Ukraine Open Thread 2023-53
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.
Posted by b on March 3, 2023 at 18:15 UTC | Permalink
next page »Increasing de-industrialisation?
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/35736
Posted by: SattaMassaGana | Mar 3 2023 18:18 utc | 2
Primer & reminder re Karlof1's excellent recent multi-thread posts re Lavrov/Ukraine/wider conflict objectives ... not more recent US instigated Chechen Wars I & II ('94-'96 & '99-2k to 2k-'09), (US/NATO) instigated Georgian War 2008 or more recent Macron & Merkel re Crimea/Maidan, Minsk I & II ... let's step back to '90/'91 ...
Russia's primary over-arching demand re indivisable security guarantees and roll back of relentless NATO Expansion to the East:
Who Promised What to Whom on NATO Expansion? - (National Security Archives)
Declassified documents show security assurances against NATO expansion to Soviet leaders from: Baker, Bush, Genscher, Kohl, Gates, Mitterrand, Thatcher, Hurd, Major, and Woerner
U.S. Secretary of State James Baker’s famous “not one inch eastward” assurance about NATO expansion in his meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on February 9, 1990, was part of a cascade of assurances about Soviet security given by Western leaders to Gorbachev and other Soviet officials throughout the process of German unification in 1990 and on into 1991, according to declassified U.S., Soviet, German, British and French documents.The documents show that multiple national leaders were considering and rejecting Central and Eastern European membership in NATO as of early 1990 and through 1991, that discussions of NATO in the context of German unification negotiations in 1990 were not at all narrowly limited to the status of East German territory, and that subsequent Soviet and Russian complaints about being misled about NATO expansion were founded in written contemporaneous memcons and telcons at the highest levels.
The documents reinforce former CIA Director Robert Gates’s criticism of “pressing ahead with expansion of NATO eastward [in the 1990s], when Gorbachev and others were led to believe that wouldn’t happen.” The key phrase, buttressed by the documents, is “led to believe.”
...
Something that's never been commented on.
The entire NATO Soviet era armour was shipped to Ukraine.
Hundreds of T72s and every other armoured vehicle,artillery etc.
I never heard anything about it breaking down or not being combat worthy for months.
But Leopards Abrahams etc.
Still waiting,the Germans admitting they have hardly any serviceable one's.
The US sorry nothing available.
Anyone got any take on this totally unremarked situation.?
Sure javelins manpads etc but even the hoo ha wrt these is strangly muted.
Posted by: jpc | Mar 3 2023 18:30 utc | 4
Eurofreedom comes to Moldovia.
https://hippy-end.livejournal.com/5413265.html
TV-stations are forcibly closed for "propaganda by silence", wow.
Posted by: Arioch | Mar 3 2023 18:31 utc | 5
Posted by: Outraged | Mar 3 2023 18:25 utc | 3
... nice find ... only similar thing I have seen so far is the "Nyet means Nyet" memo so this solidifies it in my mind. It also illustrates very well the mental gymnastics required and the self deception needed to hold a certain type of view such as here ... (many thanks to Macpott from a few days back)
Posted by: SattaMassaGana | Mar 3 2023 18:49 utc | 6
Melitopol is officially the capital of Zaporozhye oblast:
https://t.me/readovkanews/54002
(with a map, for the first time in an official document)
No word on Kherson yet.
One way of looking at this is as a temporary thing -- there needs to be some administrative center after all.
But the other way is as an official abandonment of the goal of capturing Zaporozhye city...
Posted by: shadowbanned | Mar 3 2023 18:56 utc | 7
Armed Forces of Ukraine draw up reserves to Kupyansk
According to the telegram channel "Idi I Smorti," the Ukrainian command is transferring reserves to the Kupyansk direction. Earlier, the forced evacuation of the local population from the city had begun.
"They are waiting for a new Russian offensive on Kupyansk." "And in general, to the Kharkiv region," said the channel's source.
The offensive in the Kharkov direction is really logical after the liberation of Artemovsk (Bakhmut). The return of Kupyansk, Izyum, and Balakleya will make it possible (for the Russians ) to attack Slavyansk from several directions at once and not storm the fortified areas head-on.
@Slavyangrad
Massive explosions are thundering in the area of the Kupyansk-Vuzlovyi settlement.
@Slavyangrad
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 3 2023 18:58 utc | 8
@ 8
I doubt it. There are three scenarios I can think of, potentially more:
1. The most likely option is incompetence. Despite all the hollering and cheering, Russia’s “special” “”operation”” has been going rather slowly. Nazi Germany managed to take over most of Europe in just two years, the Russians not so much. Wagner seems to be doing most of the heavy lifting in Ukraine, not so much standard army.
2. Mercy. Although it may sound crazy, it’s not unusual for an army to show mercy to another, especially given the kinship they might feel. Sherman was an asshole but some union soldiers disobeyed orders to destroy southern cities, or tried to sabotage their efforts. Russians may feel that killing them is just pointless.
3. Betrayal. I don’t really see how Ukraine and NATO got into the pockets of certain military officers, especially Wagner. More likely if there is betrayal it’s because they’re frustrated with how the course of the war is going / being conducted and low level officers and subtly protesting whoever is really in charge.
Posted by: Test | Mar 3 2023 19:10 utc | 9
This cartoon says it all...
https://twitter.com/RealPepeEscobar/status/1631386642769387530
Posted by: Sanctions R US | Mar 3 2023 19:20 utc | 10
France and those countries with F 16's will now fast track deliveries of Mirage 2000 and F 16 fighter's.
Putin needs to raze Kiev to a smoldering heap.
Within 6 months Zelinski will be bombing Moscow.
His Defense Minister should be dismissed.
https://warnews247.gr/anoigei-i-porta-tou-frenokomeiou-i-oukrania-pairnei-me-fast-track-diadikasies-mirage-2000-kai-f-16-moscha-isodynamei-me-kiryxi-polemou-apo-to-nato/
Posted by: jgalt | Mar 3 2023 19:21 utc | 11
@ SattaMassaGana | Mar 3 2023 18:49 utc | 9
You are most welcome. Forgettinin'(sic) is a key aspect of successful long-term sculpted propaganda/narrative. Variants periodically posted over last 7 years as appropriate. 18 years of archived posts in current iteration of MoA. How many times can contributors post/reference/discuss the same/similar material/events to benefit posters & lurkers as they transition in and out of MoA ? Let us find out, shall we. ;) Cheers
Indeed, excellent succinct succulent clip. Someone with a Twatter account should do a ThreadRollup(?) & VideoClipRollup(?), so it isn't memory-holed/deleted.
Love yer nic.
Peace
@ Sanctions R US | Mar 3 2023 19:20 utc | 13
LOL :)
&
Translated, 'INTERCEPTION (Z)', (TG)
The EU(not NATO) plans to transfer jointly purchased ammunition to Ukraine in the coming weeks:- Financial Times.The plan to quickly provide Ukraine with scarce artillery ammunition was supported by all EU countries, except for Denmark and Norway.
