[Rikbikboo]

So now the US will be moving some
Nukes to the UK

If that’s not a sign of what’s coming I don’t know what is.

The UK has its own nukes. Why do we need the US ones here. Probably cos they would rather the UK gets wiped off the map first perhaps.

Only a matter of time before one is fired I think. What with the NATO guy telling civilians to prepare the other day.

I don’t think it’s decades away. I think it’s a lot closer than that.


https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-w...#liveblog-body

[RedactedKaos]

Originally Posted by Rikbikboo ↗

The UK has its own nukes. Why do we need the US ones here. Probably cos they would rather the UK gets wiped off the map first.

If true I doubt it has anything to do with the UK getting wiped out first it's to show that the US is even that much closer as a deterrent type thing and showing Allegiance between NATO countries

[kellyhound]

Originally Posted by Rikbikboo ↗

So now the US will be moving some
Nukes to the UK

If that’s not a sign of what’s coming I don’t know what is.

The UK has its own nukes. Why do we need the US ones here. Probably cos they would rather the UK gets wiped off the map first perhaps.

Only a matter of time before one is fired I think. What with the NATO guy telling civilians to prepare the other day.

I don’t think it’s decades away. I think it’s a lot closer than that.


https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-w...#liveblog-body

B61 tactical variants are deployed with NATO allies in Europe as part of the NATO Nuclear Weapons Sharing Program.

About 150 bombs are stored at six bases: Kleine Brogel in Belgium, Büchel Air Base in Germany, Aviano and Ghedi Air Base in Italy, Volkel Air Base in the Netherlands and 50 in Incirlik, Turkey.

In 2012, NATO agreed to improve the capabilities of this force with the increased accuracy of the Mod 12 upgrade and the delivery of the F-35 aircraft. This added a modest standoff capability to the B61.


There were some concerns with Turkey (in the recent past) when they bought S-400 systems from Russia instead of Patriots etc. so it wouldn't surprise me if this is just a relocation of them plus:

The return of American weapons to the UK is part of a Nato-wide programme to develop and upgrade nuclear sites in response to heightened tensions with the Kremlin in the wake of the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Could be just a message to Russia to think twice before doing stupid things regarding to NATO.

[Rikbikboo]

Makes perfect sense. Cheers for that info.

[marekparek]

Violetta from Chernivtsi assembles drones in the kitchen and sends them to her father and brother at the front.

One drone costs approximately UAH 18,000. She earns money by selling homemade jewelry. In total, it was possible to send about 15 drones from under her hand.

[ride]

Originally Posted by kellyhound ↗

B61 tactical variants are deployed with NATO allies in Europe as part of the NATO Nuclear Weapons Sharing Program.

Ahh, the venerable B61. I’ve touched a few of those, mostly in Korea.

[Roosta]

There's no winners in war, nuclear or otherwise & it is more than apparent to us all that things are getting worse & with all these moving parts, it only takes one stupid move to start the beginning of the end for us all.
I'm struggling to see any one thing or a way out if you like, that will end all this for the betterment of humanity as nukes don't discriminate.

[kellyhound]

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Turkey on Feb. 12 to meet counterpart Tayyip Erdogan, a Turkish official told Reuters on Wednesday, in what will be the Russian leader's first trip to a NATO ally since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Putin's scope to travel abroad has been limited since March last year when the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against him for the alleged deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, a war crime. Russia denied the charge and called the move outrageous, but said it was legally void in any case because Russia is not a member of the ICC.

Turkey is also not a party to the Rome Statute of the ICC, so Putin can travel to Turkey without fear of being arrested under the warrant.

Turkey, which shares a maritime border with both Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea, has sought to maintain good ties with both nations since Moscow's full-scale invasion. It has provided military support to Kyiv and voiced support for its territorial integrity, but also opposes sanctions on Russia.

Ankara has sought to convince Russia to return to the Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey to provide protected exports from Ukrainian ports, after Moscow withdrew last July following a year of implementation.

