Russia-Ukraine war and related tensions Megathread

[pppolitics]

https://twitter.com/lapatina_/status/1512089017893867520

[Woody]

Kherson is still firmly in Russian hands. The only activity by Ukrainians in the oblast has been in the northern part.

Pro-Russian sources have now also started to show videos of them occupying Mariupol's seaport, located in the city's Southwest.

[KaiserDave]

Inshallah we will get SirWoodbury banned from this thread very soon.

[Badger]

Lol. Sanctions, what are they good for?
https://twitter.com/Rory_Johnston/status/1512415418086002698

 Sounds like a woodshed meeting with the Latvian ambassador is needed both in Washington and Brussels toot sweet.

[Woody]

Seaport of Mariupol under occupation according to russian sources (Warning hyperbole text below):

https://t.me/intelslava/24717

Chechens fighters are also claiming to soon do a final push on Azovstal, the last major resistance point in the city.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/russia-installs-puppet-mayor-in-battered-ukrainian-city-of-mariupol-l9dtfc6xj

On the governing side, a few days ago Russians installed a puppet mayor in the besieged city, Kostyantyn Ivashchenko, a local council member who is a member of the pro Russian party OPFL.

[Woody]

Estimation of frontlines:
https://mobile.twitter.com/War_Mapper/status/1512220132348727297

[Hindsight was 2020]

Woodbury Russians are shooting unarmed Ukraine civilians in the back of the head and shooting missiles at them as they get on trains. None of us are in the f**king mood for your stuff

[Woody]

Woodbury Russians are shooting unarmed Ukraine civilians in the back of the head and shooting missiles at them as they get on trains. None of us are in the f**king mood for your stuff

I am pro-Ukraine.

[It’s so Joever]

Woodbury is just stating facts?
Kherson is still firmly in Russian hands by official accounts and it is certainly plausible Mariupol has pretty much fallen. The fact it even survived this long should be considered amazing to any observer. Woodbury should be relentlessly mocked for being a traitor, but that’s a different subject, the posts of the Blue Virginia Avatar spawn are not currently inaccurate.

[Ashley Biden's Diary]

Woodbury Russians are shooting unarmed Ukraine civilians in the back of the head and shooting missiles at them as they get on trains. None of us are in the f**king mood for your stuff

I am pro-Ukraine.

Apparently just posting news that is unfavorable to Ukraine makes you a troll in this asylum.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

Woodbury has trolled so well that people just assumed he would be trolling here, too.

[Person Man]

Woodbury has trolled so well that people just assumed he would be trolling here, too.

I don't know about "well", but he has trolled quite a bit.

[Hindsight was 2020]

Woodbury comes into a thread he wasn’t able to post to and the first thing he does is post the 5% of quasi-good news for Russia (even then it’s shaky) and you don’t think he’s trolling?

[It’s so Joever]

Woodbury comes into a thread he wasn’t able to post to and the first thing he does is post the 5% of quasi-good news for Russia (even then it’s shaky) and you don’t think he’s trolling?

Not a troll until proven trolly.

[Splash]

I am now suspicious of all claims that Mariupol has 'pretty much fallen.' For the past four weeks, we've seen predictions that the city will probably fall 'within the next couple of days' and that has yet to occur. Urban combat is an inherently messy affair and it's extremely difficult to delineate lines of control. Just because a clip of footage has been released that shows Russian or Ukrainian troops in a particular area of the city, it doesn't necessarily mean they control said area. I recall seeing footage a day or two ago claiming to show armor belonging to the Azov Battalion operating in a suburb of Mariupol that has allegedly been in Russian control for the last several weeks.

This is all not to say that Mariupol couldn't fall within the next day or two, but I'm not putting much weight in such claims myself.

[dead0man]

as long as Woody is not posting blatant untruths, he should be allowed to post in here (and do so without being attacked)

[Splash]

More meat for the grinder:

https://twitter.com/LucasFoxNews/status/1512487913426386946

[Woody]

From a Western official: "Russia has reorganised its military command"

BBC source

A Western official confirmed Russia had now reorganised the command of its operations in Ukraine with the general now in charge having had extensive experience from Syria.

“There was really poor coordination across those different commands,” said the official, since Russian forces had never trained to work in this way. The Southern Military District Commander is now in charge of operations to attempt to provide better co-ordination - this is reported to be General Alexander Dvornikov.

“That particular commander has a lot of experience of Russian operations in Syria. So we would expect the overall command and control to improve,” the official said.

Russia is thought to have slightly fewer than 100 battalion tactical groups available for operations, once they have been reconstituted after current moves. This would be a "substantial" Russian force but the official said Russian tactics have meant that even with numerical advantages they have been held back by smaller numbers of Ukrainian units acting in a far smarter way and with surprise.

[Splash]

NATO should put Putin on the payroll.

https://twitter.com/shashj/status/1512488459667382273

[Lord Halifax]

"Hundreds of volunteers from Belarus have joined the Belarusian Kastus Kalinouski Battalion and other formations of the Ukrainian armed forces with more than a 1,000 others still awaiting vetting and training, Belarusian opposition leaders say.

Freedom for Russia, a separate unit staffed by Russian citizens, including prisoners of war who have switched sides, is also preparing to deploy to the front lines. It is backed by some prominent Russian opposition leaders in exile, who say that the presence of Russian soldiers helping defend Ukraine and prevent atrocities would go a long way toward healing the rift between the two peoples in the future."

"Without an independent Ukraine, there won’t be an independent Belarus"

"As soon as we liberate Ukraine, we will go to liberate Minsk"

https://www.wsj.com/articles/belarusians-russians-join-ukraines-military-hoping-for-freedom-at-home-11649325276

A second Belarusian battalion, Pahonia, is also being formed and there are Belarusian units within the Ukrainian territorial defense forces in Odessa and Lutsk.

[BlueSwan]

Yes. Regardless of the fact that some people on here like to pretend that the working class or middle class is "suffering", that is mostly a ridiculous statement. Most working class/middle class people in northwestern Europe have solid personal finances, and while the current price hikes sucks, it is pretty far from economic disasterous for very many at all.

I'm sure this will be a very popular political message.

Obviously it wouldn't be, but that doesn't mean that it isn't true.

[Torie]

as long as Woody is not posting blatant untruths, he should be allowed to post in here (and do so without being attacked)

No "our" favorite village is the Village of the Damned with no second chances.

The unwarranted attacks on Woody I found to be very cringe worthy. Surely we can do better than this. And a couple of snippets he put up provided me with information that I did not know and appreciated. And his post mentioning putting in place that general who savaged Syria leapt out at me.

[pppolitics]

What I don't understand is why NATO is not training Ukrainians right now to use Patriot SAM.

There are only so many S-300 SAM left to give.

[Hindsight was 2020]

Okay I’m sorry if I jumped the gun and trolling wasn’t WB goal, his prior history left me a suspect of his intentions and I have very little patiences right now for anyone remotely pro-Russian on this conflict

[Torie]

Since this seems so senseless from a military standpoint (the killing of civilians trying to escape from territory Russia wants, would seem like a "good" thing for Russia rather than a bad thing), what immediately popped into my mind was whether this attack was deliberate or an accident, because Russia just does not have the technology to do precision stuff, particularly since its best and brightest, if not insane or sociopaths, would have the goal of getting out of the  hell hole that is Russia, job one.