Ukraine said it destroyed one of Russia's best and most expensive fighter jets over Kursk as its military pushes further into the region.
  • Ukraine downed a Russian Su-34 fighter jet over Kursk amid an ongoing territorial push.
  • The Su-34, worth around $36 million, is Russia’s most efficient fighter bomber with advanced tech.
  • Ukraine has previously held long kill streaks with Russian Su-34s.
  • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
    482·
    3 months ago

    There is no way for Russia to rebuild all this Soviet stock and the war aint even over. How are they planning on securing their borders after the war when every country in the west hates them and China will make a play for Siberia and Far East by 2100.

    • TransplantedSconie@lemm.eeEnglish
      30·
      3 months ago

      You sure 2100?

      If I was China I’d make a play for it by the end of the year, fuck Taiwan when you could snag all that free real-estate and precious metals Russia should have been mining instead of losing their ass in a war.

    • Gsus4@mander.xyzEnglish
      23·
      3 months ago

      There were some talking heads some months ago saying that the Ukraine war would determine if China expands into Taiwan militarily or russia economically. No need for weapons in the second case.

      • brucethemoose@lemmy.worldEnglish
        6·
        3 months ago

        So they’d become a kind of vassal state?

        I could totally see that, especially if something happens to Putin.

        • Gsus4@mander.xyzEnglish
          3·
          3 months ago

          What I saw was that North China is DRY. They need tons of water. And russia has lake Baikal nearby. These kinds of Nestlé-style tricks.

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlUJwbL7SM8

          Imagine all the anger russians feel towards the US for not being able to magically fix their country in the 90s but now turned towards their growing and grabby neighbour.

          • peopleproblems@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            3 months ago

            Wait, did Russians really believe the U.S. was supposed to fix it after the collapse of the USSR?

            That’s not how government works what the hell is wrong with people over there

            • kautau@lemmy.worldEnglish
              3·
              3 months ago

              Although funny enough that’s what we promised to do in Japan after WWII.

              https://youtu.be/YzRWPGSaKDk

              They did experience rapid economic growth, and did move to a democratic government, though as usual the right wing leadership took hold both here and there, and we just wanted Japan as a military base to counter those commie Russians, and they wanted to nullify the treaty preventing them from having a standard army

            • Gsus4@mander.xyzEnglish
              2·
              3 months ago

              I’m exaggerating for the sake of argument, but I’ve seen tankies and russians on youtube make this argument unironically to justify why russia had the right to do whatever it wanted to recover its empire and that they had a right to revenge for the “decade of humiliation” and shock therapy.

            • prettybunnys@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              1·
              3 months ago

              For what it’s worth the west had a history of helping in these events, we did fuck all for them really when the Soviet Union broke apart.

              It wasn’t our job, but it woulda gone a LONG fucking way to bettering relations.

              I could see feeling bitter we didn’t help but to take it as far as blaming us for their woes is just classic “it’s their fault” mentality.

              Look at Japan and Germany as examples of how it may have played out.

      • Artyom@lemm.eeEnglish
        2·
        3 months ago

        Ah, you mean Russia’s perpetual solution until Ukraine won their independence.

    • empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      131·
      3 months ago

      They can’t even make sufficient ball bearings to keep their railroad alive; they depended entirely on western imports lol

      • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
        92·
        3 months ago

        Solid propaganda but I am sure China can machine them some fucking ball bearings lol

        There are shortages though.

        • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.eeEnglish
          6·
          3 months ago

          The bearings in trains are actually pretty complicated to build. They use slanted roller bearings, not just regular old ball bearings. 10 companies in the world make like 70% of all rail bearings, and 5 of those are in Japan. Plus, only a few countries produce the two steel alloys that you make these bearings out of.

          China does produce around 20% of the bearings used in trains, but pretty much all of it gets used for domestic purposes and they still have to import due to their massive rail expansion projects

        • Olap@lemmy.worldEnglish
          5·
          3 months ago

          100% this isn’t a lost technology, it “just” needs some machines built

        • BaroqueInMind@lemmy.oneEnglish
          41·
          3 months ago

          The ball bearings are made in Germany with a very specific level of precision that China can definitely replicate given how they rapidly caught up to the rest of the world in the past 30 years economically and technologically. (Hint was done primarily through corporate espionage and theft)

    • Valmond@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      3 months ago

      Heard they don’t know how to build the Su-34 any longer (old forgotten Soviet stuff), only service and upgrade them.

      Putin us really thinking with his ass now, they haven’t lost the battle but they sure seems to have lost the war.

      Ffs.

    • CarbonIceDragon@pawb.socialEnglish
      32·
      3 months ago

      I mean, they have nukes, actually invading them with intent to actually conquer them or permanently take significant parts of the country would be a risky move regardless of how depleted their stocks get.

      • AmbiguousProps@lemmy.todayEnglish
        5·
        3 months ago

        That goes both ways, at least a little. It would be risky for Russia to ever use nukes, even on their own territory. It certainly wouldn’t make the west happy, and their citizens probably don’t want to see their own villages with mushroom clouds over them.

  • Spitzspot@lemmings.worldEnglish
    448·
    3 months ago

    Ukraine is showing remarkable restraint by not razing the villages and not kidnapping Russian children. Slava Ukraini!

      • Chocrates@lemmy.worldEnglish
        25·
        3 months ago

        Yeah was gonna say… Russia has abducted and moved native populations as part of their imperialism, for most of their history. Ukraine presumably doesn’t want to take over Russia so they have no need for such inhumane tricks.

      • Andonyx@lemmy.worldEnglish
        11·
        3 months ago

        Right on, this isn’t about Ukraine’s restraint, it’s about Russia’s psychopathy.

      • timestatic@feddit.orgEnglish
        121·
        3 months ago

        If you have a proper supply chain and logistics you don’t need to rely on taking civilians stuff. The russian military and the members who loot the villages are just despicable

        • catloaf@lemm.eeEnglish
          1·
          3 months ago

          Looting happens because people like to steal unusual or valuable stuff. For example, when wristwatches were popular, they were a common item to be looted, because they had a lot of value for their size and weight. It’s not about being supplied with necessities.

  • AmbiguousProps@lemmy.todayEnglish
    29·
    3 months ago

    Good, there will hopefully be more where that came from. I hope Russia is scared to fly over their own country.

  • grue@lemmy.worldEnglish
    27·
    3 months ago

    Sure is nice of Ukraine to start shooting them down closer to the pilots’ homes, rather than making them travel all the way back from Ukrainian territory.

  • psmgx@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    3 months ago

    AIM-120Cs on F-16s, baby. Something to counter the R-77s and R-37s of the VVS.