Russian Invasion of Ukraine 2022

[Iconoclast]

Abandoned armoured vehicles? Anyone up for crowdfunding a retrieval on GoFundMe?

I had the same exact reaction. Mmm, "salvage".

 

[SchrodingersWehraboo]

looks like Russian BMDs firing at something in Bucha. Worth noting is the BRDM armored car sitting in the park in front of them. Looks to be a momument, maybe some of the russians fired at it before realizing that.





Karkhov advance is a tangled mess, Russians throwing GAZ Tigers into the city and losing some.





Ukraine POWs from Donbass interviewed, translation is automated.
Obviously this Russian source should be taken with a bucket of salt.

"Главное, чтобы была хорошая власть. Чтобы люди жили": Что рассказывают сложившие оружие украинские военные - KP.Ru

Washed, shaved, dressed in clean clothes , five Ukrainian soldiers from the 53rd Motorized Rifle Brigade entered the room with their hands interlocked behind their backs. Every day in the DPR, dozens of Ukrainian servicemen voluntarily leave their positions and surrender to the republican troops. These decided to end their war the day before.

We meet with them at the temporary accommodation centre. I had a chance to communicate with prisoners in 2014-2015. Their stories are monotonous, as if under a copy. Therefore, I did not expect much from the upcoming conversation. However, she painted not so much a portrait of Ukrainian soldiers as an image of modern Ukraine, in which people are killed out of desperation.

"I didn't see the Javelin in the eye"

Senior Lieutenant Alexander Markov comes from Pavlograd, Dnipropetrovsk region. He studied at the Metallurgical Academy, has a specialty "heat treatment of metal". He worked at the military department at the Mining University, receiving the rank of second lieutenant.

Then wandering through different parts of the Ministry of Defense and the National Guard in search of the optimal ratio of safe and paid work, until he finally settled in the 53rd brigade.

"I just wanted to work near the house," says Starley.

He came to Donetsk's Bogdanovka as the commander of an anti-tank platoon, but he did not see the Javelins in his eyes. And the British NLAW, as they say, only once - in the door peephole. He says that he did not take part in the battles, the soldiers were engaged in domestic issues, they guarded themselves.

- In the morning, a massive artillery preparation began, a lot of shells flew. That is, we sat there in the trenches, we could not even do anything. Until about seven in the morning we waited for the equipment. I think these were brigade tanks, they went out into the field, we had already begun to turn away. I called the command, with the combatant, I said – what should we do? He says , sit on, hold our ground. I mean, we sat there. About two hours later, the art preparation began again. I got in touch, told me to curl up. Me and the soldier Derevyanko ran to the house, hiding there and sitting for three hours. We thought to wait out the artillery preparation. When it calmed down, we heard equipment, helicopters. We ran out onto the road and saw your guys standing there, well, we immediately gave up.

- Have you been ideologically pumped up, against whom are you fighting?

- Well, I was told that there was a breakthrough, separatists with the support of Russia.

- Is the 53rd Brigade staffed mainly by people from which regions?

- Luhansk, Donetsk Oblast. In technical terms, the equipment is very bad. And there is no fuel, and the cars are broken, everything is old, there is nothing new. We have about 115 new people in the battalion who just came under the first contracts. No one expected such actions to unfold.


Voenkor kp.ru spoke with those who voluntarily laid down their arms.

Photo: Alexander KOTS
Voted for the LPR

The operator of the anti-tank platoon Roman Golub is from Artemivsk, in the Donetsk region, which during the decommunization was renamed Bakhmut. He once served in the Ukrainian Crimea, then worked at a factory.

- Until the last I did not want to go to the armed forces, it so happened that my wife was fired from work, I was left without a job. Two children. There was no means of subsistence. I went to the draft board. And where to go? Factories cut everything, machines, cars on the secondary, I personally saw, they take out the equipment from the factories. No work at all. Well, in order to earn money, you need to support your family, I decided to sign a contract.

- Did you participate in the referendum in Artemovsk in 2014?

- Yes.

- What did you vote for?

- For the LPR.

- And why did you end up fighting against the LPR?

- 8 Years Of War. When will it end? There was no money. There is no work. The family must be supported. When a child says I want to eat... It would have ended sooner...

I bought my own uniform

Soldier Andrei Litvinov was born in the Krasnodar Territory, in the Uspensky District, but then moved with his mother to Ukraine - to the Lugansk region. He received the specialty of a tractor driver-driver, a mechanic-combine harvester. He served in Lviv, then for two years he kicked a fool on a civilian and returned to the army to earn money.


