Ukraine War Watch Thread

[Xyls]

Imagine an official trying to get away with this in the West:

[ibm9000]

I mean if Russia wants to have every one of their satellites blown out of the sky go ahead.

Things seems to be be so easy for you...

Imagine an official trying to get away with this in the West:

I would say that officials get away with a lot of "things" in the West, like Boris... or Kwarteng... but, if we are talking about the Church...

President Vladimir Putin denies Russia has ever discussed the use of atomic weapons in the war.

In a WhatsApp group, I challenged a friend of mine to find any direct threat by Putin about using nukes in Ukraine: he couldn't. Have you been reading more than my friend?

[wjfox]

In a WhatsApp group, I challenged a friend of mine to find any direct threat by Putin about using nukes in Ukraine: he couldn't. Have you been reading more than my friend?

Depends what you mean by "direct". Russia has clearly escalated the nuclear rhetoric during this invasion.

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27 February: Putin orders Russia's nuclear deterrent forces to be on "special alert", their highest level.

20 April: Russia carries out its first test launch of the RS-28 Sarmat, a new nuclear-capable ICBM, with Putin saying it should cause countries threatening Russia to "think twice".

24 April: In response to Antony Blinken's meeting with Zelenskyy in Kyiv, Sergey Lavrov stated that further support of Ukraine could cause tensions which could potentially lead to a World War III scenario involving Russia's full arsenal of weapons.

27 April: In response to Germany deploying armed tanks to Ukraine, Putin announced that Russia would respond to any combative military provocation from outside of Ukraine with prompt peremptory action possible only with Russia's unique arsenal of nuclear weapons: "We'll use them, if needed. And I want everyone to know that."

21 September: Following a major counteroffensive by Ukraine in the east, Putin announced a partial mobilisation of Russia and threatened nuclear retaliation, saying "this is not a bluff". Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov did not rule out the use of nuclear weapons to defend annexed territories.

27 September: Dmitry Medvedev said Russia is not afraid of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine and said this is "certainly not a bluff".

26 October: Putin says, without offering evidence, that Ukraine is planning to detonate a dirty bomb, designed to spread radioactive material.

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How are the above statements helpful in resolving this conflict?

Not forgetting the reckless behaviour of Russia with regards to nuclear power facilities, in particular the Zaporizhzhia plant.

Am I supposed to believe that Russia is totally innocent here, and the real victim, while the West is somehow the aggressor and the one trying to escalate tensions? Please explain, because it seems you and I are living in totally separate realities.

[ibm9000]

Depends what you mean...

First: Putin.

Second: What else do you understand by "direct"?

"veiled threats"... "retaliation"... "respond"... that's politics. Some places in the UK are targets, as they have been for decades, I can hardly consider a threat -a direct threat at that- the reminder of a known fact. (I was under threat already, and I knew it).

"You did it first", for some reason, I don't consider that a strong argument. There is an escalation (and one in rhetorics too), that is a fact, as there was one during the Yom Kippur War... and one-sided warmongers are not helping.

[weatheriscool]

Russians said to be clearing Ukrainian region's hospitals
Source: AP

By ANDREW MELDRUM

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian troops moved large numbers of sick and wounded comrades from hospitals in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region, Ukrainian military officials reported Saturday as their forces fought to retake a province overrun by invading soldiers early in the war.

Kremlin-installed authorities in the mostly Russian-occupied region previously urged civilians to leave the city of Kherson, the region’s capital. The Moscow-appointed authorities in Kherson also were reported this week to have joined tens of thousands of residents who fled to other Russia-held areas ahead of an expected Ukrainian advance.

“The so-called evacuation of invaders from the temporarily occupied territory of the Kherson region, including from medical institutions, continues,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a morning update. “All equipment and medicines are being removed from Kherson hospitals.”

The military’s claims could not be independently verified. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a nightly video address Friday that the Russians were “dismantling the entire health care system” in Kherson and other occupied areas.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukrai ... osition_01

[raklian]

The attack is referring to this (take it with a grain of salt as the finer details haven't been confirmed yet):

[Xyls]

Lawl, f*ck the Russians.

And for some more f*ck you to the Russians, from Canada with love. I will be buying some once available.

[weatheriscool]

Russia says it will suspend UN-brokered Ukraine export deal
Source: AP

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that Moscow has moved to suspend its implementation of a U.N.-brokered grain export deal which has seen more than 9 million tons of grain exported from Ukraine and brought down global food prices.

The ministry cited an alleged Ukrainian drone attack against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet ships moored off the coast of occupied Crimea, which Russia says took place in early Saturday, as the reason for the move. Ukraine has denied the attack.

The Russian declaration came one day after U.N. chief Antonio Guterres urged Russia and Ukraine to renew the deal. Guterres also urged other countries, mainly in the West, to expedite the removal of obstacles blocking Russian grain and fertilizer exports.

The U.N. chief underlined the urgency of renewing the deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July, which expires on Nov. 19, “to contribute to food security across the world, and to cushion the suffering that this global cost-of-living crisis is inflicting on billions of people,” his spokesman said.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukrai ... 505dd25334

[Xyls]

Possibly the most interesting news from the conflict today:

[Xyls]

Friendly reminder: It's never too late not to become a hostage of the Russian Federation. Don't go if you don't have to!

[wjfox]

[ibm9000]

GUR claims that Kherson will be liberated by the end of November; by the end of the year in another media.

US says that it has provided 1.000.000 artillery rounds to Ukraine and $18+ billions in armament.
It also says that in the new battlefield you are going to be under observation all the time and that there is always going to be intelligent ammunition to target you; unless there is an important technological gap (Iraq?). Ukraine had or has got a lot of new toys and it seems that it's requesting tanks, if it has been tough for Russia, I don't think it's going to be easy for Ukraine.

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

[ibm9000]

Russian President Vladimir Putin will most likely try to continue conventional military operations in Ukraine to hold currently occupied territories, gain new ground, and set conditions for the collapse of Western support for Ukraine that he likely expects to occur this winter. Putin has likely not abandoned hopes of achieving his maximalist aims in Ukraine through conventional military means, which he is pursuing in parallel with efforts to break Ukraine’s will to fight and the West’s will to continue supporting Kyiv.[1] Putin is unlikely to escalate to the use of tactical nuclear weapons barring the sudden collapse of the Russian military permitting Ukrainian forces to make uncontrolled advances throughout the theater.[2] Such a situation is possible but unlikely. Putin is extraordinarily unlikely to seek direct military conflict with NATO. Putin is very likely to continue to hint at the possibility of Russian tactical nuclear use and attacks on NATO, however, as parts of his effort to break Western will to continue supporting Ukraine.

Biased but usually accurate ISW.

Maybe we should forget about those warmongers and their atomic threats.

$18 billions only the US... I wonder if there is a bit of truth in that of Russia "fighting" NATO.

[wjfox]

[Xyls]

Good joke for today:

[wjfox]

Oligarch renounces Russian citizenship over Ukraine war

Mon 31 Oct 2022 22.17 GMT

The billionaire banker and entrepreneur Oleg Tinkov has renounced his Russian citizenship because of the conflict in Ukraine, which he has previously criticised.

“I have taken the decision to exit my Russian citizenship. I can’t and won’t be associated with a fascist country that started a war with their peaceful neighbour and killing innocent people daily,” Tinkov said.

“I hope more prominent Russian businessmen will follow me, so it weakens Putin’s regime and his economy, and put him eventually to defeat,” he wrote on Instagram.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... kraine-war

[ibm9000]

Is this what we call a traitor? (or called).