Russia And The Invasion Of Ukraine

[GreyhoundFan]

Russia invaded Ukraine four months ago. Ukrainians didn't roll over as Putin thought they would. Part of the effect of the invasion is that more countries have sought NATO and EU membership.

 

Continued from here:

 

[EmCatlyn]

As some may remember, Russians occupied Chernobyl (the nuclear power plant) early in the war.  Some of the soldiers did not take reasonable precautions and developed symptoms of radiation before they left. While they were there, the Russians destroyed and damaged as much as they could.

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When Aleksandr Barsukov and his colleagues returned to work at the Chernobyl nuclear plant after the retreat of Moscow’s forces, they found in every office what they described as a parting gift from the Russian soldiers: a pile of human excrement.

WSJ: Russians Ransacked Chernobyl

 

[EmCatlyn]

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.Before the war, [Barabashova market] was the biggest market in Europe and one of the busiest. Some of the few shops that remain open on the abandoned, rubbish-infesten passageway there sell flowers.

“There is no romance left in here, but we have funerals,” said Anastasia, who ran a flower shop of the same name.….   ….

“Who knows for how long this will go on? And we can’t live like this much longer,” said Artyom Belousov, 45, who stayed in Saltivka throughout the war to care for his mother who has dementia.

The fighting in Ukraine has turned into a bloody war of attrition, with both sides making few strategic advances.

Western leaders have started to warn that it might take years before the war winds down. And local officials fear that even if Ukraine manages to push the invading army out of the country, Russia will still be able to fire rockets from the city of Belgorod, just across the border.

Belousov, dragging on a cigarette, said he tried not to think of the difficult months that lay ahead.

“What if the winter comes, and we still don’t have any heating? What will become of us?”

Ukraine-Russian War a Horror Show (The Guardian, June 25, 2022

I am finding this war so painful to hear about that I am not as aghast as I would otherwise have been at the reversal of Roe vs Wade despite being a long-time pro-choice activist.

Nothing that goes wrong in my life seems to compare with the horrible things that are happening in this war. 

[fraurosena]

Soon the title of this thread will need to be "Russia and the invasion of Europe".

 

[47of74]

 

[WiseGirl]

 

[EmCatlyn]

@fraurosena Everything on Russian TV is like that.  They want to invade Europe.  The first place they will nuke is London.  Ukraine is not a real country. Ukraine is full of Nazis.  Some of the worst Nazis are Jews. (Hitler was really a Jew, they say.)  Ukrainians are bombing themselves; it is never Russia bombing them.  The Russians keep liberating the Ukrainian people who are very grateful, except for the Nazis.

And so on.

It is scary because you begin to wonder if Putin and his henchmen actually believe the stuff they say.  

[fraurosena]

This makes me smile.

 

[EmCatlyn]

Possible Trigger Warning

The biggest horror this week has got to be the video (or videos) of Russian soldiers castrating at least one and possibly two Ukrainian POWs. I have not seen (and refuse to see) the video(s) but I have read descriptions which I summarize in the spoiler with a big trigger warning. 
 

Spoiler

One description is of the POW being badly beaten before a full castration with a box cutter. 
Another description is of a POW being castrated, then having his “works” stuffed in his mouth before being tied to a vehicle and dirven around.

It is not clear if they are the same incident (videos taken from different angles and beginning/ending at different spots in the torture) or two different POWs getting castrated.

The first incident description is the one that appears in most mainstream media.

I don’t want to think of it either way.

The source for these videos are Russian Telegram channels. At least one video has been verified. This atrocity should be added to a list that includes beheading prisoners and raping babies (of which the perpetrators also made videos.) 

Links to news coverage (None of them have link to actual video, but some have detailed description, so — be warned.)

Newsweek

Fox News

Ukraine Today.org

What a horrible world we live in.

