War

Fogdog

Well-Known Member
similiar.....he one report from the Security Service from a Russian soldier....and what he said:

we were told Zelensky has already capitulated and we need just to drive to Kyiv"


needless to say that wasn't true at all
Reminiscent of Trump saying:

we’re going to walk down to the Capitol

And then going inside to sit on a couch at a party to watch the fireworks he set off.
 

BudmanTX

Well-Known Member
Sounds like Putin was in a bubble and misjudged just about everything.

I'm trying to find hope.

Perhaps its the last invasion of this kind? Maybe it will end of this discussion about how the US provoked Russia because we didn't honor their 19th century power politics enforced by tanks and guns? 21st century style politics that rely on cooperation, trade, technology and communication seem pretty effective. Also doesn't level cities.
there is always hope, at least in my view.....
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
Sounds like Putin was in a bubble and misjudged just about everything.

I'm trying to find hope.

Perhaps its the last invasion of this kind? Maybe it will end of this discussion about how the US provoked Russia because we didn't honor their 19th century power politics enforced by tanks and guns? 21st century style politics that rely on cooperation, trade, technology and communication seem pretty effective. Also doesn't level cities.
Being open to the west for 30 years and technology have poisoned the minds of the motherland's youth! Everybody of military age gets their news online and old people get it from state TV, but their pensions will soon be worthless as inflation takes hold. Everybody knows who to blame and they call it Putin's war, well Putin's war is gonna become Putin's economic nightmare for the average Russian. BTW government employees (cops) and soldiers are gonna be particularly hard hit...
 
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printer

Well-Known Member
A top Russian official appeared to threaten France with 'real war' after the French finance minister said Western sanctions would 'cause the collapse of the Russian economy'
In an interview with French radio on Tuesday morning, Bruno Le Maire said the West aimed to "cause the collapse of the Russian economy" through an "economic and financial war on Russia," for which the Russian population "will also pay the consequences."

Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's former prime minister and now deputy chairman of its security council, was quick to respond on Twitter.

He said: "A French minister said today that they have declared an economic war on us. Watch what you say, gentlemen! And don't forget that in the history of mankind, economic wars have often turned into real wars."

Western nations including France have imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia, targeting everything from its central bank and leading financial institutions to President Vladimir Putin himself.

The sanctions seem to have already disrupted the Russian economy. On Monday, the value of the ruble crashed by as much as 30% against the US dollar, forcing Russia's central bank to more than double its base interest rate to 20%. Meanwhile, Russians were pictured at ATMs trying to withdraw foreign currency.

On Monday, the US rolled out sanctions intended to prevent Putin from accessing a $630 billion foreign-exchange "war chest" he could use to prop up Russia's battered economy. The move followed analogous sanctions from the European Union and the UK.
 

printer

Well-Known Member
Putin ally repeats call for Russia to use more brutal tactics in Ukraine, admits some of his own troops were killed
Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of Russia's Chechen Republic and a staunch supporter of President Vladimir Putin, said in a Telegram post early Tuesday that two of his Chechen fighters had been killed and six were injured.

Other reports suggest far bigger losses among Kadyrov's forces. The Kyiv Independent, citing the Ukrainian side, reported that a whole column of Chechen armor had been destroyed.

Christo Groze, the executive director of the investigative collective Bellingcat, posted video of burned-out vehicles apparently belonging to the Chechens, which he said were destroyed in a drone attack with many casualties.

Kadyrov's post was ostensibly addressed to Ukrainians, calling on them to fight for Russia against what he called a "tactic of imaginary integration with the West" — a likely reference to the overtures President Volodymyr Zelensky has made towards joining the Ukraine to the EU.

But it also held a message seemingly aimed at Putin, advocating a new strategy in Russia's advance.

"I believe that a new order is needed, without further ado," he wrote.

"It is necessary to move on to large-scale measures to destroy the Nazis and terrorists, to liberate the cities," he continued, echoing the inaccurate Russian characterization of its invasion as a liberation from Nazis.

His posting about deaths, however few, is a notable admission for the authoritarian leader. His forces have been deployed in many of Putin's special operations and have built a fearsome reputation that observers say is often used as propaganda, according to Foreign Policy magazine.
 

captainmorgan

Well-Known Member
I knew India's leader was a bit of a extremist but India forming a alliance with China,Russia and Pakistan was never a thought, hell India has been having border disputes with China for years,some of them violent. It's not that they are some military threat to anyone besides the countries on their borders, they recently bought a bunch of russian jets that India says are so bad they call them flying coffins. India and Pakistan must be worried about being able to feed their population so they want the russian grain.


