Ukraine Open Thread 2022-218

Only for news & views directly related to the Ukraine conflict.

The current open thread for other issues is here.

Yesterday I noted that Sec State Blinken had blinked with regards to Crimea. The State Department spok more or less confirmed the shift:

It was unclear whether Mr. Blinken’s mention of the Feb. 24 lines was deliberate. Before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on that date, Russia already occupied much of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, as well as Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, which the Kremlin annexed in 2014.

Asked on Tuesday whether Washington drew any distinction between Ukrainian land seized by Russia after its Feb. 24 invasion of the country and territory it was occupying previously, Mr. Price demurred.

“It’s a question for the Ukrainian government. It is not a question for the U.S. government,” he said.

Please stick to the topic. Contribute facts. Do not attack other commentators.

China Shifts Covid Policies As Previously Announced - NYT Falsely Claims Protesters' Victory

When the New York Times predicted doom for China over some 'western' directed Covid protests I noted that China had already released new Covid guidelines and would further open up while keeping the pandemic under control:

China can, as Peter Lee predicted, modify its current policies.
...
Two weeks ago the Chinese National Health Commission had already announced 20 new guidelines.

What it can further do to avoid more demonstrations and unrest is to apply sensible zero-Covid measures in a less restricting way.

Today the Chinese government did exactly that:

China rolled back rules on isolating people with COVID-19 and dropped virus test requirements for some public places Wednesday ...

The move adds to earlier easing that fueled hopes Beijing was scrapping its “zero COVID” strategy, which is disrupting manufacturing and global trade. Experts warn, however, that restrictions can’t be lifted completely until at least mid-2023 because millions of elderly people still must be vaccinated and the health care system strengthened.

In total the new control measures can be characterized as less of everything:

Cont. reading: China Shifts Covid Policies As Previously Announced - NYT Falsely Claims Protesters' Victory

U.S. No Longer Supports Fight For Crimea

The U.S. seems to have changed its position with regards to Crimea.

Blinken in August 2022:

Secretary Antony Blinken @SecBlinken - 16:46 UTC · Aug 23, 2022
United States government official

In my remarks to the Crimea Platform Summit, I urged the international community to keep raising the costs and pressure on President Putin and his enablers until all Russian troops leave Ukraine. Crimea is Ukraine. That was our position in 2014, and it remains in 2022.
Embedded video

Same dude, yesterday:

Secretary Antony J. Blinken With Editor in Chief Matt Murray At The Wall Street Journal CEO Council Summit

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Our focus is on continuing to do what we’ve been doing, which is to make sure that Ukraine has in its hands what it needs to defend itself, what it needs to push back against the Russian aggression, to take back territory that’s been seized from it since February 24th, to make sure as well that it has the support economically and on a humanitarian basis to withstand what’s happening in the country every single day. That’s our focus.

"Territory that’s been seized from [Ukraine] since February 24th" obviously does not include Crimea which Russia 'seized' in 2014. This then is a significant shift in the position Blinken had earlier underlined.

Ukraine - Crimea Bridge Repaired, No Ammunition, Drone Attacks In Russia

On October 8 a Ukrainian bomb destroyed the southern part of the car bridge to Crimea. The northern part was also slightly damaged, a passing train on the rail bridge next to it burned out. Some people in Kiev were quite happy about it:

Syricide @Syricide - 8:33 UTC · 10 Oct 2022 #Kiev yesterday.

bigger

But the train traffic resumed a day later. The northern part of the car bridge was checked and car traffic in both directions was allowed. Repair preparations for the broken southern part immediately began.

Two days later the Russian military responded to the attack with the first intense strike against Ukraine's electricity infrastructure.

Now, less than two month later, the work is already done. Four damaged bridge spans have been replaced and a new tar cover has been laid on them. Today the Russia president drove a car over it:

Putin, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, was shown on state television behind the wheel of a Mercedes, asking questions about where the attack took place.

"We are driving on the right hand side," Putin said, as he drove across the bridge. "The left side of the bridge, as I understand it, is in working condition, but nevertheless it needs to be completed. It still suffered a little, we need to bring it to an ideal state."

Putin also walked along parts of the bridge, Europe's largest, to inspect sections that are still visibly scorched.

Bidirectional traffic will now run on the southern span while the slightly damaged northern span will be repaired. This is likely to be finished before the end of the year.

Cont. reading: Ukraine - Crimea Bridge Repaired, No Ammunition, Drone Attacks In Russia

Ukraine Open Thread 2022-217

Only for news & views directly related to the Ukraine conflict.

The current open thread for other issues is here.

Please stick to the topic. Contribute facts. Do not attack other commentators.