Their stories are monotonous, as if under a copycat.

Photo: Alexander KOTS
- I signed the contract, they didn't shoe me, they didn't dress me, the boys, what they could, they gave me. The wife had already sent a jacket, a jacket, a fleece from the house so that she would not be in the civilian. We were brought to the front line, abandoned, told – go, watch the equipment, guard ... They gave 4 stores and one Kalash. All. Fighting broke out, I called. He asked what to do, will they take us away or not? They said, keep on the defensive. And then we realized that there was no point in fighting at all, and we decided to retreat.

- Have you decided to hide in an apartment building?

- Yes. We threw away the assault rifles, the armored men, then we heard a noise, shined a flashlight - we did not resist, gave up and we were accepted, taken to the authorities, talked, fed and brought here.

- Who's Waiting at Home for You?

- My wife at home is seven months pregnant, two children from the first marriage. Sisters and brothers.

- If you are released now and the house is called again?

- I'm not going anymore, I've had enough. This war has already taught me that there is no point in fighting. Why? For being treated so rudely? They abandoned it like cattle, and they ran away. I think that's not normal.

"People are dying everywhere"

Oksana Kravtsova, a medical shooter, also from the Luhansk region, worked as a cook in the dining room. She completed medical courses and "decided to go save people." And unlike her male co-workers, she seemed to say exactly what she thought. Without ostentatious audacity, without challenge in the eyes, but firmly and confidently.


Oksana Kravtsova, a medical shooter, also from the Luhansk region, worked as a cook in the dining room

Photo: Alexander KOTS
- Did you know that the armed forces of Ukraine kill civilians in Lugansk and Donetsk?

- Of course I did. They have been killed for eight years, this war is going on.

- And that didn't stop you?

- At the time when I signed the contract, there was no such war as in one day now.

- Did you know about 2014, about 2015, when people were killed here?

- Yes, I knew that there was a strong war at that time.

- And still decided to join the army?

- Yes, I did. I decided to go medicated.

- How did you get captured?

- I was the only one left out of all the survivors, as a medic - and that's it. So I got there. I was in the dugout at the time. After each heavy shelling, I would go out and check if there were any wounded or not. The first time everything worked out, all the people were alive, healthy at that time. The second time I didn't come out because there was a lot of shelling. I came out when there were already a lot of military men and a lot of tanks. All.

- How old are you?

- 36.

- So when the war started, you were already quite an adult and understood what was happening?

- Sure.

- Do you have children?

- Yes, there is. One child. Daughter.

- Have you seen the footage of the murdered children in Donetsk?

- Yes, of course.

- And still you went into the army. Why?

- I went not to kill. I went to just provide medical care.

- To the One Who Kills?

- And they are also killed, they are also assisted. Here, too, they kill. And they kill there.

- Now you will return home and will no longer live in Ukraine, but will live in the LPR. How do you like this reality?

- Well, if it actually already exists. In the city where I lived, it belonged to Ukraine yet. When I come back, it's a matter of time – it could be a day, a month, a year, five. A lot can change during this time. The main thing is that there should be good power. For people to live. It doesn't matter in which state.

- Well, the people who gave their lives for this are probably still important.

- People have given their lives now. When I came out of hiding and saw how human bodies were mixed with the ground ...

It is clear that Oksana Kravtsova does not regret anything and is completely confident in her rightness. I did not explain to her the difference between those who carried out criminal orders and those who voluntarily stood up to defend their homeland. While it is useless, it has yet to undergo reformatting. Perhaps a visit to the Alley of Angels in Memory of the People Who Died in Donbass will help speed up this process.

Читайте на WWW.KP.RU: https://www.kp.ru/daily/27369.5/4551555/

Key takeways:

• So-called "Anti-tank platoon" recieved only one NLAW and no Javelin. Possibly indicative of corruption or poor dispersion.
• Generally shoddy logistics in terms of fuel, parts, even uniforms
• Some degree of pro-seperatist sympathies among troops, but military was the only immediate option for employment.
• Ukrainian Army had female personnel near the frontlines.
• People are aware of Ukrainian war crimes to a degree. but in the medic's case had rationalizations for serving.
• Russian artillery support worked to good effect.

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

People are aware of Ukrainian war crimes to a degree.

Do we have sources of those?

