Ukraine and the Russian invasion, 2022-24

[Pickman's model]

So Americans, if they have any decency, need to vote for idiots. Anything else is blatant provocation.

Sure Americans have been doing their best to comply

 

[frogwoman]

Captive medic’s bodycam shows firsthand horror of Mariupol

KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) — A celebrated Ukrainian medic recorded her time in Mariupol on a data card no bigger than a thumbnail, smuggled out to the world in a tampon. Now she is in Russian hands, at a time when Mariupol itself is on the verge of falling.

apnews.com

 

[teuchter]

A piece about attempts to try and get grain out of the country by rail rather than the Black Sea ports.

Call for rail sector to mobilise to get Ukrainian agricultural exports moving

EUROPE: Rail has a central role in the European Commission's plan to establish 'Solidarity Lanes' for the transport of Ukrainian agricultural exports which would normally use the Black Sea ports that are being blockaded by Russia.

www.railwaygazette.com

 

[frogwoman]

Ukraine’s nationalists and the Azov battalion

Why has Russia repeatedly claimed to be fighting neo-Nazis?

www.ft.com

This podcast on Azov, Bandera etc is very balanced and well worth listening to. It might be behind a pay wall tho, if you have trouble listening let me know

 

[Cid]

Ukraine’s nationalists and the Azov battalion

Why has Russia repeatedly claimed to be fighting neo-Nazis?

www.ft.com

This podcast on Azov, Bandera etc is very balanced and well worth listening to. It might be behind a pay wall tho, if you have trouble listening let me know

Seems available - search 'the Rachman review' on your podcast provider (at least on overcast).

 

[pogofish]

A few weeks back, we had a fairly large pro-Ukraine protest/solidarity event on site.

Today I was over to where we held it and some fucker has been round grafttiing "Z"s all over the venue. Which with two of my Ukranian colleagues present, did not go down at all well.

In the half hour before today's event started and until they can get the painters-in next week, the boss gave us permission to obliterate/deface the Zs in any way we wanted.

The other bit of good news from him is that he managed to find a way to get all fees waived for all our Ukranian students/postgrads and the money will be coming back to them soon. Which is a very palpable act of support.

 

[frogwoman]

There's a Zipcar van nearby which has a glow in the dark Z on it. A bit unsettling lol

 

[Yossarian]

There's a Zipcar van nearby which has a glow in the dark Z on it. A bit unsettling lol

I think that means you're legally allowed to either burn it or haul it away with a tractor.

 

[r0bb0]

About that port blockade:



Could be some more wrecks to dive.

It is also reported that Ukraine has been badgering the US for longer range missiles, but that the US is reluctant to provide these over fears they will be used to strike deeper into Russia and cause escalation.

Now's the time for the United Nations to have more of a role and escort whatever food Ukraine and Russia have left of their exports to a hungry world and maybe shift the dialogue.
Ukraine war has stoked global food crisis that could last years, says UN

 

[xenon]

oh no not the blue helmets.

 

[WhyLikeThis]

There's a Zipcar van nearby which has a glow in the dark Z on it. A bit unsettling lol

Dig out your best antifash stickers

 

[not-bono-ever]

Truss wants to arm Moldova to the teeth. Moldova is the poorest country in Europe

 

[frogwoman]

Children back in school after cleanup in traumatised Ukrainian village

No windows or textbooks but enthusiasm among pupils as classes resume in Novyi Bykiv

www.theguardian.com

 

[Chilli.s]

Truss wants to arm Moldova to the teeth. Moldova is the poorest country in Europe

Does she think up this stuff on her own

 

[mojo pixy]

Does she think up this stuff on her own

'think' may be overstating things a little.

You know a rorschach inkblot test? I think when truss wipes her arse and checks the paper to see if it's clean yet, that's where she gets her inspiration. I hear it was recommended by cummings but who knows.

 

[Chilli.s]

'think' may be overstating things a little.

You know a rorschach inkblot test? I think when truss wipes her arse and checks the paper to see if it's clean yet, that's where she gets her inspiration. I hear it was recommended by cummings but who knows.

Well I thought most all of her waffelling was shit so youve definitely got a plausible theory

 

[gosub]

Truss wants to arm Moldova to the teeth. Moldova is the poorest country in Europe

Hasn't stopped them taking 437,000 refugees from the war. That's well over a 10% increase in population. Think they might have other priorities

 

[ska invita]

Anyone who claims there's a simple way to negotiate a way out of this has not been paying attention. It's disappointing that so many 'big name' lefties seem to be in that camp.

Simple, no, but negotiation will have to happen

 

[The39thStep]

View attachment 323463



Simple, no, but negotiation will have to happen

The guns with the longest rifles are never in the country which has the war.

 

[bluescreen]

An interesting take by Olga Chyzh (assistant professor in the Dept of Political Science at U Toronto, where she researches political violence and repressive regimes) who reckons Putin & co are unaffected by the outcome of war or sanctions, and simply tighten their hold on the tools of power and stifle opposition.

