Yeah hopefully this all ends soon.
That ammunition dump is a literal gold mine for both sides & I can see why Ukraine would roll into Moldova & secure it for themselves.
At some point I will drive over to the border just to check it out, might even live stream it on here.
I don't have to travel far to meet Ukrainian's though there's an awful lot where I live rolling about in Audi Q7's enjoying their ski holidays which isn't really sitting well with me.

I've mentioned on here before how Russia have eyes on turning everything from Kosice into a new zone called Transcarpathia, likely never to happen but there was a poll here recently which showed something like 40% of people are sympathetic towards Russia which really surprised me, also means should I ever find Russia on my border it wouldn't take much for another Transnistria to materialize.

Alas I'm prepped for most scenarios now.

The mountains are calling & I must go.

I think the fact this thread had fallen so far, and not been added to, was boredom with the conflict. There is a certain saturation point, and I think the media have been culpable in diluting interest.
The International Criminal Court arrest Warrant for Putin ? talk about symbolistic garbage.
Where was the arrest Warrant for Pinochet, Amin, Thatcher, Mugabe, Xi, Bush Jr, Blair ?

Makes you wonder what the f-k Governments actually do in a crisis, apart from manufacturing photo-opportunities ?

Ukraine will only make big headlines again when there's more Sh-t to hide by our own Government

Edited by Forest Hillbilly (18 Mar 2023 10.31am)

I disengage, I turn the page.

Finland signs up to become a member of NATO.

Thus the border of NATO countries with Russia is extended, the very opposite you would think of what Putin intended.

What the majority want in a country isn't what Democracy is.

Like most things, how they are sold and thought of, isn't actually how they work.

People tend to be over optimistic and hopeful towards an outcome that they want and prefer. Often how grounded in realism that outcome is tends to be lost in analysis. When people haven't had to earn the money themselves or risk their own lives it's extremely easy to be bullish.

It's a tendency of human nature that plays out more fully in our soft first world where the majority have never really suffered anything like previous generations did.

My objections and analysis of the wisdom of this war, the policy since the nineties and the approach since the invasion began are all contained in this thread and it's with no pleasure that I continue to observe this disaster play out.

I think history will condemn those who opposed those early peace negotiations. But that won't happen while we continue to be governed by those that supported that madness.

Whatever the end result the Ukraine is now a wreck that is a very expensive bill and the fantasy is that Russia will pick that up.

But that's just another example of the distance between what people hope for and what is realistic. The far more realistic outcome is that Ukraine is going to be a financial burden that the collective west will pay for......a far poorer western version of South and North Korea.

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

Ukraine is able to export electricity for the first time in six months as its energy infrastructure recovers from months of repeated Russian attacks.

Quite remarkable in view of what we have seen, to think that Ukrainians have come through the winter and apparently have no restrictions either.

The Irish may not have lots of this and lots of that but in many ways that’s why I like them.

The beatings will stop when morale improves.