News & views related to the war in Ukraine …
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April 3, 2025
Ukraine Open Thread 2025-069
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Has anyone seen anything regarding the extent of sentiment in Russia-bordering Ukrainian regions (such as Kharkov) with respect to potentially seceding and becoming part of Russia? I ask because I would imagine that these regions would have strong affinity for Russian language, culture, etc., which have been suppressed by the so-called leader of Ukraine.
Posted by: David Levin | Apr 3 2025 16:02 utc | 1
Very slow day on official AFU casualties, 1.315 would net sub 40k month. So low something must be brewing, or a question of showing restraint. Clean up of Veseloye represent 100 of those 1.300.
https://tass.com/politics/1938439
Russian troops liberate two communities In Donetsk area, Zaporozhye Region over past day
Russia’s Battlegroup South inflicted roughly 235 casualties on Ukrainian troops and destroyed four enemy artillery guns in its area of responsibility over the past day, the Defense Ministry reported
© Alexander Reka/TASS
MOSCOW, April 3. /TASS/. Russian troops liberated two communities in the Donetsk area and the Zaporozhye Region over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Thursday.
“Battlegroup East units kept advancing deep into the enemy’s defenses and liberated the settlement of Vesyoloye in the Donetsk People’s Republic… Battlegroup Dnepr units liberated the settlement of Lobkovoye in the Zaporozhye Region through decisive operations,” the ministry said in a statement.
Russia’s Battlegroup North inflicts 75 casualties on Ukrainian army in past day
Russia’s Battlegroup North inflicted roughly 75 casualties on Ukrainian troops and destroyed an enemy tank and three adversary artillery guns in its area of responsibility in the Sumy Region over the past day, the ministry reported.
“In the Belgorod direction, Battlegroup North units struck massed manpower and equipment of two mechanized brigades, a motorized infantry brigade, two assault regiments of the Ukrainian army and two territorial defense brigades in areas near the settlements of Miropolskoye, Prokhody and Petrushevka in the Sumy Region,” the ministry said.
The Ukrainian army lost an estimated 75 personnel, a tank, an armored combat vehicle, four motor vehicles, three field artillery guns and an electronic warfare station in that frontline area over the past 24 hours, it specified.
Russia’s Battlegroup West inflicts over 200 casualties on Ukrainian army in past day
Russia’s Battlegroup West inflicted more than 200 casualties on Ukrainian troops and destroyed two enemy tanks in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.
“Battlegroup West units improved their forward positions and inflicted losses on manpower and equipment of a tank brigade, two mechanized brigades, an assault brigade of the Ukrainian army and a territorial defense brigade in areas near the settlements of Kamenka, Kondrashovka, Zagoruikovka and Novaya Kruglyakovka in the Kharkov Region, Novomikhailovka, Redkodub and Novoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic,” the ministry said.
The Ukrainian army lost more than 200 personnel, two tanks, an armored combat vehicle, four pickup trucks and six field artillery guns, including a US-made 155mm M198 howitzer in that frontline area over the past 24 hours, it said.
In addition, Russian forces destroyed three ammunition depots of the Ukrainian army, it said.
Russia’s Battlegroup South inflicts 235 casualties on Ukrainian army in past day
Russia’s Battlegroup South inflicted roughly 235 casualties on Ukrainian troops and destroyed four enemy artillery guns in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.
“Battlegroup South units gained better lines and positions and inflicted losses on formations of three mechanized brigades, an assault brigade of the Ukrainian army, a territorial defense brigade and a National Guard brigade in areas near the settlements of Seversk, Minkovka, Verolyubovka, Chasov Yar, Kurdyumovka, Konstantinovka and Pleshcheyevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic,” the ministry said.
The Ukrainian army lost an estimated 235 personnel, a tank, an armored personnel carrier, seven pickup trucks and four field artillery guns in that frontline area over the past 24 hours, it specified.
In addition, Russian forces destroyed an electronic warfare station and two ammunition depots of the Ukrainian army, it said.
Russia’s Battlegroup Center inflicts 440 casualties on Ukrainian army in past day
Russia’s Battlegroup Center inflicted roughly 440 casualties on Ukrainian troops and destroyed a German-made Leopard tank and two Western-made armored personnel carriers in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.
“Battlegroup Center units improved their tactical position and inflicted damage on manpower and equipment of two mechanized brigades, a jaeger brigade, an air assault brigade, an unmanned systems brigade, an assault regiment of the Ukrainian army, a marine infantry brigade, two National Guard brigades and the Omega special operations detachment in areas near the settlements of Dimitrov, Krasnoarmeysk, Kotlino, Lenina, Udachnoye, Preobrazhenka and Alekseyevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic,” the ministry said.
The Ukrainian army lost an estimated 440 personnel, a German-made Leopard tank and four armored combat vehicles, including a US-made M113 armored personnel carrier and a French-made VAB armored troop carrier in that frontline area over the past 24 hours, it specified.
In addition, Russian forces destroyed seven motor vehicles and two artillery guns of the Ukrainian army, it said.
