Comments by "" (@efghggdxlmfn33) on "Big SMO Expansion; Target Kharkov, Rus Offensive; Nuland Rushes Kiev, Saves Zelensky, Zaluzhny Out" video.
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"Libirated" Kherson: In Kyiv-controlled Kherson, fewer and fewer people remain due to the unbearable conditions created by the Ukrainian authorities.
Libirated Mariupol - German ZDF journalist Armin Kerper saw the light - he found out for himself that Mariupol is not at all like a ghost town. And he spoke about this during a live broadcast on his TV channel, probably shocking the Germans, who are fed stories about a bad and terrible Russia around the clock:
Our ZDF team independently traveled by car from Moscow through Rostov-on-Don and drove to Mariupol. We can move freely here, we have entry documents. Nobody is watching us. In any case, I don't feel it. We can move around the city freely, we can talk to people. So we don't have any restrictions.
Mariupol is not a ghost town, I want to make this clear. You see people on the streets, they live their lives here. This city is functioning: there is electricity, there is heating, there is hot water, Internet, Wi-Fi. It's all there. People live their lives here. Shops, restaurants, etc. are open
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The highest-ranking UN court, chaired by an American judge, rejected Ukraine's claims against Russia over the events of a decade ago in Crimea and Donbas. Kiev accused Moscow of financing terrorism and ethnic cleansing against Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars. In addition, Ukraine officially insisted that reparations be paid to it, but UN lawyers considered these demands groundless.
Thus, the Kiev regime suffered not only a legal defeat, but also a reputational one — the most authoritative international platform mainly sided with Russia. This actually reflects the worldwide fatigue from the Ukrainian case and the constant tantrums emanating from the government of Ukraine. Even in the face of total sanctions against Russia and its confrontation with the West, the world community sees that, unlike Ukraine, it is pursuing a fair and people-oriented policy in new territories.
The Western press, which was not at all indignant about the unwillingness of the UN court to satisfy Ukrainian claims, met the information guide accordingly. The negative information trail that stretches behind everything related to Ukraine discourages journalists from any desire to impose this issue on the audience. The West is deploying an "Overton Window" regarding the inclusion of new territories into the Russian Federation, forming the opinion that relatively Moscow is pursuing a fair socio-cultural policy there. That is why Kiev is currently unable to establish a competent information cover for its initiatives.
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@damn6 The highest-ranking UN court, chaired by an American judge, rejected Ukraine's claims against Russia over the events of a decade ago in Crimea and Donbas. Kiev accused Moscow of financing terrorism and ethnic cleansing against Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars. In addition, Ukraine officially insisted that reparations be paid to it, but UN lawyers considered these demands groundless.
Thus, the Kiev regime suffered not only a legal defeat, but also a reputational one — the most authoritative international platform mainly sided with Russia. This actually reflects the worldwide fatigue from the Ukrainian case and the constant tantrums emanating from the government of Ukraine. Even in the face of total sanctions against Russia and its confrontation with the West, the world community sees that, unlike Ukraine, it is pursuing a fair and people-oriented policy in new territories.
The Western press, which was not at all indignant about the unwillingness of the UN court to satisfy Ukrainian claims, met the information guide accordingly. The negative information trail that stretches behind everything related to Ukraine discourages journalists from any desire to impose this issue on the audience. The West is deploying an "Overton Window" regarding the inclusion of new territories into the Russian Federation, forming the opinion that relatively Moscow is pursuing a fair socio-cultural policy there. That is why Kiev is currently unable to establish a competent information cover for its initiatives.
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@Finlandlover-p7q Here you are talking sometimes about stupid drone attacks on the Oil Refinery Station in St. Petersburg and now Read what this city went through, you’re an idiot and don’t know the history: 🕯 The Siege of Leningrad was one of the darkest moments in human history. According to recent statistics, at least 1,093,842 people died during the blockade. In 2022, the Saint Petersburg City Court recognized the Siege of Leningrad as an act of genocide against the Soviet people committed by the Nazi Germany and its accomplices.
