Ukraine and the Russian invasion, 2022-24

[weltweit]

bugger, I didn't see it ..

It was probably on an even page :/

 

[existentialist]

bugger, I didn't see it ..

Don't rush to join the Ukrainian militia, in that case....

 

[weltweit]

Don't rush to join the Ukrainian militia, in that case....

I can tell the difference between a battle tank and a fuel truck !!

 

[The39thStep]

All these small acts are important right now. I really hope the protests inside Russia build over the coming days, and that every Russian who is able to makes some kind of anti-war gesture. However small, they all count. At some point, Putin's power starts to unravel, and that can only come from internal pressure on him.

bit more here on this game .

 

[dilute micro]

That said, if Russia do take over Ukraine and the West does fund an insurgency then one would imagine reciprocal action would be taken.

Garrisoning enough troops there to keep the peace is going to be tough and probably more that Russia can afford.

 

[Raheem]

UK immigration officials continue to shit on people.

Think that's actually a Tory MP.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Think that's actually a Tory MP.

Yes, a UK immigration minister but not for long.

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Migration and Citizenship - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[tim]

There are big differences, though. Chechnya was a part of the Russian Federation. And the Russians were fighting against Islamists. I don't think there's much that's comparable between the two situations. Let's face it, most of the rest of the world didn't care that hundreds of thousands of Chechens died. It will care if thousands of Ukrainians die.

They were fighting against Chechens who wanted independence. Being a Muslim wanting independence for your nation does not make you an Islamist anymore than being a Ukrainian makes you a Nazi. Don't push the propaganda of the regime

 

[littlebabyjesus]

They were fighting against Chechens who wanted independence. Being a Muslim wanting independence for your nation does not make you an Islamist anymore than being a Ukrainian makes you a Nazi. Don't push the propaganda of the regime

They established Sharia law in the short-lived unofficial state, including compulsory dress codes for women. The Chechen separatists were not nice people.

ETA: That is in no way intended to justify Russian actions in Chechnya, by the way. But sometimes both sides are shits. See also the Kosovo Liberation Army.

 

[not-bono-ever]

Joint Statement on Further Restrictive Economic Measures | The White House

We, the leaders of the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States condemn Putin’s war of choice and

www.whitehouse.gov

So limited SWIFT sanctions. booting some out of the system. T

 

[Diamond]

This is being reported widely but not 100% clear what the story is - looks like mercenaries refusing to fight but could be interpreted as conscript soldiers too.



Widely reported but unconfirmed.

 

[Kevbad the Bad]

They established Sharia law in the short-lived unofficial state. The Chechen separatists were not nice people.

ETA: That is in no way intended to justify Russian actions in Chechnya, by the way. But sometimes both sides are shits. See also the Kosovo Liberation Army.

Talk about simplistic over simplification. The initial Chechen revolt came after a relatively peaceful referendum for independence. 70+% in favour (better than Brexit). It only got really nasty AFTER the fucking Russian army invaded, killed the original leadership, caused immense destruction etc. That paved the way for the Islamist extremists.

 

[Weller]

hopefully without trying to sound like a contrarian arse in asking this question, how confident are people on here that things are actually going badly for Russia? How much of their setbacks are representative of general incompetence/poor planning vs isolated incidents or fake news significantly amplified by wishful thinking?

I’d love Putin to be falling on his arse here but I’m just not confident this is actually happening or that the information I’m seeing is representative. Maybe this is just because I have such low expectations of the world. Ukraine could just fall in 24 hours and it’ll all seem futile, like those general elections when you were sure the Tories were going to fuck up because labour had a good ground game getting the vote out and everyone was optimistically sharing pictures of young people queuing at polling stations, only for the bad guys to triumph as usual. Am I right to be this pessimistic? I mean good on all these citizens resisting invasion, but they have a hell of a fight on their hands.

Im worried about that too I watched and listened to several live streams from around kyiev and in the main square between about 2am and 4 am this morning and there were large sustained heavy multiple explosions at times the type you might expect from multiple rocket launchers nothing about that that Ive seen today for instance

Surely its quite possible its not at all like the propaganda saying its little more than a fireworks show or Russia is untrained , failing with rubbish equipment and they are the only ones losing it , didn't know what it was getting into etc
Main worry is IF Putin is failing so badly so quickly then surely he is mad enough to just then be the real bad guy if hes been holding back to not seem the real bad guy and unleash some serious missiles along with many thousands more troops

Where did all this finished in a day stuff come from , did he ever say that , Ukraine are on their own and its worrying what really is his plan he proved with some of his air attacks in Syria against ground forces what he does and is capable of using when pushed , petrol bombs sadly as brave as they these people are in the memes wont be much use if hes backed into a corner

Id love it to end with a coup against him and a gun shot to his steroid bloated head tonight but Ive cheered too early on election threads over snippets from twitter here in the past too for things to then go pear shaped very very quickly

Quite possibly my longest post ever on Urban but this is shit whichever way it ends now so off for a drink

 

[nogojones]

This is being reported widely but not 100% clear what the story is - looks like mercenaries refusing to fight but could be interpreted as conscript soldiers too.



Widely reported but unconfirmed.

Be nice if true, but not getting all excited over unconfirmed stuff.

 

[eatmorecheese]

I'm hearing that the Russian Embassy in Tehran has protesters outside chanting 'death to Putin'. Just, well, interesting I suppose.

