Russia-Ukraine war and related tensions Megathread

[Woody]

https://twitter.com/IuliiaMendel/status/1604179896435187714

[CumbrianLefty]

Thank you for that typically useful and enlightening addition to the thread.

(I see your stint as a Democrat didn't last long btw)

[Torie]

Thank you for that typically useful and enlightening addition to the thread.

(I see your stint as a Democrat didn't last long btw)

He seems to to not read much less savor my scintillating commentary. Sad!
That said, he would be doing the Lord's work to spread the news in Russia. Any young man still hanging around Russia who is not politically connected is a contestant for the Darwin award.

And as to matters pertaining to the draft, Russia thinks it has come up with the right formula now of sticks and more sticks applied to the most vulnerable, the most desirable "death digits" as it were. .

https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/12/15/russia-ukraine-war-mobilization-putin-attack/

Russia is working on a digitalized draft system. Those best suited are low SES men who lack the tools to resist, as to whom, as Putin puts it, “it is better to be killed fighting for the motherland than to drink oneself to death on vodka.”

“The clear implication is that military authorities should go after poorer, disadvantaged Russians—the kind of people who offer less resistance and are of limited utility for the state anyway.
…

‘Digitization is designed to allow the authorities to pinpoint those considered best suited for mobilization, easily find them, and draft them into the army. Those unfortunate draftees will be doomed to submit because the borders will likely be closed to them (and them only) and their access to public services blocked.”

[Hindsight was 2020]

A certain poster might want to cover their eyes lol
https://mobile.twitter.com/Tendar/status/1604421882660397056
https://mobile.twitter.com/Tendar/status/1604421885005029379
https://mobile.twitter.com/Tendar/status/1604421887458775040

[Storr]

https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1604465531226038275?s=20&t=HZDgT1Kp...

[CanadianDemocrat]

"To the German Commander:

NUTS!

The American Commander"

- General Anthony McAuliffe, in response to a German request to surrender, 22 December 1944

https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1604286515563175936?s=20&t=pTfKLNm...

Russia is a Orthodox fascist theocracy, similar to Iranian Islamic fascist theocracy. Putin's Russia has a mix of the worst characteristics of the the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire.

[Storr]

"To the German Commander:

NUTS!

The American Commander"

- General Anthony McAuliffe, in response to a German request to surrender, 22 December 1944

https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1604286515563175936?s=20&t=pTfKLNm...

Russia is a Orthodox fascist theocracy, similar to Iranian Islamic fascist theocracy. Putin's Russia has a mix of the worst characteristics of the the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire.

I'd argue Russia isn't really a theocracy imo. The church is definitely more powerful than it's been since the revolution, but it's mostly used as a source of legitimacy for Putin's government. It doesn't have a place in the government's structure like in Iran.

[NOVA Green]

More Industrial Accidents in Russian Oil & Gas MFG facilities.

In the Irkutsk region, a fire broke out at the Markovskoye oil and gas condensate field. The TASS agency was told about this in the regional Ministry of Emergency Situations.

According to rescuers, the fire area is 400 square meters. Governor Igor Kobzev announced that he was assigned the third level of difficulty.

According to preliminary information, the fire broke out at a natural gas production facility. One person was hurt.

https://zona.media/news/2022/12/18/zagorelos

A mysterious disappearance of a Russian Anti-War activist in Yakutia:

Anti-war activist and musician Aikhal Ammosov (Igor Ivanov) has disappeared in Yakutia. This "Mediazone" was told in the Free Yakutia Foundation.

Ammosov has not been in contact since December 11. The last post on his Instagram was published on the same day. On December 13, as acquaintances of the activist said, he did not appear at the Yakutsk City Court for a hearing on his criminal case on “discrediting” the army (Part 1 of Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code). In addition, according to Free Yakutia, the activist has recently been followed by unknown persons.

A criminal case against Aikhal Ammosov was opened in August. The reason was a banner with the inscription Yakutian punk against war , which he posted on the roof of the pool in the center of Yakutsk. Prior to this, the activist was fined three times under administrative protocols on “discrediting” the army (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) for graffiti , leaflets and a picket .

https://zona.media/news/2022/12/18/aykhal

Meanwhile, a couple young Russian Anarchists from Chita now being accused of being "Terrorists" because of some social media posts they made regarding their opinions when it came to military recruitment offices getting burned down.

Two young anarchists from Chita were added to the federal list of terrorists: Lyubov Lizunova, a schoolgirl, and Alexander Snezhkov, a musician. First they were detained for graffiti "Death to the regime" in a garage cooperative, later - apparently, after studying mobile phones - the justification of terrorism was added to the charges. According to investigators, young people published posts on their Telegram channels endorsing the burning of military enlistment offices and sabotage on railways. Mediazona talked to them about the detention and the criminal case.

On the evening of October 31, four young people arrived at a garage cooperative on the outskirts of Chita, they planned to draw anti-government graffiti. “Already on the spot, they agreed on the slogan “Death to the regime”. We drew it not in a very crowded place, in fact it was a garage cooperative. But we were noticed. And as if, on the basis of this, we decided that we were being followed in some way, ”says 16-year-old Lyubov Lizunova.

Her friend, 19-year-old Alexander Snezhkov, adds that at the exit from the cooperative, all four were detained by people in civilian clothes, one of whom showed an ID of an FSB officer. He says that for some reason, friends were brought to gymnasium No. 12, located not far from the garage cooperative, the school security guard allocated an office for employees, where they began to ask about the author of the inscription "Death to the regime." “We were explained that supposedly it would be better if we say right now. If we resist until the very end, it will only get worse,” says Snezhkov. There were no threats or pressure, he clarifies, on the part of the operatives as a whole.

https://zona.media/article/2022/12/16/chita

[TheReckoning]

"To the German Commander:

NUTS!