 

[SchrodingersWehraboo]

Do we have sources of those?

 

[WolfBear]

One wrong does not justify another, but also, again, I have no issue with coups with significant popular support. Second, he was actually impeached by the elected congress, so this was a democratic exchange of power. People seem to forget that. You are also forgetting that Russia invaded then too.

Yanukovych lacked the necessary votes to be removed from office by the Ukrainian parliament. He was nine or ten votes short, IIRC.

Mainstream YouTuber Real Life Lore actually pointed out the energy reserves located in the Donbass Region... just out of reach of the poor unfortunate Donbass Seperatists.



I don't know why NATO placed those energy reserves there but it's destabilized the region.

It's actually a pretty good video overall. Talks about the pipelines, the Crimean Water Crisis, the precursor War with Georgia, how Belarus could be threatened if Ukraine joined NATO, Russia's Demographic Crisis so to speak etc.

The script was also clearly written right before the Invasion began but after Putin declared the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions Independent.

So, the Donbass separatists will get additional energy reserves. Good for them!

 

[Agent23]

Think you have an extra begin quote.

As for democracy and mob rule, yes there is a difference. But 1) Ukraine never had a democracy (and now maybe has a flawed one at best) and 2) I'm an Anarcho-Capitalist at heart only contained by the reality that it doesn't work cause warlords, so I'm fine with even a minority coup breaking away on their own. Freedom to leave is definitely a thing.

Oh, you are one of those.
I myself am more of a blackpilled libertarian, what your type likes to call a minarchist.

And yeah, I agree that freedom to leave is a good thing, Donetsk Lugansk and Crimea and a lot of the rest of eastern Ukraine probably saw it the same way.

Too bad the response was shelling, burning people alive, neonazi paramilitaries, etc.

So I was probably too hasty in thinking this would be Russian roll of Ukraine. The longer this takes, the worse it is going to be for them as Ukraine takes deliveries of weapons. This is gonna be a total clusterfuck for Russia (unless they win soon, they look incompetent).

Actually, they are going to great lengths to keep casualties down to a minimum, see what Ritter had to say about the entire situation.

Basically, Russia sacrificed all of it's Euro softpower in this move, and that was really good for a flagging NATO. This could also cause more hostility toward China, as Europe starts realizing it needs to follow the US more.

They no longer give a shit about soft power in Europe, if you look at what they are focusing on it is mostly Asia.

Again if an enemy is coming to rape murder and enslaved you. Throw everything and the kitchen sink at them. Russians historically have not been gentle when fighting.

Oh, how much raping, murdering and enslavement have the Russians done?
Ukraine still has power, internet, phone service, etc.

Scott Ritter, a person with actual military experience, explained that the Russians are going to great lengths to keep civilian losses and damage to civilian infrastructure to an absolute minimum.

 

[PsihoKekec]

Oryx: I think they're Turkish but they have affiliates or whatever everywhere.

They are from Netherlands I think one is Saffie expat. They did great work analyzing wars in the Middle East and North Korean military but dew years ago they took money from Turkey, deleted most of their older articles , so any article involving Turkey or Turkish made weapons has a very obvious bias now.

From my perspective, y'all have just gone nuts.

That's just, like, your opinion man.

No, it very much didn't. The Germans put armies defending both Calais and Normandy (already a win, as it split forces), and the forces defending Normandy were the more unreliable conscripts (as famously alluded to by the 'German' trying to surrender in Saving Private Ryan) with more unreliable forces. On top of this, the 15th Army was delayed by staying in Calais to fight off another landing (which never appeared, cause that was part of the deception).

Germany had units in fixed positions from Spanish border to (almost) Nordkapp because Allies had capabilities to launch a landing wherever they didn't defend. These were lower quality units all along the Atlantic Wall and units in Calais were no better than those in Normandy, with Normandy being assigned a greater share of available mobile reserves, as by April the Germans considered Normandy the most likely location for invasion. The main reason why 15th army didn't join the fight was that it was a stationary force, it lacked trucks and horses to move more than fraction of it's heavy equipment.

The Maidan was a response to Yanukovych's authoritarianism and physical abuse of peaceful protesters.

If you watched the internet coverage of the events back then (well scrubbed now) you'd know that the opposition titushki were in action from the day, with part of five billion $ the USA spent on the coup going to their salaries. As matter of fact police was more restrained than the opposition fighters for most of protests.

