Russia-Ukraine war and related tensions Megathread

[Lord Halifax]

https://www.ruetir.com/2023/03/ukraine-considers-renaming-russia-to-moscovia/

"Ukraine Considers Renaming Russia To Moscovia"

President Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has instructed its government to consider changing the name Russia became ‘Moscovia’.

Muscovy in English, the name Russia was known by before Putin's "role model" Peter the Great. Very nice trolling. Philip Pullman used it in the His Dark Materials trilogy.

Clearly, this is a battle for ownership of the prestigious legacy of "Rus".  The Ukraine claim of course can stretch back to the days of Kievan Rus.  It seems there are two opposite forces at play inside Ukraine over how to define itself in civilizational terms.  There is a push to redefine Ukraine as a Western Slav nation versus an Eastern Slav nation.  Clearly, Poland is very much for this and is doing everything to make this a reality.  The opposite force would be to redefine Ukraine as the true leader of the Eastern Slav civilizational circle by capturing the legacy of "Rus."

that's an overinterpretation and you can't redefine Ukraine as "West Slavic", Slavic and Western, yes, but not West Slavic with its linguistic and religious (Catholic) connotations.

Muscovy is synonymous with barbarism, the Mongol yoke etc. I doubt this goes much deeper than that. It's a middle finger to Russia, not an attempt to redefine Ukraine's own identity.

[jaichind]

https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1634587692980744199

[jaichind]

https://www.euractiv.com/section/defence-and-security/interview/not-much-left-on-russia-sanctions-other-support-needed-now-says-eus-borrell/

"‘Not much left’ on Russia sanctions, other support needed now, says EU’s Borrell"

The EU has nearly exhausted its options for punitive measures against Russia and the bloc’s attention needs to shift to financial and military support for Ukraine, the EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.

EU's Borrell pretty much says the EU is "sanctioned out" with respect to Russia.

[Woody]

https://twitter.com/NeilPHauer/status/1634354776283525120
https://twitter.com/NeilPHauer/status/1634577716878999552
https://twitter.com/NeilPHauer/status/1634580052187774978

[Person Man]

https://www.ruetir.com/2023/03/ukraine-considers-renaming-russia-to-moscovia/

"Ukraine Considers Renaming Russia To Moscovia"

President Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has instructed its government to consider changing the name Russia became ‘Moscovia’.

Muscovy in English, the name Russia was known by before Putin's "role model" Peter the Great. Very nice trolling. Philip Pullman used it in the His Dark Materials trilogy.

Clearly, this is a battle for ownership of the prestigious legacy of "Rus".  The Ukraine claim of course can stretch back to the days of Kievan Rus.  It seems there are two opposite forces at play inside Ukraine over how to define itself in civilizational terms.  There is a push to redefine Ukraine as a Western Slav nation versus an Eastern Slav nation.  Clearly, Poland is very much for this and is doing everything to make this a reality.  The opposite force would be to redefine Ukraine as the true leader of the Eastern Slav civilizational circle by capturing the legacy of "Rus."

that's an overinterpretation and you can't redefine Ukraine as "West Slavic", Slavic and Western, yes, but not West Slavic with its linguistic and religious (Catholic) connotations.

Muscovy is synonymous with barbarism, the Mongol yoke etc. I doubt this goes much deeper than that. It's a middle finger to Russia, not an attempt to redefine Ukraine's own identity.

That’s goddamn awesome.

[Logical]

https://twitter.com/NeilPHauer/status/1634354776283525120
https://twitter.com/NeilPHauer/status/1634577716878999552
https://twitter.com/NeilPHauer/status/1634580052187774978

Syrskyi literally proposed and led the Kharkiv offensive (Zelensky and Budanov's own words). The lower ranks may not like his leadership style, but to call him an idiot is quite disrespectful. Being a general is never easy and whatever you do some people will always find a fault with it. I am reminded of two generals who are called the butcher by their own men (Mangin and Sherman), yet their ruthlessness help end a prolonged war.

