Ukraine: Unsubstantiated rumours and speculation

[Sir Belchalot]

The Germans surrendered in large numbers in WW2 because the Allies were treating prisoners properly.

Although their odds of survival were much greater than surrendering to the Russians, it's a stretch to say that the allies treated German prisoners properly especially at the war's end., plenty of them starved.

 

[maomao]

Although their odds of survival were much greater than surrendering to the Russians, it's a stretch to say that the allies treated German prisoners properly especially at the war's end., plenty of them starved.

Well, they weren't raped, tortured or murdered in cold blood anyway.

 

[Indeliblelink]

There's been a rumour swirling round the pro-Moscow twitter accounts over the last few days that a US General was captured in Mariupol.

PolitiFact - No, NATO Allied Land Command leader wasn’t captured by Russians in Ukraine

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has sparked another baseless internet rumor, this time about the alleged capture of a to

www.politifact.com

But Maj. Brian Andries, deputy public affairs officer at NATO Allied Land Command, confirmed in an email to PolitiFact that Cloutier has not been captured.

"These rumors are completely false," Andries said. "Our commander is currently commanding NATO Allied Land Command in Izmir, Turkey, and has not been to Ukraine since the Land Staff Talks we conducted in July of 2021. While NATO nations are sending financial and military aid to Ukraine, no NATO soldiers or leaders are deployed to the country."

 

[Doctor Carrot]

I'm guessing the entire war is fake can be filed under unsubstantiated rumours. I just came across a video claiming exactly that. His reasoning is because there's so much abandoned soviet infrastructure in Ukraine it's easy to blow lots of these buildings up and claim it's a war....

I just had to share that because I'm stunned that people actually believe this crap. I've lived through conspiracy cranks claiming all kinds of bollocks. A major war between two states being entirely staged is a new one on me. I didn't think I could still be stunned by people's stupidity but I was very wrong about that.

 

[frogwoman]

Kadyrov saying that over 1000 Ukrainian troops have surrendered in Mariupol.

 

[Supine]

 

[NoXion]

 

[Ming]

And so the escalation continues…

 

[dilute micro]

And so the escalation continues…

That's really only an escalation if it's believed that Ukraine's rightful place is to yield to aggression and annexation and that this was only a military excersise on Russia's part.

 

[IC3D]

Showing pictures of corpses to parents and recording the convo isn't a good look.

 

[maomao]

Showing pictures of corpses to parents and recording the convo isn't a good look.

I'm not 100% in favour of it but the accusation against Russia is that they're not informing families and leaving bodies to rot. As a parent I'd rather know.

 

[emanymton]

I'm not 100% in favour of it but the accusation against Russia is that they're not informing families and leaving bodies to rot. As a parent I'd rather know.

It really come down to tone doesn't it?

'Ha, ha your son is dead', is different from 'we are sorry to inform you.. we believe your government is withholding thus information from you'.

It us still just a propaganda exercise though.

 

[dilute micro]

If this hasn't been posted already... the economics of a long war in Ukraine.

 

[Dystopiary]

Can anyone who knows Chinese tell if this the subtiltles tally here?
It's clearly speeded up in parts and edited but otherwise, is it real?

 

[WhyLikeThis]

Showing pictures of corpses to parents and recording the convo isn't a good look.

There was some pressure applied on Putin over the Kursk from the dead sailors families. No doubt generating more of this friction is the motivation here.

 

[IC3D]

There was some pressure applied on Putin over the Kursk from the dead sailors families. No doubt generating more of this friction is the motivation here.

There is a difference between informing and terrorising. Seems a group I'd guess far right are using a website for tracing dead Russian soldiers to record reactions of mothers to seeing the corpse of their children.
The Russians are using dead Ukrainian soldiers phones to call their mothers too.

 

[Ax^]

Can anyone who knows Chinese tell if this the subtiltles tally here?
It's clearly speeded up in parts and edited but otherwise, is it real?

don't know chinese but fake as why would you speed up the voices and overlay the subs

 

[JimW]

Can anyone who knows Chinese tell if this the subtiltles tally here?
It's clearly speeded up in parts and edited but otherwise, is it real?

Yes, the English subs match the spoken content with the translation accurate if a bit creaky in places.

 

[NoXion]

Yes, the English subs match the spoken content with the translation accurate if a bit creaky in places.

Apparently this dude knows better:



I don't think he speaks a word of Mandarin, but he reckons that blurring out the old subtitles is a giveaway.

Honestly, I wonder what would motivate a fan of Lauren Boebert to call fake on something they have no idea of? I thought the Republican right hated China?

 

[maomao]

Apparently this dude knows better:



I don't think he speaks a word of Mandarin, but he reckons that blurring out the old subtitles is a giveaway.

Honestly, I wonder what would motivate a fan of Lauren Boebert to call fake on something they have no idea of? I thought the Republican right hated China?

Yes, there are blurred Chinese subtitles behind the English ones. Almost all Chinese tv has Chinese subtitles (more to improve literacy and language standardisation than out of cooncern for the deaf I believe). But the English translation seems correct.

 

[Cid]

Hmm... did some light googling.