Erdogan has said alternatives to the deal could not provide a lasting solution. While Kyiv has said talks were underway for a revival of the deal, Moscow has said it was not interested in reinstating it.

Earlier on Wednesday, Turkey and Ukraine signed an accord to allow Turkish construction firms to take part in reconstructing Ukrainian infrastructure damaged by the war with Russia.

Turkey has close economic ties with Russia, particularly in tourism, gas supplies, grain and other agricultural trade, that make Western countries uneasy. However, the two have also been at loggerheads over conflicts in Syria and Libya, where they back opposing sides, as well as over tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the South Caucasus.

Separately, Erdogan will travel to Egypt on Feb. 14, the Turkish official said, after the two countries upgraded their diplomatic relations by appointing ambassadors last year following a decade of tension.

[Guns N' Coffee]

https://www.newsweek.com/russian-air...valdai-1862693

Russia's air defenses in the city of St. Petersburg and the surrounding Leningrad region are stretched thin as President Vladimir Putin has pulled the majority of his resources to defend his prized residence at Lake Valdai, a Russian Telegram channel reported.

The VChK-OGPU outlet, which purports to have inside information from Russian security forces, said on Sunday that, according to its source, recent drone attacks on St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region are due to an "acute shortage of technical means for detecting small air targets and mobile air defense missile systems capable of shooting them down."

Russia's Pantsir-S1 air-defense systems "were deployed to protect a 'particularly important' facility in Valdai," the Telegram channel said.

Ukraine launched a drone attack on January 18 on a St. Petersburg oil terminal. It marked the first time a drone had targeted Putin's home region, Leningrad, since the full-scale war in Ukraine began. One of the drones launched in that attack flew over Putin's Valdai residence, RBC Ukraine reported, citing a source in the special services.

Putin's residence in Valdai is located in between Russia's Tver and Novgorod regions, some 250 miles away from the Kremlin.

"After the start of the war, almost all of the Pantsirs were sent to protect a 'strategically important' facility in Valdai, where the residence of the President of the Russian Federation is located, some went to the combat zone and one complex was 'lost' in 2023, due to an accident in the Leningrad region," the VChK-OGPU outlet said.

Newsweek couldn't independently verify the report and has contacted Russia's defense ministry for comment by email.

Agentstvo, an independent Russian-language investigative media outlet, reported in January 2023 that a Pantsir-S1 air-defense system was placed close to the residence following drone attacks inside Russian territory. It described the home as "a place of personal leisure for Putin, his relatives and friends."

Newsweek was told by self-exiled former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man before he fell foul of Putin, that in July 2023, the Russian president fled Moscow to his Valdai residence during a mutiny led by the now-dissolved Wagner Group.

Another Ukrainian drone attack near the city of St. Petersburg overnight on Sunday struck a major gas export terminal—the Ust-Luga—causing a huge fire. Ukraine's Security Service claimed responsibility for that attack, the Kyiv Post reported.

"The successful assault on this terminal not only inflicts substantial economic harm on the enemy, disrupting their revenue streams for the war in Ukraine, but also disrupts the logistical chain of fuel essential to the Russian military," a source told the publication.

"This move strategically hampers the occupiers' ability to sustain their forces, marking a significant setback in their ongoing aggression," it added.

The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank, in its latest analysis of the conflict in Ukraine said that Moscow is "reforming the Leningrad Military District with the expressed intent to prepare for a potential future conventional war against NATO and may be arranging military assets in a way to posture along the border with NATO members."

Ukrainian strikes in the region may prompt Russian forces to reposition short-range air defense systems along the expected flight routes of Ukrainian drones to defend potential targets of strategic value, the think tank said.

"Russian forces using short-range systems such as the Pantsir may not be able to cover all important potential targets in Leningrad Oblast without bringing additional systems into the area, and continued Ukrainian strikes in deep rear areas in Russia may thus increase pressure on Russia's air defenses overall," the ISW added.

[Roosta]

Could be running his campaign from the residence bunker, hence all the redirection of assets to protect it