Russia Invades Ukraine 2022

[mike]

The long-feared Russian winter counteroffensive has finally begun in the eastern part of Ukraine.

Tens of thousands of new Russian conscripts are flowing into the war-torn country ahead of the war’s one-year mark, with Moscow looking to overwhelm Ukrainian troops and retake huge swaths of territory lost last autumn as spring warms the region, according to experts.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg this week said the “reality is we have seen the start” of the offensive already, and U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley called it “a critical moment,” in the conflict.

But the little-trained and ill-equipped Kremlin troops are only likely to bring about another kind of stalemate in the region, experts say, warning that it’s not the full-scale offensive expected.

“I don’t think this is the big thing that we’re all waiting for,” said John Spencer, a retired Army major and chairman of urban warfare studies at the Madison Policy Forum.

He said the operation is in its early phase — similar to when Russia positioned its forces on the borders of Ukraine in January 2022 — with a massive mobilization not yet observed.

“Although some units are advancing along the line or pushing forward … they haven’t shown the capability to conduct coordinated large-scale operations,” Spencer told The Hill.

Ukrainian troops holding line at Bakhmut

[Szdfan]

Today is the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

[mike]

Today is the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

It's amazing.

[temporal1]

CHINA - THE VOICE OF REASON?!

AP / China calls for Russia-Ukraine cease-fire, peace talks
https://www.aol.com/news/china-calls-ru ... src=aolapp

United Nations Russia Ukraine War
China's deputy United Nations Ambassador Dai Bing address the U.N. General Assembly before a vote for a U.N. resolution upholding Ukraine's territorial integrity and calling for a cessation of hostilities after Russia's invasion, Thursday Feb. 23, 2023 at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
ASSOCIATED PRESS

(Not the first to offer diplomacy only to be rejected out of hand.)

Hope. Prayers. “Cease-fire” are beautiful words. Stop it.

[Ken]

CHINA - THE VOICE OF REASON?!

AP / China calls for Russia-Ukraine cease-fire, peace talks
https://www.aol.com/news/china-calls-ru ... src=aolapp

United Nations Russia Ukraine War
China's deputy United Nations Ambassador Dai Bing address the U.N. General Assembly before a vote for a U.N. resolution upholding Ukraine's territorial integrity and calling for a cessation of hostilities after Russia's invasion, Thursday Feb. 23, 2023 at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
ASSOCIATED PRESS

(Not the first to offer diplomacy only to be rejected out of hand.)

Hope. Prayers. “Cease-fire” are beautiful words. Stop it.

Russia is the country that is engaged in offensive operations all across the front line right now, and with enormous loss of life. Not Ukraine.

[temporal1]

like clockwork

[Josh]

Russia is the country that is engaged in offensive operations all across the front line right now, and with enormous loss of life. Not Ukraine.

Are you saying a negotiated ceasefire is a bad thing?

[temporal1]

Yahoo! News / Zelensky plans to meet with China's Xi on proposed peace plan
https://www.aol.com/news/zelensky-plans ... 37764.html

[Ken]

Russia is the country that is engaged in offensive operations all across the front line right now, and with enormous loss of life. Not Ukraine.

Are you saying a negotiated ceasefire is a bad thing?

No, it is a good thing. Even better if Russia follows through by packing up and going back to Russia. And finally decides to start living up to the agreements that they have already signed.

The don't even need to negotiate anything to do that.

[mike]

It has been reported that Xi Jinping is going to Russia, and apparently is also meeting with Zelensky. Does this indicate he's trying to broker peace?