Thread by @olga_chyzh on Thread Reader App

@olga_chyzh: It’s natural to be worried about the threat of a nuclear war, especially with all the rhetoric coming out of Russia. Here is some analysis from the perspective of research on authoritarian regimes, war ...…

threadreaderapp.com

 

[Kaka Tim]

An interesting take by Olga Chyzh (assistant professor in the Dept of Political Science at U Toronto, where she researches political violence and repressive regimes) who reckons Putin & co are unaffected by the outcome of war or sanctions, and simply tighten their hold on the tools of power and stifle opposition.

Thread by @olga_chyzh on Thread Reader App

@olga_chyzh: It’s natural to be worried about the threat of a nuclear war, especially with all the rhetoric coming out of Russia. Here is some analysis from the perspective of research on authoritarian regimes, war ...…

threadreaderapp.com

Yeah. In Iraq and North Korea sanctions were accompanied by greater totalitarianism. Regimes going into survival mode I guess.

 

[ska invita]

Yeah. In Iraq and North Korea sanctions were accompanied by greater totalitarianism. Regimes going into survival mode I guess.

and the kermiln announced to the world they would do just that, preinvasion, saying theyd done it before in the cold war and could do it again

 

[Dogsauce]

Some of you probably already follow Dmitri on Twitter, https://twitter.com/mdmitri91

He’s been translating loads of Russian stuff, intercepted communications, TV broadcasts etc. Always pretty interesting stuff and gives an idea of the Russian perspective.

The last few days he’s been translating in segments the writings of a Russian volunteer soldier, which details life at the front on their side, corruption and incompetence, plus a hatred of the enemy. Up to the fourth segment of five today, follow the link below and it has links back to the earlier segments to read.

Viktor Shayga Russian Volunteer in Ukraine Part 4. - JustPaste.it

justpaste.it

 

[David Clapson]

Truss wants to arm Moldova to the teeth. Moldova is the poorest country in Europe

What's wrong with that? They want weapons to discourage an invasion by Russia. Why is their wealth relevant? (And depending how you measure it, Russia is becoming poorer than Moldova.)

 

[Dogsauce]

(And depending how you measure it, Russia is becoming poorer than Moldova.)

Russia is earning more foreign income now that before the war, the consequential rise in wholesale oil and gas prices due to the war has benefitted them. Nice scam basically.

It‘ll get spent on yachts, not hospitals though.

 

[agricola]

What's wrong with that? They want weapons to discourage an invasion by Russia. Why is their wealth relevant? (And depending how you measure it, Russia is becoming poorer than Moldova.)

Do they? I say this because there seems to be a bit of a lack of statements from them saying that.

 

[David Clapson]

Russia is earning more foreign income now that before the war, the consequential rise in wholesale oil and gas prices due to the war has benefitted them. Nice scam basically.

Most commentators say that's temporary, and they're heading for a contraction of their economy. Sanctions Slow Burn Gives Putin More Time to Be Defiant, for Now

 

[IC3D]

Putin wants capitulation from Zelensky. He's not losing and doesn't need to use diplomacy.

 

[David Clapson]

Do they? I say this because there seems to be a bit of a lack of statements from them saying that.

They're being cautious with their public statements, but that doesn't mean they want to be invaded. If some Nato countries are discussing sending them arms, wouldn't you expect Moldova to be involved in those discussions? And why would a poor country under threat of invasion reject an offer of free military assistance?

 

[zahir]

Ukrainians responding to calls for Ukraine to cede territory.
Andriy Zagorodnyuk: 'Those saying Ukraine can't win don't understand the situation'

A New York Times editorial article titled “The War in Ukraine Is Getting Complicated, and America Isn’t Ready,” published on May 19, immediately triggered a stir in Ukraine and beyond.

Coming from a media outlet that has the reputation of being supportive of U.S. assistance to Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, it has surprised many.

The New York Times, following the U.S. Senate’s historic approval of $40 billion in assistance for Kyiv, said it was not “in America’s best interest to plunge into an all-out war with Russia.”

Even though Russia’s attack, the biggest in Europe since World War II, has been “surprisingly sloppy,” the board said, Russia remains too strong and Ukraine’s decisive victory is not a realistic plan.

The assumption came despite the fact that over the previous two months of war, Russia had sustained a range of serious defeats, having to completely withdraw from northern Ukraine and concentrate its active campaign in the eastern region of Donbas, where the Russian offensive also ended up being extremely costly and slow.

The article criticized the U.S. and NATO for being involved in rendering assistance to Ukraine’s “unrealistic expectations” of defending itself against foreign aggression that could draw the West into an “ever deeper into a costly, drawn-out war.”

Therefore, according to the New York Times, Ukraine “will have to make the painful territorial decisions that any compromise (with Russia) will demand.”

Moreover, the newspaper insisted that its suggestion to bow down to a foreign aggressor’s gargantuan claims against Ukraine’s integrity, security, democracy, and independence, is not an act of appeasement.

The editorial partly echoed the position of the Russian leadership, which has repeatedly demanded that the West immediately stopped providing assistance to Ukraine, which plays an important role in Russia’s military failures.

In the wake of all the backlash about the editorial, the Kyiv Independent asked Ukraine’s former defense minister, director of the Kyiv-based Center for Defense Strategies Andriy Zagorodnyuk, whether Ukraine really can’t prevail over Russia.