[Hindsight was 2020]

https://mobile.twitter.com/PhillipsPOBrien/status/1634664025408651267
https://mobile.twitter.com/PhillipsPOBrien/status/1634664027530964992
https://mobile.twitter.com/PhillipsPOBrien/status/1634664032467660800

[Woody]

"I hope appropriate actions are taken"

Even WarMonitor sees Bakhmut as a lost cause.

https://twitter.com/WarMonitor3/status/1634665117211148289?cxt=HHwWgoC-4ezQv68tA...

[jaichind]

In my mind, the best case for Ukraine trying to stay in Bakhmut would be mud. Mud makes the Russian advance slower and also made a retreat of Ukrainian forces in the mud of the open field a lot more costly than using the still formable fortified areas they still control in Bakhmut.  If the temperature turns cold again and the ground freezes I would expect the Ukrainian calculation to change.  The main risk I see is how to get supplies into the garrison but It seems so far this seems not to be a fatal problem for Ukraine forces.

[Hindsight was 2020]

https://mobile.twitter.com/Tendar/status/1634702383656607746

[Hollywood]

https://mobile.twitter.com/Tendar/status/1634702383656607746

The image in the tweet came from a Telegram Channel called 'Insider UA'.  It was given to them by former film producer, and Zelensky's Chief of Staff, Andriy Yermak.  An official with the Ukraine Army claimed +500 Russians were lost in a single day, but this calculates casualties.
https://ottawacitizen.com/pmn/news-pmn/ukraine-russia-suffered-more-than-500-killed-and-wounded-in-one-day-at-bakhmut/wcm/5265a7fd-1d27-49e6-84ee-f3432b415f6c?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1678584830

From the telegram channel: "There are 60-70 liquidated occupiers in this one picture alone , it was shown by the head of the OP Yermak. In turn, the representative of the eastern group of troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Cherevaty said that the Russians had lost more than half a thousand soldiers in the Bakhmut area in a day."  https://t.me/s/insiderUKR

There's simply too little evidence supporting a Russo-Ukrainian loss ratio of 7-1, or even 5-1. 
https://www.plenglish.com/news/2022/12/01/ukraines-heavy-losses-in-battles-for-kherson-revealed/ 

[2952-0-0]

https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1634587692980744199

It makes sense. After all, the Wagner Group, which can't recruit from prisons anymore, is turning to mental hospitals for recruitment.
https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1633113284634193921

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

https://www.euractiv.com/section/defence-and-security/interview/not-much-left-on-russia-sanctions-other-support-needed-now-says-eus-borrell/

"‘Not much left’ on Russia sanctions, other support needed now, says EU’s Borrell"

The EU has nearly exhausted its options for punitive measures against Russia and the bloc’s attention needs to shift to financial and military support for Ukraine, the EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.

EU's Borrell pretty much says the EU is "sanctioned out" with respect to Russia.

If I was in charge of a sending prisoners and mental patients into a losing war against a smaller rival on behalf of a hypercapitalist, decaying, and morally/culturally stagnant country like Russia, I would rest easy knowing that some clowns on internet forums think the most prosperous region on Earth are at risk of ruin because they can't buy natural gas from me they don't need.

[Woody]

Krasnohorivka to the north of Avdiivka shockingly fell, just a few days after Vesele. This is what happens when Russians get proper air support. Will Zelensky repeat his Bakhmut "fight for every city" strategy here?

https://twitter.com/War_cube_/status/1634701544783245312?cxt=HHwWgMCzqZuZ0K8tAAA...
https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1634706682478485505

[Woody]

https://twitter.com/Militarylandnet/status/1634621646886559746
https://twitter.com/Militarylandnet/status/1634623128750940160

[Woody]

Zelensky is a psycho:

https://twitter.com/MyLordBebo/status/1634630940285648899
https://twitter.com/MyLordBebo/status/1634530611242123268
https://twitter.com/MyLordBebo/status/1631444736014794753https://twitter.com/PrateekRoutray/status/1634128952070639616
https://twitter.com/outsukenoshinyu/status/1633764375994707969

