Russia-Ukraine war and related tensions Megathread

[nicholas.slaydon]

Awful.
https://twitter.com/OSINT88/status/1534897134146883584

Ugh.

I thought Russia doesn't have the death penalty?

Russia might not, but apparently the so called Donetsk People's Republic does.

[DINGO Joe]

https://www.infowars.com/posts/ukraine-to-ban-war-and-peace-from-being-taught-in-schools/

"Ukraine to Ban ‘War and Peace’ From Being Taught in Schools"

Leo Tolstoy’s ‘War and Peace’ and other classic historical novels that portray the Russian military in anything other than a negative light will be banned from being taught in Ukrainian schools, it has been announced.

Not explicitly saying this is false, but until we get a report from some Source less absolute crackpot band Infowars, caveat emptor

Although what child wouldn't want "War and Peace" banned.

[Stranger in a strange land]

https://www.infowars.com/posts/ukraine-to-ban-war-and-peace-from-being-taught-in-schools/

"Ukraine to Ban ‘War and Peace’ From Being Taught in Schools"

Leo Tolstoy’s ‘War and Peace’ and other classic historical novels that portray the Russian military in anything other than a negative light will be banned from being taught in Ukrainian schools, it has been announced.

Not explicitly saying this is false, but until we get a report from some Source less absolute crackpot band Infowars, caveat emptor

Although what child wouldn't want "War and Peace" banned.

Also, I don't think Ukrainians of any age have the time or patience to read War and Peace in the current situation.

[jaichind]

https://www.globalconstructionreview.com/construction-of-china-kyrgyzstan-uzbekistan-railway-to-start-next-year/

"Construction of China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway “to start next year”"

One interesting consequence of the Russia-Ukraine war.  China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan is part of a long-term plan for the PRC to have direct rail access to Iran as well as shorten the rail route between the PRC and Europe.  This project has been stuck on the gauge it should use with PRC wanting to use a standard gauge and Russia behind the scenes pushing for a broad gauge.  Allowing the railroad to be in standard gauge would mean Russia would cede leadership over Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to PRC.  It seems Russia decided to make that call as they have more urgent geopolitical issues to deal with and has become more dependent on PRC.

[jaichind]

https://twitter.com/trussliz/status/1534913977083469831

They are prisoners of war.

Is Liz Truss saying that the UK is at war with Russia? I must have missed the declaration of war

[Storr]

https://twitter.com/trussliz/status/1534913977083469831

They are prisoners of war.

Is Liz Truss saying that the UK is at war with Russia? I must have missed the declaration of war

They were members of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. So no.

[Lord Halifax]

[tweet]

They are prisoners of war.

Is Liz Truss saying that the UK is at war with Russia? I must have missed the declaration of war

No, she is stating the obvious that Ukrainian soldiers captured by the Russians or their proxies are POWs under international law. They were both part of regular Ukrainian units and at least Aiden Aslin is a Ukrainian citizen. Citizenship is not decisive in determining the status of a combatant btw, lots of countries allow foreign nationals to join their military, that doesn't make them "mercenaries".

[President Johnson]

Awful.
https://twitter.com/OSINT88/status/1534897134146883584

Ugh.

I thought Russia doesn't have the death penalty?

Russia might not, but apparently the so called Donetsk People's Republic does.

Yeah, they have. Though it's still on the books in Russia, there's just a moratorium (still embarrassing the US does have capital punishment and Russia not).

I hope these guys somehow freed. Our radio station said the execution could be done through shooting squad.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

Awful.
https://twitter.com/OSINT88/status/1534897134146883584

Ugh.

I thought Russia doesn't have the death penalty?

Russia might not, but apparently the so called Donetsk People's Republic does.

Yeah, they have. Though it's still on the books in Russia, there's just a moratorium (still embarrassing the US does have capital punishment and Russia not).

To an extent - but it’s much easier for a government to make executions illegal when they have no problem with extrajudicial executions in special cases.

[Badger]

https://twitter.com/Shtirlitz53/status/1534305549222875138

[Badger]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-war-intelligence-russia-kyiv-military-b2096715.html

"Ukraine forces outgunned up to 40 to one by Russian forces, intelligence report reveals"

Not sure all the stuff/numbers being said in the report are true but this is another example of the Western media trying to prepare their population for likely future positive news for Russia's military advances.

"Positive news"? Seriously?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

https://twitter.com/Shtirlitz53/status/1534305549222875138

Look at the translation.

[Storr]

The "everything is Russian" justification:

https://twitter.com/olgatokariuk/status/1534956562854432768?s=20&t=72LvWuIR6...

https://twitter.com/ElenaChernenko/status/1534929353682845696?s=20&t=72LvWuI...

https://twitter.com/ElenaChernenko/status/1534929357642289153?s=20&t=72LvWuI...

[Badger]

https://twitter.com/Shtirlitz53/status/1534305549222875138

Look at the translation.

Where?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

https://twitter.com/Shtirlitz53/status/1534305549222875138

Look at the translation.

Where?

If you open the tweet there's a translate button.

[The Dowager Mod]

https://twitter.com/Shtirlitz53/status/1534305549222875138

Look at the translation.

Where?

"Col. Ruslan Shirin, who was chief of staff for the Baltic Fleet's 336th Naval Infantry Brigade was killed in action."

[DINGO Joe]

https://twitter.com/Shtirlitz53/status/1534305549222875138

Look at the translation.

Where?

