-
I think Xi Jinping wants his legacy to include taking back Taiwan so towards the end of his upcoming third term when his army is more hardbody too who know he might give it a go
IDK even if the Chinese are going to occupy some of those small Taiwanese islands off the Chinese coast right now
-
That Taiwan visit said that the US has their back if/when China decides to invade.
-
-
A Russian military base that housed ammo, planes, helicopters on the Crimea was bombed yesterday.
This is the first attack on the Crimea during the current war and it could lead to a new phase in the war.
The Ukrainians do not (officially?) possess the type of launch platforms and missiles that can reach the Crimea, which is simply too far away. An attack by fighter jets or helicopters is impossible as well. IDK about drones, IDK what range those have. That leaves behind enemy lines special forces or local partisans as realistic possibilities.
in any case 12 explosions caused severe damage to the military base.
the attack on the Crimea could lead the Russians to stretch their defenses from the regions they are occupying in the North, East and South of Ukraine to now include the Crimea as well, in the process thinning the defenses in the Donbas area
Zelensky said he wants the Crimea back and I'm sure he does but basically that statement is just symbolic/motivational/grandstanding
A few more attacks on the Crimea would change the whole military situation for sure though
-
I saw that. The media is trying to say the Russians accidentally blew their own shit up.
-
Even the Ukrainian official line is 'Russian soldiers were smoking where they shouldn't have been on that base of theirs'
With the statements 'we want the Crimea back' and 'we didn't attack the base' at approximately the same time Zelensky and 'em are both upping the media pressure / international pressure on Putin (Crimea statement) and shielding themselves from all out Putin wrath ('didn't attack')
there has been unofficial confirmation from within the Ukrainian army to international journalists though that Ukrainians did actually attack the base, but there's no word on whether it was through missiles/drones/partisans
I guess there's a possibility a third party nation sold Ukraine long range missiles on the sly. the Americans were quick to point out the type of HIMARS they are currently supplying to the Ukrainian army don't have the range to target bases in the Crimea. (there's HIMARS in different categories according to type of range). if they did sell those it would probably be a red line crossed in geopolitical terms and would make Putin go more hardbody internationally
what would really make matters worse though in terms of war and heightening the conflict internationally would be if the Ukrainian army hit Russian cities across the Ukrainian border (just to the North of Ukraine) in a big way to take out military bases and military supply depots there. earlier on in the war I remember Ukrainian helicopters flying in to hit some targets just across the border on one particular occasion but that was just a minor strike. if the Ukrainians launch missiles to the North on Russian bases in Russia it'd complicate things even more
-
Russia still using the occupied Ukrainian Zaporozje (Zaporizja) nuclear plant as a military base where it launches missiles from, and the Ukrainian army is still shooting at the base on and off with all sorts of stuff
ah well it's only a nuclear plant
-
-
More explosions in the Crimea : an armory and an electricity plant
-
A car bomb killed Aleksandr Dugin''s daughter. Dugin is Putin's philosophical/geopolitical inspiration. He is called the 'modern day Rasputin'. Dugin and his daughter were leaving a folklore festival. Dugin's daughter got into her father's car and it exploded while Dugin saw the whole thing happen.
Meanwhile more explosions in the Crimea in the last 48 hours.
I wonder if negotiations will start when winter comes and territorial gains will be difficult to realize on frozen and snowed in terrain.
-
-
-
-
-
Sources state that Putin is strongly considering utilizing nuclear weapons.