Russia’s Battlegroup East inflicts 125 casualties on Ukrainian army in past day
Russia’s Battlegroup East inflicted roughly 125 casualties on Ukrainian troops and destroyed four enemy artillery guns in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.
During the last 24-hour period, Battlegroup East units “inflicted losses on manpower and equipment of a tank brigade, three mechanized brigades, an infantry brigade, an airmobile brigade of the Ukrainian army and a territorial defense brigade in areas near the settlements of Razliv, Yalta, Otradnoye and Volnoye Pole in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Yanvarskoye in the Dnepropetrovsk Region,” the ministry said.
The Ukrainian army lost an estimated 125 personnel, three motor vehicles and four field artillery guns, including a Polish-made 155mm Krab self-propelled artillery system in that frontline area over the past 24 hours, it specified.
Russia’s Battlegroup Dnepr destroys 60 Ukrainian troops in past day
Russia’s Battlegroup Dnepr destroyed roughly 60 Ukrainian troops and an enemy jamming station in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.
During the last 24-hour period, Battlegroup Dnepr units “inflicted losses on formations of a mechanized brigade, a mountain assault brigade, three coastal defense brigades of the Ukrainian army and two territorial defense brigades in areas near the settlements of Orekhov in the Zaporozhye Region, Ponyatovka, Nikolskoye and Yantarnoye in the Kherson Region,” the ministry said.
“As many as 60 [Ukrainian] military personnel, seven motor vehicles and an electronic warfare station were destroyed,” the ministry said.
Russian forces strike Ukrainian space rocket industry enterprise over past day
Russian forces struck a Ukrainian space rocket industry enterprise over the past day, the ministry reported.
“Operational/tactical aircraft, attack unmanned aerial vehicles, missile troops and artillery of the Russian groups of forces struck a Ukrainian space rocket industry enterprise, UAV production workshops, ammunition depots and massed enemy manpower and equipment in 148 areas,” the ministry said.
Russian air defenses down 138 Ukrainian UAVs, three HIMARS rockets over past day
Russian air defense forces shot down 138 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles and three US-made HIMARS rockets over the past day, the ministry reported.
“Air defense capabilities shot down a JDAM guided aerial bomb and three rockets of the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system of US manufacture and 138 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles,” the ministry said.
Overall, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 660 Ukrainian warplanes, 283 helicopters, 49,562 unmanned aerial vehicles, 601 surface-to-air missile systems, 22,644 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,533 multiple rocket launchers, 23,198 field artillery guns and mortars and 33,624 special military motor vehicles since the start of the special military operation, the ministry reported.
Posted by: Newbie | Apr 3 2025 16:07 utc | 2
Posted by: David Levin | Apr 3 2025 16:02 utc | 1
Without having any facts, one could assume that the sentiment is affected by extreme polarization (nazis vs. non-nazis), and Russian border areas like Sumy, Kharkov, Kherson, Zaporozhye, Dnepropetrovsk and Chernigov being heavily occupied by western Ukrainian nazis, under heavy repression and mobilization, reducing the chance of armed rebellion.
It doesn’t exclude that there are partisans working behind AFU lines, though, and evidently there are partisans doing various things like providing intelligence, strike coordination and sabotage.
Posted by: unimperator | Apr 3 2025 16:09 utc | 3
things are popping in Lebanon and Syria.. Israel seems to have killed a few Turks.. and a new government has been installed in Syria.. How does the Russian base in Syria figure in the Ukraine SMO? Will Turkey join forces with Iran to attack Israel? Houthi were heavily bombed last night and it is said afterwards they shot down a US Reaper drone and attacked the USS Truman.. (social media heresay, any confirming evidence?) pledged to continue to Bomb Israel.. and maritime assets serving or defending Israel..
Trump is said to have threatened Iran either sign the demand to stand down from the Iran Nuclear program or be bombed. Iran is said to have said they will respond if that happens..
Russia, china both have agreements with Iran..Israel is a big supporter of Ukraine.. I fear this is going to get hot soon. Putins slow go has exposed
many global things.
Pressure on Zelenski to hold an election is growing.. I believe if there were no British or French in Ukraine there would be no Zelenski in Ukraine..
My bank account would like me to get a contract to make bullets..
Posted by: snake | Apr 3 2025 16:39 utc | 4
The date mentioned by Trump, May 8 (Liberation Day May 8: commemoration day of the liberation from National Socialism and the Second World War), will be the decision day on which Trump will use massive propaganda to show what happens next.
As he has nothing that meets Russian demands and is attacking Ukraine without restraint (even if Western media are trying to turn this into the exact opposite), he will choose an aggressive approach, as he has to demonstrate strength.
Both sides, Ukraine and Russia, are preparing for something like a spring offensive, and those willing to join NATO will invade Ukraine by ship and air and become active warring parties, expecting the USA to participate as a joker in the backhand.
The summer will be hot.
Posted by: smartfox | Apr 3 2025 17:35 utc | 5
Russia has not yet won. It is not appropriate to celebrate too soon.