Oh, so you'll let yourself be bullied by someone continually, since they know it can work with you.

Sure, afterall it's what USA is doing on regular basis, realpolitik sucks for anyone who is at the receiving end, it has been a fact of life since time immemorial. Just look at all the people dying in Jemen from Saudi bombings and even more from starvation and disease brought by Saudi blockade, aided by USA - it far exceeds the death toll of Ukrainian conflict and yet you hear hardly anything in world media about it.

 

[SchrodingersWehraboo]

Quite certain I saw nighttime footage of a wrecked vehicle in this exact same arrangement being passed off as Russian near Kharkov. Well, someone's lying.



BRDM confirmed inert.





Possible surrender.

Alexander Kots claims sympathetic Ukrainians are messaging him on Telegram.

Письма с Украины: Мы 8 лет ждали прихода России. Только бы не назад - KP.Ru

Spoiler: Automated translation

My Telegram channel is broken. Hundreds of messages from subscribers from all over Ukraine who want to help the Russian forces People send maps that mark the positions of the Ukrainian army, the geographical coordinates of checkpoints, photos of columns going to the front, data on the leaders of territorial defense ... Russian Ukraine has engaged in the usual business – partisanship, albeit virtual.

I was afraid that when the operation began, those people who wrote to me about our common history and culture would not understand the tasks of this campaign and would turn away. But they quickly realized what was going on. And they try their best to help.


And they continue to write me letters that are unlikely to leave anyone indifferent.

"Hope was killed"
"It is difficult to convey what is happening in the soul. Adequate residents of Ukraine have been waiting for this for 8 years. For 5 years, Poroshenko buried hope - it remained only to rejoice at the successes of Russia and watch the rapid degradation of Ukraine.

2019 was a year of new hope - for six months the Nazis sat on the holes and were afraid of the slogans under which the people chose Zelensky. A year later, Hope was killed in the most cynical way.

And now, when the unbelievable is happening, a vile worm of doubt is still digging in the soul - and suddenly negotiations, and suddenly Ukraine again. Then all in vain, all these 8 years of feeling a stranger on your own land, when you are alone in your daily environment and any dissent is obstructed.

When you raise children and try to protect them from widespread propaganda, and at the same time keep silent and talk about it only with trusted like-minded people.


2019 was a year of new hope - for six months the Nazis sat on the holes and were afraid of the slogans under which the people chose Zelensky

Photo: REUTERS
And what indignation grows in the soul when you see these false rallies "for peace" in Moscow, these unscrupulous actors who have nothing more expensive than money, when colleagues from Russia write you words of condolence that "our authorities have completely gone off the rails"...

So I want to say - shut up there, and yes, we will hold on - 8 years we held on and waited, and we will hold on for a little longer.

Lord, help the guys! So that there are as few losses as possible. Kyiv, 26.02.2022".


Now there is chaos in Kiev

Photo: EAST NEWS
"The understate is falling apart"
"I just started to write how loud it was nearby, where the military unit of the Ukrainian National Guard ...

We are waiting for the arrival of Russia, its just return to the native Russian kiev hills. This stillborn sub-state is falling apart because its entire short history is a hoax. The meaning of its existence is Anti-Russia, the authorities are endlessly corrupt and thieving. From the very beginning, since the 90s, an irreconcilable course was taken to suppress and exterminate everything Russian.

First, Russian schools in Russian-speaking Kiev disappeared, then television... It is not for me to list all this for you, but the fact is terrible: many Russians, Russian-speaking Kievans in Russian language speak about Russia with hatred and contempt. It comes to scandals, divorces, discord in families. Because of such disagreements, we quarreled with my late father, my brother considered me crazy... Alas! Propaganda has been working for 30 years not in vain, and what to do with it now, how to treat it, is unclear!

Militant grayness and monotony, the decline of education, art and science, religious strife. What awaits our children and grandchildren?

We want to go home. Let western Ukraine go where it craved so much, we still can't live together..."


Ukrainian security forces see saboteurs everywhere

Photo: EAST NEWS
"Be careful!"
"I am writing from Kyiv. As a family, we are waiting to be released by ours. We, the Russians of Kiev, have been suffering from the occupation pro-American regime for 8 years. Until 2014, we lived normally, and gradually, through the efforts of the anti-people regime, we and many residents of Ukraine were brought to extreme poverty.

