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Russia Invades Ukraine

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Notaperson
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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1201

Post by Notaperson »

Well, this is slightly terrifying.

We've all heard about the low morale of Russian soldiers, how they don't want to be in Ukraine and some have refused to fight. And we've viewed these reports as good news. But this Moscow Times article indicates many in the Russian military actually want to ramp up the war effort and feel Putin is holding them back.

Vicious Blame Game Erupts Among Putin’s Security Forces
Russia’s army is deeply unhappy at the new and curtailed strategy Putin has ordered them to adopt in Ukraine, abandoning the big goal of capturing Kyiv for a much more modest objective of invading Donbas in the country’s east.
:snippity:
Last week we began to receive more and more calls and messages from our contacts in the military and in the FSB commenting on... :snippity:

Does this mean that the military or the FSB has concluded that the war, with its enormous casualties and incompetent direction, was a mistake? The short answer is no, quite the opposite.

Russia’s military believes that limiting the war’s initial goals is a serious error. They now argue that Russia is not fighting Ukraine, but NATO. Senior officers have therefore concluded that the Western alliance is fighting all out (through the supply of increasingly sophisticated weaponry) while its own forces operate under peacetime constraints like a bar on airstrikes against some key areas of Ukraine’s infrastructure. In short, the military now demands all-out war, including mobilization.

The frustration is becoming so intense that it has spilled over into the public space.  Alexander Arutyunov (aka, the blogger RAZVEDOS), a well-known veteran of Spetsnaz of the National Guard, made a video plea to Putin: "Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, please decide, are we fighting a war or are we masturbating?"
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/04/ ... ces-a77508
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Sam the Centipede
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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1202

Post by Sam the Centipede »

More delusional reasoning from Russian fascists: the reason our army is unsuccessful against the much smaller Ukrainian forces can't be because it's a shitty army with shitty soldiers with shitty equipment following shitty orders from shitty officers obeying a shitty dictator, it must be because there's a secret NATO army hiding behind the bushes.

They want Russia to be great, they believe Russia to be great, but Russia is a gigantic failure - but because it's gigantic it can mask its failure. The country produces very little that anybody outside wishes to buy other than raw materials or things like ships at knock-down prices. It's a third world economy dressing itself up in first world clothes.

It's a bully that thinks it can gain respect through bullying. That might produce fear, it never produces affection or trust.

I'd be happy for anybody with better knowledge to correct my cynical view. I enjoyed my few weeks working in Russia and with Russians, but I think they have a huge identity problem: being a big country does not make your country better than others, only bigger.
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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1203

Post by Gregg »

Its only a matter of time before ambitious commanders, newly promoted to positions, start proposing Russia make "limited scale" attacks on the source of Ukrainian aid in Poland. They'll make some kind of case that NATO would not dare respond to a small bombing of an equipment marshalling area just over the border and what a glorious victory it will be for Mother Russia (and them) if they can show those Western meddlers not to interfere in their Special Military Operation.

Just a matter of time.

If it happens NATO has to respond immediately and with what can only be described as a shocking counter attack. Swing a huge field army in from the North down to cut off Russian forces in Ukraine and destroy them, while also being prepared to pivot and move into Russia if need be.

So yes, terrifying.
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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1204

Post by Slim Cognito »

"Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, please decide, are we fighting a war or are we masturbating?"
I thought they weren’t calling it a war but some sort of military blah blah blah.
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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1205

Post by Volkonski »

“If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1206

Post by Kriselda Gray »

Off Topic
Volkonski wrote: Wed Apr 27, 2022 9:49 am Germany preparing for change of control at Rosneft refinery -minister
Germany is preparing for a change of control at the PCK refinery in Schwedt

Is that where Schweddy Balls are from?
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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1207

Post by Volkonski »

“If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1208

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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1209

Post by Volkonski »



Need stronger sanctions.
“If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1210

Post by Gregg »

Need to have a quick plan to supply Europe with gas and oil from somewhere else.
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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1211

Post by Volkonski »

Gregg wrote: Thu Apr 28, 2022 3:37 am Need to have a quick plan to supply Europe with gas and oil from somewhere else.
Happily Europe has port facilities that can handle large quantities of LNG and crude oil imports. USA and others can provide LNG.

A bigger problem may be providing grain to Middle East if Russia follows thru with threat to reduce exports.
“If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1212

Post by Volkonski »

“If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1213

Post by Gregg »

The rest of the backdrop looks like they might be a little obsessed with him.
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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1214

Post by Volkonski »

Gregg wrote: Fri Apr 29, 2022 5:03 pm The rest of the backdrop looks like they might be a little obsessed with him.
They all secretly admire and love him.
“If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1215

Post by Volkonski »

“If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1216

Post by much ado »

Response to above tweet on Twitter:
I am the very model of a Russian Major General
My standing in the battlefield is growing quite untenable
My forces, though equipped and given orders unequivocal
Did not expect the fight to be remotely this reciprocal

I used to have a tank brigade but now I have lost several
My fresh assaults are faltering with battleplans extemporal
I can't recover vehicles but farmers in a tractor can
It's all becoming rather reminiscent of Afghanistan

My ordnance is the best but only half my missiles make it there
I would have thought by now that we would be controllers of the air
But at the rate the snipers work my time here is ephemeral
I am the very model of a Russian Major Ge...
:clap:

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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1217

Post by Suranis »

The last line should be "I am the very model of a Russian Major Ge"
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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1218

Post by Slim Cognito »

Bravo. :clap: :clap: :clap:

Always been a big fan of that little ditty, since I saw Gilda Radner sing it with a giant carrot on The Muppet Show.
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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1219

Post by much ado »

Suranis wrote: Sat Apr 30, 2022 5:43 pm The last line should be "I am the very model of a Russian Major Ge"
Good idea. Change made.
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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1220

Post by Volkonski »



Trump's idea of a negotiated settlement is for Ukraine to surrender to Putin. :mad: :mad: :mad:
“If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1221

Post by MN-Skeptic »

Farm equipment has gotten very expensive and very sophisticated, so I loved this story. By the way, it's John Deere equipment that was stolen.