Posted by: smartfox | Apr 3 2025 17:36 utc | 6
Su-35 fighter production being expanded, driven by need to counter increasingly aggressive Nato and high demand/utility proved in SMO.
https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russia-expanding-su35-fighter-production-scale-two-reasons-why
Posted by: unimperator | Apr 3 2025 18:10 utc | 7
Will Turkey join forces with Iran to attack Israel?
Posted by: snake | Apr 3 2025 16:39 utc | 4
_______
Much more likely Turkey would join forces with the criminal Zio enterprise to attack Iran.
Erdodog has been a reliable servant of the Zios since time immemorial. Oh, the Zios killed some Turks? Big deal; Erdo didn’t shed a tear when the Zios wiped out the Mavi Marmara.
Posted by: malenkov | Apr 3 2025 18:36 utc | 8
Mali considers Ukraine a terrorist state, since Sahel militants are supported by Kiev, said Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop.
“Some states are helping these terrorists (in the Sahel), organizing the rear for them. For example, Ukraine. For us, Ukraine is a terrorist state,” Abdoulaye Diop said during a press conference following a meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia and the “Sahel Troika.”
He also said that Ukraine is a sponsor of terrorism and must be stopped.
the eu wont like that one of those countries that shares their “values” is considered a terrorist nation.
Posted by: Justpassinby | Apr 3 2025 19:22 utc | 9
#9 “the eu wont like that one of those countries that shares their “values” is considered a terrorist nation.”
Mali is part of the Josep Borell’s “jungle”, quite literally. Those who tend the garden don’t care what the savages in the jungle think.
Posted by: Billb | Apr 3 2025 19:40 utc | 10
Boris Johnson ADMITS Ukrainian N@zis Sabotaged Peace!
The Jimmy Dore Show | 7mins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtKEkCKS64o
Posted by: Melaleuca | Apr 3 2025 19:45 utc | 11
Posted by: Peru | Apr 3 2025 1:02 utc | 286
Thankyou for that. Looks brilliant. I haven’t read any of it yet. Just found it. Never before tried to respond to a post from a previous open thread now archived. Took me a while to find your post and now hope this ‘thankyou’ finds you. 🙂
Posted by: Suresh | Apr 2 2025 22:53 utc | 279
thank you for that. 🙂
Posted by: arthur brogard | Apr 3 2025 20:08 utc | 13
Houthis ‘Essentially Eliminated’ US Carrier Group From Asia ‘Without Having to Fire a Shot’ – Report
Houthis ‘Essentially Eliminated’ US Carrier Group From Asia ‘Without Having to Fire a Shot’ – Report
Posted by: smartfox | Apr 3 2025 20:44 utc | 14
“Will Turkey join forces with Iran to attack Israel?”
Posted by: snake | Apr 3 2025 16:39 utc | 4
A clear NO. They may try to secure some strategic positions and land, but a direct attack on Israel is a no-go. Everything else is a muscle show from the world public’s gym and intended for specific target groups.
Posted by: smartfox | Apr 3 2025 20:48 utc | 15
Russia’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev in DC after meeting with top US officials
Says talks on ‘restoring relations between Russia and America’
‘Different countries try to undermine this dialogue’ and ‘to prevent us from addressing and resolving issues that must be solved’
Trump administration is different than Biden… Because it hears Russia’s position and it understands our concerns — Dmitriev
I maintain that Dmitriev is the Russian Keith Kellogg.
He has no authority to do anything but to keep Little Marco and Signal Waltz entertained between meetings.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 3 2025 21:16 utc | 16
He has no authority to do anything but to keep Little Marco and Signal Waltz entertained between meetings.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 3 2025 21:16 utc | 16
He doesn’t need authority to do anything. His task is to talk to as many people as possible at the top and explain the Russian position and the reasons for it.
Every conversation is thus a door into a mental concrete wall of half-knowledge and prejudice. The more they begin to understand, the fewer illusionary ideas that lead to a crash are created.
Posted by: smartfox | Apr 3 2025 21:28 utc | 17
Has anyone seen anything regarding the extent of sentiment in Russia-bordering Ukrainian regions (such as Kharkov) with respect to potentially seceding and becoming part of Russia? I ask because I would imagine that these regions would have strong affinity for Russian language, culture, etc., which have been suppressed by the so-called leader of Ukraine.
Posted by: David Levin | Apr 3 2025 16:02 utc | 1
Purely my opinion, based on observation, but I believe the pro-Russia population in those areas was a minority or had been driven out (Odessa). When Russia occupied those regions early in the war smo WAR, they were given the opportunity to relocate to Russia.
Posted by: The Owl | Apr 3 2025 21:50 utc | 18
Posted by: The Owl | Apr 3 2025 21:50 utc | 18
Well, we don’t know what the current situation is. But three months ago, Putin said that these areas were predominantly populated by Russians, which is what I see from older maps. How many of them have now been displaced or killed is anyone’s guess.