[Hollywood]

Krasnohorivka to the north of Avdiivka shockingly fell, just a few days after Vesele. This is what happens when Russians get proper air support. Will Zelensky repeat his Bakhmut "fight for every city" strategy here?

https://twitter.com/War_cube_/status/1634701544783245312?cxt=HHwWgMCzqZuZ0K8tAAA...
https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1634706682478485505

I brought up the critical situation in Avdiivka on March 10th.  Israeli and Turkish news reports, as well as ground reports, had indicated that the Russian Air Force begun to operate air raids, because Ukrainian anti-aircraft weaponry had been eliminated.  The Russian Army stepped up aerial bombardments and missile strikes on Ukrainian ground Artillery, Ammo Depots, and Defensive Lines around Avdiivka and Krasnahorivka over the past few weeks.  As a result, the Russian Infantry was able to advance into Krasnahorivka and Kamyanka due to drastically weakened Ukrainian positions, and appears unable to stop a Russian encirclement of Avdiivka. 

The situation in Avdiivka might be the 'canary in the coal mine'.  The AFU has a limited amount of anti-aircraft systems in the Lyman and Kupyansk area, and Russia has stepped aerial bombardments in those directions.  Ukraine desperately needs Anti-Aircraft Weapons and Ammo.  They cannot wait. 
https://twitter.com/Chronology22/status/1634833012461572096

[Hindsight was 2020]

https://mobile.twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1634838821614555138

[pppolitics]

https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1634587692980744199

Is Russia spreading Republican's propaganda or are Republicans spreading Russian's propaganda?

[jaichind]

Is Russia spreading Republican's propaganda or are Republicans spreading Russian's propaganda?

It always makes sense to try to take advantage of internal divisions of an enemy/rival by creating wedge issues that further create internal divisions of said enemy/rival.

[jaichind]

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/12/biden-united-states-ukraine-relationship-cracks-00086654

"Little fissures’: The U.S.-Ukraine war unity is slowly cracking apart"

[Hindsight was 2020]

Oh man as someone who has never read a history book on WW2 in his life and doesn’t know that everything in that Politico article is common grumbling that allies have in war, I’m really concerned about the future of the US-Ukraine alliance

[Red Velvet]

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/12/biden-united-states-ukraine-relationship-cracks-00086654

"Little fissures’: The U.S.-Ukraine war unity is slowly cracking apart"

It was written on the wall with this trash guy Zelenskyy being a chihuahua acting like a pitbull, only because they are on a leash. And a bunch of people validating this attitude which started even before the war.

You cannot have intransigent positions when you don’t have the power to back that up. Ukraine is heavily dependent on Western weaponry, which is only supplied to the level it’s being done because the West hates Russia more than it really cares about Ukraine if we’re honest.

It’s understandable (even if not strategic) that Ukraine adopts an “all or nothing” position where they want to keep the fighting as long as until they take even Crimea back. What is not understandable is for part of the world to submit themselves to engage in a forever war based on pride only, to the point they validate those non-realistic goals and stimulate an even further conflict. And even to the point the guy receiving this help feels entitled to give you orders and say what you have to do lol.

I personally don’t have problems with this, Ukraine might as well suck the West dry as much as they can and also prolong the instability of the global factor that is brought by this war and stimulates the shuffling of international power dynamics. What is unacceptable to me is the insanity of people feeling entitled to lecture other countries on what they have to do regarding a conflict they have absolutely no relation with. If the West wants to go down because of Ukraine that’s with them as the sovereign nations they are, but they want to try to drag others to their pit in the same time. Misery likes company.

[Hindsight was 2020]

https://mobile.twitter.com/PhillipsPOBrien/status/1634937651496370177
https://mobile.twitter.com/PhillipsPOBrien/status/1634937655053135872

[Woody]

Hahaha, Kyianin isn't even in Bakhmut. He himself said he left earlier this month, coincidentally being rotated as Bakhmut is turning into a meatgrinder.

I'd rather listen to the guys who are actually there.