Russia-Ukraine war and related tensions Megathread

[rc18]

Reports coming out that Kadyrov's right-hand man has been eliminated.

https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1668911534184038403?s=20

I'm sure Ukrainian Military Intelligence have some colourful suggestions for where Kadyrov can go to find his friend...

[Storr]

https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1669008558053105665?s=20

[Storr]

https://twitter.com/GeoConfirmed/status/1668975625263013889?s=20

[Woody]

https://twitter.com/WarMonitors/status/1669043386500669447?cxt=HHwWjoCz8b6H0akuA...
https://twitter.com/Akhmatpilled/status/1669055462099001345?cxt=HHwWgoCxjbHG1qku...

[Storr]

https://twitter.com/KevinRothrock/status/1669023811142918158?s=20

https://twitter.com/KevinRothrock/status/1669024651773898757?s=20

https://twitter.com/KevinRothrock/status/1669025724727009285?s=20

[Hindsight was 2020]

https://twitter.com/maks_nafo_fella/status/1669087908462985216?s=12
https://twitter.com/andrewperpetua/status/1669090714305560581?s=12
https://twitter.com/andrewperpetua/status/1669090931239264256?s=12

[Storr]

https://twitter.com/GeoConfirmed/status/1668975625263013889?s=20

Ukraine is also targeting Russian logistics:

https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1669085518070439937?s=20

[Badger]

Looks like Zaporozhye area will see rain in the next few days.  The mud will slow down any mechanized advances or movements by either side.

https://twitter.com/Eureka_News_ENG/status/1667832637568761856

LOL

Russian pundits are blaming the rain for Ukrainian advances

https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-pundits-are-blaming-the-rain-for-ukrainian-advances-2023-6

Well of course. After all rain is well known to Aid an advancing Army's movement forward... wait, what?

[Badger]

https://twitter.com/Newsweek/status/1668963729013190658

The Maginotski Line

[2952-0-0]

To be fair, the Maginot Line fulfilled its mission of deterring a German frontal assault. The problem was, it sucked up so much funds that could have been spent on mobile warfare. This Maginotski line seems to have been built for show, and for the Governor's friends to make a quick buck.

[Oleg 🇰🇿🤝🇺🇦]

This Maginotski line seems to have been built for show, and for the Governor's friends to make a quick buck.

It's never happened before, and it's happened again

[NOVA Green]

Been away for a few days celebrating our Wedding Anniversary at the Oregon Coast, but still been lurking on Atlas and periodically following news updates elsewhere.

So here is a selective quote from a much larger article... please subscribe to The Economist today to help ensure a high quality publication with major coverage of international affairs.

The Economist just posted a recent story earlier today regarding the current status of the Ukrainian "Counter-Offensive".

Ukraine’s counter-offensive is now into its second week. Its shape is gradually becoming clearer. One long-standing axis points east, at the area around the bloodily contested town of Bakhmut and in Luhansk province. A new one aims south and south-east from Velyka Novosilka and Vuhledar in Donetsk province. And a third has opened in the south, where Ukrainian troops are battling their way south around the town of Orikhiv in Zaporizhia province, which forms the central part of the war’s long front line. They are making progress. But neither side has committed its reserves and the most important fighting may not occur for another week or so.

The thrust in Donetsk so far appears to have been the most successful. Ukraine used seven brigades near Velyka Novosilka to liberate around 60 sq km of territory within four days, says Konrad Muzyka of Rochan Consulting, a firm that tracks the war. That included a cluster of villages hugging the Mokri Yaly river, including Blahodatne, liberated on June 11th; Storozheve, where video footage showed marines walking through the village and brandishing a Ukrainian flag in the centre; and Makarivka to the south. The tiny villages of Urozhaine and Staromaiorske may be next.

That progress contrasts with less encouraging news from another counter-offensive operation taking place further south and west, in the Zaporizhia region. Full-frontal fighting along the Orikhiv-Tokmak axis there has been hard going, a military source conceded, with Ukraine taking significant losses of armour and personnel. Images published by Russia showed German Leopard tanks and American Bradley armoured vehicles caught in minefields and struck by artillery. One video showed a Russian soldier next to a Leopard with its engine still running. Russia is taking a bruising, too. In a meeting with Russian military bloggers on June 13th, Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, said that Russia had lost 54 tanks during the Ukrainian offensive. That figure far exceeds open-source estimates that are based on public estimates.

Ukraine has thrown in only three brigades in Zaporizhia, estimates Mr Muzyka. “We haven’t committed our main forces,” agrees a source in Ukraine’s general staff, “and the Russians haven’t committed their main forces.” Russia is mounting what military officers call a defence in depth: falling back to more favourable ground to the rear. Both sides are involved in a “chess game” to draw out each others’ reserves, says the source. He adds that Ukraine’s “immediate priority” is reducing Russian superiority in artillery by targeting its batteries with long-range fire. The Economist’s analysis of data from nasa’s infra-red satellites shows unusually intense fire activity across southern Ukraine.

