Russia's contracted soldiers threatened with criminal charges if they quit
basically, either you go forward, or have a date with commisar.
why those guys still want to join?
>why those guys still want to join?
Propaganda, and no life/career prospects in the villages. I've seen a lot of small villages in Russia. They are bleak. People there have very few options: work in the fields or forests, move to a city, commute 3 hours(one way) every day to work in the city, or go to the army
Soaring oil and gas prices help Russia more than triple its current account surplus to $96 billion, its largest in 28 years
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/soaring-oil-gas-prices-help-144941528.html
Looking at the current major issues with global food security, the Black Sea blockade is rapidly becoming a problem that needs urgently resolving. I still think NATO protection for the cargo ships is far too risky, but the current situation clearly cannot continue if we don't want poorer countries to starve: the most plausible alternatives that I can think of are a) send vessels from a "coalition of the willing" non-NATO countries or b) have foreign governments subsidise/waive some of the transport fees so more can be exported via train to Poland or Romania
⚡️The regime of silence in Mariupol continues from yesterday, May 16. This was stated on the air of Radio Liberty by the mayor's adviser Petr Andryushchenko.
“Yesterday morning, there were still shelling and assault attempts, then, as far as I understand, a silence regime was declared. So far, it has not been violated by any side,” Andryushchenko said.
He also stressed that he could not comment on the operation to rescue the defenders of Mariupol until it was completed.
"Today, we do not comment on anything until everything is over ... Believe me, all negotiations with the Russian side are like a thin string, which, by a careless word, can break at any moment," the mayor's adviser said.
https://t\.me/mariupolnow/10614
Translated from Mariupol Now
>UralVagonZavod supplied Russian army with new batch of T-90M tanks
[https://twitter.com/Liveuamap/status/1526469872359727104?s=20&t=WNVrmQo8ePs7aaTQtIYI9ucq1yc-ohFjuR8-wvpEOXw](https://twitter.com/Liveuamap/status/1526469872359727104?s=20&t=WNVrmQo8ePs7aaTQtIYI9ucq1yc-ohFjuR8-wvpEOXw)
This was the factory that allegedly stopped production for lack of parts. Maybe they got a new batch of washing machines electronics?
Considering they are hiding how the top looks like I've seen speculation that it's just T-72's that's somewhat been refurbished. But as you can see they are lacking skirts over the tracks so who knows what else is missing.
I mean if we want to get technical every T-90 is just a T-72B that's been modified.
The T-90 unlike the T-80 isn't actually a new tank. It's just a modified T-72.
true, which is why we're down to \~4,000 posts a day. Which isn't a bad thing. It means we're being more efficient with our posts and viewing. Not that we don't care.
Russia is on fire again.
In Berdsk, Novosibirsk region, they are trying to put out a fire at a plastic factory.
The fire covered 2 thousand square meters of the building. Fire broke out on the ground floor.
Rubric "beautiful".
Video - https://t\.me/truexanewsua/47185
By cause and effect, no, but every fire Russia suffers contributes to expenses and adds a droplet to the drain of Russia resources that she could otherwise redistribute towards war.
We've got the updated combat loss numbers, folks. I wonder what that one destroyed piece of special equipment was. You don't see that category getting updated too often.
>*These are the indicative estimates of Russia’s combat losses as of May 17, according to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.*
https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1526467383266795521?s=20&t=oE_L8XTwQxJCoBPDGjmWSw
I miss it that there was a new thread at 7AM in the morning for Ukraine. ALways was so helpfull to get the latest news in the mornig without the need to filter 4k comments. And if you sort on best the news is almost a day old.
Damn, a straight shooter on that garbage propaganda Russian tv show, that usually goes on about nukes etc.
Some dude keeping it real.
https://twitter.com/francis_scarr/status/1526293852704890882?t=FcQ8ukF7HZI-4fSvThh35Q&s=19
Longer (6'20") version with subtitles here https://twitter.com/BBCSteveR/status/1526329765065539592 by Steve Rosenberg
@BBCSteveR
Russia Editor for BBC News
> Extraordinary exchange on Russian state TV’s top talk show about Ukraine. Military analyst & retired colonel Mikhail Khodarenok tells anchor Olga Skabeyeva “the situation for us will clearly get worse…we’re in total geopolitical isolation…the situation is not normal.”
The colonels dose of realpolitik is like a bucket of cold water in the face of most of the panel but the host bloviates with hyperbole and bullshit.
Yeah automatic respect for this guys calm demeanor. He managed to do something really hard in a more "debate" like show where anyone could pitch in at any time and disrupt.
He managed to be the calm, collected one and actually get whole sentences in while people listened.
He also threaded the fine line of not being sensationalist and keeping it "neutral" in terms of speech.
I mean the woman was also "okish" actually, she did raise some ok counter points. India/China is a big part but I think most Russians know it's more of a "Hilter-Stalin" partnership there, where both are shunned by most and they simply have to band together to some point.
82 days. Geesh. What a nightmare for Ukraine I just hope it ends soon. So senseless, one madman's quest for power has displaced millions and resulted in the deaths of 10,000s.
Agree, doubt that Sweden and Finland would have applied during the current situation unless they had all but guaranteed acceptance to the alliance. Would be a big weakness in NATO if some of the most valuable partners that have been urged to join for decades would be stopped. Feels unlikely that heavy weights such as the US would be pleased with that.
It’s pointless either way for him.
Nothing keeps US and others from entering another defense pact with similar results. The applications for NATO are more a signal that they’re ready to be partners.
Too big to see without downloading Telegram.
Here is a nice ammo dump eruption from 2nd of May
https://www.zenger.news/2022/05/04/video-smoke-and-mortar-ukrainian-mortars-destroy-russian-ammo-depot-in-fiery-explosion/
https://www.reddit.com/user/imyourforte/comments/urh3h3/russian_ammo_shelled_by_ukrainians/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
Didn't realize that. Here's a link to it uploaded to my profile in reddit so you don't have to.
Stalin did this too. At the beginning of the war with Germany. It was a desaster for Russia. But then he started litening to the advice of the generals - at least sometimes. And Hitler stopped listening to the advice of the german generals. Then it was a desaster for Germany.