[EmCatlyn]

 

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On the morning of 29 July, Russian media reported the shelling of the colony in Olenivka, Donetsk Oblast, where Ukrainian prisoners of war are held. Propagandists claimed that at least 53 prisoners were killed. Ukrainska Pravda sources emphasise that the strike against Ukrainians was conducted by Russia.   Ukrainian Pravda

Several news agencies have indicated uncertainty about whether this was a Russian or a Ukrainian strike.  The arguments against it being an accidental shelling by the Ukrainians include that the Ukraine forces knew very well that their prisoners were being held there and that the Ukrainians have precision weapons.  In addition, intercepted phone conversations and videos support that the Russians did it themselves.

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"The conversations intercepted by the SSU confirm that the Ruscists [Russian soldiers] placed their Grad systems near the correctional facility and started firing with them on the territory controlled by Ukraine. However, no shelling was observed in response – this is confirmed by the ‘DPR’ fighters themselves," the Security Service said.

The special service also added that, taking into account the videos available on the network, the windows in some rooms of the colony were completely preserved. This indicates that the epicentre of the explosion was inside the destroyed building, and its walls absorbed the blast waves, saving the neighbouring premises.

Also, a preliminary analysis of the video shows that such traces of the explosion on the walls most likely remained due to the internal source of the explosion. (Ibid.)

It is speculated that in addition to wanting to make the Ukrainians appear guilty of shooting at their own people, the Russians may have wanted to conceal evidence of torture and murder of their POWs.

[fraurosena]

Russia has finally dropped all pretenses about why they invaded Ukraine.
“We shouldn’t be shy about our might or our ambitions.”

 

[EmCatlyn]

5 hours ago, fraurosena said:

Russia has finally dropped all pretenses about why they invaded Ukraine.
“We shouldn’t be shy about our might or our ambitions.”

 

Russia has told so many other lies that when they finally tell the truth you wonder what worse things they are hiding. 😉

Russia is now also talking about what they will invade after they have won in Ukraine.  Since most military analysts don’t think Russia has the ability to take over Ukraine, it seems premature for them to be planning their next campaign.

[Ozlsn]

Interesting thread from a former Russian paratrooper's Facebook.

 

I wish the disaffected Russuan soldiers were able to just refuse.

[Howl]

Holy Frijole!  This his huge. Car bomb kills daughter of ‘spiritual guide’ to Putin’s Ukraine invasion - Russian media

Dugina is a powerful chip off the old block and had been sanctioned by the UK for spreading disinformation, so it's not like she's an innocent bystander on the invasion of Ukraine. 

However, Dugin was the target; the daughter was driving Dugin's Toyota Land Cruiser;  Dugin incidentally drove another car. The bomb was attached to the SUV and was powerful enough to blow the car off the road.

From the CNN article:  Dugina’s father is a Russian author and ideologue, credited with being the architect or “spiritual guide” to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He is purported to have significant influence over Russian President Vladimir Putin and was described as “Putin’s Brain” by Foreign Affairs magazine.

Russia is saying it's a state terrorist act by Ukraine, but the blast happened locally near Moscow so a homegrown protest against the Ukraine invasion? 

I hope Putin and all Putin adjacent are knocking back the Valium to calm their nerves; let he paranoia set in.  These f**ks who have been murdering journalists and whistleblowers with impunity at home and abroad and are brutalizing an entire nation are finding terrorism turned on them. 

 

 

 

[Howl]

Rampant speculation continues.  There is so much political intrigue in Russia that the bombing could have been at Putin's direction, it could have been infighting between oligarchs and mini-oligarchs, it could be a message to Putin, it could be a message from Putin, it could be rogue elements in the KGB or the entity that's in charge of state assassinations. Ukraine itself is way down on the list. 

The epic fail that is the invasion of Ukraine has been hugely destabilizing.  Hugely destabilizing means somebody in a profoundly corrupt country is losing money when prior to the invasion, they were making money. 

Their multi-million dollar yachts are being seized, the 2nd wives, kids, grandkids and mistresses of oligarchs may not be able to vacation and party in their fabulously expensive real estate in countries not Russia. It's so very inconvenient!  Could that be it?  