The MoA Week In Review - (Not Ukraine) OT 2022-216

Last week's posts on Moon of Alabama:

• Nov 28 - Ukraine War - A Contentious Graveyard In Poland
• Dec 2 - Newsbits On Ukraine - Swamp Trenches, Short Training, Out Of Ammo
  Related:
  - The AFU are suffering heavy losses due to the NATO tactics of COIN. - Tony Cyberspec
  - U.S. intel chief says Russia is using up ammunition in Ukraine faster than it can replace it - NBC News
  - Investigation: International Legion soldiers allege light weapons misappropriation, abuse by commanders - Kiev independent
  
  - Michael Hudson Answers Questions on Europe’s Self-Immolation, Fed’s Malpractice, Changing World Order - Naked Capitalism
  - Alastair Crooke-Europe a VASSAL of the US, Destroying Itself Over Ukraine-Russia War! (vid, rumble) - Going Underground
  - The Crux of the Putin-Xi Revolution for a New World Order – Arresting the Slide to Nihilism - Alastair Crooke / SCF
  - The Coming European Economic Apocalypse - Left Brain Wave
  - How Joe Biden suckered Europe - Aljazeerah

BBC is designating targets:

BBC News (World) @BBCWorld - 13:32 UTC · Dec 3, 2022
New images show Russian army base built in occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol

bigger

The building is a civilian hospital:
- Donbass | Medical center in Mariupol: from scratch and turnkey - in just 85 days (video) - VSK

• Nov 29 - More On The Crypto Scam - "There's A Sucker Born Every Minute."
  Related:
  - FTX’s Collapse Was a Crime, Not an Accident - Coindesk
  - Sam Bankman-Fried's Self-Incrimination Tour - Coindesk
  - Sam Bankman-Fried Blames ‘Huge Management Failures’ for FTX Collapse - New York Times

• Dec 1 - China - Protest Instigators And Zero-Covid Policies
  Related:
  - China sets ambitious Covid-19 vaccination targets, officials say - SCMP
  - Chartbook #177 Beijing's tragic COVID dilemma - Adam Tooze
  - Huawei CFO's U.S. bank fraud charges to be dismissed - Reuters

• Dec 3 - Musk Provides Twitter Censorship Files
  Related:
  - Elon Musk says Twitter's censorship of Hunter Biden laptop story was the 'definition of election interference' and that firm 'was acting as an arm of the DNC' - Daily Mail
  - “A Cautionary Tale for Everyone”: The Media Mob Turns on Taibbi - Jonathan Turley
  - The Twenty-Seven Most Embarrassing Reactions to Taibbi Thread About Twitter Censoring Hunter Biden Tweets - Mediate
  - LGBT Laws, Thanksgiving, and Cancel Culture - Reading Junkie

---
Other issues:

Cont. reading: The MoA Week In Review - (Not Ukraine) OT 2022-216

Ukraine Open Thread 2022-215

Only for news & views directly related to the Ukraine conflict.

The current open thread for other issues is here.

Please stick to the topic. Contribute facts. Do not attack other commentators.

Musk Provides Twitter Censorship Files

In October 2020 the New York Post published private porn and business details it had retrieved from Hunter Biden's laptop. Emails found on it proved that Joe Biden, despite his claims otherwise, had manipulated the Ukrainian government in service of the gas company Burisma, which was paying his son's company for such lobbying.

The librul media and the Democratic party launched a censorship and denial campaign to suppress the news about the laptop. They called it 'Russian disinformation'. A court later verified that the content of the laptop was genuine.

When the story broke Twitter prominently prohibited and suppressed all links to the New York Post story.

Elon Musk, who has recently bought Twitter, has given the relevant internal Twitter communication to muckraker Matt Taibbi who then tweeted the story:

Matt Taibbi @mtaibbi - 11:34 UTC · Dec 3, 2022

1. Thread: THE TWITTER FILES

Cont. reading: Musk Provides Twitter Censorship Files

Newsbits On Ukraine - Swamp Trenches, Short Training, Out Of Ammo

Realistic reports from the Ukrainian frontline are rare. Yesterday the British Express had this (@7:30, also here) from Bakhmut / Artemovsk in its Live coverage. One wonders how it has bypassed the censor:

Inside Bakhmut frontline 'littered with corpses' and 'colossal' losses

The Ukrainian commander of the Svoboda battalion, Petro Kuzyk, whose unit is one of those holding Bakhmut said his soldiers are staying in trenches full of corpses, fighting in extremely cold conditions and in knee-deep water against Russia's attacks.
...
"I apologise for speaking slowly now, because I'm very cold – it's making me dizzy. I've now left the first line (since I was called). I'm warming up in the car, I'm almost falling asleep, because I haven't slept all this time. They charged yesterday, quite seriously. They felt a weakness in our defence, because (I will not name the numbers of the units, so as not to spoil their honour) there are units that are less motivated than ours. And yesterday they weakened our defence a little in the area just around the Bakhmut. Some units could not withstand this artillery onslaught and retreated.

"This is our principle: we, the Svoboda Battalion, do not retreat. And because of that, we found ourselves in a semi-surrounded situation, and we had a lot of work to do. In addition, it is a swamp full of mud. It is very difficult to evacuate the wounded or to deliver ammunition. The trenches are constantly deteriorating, and in this swamp they must be constantly rebuilt."

He added: "Today is the first day without rain, but then and yesterday when it fell, all the water flowed into the trenches. And the shelling was such that it was impossible to get out of the trench, so the guys were constantly wet for a day or two. Plus the temperature is like this. Many are contused, many with pneumonia. But we hold our ground, and we defend. I see young guys standing with their teeth clenched. I would really like someone to write about their achievements, because few people in the country know about it."

The above reads like a report from Verdun.

---

More from that Express Live coverage (@8:31):

Cont. reading: Newsbits On Ukraine - Swamp Trenches, Short Training, Out Of Ammo

Ukraine Open Thread 2022-214

Only for news & views directly related to the Ukraine conflict.

The current open thread for other issues is here.

Please stick to the topic. Contribute facts. Do not attack other commentators.