&
Clown World Live! :
Zelensky announced a shortage of weapons and ammunition in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and added that Western countries should speed up their deliveries.According to him, Ukraine needs artillery in order to regain control over the regions that Kyiv still continues to consider its own. Zelensky also noted that Ukraine "will receive a tank army."
&
Enterprises disrupting the state defense order in case of martial law will be subject to external management:- Putin Presidential decree
@ i seem 2 b banned | Mar 3 2023 18:44 utc | 8
@ Test | Mar 3 2023 19:10 utc | 12
Tag-team effort. :(
Shift in the propaganda machine. Something's up, sympathy play for more intervention? Lie is about to smash into reality, best to start winding it down?
CNN, citing its sources in the Ukrainian General Staff, reports that as of February 28, 2023, the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine amounted to:
-259,085 people killed, who died from wounds and diseases
-wounded, crippled 246,904
-deserted, as well as missing - 83,952
-captured - 28,393
https://t.me/vicktop55/13226
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Mar 3 2023 18:40 utc | 7
Lightyears, could you post a link to the CNN article?
Posted by: Ramsey Glissadevil | Mar 3 2023 19:45 utc | 13
The following links are in German but you don’t need the text, just look at the photos – according to the newspaper another 150 ships full of weapons are planned:
Posted by: Zet | Mar 3 2023 19:48 utc | 14
France and those countries with F 16's will now fast track deliveries of Mirage 2000 and F 16 fighter's.
Posted by: jgalt | Mar 3 2023 19:21 utc | 14
I have no inside information, but I would not be surprised to learn that Russia’s integrated air defences include a dustpan and brush to sweep up the wreckage of outdated aircraft such as Mirage 2000s and F-16s...
Posted by: West of England Andy | Mar 3 2023 19:49 utc | 15
Anyia of "Through The Eyes of" Youtube channel has a new interview up with Scott Ritter and Andrei Martyanov...
SCOTT RITTER AND ANDREI MARTYANOV: ON POLAND, KIEV AND RUSSOPHOBIA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMon7chiyqQ&t=2s
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 3 2023 19:53 utc | 16
So, is it the case that the Russian high command has seen through Zelenskyy's brutally barbaric and cynical ploy to leave behind "cannon fodder" in Bakhmut, and elsewhere, while withdrawing his best trained, equipped, and most fit, troops to fight again another day?
I suspect that Zelenskyy wanted to have his cake and eat it too. He wanted his allies in the media to report on how Russia was suffering staggering casualties by having to fight door to door, inch by inch, as they made headway in Bakhmut, but he knew he couldn't afford the troops needed to make that happen in a manner approaching reality.
But if had a few thousand troops he saw as disposable hole up in a scattered fashion, then Russia would be left with a tedious job, one where quickness meant an increase in Russian force casualties. It looks to me to likely be be the case now that Russia is treating the capture of Bakhmut as a given, and is willing to take it at a slower pace so as to save their troops, and to devote resources towards destroying the the AFU forces they'll be up against in a post Bakhmut battlefield. That kind of pragmatism definitely reminds me of my reading of how the Union forces defeated the Confederate ones in the American Civil War after General Grant took charge.
I yearn for the day when Boris Johnson and those of his kind are called to account for having scuttled peace negotiations in early 2022. Hundreds of thousands will have died or been maimed because Johnson needed pawns in his Game of Thrones.
Posted by: Babel-17 | Mar 3 2023 20:02 utc | 17
Everyone is already writing that the West demands a successful offensive by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in order to continue receiving military assistance.This is invested in the overall strategy of the Office of the President for the mass capture of men, where we indicated this.
We wrote that if the RF Armed Forces do not launch a full-scale offensive within two months, then the Armed Forces of Ukraine will have to go on the attack themselves in order to show the partners a positive trend, that their “investments” are justified.
https://t.me/legitimniy/14889
Posted by: Down South | Mar 3 2023 20:06 utc | 18
Colleagues raised a good topic.We will tell you one interesting scheme from this case, which a source told us about a long time ago.
Scheme of the arms trade within the country.
To do this, the following actors participate in the scheme:
1. High-ranking official of the Ministry of Defense.
2. Own volunteer organization
3. Deciders (intermediaries)
4. Own military group, unit, etc.For example, weapons come under Western lend-lease. The official distributes it to his unit, the officer writes off the loss / use in battles. Volunteers collect money and then buy it in a circle.Intermediaries (declarers) dealt with issues of fictitious documents or acted as arms dealers.
At the same time, weapons, equipment, equipment, etc., never left the warehouse, hangar.
There are such cunning people who "traded air." For example, they never had anything physically, but simply implemented a scheme based on papers and reports, writing off billions to "help the army."
https://t.me/legitimniy/14893
Posted by: Down South | Mar 3 2023 20:09 utc | 19
Ramsey Glissadevil @ 16
Lightyears, could you post a link to the CNN article?
All I have is what I got from that TG channel who's as reliable as any of the well meaning channels on TG. I saw it on an other one too, but social media is an echo chamber, you go there for the speculation and to glean tidbits not for facts. I was suspicious as CNN breaking narrative is odd. I think RSH has it right, probably social media BS. However give it a day or two, social media occasionally surprises. It's like combing the beach with a metal detector, mostly you find a bottle caps, once in a while you find a nickle, or a quarter if it's your lucky day. What you'll never find is a pirate's chest full of gold.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Mar 3 2023 20:09 utc | 20
Posted by: Babel-17 | Mar 3 2023 20:02 utc | 22
Re post #8: Some idiot quotes Ukrainian Pravda and now we're supposed to discuss how Putin is a "traitor" and the Russians are retreating from Bahkmut?
People citing Telegram channels need to provide a link to the channel source and Telegram channels that do not provide links to their original sources need to be dismissed as bullshit.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 3 2023 20:14 utc | 21
🇪🇺🇨🇳🇺🇦🇷🇺EU will impose sanctions against China if it receives confirmation of arms supplies to Russia
As the agency's source in the institutions of the European Union noted, "this will be the last red line" - Reuters
The EU intends to impose sanctions against Beijing if it receives confirmation of China's arms supplies to Russia. This was reported on Friday by Reuters, citing a source in the EU institutions.
"This will be the last red line if China supplies weapons to Russia. The EU will respond with sanctions," the agency quotes an unnamed official.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-official-warns-sanctions-if-china-crosses-red-line-arms-russia-2023-03-03/
@Azgeopolitics
Anyone want to guess what happens if (when) EU starts placing sanctions on China? Any economic crisis in the history of Europe so far will look like a boy scout summer camp.
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 3 2023 20:16 utc | 22
Not the best of weeks for Ukraine. Sending nazi to shoot at Russian school children after you just told the people of the United States that their sons and daughters will have to fight and die for your country might actually not have been such a bright idea after all.
I wonder how many living room in the US have heard the words “this guy Zlewinskij, who the hell does he think he is?” muttered the last couple of days.
Posted by: Jörgen Hassler | Mar 3 2023 20:20 utc | 23
Weeb Union, DPA, Military Summary and others are reporting that Ukrainians are retreating from Artyomovsk. CONGRATULATIONS TO RUSSIA, WAGNER, AND ALL RUSSIA SUPPORTERS.