It must have been a massive bomb. This tweet shows the car still totally engulfed in flames and Dugin on the scene. 

Most responses to this tweet agreed that it's not odd that someone was filming on a cell phone, because that's what people do. There were already many people on the scene, so no need to get out of the car. 

Note that something has been pixelated out at the beginning of the video. 

Edited August 21, 2022 by Howl

[Howl]

From The Guardian, which has not yet confirmed that the attack was carried out by the National Republican Army. 

Ex-Russian MP claims Russian partisans responsible for Moscow car bomb     Speaking in Kyiv, Ilya Ponomarev alleges bomb that killed daughter of Putin ally was work of underground group

<snip>

“This action, like many other partisan actions carried out on the territory of Russia in recent months, was carried out by the National Republican Army (NRA),” Ponomarev said...“A momentous event took place near Moscow last night. This attack opens a new page in Russian resistance to Putinism. New – but not the last.”

...Ponomarev said partisans inside Russia were ready to conduct further similar attacks against high-profile Kremlin-connected targets, including officials, oligarchs and members of Russia’s security agencies.

[Howl]

Just listened to a Sarah Kendzior podcast that addressed the murder of Darya Dugina. Her take is that Darya Dugina was the target, the SUV that was targeted was registered in her name.  She did not mention Russian underground resistance groups like the NRA referenced above, but it did seem to have FSB hallmarks: oops, the security cameras in the parking lot were turned off two weeks ago and *Quelle surprise!* the "crime" was solved immediately and there were propaganda pieces immediately released to Russian media,  blaming it on a woman who immediately fled to Ukrainian with her 12-year-old daughter. 

Dugina and her father, Alexander Dugin, are Russian homeland fanaticals who believe Ukrainians are subhumans who should be exterminated and are very vocal about this in speeches and social media.   Kenzior does not believe that Dugin is "Putin's Brain" and has little direct influence at the Kremlin, although his beliefs do align.

However, Dugin and Dugina are very loud voices calling for a much more forceful Russian involvement in Ukraine and mobilizing more, many more, Russian conscripts to come to the front, which can't have made Putin happy, since his two-day war has dragged on for six months with no end in sight. 

Also, a car bomb is an unwelcome reminder of the waves of car bombs that rocked an unstable Russia in the (I think) 1990s. 

So same.  No one knows exactly why this happened or who ordered it. 

[EmCatlyn]

Looks like the counter-offensive in Kherson is beginning. 🤞

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Ukrainian troops begin counter-offensive in Kherson region, says military command

Ukraine has started a long-awaited counter-offensive in the country’s south, its southern military command has announced, amid reports that Ukrainian troops were able to break through Russian lines in the Kherson region. 

Ukraine’s southern command spokesperson, Natalia Humeniuk, was cited by Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne as saying:

Today we started offensive actions in various directions, including in the Kherson region.

She declined to provide more details about the new offensive but said Ukraine’s recent strikes on Russia’s southern logistical routes had “unquestionably weakened the enemy”.

The Guardian Aug 29

 

[EmCatlyn]

On 8/24/2022 at 7:16 PM, Howl said:

Just listened to a Sarah Kendzior podcast that addressed the murder of Darya Dugina. Her take is that Darya Dugina was the target, the SUV that was targeted was registered in her name.  She did not mention Russian underground resistance groups like the NRA referenced above, but it did seem to have FSB hallmarks: oops, the security cameras in the parking lot were turned off two weeks ago and *Quelle surprise!* the "crime" was solved immediately and there were propaganda pieces immediately released to Russian media,  blaming it on a woman who immediately fled to Ukrainian with her 12-year-old daughter. 

Dugina and her father, Alexander Dugin, are Russian homeland fanaticals who believe Ukrainians are subhumans who should be exterminated and are very vocal about this in speeches and social media.   Kenzior does not believe that Dugin is "Putin's Brain" and has little direct influence at the Kremlin, although his beliefs do align.

