What's going on in Ukraine?

[Hellraiser]

For all the chat about Putins health he looked perfectly fine at the commemoration day thingy the other day

Are you kidding? He's got a bad case of steroid bloat/moonface. He's definitely not a well man.

[Hellraiser]

[Rinkals]

Well, the sooner he pops off, the better.

What can be done to rescue the last fighters in Mariupol? Or is it a lost cause?

Can't they hammer the Russians positions with the new artillery?

[Hellraiser]

[Camroc2]

Well, the sooner he pops off, the better.

What can be done to rescue the last fighters in Mariupol? Or is it a lost cause?

Can't they hammer the Russians positions with the new artillery?

The minute they went down the tunnels, they knew they were making a "blood sacrifice". They were worried about getting the civilians out, and now appear to have done so. Any victory that Putin now announces in Mariupol will be the very definition of pyrrhic, as Ukraine has started the counter offensive. Whatever their origins, there'll be statues and memorials to these guys in a free Ukraine.

[bogbunny]

Well, the sooner he pops off, the better.

What can be done to rescue the last fighters in Mariupol? Or is it a lost cause?

Can't they hammer the Russians positions with the new artillery?

The minute they went down the tunnels, they knew they were making a "blood sacrifice". They were worried about getting the civilians out, and now appear to have done so. Any victory that Putin now announces in Mariupol will be the very definition of pyrrhic, as Ukraine has started the counter offensive. Whatever their origins, there'll be statues and memorials to these guys in a free Ukraine.

TBH a lot of the free world will remember them. Nothing like it in the last 70 odd years, certainly that has got widespread coverage. The video of that young female soldier signing in the ruins and facing likely death, or worse, is totally moving.

F Putin, F Russia

[Hellraiser]

[Hellraiser]

[fishfoodie]

Well, the sooner he pops off, the better.

What can be done to rescue the last fighters in Mariupol? Or is it a lost cause?

Can't they hammer the Russians positions with the new artillery?

The minute they went down the tunnels, they knew they were making a "blood sacrifice". They were worried about getting the civilians out, and now appear to have done so. Any victory that Putin now announces in Mariupol will be the very definition of pyrrhic, as Ukraine has started the counter offensive. Whatever their origins, there'll be statues and memorials to these guys in a free Ukraine.

TBH a lot of the free world will remember them. Nothing like it in the last 70 odd years, certainly that has got widespread coverage. The video of that young female soldier signing in the ruins and facing likely death, or worse, is totally moving.

F Putin, F Russia

The only vaguely possible alternative, was that Ukraine was/is able to get enough Russian hostages or assets, & says to Putin, that they'll trade them for Mariupol defenders.

But that would rely upon Putin putting any value on human life, & that's a losing position.

[Hellraiser]

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgr ... ide-may-11

[Hellraiser]

[Hellraiser]

[fishfoodie]

Story mirrors a lot of the other ones, the, "Start Up", versus the, "Multinational".

The Multinational has a hundred tiers of management between the operator & the decision, & the Start Up just says to the operator to, "get it done", & watch the costs.

The Russian armed forces never ditched the USSR's structure, just stacked more layers on top, while the Ukrainians had no choice but to disperse command after 2014, & they're reaping the benefits this time around.

[Hellraiser]

[Hellraiser]

[Hellraiser]

[Hellraiser]

[Niegs]

I thought some separatists or maybe the Chechens were wearing green tape?

[Hellraiser]

I thought some separatists or maybe the Chechens were wearing green tape?

No, Ukrainians. They've been switching colours in different areas due to infiltrators. Still yellow in the West/South West where there is no Russian presence, blue/green in Central Ukraine and green in the East.

[Hellraiser]

[Hellraiser]

[Rinkals]

Well, the sooner he pops off, the better.

What can be done to rescue the last fighters in Mariupol? Or is it a lost cause?

Can't they hammer the Russians positions with the new artillery?

The minute they went down the tunnels, they knew they were making a "blood sacrifice". They were worried about getting the civilians out, and now appear to have done so. Any victory that Putin now announces in Mariupol will be the very definition of pyrrhic, as Ukraine has started the counter offensive. Whatever their origins, there'll be statues and memorials to these guys in a free Ukraine.

I'm sure that will be a great comfort to them.

Frankly, if I were holed up and under constant bombardment, I'd want to know that the enemy weren't shelling me in comfort with their feet up, having tea and biscuits while they reload their munitions.

We hear of advances being made around Kharkiv; are the Russian positions around an in Mariopul so well defended that they are impervious to attack?

[TB63]

[Biffer]

Well, the sooner he pops off, the better.