Aviation is playing an important role. More of it is now being used in the Zaporizhia sector than has been deployed at any time since the opening stages of the war. Russian attack helicopters are proving a particular hazard. Samuel Bendett of cna, a think-tank, notes that Russian military bloggers are boasting of a new tactic: Russian air strikes are forcing Ukraine to push its scarce air-defence systems further forward. Those systems can then be struck by Russia’s Lancet attack drones and their operators targeted by Russian snipers.

https://www.economist.com/europe/2023/06/14/ukraines-counter-offensive-is-making-mixed-progress

[NOVA Green]

NATO does the NATO thing you know, regardless of the "weak links" of Hungary and Turkey, both countries appear to which have forgotten the original concept behind NATO....

https://twitter.com/CasualArtyFan/status/1669041150382989322?s=20

[NOVA Green]

https://twitter.com/WarMonitors/status/1669043386500669447?cxt=HHwWjoCz8b6H0akuA...
https://twitter.com/Akhmatpilled/status/1669055462099001345?cxt=HHwWgoCxjbHG1qku...

Still regardless of the whole alleged fake news of the Chechen Warlord "Butt Buddy" of Kadyrov, looks like maybe this might be an entire BS story which has something to do with the weird Russian politics involving Wagner, Chechen Warlords, and Regular Russian Officers / Kremlin:

Might explain some of the bizarre stuff, even beyond the typical Chechynia Warlord Media Stunts...

https://twitter.com/ItsArtoir/status/1668941267416276994?s=20

[NOVA Green]

Deep within Russian Gulags, more continued repression of activists opposing Czar Putin:

NO PAYWALL, but Donation Requested to support Russian Human Rights Organizations.

Still limiting quotes so more on links below

NOTE: There are graphic comments regarding allegations of extreme torture within some of these links, so be aware before reading further.

On June 14, 40-year-old arrested Anatoly Berezikov died in the special detention center of Rostov-on-Don , lawyer Irina Gak told Mediazone.

According to Gak, on May 11, 2023, the security forces came to Berezikov’s apartment, conducted an “unauthorized search, during which they beat him,” and then drew up a protocol on disobedience to the security forces (Part 1 of Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) against him. The court sent him under arrest for 10 days.

The lawyer suggests that the reason for the persecution could be that Berezikov posted leaflets in the city of the Ukrainian project “I want to live”, which accepts requests from Russians to surrender.

After serving his sentence, Berezkin did not leave the special detention center - he was again assigned an administrative arrest for 10 days under the protocol on petty hooliganism (part 1 of article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses).

Berezikov told Gak that before the trial, officers from police department No. 4 took him outside the city, where they tortured him with electric shocks and demanded that he refuse the services of a lawyer. Gak noted that she recorded signs of torture on Berezikov's body. On May 31, he was sent under arrest for the third time, under which article it was not specified.

https://zona.media/news/2023/06/14/speczpriemnik

Hunger Strike begins for Russian Anti-War activist accused of attempted arson against a Russian Enlistment Center:

Ivan Kudryashov, an anti-war activist and street art author from Tver accused of preparing to set fire to a military registration and enlistment office, went on a hunger strike in a pre-trial detention center, according to the human rights project Solidarity Zone.

Kudryashov's criminal case on preparation for a terrorist act (Part 1 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code, Part 1 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code) is being considered by the 2nd Western District Military Court, the next meeting will be held on June 19. Kudryashov was detained by FSB officers on the night of October 1 not far from his house, they covered his face with his own T-shirt, and they took him for a search. “(In my apartment - MZ) two bottles that did not belong to me, similar to Molotov cocktails, and two bottles with some kind of liquid were found,” Kudryashov said.

Kudryashov has been on a hunger strike for the seventh day, the Solidarity Zone clarifies, and drinks only water. He told lawyer Maksim Kharchenko that he felt weak and that he had seizures from time to time. Kudryashov refused to use animal products for moral and ethical reasons, human rights activists specify. The accused is supported by the Vegan Delivery project, but the administration of SIZO-1 in the Tver Region does not send parcels to him.

After his detention, Kudryashov spoke about the torture. According to him, after the search, he was taken to an “unknown place” and, after being asked a question about Molotov cocktails, “they tied his legs with adhesive tape, laid him on the floor and sent electric current to open places.” Kudryashov claims that the security forces used sexualized violence against him: “they took my pants down, leaving me in a lying position, and leaving me in my shorts, they began to shove an unknown object” into the anus. After that, the young man began to answer questions from the security forces and signed the documents.

https://zona.media/news/2023/06/14/golodovka

[NOVA Green]

Meanwhile down in the "Subvert City" town of Leningrad / Saint Petersburg, a Russian Hip-Hop artist, had a concert disrupted by a massive police onslaught under allegations of "drugs", where also allegedly the artist said or sang a song to the theme of: "F**k the War".