 

[not-bono-ever]

wonder if johnson and patel are planning to remove the citizenship of rapacious oligarch russian scum who now reside in London ? they were bang into doing this to others a while ago

 

[scalyboy]

If you fancy a dose of optimism, there are reports of Russians now surrendering to the Ukrainians in numbers:

“poorly planned Hail Mary” ? Eh? I thought they were Orthodox not RC…

 

[eatmorecheese]

wonder if johnson and patel are planning to remove the citizenship of rapacious oligarch russian scum who now reside in London ? they were bang into doing this to others a while ago

hollow laugh

 

[DaveCinzano]

This is being reported widely but not 100% clear what the story is - looks like mercenaries refusing to fight but could be interpreted as conscript soldiers too.



Widely reported but unconfirmed.

Tracks back to Ukrainian news source Obozrevatel.

У Білгороді 5 тис. контрактників влаштували бунт та відмовилися їхати воювати з Україною. Ексклюзив

Службовці окупаційної армії почали боятися ЗСУ

news.obozrevatel.com

Obozrevatel - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[RileyOBlimey]

wonder if johnson and patel are planning to remove the citizenship of rapacious oligarch russian scum who now reside in London ? they were bang into doing this to others a while ago

Considering Johnson is up to his nuts with certain London based oligarch’s this unlikely. Especially as he recently made one a life peer.

 

[kebabking]

I wouldn't get excited about this or that report - there a huge amount of deception, wishful thinking, confusion and just shit-posting about - what matters is trends, and verified stuff that actually means something.

Just look at today's confusion over the Bosphorous - endless tweets and news orgs breaking it and 'confirming' it, when it was all bollocks/mistaken/enthusiastic translation.

Don't believe casualty figures, losses/victories - they are almost certainly incorrect regardless of how well intentioned the source is.

I genuinely believe there are visible, verifiable trends to be analysed, but this or that burning vehicle, or dead/captured soldier, or smoking hole in the ground, isn't going to tell you much even if you knew the context - but if you can't know when it was filmed, or where, or by who, and whether it shows what they say it shows, then it means very little.

 

[Indeliblelink]

I've had the youtube live stream of cams in Kyiv on for the last few hours and in the last half hour you can hear constant explosions & gun fire in the distance.

Also weird that Google traffic maps is still working, showing which roads are blocked and traffic jam locations which as there's the curfew must be military [you'd assume soldiers would be told to turn off phones or banned from carrying them]. I read a tweet the other day saying people noticed the invasion start a few days ago when they noticed traffic jams being indicated at 5AM on the roads into Ukraine from Russia where the troop build ups had been.

Maidan Sq cam

 

[teqniq]

- late mediaeval Bastard Feudalism with AK's...

Most likely guilty of serial war crimes tbh.

 

[skyscraper101]

This is being reported widely but not 100% clear what the story is - looks like mercenaries refusing to fight but could be interpreted as conscript soldiers too.



Widely reported but unconfirmed.

First thing I'd be doing if I was some cannon fodder Russian conscript is surrendering at the first safe opportunity. Hopefully it's true and they get treated OK.

 

[dilute micro]

Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander says he thinks the Russian generals could turn against Putin if the battlefield goes sour.

 

[DaveCinzano]

Latest for-public-consumption UK Defence Intelligence summary of current situation in Ukraine published at around 2324:

 

[RileyOBlimey]

wonder if johnson and patel are planning to remove the citizenship of rapacious oligarch russian scum who now reside in London ? they were bang into doing this to others a while ago

“Boris Johnson’s chumminess with and peerage nomination for the newspaper baron Evgeny Lebedev, the son of a former KGB agent, suddenly looks kompromat for the Prime Minister. The Russian-born Baron Lebedev of Hampton and Siberia has rarely attended the House of Lords since Johnson ignored official warning bells and draped the bearded owner of the London Evening Standard and Independent in ermine. Warier Conservative MPs fear Johnson cavorting with the lordly socialite might create another party headache. My snout muttered there’s renewed concern about what he might have seen and done during as many as half a dozen visits to Lebedev’s Italian villa near Perugia, sometimes flying in the host’s private jet. The arch networker is known to throw uproarious bashes for the powerful, rich and famous. At one in October 2016 it was reported that the glamour model Katie “Jordan” Price lifted her top to reveal her assets in front of Johnson, who was then the foreign secretary. After another party in April 2018, when Johnson left his security detail behind in London, he was seen without luggage at the airport for a flight home “looking like he had slept in his clothes”, according to another passenger, and explaining he’d had a heavy night as he struggled to walk in a straight line. Clutched in his hand was a book on war strategy. How appropriate as Putin menaces Ukraine.”

Commons Confidential: Boris Johnson’s Lebedev headache

Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.

www.newstatesman.com

 

[nogojones]

Tracks back to Ukrainian news source Obozrevatel.

У Білгороді 5 тис. контрактників влаштували бунт та відмовилися їхати воювати з Україною. Ексклюзив

Службовці окупаційної армії почали боятися ЗСУ

news.obozrevatel.com

Obozrevatel - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

I'll chalk it up as wishful propaganda for the time being then

 

[TopCat]

"“We’ll go after their yachts, their luxury apartments their money and their ability to send their kids to fancy colleges in the west. We will also engage other governments, so as to detect and disrupt the movement of ill-gotten gains, and deny these individuals their ability to hide their assets in jurisdictions across the world,” the official said".

The US, like a stopped clock, get it right once today.

 

[RileyOBlimey]

Latest for-public-consumption UK Defence Intelligence summary of current situation in Ukraine published at around 23204:



View attachment 312048

That’s not intelligence, it’s propaganda. It’s just reinforcing narratives.