Posted by: Anton Gorbatow | Mar 3 2023 20:21 utc | 24
Opinions may vary about Jim Rickards, but he has this piece up https://dailyreckoning.com/one-of-the-biggest-propaganda-campaigns-ever/ that has some resonance with b’s earlier thread about ‘the spectacle’.
A brief excerpt:
...the Ukrainian propaganda effort is one of the most astonishingly effective concoctions of lies ever seen.From the “Ghost of Kyiv” fighter ace to the “Heroes of Snake Island” to wildly exaggerated claims of Russian casualties to the suppression of any news that reflects badly on Ukraine, the Ukrainian propaganda machine has been firing on all cylinders.
Posted by: West of England Andy | Mar 3 2023 20:23 utc | 25
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Mar 3 2023 20:09 utc | 25
Have not been able to find any such CNN report. But only one note on this, because sometimes these news channels might make a short remark on their news broadcast on their channel, but they might not put that stuff on their website. I've seen it happen before in different news channels.
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 3 2023 20:27 utc | 26
New York Times on probably the most important War Games of the 21st Century so far:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/02/world/europe/ukraine-us-wargames-germany.html
https://archive.is/npxsN (archive link)
WIESBADEN, Germany — With winter almost behind them, senior American generals hosted Ukrainian military officials this week for a set of “tabletop” exercises designed to help Kyiv map out the next stage of its battle to reclaim territory from dug-in Russian troops.
During a war-game session at the headquarters of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, the military officials rehearsed a range of options for an offensive that Ukraine’s leader, President Volodymyr Zelensky, has been telegraphing for some time.
The sessions, attended on Thursday by President Biden’s most senior generals responsible for American efforts to help Ukraine, were meant to strategize, officials said, mapping out the risks and benefits of a variety of moves that Ukraine might make against Russian positions in the coming months...
Posted by: Biely | Mar 3 2023 20:33 utc | 27
Surprisingly for some, the 'Western MSM' does not have a monolopy on letters of the alphabet depicting news sites.
https://newsfrol.ru/24/11200/?ysclid=leszk3obu876415450
Posted by: krl | Mar 3 2023 20:37 utc | 28
“Spare any change, mate”. The habitual beggar is back again, needing more support for his addiction.
From Tass: https://tass.com/world/1584657
Zelensky claims lack of weapons, ammunition in Ukrainian forcesMOSCOW, March 3. /TASS/. Ukrainian armed forces suffer from a deficit of artillery, ammunition, warplanes and tanks, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said Friday. Speaking during a joint press conference with his Latvian counterpart Egils Levits in Lvov, Zelensky claimed that, due to the shortage of weapons and ammunition, the West must speed up arms shipments to Ukraine.
"Artillery is the number one thing that we need. Both systems and ammunition, shells in large amounts," Zelensky said.
He claimed that Ukraine needs artillery not to strike Russian territory, but to take back regions, which Kiev still continues to consider its own. In addition, Zelensky stated a deficit of warplanes.
"We need planes. Not talks or promises, just to train our guys and hand over planes," he noted.
The Ukrainian president also acknowledged the lack of tanks in the Ukrainian forces.
"I believe that, whatever happens, we will obtain a tank army," he said. "Our armed forces are already being trained, it will happen soon. However, there is a certain deficit."
Answering a question from a reporter on how arms shipments to Kiev could be sped up, Zelensky noted that it is necessary to "speak publicly" about shortages.
"And the countries that help us can publicly support shipments of various types of weapons. There are no more secrets as to what weapons we have," he said.
The reporter, who asked the question, disclosed that she talked to Ukrainian servicemen in Artyomovsk (Bakhmut). According to the reporter, the servicemen told her about shortage of weapons, ammunition, warplanes and helicopters.
Uncounted $billions, but at the ‘Beggars Banquet’ he still claims to be cold and hungry.
Posted by: West of England Andy | Mar 3 2023 20:39 utc | 29
Anyone want to guess what happens if (when) EU starts placing sanctions on China?
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 3 2023 20:16 utc | 27
My guess: The USA will resell for a 20% markup what the USA gets from China to Europe to supply the Europeans with what they need? Probably the USA will drop ship directly from China ship it to the Eu port of choice?
Posted by: snake | Mar 3 2023 20:39 utc | 30
Shadowbanned @ 10:
Henichesk (or Genichesk in Russian pronunciation) is currently serving as the capital of Kherson oblast. I do not know if that has been made official so I assume it is still only temporary.
Of course the Ukies and the West continue to bray about liberating Kherson, deliberately leaving out the fact that the administrative region was named after the city, so as to confuse their publics into thinking the entire oblast was "liberated" (after the Russians' tactical retreat).
Posted by: Jen | Mar 3 2023 20:41 utc | 31
@17
Wow. One hundred and fifty ships full of weapons from Germany? Won't it be rough sailing over land through Poland? Or are all these ships going to force their way through the Bosporus to the Black Sea?
I suspect that this will give Russia the opportunity to sink 150 ships before they land.
Posted by: Bob In Portland, Ore | Mar 3 2023 20:48 utc | 32
West of England Andy @ 35:
You will have to hide when the movie awards ceremonies and film festivals in North America and Europe soon get under way. The Oscars are being held some time in March and Cannes is not far away (May?). Then there is Eurovision in Liverpool in May. Plenty of opportunities for Zelensky to beg for money and warn people that if they don't cough up, their children will end up having to fight evil Russians.
Posted by: Jen | Mar 3 2023 20:48 utc | 33
jgalt @14
eu militaries that are chained to f-16 are hoping they get their f-35’s because their f-16’s are old and not usable, nor have they means to send servicing troops to ukrastan airfields.
m-2000 same french version of f-16
Posted by: paddy [email protected] | Mar 3 2023 20:48 utc | 34
unimperator @ 27
Anyone want to guess what happens if (when) EU starts placing sanctions on China? Any economic crisis in the history of Europe so far will look like a boy scout summer camp.
Me and everyone else will be walking around naked and shoeless, cars up on blocks in the front yard, no parts for bikes either, we will all be on +10y/o computers and phones until they die out. Forget fancy 3nm microchips they might as well be lumps of sand without generic capacitors, resistors, transistors to make them do their digital age magic, guess where most of those come from? In short back to the stone age. Maybe we'll be better off for it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRHqs8SffDo
Can't wait for China to tell Meloni where she can shove her vital high-end fashion industry. No normal people in the EU or USA have the money or the interest in that luxo branded shit anymore - except the Russians and Chinese. One down, one to go.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Mar 3 2023 20:49 utc | 35
Posted by: Biely | Mar 3 2023 20:33 utc | 33
Number one reason Ukraine is losing (besides the military balance being against them): leadership by incompetent Western generals who, as Martyanov says ad nauseum, "never won shit in their lives."
Then there's the popular idea, which is possibly true, that Western leaders want Ukraine to expend every single Ukrainian in the vain hope that somehow the Russians will be "bled dry". Good luck with that idea, West...