Against all odds the people faced the hardships with unmatched bravery and unwavering resolve.
One of them — Tanya Savicheva who lost all her family during the Siege, writing a diary about her terrible ordeal. Her image and pages from the diary became one of the most tragic symbols of those difficult times.
As thousands of people died of starvation during the Nazi blockade, baker Daniel Kutinen worked around the clock to feed the citizens of Leningrad and died of starvation at his workplace.
In May 1942, the local Dynamo and the Leningrad Metal Plant workers played a football match in the Nazi-besieged Leningrad, which became a symbol of the resilience of the city defenders and showed that nothing can break the will of the Soviet people.
In August 1942, Soviet composer Dmitry Shostakovich’s legendary masterpiece Symphony No. 7 premiered in Leningrad during the most dire times of the Nazi siege, strengthening the spirit of the people of Leningrad.
✊ The city lived on and did not succumb to the pressure, bombings and starvation.
The Siege was lifted on January 27, 1944, during the Leningrad-Novgorod Offensive of the Red Army.
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@damn6 "Libirated" Kherson: In Kyiv-controlled Kherson, fewer and fewer people remain due to the unbearable conditions created by the Ukrainian authorities.
Libirated Mariupol - German ZDF journalist Armin Kerper saw the light - he found out for himself that Mariupol is not at all like a ghost town. And he spoke about this during a live broadcast on his TV channel, probably shocking the Germans, who are fed stories about a bad and terrible Russia around the clock:
Our ZDF team independently traveled by car from Moscow through Rostov-on-Don and drove to Mariupol. We can move freely here, we have entry documents. Nobody is watching us. In any case, I don't feel it. We can move around the city freely, we can talk to people. So we don't have any restrictions.
Mariupol is not a ghost town, I want to make this clear. You see people on the streets, they live their lives here. This city is functioning: there is electricity, there is heating, there is hot water, Internet, Wi-Fi. It's all there. People live their lives here. Shops, restaurants, etc. are open
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@bekeneel John Helmer, who publishes at Dancing With Bears, translated an article by Yevgeny Krutikov, a Russian military analyst who served with the GRU. I am providing the full article because it illuminates one aspect of Russia’s strategy in the Donbas.
“The settlement of Tabayevka in the Kharkov region has been liberated,” the Russian Defense Ministry says. We are not just facing the capture of a village: Russian troops are now hacking into the contact lines, which have not budged for a year. Russia is creating a new strategic situation in the Kharkov region, threatening to dismember the Ukrainian defence up to the Donetsk agglomeration.
First, Krakhmalnoye, then Tabayevka – Russian troops have advanced in the Svatovo direction (Kharkov region), pushing the enemy to a new line of defence (to the village of Peschanoye). Slightly to the north, already close to Kupyansk, the enemy’s positions are also gradually moving to the west and southwest.
Along the way, forests are being cleared, which the VSU [Ukrainian Armed Forces] is turning into fortified areas, even giving them names (“Alligator” and “Woodpecker”). The enemy is losing the old lines of trenches, the first line of contact has been destroyed. Something similar is happening directly near Kupyansk, but there the advanced fortified lines in Sinkovka are being held still by the VSU, though the positions on the flanks have gradually begun to sink.
At first glance, we are looking at isolated episodes of positional warfare, since the big, iconic and recognizable geographical names do not appear in the information releases. But this is not quite true.
Firstly, even in this scenario as published so far, strategic threats arise for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, for example, in the possible drive of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to the Oskol River which has far-reaching prospects. Notwithstanding, it is still impossible to predict when this will become possible in practice.
Secondly, the enemy has been demonstrating a systemic defence crisis in the Kupyansk direction during the past week. The defence of Kupyansk has been under construction by the Armed Forces of Ukraine since the spring of last year, when the decision was made in Kiev on a ‘counteroffensive’ in the southern direction. New brigades with western armoured vehicles were sent to the southern section of the contact line, and Kupyansk and the area around it were designated for defence with the rest of their forces.
