Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Russia Now Mobilizing Into Belarus - What Comes Next

Russia Moving Trainloads into Belarus: S-400, Iskander Missiles, 70+ Tanks



After yesterday's meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, a first in more than 3.5 years, there are noticeable developments.  No surprise given that Putin was accompanied by Defense Minister Shoigu, Foreign Minister Lavrov  and Kremlin Press Spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Attendees from world media outlets took notice at exactly who was in the Russian entourage; the three top men from the Russian government and a rare foreign trip by the top Kremlin spokesman as well.   There hasn't been this level of high-ranking Russian officials to any single foreign meeting since . . . the Cold War.

Today, videos began emerging of trains carrying heavy armor into Belarus from Russia.  Below, two videos of trains with T-80 tanks:

As this story was being written at 6:00 PM EST on Wednesday evening, video of yet a THIRD trainload of tanks arriving in Belarus became available, this train alone carrying at least thirty (30) more tanks:


Retired American colonel: Russia is stronger than all NATO countries combined

US Retired Colonel James W. McConnell is confident that Russia's military tactics in Ukraine is "just what the doctor ordered."

"The Russians have begun to destroy the Ukrainian lines of communications — the power grid, bridges, roads and railroads — without which Ukraine's forces can't be resupplied. Once the destruction of the lines of communication is completed, Russia's army, particularly its extensive artillery, will present Ukrainian forces with the unpleasant reality that they are vastly outgunned and outnumbered," James W. McConnell, former member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives wrote in an article published on the website of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.

The degree of "unpleasant reality" will depend on how far Russia wants to move west, he believes. The most likely option is that the Russians will want to take at least Nikolaev and Odessa regions in addition to the four regions that Russia) has already taken (Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions).

When Moscow achieves these goals, NATO will find itself in a difficult situation, in which the alliance will have to either recognize the victory of Russia, or engage in battle with the Russians, the retired colonel wrote in the article.

The North Atlantic Alliance, despite its undoubted military power, has very little chance of winning the war with Russia.

 In support of his opinion — quite unexpected for a career US Air Force officer — McConnell admits:

Russia is the world leader in terms of air defense technology.

Russia's S-400 air defense system is considered to be the world's best system of this class. Turkey, a NATO member, has such systems at its disposal, but Russia has already modernized them to S-500. Moreover, S-500 systems have already been deployed at critical facilities in Russia.

Russia is five years ahead of the US in the field of hypersonic missile technology.

Russia is five years ahead of the US in the field of hypersonic missile technology.

The United States is defenseless against Russian missiles that travel at hypersonic speeds and are capable of maneuvring during the flight path. The US is still at the stage of hypersonic tests, whereas Russia has already fielded four different hypersonic missiles from its existing families of missile systems — Kinzhal, Kalibr, Iskander and Zircon, let alone the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle.

"Should NATO enter a war with Russia, the US Navy's carrier task force in the Ionian Sea is an obvious Russian target. How can it successfully defend itself against Russia's simultaneous and probably massive hypersonic and conventional missile attack?" McConnell wonders.

"Should the Russians sink a carrier task force, Taiwan would, for example, have to rethink any illusions it has about the US coming to its aid in a conflict with China and become far more amenable to a soft conquest similar to the Chinese takeover of Hong Kong," he continues.




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