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 3 2023 20:49 utc | 36
A lot of the senior Russian commanders in the field were junior officers during the First Chechen War and appalled at the outcome of the disastrous decision to storm Grozny. The original plan had been to lay siege to the capital, but the order to seize the city was given so as to give the Defence Minister, General Grachev, a birthday present. Russians, like the US don’t do cities, their doctrine is quite specific, surround, contain and bypass. In Bakhmut you can see this in operation, Russian regular forces protect Wagner’s flanks, who slowly nibble away at the perimeter and try to effect an encirclement.
Full encirclements are time consuming and expose the pincers to counter-attacks, the aim here is to attrition the flanks, held by the regular army, as enough territorial forces disengage so that Kiev can boast about escaping the Russian trap. Once Bakhmut is captured the front immediately contracts, freeing up thousands of men an supporting equipment. Ukraine is reinforcing the new Chasov Yar defence line, but the Russians will probably strike elsewhere, whilst maintaining the pressure, to stop potential reinforcements moving to the new axis of attack. There are going to be very few big pockets of trapped enemy troops, that’s the past, the modern C4 ISR complex precludes such operations, so the outcome now is to push the enemy out, maintain the temp, so as to keep the enemy guessing at your next move.
Posted by: Milites | Mar 3 2023 20:52 utc | 37
Bob in Portland @ 39:
To reach Poland, those 150 ships carrying weapons and maybe also ammunition have to sail past Bornholm, near the area where the Nordstream II pipelines were sabotaged. There might still be a few unexploded mines in that area. And the Baltic Sea is supposed to be quite shallow ...
Posted by: Jen | Mar 3 2023 20:53 utc | 38
Cartoon on Ukrainian mobilization: https://t.me/crimeasees/51
"We'll just check-up the bio"
------------
13:10
Ze openly laughs at the ritual chants of Ukrainain territorial integrity and Russia's loss
https://youtu.be/hv3qNq8wPGo?t=790
Posted by: Arioch | Mar 3 2023 20:55 utc | 39
Down South 23, 24 (& EVERY DAY!)
Many thanks for these reports, very much appreciated.
Posted by: @vec | Mar 3 2023 20:55 utc | 40
Posted by: Jen | Mar 3 2023 20:48 utc | 40
Don’t worry about those, I am well practiced in avoiding such media monstrosities as the Oscars and Eurovision!
Posted by: West of England Andy | Mar 3 2023 20:58 utc | 41
@ jgalt #14
I can do better than that :)
Biden will fast track B-52s to Ukraine, to carpet bomb any Russian units insolent enough to shoot at the Abrams tanks that we're sending, which will be re-fueled with donated Stratotankers, because they run on jet fuel.
Chernobyl will become a launching pad for donated cruise missiles aimed at Moscow, because nobody's using it for anything else these days, and nuking the place would just be a waste of a warhead.
Posted by: John Schmeeckle | Mar 3 2023 20:58 utc | 42
Kaptain Kirby speaks"
"China is still considering providing lethal military assistance to the Russian Federation, but the US administration still "does not believe they have made the decision to move forward," John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, told a briefing."
What will China demand in return? No military support for Taiwan?
Bluffing... When you shove all in with a losing hand.
Posted by: Sanctions R US | Mar 3 2023 21:02 utc | 43
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Mar 3 2023 20:49 utc | 42
"we will all be on +10y/o computers"
Heh, my last computer before my current one lasted ten years - 2008-2018 - and I still keep it around as a backup, nicely running Windows 10 (too old for Windows 11) plus running openSUSE Linux under the Windows Linux Subsystem. Quad core AMD Phenom 9650, 4GB RAM. Perfectly good machine unless one plays the latest games, which I don't.
Current Machine: AMD Ryzen 2600X 6-core 12 thread CPU, originally 16GB RAM recently upgraded to 64GB in preparation for replacing the 2600x with a 5950X 16 core 32-thread CPU. I need to run a lot of virtual machines while mastering hacking. The 5950X is the last AMD CPU that will fit the AM4 motherboard in this box. The next upgrade will require a new motherboard, new RAM, new everything. I can easily go another ten years with that machine, although I expect I'll build a new one within the next three.
Anyway, the point is China will have to take Taiwan before we run out of computers. But that may happen, too. Hopefully they wait until I build my next one.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 3 2023 21:03 utc | 44
@ West of England Andy | Mar 3 2023 19:49 utc | 18
RAOTFLMFAO. My shout at the bar. What's yer poison ? I'm having a Guinness with a raw muscle(Hi Bevin!) tossed in. Prost!
@ Richard Steven Hack | Mar 3 2023 20:14 utc | 26
It's the same AH's names troll poster again. The style's a unique signature & lo & behold it's been posted on multiple current threads. Surprise, surprise, surprise ! :(
Cheers
@ jgalt | Mar 3 2023 19:21 utc | 14
The site is often 'Veteran's Today' style low credibility/unreliable click-bait, IMV.
Barflies will have trouble translating the Greek 'cause the site code is deliberately highly restricted.
Respectfully suggest you use an alternate source or first translate, then post & reference the link instead, hm ?
However, given your preceding comments ... :(
Partial translation follows:
A "bombshell" revelation is being made by French media, which report that Paris has agreed to deliver Mirage fighters to Ukraine with the training of Ukrainian pilots starting soon. The delivery of the fighters is expected to take place within the next 18 months or earlier. It depends whether the pilots will be "retired NATO"...This means that there is already an agreement within NATO on the next escalation steps with the US delivering F-16 fighters. Sending fighters is NATO's last "card" if the Ukrainians' spring ground counterattack fails. And it will happen if there is no agreement in the negotiations.
The French Air Force has 99 Mirage 2000 fighters of the 5, C and D versions). The Navy has an additional 40 fighters. France could begin training Ukrainian pilots for the Mirage 2000 fighters in Poland, according to French Defense Minister Sebastian Lecorny.
...
@ Zet | Mar 3 2023 19:48 utc | 17
Toy ships, escorted by my rubber ducky, in the bathtub, perhaps ? Gag me with a spoon. Lotsa BS so far ...
Posted by: West of England Andy | Mar 3 2023 19:49 utc | 18
Typical Westerner, denigrating Russia’s technology. I am reliably informed Russian AD units have been issued, hand-held, cordless vacuum cleaners, for several years now.
Posted by: Milites | Mar 3 2023 21:15 utc | 46
What's the difference between a Leopard I and a lump of coal?
"Santa -- oops, I mean Dracula -- that's not what we asked for. We've been delivering pounds and pounds of flesh to the cauldrons, just like you said."
Posted by: John Schmeeckle | Mar 3 2023 21:24 utc | 47
This is so extraordinary I had to link it. Bonzo went to Bitburg, shouldn't Biden be here to bookend it?
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses/21447
Vladimir and Elena Zelensky have met with the Latvian President Egils Levits in Lviv to lay down flowers to the dead soldiers at the Lychakiv cemetery.
The best part of it is that every second graveyard has a Nazi black and red UPA flag on top of it...