Posted by: smartfox | Apr 3 2025 22:01 utc | 19
I need one of these.
⚡️🇷🇺🇺🇦New raincoats capes for protection from the thermal imager, more compact
46-second video from Simplicious
https://x.com/simpatico771/status/1907851369798635687
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 3 2025 22:26 utc | 20
@ 8 malenkov.
I concur.
Unfortunately, nothing to add to this thread, maybe that’s a good thing. Means SMO is going from strength to strength.
Posted by: Suresh | Apr 4 2025 4:06 utc | 21
@David Levin- Kharkov happened to have 8 military colleges and is nowadays a hotbed of Nazis. Kraken Nazi battalion is/was there. So it’s hard to say nowadays
Posted by: Elsom | Apr 4 2025 4:10 utc | 22
Newbie @ 2:
Could be that the AFU are fast running out of cannon fodder for the Russians to target.
Posted by: Refinnejenna | Apr 4 2025 5:54 utc | 23
The Trump ‘Threat’ Helps Sell The War Racket in Canada & Europe
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2025/04/the-trump-threat-helps-sell-the-war-racket-in-canada-and-europe.html
“Support for the EU and Canadian ‘rearmament’ initiatives are being aided along by all the Trump noise…Canadians might be flying the maple leaf everywhere but how’s that surge of patriotism playing out in Ottawa?
Canada and the EU continue to do the empire’s bidding…It might be a stretch to say it’s all part of a coordinated plot, but while the increase in military spending might be coming amid a war of words — and some tariffs — the Atlanticist think-tanks, funded by and expressing the will of American plutocrats are getting what they wanted — and in some cases even more.”
Posted by: John Gilberts | Apr 4 2025 5:58 utc | 24
What about this economical rationale for trump: Stephan Miran economics ?
Posted by: arthur brogard | Apr 4 2025 6:11 utc | 25
Posted by: smartfox | Apr 3 2025 21:28 utc | 17
##########
Sorry friend, I believe that Western leaders are unrepentant psychopaths.
Psychopaths cannot be reasoned with or trusted.
I believe Putin understands this now.
Dmitriev is there to fill time, make appearances, etc.
He’s not going to create a breakthrough. He’s talking about cutting in the Americans on Russia’s Arctic jewel. 😂😂😂
In any negotiation, there is always one person who can say yes or no. Dmitriev is not that guy for the Russians. He’s a glorified sales representative without a product to sell to a customer who has no money.
Trump values appearances more than results. Dmitriev helps sell the con of a Peace deal to the American public and media.
A real live Russian in DC talking to Americans! WOW 😂😂😂
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 4 2025 6:37 utc | 27
I maintain that Dmitriev is the Russian Keith Kellogg. He has no authority to do anything
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 3 2025 21:16 utc | 16
Only if Kellogg was a Chinese exchange student.
Dmitriev has authority based on his job, Kellog has not but at least he’s American.
Posted by: rk | Apr 4 2025 8:11 utc | 28
Looks like there is fewer meat to grind on the 0, funnily tho, while the RUAF seems to have agreed to halt striking energy infrastructures only to strike moaaaarr AFU supply chain and command chain.
And the politics in the west still haven’t understood how it works…
The EU : You’re gonna unconditional cease-fire because we told you so !
The US : You’re gonna accept a peace-deal on our condition for the war we lost on you !
The RUAF : 333 Brat !
Posted by: Savonarole | Apr 4 2025 8:52 utc | 29
DS map just dropped:
https://deepstatemap.live/en#6/49.4383200/32.0526800
Overall: Another near-zero day for the RFA. Only 0.9 kmsq taken.
Specific changes, S to N:
1. Fields near Kamianske (Orikhiv/Zhap sector).
2. Salient near Toretsk.
Posted by: Anonymous | Apr 4 2025 10:26 utc | 30
Ukraine and World Affairs: Weekly Update: May be useful to some: https://robcampbell.substack.com/p/ukraine-and-world-affairs-weekly
Posted by: The Busker | Apr 4 2025 10:42 utc | 31
Hello Canada 🇨🇦 here we come … 😂
Yale history department power couple Timothy Snyder and Marci Shore will teach @UoT starting Fall 2025.
The Joe Biden whisperer on Ukraine/Russia along with Anne Applebaum …
good riddance 🔀
Another near-zero day for the RFA.
Posted by: Anonymous | Apr 4 2025 10:26 utc | 30
Somehow, I think this guy Anonymous has an agenda.
Posted by: Avtonom | Apr 4 2025 12:00 utc | 33
Ukraine and World Affairs: Weekly Update: May be useful to some: https://robcampbell.substack.com/p/ukraine-and-world-affairs-weekly
Posted by: The Busker | Apr 4 2025 10:42 utc | 31
Thanks a lot Mr Busker, your updates are always extremely valuable
Posted by: Avtonom | Apr 4 2025 12:04 utc | 34
Late AFRF advances are actually quite significant.
