Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

[River]

Well, maybe I see it. 63 died from the missile strike. The rest died when the ammo blew, which happened because of the missile strike. So they aren't lying, they're just making distinctions that have no merit.

[Frelga]

So they aren't lying, they're just making distinctions that have no merit.

Of course they are lying. RT and TASS are once again reliable news sources because you know 100% of what they say is a lie.

Yaroslav Trofimov of WSJ:

(The Wagner owner) Prigozhin releases the first batch of Wagner’s convict recruits who managed to survive for 6 months in Ukraine back into their hometowns, instructing Russian police to treat these men with “the greatest respect.” Will they become the new oprichniks* as Russia spins into darkness?

Russian commentators are beginning to joke that the name of the real Russian president starts with P and ends with N, but ain’t Putin. Prigozhin is certainly all over the state media, castigating governors and generals, and essentially demanding Gerasimov’s ouster.

* a bodyguard corps established by Tsar Ivan the Terrible let loose to terrorize any potential opposition with murder and torture. Jude may know them from Tchaikovsky's opera.

[N.E. Brigand]

Per what he told Fox News here, Rep. James Comer, the new chair of the House Oversight Committee, either thinks that Ukraine is one of the United States' "adversaries across the world" or that Russia and "communist China" are not among those adversaries.

[Frelga]

This is my hometown. A city in the center of Ukraine where Russians destroyed a 9-story apartment building with a ballistic missile meant to take out aircraft carriers.

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[RoseMorninStar]

What can one do against such reckless hate? ((hug))

[Inanna]

Ohmigod.

[N.E. Brigand]

Some interesting thoughts here about how Russian victory in Ukraine would cost U.S. taxpayers a lot more than they're paying to support Ukraine's defense: the cost of "the lethal aid is a cup of coffee a week [$80 per person per year], against a Russian leadership plan that, were it successful, would ruin you [$50,000 per person per year]."

[RoseMorninStar]

From what I've gleaned, a Russian 'victory' would be unsustainable. They don't have the troops and equipment to permanently occupy Ukraine.

[N.E. Brigand]

Lots of fascinating information here about some shakeups in the Ukrainian government that President Zelenskyy announced last night, brought on by (1) some corruption in military purchasing (perhaps compare to the "Fat Leonard" scandal that brought down a number of U.S. naval officers) and (2) some Ukrainian officials having taken vacations abroad while the Russian invasion is ongoing (e.g. a senior legal official went on holiday in Spain).

[N.E. Brigand]

You shall have camels, horses, an armed escort, provisions, desert vehicles...



(Abrams from the U.S. and Leopards from Germany.)

(Update: actually as many as 12 different countries will be delivering up to 100 Leopard tanks.)

[Frelga]

Happy Tanksgiving!

Abrams won't be delivered until fall, last I heard. Previously, US has said that these tanks don't make sense in the context of Ukrainian inventory, as they require jet fuel rather than diesel and are finicky to maintain. The optimistic interpretation is that this decision shows confidence in Ukrainian victory, since the US really doesn't want these tanks captured.

Meanwhile, various sources reported that Russia placed Pantsir S-1 air defence systems on several tall buildings in Moscow, including on the roof of the Russian Ministry of Defence.

What's next?

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[N.E. Brigand]

Elone Musk is endorsing the claim that President Biden is ushering us toward World War III by supposedly going back on his word not to send tanks to Ukraine.

But as others have noted, what Biden actually said last March was, "The idea that we're going to send in offensive equipment and have planes and tanks and trains going in with American pilots and American crews, just understand -- and don't kid yourself, no matter what you all say -- that's called 'World War III.' OK?" (Emphasis added.)

[Frelga]

Happy President's Day!

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[N.E. Brigand]

Impressive. The headline of the New York Times story about President Biden's surprise trip to Kyiv today (the story itself is behind a paywall for me) says the visit happened "as Air-Raid Siren Sounds." I believe it also indicates that, as has been the case for other visits by U.S. officials to Ukraine over the past year (due to concerns about planes being shot down), the president took a ten-hour train ride to get there. The U.S. did give a few hours' notice of this visit to Russia, so as to avoid the Kremlin accidentally starting World War III, but even so, this is amazing: isn't it the first time a U.S. president has visited an active war zone where American troops are not present?

President Zelenskyy also put out this video about President Biden's visit, calling it "historical, timely, brave."

[Frelga]

Meanwhile in Russia:

Billboards in Russia ahead of Putin's address to Russian Federal Assembly tomorrow: "Russia's border ends nowhere"

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I would correct the translation to "Russian borders don't have an end." Although as a commenter pointed out, Russian borders end where Russia gets the **** beaten out of them.

[RoseMorninStar]

Such stunts are pure propaganda intended to strike fear and develop a defeatist attitude (mental warfare) in Russia's adversaries. In my humble opinion that is how it should be viewed and, as such, it shouldn't be spread without acknowledging that it is propaganda intended to encourage despair.

[N.E. Brigand]

Impressive. The headline of the New York Times story about President Biden's surprise trip to Kyiv today (the story itself is behind a paywall for me) says the visit happened "as Air-Raid Siren Sounds." I believe it also indicates that, as has been the case for other visits by U.S. officials to Ukraine over the past year (due to concerns about planes being shot down), the president took a ten-hour train ride to get there. The U.S. did give a few hours' notice of this visit to Russia, so as to avoid the Kremlin accidentally starting World War III, but even so, this is amazing: isn't it the first time a U.S. president has visited an active war zone where American troops are not present?

President Zelenskyy also put out this video about President Biden's visit, calling it "historical, timely, brave."

Ugh. "World War III" is trending on social media because the far right and far left are mad that President Biden gave a robust speech in Warsaw today on the defense of democracy. Apparently if Vladimir Putin wants to invade another country and subjugate its inhabitants, you have to just stand by and let that happen.

Before Biden spoke, Fox reporter Peter Doocy characterized it (based on the advance text provided to reporters) as a "campaign rally for democracy." I think that's a compliment?

[N.E. Brigand]

The New York Times and Die Zeit -- American and German publications, respectively -- today each published stories about the September 2022 explosions that damaged the Nord Stream pipelines that transmit natural gas from Russia to Germany beneath the Baltic Sea. The Times says that U.S. intelligence agencies believe the attack was carried out by pro-Ukrainian forces (but possibly from Russia?), and the Zeit says that these operatives used a Polish-Ukrainian boat based in Germany, whose law enforcement services are said to be investigating. (An American reporter, Seymour Hersh, had claimed a week or two ago that the pipeline was destroyed on orders from the U.S.)

[N.E. Brigand]

"Fox News Edits Out Trump Saying He Might’ve Let Russia ‘Take Over’ Parts of Ukraine."

Donald Trump said this Monday in a radio interview with Sean Hannity, but when Hannity presented excerpts from his interview on his Fox tv program that night, that important aspect of Trump's comments about the situation in Ukraine were edited out.

[Frelga]

The most wholesome video of the war. Safe to watch, nothing bad happens.



I wonder if Ukrainian cows are unusually social or if cows are like that naturally. When I was in the summer camp and we went to hang out in the woods, the cows would come over. One lay down in the middle of our group of kids and accepted scritches.