However, Dugin and Dugina are very loud voices calling for a much more forceful Russian involvement in Ukraine and mobilizing more, many more, Russian conscripts to come to the front, which can't have made Putin happy, since his two-day war has dragged on for six months with no end in sight. 

Also, a car bomb is an unwelcome reminder of the waves of car bombs that rocked an unstable Russia in the (I think) 1990s. 

So same.  No one knows exactly why this happened or who ordered it. 

Yeah, I have been following this, and the only thing that is reasonable certain is that the woman is dead. (Unless they killed her body double so she could escape to lead an exciting new life in the west.  And that’s pretty far-fetched,)

I am 99.9% sure that Ukraine didn’t do it because they didn’t gain anything from it.  Otherwise, anything goes.

[47of74]

Another exec fell out a window in Russia 

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A senior Russian oil executive has died after falling from the window of a Moscow hospital, months after his company criticised the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ravil Maganov, the chair of the board of directors of Lukoil, Russia’s largest private oil company, “fell from a window at Central clinical hospital”, the Interfax news agency wrote on Thursday, citing a source. “He died from injuries sustained.”

Lukoil said Maganov had “passed away following a severe illness”. The company did not say what Maganov was being treated for.

It was not immediately clear whether his death was an accident, a suicide, or could be tied to foul play. Russian state media agencies citing an unnamed source reported that Maganov had been admitted to the hospital with a heart condition and had been on antidepressants.

Suicide or accident?  Yeah right.  Dry those out you could fertilize several planets. 

Edited September 1, 2022 by 47of74

[47of74]

Oh and some rich douches over in Russia found out the hard way that Vlad the Invader doesn't want any public gatherings not planned by his government

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Vladimir Putin apparently doesn't care for rich Russian citizens displaying their wealth while his country faces economic hardships, even if those hardships are his own doing. Dozens of rich Russians were arrested after gathering their exotic supercars in Moscow for a "rich and successful" rally in the Russian capital, and more than 170 cars were impounded. Porsches, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and Rolls-Royces were among the cars in the rally. Seven of the owners are being jailed for up to 15 days, according to Tass, Russia's state-run news.

In an attempt to crack down on protests and political dissent, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Putin may be implementing a zero-tolerance policy for any public gatherings that aren't specifically planned by the government. According to Putin, public displays of extreme wealth are inappropriate during hard economic times, which is rich coming from the guy who regularly wears watches worth more than the cars he just impounded. Even more ironic is the fact that the harsh economic conditions his citizens are suffering are due to sanctions imposed on Russia by western countries for his invasion of Ukraine.

According to the Mirror, Moscow police's sudden crackdown came as a surprise to the rally's organizer, Alexei Khitrov, who said “at first I thought it was a joke." According to Khitrov, the 28-year-old Russian crypto-millionaire, the rally was supposed to create an elite "atmosphere for networking." As cringeworthy as that sounds, Khitrov's surprise isn't unwarranted. Such displays of wealth were never an issue before but, with reports of heavy Russian military casualties, Putin wants to maintain an image of control over his citizens.

Of course, ostentatious public displays of extreme wealth during bleak economic times are wildly inappropriate when many citizens are struggling to survive. Especially so when many of those citizens are also against the very war that's causing their financial distress. However, the Russian government doesn't really have a moral leg to stand on, either. It's the corrupt punishing the tone-deaf.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

This is a nice video:

 

[WiseGirl]

Suspicious? No never.

"WASHINGTON — A prominent Russian oil executive died Thursday morning after reportedly falling out of a hospital window in Moscow, stoking suspicions of foul play,..."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/russian-executive-lukoil-ravil-maganov-dead-moscow-window-133254698.html

[Xan]

On Twitter they're referring to this as Russian window cancer.

[CTRLZero]

I was just asking myself how many suspicious deaths there have been, and CNN apparently heard me.  Eight deaths in six months.  Here’s the link:

CNN Russian executives dying