The Porkrovsk front restarted advances to the West. River crossings up north in Lugansk continue to expand, evolving from mere bridgeheads to a full roll-up front. Zaporozhye front also continues to creep up the greyzone in a contained, but threatening manner. Russia continues to exploit its initiative, slowly but meaningfully.
Posted by: boneless | Apr 4 2025 12:24 utc | 35
Rubio saying it is getting close to gloves off time for Trump
US will know ‘within weeks’ if Russia is serious about peace, Rubio says
“We are going to find out fairly soon,” he said when asked if Russia was dragging its feet.
“We will know soon enough, in a matter of weeks, not months, whether Russia is serious about peace or not. I hope they are. It’ll be good for the world if that war ended. But obviously we have to test that proposition,” he said.
He pointedly praised Ukraine for “showing a willingness” to talk, and then explained:
“The Russians know our position in terms of wanting to end the war, and we will know from their answers very soon whether they are serious about proceeding with real peace or whether there’s a delay tactic.
If it’s a delay tactic, the President’s not interested in that. If this is dragging things out, president Trump’s not going to fall into the trap of endless negotiations.”
Asked further on Russia, Rubio said we would see its position more clearly within “weeks” as “there’s a lot that has to happen here in the next few weeks in order for this to be real.”
He appeared to signal growing impatience in the US saying:
“This is about actions. If you’re interested in peace, you stop fighting and you lay out the conditions by which you’re willing to end the war, and they have to be reasonable conditions, right, not crazy stuff. If you’re interested in peace, that’s what you do.
If you’re not interested in peace, then you sort of drag it out, and you come up with excuses, … we know that, and we’re not going to get pulled into that. But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
He said that if Russia were to start another military campaign, as reported, “then we will know they are not interested in peace.”
“If all of a sudden, we wake up tomorrow and the Russians are watching a massive offensive, then I think that’s a pretty clear sign they’re not interested in peace. That hasn’t happened yet. Let’s hope it doesn’t happen.”
He ended:
“We want to know whether they want to be peace or not, and if they do, then there’s a way there, and we’re willing to help.
If they’re not then it’s good to know early so we can adjust our policies accordingly.”
Posted by: Night Tripper | Apr 4 2025 12:38 utc | 36
EU and UK comedy act still trying to convince selves that their presence is influential maybe at the negotiating “Table of Victory” as z called it.
“NATO leaders have warned Vladimir Putin that he must meet a deadline for a ceasefire in Ukraine or face the consequences.
Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly said there had to be consequences if Russia does not agree to a ceasefire proposal as she arrived in Brussels on Friday to meet with her NATO counterparts.
There must be red lines in terms of a timetable when it comes to a Ukraine ceasefire, Estonian foreign minister Margus Tsahkna echoed.
‘(Russian president Vladimir Putin) is asking more and he is not asking only more about Ukraine. He’s just putting new conditions on the table (…) there must be some kind of red lines on the timetable’, he said as he arrived in Brussels.
Britain said it was time to step up pressure on Russia to try to force it to negotiate in good faith, while France accused Putin of dragging his feet on the ceasefire deal.
‘We continue to bear down the sanctions on Russia, so that they are willing to come to this negotiation actually serious about making the peace that we want to see,’ British foreign minister David Lammy said at a NATO meeting.
This comes as a senior NATO official revealed that Russia has seen about 900,000 casualties since the war started in February 2022, the German press agency DPA reports.
The British Ministry of Defence said in its latest intelligence update that up to 250,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since Putin began his brutal invasion of Ukraine. ”
Posted by: Jo | Apr 4 2025 12:39 utc | 37
‘We continue to bear down the sanctions on Russia, so that they are willing to come to this negotiation actually serious about making the peace that we want to see,’ British foreign minister David Lammy said at a NATO meeting.
Posted by: Jo | Apr 4 2025 12:39 utc | 37
see lammy, this is the problem. you continiue with your sanctions and demands.
Posted by: Justpassinby | Apr 4 2025 12:51 utc | 38
The new trope is that “the Russians are dragging their heels,” stalling out the moment when they’ll *have* to submit to a full ceasefire, like recalcitrant children @ the dinner table avoiding the spinach on their plate for as log as possible until they’ll have to open their mouths & eat it.
It’s a bizarre trope coming from the American side, the lead belligerent in the war, trying to act as mediator, armed with enough carrots & sticks to *discipline* the Russians into laying down their arms, when they themselves elaborately weaponized Ukraine as an implement of war against Russia.
Posted by: steel_porcupine | Apr 4 2025 13:22 utc | 39
Russians are savvy negotiators who prioritize the unfinished business of this war—-eradicating its root causes—-while playing their role in the diplomatic circuit. Russia’s best security guarantee for durable peace lies in creating solid, immutable facts on the ground—but op-edders like Mark Brolin, writing in the Daily Telegraph, take unmitigated glee in describing, blow by blow, exactly how it is that Russia is so geopolitically weak: “Putin and his fellow rogues like Lukashenko of Belarus will be cutely aware that their grip on power is likely to weaken significantly if Ukraine successfully breaks free and its GDP per capita begins to catch up with the rest of Europe, following the path of other Eastern European countries that have already left Russia’s sphere of influence.”