Plus, we have an outright dictatorship. There is no freedom of speech, protesters are recorded as "agents of the Kremlin" and intimidated or persecuted on trumped-up criminal cases. Under Zelensky, it became even worse than it was under Poroshenko. Therefore, we will not wait for the overthrow of his vile regime.

Now there is chaos in Kiev. Weapons were distributed uncontrollably, because of which theroborona shoots at everyone, they see "Russian saboteurs". Official propaganda calls on dumbed down civilians to jump under tanks, throw "Molotov cocktails" at Russian armored vehicles. Thinking Kievans believe that the Zelensky regime needs this in order to then accuse the Russian Federation of mass killings of civilians.

Send my greetings to all the Russian troops who are now on the territory of Ukraine, especially those who are to the west and northwest of Kiev. We, the Russian residents of Kiev, are waiting for you. But be careful, there are a lot of hostile people here. I wish you a speedy Victory! (Anonymously, because the name is dangerous to disclose, I will be easily identified) ».

.


Official propaganda calls on dumbed-down civilians to jump under tanks, throw "Molotov cocktails" at Russian armored vehicles

Photo: REUTERS
"Since 2014, it has been clear that it will not be possible to reach an agreement with the new Ukrainian authorities in any way. Unfortunately, during these 8 years of barren talk, they managed to raise another generation of zombified youth. Sooner or later, this abscess had to be opened, as the Chechen abscess had to be opened in 1999. After all, then we left there and "left them alone." They used the rest time to pump up military muscles.

Similarly, in Ukraine, the economy has been collapsing all these years, but the military component has been supported in every possible way. In addition, a large number of people were driven through the active army, tying them with blood.

We can defeat the Ukrainian army and the Nazis, but it will be more difficult to win the battle for minds."

TV propaganda
"I am writing to you from the Russian city of Sumy. He was Russian ever since the first settlers who fled from near Bila Tserkva in 1652 (about 100 families) decided to settle here, at the confluence of three rivers. A letter of permission to found a Cossack town here was sent to Alexei Mikhailovich, tsar of Russia. He also gave the go-ahead.

Why this excursion?! I learned this in the 5th grade, already living in the "independent" and since then I knew that historically, originally, the city is Russian. Yes, but many of those who know about it - prefer to either remain silent or not realize. And all this was smooth: at first, documents began to be filled out only in Ukrainian, then textbooks were redone, history was rewritten ...

After 2014, hatred for the Russian word, for Russia, and for some - for everything Russian (well, except for gas, electricity and gasoline) spread desperately, rapidly. Not so many years have passed since the 90s, but banderization and neo-nationalism have become as if not reprehensible, both in the city and in the country.

I'll finish, the neighbors came to ask for glass bottles... To give to the territorial defense. I refused, had a fight with my wife. I explain that it is this "Ukrainian" government that we should be afraid of... But it's hard to fight TV propaganda. While the city, in our area is quiet, but people are frightened, waiting for sirens.

I know and believe that the Supreme Court tried to resolve the issue with the West peacefully to the last, but they pretended that no one said anything and did not warn about anything. "


The country has an outright dictatorship

Photo: REUTERS
"We have a chance at life"
"I did not see the collapse of the Union. However, the potential of that country is very clear. After the collapse, the entire Western world looked with envy and undisguised anger at the new "European" rival. And most of our population was ready to surrender to the German baron and the American sir.

By the age of my growing up, I began to realize that literally nothing was happening in the country. A complete, total emptiness. Lack of any achievements and reasons for pride. In 2014, we came to the boiling point. Popular indignation was combined with popular stupidity and cretinism of the Galician elite. Superimposed on this was the lack of honest influential people and the soil prepared by the Americans. And it swirled.

The period from 2015 to 2021 is just a void. Oblivion. Oblivion. Endless streams of lies, nonsense, hypocrisy, humanitarian and material violence from the West. And the people are like cattle: they get used to dirt, a terrible standard of living, lack of salaries and pensions. The main thing is that we have more than the Moskals.

And now I and many other residents of Ukraine have received an answer. Drastic measures, big expenses, but Russia saves us and itself! There is a chance for life!

Just don't believe anyone from the former government, not even the local one! They are total hypocrites! Carry out a wide educational work! Our current schoolchildren are being nurtured with the Nazi idea. Almost no one who studied after the 2000s knows history.

I am ready to spend all my efforts on the revival of this ancient, holy, Russian land! Glory to Ukraine – as part of Russia!"


