Russia vs. Ukraine Part 3

[Route 45]

 

[smokingman]

Only six Ukrainian pilots trained to fly new F-16 fighter jets

Only six Ukrainian pilots have reportedly been trained by European Nato members to fly F-16 fighter jets due to be delivered to Kyiv next month.

www.yahoo.com

 

[Ark]

https://archive.is/mqcn4

War Shatters Dating Scene for Women in Ukraine

While the pursuit of love might seem secondary to dealing with the horrors and privations of the war, many Ukrainians say they need romantic relationships to help them cope.

www.nytimes.com

Absolute gem from NYT today. Men die in huge numbers in the trenches, dating lives of women most affected.

For the past two and a half years, Kateryna Bairachna has wanted to meet someone special. But war always gets in the way.
Ms. Bairachna met a soldier, but then he was sent to the front.

She traded text messages with another man, but those fizzled out because he was in no mood to meet, fearing he might soon be drafted. On the dating app Bumble, Ms. Bairachna liked the looks of a hipster. But when she scrolled through his photographs, she noticed his amputated leg.

“I looked at his profile for 15 minutes and felt so sorry for him,” Ms. Bairachna, 35, a marketing director for a clothing brand in Kyiv, said in an interview. She wondered if she could handle a relationship with a maimed war veteran. Then she swiped left, removing him from potential matches. “I feel I’m not ready for that.”

Imagine losing your leg to defend your country's women and getting a left swipe in return.

For women, the problem is particularly acute. Tens of thousands of men have died.

Dying is, apparently, not a particularly acute problem.

Last year, Ukraine had its lowest number of births and its second lowest number of marriages in the past 10 years, according to government data.

They won't even marry their men before deployment so the men can at least think about somebody waiting back home while they're, you know, getting killed by Russian artillery or mag dumped in a trench.

At a table farther back, Alisa Samusieva, 38, the organizer of the event, called TetAteT, struck a somber note. Only 26 men had turned up, she said, compared with the usual minimum of 30. That had forced her to hold only one speed-dating session, instead of the usual two.

“They’re afraid,” Ms. Samusieva said of the men, attributing their absence to a mobilization law the Ukrainian government enforced in May to fill the ranks of the army. “They don’t want to go out. They just want to sit at home and hide.”

Women disappointed men don't show up to speed dating events, because police are lurking outside to catch men and drag them to the front to die.

Ms. Aktysenko said about one in five men she encountered on Tinder were soldiers, but she has not chatted with any of them. “They’re brave, they’re heroes,” she said. “But given the situation, starting a relationship feels too risky.”

As opposed to being given a rifle and told to hold a trench to the death, which is not risky.

At the speed-dating event in Kyiv, Yulia Kovtun, 27, stayed silent for five minutes after the man who had just sat down at her table told her he would speak only Russian.

“I’m looking for someone who shares my values” and “firmly supports the language issue,” she said, noting that both her grandparents had taken part in Ukraine’s pro-independence nationalist movements in the 1940s.

Apparently the shortage of men isn't dire enough to overcome language bigotry.

I got up this morning honestly believing my opinion of women didn't have much lower to go but, wow, this article proved me wrong on that one. Ooof.

 

[actaeon277]

https://archive.is/mqcn4

War Shatters Dating Scene for Women in Ukraine

While the pursuit of love might seem secondary to dealing with the horrors and privations of the war, many Ukrainians say they need romantic relationships to help them cope.

www.nytimes.com

Absolute gem from NYT today. Men die in huge numbers in the trenches, dating lives of women most affected.







Imagine losing your leg to defend your country's women and getting a left swipe in return.



Dying is, apparently, not a particularly acute problem.



They won't even marry their men before deployment so the men can at least think about somebody waiting back home while they're, you know, getting killed by Russian artillery or mag dumped in a trench.





Women disappointed men don't show up to speed dating events, because police are lurking outside to catch men and drag them to the front to die.



As opposed to being given a rifle and told to hold a trench to the death, which is not risky.


Apparently the shortage of men isn't dire enough to overcome language bigotry.

I got up this morning honestly believing my opinion of women didn't have much lower to go but, wow, this article proved me wrong on that one. Ooof.

Well, most of the media are idiots... so...

 

[Route 45]

 

[dudley0]

It will be interesting seeing how they react to this crossing.

 

[Route 45]

 

[Route 45]

Kursk raid: Russia forced to send in reserves as Ukraine takes villages

Reports suggested that Russia lost two tanks and a Ka-52 attack helicopter in the apparent incursion.

www.newsweek.com

Putin Calls Ukraine’s Kursk Incursion ‘Large-Scale Provocation’

In addition to the typical criticism of Kyiv, the Russian president didn’t comment on potential responses and said he would meet later with military and intelligence officials.

www.kyivpost.com

 

[Route 45]

 

[DadSmith]

 

[DadSmith]

 

[BigRed]

MAGA furious at report $1 billion in Ukraine aid possibly stolen

A Pentagon report this week concluded that over $1 billion in aid to Ukraine was not tracked properly.

www.newsweek.com

Nothing but a fleecing of the American taxpayer for a money laundering scam.

 

[KellyinAvon]

HHHhhhmmm, Viper seriously banking in AB there. D-Model looking at the missile rails on the wing tips. AIM-120 AMRAAMs on the wing tips, AIM-9 Sidewinders on the outer under-wing pylons.

Inboard pylons... those ain't fuel tanks. Not the tail you'd see on a Mk-84 dumb bomb. Snake-eyes maybe?

 

[foszoe]

HHHhhhmmm, Viper seriously banking in AB there. D-Model looking at the missile rails on the wing tips. AIM-120 AMRAAMs on the wing tips, AIM-9 Sidewinders on the outer under-wing pylons.

Inboard pylons... those ain't fuel tanks. Not the tail you'd see on a Mk-84 dumb bomb. Snake-eyes maybe?

View attachment 371630

Since you obviously know a lot more about F-16s than I do, how do they get that scarf to stay on there?

 

[KellyinAvon]

Since you obviously know a lot more about F-16s than I do, how do they get that scarf to stay on there?

Funny you should ask. The scarf is part of the uniform, even though the closed cockpit made the necessity of the scarf (to wipe the oil spewing from the engine off the goggles) not longer needed.

Not saying the Zipper-Suited Sun Gods give the scarves to bag-chasers, but they give the scarves to bag-chasers.

 

[foszoe]

Funny you should ask. The scarf is part of the uniform, even though the closed cockpit made the necessity of the scarf (to wipe the oil spewing from the engine off the goggles) not longer needed.

Not saying the Zipper-Suited Sun Gods give the scarves to bag-chasers, but they give the scarves to bag-chasers.

I learned something new !

 

[KellyinAvon]

I learned something new !

About scarves or bag chasers?

 

[foszoe]

About scarves or bag chasers?

I didn't want to overload myself. I never knew WHY they wore scarves.

 

[actaeon277]

Pilots wore scarves because the constant movement looking around, would chafe the neck.

 

[actaeon277]

Inboard pylons... those ain't fuel tanks. Not the tail you'd see on a Mk-84 dumb bomb. Snake-eyes maybe?

Not a good view of them.

And I'm not exactly an expert on it