EDIT: Forgot Link:

https://zona.media/news/2023/04/23/milano

Atlas Nation can be focused on minute little battlefield threads, cash flow and money, supplies of ammos and munitions, geo-politics, aspects and impacts within "Global South", Asia-Pacific, etc... but yet still perhaps sometimes neglect the realm of popular culture.

Don't have that on video, but might be available on Telegraph somewhere, so shopping for a couple other beats.

Personally not sure this dude is the best Russian Rapper on the planet, but still more difficult not speaking Russian.

Here are some samples from his Rap Mix... curious opinion what Russian language familiar speakers or comprehension think?

Meanwhile a former image from a certain VA avatar pops up in the bottom of this search...

[Hindsight was 2020]

The well research novels that NOVA posts here are always a treat 😗

[walleye26]

NOVA I know you don’t get it enough but thanks for all the in depth coverage you share with us here. It’s always a good read.

[Storr]

On the lighter side of things:

https://twitter.com/lijukic/status/1669087000501075968?s=20

[Oleg 🇰🇿🤝🇺🇦]

Meanwhile down in the "Subvert City" town of Leningrad / Saint Petersburg, a Russian Hip-Hop artist, had a concert disrupted by a massive police onslaught under allegations of "drugs", where also allegedly the artist said or sang a song to the theme of: "F**k the War".

EDIT: Forgot Link:

https://zona.media/news/2023/04/23/milano

Atlas Nation can be focused on minute little battlefield threads, cash flow and money, supplies of ammos and munitions, geo-politics, aspects and impacts within "Global South", Asia-Pacific, etc... but yet still perhaps sometimes neglect the realm of popular culture.

Don't have that on video, but might be available on Telegraph somewhere, so shopping for a couple other beats.

Personally not sure this dude is the best Russian Rapper on the planet, but still more difficult not speaking Russian.

Here are some samples from his Rap Mix... curious opinion what Russian language familiar speakers or comprehension think?

Spoiler alert! Click Show to show the content.

Show

Meanwhile a former image from a certain VA avatar pops up in the bottom of this search...

I haven't heard about this rapper, maybe just another passing freshman. Of the youth anti-war Russian musicians, the most famous are Icepeak, Pussy Riot, Shortparis, Oxxxymiron, Noize, Monetochka, Husky, Little Big.

By the way, some time ago, the ruscists had a heavy butthurt from this parody of Shaman's song "I'm Russian." The original song name is a common ruscist slogan, in addition to "Russia for the Russians" and "Orthodoxy or death".

[Oleg 🇰🇿🤝🇺🇦]

On the lighter side of things:

https://twitter.com/lijukic/status/1669087000501075968?s=20

Those mustaches were supposed to stay in the eighties. Perhaps the whole point is that Belarus was mothballed in the eighties.

[PSOL]

Lukashenko’s son is probably the sexiest person I’ve laid my eyes on this decade. After that it is that Teixiera edgelord with those full lips and then my one true love, Psy

[Oleg 🇰🇿🤝🇺🇦]

Lukashenko’s son is probably the sexiest person I’ve laid my eyes on this decade. After that it is that Teixiera edgelord with those full lips and then my one true love, Psy

Oh yes, those gorgeous mustaches automatically double or triple a sexiness.

[Woody]

A week has now passed since the counteroffensive begun.

[Oleg 🇰🇿🤝🇺🇦]

Meanwhile down in the "Subvert City" town of Leningrad / Saint Petersburg, a Russian Hip-Hop artist, had a concert disrupted by a massive police onslaught under allegations of "drugs", where also allegedly the artist said or sang a song to the theme of: "F**k the War".

EDIT: Forgot Link:

https://zona.media/news/2023/04/23/milano

Atlas Nation can be focused on minute little battlefield threads, cash flow and money, supplies of ammos and munitions, geo-politics, aspects and impacts within "Global South", Asia-Pacific, etc... but yet still perhaps sometimes neglect the realm of popular culture.

Don't have that on video, but might be available on Telegraph somewhere, so shopping for a couple other beats.

Personally not sure this dude is the best Russian Rapper on the planet, but still more difficult not speaking Russian.

Here are some samples from his Rap Mix... curious opinion what Russian language familiar speakers or comprehension think?

Spoiler alert! Click Show to show the content.

Show

Meanwhile a former image from a certain VA avatar pops up in the bottom of this search...

Well, I now listened to a couple of his songs, I didn’t find anything oppositional, the topics that are common for modern rap are money, sex, boasting, drugs. By the way, it’s strange that Mizulina decided to find fault with this rapper about drugs, it’s like fined one specific Austin Mini for speeding, while it was driving along the autobahn and other cars continue to drive around at a higher speed.

Yes, this is really not the best Russian rapper, this is the level of a completely novice Russian rapper, and the quality of the recording is very low, it is unlikely that he can become popular in Russia. Even great PR from Mizulina will not help here.

I think the chanting of "F*** the war" at the concert is just what an adequate part of Russian youth thinks, who somehow escaped brainwashing. Unlike the conscious opposition musicians I listed above, he is more of a part of it than a leader.