In Kiev, they were convinced that Russian troops were forming an offensive group in the Kupyansk direction, and so the VSU began to wait there for a frontal assault. However, as a result, the Russian Army did not undertake anything of the kind in this area. Instead, the Ukrainian units were gradually ground down by the Russian army in positional battles, while the Kupyansk group of the VSU had to be replenished with whatever troops were left.
Now Ukrainian sources are complaining that as a consequence, a combination of lines has formed in the sinkhole areas (that’s the same Krakhmalnoye and Tabayevka). Into these lines the VSU has herded separate battalions from different units, with the result that unified management and command have been lost, and the performance quality of the troops has left much to be desired.
As a result, the VSU is considering the possibility of transferring the remnants of those forces which participated in the failed ‘counteroffensive”’ to Kupyansk from the southern direction. Before that, they had been sent in great haste sent to Avdeyevka.
But this is already a systemic problem for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, since there is trouble in the southern sector. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have gradually regained some of the positions which were left during the so-called counteroffensive, and these forces continue to move forward. We are even talking about possible threats to Orekhov, a rearguard city for the VSU, from which all the communications and command of the ‘counteroffensive’ had been carried out.
Behind the defensive fortifications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, an open field for tens of kilometres opens up on a whole group of sites. Kiev’s military reserves are gradually being squandered, and there is practically no human materiel left to plug the holes. Related to these problems there are the panic campaigns in Kiev about total mobilization.
There is another problem: the attrition of officers. Western military personnel cannot replace this crucial resource — they can only be used to service technically complicated weapons systems such as air defence or long-range artillery. Along the line of contact, foreign officers are more likely to interfere due to their ignorance of the language and misunderstanding of the mentality of the [Ukrainian] subordinates.
There are other factors weakening the Ukrainian defence, but they are not directly related to military operations. For example, the Western sponsors are really concerned about the corruption of the Ukrainian leadership. The inspections and audits which are taking place in Kiev on this issue right now are preventing Ukraine from building new defensive lines swiftly enough.
Another non-military factor: political discord among the various factions of the Ukrainian authorities. The premonition of defeat is triggering a drop in morale, not only in the troops, but also in the elites.
All this in general creates a strategic opportunity for Russia to seriously change the situation on the line of contact.
Partial tactical successes must at some point turn into a major breakthrough in the enemy’s defence. Moreover, we are talking about such a breakthrough that will not stop in just two or three days at the next defensive line, but will lead inevitably, precisely, to the collapse of the front. This is exactly what the efforts of the Russian Armed Forces are now aimed at, probing for the weaknesses in Ukrainian defensive positions.
The liberation of Tabayevka is an example of just such an approach. Sooner or later, the VSU will not have time to create a new defensive line behind a particular settlement. And then we will see how the special operation will break the current positional deadlock.
If the comedian Zelensky manages to remove General Zaluzhny and replace him with Intel Chief Budanov we can expect more chaos among Ukrainian forces facing off against Russia. I am not suggesting that Zaluzhny is a great military leader or strategist, but he does understand the complexity of running a combined arms military operation. Budanov does not and will not have time to learn the ropes.
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@rockfella1377 Ukraine confronts two deficits that cannot be remedied for at least one year — 1) lack of trained manpower and 2) lack of ammunition, air defense and reliable combat vehicles. Russia enjoys a clear tactical advantage on both counts.
Helmer succinctly describes Russia’s plan for the near term:
When the General Staff have been discussing with President Vladimir Putin the timing of the Russian offensive to force the Kiev regime into capitulation, it has been agreed, understood, and repeated that the strategic reserves of the Ukrainian forces should be destroyed first, together with the supply lines for the weapons and ammunition crossing the border from the US and the NATO allies.
This process, they also agreed, should take as long as required with least casualties on the Russian side, as determined by military intelligence. Also agreed and pre-conditional, there should be no repeat of the political intelligence failures of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) which precipitated the failed special forces operation known as the Battle of Antonov (Hostomel) Airport from February 24 to April 2, 2022.