 
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printer

Well-Known Member
Ukraine: UK could be forced into war with Russia, warns ex-army chief
The UK could be forced into making a decision later this week that would effectively see it at war with Russia, a former British army chief has warned.

General Sir Richard Barrons, ex-commander of the UK’s Strategic Command, said the tide of public opinion, appalled at what is happening in Ukraine, could sway the government into backing more decisive measures if frustrated Russian commanders resort to more devastating tactics.

On Tuesday, it emerged a huge Russian armoured column was bearing down on Kyiv. That followed the lethal shelling of civilian areas in Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv.

The shelling of Kharkiv's city centre intensified accusations of war crimes aimed at Putin.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has called on the West to impose a no-fly zone over his country to protect his citizens from Russian bombs.
The US government said such a move would draw it into a direct conflict with Russia.

“It would essentially mean the US military would be shooting down planes - Russian planes,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki, adding it would "potentially be war with Russia, which is something we are not planning to be a part of."

The UK has also ruled out a no-fly zone with Boris Johnson instead arguing that Britain must continue with “tightening the economic noose” around the Putin regime and providing further defensive support to Kyiv.

However, asked on BBC’s Newsnight programme on Monday about the potential enforcement of a no-fly zone, Sir Richard said: “The choice I think we’re going to have to make, if the Russian military doesn’t hold back, is we can either watch the slaughter of tens of thousands of Ukrainian citizens, or we’re going to have to find ways to do something about it that are more urgent and decisive than sanctions.

“I think this pressure will come, this debate will come this week if the Russian army unleashes its firepower on the civilian population.”

He added: “It does mean war with Russia [but]... we might assert that this is war with Russia in Ukraine only.

On Tuesday, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Russian president Vladimir Putin’s forces had made “little progress” in their attempt to advance upon Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.

A massive convoy of Russian forces, about 40 miles long, is advancing on Kyiv, satellite images have shown.

Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday that 70 of its soldiers were killed in a Russian artillery strike overnight in the north eastern city of Okhtyrka.

Sir Richard said: “By Wednesday, Russian heavy artillery will be around these Ukrainian cities, and they may be firing indiscriminately and destroying large chunks of a city and killing civilians.

“One of the issues for about Thursday or Friday of this week is how does public opinion in the UK and other countries react to seeing people who look and live like us being slaughtered.

“At that stage, I think there’ll be a different conversation led by public opinion about the application of Nato military, power perhaps through the sky and definitely against heavy weapons.”

Nearly a week since Moscow launched the war on its neighbour it has failed to capture a single major Ukrainian city after running into unexpectedly fierce resistance.

Western countries fear that Russian commanders could now unleash the tactics they employed in Syria and Chechnya in recent decades, when they pulverised civilian areas, killing thousands, as they sent in their tanks.

US satellite company Maxar released pictures showing tanks and fuel trucks snaking along a highway from the north, bearing down on Kyiv along 40 miles (60 km) of highway.

"For the enemy, Kyiv is the key target," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has remained in the capital rallying Ukrainians with regular video updates, said in his latest message overnight. "We did not let them break the defence of the capital, and they send saboteurs to us ... We will neutralise them all.

On Monday, Amnesty International condemned Russia’s reported use of cluster munitions in Ukraine, saying an attack on a pre-school “may constitute a war crime”.

The human rights charity said “a 220mm Uragan rocket dropped cluster munitions on the Sonechko nursery and kindergarten in the town of Okhtyrka in Sumy Oblast” on Friday.

It added: “The strike may constitute a war crime.”
 

printer

Well-Known Member
Russia-Ukraine war: Syrian rebels seek passage to Europe for revenge against Putin
Foreign fighters from various countries have begun making their way to Ukraine in response to Kyiv’s call for help fighting the Russian invasion – but for Syrian rebels seeking passage to eastern Europe, the battle is intensely personal.

Several Syrian fighters in northern Syria and Turkey told Middle East Eye they were trying to travel and take up arms against Russia.

ince 2015, Moscow has been waging war in Syria on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad, and while Russian warplanes stage occasional air strikes, the front between opposition-held and Damascus-controlled territory has cooled in recent years.