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Mar 3 2023 21:24 utc | 48
"BEIJING, March 3 – "We firmly oppose US arms sales to China's Taiwan region and have made solemn representations to the US side," remarked Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, when asked by the press to make comments on the latest US arms sale to Taiwan on Friday"
That will firmly solve the problem
Posted by: rk | Mar 3 2023 21:36 utc | 49
Posted by: Outraged | Mar 3 2023 21:05 utc | 53
Thank you kindly, a bottle of Cheddar Ales “Totty Pot” porter would be gratefully received...
Posted by: Milites | Mar 3 2023 21:15 utc | 54
Fair shout, guilty as charged! (this post is brought to you in association with Dyson)
Posted by: West of England Andy | Mar 3 2023 21:39 utc | 50
Ukies demolishing bridges in Artemivsk and the TG/Twit channels going operationally silent. It's about to get good!
Posted by: LGB! | Mar 3 2023 21:47 utc | 51
Re Russian decision to completely encircle Bakhmut and leaving an escape route -humanitarian corridor - is shrewd from PR move. It achieves the goal of capturing the city without shooting helpless “fish in a barrel,” some of which are conscripted minors and disabled pensioners. For western audiences, this is a narrative war and Russia choosing “discretion is the better part
of valor” path shows them a reliable and rational partner in the court of pup lic opinion
Posted by: Willow | Mar 3 2023 22:05 utc | 53
It seems like bahkmut is about to fall. Yesterday it was a line about reinforcements coming in, but now I guess they're not.
Two more bridges cut, one further west by khormorve apparently by an iskander missle. The bridge in the center of the city might have been blow by Ukrainians trapping the troops on the east side.
Here your reinforcement boys, poor bastards. That's some hard decisions there by the Ukrainians. Prighozin is dunking on zelensky on the obviously expendable recruits left on the east side. Boys and old men, damn good propaganda. May even be real.
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Mar 3 2023 22:15 utc | 54
Posted by: Willow | Mar 3 2023 22:05 utc | 62
Willow, the west will just paint it as a "tactical, organised withdrawal"......
Posted by: HERMIUS | Mar 3 2023 22:28 utc | 55
UK Telegraph reporting Ukraine Withdrawing from Bakhmut
Ukrainian troops have reportedly begun destroying bridges in the eastern city of Bakhmut, where Russian forces appear on the brink of a rare victory after months of brutal fighting.
Posted by: The Accountant | Mar 3 2023 22:31 utc | 56
@ HERMIUS | Mar 3 2023 22:04 utc | 61
Thanks! Looked like we picked a good time to drop in.
I'll take a Rheingold, Schlitz, or Pabst Blue Ribbon, if you have any.
Posted by: dfg | Mar 3 2023 22:36 utc | 57
- Mr. President, Ukraine sent some nazis over the Russian border to shoot at 10 year-olds!
- Give them another 400 million worth of weapons.
Posted by: Sektion2B | Mar 3 2023 22:36 utc | 58
Toy ships, escorted by my rubber ducky, in the bathtub, perhaps ? Gag me with a spoon. Lotsa BS so far ...
Posted by: Outraged | Mar 3 2023 21:05 utc | 53
You can call it BS but the port authority of Bremerhaven has scheduled 150 incoming ships in total. Nobody knows what will be on them but I guess this will be the Strykers, Bradleys, Humvees, etc. the Pentagon promised months ago...
Whether Ukraine will still have enough forces to man all that stuff is another story; and those certainly won't be Wunderwaffen either :-) Russia certainly knows that more stuff is coming and maybe therefore didn't yet commit all their fresh forces incl. material to the theatre. I guess we'll find out in spring/summer when Zelensky's mystic offensive will begin. Or not.
So don't shoot at me, I'm just forwarding what is happening around here. Oh, and the people of Bremerhaven are quite pissed that their city is clogged for the coming weeks/months, they are not happy to be the port of choice.
Posted by: Zet | Mar 3 2023 22:39 utc | 59
Posted by HERMIUS
True, but Russia’s restraint and discretion will be understood by the global south and BRICS partners. Russia has proven the pariah is US/NATO
Posted by: Willow | Mar 3 2023 22:43 utc | 60
People are asking what was the propose of German chancellor Shultz visit to Washington today? Simply a satrap visiting the emperor and pledging allegiance to the empire again after his infrastructure was blown up on the order of the emperor. Is fun to see German and Germany are being so degraded and humiliated by the Americans in the eye of the world. People with so little dignity do deserve it.
Kooshy
Posted by: Kooshy | Mar 3 2023 22:52 utc | 61
Last month the NYT reported Bahkmut as a 'Strategic city', now it's reported as a 'city that has limited strategic value'...
@ John Schmeeckle | Mar 3 2023 21:24 utc | 55
The difference between a Leopard I (Light Tank) & an AMX-10-RC 6-wheeled heavy armored car ?
A Leopard I:
Was largely retired from active military service ~33 years ago.
Has tank tracks as opposed to inflatable tires on wheel-rims.
Faster off-road, slower on-road.
Has the same caliber, obsolete, tank main gun, though higher velocity, & is stabilized & therefore can fire on the move.
Is a larger target with only marginally better frontal armor.
Was likely manufactured 16 years earlier, starting in 1965, 58 years ago.
Is multi-fuel but has only 2/3's the range.
Is at or marginally below the rated maximum load bearing weight of Banderastan's roads, bridges & highways.
A bigger-bada-boom when it explodes.
Is named after a big cat.
Is very shy & highly reclusive & yet to be observed in the wild in The Borderlands.
Worth 3,000,000 Rubles if ya can catch one, intact.
@ Zet | Mar 3 2023 22:39 utc | 68
Did not shoot at, you. The reported rates of delivery are quite slow, nominal & unremarkable.
According to information from port circles, it is to be expected that 150 ships with military goods from the Americans will call at Bremerhaven in the course of the next few months.
The above is a single unidentified uncorroborated anonymous 'tip', which if true, would constitute an extra-ordinary logistics ramp-up compared to delivery/transfers rates/intervals over Jan/Feb. ~30-50/month, 1-2 ships per day continuous for 3-5 months ? Pass ...
Peace
@ Kooshy | Mar 3 2023 22:52 utc | 70
Prez called for an old school shoe-shine boy ?
A few days back I inquired about the veracity of an article in the New York Times about an alleged great victory by Ukraine over Russia. Now we learn that Ukraine had massacred some of its own troops.
Armed Forces of Ukraine lost a battalion of soldiers in Artyomovsk due to friendly fire: details and the 125th Territorial Defense Brigade - lost about 600 people killed and wounded.
According to the Military Chronicle, most of the irretrievable losses in killed and wounded were recorded in the units of the 61st Infantry and 57th Motorized Infantry Brigades, which defended the northern suburbs of Artyomovsk in the area of Grigorovka, Kalinovka and Orekhovo-Vasilevka.
According to preliminary data, during the last day of February and the first three days of March, when trying to retreat from their previously occupied positions, the units of these formations were unable to correct and coordinate the fire of M777 howitzers of 155 mm caliber of the 43rd artillery brigade in Clock Yar. Due to confusion in movements and unstable radio communications, the units several times fell under the crossfire of Ukrainian and Russian artillery.