Not only does Mark Brain repeat untrue information—-that 4 European countries have stronger economies than does Russia—-he seems not to have consulted the recent IMF ranking system, which in 2024 showed Russia overtaking Japan for 4th place in world economic output, trailing only China, the U.S. and India in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), and the IMF’s forecast for 2025, which sees a steady 2% uptick in PPP for Russia.
In other words, Russia is among the top contributors to global economic growth. Moreover, the IMF remarked that Russia’s high rank “adds muscle to the economic caliber overall of BRICS+.”
Mark Brolin, get a clue-?
But Mark Brolin will *not* get a clue: “Europe is more than capable of shouldering the responsibility for its own defenses,” he asserts, “against a Russia still in relative geopolitical decline.” Promulgating the fiction that Russia is falling apart is what an op-edder like Mark Brolin does best, and he insists that this is the case—Russia-in-decline—*twice* in his 700-word article.
Hopeless-? Yes, hopeless-! That is the state of Regime Media in the UK.
Posted by: steel_porcupine | Apr 4 2025 13:23 utc | 40
@33
He’s trying to convince himself there is a “stalemate” in the ukraine of some sort.
Posted by: Fred777 | Apr 4 2025 13:26 utc | 41
‘There’ll Be More of This. Mark My Word.s’
https://x.com/kitklarenberg/status/1907787205025693902
“Absolutely shocking. Ukrainian dissident residing in Russia was lured by a non-existent NGO to Germany. During a scheduled stopover in Warsaw, he was arrested and handed over to the SBU without any ability to contest his extradition. There’ll be more of this. Mark my word.s.”
Posted by: John Gilberts | Apr 4 2025 13:27 utc | 42
Writing for the Daily Telegraph, Mark Brolin fear-mongers that Russia may soon *lose* its population: “How will the Kremlin continue to justify to its own population that it is better to live poorer, with less peace and far more war casualties than in former Soviet states like Poland, Estonia and Czechia?” Mark Brolin seems not to understand that this is an existential war for Russia, not some sort of bizarre adventurism, which the U.S. has elaborately prepared against Russia since at least 2014, if not before.
The choice is not to *avoid casualties* and live as residents of Estonia do.
Russia, under attack by the U.S. and its NATO expansion, has been in the crosshairs of a war like this, which was not in its choosing, since the U.S. began to weaponize Ukraine against Russia. As such, Russia’s citizens overwhelmingly back the war efforts.
Moreover, Russia’s citizens comprehend that former Soviet states like Poland, Estonia and Czechia are *co-belligerents* in this war, along w/ the U.S. It is finance to believe that people in Russia compare their living standards to those of former Soviet states since the SMO commenced or that they perseverate over such minutiae.
Posted by: steel_porcupine | Apr 4 2025 13:29 utc | 43
Justpassinby@38….and why would he not continue the sanctions, nothing really that Russia can do about it, unless Russia caves in. Can Russia affect the Brits, yep, that laughter down the hall, that’s Whitehall…..
and even with an agreement between the US and Russia it will in no way change the FUKUEU position and Russia will still be attacked but due to optical obligations Russia will not bel able to retaliate outside of 404….
…..were Russia able to subdue or cause a Ukie capitulation it would be different, 3 years on, that won’t happen any time soon….
Cheers M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Apr 4 2025 13:30 utc | 44
Everyone knows before Bears consume their prey, they stop and talk to them?
Posted by: snake | Apr 4 2025 13:31 utc | 45
It’s a bizarre trope coming from the American side, the lead belligerent in the war, trying to act as mediator, armed with enough carrots & sticks to *discipline* the Russians into laying down their arms, when they themselves elaborately weaponized Ukraine as an implement of war against Russia.
Posted by: steel_porcupine | Apr 4 2025 13:22 utc | 39
Yes, it’s a real trick to be both the primary sponsor of a proxy at war with Russia and play the role of detached mediator between the proxy and Russia. “You kids stop your fighting or there’ll be hell to pay.” The deceit and hypocrisy might bother other peoples but for the US it’s just business as usual.
Posted by: Mike R | Apr 4 2025 13:53 utc | 46
Posted by: steel_porcupine | Apr 4 2025 13:22 utc | 39
Agree 100%. The Western leaders, who have painted “Poot’n” as both weak and dangerous, both stupid and too smart, are now trying to discipline their adversary. But the most unbelievable thing is their populations seem to believe everything they hear from these leaders. I wish there would be some visible opposition …
Posted by: Avtonom | Apr 4 2025 14:22 utc | 47
Posted by: Avtonom | Apr 4 2025 14:22 utc | 47
##########
The misunderstanding persists in force.
Just yesterday Commander Cavoli testified in front of Congress and demonstrated little factual comprehension of the SMO.
https://sonar21.com/general-cavolis-schizophrenia-on-ukraine/
With such poor information coming from the military, it’s a wonder that Trump hasn’t started a world war.