The opportunity to take revenge on Russia elsewhere has been too good to miss for some rebels. Particularly, some say, as foreign-brokered ceasefire agreements have restricted them from launching attacks on Russian forces in Syria.

So far, the most prominent rebel to announce his intention to fight for Ukraine is Suheil Hammoud, a man commonly known by his honorific nickname Abu TOW, a nod to his prolific record using anti-tank missiles.

Hammoud has reportedly destroyed 145 targets using TOW missiles, including modern Russian tanks. But his biggest scalps were two Russian MiG-23 fighter jets, which he says he hit at Aleppo military airport.

“I am in touch with several sides to get out of Syria and reach Ukraine, to confront Russian forces along with my Ukrainian brothers,” Hammoud told MEE from Syria’s northwestern opposition enclave of Idlib.

“I am trying to go in person in any way. I don't plan on going with my entire team, for their safety.”

Russia massed nearly 200,000 troops on Ukraine’s border before beginning its attack on Thursday. It is believed more than a third of those forces are now in Ukraine.

The Ukrainians have defended well so far. During the first 24 hours of the invasion, the Russian army incurred more losses than during the eight years in the Syrian war, according to the Economist. But already Russian bombing is become fiercer and more indiscriminate.

“It's definitely a tough and fierce battle, yet I'm ready to fight until the last Russian soldier in Ukraine, or until the fighting returns in Syria,” Hammoud said.

Alaa Qatarmez was a sergeant in the Syrian army until 2012, when he defected to the opposition. He told MEE that he too plans to go to Ukraine.


“I left the rebels two years ago and now work as a vendor in Idlib because of the lack of battles,” said Qatarmez, using a pseudonym for security reasons.

“We have innocent civilians, including children, who were killed by the attacks of Russian forces, so Russia must be fought anywhere in the world.”

Like many other rebels and former fighters, Qatarmez has sought help travelling to Ukraine on Facebook groups.

“I'm trying to get in touch with a Ukrainian embassy to go, or at least fighters there. I'd like to give them some of the experience we got during the war,” he said.

“We have old vengeance against Russia, which history cannot erase. I eagerly await the day when Russia will collapse.”

“There are hundreds of fighters who would like to go to Ukraine, but it is up to our Turkish ally. Will it open the borders?” Abu Amin, who monitors Russian and Syrian warplanes under the name Observatory 80, told MEE.

“There are young men who may go as volunteers because it is a great opportunity to take revenge on the Russian forces when they cannot launch an attack here.”

Perhaps, he suggests wishfully, a Russian defeat in Ukraine could also turn the tables in Syria.

“If the Russian forces in Ukraine are defeated, they will withdraw from Syria, and this means that the rebels will reach Assad's palace within weeks, ending the suffering of the Syrians forever,” Abu Amin said.
 

printer

Well-Known Member
Russia-Ukraine war: Moscow 'using same banned cluster munitions as in Syria'
Human Rights Watch says 9M79-series Tochka ballistic missile with a 9N123 cluster munition warhead found in both Donetsk and Idlib
On Monday, the New York-based group said that a Russian ballistic missile carrying cluster munitions landed outside a hospital in the Donetsk region, killing four civilians and wounding 10 others, including six healthcare workers. It was an 9M79-series Tochka ballistic missile with a 9N123 cluster munition warhead, HRW said.

The munitions are banned under the 2008 international treaty, which neither Russia nor Ukraine has signed.

HRW said the 110 states that have joined the treaty should condemn the attack and the use of such weapons.

"This callous attack has killed and injured civilians, and damaged a hospital," said Steve Goose, HRW's arms director. "Russian forces should stop using cluster munitions and end unlawful attacks with weapons that indiscriminately kill and maim."

The incident reportedly happened on 24 February, shortly after Russia's President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine.

Cluster munitions are known for their indiscriminate damage and high fatality rates in civilian areas. The type used in Ukraine and Syria explode mid-air, spreading dozens of small bomblets over an area the size of a football pitch, according to HRW. In case of explosion failure, hundreds of bomblets end up in the ground, acting like a minefield.

Natalia Sosyura, the chief doctor of the Central City Hospital in Vuhledar, a town in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, told HRW: "I was on the first floor of our two-storey building. I heard a loud explosion outside, we ran into the hallway. Luckily, we didn't have many patients. It was around 10:30 in the morning. We all fell to the floor."

