Russia-Ukraine

[dada_dave]

I’m on a trip right now, but I gathered that Putin just ordered his claimed Ukrainian territories to be subject to military draft (effective today or tomorrow). WTH? Pro Putin regions are going to have a wake up call. It’s so idiotic and I’m SMH with shut eyes. If you’re going to be a bad guy then be good at it, right? Amateurs

Sadly the Ukrainians in the DPR/LNR/Crimea have already been sent into the war. Forcing people you recently conquered into your army as cannon fodder is a time tested strategy of imperialism. And the soldiers from the DPR/LNR “breakaway republics” were definitely treated as disposable, they were the original Wagner penal/Storm-Z meat assault battalions.

However, this draft is somewhat separate from the mobilization - it’s the yearly draft that can make you eligible for mobilization later but is strictly speaking not itself supposed to send you to the war. My last caveat is that “pro Putin” should apply to people rather than regions as we have no way of knowing how many of the people in the occupied territories actually support the invasion - some do! But how many (pre-2014/2022) is an open question - especially in the occupied parts of Kherson and Zaporizhia, probably not many. But there are signs that residents of Kherson and Zaporizhia will indeed be amongst the mobilized in the next wave when it does come regardless of how they felt about Russia previously.

Right now it would appear Putin is delaying further mobilization to avoid the threat of having to cull more from Moscow/St Petersburg regions and potentially create further political instability.

Coincidently this is from today:

It should be noted with a lot of these guys like “13th” they aren’t against the war, they just want to kill Ukrainians more effectively, not stop the killing. Though occasionally with a few of them a glimmer of recognition that maybe they shouldn’t be doing this peeks through.

 

[dada_dave]

 

[dada_dave]

There are so many horrifying, interconnected things happening in the world right now that it’s hard to keep track of where to post this:

 

[dada_dave]

 

[dada_dave]

Garry Kasparov
@Kasparov63
·
1h
Latest Russian joke: -- What does mobilization have common in Russia and Israel? -- Long lines for flights to Tel Aviv.

 

[dada_dave]

Benjamin Pittet

@COUPSURE

Russia appears to be loosing a shit ton of armor in it’s push on Adviivka.

 

[dada_dave]

The good news is that the Russian offensive in Adviika appears to be meeting with only small success and very high losses for the Russians. They've been trying to take it since the beginning of the war. The bad news is that they felt comfortable launching such an attack at all. It is a sign that Russian reserves have not yet been fully exhausted by the slow grinding counteroffensive in the South or around Bakhmut. That's not a good sign.

 

[dada_dave]

There are so many horrifying, interconnected things happening in the world right now that it’s hard to keep track of where to post this:

View attachment 26441

A lot of Russian commentators are ecstatic over this, ethnic Russian jews in Israel being murdered, they're viewed as traitors. They likewise hope that the upcoming Gaza war will distract the US from supporting Ukraine. I think they're going to be disappointed on that latter front. If we ever get a functioning government again, I strongly suspect that aid for both will be packaged together and pass with high margins as it should.

 

[dada_dave]

This is good. While PiS was supportive of Ukraine, their populist stance was causing fractures even beyond the general democratic backsliding. PiS was also protecting Orban in Hungary who has been a thorn in the side not just for EU but for Ukraine aid. That protection is now gone.

 

[dada_dave]

ATACMS in Ukraine! Were sent as a surprise (not really we've been talking about forever, but no official announcement was made). Hit a couple of helicopter bases. Waiting for damage assessments, but initial reports are lots of helicopters damaged and destroyed and other equipment as well. Possibly highest single day losses for the Russian air force of the war. So still caught them by surprise I guess.

Those that were sent are the cluster variants, over 20 years old, technically past their due date, but they still worked. There are over 1000 of them in our inventory.

 

[Huntn]

ATACMS in Ukraine! Were sent as a surprise (not really we've been talking about forever, but no official announcement was made). Hit a couple of helicopter bases. Waiting for damage assessments, but initial reports are lots of helicopters damaged and destroyed and other equipment as well. Possibly highest single day losses for the Russian air force of the war. So still caught them by surprise I guess.

Those that were sent are the cluster variants, over 20 years old, technically past their due date, but they still worked. There are over 1000 of them in our inventory.

How much cursing Americans can be heard outside the Kremlin?

 

[dada_dave]

How much cursing Americans can be heard outside the Kremlin?

Hopefully lots.

 

[Eric]

Nice to see some unity here.

McConnell sides with Biden on bundling Ukraine, Israel aid: ‘I view it as all interconnected’

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in an interview to air on Sunday that he sides with President Biden on the matter of bundling Ukraine and Israel aid together — while noting thei…

thehill.com

McConnell sides with Biden on bundling Ukraine, Israel aid: ‘I view it as all interconnected’​

 

[Yoused]

Russia just gets uglier and uglier

Russia reportedly is using Ukrainian POWs to fight in their homeland on Moscow's side

A Russian news agency is reporting that the country is preparing to send a battalion of Ukrainian prisoners of war to the front lines in their homeland to fight on Moscow’s side in the war.

apnews.com

This is considered a violation of the Geneva Conventions.

