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Sto zovreja ovdejki sega? What's caused this latest round of silliness?
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Доста бе Вегето една, во секоја манџа се мешаш -
I'm pretty sure the US could put an immediate stop to this by reigning in the albanians, instead they (the US) are stoking the fire at a time when the Russians (particularly Wagner PMC) are preoccupied in Ukraine.Originally posted by kompir View Post
The US has identified an opportunity to heap pressure on the Serbs and to break their resistance to EU and NATO subservience.Comment
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Kosovar and Serbian forces put on "highest alert" ('full state of combat alert readiness').
The Serbian army is transporting heavy weapons to Kosovo's administrative border. Near the Jarinje checkpoint, a column of 155 mm NORA self-propelled artillery units accompanied by military police was spotted.Comment
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I'm sure many will have already seen the interview with retired US Colonel Douglas MacGregor on the YouTube channel Redacted by now, but, if you haven't, I recommend watching it as it does seem like the guy knows what he's talking about. His insight on the effectiveness and limitations of the Patriot missile system was very interesting. His opinions on the battle for the city of Bakhmut was also fascinating to hear.
I don't think any of this information is top secret and a quick Google search seems to confirm what he is saying about the Patriot missile system. He is basically saying that that it is a fragile and expensive system to run. The US donation of 8 launchers would make up a single battery that could only provide coverage and protection for a segment of a city but can't fully protect a large city such as Kiev. Patriots are often deployed as a battalion, which includes four batteries. According to the Colonel, for the Patriots to be effective on the battlefield, the Ukrainians would need at least ten battalions. In addition to this, a single patriot missile is worth a minimum of $3 million (and up to $6 million, depending on the type of missile being used). This is due to the highly technically specialised engineering that goes into manufacturing them. And, they're not something you can mass-produce in a relatively short amount of time. Then there's the training of personnel that is required to operate them - a minimum of six months of intensive training.
The Russians are obviously aware of all this and are, no doubt, viewing this as more of a nuisance (perhaps even a hindrance) rather than a game changer. Their Russian Iskandar missiles would quickly and easily overwhelm the Patriot battery in next to no time.
MacGregor's non-mainstream perspective of the conflict has put him on the wrong side with the powers that be and his Wikipedia page reflects this. He has been labelled a racist and pro-Putin crackpot but that's not what I saw in the interview or from what I read about his views on Wikipedia. Instead, the impression I get is that of a calm and articulate man who can think for himself. I guess that's his crime. Freedom of thought is quickly being erased in the US (and the rest of the world) and thinking for yourself can get you in a lot of trouble these days.
The US has dug it's heels in and "made it clear that they would not support anything that doesn't involve the wholesale humiliation of the Russian state and people". That attitude has forced the Russians "to drop a sledge hammer on the place and it's gonna be terrible".
The last count of the Russian forces (from a few weeks ago) had them at 540,000 strong just patiently waiting for the go-ahead to launch a full-scale attack which would dwarf the initial invasion force from February by comparison. Apparently, the number of soldiers will have increased even more by now. MacGregor's analysis of the situation is that they are currently preparing for the up-coming offensive operations. Once the Russian commanders are satisfied that the ground is sufficiently frozen, it's going to get messy. The only question is when it will go ahead. It could be tomorrow or it could be in February.
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The large scale use of relatively cheap drones that are being used in swarms will also make the Patriot a very expensive system to operate - 3 million dollar Patriot missiles fending off $30K Iranian drones makes it a very expensive defensive platform particularly for a combatant that depends on handouts for their survival…another logistical nightmare for the Ukrainians using the Patriot system is the long lead time from manufacturing new missiles and their delivery to the battlefield…Originally posted by Karposh View PostComment
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Absolutely. The average yank (that is not from New York or California) is pretty much fed-up with supporting the puppet from Ukraine. The handouts can't last forever, surely.Originally posted by Phoenix View Post
BTW, SoM would you mind moving these last couple of posts into the Ukraine thread. I accidentally posted in the Kosovo thread instead of the Ukraine one.Comment
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Breaking news from Ohrid: Reuters reporting that Serbia and "Kosovo" have reached "some kind of agreement" (Vucic's words) on normalizing tiesComment
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Borell: "Kosovo agreed to initiate immediatly the process of granting Serbs a level of self-governance."
Will this come back to bite Macedonia?Comment
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I believe that it’s already a reality in Macedonia, the Albanians have been running the show and on their own terms since 2001…the question should be will Kosovo allow the Serb minority access to every high level ministerial and public office just as the Albanian minority is entitled to in Macedonia…?Originally posted by Carlin View PostComment
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Clashes are now taking place between members of the Kosovo special forces and the Serbs. In the community of Zvechan, special forces used stun grenades. Columns of police armored vehicles are moving towards the buildings of local governments in Kosovska Mitrovica.
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The deployment of the Serbian Armed Forces in the direction of the Kosovo administrative line is underwayComment
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According to the decision of the new (Albanian) 'mayor' of the municipality of Zvechan, all Serbian flags must be removed from public areasComment
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