HRW said it had documented using the same type of cluster munition in an attack by Russian and Syrian forces on Sarmin, Idlib governorate, in January 2020.

"All states party to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions should unequivocally condemn this attack and any other use of his horrid weapon," Goose said. "The risks to civilians are intolerably high."

Last week, HRW chief Kenneth Roth cautioned that Russia's "war crimes strategy" in Syria could be repeated in Ukraine, following Moscow's recognition of two self-proclaimed republics, Luhansk and Donetsk.
 

0potato0

Well-Known Member
Russia-Ukraine war: Moscow 'using same banned cluster munitions as in Syria'
Human Rights Watch says 9M79-series Tochka ballistic missile with a 9N123 cluster munition warhead found in both Donetsk and Idlib
On Monday, the New York-based group said that a Russian ballistic missile carrying cluster munitions landed outside a hospital in the Donetsk region, killing four civilians and wounding 10 others, including six healthcare workers. It was an 9M79-series Tochka ballistic missile with a 9N123 cluster munition warhead, HRW said.

The munitions are banned under the 2008 international treaty, which neither Russia nor Ukraine has signed.

HRW said the 110 states that have joined the treaty should condemn the attack and the use of such weapons.

"This callous attack has killed and injured civilians, and damaged a hospital," said Steve Goose, HRW's arms director. "Russian forces should stop using cluster munitions and end unlawful attacks with weapons that indiscriminately kill and maim."

The incident reportedly happened on 24 February, shortly after Russia's President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine.

Cluster munitions are known for their indiscriminate damage and high fatality rates in civilian areas. The type used in Ukraine and Syria explode mid-air, spreading dozens of small bomblets over an area the size of a football pitch, according to HRW. In case of explosion failure, hundreds of bomblets end up in the ground, acting like a minefield.

Natalia Sosyura, the chief doctor of the Central City Hospital in Vuhledar, a town in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, told HRW: "I was on the first floor of our two-storey building. I heard a loud explosion outside, we ran into the hallway. Luckily, we didn't have many patients. It was around 10:30 in the morning. We all fell to the floor."

HRW said it had documented using the same type of cluster munition in an attack by Russian and Syrian forces on Sarmin, Idlib governorate, in January 2020.

"All states party to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions should unequivocally condemn this attack and any other use of his horrid weapon," Goose said. "The risks to civilians are intolerably high."

Last week, HRW chief Kenneth Roth cautioned that Russia's "war crimes strategy" in Syria could be repeated in Ukraine, following Moscow's recognition of two self-proclaimed republics, Luhansk and Donetsk.
USA never signed that treaty
 

printer

Well-Known Member
US, allies to release 60 million barrels of oil from reserves
The U.S. and its allies will release 60 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves as the Russian invasion of Ukraine sends shockwaves through the energy market.

That will include 30 million barrels from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki and the Department of Energy. The rest will come from the remaining 30 countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

“Today’s announcement is another example of partners around the world condemning Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine and working together to address the impact of President Putin’s war of choice,” Psaki said. “President Biden was clear from the beginning that all tools are on the table to protect American businesses and consumers, including from rising prices at the pump.”

In a separate announcement, the IEA backed international sanctions against Russia and said it made the decision to release oil from its reserves amid volatile oil prices and an eight-year low for commercial inventories, as well as constraints on producers that prevent making up the supply shortfall in the near term.

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol presented the release as an extension of international cooperation in opposition to the invasion.

“I am pleased that the IEA has also come together today to take action. The situation in energy markets is very serious and demands our full attention,” Birol said. “Global energy security is under threat, putting the world economy at risk during a fragile stage of the recovery.”

Russia is the world’s largest oil exporter, exporting some 5 million barrels of crude per day. About 60 percent of exports are to Europe, with another 20 percent to China. The IEA’s secretariat is set to release guidance on Thursday for European nations on how to reduce dependence on Russian energy over the course of the year, according to the organization.

The announcement comes days after Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) sent a letter urging President Biden to take the step, noting the invasion’s impact on domestic gas prices.

"Hardworking families cannot continue to bear the economic hardship of high gas prices while paying for more expensive groceries and medicine. Even before the crisis in Ukraine, Arizona families struggled with costs at the pump," Kelly wrote.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
Ukraine: UK could be forced into war with Russia, warns ex-army chief
The UK could be forced into making a decision later this week that would effectively see it at war with Russia, a former British army chief has warned.