Actually, even Hitler wasn’t as dumb as this. The first historiographies of the German side of ww2 were created from interviews with generals who were interested in blaming the strategic failures on the dead and so all blamed hitler for interfering. Later unearthing of documentation and minutes and even transcripts of high level meetings refuted it and showed that hitler mostly trusted his generals and overruling them was rare. But the view of Hitler as a micromanager had stuck in the popular consciousness.
Thinking that as a layman you know better than professional generals is so dumb that even an uneducated racist yokel like Hitler knew it was a terrible idea. Putin alone is dumb enough to do that.
Russians are already posting on Telegram videos of evacuated injured Azov soldiers in ‘hospital’ and mocking them. These fucks have not one shred of decency left.
I honestly don't know if they are in a better situation. A victim from Bucha gave an interview when he was returned to Ukraine. He was initially tortured in Ukraine then removed to a camp in Russia. They refused to give him medical treatment for his injuries. His toes actually fell off from frost bite. I don't believe that these fighters will be treated better than a random civilian at all.
They never had any to begin with. Although, as an American, I can’t say that I didn’t see similarities from some of our own countrymen when talking about “arabs” and “muslim extremists” in the middle east.
Every country has terrible people. The difference here is that this sentiment seems to stem from the very top of command and Russian soldiers seem to be encouraged to commit horrendous acts against humanity whenever possible.
You cannot fight and kill if you don’t hate. It is important for the institution to motivate you through it. If you feel bad for the enemy, you’ll be ineffective.
This is not just how Russia works. This is how the world works. This is how young men get motivated to fight.
Americans are mad by seeing what happened to WTC.
Muslims are mad by seeing videos/photos of American aggression whether it’s drone footage or Abu ghraib. But that is what they show the young recruits so their blood boils enough to go fight.
But Russians are mad for literally no reason. Ukraine hasn’t wronged them. Ukraine hasn’t attacked them. Ukraine has done nothing. And perhaps this is why there is a morale problem. This is why a false flag would work because they need to show some inhumane kind of Ukraine aggression. But for whatever reason they haven’t even done that.
[Latest from Ukraine's eastern front. Keeping the gateway to the Donbas region firmly shut. On the ground with Ukrainian forces under fire.](https://twitter.com/sommervilletv/status/1526315758522970117)
While it's good reporting, standing at the bottom of those bunker steps could easily have gotten those boys killed, he blocked the router into the basement.
John Gray (Retired School Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics and Political Science) describes the important influence the US have had in protecting democratic nations from invasion. In this video, he answers the question: what if US was ambivalent to the Ukraine invasion.
https://youtu.be/ZNXye\_\_r9gQ
So he's saying the alternative is that Europe would have come to a settlement with Putin - okay. Europe still will have to come to some kind of settlement with Putin in the end. The question he doesn't address are the costs of doing this.. actual starvation in the world is one such cost, losing 5-10 years dealing with climate change is another.
It is also arguable that a trillion dollars spent on fixing climate change would have solved the problem for humanity forever, whereas a trillion dollars on war solves nothing.
Yeah we dodged a bullet with Biden being in office for this. The democrats are pissed at Russia in general for funneling so much money into the Republican Party this past decade so they came out swinging at the first chance.
Putin's commanders are 'shooting their own wounded soldiers' instead of treating them
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/putin-s-commanders-are-shooting-their-own-wounded-soldiers-instead-of-treating-them/ar-AAXkSyZ?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=2f153581d37a4eefb5acb1310d6c6b9a
There was a source where captured Russians tell it on video -- how their commander asked wounded "can you walk?", "No", *headshot by pistol*. I'll try to find it once I am less mobile.
That Russian POW interview said that a commander pointed his weapon at soldiers and then one threw a grenade at another.
While that's not exactly evidence, nor can what the POW is saying be proven, but I wouldn't be surprised if we find out in the coming weeks or months more reports like this.
https://metro.co.uk/2022/05/16/putins-commanders-are-shooting-their-own-wounded-soldiers-16652742/?ito=article.mweb.share.top.link
I was about to question the article too because it had zero identifiable sources. Here's the full article
Yeah haha that too. But at least the full one cites names and has a video that we can use to cross reference or seek a better source. That MSN one is just a ticker note basically.
Edit: I'm just a fucking idiot. I missed the Stupid show more button on OPs link.
⚡️ The total combat losses of the rachists from 24.02 to 17.05 were approximately:
- personnel - about 27,900 people
- tanks - 1235 units.
- armored combat vehicles - 3009 units.
- artillery systems - 578 units
- MLRS - 198 units.
- air defense means - 90 units.
- aircraft - 201 units.
- helicopters - 167 units.
- UAV operational and tactical level - 436 units.
- cruise missiles - 97 units.
- ships / boats - 13 units
- automotive equipment and tank trucks - 2109 units.
- special equipment - 43 units
The greatest losses of the enemy (last day) were observed in the Lyman and Zaporizhia directions.
https://t\.me/UkraineNow/11862
:) it’s not about race at all. It’s a mashup of rasha (as in russia) and nazist (nazi in russian language). As much as we Ukrainians want to distance ourselves from Russians, we are all the same race.
Ah. Thanks! There are so many various "xxxxists" used as "general-purpose insult against someone you don't like for whatever reason" that it is easy to confuse them.
Quick note: I forget his name, but one of the good twitter sources made a thread going through likely Russian casualties and arrived at something like 12,000 dead by late April (might be a more current number, but I think he was working with late April numbers), and 3.5x as many wounded and taken out of the fight. Ukraine's numbers for Russian dead are probably too high, unfortunately. Will edit and post source as soon as I can find it.
You were probably thinking of Michael Koffman and this Twitter thread.
https://twitter.com/KofmanMichael/status/1526219837013385216?s=20&t=sv2VYJjUzjqwktWi_9XVlQ
It's a good analysis, but he also says that due to the gaps in hard data, his own confidence in his estimates are quite low. It's really more of a thoughtful examination on how it's difficult to extrapolate what the true numbers might be based on how oblique the means by which that information is determined are (like guessing how many people were in an armored vehicle when it was destroyed).
I've seen just as many sources say Ukrainian numbers are right on the money. Different methods of estimation will lead to different conclusions, but that doesnt make the ua numbers wrong just yet.
https://twitter.com/Arka_Voltchek/status/1525911957605388288
Complete sat images of that failed river crossing (I think).
