Offside (General Discussion)

Justin James10 said:🤣

Atomic bombs mean it's "game over" for everyone, doesn't it? Is that really a fair comparison to make? 🙂

It's a wartime parallel. A total blockade of one of the world's largest energy and mineral exporters would essentially trigger an economic "game over" for the entire globe.

Man, what’s the current status? I haven't had a chance to catch up on the details over the last couple of days...

boldfox88 said:It's a wartime parallel. A total blockade of one of the world's largest energy and mineral exporters would essentially trigger an economic "game over" for the entire globe.

Man, what’s the current status? I haven't had a chance to catch up on the details over the last couple of days...

The usual pattern. Russia is bombing every single city they try to seize. They repelled an attack on Mariupol last night. Near Kyiv, attacks on three suburbs were pushed back. That massive convoy is still stuck because they ran out of fuel.🤣
In Melitopol, which is under occupation, citizens have taken to the streets once again to protest and demand the aggressors leave. Paratroopers have been filmed near Odessa. Russia is moving on it.

Jonathan Barnes5, I don't see why anyone would call him a traitor. He is simply trying to maintain some semblance of civilian life amidst war and occupation. When the city fell, armed Russians stormed his office with a list of demands. Now, he is pleading with the citizens not to attack the military in order to avoid further bloodshed. He hasn't made any promises to the Russians, nor am I reading any pro-Russian statements from him.

Kyle Campbell4 said:The usual pattern. Russia is bombing every single city they try to seize. They repelled an attack on Mariupol last night. Near Kyiv, attacks on three suburbs were pushed back. That massive convoy is still stuck because they ran out of fuel.🤣
In Melitopol, which is under occupation, citizens have taken to the streets once again to protest and demand the aggressors leave. Paratroopers have been filmed near Odessa. Russia is moving on it.

Jonathan Barnes5, I don't see why anyone would call him a traitor. He is simply trying to maintain some semblance of civilian life amidst war and occupation. When the city fell, armed Russians stormed his office with a list of demands. Now, he is pleading with the citizens not to attack the military in order to avoid further bloodshed. He hasn't made any promises to the Russians, nor am I reading any pro-Russian statements from him.

The Russian Navy is positioned near Odessa as well.

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Kyle Campbell4 said:The usual pattern. Russia is bombing every single city they try to seize. They repelled an attack on Mariupol last night. Near Kyiv, attacks on three suburbs were pushed back. That massive convoy is still stuck because they ran out of fuel.🤣
In Melitopol, which is under occupation, citizens have taken to the streets once again to protest and demand the aggressors leave. Paratroopers have been filmed near Odessa. Russia is moving on it.

Jonathan Barnes5, I don't see why anyone would call him a traitor. He is simply trying to maintain some semblance of civilian life amidst war and occupation. When the city fell, armed Russians stormed his office with a list of demands. Now, he is pleading with the citizens not to attack the military in order to avoid further bloodshed. He hasn't made any promises to the Russians, nor am I reading any pro-Russian statements from him.

To me, this just feels surreal. I mean, you're prepping for war and then you run out of gas? It's kind of hard to believe news like this. I guess I don't know if it's fake or not, but if it's true, the Russians are acting even more foolish than a bunch of drunk rebels.

Adam Williams2 said:To me, this just feels surreal. I mean, you're prepping for war and then you run out of gas? It's kind of hard to believe news like this. I guess I don't know if it's fake or not, but if it's true, the Russians are acting even more foolish than a bunch of drunk rebels.

They aren't necessarily stupid; it's more about the actual cost of war versus what they originally expected.

It's pretty obvious they were banking on a total surrender within a few days. Now that they have to commit even more resources, they simply don't have them—especially when you factor in that they'll likely lose a significant portion of those assets during the conflict itself.

Adam Williams2 said:To me, this just feels surreal. I mean, you're prepping for war and then you run out of gas? It's kind of hard to believe news like this. I guess I don't know if it's fake or not, but if it's true, the Russians are acting even more foolish than a bunch of drunk rebels.