Units of the 8th Operational Regiment were sent to the line of clashes to clarify the situation and direct the artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, however, when approaching their destination, the column came under artillery attack from Giacint-S and D-20 guns of 152 mm caliber and was destroyed. According to preliminary data, the total losses of units could be 560-590 people, which is equal to the number of a full-fledged military battalion armed with dozens of pieces of equipment.
Presumably, one of the reasons for the death of servicemen of the units of the 61st Infantry Brigade, the 8th Operational Regiment, the 57th Motorized Infantry Brigade and the 125th Territorial Defense Brigade could be the lack of a “friend or foe” identification system. According to incoming information, as one of the reasons for the death of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine due to confusion during regrouping and maneuvers, the brigade command is considering a version with the operation of Russian electronic warfare systems.
It would seem that the Ukrainians had sought publicity before they discovered that they had massacred their own troops.
Posted by: Elmer Fudd | Mar 3 2023 23:08 utc | 63
Former Australian diplomat Tony Kevin on China's Peace Plan
"The tragic year-long war in Ukraine has already transformed the world’s geopolitical landscape.
"Historic global power shifts towards the Eurasian heartland, centred on China, are accelerating. China and Russia have drawn together in a strong “no limits” partnership, that is attracting other major states in the Global South, especially India, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Turkey, Brazil and South Africa.
"The common link is on building stronger trading, infrastructure and diplomatic ties, consistent with the U.N.-based international security system. More and more, the Western camp led by the U.S. seems peripheral, a powerless spectator to these global changes.
"The Ukraine crisis is a catalyst, accelerating changes that might have otherwise taken decades to work through.
"Mediocre Western leaders like U.S. President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Sholtz, French President Emmanuel Macron and a conga line of weak British prime ministers, allied with the improbable former comedian heading a nationalist regime in Kiev united only by its fanatical hatred of all things Russian, have led the West into disastrous anti-Russian policies, causing self-inflicted wounds especially in Europe. ....
https://consortiumnews.com/2023/03/03/chinas-peace-plan-for-ukraine/
Posted by: bevin | Mar 3 2023 23:10 utc | 64
Next on the hitlist:
Iran discovers world's second largest lithium reserves
https://thecradle.co/article-view/22122
But Israel is calling first dibs.
The US will be busy with China.
Posted by: Irish | Mar 3 2023 23:11 utc | 65
Irish | Mar 3 2023 23:11 utc | 75
They (i.e. Iran) better hurry with those S-400s.
Posted by: Sektion2B | Mar 3 2023 23:21 utc | 66
All this talk about beer is making me thirsty, and all I have is tequila. My poor kidneys.
Posted by: Quid Me Vexare | Mar 3 2023 23:30 utc | 67
@ jgalt | Mar 3 2023 19:21 utc | 14
The site is often 'Veteran's Today' style low credibility/unreliable click-bait, IMV.
Barflies will have trouble translating the Greek 'cause the site code is deliberately highly restricted.
Respectfully suggest you use an alternate source or first translate, then post & reference the link instead, hm ?
However, given your preceding comments ... :(
Partial translation follows:
A "bombshell" revelation is being made by French media, which report that Paris has agreed to deliver Mirage fighters to Ukraine with the training of Ukrainian pilots starting soon. The delivery of the fighters is expected to take place within the next 18 months or earlier. It depends whether the pilots will be "retired NATO"...
This means that there is already an agreement within NATO on the next escalation steps with the US delivering F-16 fighters. Sending fighters is NATO's last "card" if the Ukrainians' spring ground counterattack fails. And it will happen if there is no agreement in the negotiations.
The French Air Force has 99 Mirage 2000 fighters of the 5, C and D versions). The Navy has an additional 40 fighters. France could begin training Ukrainian pilots for the Mirage 2000 fighters in Poland, according to French Defense Minister Sebastian Lecorny.
...
@ Zet | Mar 3 2023 19:48 utc | 17
Toy ships, escorted by my rubber ducky, in the bathtub, perhaps ? Gag me with a spoon. Lotsa BS so far ...
Posted by: Outraged | Mar 3 2023 21:05 utc | 53
Why is it so hard to click translate button right on the site?
And why do you need to make ignorant comments as well.
Try acting like an adult
Maybe refresh yourself with the site owner rules.
Posted by: jgalt | Mar 3 2023 23:33 utc | 68
Posted by: West of England Andy | Mar 3 2023 21:39 utc | 58
Ah, Bristolian Andy, what I wouldn't give for a nice cold glass of Natch...
Posted by: Mexicana | Mar 3 2023 23:35 utc | 69
@zet # 68
Any update on how Germans view the US blowing up Nordstream pipelines?
How is censorship of the reality of the Ukrainian regime?
Posted by: Don Firineach | Mar 3 2023 23:40 utc | 70
re;CNN article CNN, citing its sources in the Ukrainian General Staff, reports that on February 28, 2023, the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine amounted to:
▪️ 259,085 people killed, died from wounds, diseases;
▪️wounded, crippled 246,904;
▪️deserted, as well as missing - 83,952;
-----------------
the Article was retracted and deleted. Why would TG social media make this up? what purpose does it serve other than proof that there are some journalists who are tired of the BS news.
Posted by: crazycanuck | Mar 3 2023 23:46 utc | 71
“Last month the NYT reported Bahkmut as a 'Strategic city', now it's reported as a 'city that has limited strategic value“
Can’t blame them, anything one loses no longer hold a value for the losers and needs to be written off the book and forgotten.BTW That is the memo by CIA shit mopers to NYT stenographers.
Posted by: Kooshy | Mar 4 2023 0:02 utc | 72
For those who follow him https://twitter.com/GeromanAT is back.
Suspended due to writing that someone was a 'pussy'. Twitter of course took that at the US English use i.e. part of the female anatomy as opposed to the British/Euro use (Geroman being in Austria) of a domestic cat. Clearly someone saw sense.
Posted by: JohninMK | Mar 4 2023 0:02 utc | 73
Andrei Martyanov has piece up ;;;
Bakhmut has fallen
https://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2023/03/a-done-deal.html
Posted by: crone | Mar 4 2023 0:04 utc | 74
Early and significant warming coming Ukraine's way (not to mention the whole of Asia, including Siberia where perma-melt is going to release crazy clathrate hydrates and methane. Could be record year for northern fire extremes up there.)
https://twitter.com/EliotJacobson/status/1631394059377049602
how's that saying go about March?
"comes in like a bonfire, goes out like a blazing inferno"?
Posted by: Irish | Mar 4 2023 0:06 utc | 75
@ Kooshy | Mar 3 2023 22:52 utc | 70
Prez called for an old school shoe-shine boy ?
Yap, only if Prz Joe could have distinguish between his ass and his shoe.
Posted by: Kooshy | Mar 4 2023 0:06 utc | 76
@ crazycanuck | Mar 3 2023 23:46 utc | 82
Makes sense. It was promptly referenced & highlighted by Geoffrey Sachs, good enough for me given long term reliable/credible sites also same. Unsurprising was promptly retracted/deleted.