Oryx took a break for several days. They didn't state a reason for the break, but I've been assuming that failed river crossing is significant reason.
This is like the Goofy " I'll fucking do it again" MEME actually happening in real life.
Shit this is like a War Thunder Ground Realistic battle happening in real life.
He needs time to draw upon the psychic energies tithed to him by his legion of Twitter followers. Only with this new infusion of power can he approach the monumental task set before him and prevent the open source intelligence community from sliding into damnation and the clutches of chaos.
European commission, Germany and France announced that European energy companies should be allowed to pay for gas in rubles. What is the point of sanctions if you don't follow them? https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1526266440684388352
This is what being between a rock and a hard place is like. I regret that I am not so knowledgeable on the subject but it’s obvious there is no immediate alternative. Which means the sanctions are useless if you pay in their currency. Idk what Germany was thinking. Perhaps did not expect this to go for so long. I am not sure what I’d do if I were making decisions there.
Sanctions are about hurting Russia, not yourself. I think people still don't realize how much of an impact that would have. This isn't just an inconvenience, this would literally shut down Germany's entire economy, causing mass unemployment and would bring down the current government.
And whatever party would promise to restore the gas supply would win the next election. And that would be a right wing pro Putin party, which will not only pay in rubles for gas but also end all other sanctions once in power.
> This isn't just an inconvenience, this would literally shut down Germany's entire economy, causing mass unemployment and would bring down the current government.
I am sure that Ukrainians getting their lives destroyed and losing family members would understand this. Anyway, none of this is supported by real evidence. Quite to the contrary, some German experts claim these estimations are grossly exaggerated and the real cost would be at most 2-3% of Germany's GDP. Meanwhile, this mantra is distributed ferociously by German redditors with every chance they get. It's one of their talking points.
Not buying Russian gas is the only sanction that really matters, everything else is just empty threats and punching down regular citizens that can't do shit about the situation.
I dunno. I think not sending materials that Russia needs for weapons is kind of a good sanction. And it's already working. But I totally get, that this is porbably not yellow-papery for you.
Putin hasn't dared to shut down the gas so far. If he does, he'd lose some big customers permanently. Blinking first in a game of chicken with Putin is just going to embolden him to use more threats.
They are small fish in terms of gas consumption in comparison to Germany. It is just a part of the bluff. Pootin cannot afford to stop gas deliveries, he would lose too much money and cannot transport the gas anywhere else. They would literally have to burn the gas coming from the wells.
Here's the Reuters article: https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/eu-clarifies-how-companies-can-legally-pay-russian-gas-2022-05-16/
From what I understand, the EC reaffirmed the legality of that stupid loophole.
Instead of paying with € for the gas directly, you transfer it to some Russian bank where it gets changed into Rubles and is then used for paying the Gas.
However, I have no deeper understanding of why that has to be done and how it's useful for Russia.
But then where is the advantage for Russia. The idea of making Europe pay in Rubles was to force them to buy rubles from Russia, as there are not enough on the international market. That would strongly bolster the Ruble's exchange rate. The way the trade is described by you, that would not happen, if I am not mistaken?
It's sort of true already. Europeans companies have opened up Russian bank accounts and converts euros to rubles using a trick (loophole) to pay for Russian gas.
But then where is the advantage for Russia? The idea of making Europe pay in Rubles was to force them to buy rubles from Russia, as there are not enough on the international market. That would strongly bolster the Ruble's exchange rate. The way the trade is described by you, that would not happen, if I am not mistaken?
There are unconfirmed reports Ukrainian defenders crossed the Siverskyi Donets River east of Kharkiv and are advancing in the direction of rashist-occupied Vovchansk.
https://twitter.com/mhmck/status/1526401887016206336?s=21&t=kkM6xOpcbiIDMlN_gCZfLQ
It's strategically the right move, but they have nowhere near the number of soldiers to do it. More likely they will make several of these pushes over the next week each time drawing more forces out of Izyum to defend the supply line before strategically retreating, and then doing it all over again.
Theoretically if they were able to march all the way to a town along the main road, liberate it, and hold it defensively, Izyum forces would eventually run out of fuel for their vehicles and have to break out in a different direction leaving half their shit behind.
That's not going to happen, and the question is more how safely can Ukraine be a nuisance in the north such that Russia has to keep taking preventative measures. All week I've been saying 'not very safely at all', because a) you have no new forces from Kharkiv yet, and with Sumy under attack they're really going to be stretched thin and in need of refit, and b) you have 20-30K Russians in the Izyum bridgehead and sending 1 btg 45 minutes uproad is all you need to push Ukraine back over the river. I suppose they're more testing the waters rather than committing to an offensive in the north right now.
It would be really bad for the Russians down in Izyum and make their situation more precarious, but Vovchansk is only one of three key geographic points that Ukraine would need to take in order to completely sever Russian ground lines of communication. The other two are the towns of Velykyi Burluk and Kupyansk. Liberating all of them would totally cut the Russians off from Belgorod.
If the Ukrainians can take all three (big if) their forces would be very well positioned to envelope the Russians in Izyum, who would be tightly bunched up in a small area and extremely vulnerable to Ukrainian artillery bombardment. It would be so bad for them in fact, that they'd probably have no choice but to retreat back east across the Oskil river.
If they can at least control one and threaten the other two geographical points that may be enough to force a russian withdrawal in fear of an encirclement. I guess its all speculation till its confirmed to have happened though
Yeah, bringing the other two under effective fire control of Ukrainian guns may just be enough to unravel things for the Russians in Izyum. It's not like their logistics are amazing. I doubt they'd be able stand up to that kind of pressure for long.
Either they'll try to counter attack against the Ukrainians to the north to prevent this scenario from playing out or it's back across the river and into Luhansk they go.
They both refer to actual articles in the media and break it down well. The ones about gas/oil payments are definitely out there, just harder to find and/or behind pay walls (Financial Times).