 

[Yoused]

General Vladimir Zavakskiy was not watching his step while in the backfield,

The investigation into his death is considering the theory that he triggered a mine that had been set up by a nearby Russian unit to counter Ukrainian reconnaissance and sabotage groups … an attempt is also being made to attribute Zavadsky's death to an artillery strike by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.​

Ukraine is where Russian Brass goes to die.

 

[Eric]

This is a shame.

Russia's meat grinder soldiers - 50,000 confirmed dead

In the second 12 months on the front line the body count was nearly 25% higher than in the first year.

www.bbc.com

 

[Edd]

This is a shame.

Russia's meat grinder soldiers - 50,000 confirmed dead

In the second 12 months on the front line the body count was nearly 25% higher than in the first year.

www.bbc.com

And for what? As wars go, this one seems exceptionally pointless.

 

[Eric]

And for what? As wars go, this one seems exceptionally pointless.

Apparently, it's to kill as many people as possible while turning your target into rubble so nobody else can have it either.

One man is responsible for all of these deaths, Putin. Take him out and it all goes into a different direction, and I don't see how it can be any worse. We have always allowed a single dictator to commit genocide like this and I've never understood it. He is the snake, take its head off.

 

[GermanSuplex]

House just passed a true bipartisan stand-alone Ukraine said package. $61 billion.

Good for those republicans and Speaker Johnson for doing the right thing. So, there is one Republican-specific victory here as well - Speaker Johnson can write off his past capitulation to the mental midgets like MTG and the like by saying “This was about discussion and debate on standalone bills, not packages. This proves we can address individual issues and still work together.”

Matt Gaetz is who I‘d keep my eye on. Despite his goofy frat boy lifestyle, he’s actually way smarter than I initially gave him credit for. He’s not MTG, MTG is just a more prominent idiot running off the more calculated actions of folks like Gaetz. He could be a thorn in his party’s side.

Anyways… this is how things used to be. You put the partisan issues aside and then it becomes more like a true united governing body. It used to be, you had republicans and democrats debate certain issues, but things like Ukraine aid would have just been a body of Americans voting to do the right thing, the d or r thing was irrelevant.

After months of wavering, Johnson sided with Biden, Democrats and the Republicans who believe that helping Ukraine fend off Russian aggression is essential to U.S. national security interests, citing briefings he has received and warning: “Vladimir Putin would continue to march through Europe if he were allowed.”

“I would rather send bullets to Ukraine than American boys,” Johnson told reporters, noting that his son will enter the Naval Academy this year. “This is a live-fire exercise for me as it is for so many American families. This is not a game, this is not a joke.”

House votes on critical aid for Ukraine and Israel and a potential TikTok ban — NBC News

The quartet of bills will be voted on individually; if they pass, they'll be sent to the Senate in one package. The move has bitterly divided the GOP and fueled threats to the speaker's job.

apple.news

 

[Eric]

House just passed a true bipartisan stand-alone Ukraine said package. $61 billion.

Good for those republicans and Speaker Johnson for doing the right thing. So, there is one Republican-specific victory here as well - Speaker Johnson can write off his past capitulation to the mental midgets like MTG and the like by saying “This was about discussion and debate on standalone bills, not packages. This proves we can address individual issues and still work together.”

Matt Gaetz is who I‘d keep my eye on. Despite his goofy frat boy lifestyle, he’s actually way smarter than I initially gave him credit for. He’s not MTG, MTG is just a more prominent idiot running off the more calculated actions of folks like Gaetz. He could be a thorn in his party’s side.

Anyways… this is how things used to be. You put the partisan issues aside and then it becomes more like a true united governing body. It used to be, you had republicans and democrats debate certain issues, but things like Ukraine aid would have just been a body of Americans voting to do the right thing, the d or r thing was irrelevant.

After months of wavering, Johnson sided with Biden, Democrats and the Republicans who believe that helping Ukraine fend off Russian aggression is essential to U.S. national security interests, citing briefings he has received and warning: “Vladimir Putin would continue to march through Europe if he were allowed.”

“I would rather send bullets to Ukraine than American boys,” Johnson told reporters, noting that his son will enter the Naval Academy this year. “This is a live-fire exercise for me as it is for so many American families. This is not a game, this is not a joke.”

House votes on critical aid for Ukraine and Israel and a potential TikTok ban — NBC News

The quartet of bills will be voted on individually; if they pass, they'll be sent to the Senate in one package. The move has bitterly divided the GOP and fueled threats to the speaker's job.

apple.news

One issue at a time, he's done the right thing for everyone here and I'm glad to see both sides supporting it, I also suspect and hope Democrats will have his back if the radicals try to oust him. We need more people working together like this from both sides of the aisle.