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As war drags on, Ukrainians start to ask: could we have prepared better?
The Guardian ^ | Fri 3 Jun 2022 | Shaun Walker

Posted on 06/05/2022 9:32:23 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican

When Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in the early hours of 24 February, with mass missile strikes and the advance of a land force from several directions, many key Ukrainian officials were apparently caught by surprise. Some were fast asleep.

There had been rumours of a Russian invasion for weeks, and the previous evening US and Ukrainian intelligence received information that pointed to an invasion that night with almost certainty. Yet there was little in the way of last-minute efforts to fortify towns close to the border, or to warn citizens to brace for the inevitable.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was at home with his wife and children. Numerous officials in charge of key regions close to the border, and mayors of cities containing strategic military targets, have told the Guardian in interviews over recent weeks that they were in bed and woke up in shock at the sound of booms, rather than having spent the final hours of peace coordinating the defence of their towns.

(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Russia
KEYWORDS: blueandyellowdrank; clownworld; fakecolossaldefeat; hopium; shaunwalker; theguardian; ukrainicorns
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To: Cronos

Save your lies for someone who cares and focus on Poland. I think you have about a couple of years to reform and become a good neighbor. Otherwise, the writing is on the wall..:)


21 posted on 06/05/2022 10:37:13 PM PDT by NorseViking
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To: MinorityRepublican

Ukraine could have had a Second Amendment.


22 posted on 06/05/2022 10:38:29 PM PDT by Jonty30 (Just as Jimmy Carter was thankful for Obama, Obama is thankful for Joe Bidon.)
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To: Jonty30
700,000 people had guns in Ukraine before the invasion.
23 posted on 06/05/2022 10:59:22 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

Were there only 700,000 Ukrainians?


24 posted on 06/05/2022 11:01:34 PM PDT by Jonty30 (Just as Jimmy Carter was thankful for Obama, Obama is thankful for Joe Bidon.)
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To: Houserino; MinorityRepublican
"As war drags on, Ukrainians start to ask: could we have prepared better?
The Guardian ^ | Fri 3 Jun 2022"

Is your head going to explode HouseRino? All of your neocon, warmongering dreams are turning to 5hit.

So sad.

25 posted on 06/05/2022 11:31:32 PM PDT by WMarshal (Neocons and leftists are the same species of vicious rat.)
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To: allendale

They had drones; what prevented them from being able to take out the convoy is Russia’s layered air defense system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKSQ1VhCmW4


26 posted on 06/05/2022 11:33:13 PM PDT by Cathi
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To: WMarshal

I knew from the start the Ukraine would probably lose.

But that doesn’t make russia/putin right for invading a harmless sovereign neighbor. You have to be a pure sycophant psycho to think it’s ok.


27 posted on 06/05/2022 11:33:32 PM PDT by Houserino
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To: Houserino
"I knew from the start the Ukraine would probably lose."

WTF?!?! What a sad attempt to walk back and disavow your abject stupidity in trusting No Brain Biden to fight a war. You are beneath contempt. Live in shame.

28 posted on 06/05/2022 11:38:41 PM PDT by WMarshal (Neocons and leftists are the same species of vicious rat.)
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To: WMarshal

You’re IQ 90 at best. I never said Ukraine ‘would win’ just that I support their side.


29 posted on 06/05/2022 11:40:54 PM PDT by Houserino
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To: Houserino
"You’re IQ 90 at best. I never said Ukraine ‘would win’ just that I support their side."

I shall never recover from the devastation wrought by your savage wit. I suspect that you will call me a "mean poopy-face" next. You should change your FR handle to "Bag of Hammers" you dim, humorless clown.

30 posted on 06/05/2022 11:49:17 PM PDT by WMarshal (Neocons and leftists are the same species of vicious rat.)
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To: WMarshal

I will give you scores on that for being funny. I still hate russia/putin though :P


31 posted on 06/05/2022 11:50:42 PM PDT by Houserino
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To: Houserino

I am perfectly happy with Russia or the Ukraine losing, I just don’t want to pay for it and let Biden use the Ukraine War as a distraction for his assault on Americans.