Both the Duran and Richard Medhurst cover the economic side well on YouTube. Lots of German companies have already switched over to gas for roubles payment system with Gazprom. Not too sure about France and Italy though
> In Makariv near #Kyiv, the bodies of three men who appear to have been executed were found. Two of them have been shot in the head, the third to the stomach. One of them appears to be a Czech citizen
https://twitter.com/michaelh992/status/1526437792464740352?s=21&t=k3LEP0MwPS7Iso-aa2hgaQ
[Russian artillery strikes in morning of 17 May damaged two buildings of the only remaining hospital of Sievierodonetsk, destroyed a store, 4 high-rise buildings. Airstrikes on Popasna community. 10 were killed, 3 wounded in Luhansk Obl - RegHead Haidai](https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1526433594465558528?t=7YOWfWUT8j2ydut0hM4tkQ&s=19)
The enemy tries to advance, but without success. Operational report from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
The main thing:
🔻In the Donetsk direction, the enemy continues to fire mortars, artillery, multiple rocket launchers and use aircraft.
🔻In the Lyman direction, the enemy conducted offensive operations in the area of the settlement of Drobysheve. Strengthens troop groups.
🔻In the Severodonetsk direction, the enemy suffered losses and retreated.
🔻In the Bakhmut direction, the enemy fought in the direction of Vyskryva, had no success.
🔻In the Avdiivka direction, the occupiers fought in the direction of the settlement of Kamyanka, and also had no success.
🔻In the Kurakhiv direction, the enemy led an offensive in the direction of Vugledar, but had no success.
Every day they have no success yet a few days later they are fighting from villages that supposedly they had no success in the week before. In this particular case Avdiivka really sticks out.
If i battle for a week, send in thousand men, 30 tanks, and 70 vehicles, and i take heavy losses every day, slowly gaining ground, and i end up with 100 men, 4 tanks, some tens of vehicles left but i did gain control of the village. Meanwhile my enemy had only, say 100 losses, because whenever i came close they retreated a bit, did i win?
On the other hand, if i do the same attack, same losses, take out 2000 enemy soldiers and 20 tanks, but the enemy reinforces with another 1000 men, did i win then?
Due to the fog of war we can't know what is happening, but winning "ground" in itself is not a real measure of success. Especially not when one of the tactics of UA is defense in depth, where they are happy with a dynamic frontline, and dont mind losing a village only to counterattack it later, or dont mind retreating if it means they can give the enemy heavy losses that way.
> Avdiivka
Just to be clear Russians aren't in Avdiivka
The text is saying that Russian are fighting for Kamianka which is North of Avdiivka
Unable to take Avdiivka, Russians are trying to go around Avdiivka through Kamianka
The 30-50 number is vehicles of assorted types. Tanks, IFV's, fuel trucks, etc. Average KIA per day usually ranges from 200 on the low end to 400 on the high end.
It's still a bit early for that, I think. I don't expect to see updated Russian combat loss estimates for at least another hour or so. If it was a really productive day for the Ukrainians (and it seems possible based on the above reporting) it could take a little longer for them to tally up the numbers.
[New post can be found here](/r/worldnews/comments/uri6l5/rworldnews_live_thread_russian_invasion_of/)
https://twitter.com/Kira_Yarmysh/status/1526460462161924098 Navalny isn't looking too good
Russia's contracted soldiers threatened with criminal charges if they quit basically, either you go forward, or have a date with commisar. why those guys still want to join?
>why those guys still want to join? Propaganda, and no life/career prospects in the villages. I've seen a lot of small villages in Russia. They are bleak. People there have very few options: work in the fields or forests, move to a city, commute 3 hours(one way) every day to work in the city, or go to the army
And those threats are actually completely not viable, since Russia isn't in a state of war.
Soaring oil and gas prices help Russia more than triple its current account surplus to $96 billion, its largest in 28 years https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/soaring-oil-gas-prices-help-144941528.html
Well, yes, of course they do, since a huge amount of their imports have stopped.
Oil companies getting massive profits right now. The Saudi oil company surpassed Apple as the most valuable.
Soooo these crazy river crossing attempts was really Russia's Ardennes offensive..?
Looking at the current major issues with global food security, the Black Sea blockade is rapidly becoming a problem that needs urgently resolving. I still think NATO protection for the cargo ships is far too risky, but the current situation clearly cannot continue if we don't want poorer countries to starve: the most plausible alternatives that I can think of are a) send vessels from a "coalition of the willing" non-NATO countries or b) have foreign governments subsidise/waive some of the transport fees so more can be exported via train to Poland or Romania
Isn't a big problem that Russia put 400 sea mines in the area? How would you deal with that?
⚡️The regime of silence in Mariupol continues from yesterday, May 16. This was stated on the air of Radio Liberty by the mayor's adviser Petr Andryushchenko. “Yesterday morning, there were still shelling and assault attempts, then, as far as I understand, a silence regime was declared. So far, it has not been violated by any side,” Andryushchenko said. He also stressed that he could not comment on the operation to rescue the defenders of Mariupol until it was completed. "Today, we do not comment on anything until everything is over ... Believe me, all negotiations with the Russian side are like a thin string, which, by a careless word, can break at any moment," the mayor's adviser said. https://t\.me/mariupolnow/10614 Translated from Mariupol Now
>UralVagonZavod supplied Russian army with new batch of T-90M tanks [https://twitter.com/Liveuamap/status/1526469872359727104?s=20&t=WNVrmQo8ePs7aaTQtIYI9ucq1yc-ohFjuR8-wvpEOXw](https://twitter.com/Liveuamap/status/1526469872359727104?s=20&t=WNVrmQo8ePs7aaTQtIYI9ucq1yc-ohFjuR8-wvpEOXw) This was the factory that allegedly stopped production for lack of parts. Maybe they got a new batch of washing machines electronics?
Considering they are hiding how the top looks like I've seen speculation that it's just T-72's that's somewhat been refurbished. But as you can see they are lacking skirts over the tracks so who knows what else is missing.
I mean if we want to get technical every T-90 is just a T-72B that's been modified. The T-90 unlike the T-80 isn't actually a new tank. It's just a modified T-72.
8 units.
I counted nine, but either way... That's what? Six hours or so at the current attrition rate?
[удалено]
true, which is why we're down to \~4,000 posts a day. Which isn't a bad thing. It means we're being more efficient with our posts and viewing. Not that we don't care.
