The news, as biased as it can be, is reporting that Ukraine will enter into a new phase…..an attack on Crimea.
Ukrainian sources told The Times that they would plan to use these missiles to hit Crimea, strikes that would seriously risk provoking Moscow. But both the US and Britain are less concerned about escalating the war.
Ukraine has already received some Harpoon missiles from Denmark and launchers from the US. The anti-ship missiles have a range of about 70 miles, although other variants can hit targets over 100 miles away. The Harpoons have a longer range than artillery missiles the US has sent, but the Harpoons are designed for coastal defense.
It’s not clear if Ukraine could use Harpoons in its ground battle against Russia with the current launchers, but Ukrainian officials claimed they used them to sink a Russian military tug boat last June. The Times report said the Harpoons would be less accurate if they were used on the ground.
The Storm Shadow missiles could hit targets at a range between about 150 miles and 350 miles, depending on the variant. They are typically fired from aircraft, and the UK is also considering providing Kyiv with fighter jets and plans on training Ukrainian pilots starting this spring.
Moscow would view the provision of jets and longer-range missiles as a major provocation, and Russian officials have been warning strongly against the move. Recent reporting suggests the US and its allies are no longer concerned with the risk of Russian President Vladimir Putin using a nuclear weapon in response to attacks on Crimea based only on the fact that he hasn’t used one up to this point.
(antiwar.com)
Could this be the start of the re-taking of Crimea from Russian clutches?
Not according to a Pentagon official.
Senior Pentagon officials told lawmakers in the House Armed Services Committee last week in a classified briefing that Ukraine is unlikely to retake Crimea from Russia, POLITICO reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the briefing.
The briefing reflects other recent reporting that said US officials don’t think Ukraine has the capability to take the peninsula, which Russia has controlled since 2014. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said back in November that the probability of Ukraine kicking Russia out of the territory it captured since last February and Crimea is “not high.”
Milley reiterated this point on January 20. “I still maintain that for this year it would be very, very difficult to militarily eject the Russian forces from all –– every inch of Ukraine and occupied –– or Russian-occupied Ukraine,” he said.
According to the POLITICO report, the Ukrainian government was “furious” with Milley’s comments. Ukrainian officials maintain that kicking Russia out of Crimea is still one of their war goals, although Ukraine is beginning to lose more territory in its battle against Russian forces in the east.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), the head of the House Armed Services Committee, declined to discuss the contents of the briefing his panel received on Crimea but signaled the US might be looking to wind the war down.
According to POLITICO, Rogers said the war needs to “end this summer” and said the US must rapidly supply Kyiv for a coming offensive. He also indicated the US might try to put pressure on the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to have a more realistic idea of victory and said that “Russia is never going to quit and give up Crimea.”
“What is doable? And I don’t think that that’s agreed upon yet. So I think that there’s going to have to be some pressure from our government and NATO leaders with Zelensky about what does victory look like,” Rogers added. “And I think that’s going to help us more than anything be able to drive Putin and Zelensky to the table to end this thing this summer.”
But a lot could happen between now and the summer, and as the US and its allies continue to announce major escalations of military aid, a direct clash between NATO and Russia becomes more likely.
(antiwar.com)
I do believe the last statement of the article says it all….this is what so many are praying for….and soon.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
In Saner Thought 
For some reaon, our politicians went overboard this week when Zelensky made his supposedly ‘surprise’ visit. (Not much of a surprise, as they had already prepared Westminster Hall for his speech.) Now Sunak says nothing is ‘off the table’ regarding military aid. However, we barely have enough aircraft to protect this country, so it is unlikely he will give any to Ukraine.
Best wishes, Pete.
It is true Pete, “Only the dead know the end of war.” ___ Plato
There would be an end to war if the leaders had to do the fighting. Any fool can sit behind a desk or TV camera and keep it going. Just my thought. chuq
I’ve said the same thing most of my life, but none of them have the guts to it – obviously not since Pluto’s time.
A total victory is unlikely….but they keep the hope alive with promises of more and more incentives to do so. chuq
I just wish that Ukraine had the ability to inflict some of the same death and destruction on Russia as it has been suffering at their hands…How they do it is not a concern of mine.
It should be….for we will be paying the price. chuq
Guts….none have those that is why they are politicians….slimy at best. chuq