"Col. Ruslan Shirin, who was chief of staff for the Baltic Fleet's 336th Naval Infantry Brigade was killed in action."

Girkin has been posting quite a few high ranking officers the last few days.  They can't even last long enough to be promoted to General before dying.

[Storr]

https://twitter.com/Blue_Sauron/status/1534950142515851268?s=20&t=72LvWuIR6l...

[NOVA Green]

https://twitter.com/Shtirlitz53/status/1534305549222875138

Look at the translation.

Where?

"Col. Ruslan Shirin, who was chief of staff for the Baltic Fleet's 336th Naval Infantry Brigade was killed in action."

I believe that is the elite unit which is fortifying areas outside of Karkhiv with concrete defensive systems....

Wonder what the cause of death is?

[NOVA Green]

Something I have been pondering for a bit is to what extent US and Allied Intel to the Ukrainian Gvt. might actually have been (and continues to be) more useful than even all of the weapons and indirect "non-lethal" support.

Sure the massive flow of small arms and ammo from Day 1 to the Ukrainians made a huge difference in terms of allowing a "popular mobilization", as well as stockpiles to replenish the sheer amount of lead getting tossed around.

Spare parts of Ukrainian fighter jets showed up, various tanks and armored cars, anti air systems, a few choppers, etc...

Still, really ultimately and fundamentally despite the vast amount of weapons that Ukrainian Allies have been pouring into the country, it really does seem a bit more like the intelligence assistance and not the military hardware has been the key to not only Ukrainian existential survival, but even further the ability to use asymmetrical warfare to inflict maximum pain with minimum casualties.

Obviously the Artillery Duels in Donbas will test that theorem as Ukrainian casualties continue to rack up, but simultaneously seriously degraded Russian BTG's are likely suffering equal if not possibly greater casualties of their own.

[NewYorkExpress]

The "everything is Russian" justification:

https://twitter.com/olgatokariuk/status/1534956562854432768?s=20&t=72LvWuIR6...
https://twitter.com/ElenaChernenko/status/1534929353682845696?s=20&t=72LvWuI...
https://twitter.com/ElenaChernenko/status/1534929357642289153?s=20&t=72LvWuI...

Putin openly admitting his next move will be to invade a NATO country here. Will it be Poland or a Baltic state?

[Woody]

Source https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61742736

Kyiv losing up to 200 troops a day - Zelensky aide

Mykhaylo Podolyak said Ukraine needed hundreds of Western artillery systems to level the playing field with Russia in the eastern Donbas region.

He also said Kyiv is not ready to resume peace talks with Moscow.

Ukrainian troops are under relentless bombardment as Russian forces attempt to take control of the whole of Donbas.

He repeated Ukraine's appeal for more weapons from the West, saying that the "complete lack of parity" between the Russian and Ukrainian armies was the reason for Ukraine's heavy casualty rate.

Mr Podolyak's suggestion that 100 to 200 Ukrainian soldiers are dying each day is higher than previous estimates. On Thursday, Ukraine's Defence Minister, Oleksii Reznikov, said Ukraine was losing 100 soldiers a day, and 500 more were injured.

[Woody]

https://mobile.twitter.com/AggregateOsint/status/1535136604905512960
https://twitter.com/WarMonitor3/status/1535021271511191571

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

Source https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61742736

Kyiv losing up to 200 troops a day - Zelensky aide

Mykhaylo Podolyak said Ukraine needed hundreds of Western artillery systems to level the playing field with Russia in the eastern Donbas region.

He also said Kyiv is not ready to resume peace talks with Moscow.

Ukrainian troops are under relentless bombardment as Russian forces attempt to take control of the whole of Donbas.

He repeated Ukraine's appeal for more weapons from the West, saying that the "complete lack of parity" between the Russian and Ukrainian armies was the reason for Ukraine's heavy casualty rate.

Mr Podolyak's suggestion that 100 to 200 Ukrainian soldiers are dying each day is higher than previous estimates. On Thursday, Ukraine's Defence Minister, Oleksii Reznikov, said Ukraine was losing 100 soldiers a day, and 500 more were injured.

The original figure of 50-100 casualties (not all of which were deaths) was, apparently,high. It’s possible this one is true, but it wouldn’t be the first time Ukrainian officials exaggerated the scale of a problem to stress the importance of delivering more aid.

We are not immune to information warfare.

[Woody]

Source https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61742736

Kyiv losing up to 200 troops a day - Zelensky aide

Mykhaylo Podolyak said Ukraine needed hundreds of Western artillery systems to level the playing field with Russia in the eastern Donbas region.

He also said Kyiv is not ready to resume peace talks with Moscow.

Ukrainian troops are under relentless bombardment as Russian forces attempt to take control of the whole of Donbas.

He repeated Ukraine's appeal for more weapons from the West, saying that the "complete lack of parity" between the Russian and Ukrainian armies was the reason for Ukraine's heavy casualty rate.

Mr Podolyak's suggestion that 100 to 200 Ukrainian soldiers are dying each day is higher than previous estimates. On Thursday, Ukraine's Defence Minister, Oleksii Reznikov, said Ukraine was losing 100 soldiers a day, and 500 more were injured.

The original figure of 50-100 casualties (not all of which were deaths) was, apparently,high. It’s possible this one is true, but it wouldn’t be the first time Ukrainian officials exaggerated the scale of a problem to stress the importance of delivering more aid.

We are not immune to information warfare.

Same thing entered my mind.