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if this turns out to be some kind of tactical diversion, because the whole situation strikes me as absurd. You're preparing to pull off a repeat of Hitler's Blitzkrieg at a mere 93 miles distance, and yet somehow, you end up stranded without any fuel 🤔... it just doesn't add up.

Someone already pointed this out earlier, but it’s obvious that nobody over there—except for Putin and maybe his inner circle—actually saw the invasion coming. They didn't bother with any serious preparations. Instead, they just shoved soldiers and gear toward the borders to make sure those satellite images looked intimidating enough.

So, some news dropped yesterday suggesting that the Chinese were actually aware of this all along, just waiting for the right moment to strike. I guess things have been brewing for months, but honestly, it feels like Russia has probably been playing this long game for years. You could end up totally stranded without any fuel. It’s not like you’re at an Ultra Music Festival and your car breaks down because it’s old or you're a bit high, you know? 😁

Adam Williams2 said:To me, this just feels surreal. I mean, you're prepping for war and then you run out of gas? It's kind of hard to believe news like this. I guess I don't know if it's fake or not, but if it's true, the Russians are acting even more foolish than a bunch of drunk rebels.

Well, it looks like it really was just the classic rattling of sabers at first. Somehow everything escalated so quickly; I wonder what the tipping point actually was. What they had prepared seemed meant for just a few days, but since Ukrainians are putting up such a fight, the whole plan has fallen apart.

Logistics is a nightmare. Take the Germans, for instance—they never quite mastered it, and how many times did they get stuck trying to pull off a lightning strike only to find themselves stranded without anything? Plus, there's the simple reality that moving that much equipment creates massive traffic jams. 😁 History has shown us time and again that a simple traffic bottleneck can prevent supplies from arriving, even when they are available. It’s happened to plenty of people.

That convoy is just bizarre. If Ukraine is capable of launching an airstrike, then that entire group is doomed—they are literally sitting ducks.

Justin James10 said:Well, it looks like it really was just the classic rattling of sabers at first. Somehow everything escalated so quickly; I wonder what the tipping point actually was. What they had prepared seemed meant for just a few days, but since Ukrainians are putting up such a fight, the whole plan has fallen apart.

Logistics is a nightmare. Take the Germans, for instance—they never quite mastered it, and how many times did they get stuck trying to pull off a lightning strike only to find themselves stranded without anything? Plus, there's the simple reality that moving that much equipment creates massive traffic jams. 😁 History has shown us time and again that a simple traffic bottleneck can prevent supplies from arriving, even when they are available. It’s happened to plenty of people.

That convoy is just bizarre. If Ukraine is capable of launching an airstrike, then that entire group is doomed—they are literally sitting ducks.

Yeah, super weird. Either they have some sort of plan that I just don't get, or they're just being reckless, I guess.😁

Justin James10 said:Well, it looks like it really was just the classic rattling of sabers at first. Somehow everything escalated so quickly; I wonder what the tipping point actually was. What they had prepared seemed meant for just a few days, but since Ukrainians are putting up such a fight, the whole plan has fallen apart.

Logistics is a nightmare. Take the Germans, for instance—they never quite mastered it, and how many times did they get stuck trying to pull off a lightning strike only to find themselves stranded without anything? Plus, there's the simple reality that moving that much equipment creates massive traffic jams. 😁 History has shown us time and again that a simple traffic bottleneck can prevent supplies from arriving, even when they are available. It’s happened to plenty of people.

That convoy is just bizarre. If Ukraine is capable of launching an airstrike, then that entire group is doomed—they are literally sitting ducks.

At this very moment, this situation stands as the reigning champion of bizarre occurrences within this entire conflict.

Someone mentioned that our people are in Mariupol; I wonder if that information has been verified, and whether there have been any casualties among our own?

Russia has always leaned heavily on their rail networks.