General Sir Richard Barrons, ex-commander of the UK’s Strategic Command, said the tide of public opinion, appalled at what is happening in Ukraine, could sway the government into backing more decisive measures if frustrated Russian commanders resort to more devastating tactics.

On Tuesday, it emerged a huge Russian armoured column was bearing down on Kyiv. That followed the lethal shelling of civilian areas in Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv.

The shelling of Kharkiv's city centre intensified accusations of war crimes aimed at Putin.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has called on the West to impose a no-fly zone over his country to protect his citizens from Russian bombs.
The US government said such a move would draw it into a direct conflict with Russia.

“It would essentially mean the US military would be shooting down planes - Russian planes,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki, adding it would "potentially be war with Russia, which is something we are not planning to be a part of."

The UK has also ruled out a no-fly zone with Boris Johnson instead arguing that Britain must continue with “tightening the economic noose” around the Putin regime and providing further defensive support to Kyiv.

However, asked on BBC’s Newsnight programme on Monday about the potential enforcement of a no-fly zone, Sir Richard said: “The choice I think we’re going to have to make, if the Russian military doesn’t hold back, is we can either watch the slaughter of tens of thousands of Ukrainian citizens, or we’re going to have to find ways to do something about it that are more urgent and decisive than sanctions.

“I think this pressure will come, this debate will come this week if the Russian army unleashes its firepower on the civilian population.”

He added: “It does mean war with Russia [but]... we might assert that this is war with Russia in Ukraine only.

On Tuesday, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Russian president Vladimir Putin’s forces had made “little progress” in their attempt to advance upon Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.

A massive convoy of Russian forces, about 40 miles long, is advancing on Kyiv, satellite images have shown.

Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday that 70 of its soldiers were killed in a Russian artillery strike overnight in the north eastern city of Okhtyrka.

Sir Richard said: “By Wednesday, Russian heavy artillery will be around these Ukrainian cities, and they may be firing indiscriminately and destroying large chunks of a city and killing civilians.

“One of the issues for about Thursday or Friday of this week is how does public opinion in the UK and other countries react to seeing people who look and live like us being slaughtered.

“At that stage, I think there’ll be a different conversation led by public opinion about the application of Nato military, power perhaps through the sky and definitely against heavy weapons.”

Nearly a week since Moscow launched the war on its neighbour it has failed to capture a single major Ukrainian city after running into unexpectedly fierce resistance.

Western countries fear that Russian commanders could now unleash the tactics they employed in Syria and Chechnya in recent decades, when they pulverised civilian areas, killing thousands, as they sent in their tanks.

US satellite company Maxar released pictures showing tanks and fuel trucks snaking along a highway from the north, bearing down on Kyiv along 40 miles (60 km) of highway.

"For the enemy, Kyiv is the key target," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has remained in the capital rallying Ukrainians with regular video updates, said in his latest message overnight. "We did not let them break the defence of the capital, and they send saboteurs to us ... We will neutralise them all.

On Monday, Amnesty International condemned Russia’s reported use of cluster munitions in Ukraine, saying an attack on a pre-school “may constitute a war crime”.

The human rights charity said “a 220mm Uragan rocket dropped cluster munitions on the Sonechko nursery and kindergarten in the town of Okhtyrka in Sumy Oblast” on Friday.

It added: “The strike may constitute a war crime.”
Imagine the trade deals they could get while Ukraine awaits EU membership, if they intervened. The way the Russians have been performing a few UK brigades would cause havoc and strung out columns on the roads would be destroyed. If Vlad nuked the UK it would be the end of him and Russia, America doesn't call all the shots.
 

Fogdog

Well-Known Member
I knew India's leader was a bit of a extremist but India forming a alliance with China,Russia and Pakistan was never a thought, hell India has been having border disputes with China for years,some of them violent. It's not that they are some military threat to anyone besides the countries on their borders, they recently bought a bunch of russian jets that India says are so bad they call them flying coffins. India and Pakistan must be worried about being able to feed their population so they want the russian grain.


This isn't surprising to people following the rise of fascism around the world. India has been creeping into fascism for some time now.

First they silenced the press


Then they scapegoated and suppressed minorities


Then their furhrer tightens his grip on power:
India’s Narendra Modi wins 3rd term, setting stage for possible prime minister bid




Brazil is just a little behind India in its own creep toward fascism. Guess how they reacted to Russia's invasion.


Same with Israel but I think you knew that already.
 
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