Russia-Ukraine war and related tensions Megathread

[jaichind]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/24/politics/us-intelligence-kremlin-drone-attack/index.html

"US intelligence indicates Ukrainians may have launched drone attack on Kremlin"

[NOVA Green]

These are the people NOVA Green and Hindsight are cheering for btw. Even journalists from Vice and Bellingcat think twice about this.

Vice News: Anti-Putin Militias Celebrating Attacks on Russia Are Filled With Neo-Nazis

Members of the Russian Volunteer Corps include a guy arrested for spreading the Christchurch Shooter’s Manifesto and the founder of a neo-Nazi death metal festival.

Pictures of RDK celebrating in Belgorod flooded social media. In one, a Russian man named Aleksandr Skachkov stands next to a captured BTR-82A with the flag of the RDK unfurled next to him. On his chest is a patch depicting a white hooded Ku Klux Klansman wielding a gun. According to reporting from Bellingcat, Ukraine arrested Skachkov in 2020 during a raid on a group of people who were translating and selling the Christchurch Shooter’s manifesto.

Michael Colborne, a journalist at Bellingcat and the author of From the Fires of War: Ukraine’s Azov Movement and the Global Far Right, said he put his head in his hands yesterday as people online started celebrating the attack on Belgorod. He recognized many of the men in the videos. “I knew right away who they were,” he said. “I don’t see what military or PR purpose putting these guys front and center does for Ukraine, because Russia knows who they are.”

In addition to being part of the RDK, Levkin is also the founder of Asgardsrei, an annual black metal festival in Ukraine that serves as a networking event for neo-Nazis. VICE interviewed Levkin in 2019 and asked him if he was a national socialist. “Yes, sure!” He replied.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/3akdpy/anti-putin-militias-celebrating-attacks-on-russia-are-filled-with-neo-nazis

Thank you for pointing out the obvious fact that NOVA Green has been a long time closet NEO-NAZI supporter for decades of my posting history.

It is also patently clear that I have a long posting history of supporting Extremist Far-Right and Fascist political formations, movements, and governments globally.

Now that being said, define my "cheerleading for Neo-Nazi Russians", and if so please report that post immediately and I will happily take my punishment.

Meanwhile in the real world... there sure might be a more than a handful of Russian opponents of the Putin Dictatorship who actually do support Neo-Nazi political movements, or generally Far-Right movements within Central Europe, but yet those of us watching are not blind, but yet recognize that the Russian Anti-Putin movement is not confined to one single minor subset of Russian society, and that if certain individuals chose to devote their energy into being a small bit part in what quite possibly might be another Russian Revolution within the next decade or so is not yet reasons considering there are no current criminal charges against the individuals mentioned within Germany, let alone elsewhere in Central and Western Europe.



According to your own posts you appear to be representing an American Male of the Gen-X cohort, in which case you might well have listened to this song back in the mid 1980s....

"NAZI PUNKS F**K OFF'.

Still, from your posting history, I am skeptical and call BS on your fake moralistic postings, despite the fact that you seem to have a unique ability of tracking Russian Military and Paramilitary channels, while simultaneously posting "Doomerism", as some type of scheme to provide a "fair and balanced" report from the War in Ukraine, where it seems like so many of the quotes are so selective, in which case it might cause a few posters (Naturally not myself), to question what exactly is your agenda here?

EDIT: BTW Vice.com is so lame, despite their attempted global reach-outs and expansion of their business empire as a deliberate strategy to create an international youth based business.

Hell read your vice article, which was basically regurgitated puked up stories from the past, with tons of links on the right hand side of the webpage, most of which looked like they linked to Porno webpages, once all the clickbait is done...

Sorry Sweetie... I don't like trash TV, don't like trash internet sites, and perhaps what sometimes I hate the most is lazy reporting.

Grok their business model, but just because they represent in certain business markets as PROG, don't mean they ain't just another Capitalist Business with Global Ambitions, especially as authoritarian censorship has been increasingly globally so dramatically over the past ~(10) years.

[NOVA Green]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/24/politics/us-intelligence-kremlin-drone-attack/index.html

"US intelligence indicates Ukrainians may have launched drone attack on Kremlin"

Late to the Party honey... this is so Yesterdays song.

Sure... might be more to come, so best for folxs to withdrawal any business investments in Russia sooner rather than later.