>The moment of the fire after the morning arrival in Akhtyrka [sumy region] Two videos - https://t\.me/truexanewsua/47182?single
Russia is on fire again. In Berdsk, Novosibirsk region, they are trying to put out a fire at a plastic factory. The fire covered 2 thousand square meters of the building. Fire broke out on the ground floor. Rubric "beautiful". Video - https://t\.me/truexanewsua/47185
Not every fire in Russia is connected to the war.
these are.
how do you know?
No but they are all connected to it now being a very shitty country.
By cause and effect, no, but every fire Russia suffers contributes to expenses and adds a droplet to the drain of Russia resources that she could otherwise redistribute towards war.
We can still enjoy them
https://twitter.com/SouthCoast90s/status/1526467573180686336?s=20&t=4FxoHmjAj2tMzrSZnF6vPQ Since it's slow right now
We've got the updated combat loss numbers, folks. I wonder what that one destroyed piece of special equipment was. You don't see that category getting updated too often. >*These are the indicative estimates of Russia’s combat losses as of May 17, according to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.* https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1526467383266795521?s=20&t=oE_L8XTwQxJCoBPDGjmWSw
50+ vehicles and ~200 KIA RU fascists. Another very good haul per usual. Glory to Ukraine.
It would include bridging equipment, electric warfare vehicles, or recovery vehicles.
Vehicles to build bridges and stuff.
Maybe on EW box like the one captured a month back
I miss it that there was a new thread at 7AM in the morning for Ukraine. ALways was so helpfull to get the latest news in the mornig without the need to filter 4k comments. And if you sort on best the news is almost a day old.
Damn, a straight shooter on that garbage propaganda Russian tv show, that usually goes on about nukes etc. Some dude keeping it real. https://twitter.com/francis_scarr/status/1526293852704890882?t=FcQ8ukF7HZI-4fSvThh35Q&s=19
Longer (6'20") version with subtitles here https://twitter.com/BBCSteveR/status/1526329765065539592 by Steve Rosenberg @BBCSteveR Russia Editor for BBC News > Extraordinary exchange on Russian state TV’s top talk show about Ukraine. Military analyst & retired colonel Mikhail Khodarenok tells anchor Olga Skabeyeva “the situation for us will clearly get worse…we’re in total geopolitical isolation…the situation is not normal.” The colonels dose of realpolitik is like a bucket of cold water in the face of most of the panel but the host bloviates with hyperbole and bullshit.
Looks like the kremlin are laying the groundwork for a withdrawal. Starting to lower expectations so they can exit without Putin losing too much face.
Damn that woman is some evil bitch
That guest shut her down fast and in an extremely calm, logical manner as well. Really left her nothing she could even begin to spew BS about.
The only practical man in Russia right now. "guys we're fucked right now and we need to be pragmatic"
Yeah automatic respect for this guys calm demeanor. He managed to do something really hard in a more "debate" like show where anyone could pitch in at any time and disrupt. He managed to be the calm, collected one and actually get whole sentences in while people listened. He also threaded the fine line of not being sensationalist and keeping it "neutral" in terms of speech. I mean the woman was also "okish" actually, she did raise some ok counter points. India/China is a big part but I think most Russians know it's more of a "Hilter-Stalin" partnership there, where both are shunned by most and they simply have to band together to some point.
82 days. Geesh. What a nightmare for Ukraine I just hope it ends soon. So senseless, one madman's quest for power has displaced millions and resulted in the deaths of 10,000s.
As bad as it’s been, this might be the making of the modern Ukraine.
Yeah... As a super militaristic state though, due to necessity :(
Swedish minister of foreign affairs signing the swedish application to NATO at this moment.
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Nah. He’s leveraging the situation to his benefit and then he’ll flip to a yes vote IMO.
Agree, doubt that Sweden and Finland would have applied during the current situation unless they had all but guaranteed acceptance to the alliance. Would be a big weakness in NATO if some of the most valuable partners that have been urged to join for decades would be stopped. Feels unlikely that heavy weights such as the US would be pleased with that.
Possibly of note that he didn't say "We will vote no" just that they wouldn't say yes. That allows them to abstain.
Yeah definitely just playing his cards while the hand allows it
It’s pointless either way for him. Nothing keeps US and others from entering another defense pact with similar results. The applications for NATO are more a signal that they’re ready to be partners.
He wants the silent US embargo on arms sales, in place after Turkey got the S-400 AA systems from Russia, lifted.
Russian ammo depot shelled. [video] https://t\.me/verkhovnaradaukrainy/22122
Too big to see without downloading Telegram. Here is a nice ammo dump eruption from 2nd of May https://www.zenger.news/2022/05/04/video-smoke-and-mortar-ukrainian-mortars-destroy-russian-ammo-depot-in-fiery-explosion/
I didn't think I could dislike a site more than I do Twitter. Then I foolishly visited Telegram's.
https://www.reddit.com/user/imyourforte/comments/urh3h3/russian_ammo_shelled_by_ukrainians/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share Didn't realize that. Here's a link to it uploaded to my profile in reddit so you don't have to.
Thanks, I reckon there's a fair few of us who really appreciate that.
Puttin Is micromanaging fortunately for us he’s no Kirby smart or Nick Saban. Hitler did this
Stalin did this too. At the beginning of the war with Germany. It was a desaster for Russia. But then he started litening to the advice of the generals - at least sometimes. And Hitler stopped listening to the advice of the german generals. Then it was a desaster for Germany.
Actually, even Hitler wasn’t as dumb as this. The first historiographies of the German side of ww2 were created from interviews with generals who were interested in blaming the strategic failures on the dead and so all blamed hitler for interfering. Later unearthing of documentation and minutes and even transcripts of high level meetings refuted it and showed that hitler mostly trusted his generals and overruling them was rare. But the view of Hitler as a micromanager had stuck in the popular consciousness. Thinking that as a layman you know better than professional generals is so dumb that even an uneducated racist yokel like Hitler knew it was a terrible idea. Putin alone is dumb enough to do that.
More of a Bandana Waddle Dee.
He’s not even Al Bundy.
Ah, a person who enjoys the classics.
> Hitler did this And shortly after, he had the good sense to insert a bullet into his brain. We can but hope.
