Russian propagandist Mardan screws up and tells the truth.
They say we are the aggressors, extremely evil and cruel people, etc. I always say ‘Yes, yes, you are right. You are right.’
Yes, Russians are the aggressors. They can be cruel. Russians don’t forget anything.
Russians always come back to get what is theirs. Russian don’t feel guilty.
Russians are not prone to reflection. Russians are engaged in cultural expropriation and don’t even know what it is.
This is an interesting analysis of the change in military leadership.
The Presidential office has been hesitant to publicly announce that Ukraine goes on defense or to call the situation a stalemate. Umerov has been talking about the liberation of Crimea in 2024, and Budanov talks about summer counteroffensives.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian situation on the frontlines is honestly bad. Brigades are heavily attrited and some of them haven't received significant replacements since autumn, artillery ammunition is running low and new mobilization might not produce soldiers until summer.
Meanwhile, Russia has been able to replenish forces and even establish new ones. It has -5:1 artillery advantage, and it's pressuring Ukraine on multiple fronts Up north, the almost wholly intact 1. GTA is pointed at Kupyansk. In Avdiivka Russia is less than 1km from the MSR.
Ukrainian troops are battered and exhausted. Yet in his address on the replacement of Zaluzhnyi, Zelenskyi seems to imply that Ukraine is going to hold onto Avdiivka, apparently much like it attempted to hold onto Bakhmut. This is tenacious but costly.
Zelenskyi is insistent on denying Russians political victories via trading lives for land. This is understandable, considering Ukraine needs the West to believe that it can win, but it's also risky. As Ukrainian resources run low, risks of distinct military defeats rise.
A good, efficient C-in-C is needed to manage these risks and tell the political leadership when the political goals are not consistent with the military realities. Syrskyi, however, has been chosen largely for his political loyalty over the more confrontational Zaluzhnyi.
By the two-year anniversary of the invasion Russia will have suffered more than 400,000 casualties.
And a couple million shells would be good too.
Tolyatti is on the Volga River southeast of Moscow.
The bases where the F-16s will be fueled and serviced will definitely need Patriot systems as well.
Avdiivka isn’t getting any better.
Russia is also advancing at Novomykhailivka.
He shouldn’t have to fight, but it is understandable why he does.
I have never heard of such a thing before but I suppose it might just be effective. It is essentially a train wall reported to be 2,100 cars long.
Did they think they were going to Ukraine to do a cushy job in the rear?
This is the first time I have seen the number out at 15,000.
This guy is lucky. He’ll eventually make it home and won’t be field fertilizer.
This is sadly true. A week from now everyone will be talking about the newest Russian outrage.
With helicopter gunships flying in the background.
SpaceX had issued a statement a few days ago flatly denying that Starlink was allowed in Russia. But Ukraine insists it has evidence of Russian use of Starlink within occupied territories. SpaceX also did not address the obvious — that Russia buys Starlink terminals through third parties.
In a Feb. 8 tweet, SpaceX officials said the company “does not do business of any kind with the Russian Government or its military. Starlink is not active in Russia, meaning service will not work in that country. SpaceX has never sold or marketed Starlink in Russia, nor has it shipped equipment to locations in Russia.”
…..
SpaceX’s tweet did not directly address reports that Russian forces are using Starlink’s services within Ukraine.
It did say, “If SpaceX obtains knowledge that a Starlink terminal is being used by a sanctioned or unauthorized party, we investigate the claim and take actions to deactivate the terminal if confirmed.”
“We are not meat!”
😂🤣 Yes, you are. And making a video appeal is a waste of time. The cavalry isn’t coming over the hill in the nick of time. You can either do something about it yourselves or die like obedient little meat chunks.
“Three assault groups were sent, of which only 3 people made it, they were not provided with any cover.”
At the same time, the battalion commander sends people to one end, setting up barrage detachments that block the escape routes:
“A barrier detachment was deployed, that is, snipers who acted against us , their own.”
The servicemen also said that after securing a new position, they were not supplied with ammunition, and those who survived the first assault were sent to the next one.
As a result, a group of 21 servicemen barricaded themselves and recorded a video message asking the high command to take action against the commanders (battalion commander “Serp”, political officer “Molot”) who were sending people to slaughter.
“We want this to just stop, so that we are considered people, we are not meat!”, say the fighters.
This op-ed in the LA Times says that House Republicans should be ashamed of their obstruction and that if only Mike Johnson could meet a courageous Ukrainian prisoner like Maksym Butkevych they might think differently.
That assumes that Republicans are capable of feeling shame. Spoiler alert: They aren’t.
Maksym is a defender of Ukraine and prisoner of war who has been held by Russian forces since 2022. There has been no word from Max since August, months before Johnson became speaker.
I do not know how much news penetrates his jail cell. Do his captors taunt him with stories about Johnson of Louisiana and his fellow House Republicans abandoning Maksym and Ukraine to the brutality of Russian invaders?
…..
If only Mike Johnson knew Maksym Butkevych. As an avowed man of faith and patriotism, Johnson might even be inspired by him. Max has long exhibited uncommon courage in standing up for the unalienable rights we Americans purport to uphold.
As drone warfare evolves, so does anti-drone warfare.
Should have stayed home.
Another happy reunion.