Secondary sanctions will likely hit China in the immediate future, until they back down with their support for the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.

Best shift the portfolio offshore, now that Hong Kong has collapsed, maybe move $$$ to Singapore?

Arguably, moving some $$$ to Canada might be options, especially in Vancouver and invest in real estate?

But yes, if this hypothetical is true than it means that Ukrainian drones can actually hit major targets within Moscow itself.

[jaichind]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/36-hours-in-bakhmut-one-units-desperate-battle-to-hold-back-the-russians-72e30f01

"36 Hours in Bakhmut: One Unit’s Desperate Battle to Hold Back the Russians"

During the 36 hours he spent in brutal house-to-house combat in the eastern Ukrainian city, 11 of the 16 men from Malkovskiy's group were either killed or captured, surviving soldiers and relatives of the missing said.

Looks like Ukraine green units in Bakhmut took heavy losses.  Most likely a Ukraine strategy to try to preserve more experience units that will need to fight another day.

[jaichind]

https://www.19fortyfive.com/2023/05/sad-reality-the-ukraine-war-is-now-going-russias-way/

"Sad Reality: The Ukraine War Is Now Going Russia’s Way"

[jaichind]

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/25/f-16-ukraine-milley-00098892

"F-16s won’t be a ‘magic weapon’ for Ukraine, Milley warns"



That is obviously true. It takes years to train a good F-16 pilot and even if some Ukrainian pilots started to train in secret last year it will take a few more years for them to be truly effective.   I think a better route would be some sort of Flying Tiger scheme where NATO pilots retire from the military and then sign up to join the Ukraine airforce.   

[Woody]

Ivan Khurs undamaged.

https://twitter.com/Capt_Navy/status/1662032691578167302

[Oleg 🇰🇿🤝🇺🇦]

It really takes years to train a pilot from scratch, but if you transfer a pilot experienced enough to fly a Soviet aircraft with its terrible almost completely manual interface to a Western aircraft, you simply make it easier for the specialist to do his job.

[Woody]

There is a viral video circulating around various telegrams. A Ukrainian soldier shot and killed his battalion commander, because he disagreed with his orders. In their words (his friends?): "They wanted us to be meat, so Ehor did it for us. The fellow decided for us"

Not going to post it because TOS

[Buffalo Mayor Young Kim]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/24/politics/us-intelligence-kremlin-drone-attack/index.html

"US intelligence indicates Ukrainians may have launched drone attack on Kremlin"

And?

[jaichind]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/24/politics/us-intelligence-kremlin-drone-attack/index.html

"US intelligence indicates Ukrainians may have launched drone attack on Kremlin"

And?

And Ukraine's government currently denies they hey are behind such an attack.  So what the US intelligence says seems to be at odds with what Ukraine's government says.  Of course, this is a pretty standard. All sides lie during war.

[jaichind]

It really takes years to train a pilot from scratch, but if you transfer a pilot experienced enough to fly a Soviet aircraft with its terrible almost completely manual interface to a Western aircraft, you simply make it easier for the specialist to do his job.

Not sure it is that simple. The doctrines of a USSR fighter and a F-16 are very different.  Also, the entire runway system that supports a USSR-style plane is very different from that of the F-16 so there are a bunch of work Ukraine has to do to change their runways.

[pppolitics]

https://www.19fortyfive.com/2023/05/sad-reality-the-ukraine-war-is-now-going-russias-way/

"Sad Reality: The Ukraine War Is Now Going Russia’s Way"

The same author wrote:

Ukraine’s Long-Expected Offensive: Why It Won’t Beat Putin

Bad News: NATO Tanks, Planes, And Artillery Unlikely To Win Ukraine War

America Can’t Give Ukraine So Many Weapons A Nuclear War Starts

Why Is Europe Paying So Little To Defend Ukraine Against Russia?

Putin Could Launch A Big Winter Offensive In Ukraine To Cut Off Weapons

Putin’s Coming Winter Offensive Is A Clear Threat To Ukraine

[CumbrianLefty]

https://www.19fortyfive.com/2023/05/sad-reality-the-ukraine-war-is-now-going-russias-way/

"Sad Reality: The Ukraine War Is Now Going Russia’s Way"

The same author wrote:

Ukraine’s Long-Expected Offensive: Why It Won’t Beat Putin

Bad News: NATO Tanks, Planes, And Artillery Unlikely To Win Ukraine War

America Can’t Give Ukraine So Many Weapons A Nuclear War Starts

Why Is Europe Paying So Little To Defend Ukraine Against Russia?