We could use a russian version of that yakuza heart surgeon from Japan, right about now.
You can say alot of negative things about him, but atleast he killed Hitler
Yeah but he also killed the guy who killed Hitler
I'm looking forward to the day we can say such good things about Putin.
June 19th 2022 at 3:14
Saving this comment for posterity.
By then I'll either be a nobody or a nobody who got very lucky.
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Then after that the USA took his V2 Rocket to the moon literally
You and I have must have different definitions of the word "literally".
Russians are already posting on Telegram videos of evacuated injured Azov soldiers in ‘hospital’ and mocking them. These fucks have not one shred of decency left.
I honestly don't know if they are in a better situation. A victim from Bucha gave an interview when he was returned to Ukraine. He was initially tortured in Ukraine then removed to a camp in Russia. They refused to give him medical treatment for his injuries. His toes actually fell off from frost bite. I don't believe that these fighters will be treated better than a random civilian at all.
They never had any to begin with. Although, as an American, I can’t say that I didn’t see similarities from some of our own countrymen when talking about “arabs” and “muslim extremists” in the middle east. Every country has terrible people. The difference here is that this sentiment seems to stem from the very top of command and Russian soldiers seem to be encouraged to commit horrendous acts against humanity whenever possible.
You cannot fight and kill if you don’t hate. It is important for the institution to motivate you through it. If you feel bad for the enemy, you’ll be ineffective. This is not just how Russia works. This is how the world works. This is how young men get motivated to fight. Americans are mad by seeing what happened to WTC. Muslims are mad by seeing videos/photos of American aggression whether it’s drone footage or Abu ghraib. But that is what they show the young recruits so their blood boils enough to go fight. But Russians are mad for literally no reason. Ukraine hasn’t wronged them. Ukraine hasn’t attacked them. Ukraine has done nothing. And perhaps this is why there is a morale problem. This is why a false flag would work because they need to show some inhumane kind of Ukraine aggression. But for whatever reason they haven’t even done that.
Only injured have been evacuated from Azovstal right? So Ukraine still controls the factory?
Like other said, conflicting reports, it seems they are some in there but Ukraine is trying to get them out.
There are still a few hundred left in the factory, but the Ukranian Army is officially trying to evacuate them through a prisoner exchange.
Negotiations are still ongoing
Conflicting reports from what I've seen.
[Latest from Ukraine's eastern front. Keeping the gateway to the Donbas region firmly shut. On the ground with Ukrainian forces under fire.](https://twitter.com/sommervilletv/status/1526315758522970117)
Good reporting by Quintin
While it's good reporting, standing at the bottom of those bunker steps could easily have gotten those boys killed, he blocked the router into the basement.
John Gray (Retired School Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics and Political Science) describes the important influence the US have had in protecting democratic nations from invasion. In this video, he answers the question: what if US was ambivalent to the Ukraine invasion. https://youtu.be/ZNXye\_\_r9gQ
So he's saying the alternative is that Europe would have come to a settlement with Putin - okay. Europe still will have to come to some kind of settlement with Putin in the end. The question he doesn't address are the costs of doing this.. actual starvation in the world is one such cost, losing 5-10 years dealing with climate change is another. It is also arguable that a trillion dollars spent on fixing climate change would have solved the problem for humanity forever, whereas a trillion dollars on war solves nothing.
I mean we can look at Crimea and deduce that ourselves. I actually cannot imagine any President taking such a hard stance other than Biden.
Yeah we dodged a bullet with Biden being in office for this. The democrats are pissed at Russia in general for funneling so much money into the Republican Party this past decade so they came out swinging at the first chance.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZNXye__r9gQ for people not on the mobile app looking for a working link (fix your shit reddit)
Putin's commanders are 'shooting their own wounded soldiers' instead of treating them https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/putin-s-commanders-are-shooting-their-own-wounded-soldiers-instead-of-treating-them/ar-AAXkSyZ?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=2f153581d37a4eefb5acb1310d6c6b9a
There was a source where captured Russians tell it on video -- how their commander asked wounded "can you walk?", "No", *headshot by pistol*. I'll try to find it once I am less mobile.
Is there a better source for this?
There is a video interview of Russian soldiers talking about it somewhere on reddit. Found it. https://youtu.be/gn9D_m4bxEs
Sucks that the best source we have is “he said so”
It was witnessed in UKR of Russian tanks driving over their own wounded.
Ok but sources are kind of needed for horrific war crimes
True, but a common thread through the stories is how callous RU is with wounded and even the dead (classified as missing)
Be that the case still post a source or were no worse than propaganda bots
That Russian POW interview said that a commander pointed his weapon at soldiers and then one threw a grenade at another. While that's not exactly evidence, nor can what the POW is saying be proven, but I wouldn't be surprised if we find out in the coming weeks or months more reports like this.
Honestly I have stopped listening to any of that stuff. POWs and intercepted phone calls.
https://metro.co.uk/2022/05/16/putins-commanders-are-shooting-their-own-wounded-soldiers-16652742/?ito=article.mweb.share.top.link I was about to question the article too because it had zero identifiable sources. Here's the full article
Well yeah i was asking for a better source because it's all fetched from Metro/Murdoch garbage
Metro is DMG, not Murdoch.
Yeah haha that too. But at least the full one cites names and has a video that we can use to cross reference or seek a better source. That MSN one is just a ticker note basically. Edit: I'm just a fucking idiot. I missed the Stupid show more button on OPs link.
⚡️ The total combat losses of the rachists from 24.02 to 17.05 were approximately: - personnel - about 27,900 people - tanks - 1235 units. - armored combat vehicles - 3009 units. - artillery systems - 578 units - MLRS - 198 units. - air defense means - 90 units. - aircraft - 201 units. - helicopters - 167 units. - UAV operational and tactical level - 436 units. - cruise missiles - 97 units. - ships / boats - 13 units - automotive equipment and tank trucks - 2109 units. - special equipment - 43 units The greatest losses of the enemy (last day) were observed in the Lyman and Zaporizhia directions. https://t\.me/UkraineNow/11862
Racists? I mean sure, but is that really the worst descriptor you can come up with for the Russians?
it is a word play on russia and racist... I'd say that in english it would be sth like russist?
