Ukraine and the Russian invasion, 2022-24

[DownwardDog]

The idea is for Ukraine to convince their allies that Russia is involving troops from another state's army in this war, which would be a clear and massive escalation, thereby, hopefully prompting said allies to offer greater assistance.

It's not really a massive escalation because Ukraine have had the US/NATO logistics and Intel capabilities behind them since day one. As well as 'advisors', 'mercenaries', 'volunteers', etc. actually fighting.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

It's not really a massive escalation because Ukraine have had the US/NATO logistics and Intel capabilities behind them since day one. As well as 'advisors', 'mercenaries', 'volunteers', etc. actually fighting.

Disagree. Russia has had mercenaries from all over, some voluntary, some duped in to it (to the extent that Modi asked Putin directly to return the Indians they tricked in to heading to war for him). If DPRK have sent troops to fight actually inside Ukraine, that is another state's actions, it's way more than advising on logistics or intel. It kind of leads to the question, "Is North Korea at war with Ukraine?"

 

[TopCat]

Zelensky seems a bit detached.

• Zelenskyy said Putin was a fantasiser and accused him of wanting to destroy Ukraine’s army. “He (Putin) is an old fantasiser. He lives in a different world. He lives in his own aquarium I am afraid.”

 

[The39thStep]

Disagree. Russia has had mercenaries from all over, some voluntary, some duped in to it (to the extent that Modi asked Putin directly to return the Indians they tricked in to heading to war for him). If DPRK have sent troops to fight actually inside Ukraine, that is another state's actions, it's way more than advising on logistics or intel. It kind of leads to the question, "Is North Korea at war with Ukraine?"

Both sides have had mercenaries/foreign fighters motivated by a numbers of issues from financial, adrenaline junkies, fantasists ,personal issues, adventurists and ideology . Perhaps t shirt sales deserve a mention ? Obviously Ukraine's International Legion initially attracted the most attention in western media due to an endless source of interviewees who spoke English , the initial enthusiasm by some governments over recruitment and Ukraine's boast that it had recruited over 20,000 to the International Legion. The high casualty rate , and other realities after the failed counter offensive sent most of these back home to their respective countries . Despite some news stories recruitment from militias in Syria , from both sides of the conflict ,was scant as was those from Africa.A further stage of recruitment , on both sides, from South America, South Asia and some of the Indian subcontinent followed but in smaller numbers.

There has of course been an element of human trafficking from the more vulnerable countries with promises of wages and citizenship that have never materialised, poor equipment and being seen as totally dispensable. Add that to the financial scams , not just the Georgian Legion debacle, and it's obvious that a number of people will have done well out war.

 

[krtek a houby]

Zelensky seems a bit detached.

• Zelenskyy said Putin was a fantasiser and accused him of wanting to destroy Ukraine’s army. “He (Putin) is an old fantasiser. He lives in a different world. He lives in his own aquarium I am afraid.”

There's always a bigger fish

 

[TopCat]

Ukraine faces difficult decisions over acute shortage of frontline troops

Depleted army is increasingly made up of older men, but Zelenskyy is reluctant to lower mobilisation age from 25

www.theguardian.com

 

[TopCat]

NATO or nukes

What if Russia wins in Ukraine? We can already see the shadows of a dark 2025 | Timothy Garton Ash

Instability is growing, Putin’s hybrid war in Europe is heating up and for fear of escalation we have encouraged global nuclear proliferation, says Guardian columnist Timothy Garton Ash

www.theguardian.com

 

[Dystopiary]

I've posted this before but maybe worth doing so again here:


- Ukraine Solidarity Campaign

Ukrainian human rights activist, journalist and anti-fascist Maksym Butkevych was a pacifist. He felt that he had no choice but to take up arms in the face of imperialist aggression though. Sadly he was captured in June last years and earlier this year he was sentenced to 13 years in prison in a sham trial by the "supreme courts" of the so-called "Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics" in the occupied Donbas. Maksym co-founded Bez Kordoniv (No Borders), an organisation set up to support asylum seekers and has a long history of human rights support and activism.

ACAB and that, but especially while so many others are in such a dire situation from this bloody war, it's hard to feel as moved by the supporter of antisemites Shelizhenko getting nicked. That said, it's possible he's vulnerable and his use by STW and others has been very much one-sided and I hope he's treated fairly.

I must apologise for the part of this post where I said Maksym Butkevych was a pacifist. The now released human rights activist has said since that reports of him having been a pacifist are not true.

Some of the texts describe me as a pacifist. A pacifist I am not. It is true that I do not support violence as a method. Yet I understand that military service, in one way or another, involves killing people, and this certainly presents me with a problem, with a moral and ethical dilemma.


The situation in which we found ourselves on February 24 of 2022 put us before a choice: either we let our agency be taken from us, or we fight. The alternative would have been to give up all forms of meaningful activity – the only thing left would have been to become obedient, to only eat, drink, fear, and do as we were told. That would have been our horizon. So we had to fight. For me, this impulse – to defend one’s freedom to act – is something that is essentially human. Freedom, awareness of having agency, and a particular self-consciousness that comes with that, are what make a person human.


I fully realized at the time that if the Russian forces were to prevail, there would be no possibility to continue defending human rights on this territory. It would be simply impossible. We had been struggling for a really long time to establish the human rights protections that we have in Ukraine now. We did not succeed in everything that we set out to do, but if the Russian forces were to enter these territories, all that we did accomplish through hard work would have been lost.

“The Biggest Danger in Captivity is to Lose a Part of Yourself:” Human Rights Advocate Maksym Butkevych Speaks About Serving on the Front Line, Captivity, and the Rehabilitation Process ➜ ZMINA