@ jgalt | Mar 3 2023 23:33 utc | 79
Okay Junior. A search on your very brief posting history shows you repeatedly posting the verifiably regular BS click-bait BS that your favorite BS Greek website vomits up. Multiple posters have called you out, over multiple threads, yet you persist.
Reread the previous post to you, again. Take your own advice, do not bullshit, do not make faux ignorant comments, try acting like a responsible mature adult, refresh yourself with the site owner rules.
PS Your preceding remarks @ 14:
France and those countries with F 16's will now fast track deliveries of Mirage 2000 and F 16 fighter's.
Putin needs to raze Kiev to a smoldering heap.
Within 6 months Zelinski will be bombing Moscow.
His Defense Minister should be dismissed.
You did not even read your proffered link ... within 6 months ... Putin should ... Defense Minister should ?
GTFOH. Oh, and have a nice day. :)
Ukraine outgunned 10 to 1 in massive artillery battle with Russia - El Pais (English)
The Ukraine war has become a ferocious battle dominated by artillery and Ukrainian forces are operating at a huge disadvantage: Russia has numerical superiority of 10 heavy guns to every one at the disposal of Kyiv. Furthermore, Ukraine is running low on ammunition and requires urgent supplies of shells, Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s government has warned.On the Luhansk front, at one of the Ukrainian army’s advanced positions in the area around the occupied city of Kreminna where the fighting is particularly intense, an artillery brigade is busy tuning a TRF1 howitzer cannon installed amid their sodden trenches. They received the French 155mm gun a few months ago and it is proving key to repelling Russian troops. But as the war enters its second year, Kyiv is in desperate need of fresh materiel. “We need more; we need all the ammunition they can provide. And we need it now,” says Sergey, the brigade commander, anchored next to the cannon in the mud.
...
Do recall mentioning AFU ammo/tube increasingly critical shortages over past few months, as well as accelerating tube extinction. Overwhelming Fire Support ratio disparity. MSM_of_Lies is catching up. Published along with similar others, myriad indicators for months Empire will abandon Banderastan ... Mar/Apr/MayJun/Jul ?
Damn shame they wasted all those carefully rationed sparse shells wiping out one of their own Battalion groups. AFU structural/organizational collapse in ... ?
Zelensky could have just honoured the Minsk Agreement.
True, but at the end of the day, it's a good thing he didn't. Would have actually made it much harder to denazify and demilitarize the borderlands.
Posted by: LGB! | Mar 4 2023 0:29 utc | 80
M. K. BHADRAKUMAR at his best in his current examination of India's role in the G20. Ukraine has changed everything.
A reality check for Modi Govt’s G20 ambitions
"...The Modi government has made a serious mistake in underestimating that the Ukraine situation is an epochal affair where it has no mediatory role. There is no Nobel Peace Prize on offer here. Russia is determined to realise its strategic objectives. And Moscow does not need Modi government’s help, given the stark reality that this is an existential crisis which it simply cannot afford to lose, no matter what it takes...."
https://www.indianpunchline.com/a-reality-check-for-modi-govts-g20-ambitions/
Posted by: bevin | Mar 4 2023 0:30 utc | 81
For those serious about what's happening in Ukraine you should bookmark this site for regular visits.
He's very good and used to be a guest contributor at Saker.
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/5k-subs-milestone-thank-you-and-whats
Posted by: Surferket | Mar 4 2023 0:31 utc | 82
@ jgalt | Mar 3 2023 23:33 utc | 79
Okay Junior. A search on your very brief posting history shows you repeatedly posting the verifiably regular BS click-bait BS that your favorite BS Greek website vomits up. Multiple posters have called you out, over multiple threads, yet you persist.
Reread the previous post to you, again. Take your own advice, do not bullshit, do not make faux ignorant comments, try acting like a responsible mature adult, refresh yourself with the site owner rules.
PS Your preceding remarks @ 14:
France and those countries with F 16's will now fast track deliveries of Mirage 2000 and F 16 fighter's.
Putin needs to raze Kiev to a smoldering heap.
Within 6 months Zelinski will be bombing Moscow.
His Defense Minister should be dismissed.
You did not even read your proffered link ... within 6 months ... Putin should ... Defense Minister should ?
GTFOH. Oh, and have a nice day. :)
You have a comprehension problem.
If Putin allows this to go unanswered. WITHIN 6 months Zelinsky will be bombing Moscow if not sooner.
You have a comprehension problem.
Change your meds you are acting like an old woman entering menopause.
BOMB KIEV TO RUBBLE NOW. is that PLAIN ENOUGH FOR YOU
Posted by: jgalt | Mar 4 2023 0:38 utc | 83
Seen Prigozhin's video with the captured Volkssturm?
https://t.me/defensepoliticsasia/4116
Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Mar 4 2023 0:48 utc | 84
Ha Ha...isn't he all cool and funny.
https://twitter.com/NomorWhitey/status/1631214295290638336
Gobshite.
Senator Biden, 1997:
"And then the Russians say to me, 'You keep expanding NATO, we're going to make friends with China. I almost burst out laughing, I could barely contain myself, I said 'good luck to you guys. If China doesn't work out, try Iran".
https://twitter.com/NomorWhitey/status/1631214295290638336
Posted by: Irish | Mar 4 2023 0:50 utc | 85
When this is done and over, and the Donbass plus southern territories are Russia's, will the Wagner group leave or might they fill the political vacuum as provisional government in some parts? How would this work for Russia?
Any inklings or insights on what will come next?
I wouldn't want to see that typical infighting thing that happens after wars are won and over, and the victors' internal factions start to turn on one another. Hoping for something different, more stable, for everyone's sakes.
Posted by: Irish | Mar 4 2023 0:59 utc | 86
Of course the Ukies and the West continue to bray about liberating Kherson, deliberately leaving out the fact that the administrative region was named after the city, so as to confuse their publics into thinking the entire oblast was "liberated" (after the Russians' tactical retreat).Posted by: Jen | Mar 3 2023 20:41 utc | 37
If you actually red the laws that were passed in September and the changes in the constitution, Kherson was the regional capital of Kherson oblast, although they had no actual maps there. But that was clearly stated.
And it functioned that way for another 40 days.
So now Putin is under constitutional obligation to recover it.
It's actually a sore point in Russia, because he has completely evaded talking about the matter -- if you remember it was Shoigu and Surovikin who showed up publicly to announce it was being abandoned, and Putin has not mentioned it even once.
Which is a serious legal problem actually -- control was lost over a regional capital and the commander in chief and the government are acting as if nothing has happened.
The KPRF filed an inquiry on the issue shortly after the "hard decision", back in mid-November, United Russia blocked it immediately.
To this day people are fuming, because indeed, under Russian law (and he is otherwise extreme sticklers about legalistic nonsense) Putin owes at the very least an explanation about what is happening.
None has been provided.
Putin just gave a state of the union address and not a word in it about that, which is frankly astonishing.