First I can find of it is a youtube video from 14th March by the channel 'China Uncensored'. This channel is apparently Falun Gong/Epoch times affiliated, which er... raises a substantial eyebrow. And timing seems a bit odd given that's a little over two weeks from invasion to video release. But that's as far as I got, nothing definitive.

Spoiler: Video

 

[JimW]

Hmm... did some light googling.

First I can find of it is a youtube video from 14th March by the channel 'China Uncensored'. This channel is apparently Falun Gong/Epoch times affiliated, which er... raises a substantial eyebrow. And timing seems a bit odd given that's a little over two weeks from invasion to video release. But that's as far as I got, nothing definitive.

Spoiler: Video

Didn't strike me as a genuine class, they get "patriotic education" but much drier afaik.

 

[maomao]

Didn't strike me as a genuine class, they get "patriotic education" but much drier afaik.

Having worked in Chinese schools I can see it being something that was prepared and practised ruthlessly because there was someone coming in to film it.

 

[JimW]

Having worked in Chinese schools I can see it being something that was prepared and practised ruthlessly because there was someone coming in to film it.

Do you reckon they get current affairs in that quick? Would have thought it took a bit longer to get the line handed down.

 

[maomao]

Do you reckon they get current affairs in that quick? Would have thought it took a bit longer to get the line handed down.

Well I'm only speculating but I'm suggesting it was prepped for TV rather than being on the national curriculum. I used to work in a kindergarten with lots of politicians' kids in it and things were regularly prepared at the last minute for important visitors. Though it was a more peaceful time, over twenty years ago.

 

[JimW]

Well I'm only speculating but I'm suggesting it was prepped for TV rather than being on the national curriculum. I used to work in a kindergarten with lots of politicians' kids in it and things were regularly prepared at the last minute for important visitors. Though it was a more peaceful time, over twenty years ago.

Yeah, and after I posted I thought maybe the teachers do get a bit more leeway as they can be trusted to self-censor or expect the tonne of bricks if they guess wrong.

 

[WhyLikeThis]

There is a difference between informing and terrorising. Seems a group I'd guess far right are using a website for tracing dead Russian soldiers to record reactions of mothers to seeing the corpse of their children.
The Russians are using dead Ukrainian soldiers phones to call their mothers too.

This is a Bellingcat investigator referring to a publishing a father’s reaction to the death of his sailor son from the Moskva…


Yes, its grim. Yes, its likely necessary.

 

[zahir]

Report of railway sabotage in Russia as well as in Belarus, though no indication of what it amounts to.

 

[bluescreen]

Couple of interesting things on my twatter feed tonight:
Kamil Galeev arguing that it is a war of memes: Russian view of Ukraine as inferior Russians who need rescuing from thraldom to become regular Russians again, and Ukrainian resistance taking Russia by surprise. With a side-order of Brodsky's nationalistic anti-Ukraine rhetoric.

Thread by @kamilkazani on Thread Reader App

@kamilkazani: War of memes: why Z-war won't end with peace Some Western analysts unfamiliar with Eastern European cultural context perceive Z-war as an accident. They presume that Russian invasion results from some ...…

threadreaderapp.com

and Samuel Ramani's summary of Kremlin advisor Sergei Karaganov's two latest interviews:

Karaganov justifies invading Ukraine as a pre-emptive war on two grounds The first is that Ukraine has become like Nazi Germany in 1936-37 The second is that Ukraine was a "spearhead of NATO"
To explain why Russia invaded Ukraine even though NATO membership was unlikely, Karaganov strips all ethics way from Western foreign policy He quips that if Russia and China were democracies, and the West was a monarchy, the West would attack "godless liberalism"
Karaganov develops this point further by saying that the West regretted not destroying Russia in the 1990s and was compensating now He claims that Western isolation of Russia has created Russophobia unseen since Hitler's time

Karaganov compares Russophobia to historical European anti-Semitism He argues that the COVID-19 pandemic distracted the West from its obsession with hating Russia, and that the end of the COVID-19 pandemic caused the West to start a war in Ukraine. The West is the aggressor

Karaganov then calls the freezing of Russian Central Bank assets "a bandit act directed at a nuclear superpower" He predicts that the Russia-West conflict will move to a "whole new level" and says the lack of strategic vision and Western irresponsibility caused this
Karaganov makes it clear that the current crisis is much more dangerous than the Cold War During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Karaganov says the West had responsible politicians, which don't exist now

Karaganov argues that Russia is better positioned geopolitically now than in the Cold War as it has no Warsaw Pact satellites or a rival in China Russia has close ties with both China and India, he predicts that the West will be the loser from the war in Ukraine /

On Ukraine, Karaganov defends the use of the phrase "denazification" He argues that Nazism isn't just about killing Jews, but its about supremacy and humiliation. Karaganov argues the U.S. is humiliating Russia by pushing Ukraine towards the West, hence Ukraine is Nazi

Karaganov says that Russia has fought Ukraine with one hand tied behind its back, its avoided civilian targets and has only used 30-35% of the weapons available to it He does caution against what he sees as the West's attempt to "Afghanize" Ukraine

 

[Ax^]

It really come down to tone doesn't it?

'Ha, ha your son is dead', is different from 'we are sorry to inform you.. we believe your government is withholding thus information from you'.

It us still just a propaganda exercise though.

russia is not telling the parent if their kids die,