The American Commander"

- General Anthony McAuliffe, in response to a German request to surrender, 22 December 1944

https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1604286515563175936?s=20&t=pTfKLNm...

Russia is a Orthodox fascist theocracy, similar to Iranian Islamic fascist theocracy. Putin's Russia has a mix of the worst characteristics of the the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire.

You clearly have no idea what either of those two ideologies are, lmao.

[Storr]

https://twitter.com/mbk_center/status/1604543593707982850?s=20&t=HZDgT1KpApj...

[Hindsight was 2020]

https://mobile.twitter.com/ukraine_map/status/1604803263978782721
https://mobile.twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1604794565126279168
Lol Ukraine in a few days reversed all of Russia’s gains since October in Bakmut

[Torie]

This has become the most color coded thread ever. Blue means bad news, red good news. So when I saw the word Bakmut and the color red, I was relieved.

Were these satellite images on which battlefield lines are superimposed, taken before the war? Bakmut looks intact when presumably it has been reduced to rubble.

[CumbrianLefty]

https://twitter.com/mbk_center/status/1604543593707982850?s=20&t=HZDgT1KpApj...

She had better be careful after that, but I'm sure she knows as much anyway.

[Hindsight was 2020]

This has become the most color coded thread ever. Blue means bad news, red good news. So when I saw the word Bakmut and the color red, I was relieved.

Were these satellite images on which battlefield lines are superimposed, taken before the war? Bakmut looks intact when presumably it has been reduced to rubble.

I think it’s live and it’s just parts of the city that weren’t reduced

[jaichind]

https://meduza.io/en/news/2022/12/18/zelensky-the-liberation-of-crimea-has-begun-in-people-s-minds

"Zelensky: the liberation of Crimea has begun ‘in people’s minds’"

The operation to liberate Crimea “has begun in people’s minds,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with French television networks TF1 and LCI.

Mind over matter ?

[President Johnson]

Moldava apparently anticipates a Russian invasion next year.

https://twitter.com/IuliiaMendel/status/1604861916022599682

[Person Man]

https://twitter.com/mbk_center/status/1604543593707982850?s=20&t=HZDgT1KpApj...

Yeah

[Torie]

https://meduza.io/en/news/2022/12/18/zelensky-the-liberation-of-crimea-has-begun-in-people-s-minds

"Zelensky: the liberation of Crimea has begun ‘in people’s minds’"

The operation to liberate Crimea “has begun in people’s minds,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with French television networks TF1 and LCI.

Mind over matter ?

In a society of consent and laws rather than Putinism, the predicate to action, to blood, sweat and tears and sacrifice, is the annealing of a national aspiration. Zelinsky with Putin's help has already annealed a nation. Now it is a matter of what to do next. That was the precursor to it all. Zelinsky is a prose poet Jaic, and that is more powerful than the ROI when it comes to motivating most of our species.

[AndyHogan14]

Moldava apparently anticipates a Russian invasion next year.

https://twitter.com/IuliiaMendel/status/1604861916022599682

I saw that on Twitter and I couldn't help but laugh. Russia just retreated from the west/right bank of Dnipro, so to get to Moldova they would have to:

• Cross the Dnipro River (where there are no functional bridges) and retake Kherson city.
• Advance through (or around) Mykolaiv city. Something the Russians failed to do at the beginning of the war when they were arguably at their "best."
• Advance through Odesa Oblast to the international border with Moldova. Reminder, the only part of Odesa Oblast that was occupied by the Russians was Snake Island.

I would say it's more likely that Ukraine liberates all of its territory (including Crimea and pre-2/24 Donbas) than Russia getting to the border with Moldova.

[Frodo]

Moldava apparently anticipates a Russian invasion next year.

https://twitter.com/IuliiaMendel/status/1604861916022599682

With what army?  That pre-existing Russian garrison of 1,500 men who have been in Transnistria since 1992 won't cut it. 

[No War, but the War on Christmas]

https://twitter.com/mbk_center/status/1604543593707982850?s=20&t=HZDgT1KpApj...

Woah, brave lady. This needs to be said more often by figures of importance in Russian society who oppose Putin; most importantly to reinforce it in the Russian publics mind. There should be no blanket nor easy amnesty after this war; not without real acknowledgement from figures of importance, substantial efforts towards reconciliation and reparative justice with Ukraine and a clear groundswell of remorse and change among the Russian public with a clear break from Putinism, a'la Germany and Germans after 1945.

Russia has dug its own grave as far as its place in the brotherhood of nations, and while I don't believe any group of peoples should be written off as irredeemable... There will need to be systemic change for it to be welcomed back, at least from my perspective.

[Storr]

https://mobile.twitter.com/ukraine_map/status/1604803263978782721
https://mobile.twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1604794565126279168
Lol Ukraine in a few days reversed all of Russia’s gains since October in Bakmut

https://twitter.com/War_Mapper/status/1604992167314964481?s=20&t=Nd_FmlrNZgO...

[NOVA Green]

Shoigu "visits" the front the front lines in Ukraine...

Surprised he didn't fall out of the plane (Gotta credit to my wife joke).

https://twitter.com/COUPSURE

[NOVA Green]

Had previously posted about a bit back about potential Ukraine assaults on the Kinburn Spit, with ongoing UKR Special Ops activities ongoing.

Here is a geo-location of a recent drone strike...

https://twitter.com/CovertShores/status/1604608529108676608?s=20&t=ICFOekV-a...

[Storr]

https://twitter.com/TadeuszGiczan/status/1604794960800354305?s=20&t=dBKKSiU7...

https://twitter.com/BBCSteveR/status/1604440695485366272?s=20&t=U4tX50sd1IlH...