In DC it is expected that there will be ass covering. Much of this strikes me as pride. No one wants to tell the old men in the Congress that they are, in fact, naked.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 4 2025 14:33 utc | 48
8 – Turkey is much more likely to attack Iran than Israel. We are talking about a NATO member after all. Erdoğan fears the Zionists and will not do anything to make them attack him.
Posted by: Waldorf | Apr 4 2025 14:45 utc | 49
Ukraine and World Affairs: Weekly Update, April 4th 2025: May be useful to some: https://robcampbell.substack.com/p/ukraine-and-world-affairs-weekly
Posted by: The Busker | Apr 4 2025 10:42 utc | 31
Thanks a lot Mr Busker, your updates are always extremely valuable
Posted by: Avtonom | Apr 4 2025 12:04 utc | 34
Much appreciated Avtonom.
Posted by: The Busker | Apr 4 2025 14:52 utc | 50
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Apr 4 2025 13:30 utc | 44
he could try the carrot instead, as the stick is clearly not working.
Posted by: Justpassinby | Apr 4 2025 15:17 utc | 51
Trump apparently being advised to cut off all communications with Putin until he agrees to a ceasefire.
We are back to square one.
Posted by: Night Tripper | Apr 4 2025 15:46 utc | 52
Berlin Promises Kiev Billions More and Deploys Combat Troops in Lithuania
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/04/03/qqos-a03.html
“The largest German rearmament package since the Nazi era is directly serving to escalate the war against Russia.
On the same day that Baerbock visited Kiev, the planned German combat brigade in Lithuania was formally put into service…”
Posted by: John Gilberts | Apr 4 2025 15:54 utc | 53
Posted by: Night Tripper | Apr 4 2025 15:46 utc | 52
Never moved an inch from square one despite the loud screaming of Trump.
It’s all smoke and mirrors.
If something real is happening it will not be ‘aired’ to the public.
Posted by: Mario | Apr 4 2025 16:00 utc | 54
Come July or August, military events on the battlefield will have decimated the AFU to such an extent that the ceasefire matter—have a ceasefire, or not—will have taken care of itself, and the *diplomacy* of DJT’s team will be largely relegated to signing the capitulation terms which Russia sets before them.
Posted by: steel_porcupine | Apr 4 2025 16:00 utc | 55
If you do an internet search with the words Ukraine oblasts voting map, at least in google it will turn up the voting map. Going by the voting the most pro Russian oblasts are the eight on the south-east end of the country. Along with Crimea, four of them have already been annexed by Russia and I think there is really no chance they will surrender them. If I were Russian, I would want Russia to annex all eight. Another solution that would leave a more defendable border would be to occupy everything to the east of the Dnieper River.
If it develops that it is going to be, apparently, a forever war, perhaps Russia should occupy the place and wreck it. Take out and bend up all the railroad tracks (easy to do), destroy every electrical generation plant, and decommission the nuclear plants in a destructive way. Since occupying the place would be a loser, pull out. Because NATO has to pretend to be on the side of the Ukrainian people, they would have to take in the refugees, and most of the population would leave. That would leave a very weak enemy that would not easily support a military, foreign or domestic. It would be a very large no-man’s-land or buffer. If some day the Ukrainians get their collective heads out of their collective asses, give them an accommodating peace treaty. perhaps even some reparations. the point would not be cruelty for its own sake.
Posted by: Jmaas | Apr 4 2025 16:01 utc | 56
Posted by: John Gilberts | Apr 4 2025 15:54 utc | 53
The German brigade to Lithuania has been planned since 2024, and won’t be operational – nor at strength – before 2027. Takes the Germans 3 years to form a brigade, how the mighty have fallen.
At this moment they are establishing their base in Lithuania, close to the Belarus border
Posted by: Richard Head | Apr 4 2025 16:01 utc | 57
fyi,
https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2025/04/04/news-x-world-india-russia-launches-deadly-drone-strike/
News X World (India): Russia launches deadly drone strike
….Then there is one further straw in the wind suggesting that the Russians and Americans are closer than we imagine to agreeing the terms of a peace treaty to end the war. The two day visit to Washington of the head of Russia’s CEO of their Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev is an extraordinary development. It is supposed that he had talks with Trump’s special emissary for Russia, Steve Witkoff. Given his official job, it is reasonable to expect they discussed opportunities for developing mutually interesting business opportunities in Russia when the state-to-state relations move on to full detente mode, which is something vastly broader and deeper than any ‘re-set’. For those who want to pursue this, I suggest looking up Dmitriev’s entry in Wikipedia. He is surely one of the most successful Russian business leaders with wide experience advising mergers and acquisitions between Russian and American businesses.
From the Russian talk shows it is clear that the Kremlin elites are expecting the U.S. to send a large delegation of business executives and possibly government officials to the St Petersburg Intenational Economic Forum, 18-21 June. I will be attending and hope that these expectations are realized.
