Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

[Frelga]

The russian headline says "join russian Federation"

[River]

Yeah I don't see the Serbs choosing to hand themselves over to an imperial power. They've never done that before.

[Frelga]

Yeah I don't see the Serbs choosing to hand themselves over to an imperial power. They've never done that before.

That assumes that a referendum would be polling Serbs and counting their actual votes. That's not how Russian referendums work.

Meanwhile, Ukraine selected its representatives for Eurovision 2023, in a concert that gives a new meaning to underground music.



The performer wearing the disco ball is Andriy Danylko in his persona of Verka Serduchka, who debuted in the early 90s as a comedy routine about a bossy, grumpy railway car attendant.

The winning act is Tvorchi (the creative)

[Sunsilver]

Thought this was beautiful: Christmas Trees In Kiyiv

[River]

Yeah I don't see the Serbs choosing to hand themselves over to an imperial power. They've never done that before.

That assumes that a referendum would be polling Serbs and counting their actual votes. That's not how Russian referendums work.

That's the other part that's weirding me out. The only non-NATO countries that border Serbia are Bosnia and Kosovo. Bosnia and Kosovo are land-locked by...wait for it...more NATO. The only thing Russia can really do to Serbia if Serbia decides not to play along is cut off the gas. This would result in pissed off Serbs. Pissed off Serbs are extremely unpredictable. It's not an automatic win for Russia. More importantly, though, there's nothing in it for Vucic either.

[Frelga]

River, a year ago this would have been highly sinister. Now, it's like, you and what army?

Sunny, the tree when fully lit. Photo by Kiyiv Independent.
It's powered by generators and provides charging stations for those without electricity at home.

20221219_083036.jpg (95 KiB) Viewed 1305 times

[Sunsilver]

Wow, that's gorgeous!

In the first photo, I assumed it wasn't lit up due to blackout regulations, but I guess no one worries about those the way they did in WWII. GPS's and drones make it so much easier to find targets now.

I love the simple decorations on the unlit tree - the doves of peace.

[N.E. Brigand]

Interesting analysis from the UK Ministry of Defence:

[Sunsilver]

Wow!

I had not heard of this group before, so I googled it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagner_Group

Private military groups are supposedly illegal in Russia. Many of its members have neo-Nazi ties - how's that for irony?

In 2021, the Foreign Policy report noted the origin of the name "Wagner" to be unknown.[51] Others say the group's name comes from Utkin's own call sign "Wagner", reportedly after the German composer Richard Wagner, which he is said to have chosen due to his passion for the Third Reich (Wagner being Adolf Hitler's favorite composer).[76][77] As such, some believe he is a neo-Nazi,[78][79] with The Economist reporting that Utkin has several Nazi tattoos.[77] Members of Wagner Group say Utkin is a Rodnover, a believer of Slavic native faith.[80] Radio Liberty cited insiders as saying that the leadership of the Wagner Group are followers of the Slavic Native Faith, a modern Pagan new religious movement.[6]Various elements of Wagner have been linked to white supremacist and neo-Nazi far-right extremists,[54][77][55] such as Wagner's openly far-right and neo-Nazi Rusich unit,[82][83][84][85] and Wagner members have left neo-Nazi graffiti on the battlefield.[55][86] However, Erica Gaston, a senior policy adviser at the UN University Centre for Policy Research, noted that the Wagner Group is not ideologically driven, but rather a network of mercenaries "linked to the Russian security state". Russia denies the connection and officially the group does not exist.[52][51]

At the start of the war, Wagner group members infiltrated Kyiv, with the goal of assassinating Prime Minister Zelensky and other members of the government. The Ukrainian government was aware, and locked down the capital:

The Ukrainian government received information on this early on 26 February, after which it declared a 36-hour "hard" curfew to sweep the capital for "Russian saboteurs".[213] The government said that the previous day its forces had killed 60 saboteurs in Kyiv who were posing as a territorial defence unit.[214] Soon after the government received the information, heavy fighting erupted in western and northeastern Kyiv,[215] with Ukraine claiming to have repelled an attack on a military base.[216] By the morning, Ukrainian forces had secured the capital.[217] The United States described Russian forces that entered Kyiv as "reconnaissance elements."[218] Two days later, a US official stated that there were "some indications" that Wagner was being employed, but it was not clear where or how much.[219] By 3 March, according to The Times, Zelenskyy had survived three assassination attempts, two of which were allegedly orchestrated by the Wagner Group.[220]

[N.E. Brigand]

Given Russia's past attempts at and continuing interest in assassinating President Zelenskyy, I'm not sure the AP's sources should have revealed this information in advance, but: "Ukraine’s Zelenskyy preparing to visit DC on Wednesday." This would be President Zelenskyy's first travel outside of Ukraine since Russia's invasion started in February -- if it's not scuttled for security reasons.