Even worse with Zaporozhye -- Zaporozhye city was supposed to be the capital, but now it has been changed. Waters are very muddy though -- this change was signed by the governor of the region (look at the scans). So presumably it isn't a constitutional amendment. And they are still obliged to recover both Kherson and Zaporozhye city.
On the bright side, Kupyansk is about to be recovered, and it is in Kharkov oblast, outside of what has been annexed. And given what happened in Bryansk, and what is about to start happening regularly, things will become too embarrassing at some point and Putin will have to take action (meaning Sumy, Chernigov and Kharkov at the very least)
Posted by: shadowbanned | Mar 4 2023 1:06 utc | 87
Re Russian decision to completely encircle Bakhmut and leaving an escape route -humanitarian corridor - is shrewd from PR move. It achieves the goal of capturing the city without shooting helpless “fish in a barrel,” some of which are conscripted minors and disabled pensioners. For western audiences, this is a narrative war and Russia choosing “discretion is the better partPosted by: Willow | Mar 3 2023 22:05 utc | 62
Yeah, and Azov were exchanged in Mariupol and are now back fighting, and they left a similar "humanitarian corridor" instead of annihilating AFU in Lysichansk, and guess what happened? AFU was back at a vast numeric superiority to take back eastern Kharkov oblast.
Surrender or die, no escape allowed should be the policy. This has dragged on for too long.
Posted by: shadowbanned | Mar 4 2023 1:10 utc | 88
Posted by: crazycanuck | Mar 3 2023 23:46 utc | 82
"Why would TG social media make this up?"
LOL Because they make a lot up for reader counts, just like every other social media. Until I see the CNN article - on the Wayback Machine or directly quoted by someone who's actually read it who is known to be credible - Outraged, what's the link to Sachs? - I still call bullshit.
The numbers probably are true. What I doubt is that CNN would publish it after spending the entire day, according to my Google search, talking about "massive Russian losses". If the article has been deleted, then that only proves my point. They can't afford to be publishing that sort of thing.
The other question is: who were the Ukrainian sources, if any? I doubt any Ukrainian official source would be dropping numbers like that, as they are way beyond what Zalushny revealed a couple months ago in the Telegraph interview. Was it Arestovich? Since he's out, I might actually believe him.
The third question is: Are they real numbers or are they fake numbers intended to beg for more weapons?
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 4 2023 1:14 utc | 89
This is good from another sane UK military and diplomatic head:
Col. Wilkerson on Ukraine, Nord Stream & the Cold War with China
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FvOBQSC6rQ
Sane Germans please note.
Posted by: Don Firineach | Mar 4 2023 1:21 utc | 90
Outraged @3--
Thanks ever so much for providing that info!!! I've been meaning to dig that up for months and continually get sidetracked and forget to invest the needed time. That link is a must add to archives for all barflies AND they must spread it around to crash the spectacle.
On the "Sanctions" political cartoon, I found that yesterday and it became an instant hit at my VK. What the RoW must do is join Russia and China in hauling off the insane Uncle Sam by refusing to obey his illegal sanctions, and while doing so set up alternative messaging/clearing mechanisms for international trade, as those are the choke points employed to "enforce" those illegal laws. If the entire RoW acts in concert, what's the Empire going to do--cut itself off from the RoW and watch all those useless dollars float home to drive inflation over 20%? In 1919, the world lacked the balls to confront the nascent US Empire, and that was repeated in 1944 and again from 1967-1971, when it came to the formulation of international finance. Reality says now is the time to make a stand to chain the hegemonic beast and force it to become tame, sane, civil, and humane. Humanity cannot continue living in the current paradigm and most realize that reality.
The Russians have exhibited great patience for 20+ years but there must be a limit. The SMO eased the stress, but like a fault stress still remains, and I don't think the world wants to know what happens if the fault breaks.
Below is the beginning of a Reuters posting that I have not seen reported here
WASHINGTON, March 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland made an unannounced visit to Lviv, Ukraine, on Friday at the invitation of the Ukrainian prosecutor general, a Justice Department official said."The attorney general held several meetings and reaffirmed our determination to hold Russia accountable for crimes committed in its unjust and unprovoked invasion against its sovereign neighbor," the official said.
All these unannounced visits makes one think that the pot might be boiling and about to overflow......GRIN
Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 4 2023 1:32 utc | 92
Re: Posted by: shadowbanned | Mar 3 2023 18:56 utc | 10
Melitopol is officially the capital of Zaporozhye oblast:https://t.me/readovkanews/54002
(with a map, for the first time in an official document)
No word on Kherson yet.
One way of looking at this is as a temporary thing -- there needs to be some administrative center after all.
But the other way is as an official abandonment of the goal of capturing Zaporozhye city...
That would certainly be my interpretation.
And to the Hacks who say Russia is going all the way to Lviv/Lvov - No - it won't.
Where is your evidence Russia intends to go to the Polish border? There is none.
As for Kherson, if they do not go back to the other side of the Dnieper it would be easy to merge Kherson/Zaporoshye together with a capital at Melitopol - it would also make sense to unify this area given the small population in the captured area.
Posted by: Julian | Mar 4 2023 1:41 utc | 93
150 Military cargo ships coming into German ports? I guess a new sport can be developed...
Military ship locations
A cursory view looks like normal civilian traffic....
Ship traffic
It is a starting point to unwind the BS.
And you can get more specific and track the US Military cargo traffic here....
Sealift Command
All in all a smorgasbord of delight for those with time on their hands.
Posted by: circumspect | Mar 4 2023 1:43 utc | 94
Poll shows far too many Americans still full of themselves, "Number of Americans Who Want US to Manage Global Affairs Drops to Lowest It’s Ever Been, Poll Shows", numbers that must drop below 30% before any sort of Movement can make any headway. IMO, polls like this give Neocons all the succor they need.
@ 105
Maybe a janitor cleaning the basement at Microsoft plugged Tay back in and it found its way to MoA, or MS sold it for scrap to Langley 🤪
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/29/microsoft-tay-tweets-antisemitic-racism
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Mar 4 2023 1:55 utc | 96
Ukrainian Neo-Nazi group claims responsibility for Bryansk attack:
https://odysee.com/@RT:fd/nazi-bryansk-attack:8
Posted by: Nate | Mar 4 2023 2:02 utc | 97
@100 this is correct, and if the afu wants to hold people hostage, shoot anyways. They'll stop trying if it doesn't work will save lives in the long run.
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Mar 4 2023 2:10 utc | 98
De-industrialisation of Taiwan?
Watch computer microchip industry "relocate" to the USA...
"We need to make sure our manufacturing is coming back here and we're reducing the trade deficit with China."
Ro Khanna (D-CA,) House China Select Committee Member
https://twitter.com/RepRoKhanna/status/1631032778262208514
Posted by: Irish | Mar 4 2023 2:16 utc | 99
After the G20 in India unravelled somewhat because of the US belligerence isn't it time to have an annual G20-1 meeting? A bit like OPEC+ but now a G20 without the US.
Posted by: digital dinosaur | Mar 4 2023 2:20 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
Apologies to, Tacitus:
Posted by: Outraged | Mar 3 2023 18:17 utc | 1