32 posted on 06/05/2022 11:55:50 PM PDT by WMarshal (Neocons and leftists are the same species of vicious rat.)
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To: WMarshal

It is, but it’s gotten on the backburner for now. Guns guns shootings are the main screaming of the left now, and I think that’s even far worse.


33 posted on 06/05/2022 11:57:26 PM PDT by Houserino
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To: MinorityRepublican
As war drags on, Ukrainians start to ask: could we have prepared better?

Yes: They could have kept their freakin' nuclear weapons!

Seriously: What country bordering Russia could be so stupid as to get rid of their nuclear arsenal on the basis of a mere "assurance?"

Regards,

34 posted on 06/06/2022 12:24:42 AM PDT by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
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To: alexander_busek

“What country bordering Russia could be so stupid as to get rid of their nuclear arsenal on the basis of a mere “assurance?”

Complicated answer.

1. Although Ukraine voted overwhelmingly for independence and a new future not based on the Soviet Union, 70% of the country had historical, familial or cultural ties to Russia. Putin isn’t wrong to say that Belarus, Ukraine and Russia are effectively three brothers.

2. Despite #1, Ukraine only has to look North at the basket case that is Belarus to see what Putin wanted Ukraine to be. No matter how brotherly they are, they don’t want what Putin offers.

3. The Budapest Memorandum was signed before Putin, Dugin and Zhirinovsky brought their misty-eyed ethnonationalist empire restoration fantasy into play.

4. At the time both Russia and Ukraine appeared to be inclined towards embracing western reforms and having a lot of fun transitioning out of the 70s.

Btw: The genocide trigger for the Special Military Operation is a total fiction. Even the DPR, on their own website, say the genocide ended three years ago.

Sporadic fighting between the mercenaries and separatists on one side, and Azov Nazis on the other, was ongoing but it had reduced to a turf war between two groups of fanatics, and barely touched the Russian speaking general population. For 3 years straight, civilian deaths didn’t exceed 27 in any calendar year.

If Putin really paid attention to the DPR, he’d have invaded before 2016 when the fighting was FIFTY TIMES MORE INTENSE than it was by December 2021.


35 posted on 06/06/2022 1:05:27 AM PDT by MalPearce
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To: alexander_busek

“Seriously: What country bordering Russia could be so stupid as to get rid of their nuclear arsenal on the basis of a mere “assurance?”

Ukraine never had the launch codes for those nuclear missiles, so they weren’t going to do them any good anyway.


36 posted on 06/06/2022 1:08:17 AM PDT by jimwatx
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To: jimwatx
Ukraine never had the launch codes for those nuclear missiles, so they weren’t going to do them any good anyway.

Still shouldn't have permitted their removal for nothing more than a flimsy "assurance."

Should have retained possession, and then looked for scientists and technicians capable of "re-activating" the weapons.

At least the fissile materials could have been harvested and re-used!

Regards,

37 posted on 06/06/2022 1:38:03 AM PDT by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
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To: MinorityRepublican
"perhaps Zelensky was leading the Russians into thinking that Ukraine was unprepared and look at what happened during the battle of Kyiv which was a colossal defeat for the Russians.

No perhaps about it. Zelensky led Russia on with feigned ignorance.

38 posted on 06/06/2022 1:53:13 AM PDT by Does so (https//youtu.be/3PxEWB6W8ig ......Uke's Independence Day Parade. Anthem starts at 15:00)
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To: alexander_busek

The launch codes wouldnt have been needed for disassembly at all. These systems varied by country and weapon, but IIRC a lot of them were just an authorization code given to the officers in charge of the weapon system, to be checked against locally held information to verify authenticity. At the fire control station the officers would then have used a local security means, some sort of physical key or key code held locally, to unlock a physical lock on either the weapon proper or the warhead.

The US subsequently created a centrally run system, but I dont know if they have implemented this across all weapons.


39 posted on 06/06/2022 2:18:07 AM PDT by buwaya (Strategic imperatives )
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To: buwaya
The launch codes wouldnt have been needed for disassembly at all.

Agreed!

Mentioning the lack of "launch codes" is a Red Herring - comparable to saying, "I can't drive the car, because I don't have the pink papers, or the key."

Ukraine could simply have "hot-wired" the nuclear weapons!

Regards,

40 posted on 06/06/2022 2:27:31 AM PDT by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
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