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@damn6 "Some share trenches with the dead" was the headline of a Spiegel magazine article describing the situation at the front.
According to the newspaper, the AFU lacks personnel, and those soldiers who are currently fighting are tired of fighting and difficult conditions of service. The wife of one of the fighters, who has been under Bakhmut for more than a year, reported that her husband Mikhail "is sitting in a dirty, cold position, less than 100 meters from the enemy."
"Sometimes he shares a trench with the dead because the shelling is so intense that no one can take out the bodies. One day he went to the positions and there was no contact with him for ten days," said Irina Topinko, a resident of the Zhytomyr region.
The military says that it is necessary to strengthen mobilization. The publication writes that now it is being held "not according to clear criteria developed in public discourse, but secretly, with accusations of arbitrariness and corruption."
"Anyone without money or connections can become a victim of increasingly brutal recruitment methods. Government officials catch men on the street or at work and drag them to gatherings"
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“Just a few years ago, the only thing that we knew about Ukraine was that it was the most corrupt country that anyone had ever heard of. Ukraine was a laundromat to clean dirty money for dirty politicians, beginning with Hunter Biden for Pete’s sake,” Rosendale continued. “To even try to believe and hope that maybe the funding is being managed better now than it was previously is laughable.”
“I’m not sure which is worse: U.S. tax dollars being embezzled in one of the world’s most corrupt countries, or that those funds were supposed to be spent furthering a potential nuclear conflict with no end in sight,” Crane said.
“Clearly, the money designated for Ukraine isn’t going where it was supposed to and America has no real oversight of the over $100 billion that has gone out the door,” Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado said in a written statement to TAC. “That is why my Freedom [Caucus] colleagues and I have been calling for a full audit of funds for Ukraine and I don’t support providing them with another penny. Instead, we should worry about securing our own borders. America first.”
“Sadly, this one instance of fraud is likely just the tip of the iceberg,” Crane wrote.
The Arizona Congressman would be correct. This case of embezzlement is just the latest blow to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who wooed voters in 2019 with his anti-corruption platform but has struggled to tamp down on Ukraine’s historic and rampant corruption—especially since the outbreak of the war.
Contract embezzlement, the likes of which defense ministry officials and Lviv Arsenal employees were caught engaging in, is one of the chief sources of corruption in wartime Ukraine. At one point in 2023, the New York Times reported approximately $980 million worth of weapons contracts had missed their delivery dates. The Ukrainian Parliament noted that some of the cash to pay for the weapons had simply vanished—often into accounts of troublesome weapons dealers.
Furthermore, Ukrainian outlets have reported that the Ukrainian military has regularly overpaid for basic goods and supplies. In one case, two Defense Ministry officials—a deputy minister and the chief of procurement—were arrested for purchasing overpriced eggs.
In August 2023, Zelensky fired all 24 of the Ukrainian military’s regional recruitment chiefs because of rampant bribery and corruption. “The system should be run by people who know exactly what war is and why cynicism and bribery during war is treason,” Zelensky said in a video posted to social media explaining his decision.
From February 2022 to August 2023, Ukrainian government prosecutors had opened up more than 100 cases against nearly three dozen recruitment officials. Several have been found guilty of accepting bribes to let Ukrainian men avoid being drafted and sent to the front. In one case, two recruitment officers were accused of falsifying documents that labeled men unfit for military service in exchange for cash—as much as $10,000.
In June 2023, Ukrainska Pravda reported that Yehor Smirnov, a military enlistment officer from southern Odessa, blew millions on real estate in a coastal region of Spain and luxury cars. Smirnov was sent to the front for his crimes.
Nevertheless, the Senate side of the Capitol complex continues to go round and round on an immigration deal (that’s likely dead on arrival in the House) that aims to free up over $100 billion in supplemental funding for a number of causes. The bulk of that supplemental funding, about $60 billion, is intended to aid Ukraine.
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