Photo: REUTERS
"Just not back"
"The fear of possible negotiations is enormous! Back again?! Then what is all this for? My mother survived that Great War as a child. She is afraid of not waiting for change. "Just to live" is like a spell.

Are there others among us? Eat. There are different ones. And what did you want. They were brought up for 30 years. Many of these others, purely intuitively, in order to protect themselves, simply closed in on their thoughts, deeds, actions within their family.

Is the process of "removal from the shell" possible? Of course! Are we going to get everybody out? No, but many. And even these "others" go on May 9 to the monuments. This is the marker that is still clearly visible. After all, we were left (or rather could not finally take away) only one day a year, when we can still show what we are and that we still do not think as ordered.

There are a lot of thoughts. But at this particular moment, the main thing that worries me is not to go back."


Photo: REUTERS
"What's next?"
"The war did not begin on February 24, 2022. The war began on April 14, 2014, when Turchynov, with the invented post of acting president of Ukraine, announced the beginning of an anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine.

But we, in Kharkiv, Kiev, in Lviv, did not notice this war. We did not notice (and did not condemn) the cries of "mosalyaku na gillyaka", "moskaliv na knives" on the Maidan. We didn't notice the Beating of the Golden Eagles during the Revolution of Gidnost. We did not react to the burning of people alive in the house of trade unions in Odessa.

It's like a defensive reaction of the psyche just not to go crazy. Ukrainians after 2014 are people with a blocked memory and conscience.

We did not want to admit that our army was shelling its people in Donbass. We quickly believed that we were at war with Russia. It's just easier that way.

We told each other this for 8 years. And now, when Russia did come to war, there was a howl.

I live in Kharkov, I am not afraid that a Russian paratrooper will enter my house. But, I am afraid of the Ukrainian military, who put "grads" under houses, right on flower beds, I am afraid of Ukrainian unpredictable air defenses that shoot down something over high-rise buildings, so that they hit people's apartments with missiles, and then accuse Russia of shelling civilians. I'm afraid of idiots who have been given guns, I'm afraid of looters who are already smashing magazines.

I'm afraid to go on social media, I'm tired of being disappointed in the people I was friends with.

The Ukrainian media talk around the clock about the victories of the Ukrainian army, about the burned Russian tanks and about the heroes posthumously awarded by Zelensky.

I graduated from a technical university, where I was taught to think critically, to look for confirmation of information. Alas, my friends on social networks do not ask questions. Putin is to blame for everything again.

I can understand the fear and horror of people who spend the night in the subway or basements. But we live like this for a few days. Donbass has been living like this for 8 years. Now suddenly well-fed and well-dressed people in different cities of Ukraine understood this.

And what happens next?

The Russian military will take control of Kiev, those guilty of the crimes of the Maidan and the following years will be put on trial.

But if everything else is left as it is, where is the guarantee that we, the Ukrainians, will not choose a new Zelensky? And we will again declare our accession to NATO. And again we will build Anti-Russia.

The script to leave everything as it is, what scares me the most...

Another option. Ukraine proper remains its right-bank part with its capital in Lviv. The left-bank part becomes a separate entity, with its capital in Kharkiv (I would be happy). Outside the brackets Donbass. The republics have been proving the right to independence for 8 years.

I hope so.

Maria from Kharkov".

Читайте на WWW.KP.RU: https://www.kp.ru/daily/27369.5/4551702/

OUN/Ukrainian flags lowered once again.

 

[Agent23]

They are from Netherlands I think one is Saffie expat. They did great work analyzing wars in the Middle East and North Korean military but dew years ago they took money from Turkey, deleted most of their older articles , so any article involving Turkey or Turkish made weapons has a very obvious bias now.

And Turkey is backing Ukraine in this.
I don't pay much attention to what Huskey Karen is spamming, but I think that these Onyx people have kinda sorte been trying to hype up Bairaktar.

Also, even if they were impartial there is the small problem of their sources.
It is not like they have people on the ground verifying what is actually going on, they probably follow Ukrainian propaganda.

Germany had units in fixed positions from Spanish border to (almost) Nordkapp because Allies had capabilities to launch a landing wherever they didn't defend. These were lower quality units all along the Atlantic Wall and units in Calais were no better than those in Normandy, with Normandy being assigned a greater share of available mobile reserves, as by April the Germans considered Normandy the most likely location for invasion. The main reason why 15th army didn't join the fight was that it was a stationary force, it lacked trucks and horses to move more than fraction of it's heavy equipment.

