day and night.
The 777s are a great gift too, despite having been delivered minus the module which is used to program the guided shells.
Probably the big decisive thing now will be what they do about Kaliningrad. Lithuania is blocking some cargo through it’s territory. Russia might want to get it there by force. If they do, they have messed with a NATO country.
Well, in the Norwegian news this week, the Russian claims that Norway is preventing them to deliver food to their base in Svalbard and are considering unilateral revision of the 2010 treaty related to the sea access sharing between Norway and Russia. That is also a bit concerning, Norway being also a NATO member…
Russia is claiming tons of bullshit every minute. It is their normal condition. When they say ‘the sun is shining’, 99% of the time it is raining.
Your ‘this is a bit concerning’ is their success. Don’t fall for these mind games.
Mooney_Driver wrote:
Probably the big decisive thing now will be what they do about Kaliningrad
Lithuanian Nazis will kill innocent Russians in Vilnius and attack Kaliningrad. Tens of thousands of social media posts will document these atrocities with fake pictures and videos. Russia will be forced to come to their defense.
That’s how it’s done in Russia, since decades.
WingsWaterAndWheels wrote:
Well, in the Norwegian news this week, the Russian claims that Norway is preventing them to deliver food to their base in Svalbard
It this completely made up or is there some flimsy fact behind it?
Here is some coverage of a Ukrainian GA airfield which was partly damaged by Russians. It shows some aircraft in the hangars
Airborne_Again wrote:
It this completely made up or is there some flimsy fact behind it?
There is. Quite a lot of cargo to Svalbard goes via Norway mainland and there, any cargo from Russia is blocked and therefore doesn’t reach the shipping to go to the island’s russian enclaves of Barentsburg and some others.
Depending on where you look for sources, the extent of the ban differs, but it is definitly something which gives the Russians a headache to supply their people up there.
As Svalbard per se is neutral ground (which is the reason the Russians are allowed to be there) merely administrated by Norway, a direct ban is not possible, that is if the Russians decide to supply their settlements by ship, they can do so. I am not sure about air, as the airport is Norwegian, but generally also that should be possible. However, that is not how it’s done, the normal supply route goes via ship from mainland Norway. And that route is interrupted due to the sanctions, which Norway supports.
Given the position of Svalbard and it’s status, hopefully a solution is found before the Russians get ideas to occupy it with their Northern fleet.
Mooney_Driver wrote:
Quite a lot of cargo to Svalbard goes via Norway mainland and there, any cargo from Russia is blocked and therefore doesn’t reach the shipping to go to the island’s russian enclaves of Barentsburg and some others.
Barentsburg is the largest “Russian” city/settlement at Svalbard. One catch though, of the people living there today, only 10% are Russian, the rest are Ukrainians 
It’s a mining town, and the mining company is Russian, but the people are mostly from Ukraine. Pyramiden is another Russian city, abandoned the last 20-30 years. The “dispute” with the cargo was solved by sending the cargo with Norwegian ships.
The U.K. Defense Ministry said in its latest update that even though Russia’s assault towards Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast “has been its most successful axis” during the last 30 days, its troops have only managed to advance about 10 kilometers during this time. In other areas of Donbas, its forces haven’t gained more than 3 kilometers during the same 30-day-period, which is “almost certainly significantly less than planned,” the ministry said. “Despite its continued heavy use of artillery in these areas, Russia has not been able to generate capable combat infantry in sufficient numbers to secure more substantial advances.”
And they are losing 200-300 men a day (dead) to go 10km in 30 days.