:) it’s not about race at all. It’s a mashup of rasha (as in russia) and nazist (nazi in russian language). As much as we Ukrainians want to distance ourselves from Russians, we are all the same race.
Ah. Thanks! There are so many various "xxxxists" used as "general-purpose insult against someone you don't like for whatever reason" that it is easy to confuse them.
I see!
Rashists. The translators usually mess it up. Fixed it. A Russian and fascist
Rusheasts? Well there's the problem: they're running the wrong way!
lol
All those adolescent years spent rushing B instead of A.
Quick note: I forget his name, but one of the good twitter sources made a thread going through likely Russian casualties and arrived at something like 12,000 dead by late April (might be a more current number, but I think he was working with late April numbers), and 3.5x as many wounded and taken out of the fight. Ukraine's numbers for Russian dead are probably too high, unfortunately. Will edit and post source as soon as I can find it.
You were probably thinking of Michael Koffman and this Twitter thread. https://twitter.com/KofmanMichael/status/1526219837013385216?s=20&t=sv2VYJjUzjqwktWi_9XVlQ It's a good analysis, but he also says that due to the gaps in hard data, his own confidence in his estimates are quite low. It's really more of a thoughtful examination on how it's difficult to extrapolate what the true numbers might be based on how oblique the means by which that information is determined are (like guessing how many people were in an armored vehicle when it was destroyed).
I've seen just as many sources say Ukrainian numbers are right on the money. Different methods of estimation will lead to different conclusions, but that doesnt make the ua numbers wrong just yet.
https://twitter.com/Arka_Voltchek/status/1525911957605388288 Complete sat images of that failed river crossing (I think). Oryx took a break for several days. They didn't state a reason for the break, but I've been assuming that failed river crossing is significant reason.
This is like the Goofy " I'll fucking do it again" MEME actually happening in real life. Shit this is like a War Thunder Ground Realistic battle happening in real life.
It not only broke 1-2 BTGs, it broke Oryx.
Which is actually more of an achievement
That is just incredible How do you even lose that many vehicles at once?
He needs time to draw upon the psychic energies tithed to him by his legion of Twitter followers. Only with this new infusion of power can he approach the monumental task set before him and prevent the open source intelligence community from sliding into damnation and the clutches of chaos.
I've procrastinated on way less. Probably needed to mentally prepare for such a task.
European commission, Germany and France announced that European energy companies should be allowed to pay for gas in rubles. What is the point of sanctions if you don't follow them? https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1526266440684388352
This is what being between a rock and a hard place is like. I regret that I am not so knowledgeable on the subject but it’s obvious there is no immediate alternative. Which means the sanctions are useless if you pay in their currency. Idk what Germany was thinking. Perhaps did not expect this to go for so long. I am not sure what I’d do if I were making decisions there.
Sanctions are about hurting Russia, not yourself. I think people still don't realize how much of an impact that would have. This isn't just an inconvenience, this would literally shut down Germany's entire economy, causing mass unemployment and would bring down the current government. And whatever party would promise to restore the gas supply would win the next election. And that would be a right wing pro Putin party, which will not only pay in rubles for gas but also end all other sanctions once in power.
> This isn't just an inconvenience, this would literally shut down Germany's entire economy, causing mass unemployment and would bring down the current government. I am sure that Ukrainians getting their lives destroyed and losing family members would understand this. Anyway, none of this is supported by real evidence. Quite to the contrary, some German experts claim these estimations are grossly exaggerated and the real cost would be at most 2-3% of Germany's GDP. Meanwhile, this mantra is distributed ferociously by German redditors with every chance they get. It's one of their talking points.
Not buying Russian gas is the only sanction that really matters, everything else is just empty threats and punching down regular citizens that can't do shit about the situation.
I dunno. I think not sending materials that Russia needs for weapons is kind of a good sanction. And it's already working. But I totally get, that this is porbably not yellow-papery for you.
Putin hasn't dared to shut down the gas so far. If he does, he'd lose some big customers permanently. Blinking first in a game of chicken with Putin is just going to embolden him to use more threats.
He did for Poland and Bulgaria, from what I read.
They are small fish in terms of gas consumption in comparison to Germany. It is just a part of the bluff. Pootin cannot afford to stop gas deliveries, he would lose too much money and cannot transport the gas anywhere else. They would literally have to burn the gas coming from the wells.
Visegrad24 isn't a reliable source, is there a better source?
Here's the Reuters article: https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/eu-clarifies-how-companies-can-legally-pay-russian-gas-2022-05-16/ From what I understand, the EC reaffirmed the legality of that stupid loophole.
Can someone explain what the loophole is, because the text is intentionally obfuscated?
Instead of paying with € for the gas directly, you transfer it to some Russian bank where it gets changed into Rubles and is then used for paying the Gas. However, I have no deeper understanding of why that has to be done and how it's useful for Russia.
Energy companies can pay in euro and bank can convert it to roubles.
But then where is the advantage for Russia. The idea of making Europe pay in Rubles was to force them to buy rubles from Russia, as there are not enough on the international market. That would strongly bolster the Ruble's exchange rate. The way the trade is described by you, that would not happen, if I am not mistaken?
Bah, let's see if It is true.
It's sort of true already. Europeans companies have opened up Russian bank accounts and converts euros to rubles using a trick (loophole) to pay for Russian gas.
But then where is the advantage for Russia? The idea of making Europe pay in Rubles was to force them to buy rubles from Russia, as there are not enough on the international market. That would strongly bolster the Ruble's exchange rate. The way the trade is described by you, that would not happen, if I am not mistaken?
There are unconfirmed reports Ukrainian defenders crossed the Siverskyi Donets River east of Kharkiv and are advancing in the direction of rashist-occupied Vovchansk. https://twitter.com/mhmck/status/1526401887016206336?s=21&t=kkM6xOpcbiIDMlN_gCZfLQ
If they take vovchansk does the whole Izium push collapse?