But honestly, it looks more like they’re just trying to rush an encirclement of Kyiv from all sides—leaving behind whatever breaks down or runs out of juice along the way. Tanks are high-maintenance anyway, and they probably figure they can just replenish everything once they actually hit their targets.

Eight days is practically nothing—we're really just seeing the start of the real grind for the defense.

Adam Williams2 said:To me, this just feels surreal. I mean, you're prepping for war and then you run out of gas? It's kind of hard to believe news like this. I guess I don't know if it's fake or not, but if it's true, the Russians are acting even more foolish than a bunch of drunk rebels.

The Americans have been tracking them from the air the entire time. Footage shows the convoy just sitting there. Part of the convoy was actually destroyed—specifically the section that reached a village near Kyiv. It's a shame the Ukrainians don't have the strength to push them back using Javelin ambushes or aerial drones, because these idiots are such slow-moving targets. The Ukrainians are simply spread too thin. Data released yesterday showed there are 11 different combat zones currently active. They've heavily exhausted the capacities they stockpiled near the border, but honestly, the Ukrainians have depleted their defensive resources as well. What worries me more is how the West is behaving.
And regarding the fuel situation, it wouldn't be surprising if reports of the military stealing fuel to sell on the black market are true. Russia and Ukraine share a very similar mindset and societal structure. It reminds me of the US in certain eras where the dream was to land a job at ExxonMobil because oil was being stolen left and right and sold under the table. People made massive amounts of money doing that. Eventually, regulations were put in place to stop it. Just consider how that amassed military sat there for over six months. They didn't even know why they were there or what they were doing. It didn't take long for people driven by profit to start running various schemes. Then suddenly, the order comes to move into Ukraine, while these guys have already sunk all their money into black-market oil deals. You have young recruits and reservists losing their minds with fear because nobody actually told them how they were going into war—and against Ukrainians, whom they actually sympathize with rather than oppose.

I guess this one's coming from the left pocket into the right, which actually kind of makes sense 😁

quietcobra15 said:At this very moment, this situation stands as the reigning champion of bizarre occurrences within this entire conflict.

But wait, weren't they absolutely shredding those convoys with drones?

So, word's out in the media about some leaked European Commission plan to ditch reliance on Russian gas as fast as possible. Right now, the EU is pulling about 40% of its gas needs straight from Russia. When I say "leaked," honestly, it probably was a deliberate dump because right after that, EC President Ursula von der Leyen went out and said “Every kilowatt-hour of electricity Europe generates from solar, wind, hydropower or biomass reduces Our dependency on Russian gas and other Energy sources. “This is a strategic investment because, on top, less dependency on Russian gas and other fossil fuel sources also means less money for The Kremlin’s war chest.”

So, I heard yesterday that the US is looking at covering over 50% of our gas needs through that new LNG terminal. We already knew we were pulling about 30% from our own domestic production, which basically leaves us with a 20% gap to fill...

As far as electricity goes, we’re actually leading the way among Western nations when it comes to renewables. It’s mostly coming from hydropower right now. But over this past year, and with a few more coming down the pipeline, we’ve got several massive wind farms and solar plants getting online. They're even starting construction on another artificial reservoir soon...

silverhound said:So, I heard yesterday that the US is looking at covering over 50% of our gas needs through that new LNG terminal. We already knew we were pulling about 30% from our own domestic production, which basically leaves us with a 20% gap to fill...

As far as electricity goes, we’re actually leading the way among Western nations when it comes to renewables. It’s mostly coming from hydropower right now. But over this past year, and with a few more coming down the pipeline, we’ve got several massive wind farms and solar plants getting online. They're even starting construction on another artificial reservoir soon...

Yeah, it was actually mentioned a few weeks ago that we cover about 20% of our needs from Russia, mostly through PPD.

At the same time, gas consumption here has been dropping for various reasons. Usage is slowly recovering, but projections through 2030 suggest annual amounts might stay pretty much steady.