Russia-Ukraine war and related tensions Megathread

[new_patomic]

If you want to help Ukraine keep their state sovereignty, actually commit stuff of material value to them like equipment and troops. I see the U.S. and UK have done this, although I read the UK were required to not use Dutch and German aerospace in their delivery.

Actually that's not entirely true:

No, Germany Did Not Deny RAF C-17s Bound For Ukraine Access to Its Airspace

In fact, it seems that the decision to avoid the German airspace was made deliberately by the RAF planners, and the British C-17s were not really forced to fly around the German territory: aircraft carrying specific kinds of cargo and/or weapons require a dedicated clearance that the UK did not apply for (for reasons yet to be disclosed – although time might have been a factor here); hence the route avoiding the German airspace.

At the same time, as noted by several reporters and analysts, while the nature of their mission is completely different, Germany has no problem in allowing NATO SIGINT/ELINT assets to fly through its airspace on their way to Ukraine, were several ISR (Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance) aircraft are operating in these days, to keep an eye on the movement of forces near the borders.

Although you do have to ask yourself why the Royal Air Force took it upon themselves to avoid German airspace.  

Would you want to deal with German bureaucracy? The paperwork alone!

[new_patomic]

If the Russians thought we were prepared or were preparing to actually forward deploy troops into Ukraine, or arm the Ukrainians to the point of leveling the playing field, they would intervene immediately on the basis of preempting any of that from becoming reality.