What can be done to rescue the last fighters in Mariupol? Or is it a lost cause?

Can't they hammer the Russians positions with the new artillery?

The minute they went down the tunnels, they knew they were making a "blood sacrifice". They were worried about getting the civilians out, and now appear to have done so. Any victory that Putin now announces in Mariupol will be the very definition of pyrrhic, as Ukraine has started the counter offensive. Whatever their origins, there'll be statues and memorials to these guys in a free Ukraine.

I'm sure that will be a great comfort to them.

Frankly, if I were holed up and under constant bombardment, I'd want to know that the enemy weren't shelling me in comfort with their feet up, having tea and biscuits while they reload their munitions.

We hear of advances being made around Kharkiv; are the Russian positions around an in Mariopul so well defended that they are impervious to attack?

Kharkiv is the priority as it makes Russian logistics more difficult by cutting off the train line from Russia, making their resupply go a lot further east.

[Blake]

Story mirrors a lot of the other ones, the, "Start Up", versus the, "Multinational".

The Multinational has a hundred tiers of management between the operator & the decision, & the Start Up just says to the operator to, "get it done", & watch the costs.

The Russian armed forces never ditched the USSR's structure, just stacked more layers on top, while the Ukrainians had no choice but to disperse command after 2014, & they're reaping the benefits this time around.

It’s exactly that and a fascinating case study.

[Hellraiser]

[Hellraiser]

[Hellraiser]

[Hellraiser]

https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1kvJpAEDaMZxE

Walter Report has been hosting continuous Twitter chat on Ukraine in all military, political, and economic spheres the last few days. The streams last 16+ hours a day so you can dip in and out. Some really good discussions and knowledge being shared.

[Hellraiser]

[laurent]

On the war crime front on top of the CNN CCTV report

There are now a lot more stories coming out with rape and torture of civilians

Le monde has a few stories today (this is not nice reading )

https://www.lemonde.fr/international/ar ... _3210.html

https://www.lemonde.fr/international/ar ... _3210.html

[Hellraiser]

[Hellraiser]

Rumours floating around that either the LSV Vsevolod Bobrov or LSV Elbrus has been sunk by the Ukrainians near Snake Island.

[petej]

That would indicate that the pushback of Russia troops near kharkiv is actually near where the greatest density Russian forces are.

[Hellraiser]

That would indicate that the pushback of Russia troops near kharkiv is actually near where the greatest density Russian forces are.

The great red splotch is probably Kupiansk.

[Grandpa]

That would indicate that the pushback of Russia troops near kharkiv is actually near where the greatest density Russian forces are.

The great red splotch is probably Kupiansk.

See to be a bit west of Kupiansk, around Chuhuiv?

[Tilly Orifice]

Looks more like Staryi Saltiv. How old is the data?

[Hellraiser]

[Biffer]

Interesting Long Read in the Guardian about the memory of nuclear war

We’ve seen in other contexts what happens when our experience of a risk attenuates. In rich countries, the waning memory of preventable diseases has fed the anti-vaccination movement. “People have become complacent,” notes epidemiologist Peter Salk, whose father, Jonas Salk, invented the polio vaccine. Not having lived through a polio epidemic, parents are rejecting vaccines to the point where measles and whooping cough are coming back and many have needlessly died of Covid-19.

That is the danger with nuclear war.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... -dangerous

I'm very conscious of this. I'm 51, so was 18 when the cold war ended. My childhood and teenage years had an existential terror hanging over them. Anyone who's more than a few years younger than me doesn't remember that, and doesn't really realise what the overarching fear of nuclear war was during the cold war. I remember having regular nightmares about nuclear war when I was a kid, and I know many of my friends did as well. This worries me very much.

[fishfoodie]

Interesting Long Read in the Guardian about the memory of nuclear war

We’ve seen in other contexts what happens when our experience of a risk attenuates. In rich countries, the waning memory of preventable diseases has fed the anti-vaccination movement. “People have become complacent,” notes epidemiologist Peter Salk, whose father, Jonas Salk, invented the polio vaccine. Not having lived through a polio epidemic, parents are rejecting vaccines to the point where measles and whooping cough are coming back and many have needlessly died of Covid-19.

That is the danger with nuclear war.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... -dangerous

I'm very conscious of this. I'm 51, so was 18 when the cold war ended. My childhood and teenage years had an existential terror hanging over them. Anyone who's more than a few years younger than me doesn't remember that, and doesn't really realise what the overarching fear of nuclear war was during the cold war. I remember having regular nightmares about nuclear war when I was a kid, and I know many of my friends did as well. This worries me very much.

Sticking Threads on the Beeb some evening would give people a flavour of what we were afraid of in the 80s.