Putin Could Launch A Big Winter Offensive In Ukraine To Cut Off Weapons

Putin’s Coming Winter Offensive Is A Clear Threat To Ukraine

Ah, you surprise me.

[Catholic Gen Z Wokester for Biden]

https://www.19fortyfive.com/2023/05/sad-reality-the-ukraine-war-is-now-going-russias-way/

"Sad Reality: The Ukraine War Is Now Going Russia’s Way"

The same author wrote:

Ukraine’s Long-Expected Offensive: Why It Won’t Beat Putin

Bad News: NATO Tanks, Planes, And Artillery Unlikely To Win Ukraine War

America Can’t Give Ukraine So Many Weapons A Nuclear War Starts

Why Is Europe Paying So Little To Defend Ukraine Against Russia?

Putin Could Launch A Big Winter Offensive In Ukraine To Cut Off Weapons

Putin’s Coming Winter Offensive Is A Clear Threat To Ukraine

I’m curious. Does the “Coming Winter Offensive” he wrote about refer to the Battle of Bakhmut which started in August, or Vuhledar where the Russian assaults on fortified positions failed to move the line at all? Those were the only Russian attacks I can even remember going back more than half a year.

[Stranger in a strange land]

https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1661669704375627777?s=20

Or the projection of Russian nationalists, when they turn the fact of the territories annexed from China in the Far East into a story about the sale of Russian territories to the PRC, became true and Putin really sells forests to the PRC  

I doubt China actually has designs on Siberia or the Russian Far East: it's much cheaper and easier for them to just buy the resources at fire-sale prices and not have to pay the cost of garrisoning and administering the territories.

[Storr]

https://twitter.com/Mike_Eckel/status/1662069965887877125?s=20

https://twitter.com/DefenceU/status/1662023584213000193?s=20

[Storr]

My opinion:

Merkel isn't to blame for the war. Any other German leader would have pursued the same policy. It was /is a more systemic issue within Germany, assuming closer economic ties with Russia (and other authoritarian nations) would avoid conflict.

Putin views the Germans as US puppets anyway, I doubt they were a major factor in his thought process when deciding to invade Ukraine. He views bringing Ukraine back into the "Russian world" as his historical mission. Maybe a militarily strong Germany would have discouraged him from invading Ukraine, but I don't see a scenario where Germany rearms post-1989. 

https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1662018952799612929?s=20

[lfromnj]

There is a viral video circulating around various telegrams. A Ukrainian soldier shot and killed his battalion commander, because he disagreed with his orders. In their words (his friends?): "They wanted us to be meat, so Ehor did it for us. The fellow decided for us"

Not going to post it because TOS

FWIW I have seen it as well and yeah its pretty gorey.

[Stranger in a strange land]

https://www.19fortyfive.com/2023/05/sad-reality-the-ukraine-war-is-now-going-russias-way/

"Sad Reality: The Ukraine War Is Now Going Russia’s Way"

The same author wrote:

Ukraine’s Long-Expected Offensive: Why It Won’t Beat Putin

Bad News: NATO Tanks, Planes, And Artillery Unlikely To Win Ukraine War

America Can’t Give Ukraine So Many Weapons A Nuclear War Starts

Why Is Europe Paying So Little To Defend Ukraine Against Russia?

Putin Could Launch A Big Winter Offensive In Ukraine To Cut Off Weapons

Putin’s Coming Winter Offensive Is A Clear Threat To Ukraine

I’m curious. Does the “Coming Winter Offensive” he wrote about refer to the Battle of Bakhmut which started in August, or Vuhledar where the Russian assaults on fortified positions failed to move the line at all? Those were the only Russian attacks I can even remember going back more than half a year.

The consensus among people who study the war seriously is that Vulehdar was the Russian Winter Offensive.

[Storr]

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1662110177930231810?s=20

[Storr]

https://twitter.com/DefMon3/status/1662193437439926273?s=20

[Storr]

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1662209788670001152?s=20

[Woody]

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1662209788670001152?s=20

This is like, the 20th time we hear about this.

[Woody]

https://twitter.com/Spriter99880/status/1662371022467678208?cxt=HHwWgIC28eTo9pEu...