Russians plunder $5M farm vehicles from Ukraine -- to find they've been remotely disabled
Russian troops in the occupied city of Melitopol have stolen all the equipment from a farm equipment dealership -- and shipped it to Chechnya, according to a Ukrainian businessman in the area.

But after a journey of more than 700 miles, the thieves were unable to use any of the equipment -- because it had been locked remotely.

Over the past few weeks there's been a growing number of reports of Russian troops stealing farm equipment, grain and even building materials - beyond widespread looting of residences. But the removal of valuable agricultural equipment from a John Deere dealership in Melitopol speaks to an increasingly organized operation, one that even uses Russian military transport as part of the heist.

CNN has learned that the equipment was removed from an Agrotek dealership in Melitopol, which has been occupied by Russian forces since early March. Altogether it's valued at nearly $5 million. The combine harvesters alone are worth $300,000 each.
Some of the machinery was taken to a nearby village, but some of it embarked on a long overland journey to Chechnya more than 700 miles away. The sophistication of the machinery, which are equipped with GPS, meant that its travel could be tracked. It was last tracked to the village of Zakhan Yurt in Chechnya.

The equipment ferried to Chechnya, which included combine harvesters -- can also be controlled remotely. "When the invaders drove the stolen harvesters to Chechnya, they realized that they could not even turn them on, because the harvesters were locked remotely," the contact said.

The equipment now appears to be languishing at a farm near Grozny. But the contact said that "it seems that the hijackers have found consultants in Russia who are trying to bypass the protection."

"Even if they sell harvesters for spare parts, they will earn some money," the contact said.
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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1222

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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1223

Post by Suranis »

https://www.snopes.com/ap/2022/05/03/po ... hear-back/
AP News
World News
Pope Offers to Meet Putin, Still Waiting to Hear Back
Pope Francis told an Italian newspaper he had offered to travel to Moscow to meet with President Vladimir Putin to try to end Russia's war in Ukraine.

Associated Press

Published 3 May 2022

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis told an Italian newspaper he had offered to travel to Moscow to meet with President Vladimir Putin to try to end Russia’s war in Ukraine and suggested the invasion might have been provoked by NATO’s eastward expansion.

Francis said he made the offer about three weeks into Russia’s invasion, via the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, but has yet to hear back.

Francis’ lengthy interview with Corriere della Sera newspaper underscored the Vatican’s complicated policy on Ukraine, where it is caught between denouncing the atrocities while not alienating Russia and its Orthodox Church.

Popes for decades have sought to visit Moscow as part of the longstanding effort to heal relations with the Russian Orthodox Church, which split with Rome more than 1,000 years ago. But an invitation has never been forthcoming.

“Of course, it would be necessary for the leader of the Kremlin to make available some window of opportunity. But we still have not had a response and we are still pushing, even if I fear that Putin cannot and does not want to have this meeting at this moment,” Francis was quoted as saying by Corriere della Sera.

Francis recalled that he spoke in March with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, for 40 minutes by videoconference and for the first half “with paper in hand, he read all of the justifications for the war.”

“I listened and told him: ‘I don’t understand any of this. Brother, we are not clerics of the state, we cannot use language of politics, but that of Jesus. For this we need to find the paths of peace, to stop the firing of arms.’”

He added that Kirill “cannot turn into Putin’s altar boy,” a dismissive term used by a top U.S. Ukrainian Greek Catholic archbishop.

Francis has frequently denounced the weapons industry and the announced increases in defense spending by the West in recent weeks. But he has also defended the right of Ukrainians to protect their territory from the Russian invasion, in line with Catholic social doctrine. He told Corriere he felt he was too removed to judge the morality of resupplying the Ukrainian armed forces from the West.

But he also said he was trying to understand why Russia had reacted as it had. Maybe “this barking of NATO at Russia’s door” had prompted it, he was quoted as saying, “An anger that I don’t know if you can say was provoked, but maybe facilitated.”

Francis has given a handful of interviews of late to friendly media emphasizing his call for an end to the war and initiatives to provide humanitarian relief to Ukrainians. He has defended his decision to not call out Putin or Russia publicly, saying popes don’t do so. But he freely named Putin in his remarks to Corriere, and seemed to equate the carnage in Ukraine with the genocide in Rwanda a quarter-century ago.

“Such brutality, how can you not try to to stop it? Twenty-five years ago in Rwanda we saw the same thing,” he was quoted as saying.

Associated Press

Published 3 May 2022
Not a hope Putin would meet him, and if Putin did there is not a hope that Putin would listen to him, but the attempt is worth trying anyway.
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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1224

Post by raison de arizona »

military targets?
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Re: Russia Invades Ukraine

#1225

Post by John Thomas8 »

Interesting observation of major unit movements:

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