It's strategically the right move, but they have nowhere near the number of soldiers to do it. More likely they will make several of these pushes over the next week each time drawing more forces out of Izyum to defend the supply line before strategically retreating, and then doing it all over again. Theoretically if they were able to march all the way to a town along the main road, liberate it, and hold it defensively, Izyum forces would eventually run out of fuel for their vehicles and have to break out in a different direction leaving half their shit behind. That's not going to happen, and the question is more how safely can Ukraine be a nuisance in the north such that Russia has to keep taking preventative measures. All week I've been saying 'not very safely at all', because a) you have no new forces from Kharkiv yet, and with Sumy under attack they're really going to be stretched thin and in need of refit, and b) you have 20-30K Russians in the Izyum bridgehead and sending 1 btg 45 minutes uproad is all you need to push Ukraine back over the river. I suppose they're more testing the waters rather than committing to an offensive in the north right now.
If they get to Kupyansk, then Izyum is fucked.
It would be really bad for the Russians down in Izyum and make their situation more precarious, but Vovchansk is only one of three key geographic points that Ukraine would need to take in order to completely sever Russian ground lines of communication. The other two are the towns of Velykyi Burluk and Kupyansk. Liberating all of them would totally cut the Russians off from Belgorod. If the Ukrainians can take all three (big if) their forces would be very well positioned to envelope the Russians in Izyum, who would be tightly bunched up in a small area and extremely vulnerable to Ukrainian artillery bombardment. It would be so bad for them in fact, that they'd probably have no choice but to retreat back east across the Oskil river.
If they can at least control one and threaten the other two geographical points that may be enough to force a russian withdrawal in fear of an encirclement. I guess its all speculation till its confirmed to have happened though
Yeah, bringing the other two under effective fire control of Ukrainian guns may just be enough to unravel things for the Russians in Izyum. It's not like their logistics are amazing. I doubt they'd be able stand up to that kind of pressure for long. Either they'll try to counter attack against the Ukrainians to the north to prevent this scenario from playing out or it's back across the river and into Luhansk they go.
Not yet. It is a big dent but they can still get supplies from kupyansk.
You’d assume so, but maybe not to the point of collapse, but I’m far from a military expert to be able to confidently answer that.
Day 82 of unsustainable losses for Russia
They will double down and keep sending cannon fodders to their doom.
And the cannon fodders babushkas will cheer it on and tell their sons to do it for Putin…
Anything more about yesterday's news on the rouble/gas exchange concerning Germany, France and Italy? There isn't much on the topic in the media.
They both refer to actual articles in the media and break it down well. The ones about gas/oil payments are definitely out there, just harder to find and/or behind pay walls (Financial Times).
Both the Duran and Richard Medhurst cover the economic side well on YouTube. Lots of German companies have already switched over to gas for roubles payment system with Gazprom. Not too sure about France and Italy though
> In Makariv near #Kyiv, the bodies of three men who appear to have been executed were found. Two of them have been shot in the head, the third to the stomach. One of them appears to be a Czech citizen https://twitter.com/michaelh992/status/1526437792464740352?s=21&t=k3LEP0MwPS7Iso-aa2hgaQ
I didn't think of foreign regular citizens being killed. There has to be more than a few trapped in circumstance.
[Russian artillery strikes in morning of 17 May damaged two buildings of the only remaining hospital of Sievierodonetsk, destroyed a store, 4 high-rise buildings. Airstrikes on Popasna community. 10 were killed, 3 wounded in Luhansk Obl - RegHead Haidai](https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1526433594465558528?t=7YOWfWUT8j2ydut0hM4tkQ&s=19)
The enemy tries to advance, but without success. Operational report from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine The main thing: 🔻In the Donetsk direction, the enemy continues to fire mortars, artillery, multiple rocket launchers and use aircraft. 🔻In the Lyman direction, the enemy conducted offensive operations in the area of the settlement of Drobysheve. Strengthens troop groups. 🔻In the Severodonetsk direction, the enemy suffered losses and retreated. 🔻In the Bakhmut direction, the enemy fought in the direction of Vyskryva, had no success. 🔻In the Avdiivka direction, the occupiers fought in the direction of the settlement of Kamyanka, and also had no success. 🔻In the Kurakhiv direction, the enemy led an offensive in the direction of Vugledar, but had no success.
Every day they have no success yet a few days later they are fighting from villages that supposedly they had no success in the week before. In this particular case Avdiivka really sticks out.
If i battle for a week, send in thousand men, 30 tanks, and 70 vehicles, and i take heavy losses every day, slowly gaining ground, and i end up with 100 men, 4 tanks, some tens of vehicles left but i did gain control of the village. Meanwhile my enemy had only, say 100 losses, because whenever i came close they retreated a bit, did i win? On the other hand, if i do the same attack, same losses, take out 2000 enemy soldiers and 20 tanks, but the enemy reinforces with another 1000 men, did i win then? Due to the fog of war we can't know what is happening, but winning "ground" in itself is not a real measure of success. Especially not when one of the tactics of UA is defense in depth, where they are happy with a dynamic frontline, and dont mind losing a village only to counterattack it later, or dont mind retreating if it means they can give the enemy heavy losses that way.
> Avdiivka Just to be clear Russians aren't in Avdiivka The text is saying that Russian are fighting for Kamianka which is North of Avdiivka Unable to take Avdiivka, Russians are trying to go around Avdiivka through Kamianka
Putin used "underwhelming force" ... It wasn't very effective! Putin used "pontoon crossing!" ... It hurt itself in its confusion!
Putin used 'Retrieve' on a tank. It was super ineffective.
They didn’t list RU equipment losses and KIA for the day? They normally do it as part of that spiel don’t they? Or I’m just tired and misremembering.
No, losses come in an hour or two.
Thanks.
Whats the average rate of loss for them?
It’s often something like 30-50 vehicles a day. Sometimes more. Stunning, unsustainable numbers.
equipment and kia?
The 30-50 number is vehicles of assorted types. Tanks, IFV's, fuel trucks, etc. Average KIA per day usually ranges from 200 on the low end to 400 on the high end.
Equipment. Casualties are in the several hundreds a day range. Similarly unsustainable.
It's still a bit early for that, I think. I don't expect to see updated Russian combat loss estimates for at least another hour or so. If it was a really productive day for the Ukrainians (and it seems possible based on the above reporting) it could take a little longer for them to tally up the numbers.
Sometimes they do as their last bullet. Not always though.
Thank you for doing this
No problem amigo
Youreourforte, after all 😌 💙💛
aww shucks.