The Germans had bigger problems in the East, that is where they kept their best divisions.
They threw everything at the Russians and surrendered quite readily to the Western Allies.
Number of German divisions by front in World War II

Sure, afterall it's what USA is doing on regular basis, realpolitik sucks for anyone who is at the receiving end, it has been a fact of life since time immemorial. Just look at all the people dying in Jemen from Saudi bombings and even more from starvation and disease brought by Saudi blockade, aided by USA - it far exceeds the death toll of Ukrainian conflict and yet you hear hardly anything in world media about it.

Yup, but uninformed geniuses in the USA have the right to demand you do whatever they find ideologically expedient because Muh Freedom!

 

[Agent23]

CoachRedpill just dropped an update:

The following is a status report of what appears to be happening at this time (2022. 02. 27 at 12:00 noon Kiev time) in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

I am trying to be as realistic as possible. I mean no disrespect or animus to either the Ukrainian side or the Russian side. I am not in any sense questioning the bravery of the soldiers of any nation, nor do I mean to give any offense. I live permanently in Ukraine, I love the Ukrainian people, and my children are Ukrainian citizens. In what I am about to say, I am trying to give a realistic, sober assessment of the current state of play.

The Russians have entered the center of Kharkiv, I know this from eyewitness accounts of people that I know there. There is small arms fighting, but generally light resistance. In the south, Kherson has fallen and the Russian army seems to have captured Zaporozhia. It seems clear that Dnipro will be reached within 3 to 5 days. At this time, Kiev is being surrounded by Russian tanks. There is sporadic small arms fire outside the city, but no big battles.

The Russian strategy seems to be to encircle the cities, while destroying military installations. The vast majority of civilian infrastructure in the areas under attack have been untouched and are functioning normally. It also seems very clear that the Russians have used their older equipment and less experienced soldiers in this initial assault. Very few of the high-tech modern weaponry that the Russians possess are being used in this first push. This would lead one to believe that the Russians want to probe and exhaust Ukrainian defenses before bringing out top-tier men and materiel.

The Russians are being incredibly disciplined insofar as their information management is concerned. The only information coming out of the Russians comes directly from the Ministry of Defense or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Their information so far has been 100% accurate, which I think is a deliberate strategy. There has been a great deal of Ukrainian propaganda that turned out to be complete fantasy, but even after these stories have been proven to be false, people cling to them.

At the current pace of operations, the Russians will completely capture Ukraine within 7 to 14 days. They are winning, and winning decisively. Maps comparing the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 to this current mechanized invasion show that the Russians are outpacing the Americans by a substantial margin. And as I said, they are using their second-tier men and weapons, and they did not use air power to soften Ukraine for several weeks, as the Americans did in 2003. Any claims that the Ukrainians are winning or holding back the Russians is complete fantasy.

This is the current state of play as I perceive it at this time.

Gonzalo Lira
Kiev, Ukraine

https://t.me/realCRP/3338

 

[strunkenwhite]

NATO would not get involved but if Romania, Hungary, and Poland did move to occupy those areas and had an under the table understanding with Russia to not contest those areas and they publicly say they are providing a cordon of security to refugees trying to escape Russia. NATO would not kick them out, there might be harsh words reminding them that Poland made similar mistakes in the Czech crisis with Germany and to be careful.

Actual annexation could hardly avoid creating the exact type of unresolved border dispute that NATO hates. If such a thing happened at all, I would have to imagine it would be under the justification of administering a region of an otherwise defunct Ukraine on its people's behalf. If so, I would further imagine that such administrative regions would be likely to congeal the way I dimly recall the British, American, and French administered portions of Germany did into West Germany.

Makes sense, keep good men out in case nato does something, and you also get live fire training for your less qualified soldiers.

I'd think it's more likely that they want their best troops to be going to the places where there's unexpectedly stiff resistance, which naturally means they're in the reserves or second thrust rather than the first wave.

Also, how much real influence does Obama still have? He was basically the affirmative action preseident IMO.

We should be careful to avoid derailing, but my impressions are:
1. Don't underestimate Obama; whatever "affirmative action" you think got him over the top he is still a highly intelligent and extremely charismatic man.
2. I agree the specific crisis in question is probably one that isn't in his strong suit.
3. That being said, he probably keeps up to date with the intelligence briefings that I believe ex-Presidents are entitled to.
4. He probably has considerable influence on the establishment people in Biden's administration, but not to the point of ordering anyone around.

