Ukraine / Russia Thread

Zeedox

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Dec 1, 2020
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A top retired Russian general has warned Vladimir Putin not to go to war with Ukraine, accusing the leader of whipping up an 'artificial' conflict to distract from his domestic problems.

Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, 78, penned an open letter titled 'The Eve of War' in which he blasted Putin's 'criminal policy of provoking a war' despite Russia not facing any 'critical threats'.

The rare outburst of internal dissent comes as Emmanuel Macron jets to the Kremlin for crisis talks with Putin, a day after the White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said an invasion could come 'any day' at an 'enormous human cost'.


Ivashov, who has retired from military services and is active in politics as the chairman of the All-Russian Officers' Assembly, previously served as Putin's chief of military cooperation in the Ministry of Defence.

In an open letter on the assembly's website he said he fears Russia will become a 'pariah of the world community' if an invasion is launched.
 
At one point we had slowed to see if we could just 'go slower' then our current escort and I remember looking out the side-window at this jet pitched upwards, hanging in the air beside us. I commented on i/c (intercom) that 'if we slowed another 5 knots we'd likely lose him' to which our lead pilot replied, in the most somber voice, if we slowed anymore we drop out of the sky.
Seconds later the power goes full and the props dig-in hard for more air and speed and our young 'chippy' pilot pipes up on the i/c 'then let's outrace him'. The rest of us laughed our heads off.
 
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A story in a similar vein:

When my brother was in the 101st Airborne, they were on their way back from field exercises in a Blackhawk helicopter. As they approached the air field, the pilot yells into the radio: Permission to boom the tower.

Everybody started giggling about it.

But the pilot headed right towards the tower. They were rolling about 80 miles per hour and passed within about 50 feet of the tower. As they flew by the pilot screamed at the top of his lungs into the mic:

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!

My brother said you could see the guys in the tower just rolling around they were laughing so hard.
 
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