At the organization where I work, I used to be in charge of renting out our spaces to other groups. One such group presented an annual book award ceremony we hosted on multiple occasions. Typically the awardees were announced well in advance, but one year the committee voted secretly to honor an author whose identity was only revealed publicly the night of the awards. I was the building liaison with the intelligence branch of the local police department, and even I didn't know who the secret guest was to be until she arrived that evening. That's how you plan a secret appearance. (Had I known, the name wouldn't have meant anything to me, although I had vaguely heard about the reason for her level of protection: when filmmaker Theo van Gogh was killed by an Islamist fanatic in 2004 in Amsterdam (I'd heard that news), the killer left a note saying that author and legislator Ayaan Hirsi Ali would be next -- and it was four years later that she was honored at this event.)

[Sunsilver]

Too bad Salaman Rushdie didn't have that level of security!

[N.E. Brigand]

Rushdie did have that kind of security and more! For a long time. It was only in recent years that he became more publicly available and was successfully attacked.

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, said today: "Providing assistance for Ukrainians to defeat the Russians, that's the number one priority for the United States right now according to most Republicans. That's how we see the challenges confronting the country at the moment."

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Some pictures from President Zelenskyy's second visit to the White House (his first was in August 2021, six months before the new Russian invasion began):

[Sunsilver]

What is the award, N.E.?

[RoseMorninStar]

What is the award, N.E.?

I'm not N.E. but..
A Ukrainian military captain asked Zelenskyy to give Biden a medal he had won for his service: 'Give it to a very brave president'

[Eldy]

'We well find you:' Russians hunt down Ukrainians on lists - AP

A long read from the AP.

In a deliberate, widespread campaign, Russian forces systematically targeted influential Ukrainians, nationally and locally, to neutralize resistance through detention, torture and executions, an Associated Press investigation has found. The strategy appears to violate the laws of war and could help build a case for genocide.

Russian troops hunted Ukrainians by name, using lists prepared with the help of their intelligence services. In the crosshairs were government officials, journalists, activists, veterans, religious leaders and lawyers.

The AP documented a sample of 61 cases across Ukraine, drawing on Russian lists of names obtained by Ukrainian authorities, photographic evidence of abuse, Russian media accounts and interviews with dozens of victims, family and friends, and Ukrainian officials and activists.

Led by the Federal Security Service (FSB), Russian intelligence spent months compiling hit lists before the Feb. 24 invasion, according to leaked U.S. intelligence and U.K. national security analysts.

Ukrainian intelligence indicates that the division of Russia’s spy agency tasked with planning the subjugation and occupation of Ukraine — the Ninth Directorate of the FSB’s Fifth Service — scaled up sharply in the summer of 2021. Agents categorized influential Ukrainians as either potential collaborators or unreliable elements to be intimidated or killed, according to the Royal United Services Institute, a prominent defense think tank in London.

“This political strategy of targeted killings was directed from a very high level within the Kremlin,” said Jack Watling, a senior research fellow at RUSI.

[Frelga]

This is how Russian state TV portrays Christmas in Europe without russian fossil fuels. Keep in mind, this is meant to cheer up Russian citizens and fill them with pride for their country.



Other ads feature a veteran of the war in the Afghanistan (so, in mid-50s) volunteering for the army because his factory doesn't pay his wages on time and he is forced to borrow money that his daughter was saving to buy an iPhone. At the end of the ad, he comes back and hands over the presumably looted iPhone.

Also an ad where a grandson signs up for the army so his grandfather isn't forced to sell his beloved car to pay for essentials.

Russia is a very normal country.

[RoseMorninStar]

I am guessing this is propaganda aimed at a Western audience.. not Russians. They are singing in English.

[Sunsilver]

I have heard Russia is targeting generating stations, and doing its best to make Ukrainians miserable by knocking out the power grid.
But that video made me laugh...

[Frelga]

I am guessing this is propaganda aimed at a Western audience.. not Russians. They are singing in English.

No, it's meant to make Russians feel better. Note that, singing aside, there is no English dialog.

Who in the West watches RT, anyway?

Eta: This is a not a new trope of Russian ads, wbxhb yes are directed at the domestic audience. Russian state TV has previously ran ads in which a Russian family traveling to the US is forced to kneel in front of black people and refused a meat- based meal on the plane so as not to offend vegans. Also lesbians exist.

[Dave_LF]

Who in the West watches RT, anyway?

Most of the GOP, to judge by their behavior