Ukraine Thread

[Viking]

The article says his numbers do not reflect the findings of several european intelligence services [...]

Where does the article say this?

The closest I could find was this:

At the beginning of the crisis, General Breedlove announced that the Russians had assembled 40,000 troops on the Ukrainian border and warned that an invasion could take place at any moment. The situation, he said, was "incredibly concerning." But intelligence officials from NATO member states had already excluded the possibility of a Russian invasion. They believed that neither the composition nor the equipment of the troops was consistent with an imminent invasion.

a covert invasion did happen in August, when the insurgents suddenly got superpowers and turned a steady rout into a decisive offensive. Prior to this, there was also solid evidence of shelling of Ukrainian troops originating from inside Russia.

The text you have quoted is weird. Hodges talks about direct Russian military intervention, which means that the troops are already fighting, so why they are dragging in the claims about military vehicles crossing the border at that point is beyond me - the Russian vehicles would already be at the front line, of course. Reports in the Russian newspapers Kommersant and Novaya Gazeta that was recently brought up here corroborate Hodges' claim of direct but covert military intervention.

And what's your actual accusation?

That the article depicts the situation inaccurately, and in a way that promotes the article subject. You could call it sensationalism.

Kazakhstan

Nope.

Afghanistan

From the fight against the Taliban after the WTC attacks.

Japan

WWII

Russia is the biggest country on the planet and makes most other countries look like dwarves. The only way to not have bases anywhere near Russia is to have them in Africa, South America or Australia.