On Friday, we looked at tankie and MAGA tweets in the run-up to Russia’s illegal and murderous invasion of Ukraine. Today, let’s look at how #ConfidentlyWrong they were in the days after.
Just days after writing this…
This joker writes this:
I don’t feel like doing the math, but it’s been a lot longer than one hour and 22 minutes since Russia invaded, and the entire Ukrainian military doesn’t appear so disabled.
The 1:22 thing was apparently a talking point. And a stupid one.
We’re at around 8,800 hours, so … technically, he might still be correct?
Did Sputnik crash and burn—taking down Russia’s military might and international prestige in one fell swoop?
Ukrainian hopium gave way to Russian copium.
Literally every sentence in that tweet is false.
It shouldn’t be surprising that Max Blumenthal is also an Assad apologist, given his tankie support for Putin.
“Hey, just lie back and take it. It’s okay to be conquered by a murderous tyrant. You can do that ‘democracy’ thing later, like in the future!”
“Truth is one of the first casualties of war,” says the guy spouting a litany of lies.
But it’s all okay, guys. Some of his best friends are Ukrainian.
Mark Sumner came in on his day off Sunday to post a Bakhmut update in our company Slack. What follows is him:
“An update on Bakhmut. Russian forces appear to be advancing west of the intersection in the area of Yahidne. They're still about 5km from the road through Khromove, but the threat of cutting off this road is real.
On the south side, Ukraine says they have won a series of small victories around Ivaniske and pushed back Russian forces. I haven't really changed the lines in the area because I don't have any details, but it looks like the Chasiv Yar end of the road is safe for now. Ukraine also seems to be more than holdings its own in Bakhmut itself, possibly recapturing areas in the northeast. However, unless they can do something about the Russian forces moving down from the M03, their time in Bakhmut is seriously limited.
Russia tried to attack to the west near Orikhovo-Vasylivka and was reportedly repulsed, as was another attack to the south midway between there and Yahidne.
This afternoon, one Ukrainian channel was posting claims that Ukraine had struck the Russian advance from the west and "destroyed" the Wagner forces. That claim has been repeated on Twitter, but many other channels are saying it is not true and that this claim is giving people false hope. Video associated with the claim appears to be old.”
It’s me, Kos, again.
Zelenskyy says the situation around Bakhmut is “more and more complicated,” as he seems to be setting the rhetorical groundwork for a retreat. The city itself has little strategic value. Russia has focused on it simply because it’s the easiest line of advance to supply, given their rickety logistics. Ukraine has defended it tenaciously because, if not Bakhmut, Russia will raze the next city down the line.
But there is a next line of defense, and there is a very real possibility we will see the area west of Bakhmut start to resemble Vuhledar, where the wide-open fields approaching the town have become a graveyard of Russian vehicles and men.
Graphic video:
Intense street-fighting inside Bakhmut:
Meanwhile, Russia continues to do that thing in Vuhledar:
If at first you don’t succeed, try and try and try and try and try….
This guy is being very helpful:
As of four hours ago, he’s at 98 armored vehicles destroyed in that Vuhledar approach.
I’ll be digging into this some more:
Stuff like this is interesting:
155mm rounds: $227.1m
155mm Excalibur: $202.6m
An Excalibur laser-guided precision artillery shell costs around $100,000, and a regular artillery shell around $800.
Also: