The population of Russia is declining, and Putin wants to reverse those numbers.
https://www.france24.com/en/europe/2...win-in-ukraine
Unfortunately, he hasn't looked into the reasons why the Russian population is declining.
https://wartranslated.com/russian-so...n-catastrophe/
"As I told you from the very beginning (and even before the operation) – Russian managers are simply not able to establish a normal life in the new territories. Not because they are fools (although most often they are), but because the entire management system is designed not for facing challenges and implementation of new projects, but for stability and control. That is, to support life in the Russian region – yes, bread is baked there, but to arrange the delivery of bread to Mariupol – no, because this is beyond the limits of competence and usual powers. Plus, the law enforcement system is set up so that anything going beyond the limits of authority is stopped and the initiator is punished.
Therefore, I think that the new territories will become a zone of humanitarian catastrophe in winter. "
Another Russian oil company executive dies when he accidentally falls out a window.
https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news...e73a7c9949889a
Windows have to be one of the biggest reasons for death in the Russian Federation. If the Russians used windows instead of artillery shells in Ukraine, they'd be doing a lot better.
So, which is it? "Putin is a master strategist", or "We are lucky they are so fucking stupid."
Last edited by Adam Strange; 09-01-2022 at 02:58 PM.
The big story now is about Ukraine's counteroffensive in Kherson, which was finally launched (a few days ago) after several months of promotion and buildup. From what I've gathered (I could be wrong), this is Ukraine's last chance to launch a direct offensive this year (before winter rains set in and the ground becomes muddy).
Russian troops in Kherson are dependent on resupply across the Dnipro river. Using precision-guided munitions, Ukrainian artillery has managed to knock out bridges connecting the city to Russia's supply lines. The Russians are using makeshift pontoon bridges to cross the river, but these are also subject to Ukrainian artillery. Russian troops and artillery in Kherson still have tons of available munitions, though, and have taken stronger defensive positions.
Apparently Russia has already launched an information campaign to portray the counteroffensive as a failure - https://www.understandingwar.org/bac...ment-august-31
Also I guess Ukraine might use feint attacks to draw Russia’s military away from the focus of conflict.
By way of Jay in Kyiv, "Many videos of abandoned or devastated Russian positions coming out of Kherson today.."
https://nitter.net/GirkinGirkin/stat...971764346885#m
Man, the expression on the face of that soldier!
Covid and Ukraine war are effectively used to destroy the world, so they can "build [the world] back better", aka make their great reset (through chaos, martial law, destroying currencies and introducing CBDC (people will have to renounce their private property, they will accept to survive), microchiping the cheptel).
It's not specifically China who is in it, but most of the "leaders" in the world.
Join my Enneagram Discord: https://discord.gg/ND4jCAcs
So, there are roughly 30 Russian battalion tactical groups (BTG) stationed in Kherson, according to this: https://on.ft.com/3THFd4c
According to Brookings, which was quoting Ukrainian sources, a single BTG deployed to Donbass in 2015 was estimated to be 600-800 soldiers and officers. If we carry that number forward, the size of Russia's deployment in Kherson is roughly 18-24,000 soldiers, give or take. According to this think tank, a BTG contains roughly 700-800 and possibly 900 soldiers.At the time, about 13 Russian battalion tactical groups were stationed in the Kherson region. This number has now risen to roughly 30, according to Rochan, an independent military consultancy based in Poland.
I couldn't find recent estimates for the size of Ukraine's army in Kherson (I'll look tomorrow), but it is worth noting that Ukraine's troop figures in Donbass equalled 40-50,000 (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61145578) at the start of that battle.
The "magic ratio" for a frontal breakthrough is 3:1 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2538780). Even in the best case, if the above figures are relevant, that leaves Ukraine slightly short.
Russia also heavily outguns Ukraine when it comes to artillery. Russia fires 50-60,000 shells per day, in total, compared to Ukraine's 5-6,000, outgunning Ukrainian artillery by 10:1 in the entire Ukrainian theatre (the ratio in Kherson could well be different). And, unless things change radically, Russia will retain total air supremacy in the areas under its occupation.
These are straight up estimates from possibly outdated & possibly sketchy sources (yes, including the BBC). Don't take these seriously! Do your own research!! We will, of course, know the outcome sooner or later, and we'll know whether or not the offensive was intended as a distraction. But, as of right now, the fog of war is so thick that it's visible through cataracts.
Last edited by xerx; 09-03-2022 at 03:59 AM. Reason: clarification
I'd probably upset a lot of people here if i share my actual opinion so.. i'd rather not . Fun thread.
I AM YOUR HOLY TOTEM
I AM YOUR SICK TABOO
RADICAL AND RADIANT
I'M YOUR NIGHTMARE COMING TRUE
I AM YOUR WORST ENEMY
I AM YOUR DEAREST FRIEND
MALIGNANTLY MALEVOLENT
I AM OF DIVINE DESCENT
I AM YOUR UNCONSCIOUSNESS
I AM UNRESTRAINED EXCESS
METAMORPHIC RESTLESSNESS
I'M YOUR UNEXPECTEDNESS
I AM YOUR APOCALYPSESTRAY BULLET
I AM YOUR BELIEF UNWROUGHT
MONOLITHIC JUGGERNAUT
FROM THE HEAVENS ABOVE
STRAY BULLET
READY OR NOT
I'M THE ILLEGITIMATE SON OF GOD
War in Ukraine: How rape has reportedly become a weapon : NPR
Mia Bloom, a professor at Georgia State University and an international security fellow at the think tank New America, says it's important to understand that although rape is a war crime, it is not something that is present in all wars.And danger can come from different directions. In one case noted by The Guardian, a Ukrainian teacher had been dragged into the school library by a Ukrainian soldier who tried to rape her. She reported him to the police and the man was arrested.
"It's not just a normal part of war. Not all soldiers rape," Bloom tells NPR. Bloom and Cohen are both a part of the Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict project, which collects data on the subject.
She says because there is variation between conflicts — some have rampant sexual violence, while others have little — there isn't a consistent theory of when and why rape is used in war.
I would not want to be a citizen of Russia, mainly because the government lies all the time and steals everything worth having.
As a person who believes in highly moderated Capitalism, I have a great appreciation for the truth. Without the truth, you can't make intelligent decisions.
We have the Rush Limbaughs and the Tucker Carlsons, while Russian Authoritarians have this guy:
https://nitter.net/JuliaDavisNews/st...938337652739#m
Evidently, there is a large audience for these idiots.
This is a Russian-sourced map acknowledging Russia's loss of Vysokopillya (centre), which is a major town. The capture of Vysokopillya was also stated by the ISW (an American think tank).
According to this source (https://twitter.com/wartranslated/st...42334811787264, translated from this Wagner group milblogger: https://t.me/grey_zone/14887), Russian troops lacked air support as Russian aviation was non-existent. The Ukrainians forced a VDV retreat. The Wagner source claims very heavy Ukrainian casualties, but I haven't seen any independent verification of that.
The Ukrainian government wanted to maintain information silence during the offensive, citing understandable tactical reasons. The ISW said the same thing at the start of the offensive. But since they're willing to confirm victories (they probably don't have a choice given the preponderance of social media), I'll take that as a sign that we'll be able to gauge the progress (or lack of progress) of the offensive in the coming days.
Last edited by xerx; 09-05-2022 at 05:27 AM. Reason: clarification
Yes, but how likely is China to initiate anything? Anyone with weapons could aggravate it, but most other countries seem too mature in some way to initiate it. I don't even think Israel and Iran would really initiate it any more, though they might aggravate it beyond all belief as everyone probably would once the first was dropped.
I recently read that a retired general said the US informed Russia that if Russia used nuclear weapons in Ukraine, they could expect to see conventional bombs destroy most of the military infrastructure inside Russia within days.
I think that the US approach to helping Ukraine is oriented towards maintaining the pre-Russian invasion status quo.
The US has told the Ukrainians that they may not use US weapons to attack Russia proper, and Ukraine has not done this, even though this would be standard operating procedure in any normal war.
Neither has the US given Ukraine weapons that are useful in conquering territory. No F-16 air support (the F-16 is a weapon that integrates with satellites and is truly transforming), no Abrams tanks, no armored personnel carriers.
Tanks and armored personnel carriers are primarily useful because they protect troops against artillery shrapnel, and allow a force to advance into enemy territory.
Most of the tanks that the Ukrainians are using were captured from the Russian invaders.
Iraq was bombed from the air for thirty days before the Abrams were brought in, and they just rolled over the Iraqis. This would be the approach if the US wanted to give the Ukrainians the power to take revenge for the war crimes committed by the Russians.
If I were Ukrainian, and if I had both F-16s and 500 Abrams tanks, then given Russia’s history of aggression against its neighbors and its consistent practice of breaking its treaties, I wouldn’t stop at the Russian border. I’d try to ensure that Russia could never do what they did to Ukraine, to anyone, ever again.
(This is exactly why I should never be in politics.)
But no. The US has given Ukraine only weapons which will attrit Russian capabilities within Ukraine. The US goal is to minimize the risk of a nuclear war, because in a large-scale nuclear exchange, everyone loses.
Last edited by Adam Strange; 09-05-2022 at 01:27 PM.
What I’m hoping for is that the Russian war in Ukraine will be the turning point in the world’s use of carbon fuels. The threat of climate change putting Pakistan underwater doesn’t seem to move the people running the world, but they could probably get behind the goal of bankrupting Russia by breaking the West’s reliance on Russian gas.*
After all, Russia still has a lot of other mineral wealth that could be picked up cheap if they were bankrupt.
I hope.
* Bill Gates is investing in a new nuclear power plant in the U.S. You may not like Gates, but if you were a nerd and had more money than you could ever spend, you might (especially if you were an LIE) look ahead, make some rational decisions (nuclear > carbon), and work towards making the world a better place than when you found it.
Last edited by Adam Strange; 09-05-2022 at 01:50 PM.
Phil Stewart
@phildstewart
(Reuters) - Germany will keep two nuclear power stations available until the middle of April next year to serve as an emergency back-up through the winter rather than shutting them down at the end of the year as originally planned, Der Spiegel reported.
Sep 5, 2022 · 3:13 PM UTC · Twitter Web App
Marcel Dirsus
@marceldirsus
If the Greens go for this (which I think they will), they will have shifted their positions on arms exports, military spending, NATO's nuclear sharing, armed drones, LNG, the extension of coal and these nuclear plants in the space of a few years. It's basically a whole new party
It's easier to call for saving the world from nuclear energy when
1.) your Green Party is being generously funded by Putin, and
2.) when you don't have a gas-funded knife at your throat.
What the anti-nuclear folks don't tell you is that coal plants emit more radioactivity than nuclear plants, because coal is slightly radioactive and the coal plants put 100% of that radioactivity into the air.
As far as I can see, the only downsides to nuclear are:
1. Bombing a nuclear plant with a nuclear bomb will make the area uninhabitable for thousands of years,
2. There is only about two centuries of nuclear fuel available on earth, if it were to supplant coal,
3. Nuclear plants are a bit less "efficient" than coal plants at converting fuel to electricity because they are presently run at safer and lower temperatures. However, this is a perfectionist's argument, and this property of nuclear plants is invisible when compared to the damage that CO2 does to the planet.
This guy better stay away from windows.
"This is not according to plan," – deputy Konstantin Zatulin for the first time on federal TV said that the so-called "special operation" does not reach the goals."
https://nitter.net/Flash_news_ua/sta...088631586816#r
Well, to any policy wonks like myself who pay attention to US Foreign Policy, it's a popular joke that Israel runs the show in that department. Looking at the number of Neocons and Neolibs who seem to have all the influence and given how many of them have dual "citizenship" in the U.S. and Israel (an idiotic atrocity and critical intelligence error as you cannot have two masters and it's pretty fucking clear which one they love and which one they hate to make it even worse) you can see how and why any rational person would conclude that the current War in Ukraine must have at least the passive/tacit approval of Tel Aviv as it were.
I personally don't think Israel gives a fuck about it. At least not officially. Aforementioned Neocons and Neolibs do have a hardcore ideological hatred for Russia though. It's a lecture to explain but let's just say the ideological descendants to Trotsky are still rather sore about losing out to Lenin and Stalin and would like nothing more than to take out their frustrations and rage on the Russian people. It ain't about anything rational for them at this point. They're driven by hatred and wouldn't mind glassing the planet if it meant executing their will on that front. Thankfully they are but a faction within the PTB and as I've always pointed out they are not monolithic like many "Conspiracy Theorists" claim and thank the good lord for that as if they were we really would be fucked.