"Their information so far has been 100% accurate"

100% accurate, you say? In wartime? Contemporaneously reporting facts on the ground as they develop? This is how you know someone is bullshitting.

 

[SchrodingersWehraboo]

Ukrainian men and women surrendered to the russians.

 

[Marduk]

Baryaktar videos are beginning to show up.

 

[SchrodingersWehraboo]

Quite certain I saw nighttime footage of a wrecked vehicle in this exact same arrangement being passed off as Russian near Kharkov. Well, someone's lying.

For clarification, I found the night footage, which turns out to be labeled in the same place. I swear that jagged piece of the hull is pointing up in the same angle.

 

[stephen the barbarian]

you know the old hippy slogan "what happen if you go to war and no-one shows up?"
i think that now we know the answer.

 

[Agent23]

We should be careful to avoid derailing, but my impressions are:
1. Don't underestimate Obama; whatever "affirmative action" you think got him over the top he is still a highly intelligent and extremely charismatic man.

...for a soyboy that fell asleep in the tanning room.

Joke aside, once his nice initial burst of rhetoric wears wears off he looks fake and empty suit.

2. I agree the specific crisis in question is probably one that isn't in his strong suit.
3. That being said, he probably keeps up to date with the intelligence briefings that I believe ex-Presidents are entitled to.
4. He probably has considerable influence on the establishment people in Biden's administration, but not to the point of ordering anyone around.

I think Cammelface is his protege, but that is about it.
In fact the Clintonites probably put her there to discredit his faction and Joe's circle went along because she is assassination/impeachment protection
Obama is what the British IIRC call too clever by half, serial posturer special child with no idea how the world actually works.
Clinton is the one with the political machine built up for decades, whatever Obama might have built is probably a lot more brittle and haphazardly put together.

100% accurate, you say? In wartime? Contemporaneously reporting facts on the ground as they develop? This is how you know someone is bullshitting.

That is a verbatim quote from CRP, you wanna take him up on it - the telegram channel link is there.

However I think that he is referring to the Russian MoD's releases and coverage in the Russian media, contrast that with all of the 'Ghost of Kiev' like nonsense.

Frankly I agree with him that Russia is now playing a long game, what they want is for the Ukrainian government to just spam more and more nonsense at the west and their own people, then use it as a way to discredit them and whoever was dumb enough to retween their nonsense.

 

[strunkenwhite]

That is a verbatim quote from CRP, you wanna take him up on it - the telegram channel link is there.

Oh sure, I don't mean to pin someone else's quote on you—I meant to communicate that with the quotation marks. He is the one I'm saying is bullshitting, for the reasons I gave and alluded to.

 

[ATP]

Well, the USA started all this by supporting a coup, so...

No,Russia started war.And Putin started his career as president with blowing up russian homes,so he could conqer Czecznya.Which he ,after genociding 10% of population or more,gave to his friend Kadyrow who now turned people into little good muslims dreaming about jihad.

That is your problem - you see how western politic suck,so you want hope,and therefore start beliving that KGB orcs are noble elves.Sorry,world is not like that,there is no noble elves left.

And KGBstan is not even efficient - they could conqer Georgia and Ukraine,but China and Turkey would take Siberia and Caucasus anyway.

Last thing - Putin belive,that ukrainian are no nation,only lesser russians,and should join his state.
According to that logic,Turkey have right to conqer Bulgary - they are turkish people,after all.

 

[Agent23]

Oh sure, I don't mean to pin someone else's quote on you—I meant to communicate that with the quotation marks. He is the one I'm saying is bullshitting, for the reasons I gave and alluded to.

He is actually in Ukraine, has been living there for years.
I take his view over yours.

No,Russia started war.

The conflict in Ukraine started after an US-supported coup, then escalated when their pet neonazis burned people alive and started shelling the Donbass.

 

[ATP]

He is actually in Ukraine, has been living there for years.
I take his view over yours.

The conflict in Ukraine started after an US-supported coup, then escalated when their pet neonazis burned people alive and started shelling the Donbass.

According to KGB sources.But,even if it was true -
KGB Russia started blowing up 300 people,invading Czeczenya,killing 100k+ people.Your point? If russians could kill people on their soil,ukrainians could do the same.
And if Russia could take Ukraine becoue they are russians in reality,Turkey could take Bulgary,too.