The

 

escalation is upon us.

God help us all...

UK to send long-range rocket artillery to Ukraine despite Russian threats

"The UK will send a handful of tracked M270 multiple launch rocket systems, which can hit targets up to 50 miles away, in the hope they can disrupt the concentrated Russian artillery that has been pounding cities in eastern Ukraine."

"Ben Wallace, the UK defence secretary, argued the decision to ship the rocket launchers was justified because “as Russia’s tactics change, so must our support to Ukraine”. The move risks further provoking an already irritated Kremlin."

"Before the British announcement, Putin told Rossiya state television that Russia would retaliate further if the US went through with the delivery of Himars rocket artillery that the White House promised last week."

“We will strike at those targets which we have not yet been hitting,” said the Russian leader, who has been closely involved with operational military decisions throughout the three months-plus of the war. He did not specify what those targets were."

(In case you missed it )

"In the small hours of Sunday morning, Russian cruise missiles struck a railway depot in the eastern Dniprovsky suburb of Kyiv. Ukraine said the strike hit a rail car repair works; Moscow said it had destroyed tanks sent by eastern European countries to Ukraine.

It was the first time anywhere in the capital has been hit for over five weeks. One person was hospitalised, and a plume of smoke rose and was visible from high points in the capital."

"Five cruise missiles were launched from Tu-95 bombers, one of which was intercepted, Ukraine’s air force said, in an attack that represented a change of approach on the part of Russian forces. Kyiv was last hit on 28 April."

"Russia’s ministry of defence claimed it was targeting an arsenal of T-72 tanks that had been delivered from eastern European countries, suggesting it now wants to target the supply of western arms. But Ukrainian officials said the statement was false."

(The Russians have said they would not allow it too happen...allowing Ukraine to be supplied with western arms that is.)

"Oleksandr Kamyshin, the chairman of the board of Ukrainian Railways, said: “There are no such tanks at the plant, as well as no military equipment. There are only cars that we repair. These carriages we need for export – these are, in particular, grain carriages.”

(Either way, repairing grain carriages or hitting shipments of T-92's, the end result is the same and the last I remember hearing was Ukrainian drones had prevented the Russians from achieving air superiority, so what exactly has happened there? What's the explanation for that?)

"The UK, in conjunction with the US and other western nations, began the war by promising only to supply “defensive weaponry” to help Ukraine repel the Russian invasion. But as Russia has made gains in the east and the south of the country, western countries have gradually sent more lethal arms."

"London said it had been cooperating closely with Washington. The British announcement comes a few days after the US said it would send four similar truck-mounted Himars systems. The US and UK systems are intended to be complementary. The ranges of both are far greater than any land weapons Ukraine currently has."

"Like the US, the UK has sought assurances from Kyiv that the M270s would not be used to strike targets within Russia. A British defence source said the weapons will be used “to defend Ukraine, in Ukraine”. They added: “We have confidence that the weapons will be used appropriately.”"

"Britain did not say how many M270s it was sending, although the number is small and will be comparable to the US decision to send four Himars. Ukrainian troops will be trained on how to use the launchers in the UK, the MoD added, and Kyiv’s forces will be supplied with the appropriate rockets “at scale”"

(I'm no military strategist by any stretch of the imagination but I love my football and there's an old axiom (WOD BTW) that goes a lil something like this, "The best defense is a good offense" Keeping the ball away from the other team limits their ability to score basically. (Seriously how else you gonna plan on stopping somebody like Aaron Rodgers/Tom Brady etc?) Making your opponent defend their home turf makes it harder for them to attack yours in other words. Four? Four of these things? Are you serious? And the number of UK tracked long range multiple launch rocket systems is small as well? And were gonna send Ukrainian troops to the UK to train them on how to use them and then send them back to the Ukraine to employee them in the theater of conflict. You really think we got time for all that? Why even bother? It wont be nearly enough, it's to lil to late already and the reason we would do such a thing is we already know it.) 

"'However, Putin said he believed the west’s goal was to prolong the war in Ukraine, which has now gone on for over three months, after the Russian president launched an unprovoked invasion on 24 February.

“All this fuss around additional deliveries of weapons, in my opinion, has only one goal: to drag out the armed conflict as much as possible,” Putin added.'"

(Projection, the mental process by which people attribute to others what is in their own minds.)

Britain’s Ministry of Defence said Russia was relying on “poorly equipped and trained” separatist forces from Luhansk to conduct the clearance of the city, a tactic it said had been previously employed by Moscow’s forces in Syria. “This approach likely indicates a desire to limit casualties suffered by regular Russian forces,” it added.

Somebody is on record as having said largely the same thing four or five days before this article appeared. How is that possible? I know my answer, what's yours? How many times does it have to happen before you start believing?

(ax·i·om

/ˈaksēəm/

noun

a statement or proposition which is regarded as being established, accepted, or self-evidently true.)