Posted by: michaelj72 | Apr 4 2025 16:14 utc | 58
NATO’s logic is this: if Russia defeats the West in Ukraine, then China will be emboldened to take Taiwan. So the message, dear DJT, is that the hegemonic/paymaster of the West cannot undercut Ukraine in any way, shape, form or fashion.
To give Russia a ‘W’ is to greenlight China.
Fortune cookie logic a la Mark Rutte: as if China’s One China concept had not already incorporated Taiwan integration into its future-?
Posted by: steel_porcupine | Apr 4 2025 16:15 utc | 59
Posted by: David Levin | Apr 3 2025 16:02 utc | 1
Thanks to all who shared their thoughts about this.
Posted by: David Levin | Apr 4 2025 16:18 utc | 60
Rutte is playing for his king as usual… The Dutch have so much investments in the US that they don’t want to make the boss angry.
Posted by: Tom | Apr 4 2025 16:28 utc | 61
A thoughtful commentary from Joe Lauria over at Consortium News:
https://consortiumnews.com/2025/04/03/getting-the-un-involved-in-ukraine/
Posted by: Avtonom | Apr 4 2025 16:39 utc | 62
Meanwhile in Brussels at NATO obvious cracks and contradictions begin to appear…
Europe & Canada Say They’ll Spend More on Defence But Are Cool on US Demands
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/article/europe-and-canada-say-theyll-spend-more-on-defence-but-are-cool-on-us-demands/
“It is important that we all agree that Russia is a threat. If not, I don’t know why we should always increase more and more defence spending,’ Canada’s FM Melanie Joly told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
Even as the Trump administration demands that defence spending be ramped up, the president’s tariff war is roiling stock markets and is likely to damage economic growth around the world, including among US allies at NATO.
Article 2 of NATO’s founding treaty states that allies ‘will seek to eliminate conflict in their international economic policies and will encourage economic collaboration between any or all of them.’
Asked whether the tariffs constitute a breach of the treaty, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said: ‘No, I don’t think so…’
Pressed on how allies might provide for their security if they no longer have budget space, Rutte said: ‘I don’t think I’m helping the alliance by commenting on something which is not really part of alliance policy…”
Posted by: John Gilberts | Apr 4 2025 16:57 utc | 63
… didn’t shed a tear when the Zios wiped out the Mavi Marmara
Not quite …
Turkish PM Erdogan: Israelis have ‘surpassed Hitler in barbarism’ | July 2014 |
Erdogan had previously accused Israeli politician Ayelet Shaked of sharing the same mentality as Hitler
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2014/07/20/Erdogan-launches-new-attack-on-Israel-with-Hitler-comparison
Erdogan was riding high for major role in Arab Spring overthrow of Sunni regimes … HRC was the darling of Al Jazeera and the Muslim Brotherhood … overthrow of Gaddafi, Mubarak and Assad. Turkey unwilling to support US invasion of Iraq in 2003. After the murders and raid of the Mavi Marmara the relations w Israel soured for many years.
Erdogan got Syria after all, run by the terrorists he supported … a proxy state bordering Israel … working together w Ukraine and Azerbaijan. Why Ukraine? Just because Russia took Crimea and deported the Tatars, Nazi collaborators in WWII.
michaelj72 | Apr 4 2025 16:14 utc | 58
It wasn’t so very long ago that Americans heading for the Economic Forum were having their flights stopped and their passports confiscated. So this is big if true.
Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Apr 4 2025 17:25 utc | 65
John Gilberts | Apr 4 2025 16:57 utc | 63
Is anyone taking the BS from Brussels seriously … 🤥 🤥 Rutte a known conservative liar for 14 years as Dutch PM … calls Boris J. a close friend … Mark the Trump whisperer … no vision, no courage … a career man sole interest is his position as SG.
64 – It is indeed incorrect to say Erdoğan “didn’t shed a tear” – diplomatic relations between Turkey and Israel were disrupted though trade relations went on. Given that US and European politicians can end their careers if they criticise Israel, Erdoğan’s criticisms may seem a lot, but they aren’t. In concrete terms, Turkey and Israel cooperate and have long done so.
Posted by: Waldorf | Apr 4 2025 17:41 utc | 67
It just occurred to me that even if Ukraine gives America everything, including the kitchen sink, and Trump starts moving the military in to “protect” the new American assets.
Russia can keep going. Ukraine doesn’t currently have a mechanism to complete any deals with anyone (including the UK).
Legally speaking, which matters to Putin and Xi.
The West will never follow the law, they are OUTLAW (outside of being lawful)
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 4 2025 18:46 utc | 68
“moving the military in to “protect” the new American assets.” I’ve mentioned this previously: a US military presence by stealth.
Seperately, the US is aiming to buy/steal everything; the UK claims agreements to buy assets; the EU claims agreements to buy assets. Where, and what, are these? Who are the legal owners?
Posted by: horseguards | Apr 4 2025 19:50 utc | 69
🔘 Negotiations have begun in Kiev with representatives from France and the United Kingdom regarding the deployment of a military contingent.
These are talks at the level of chiefs of staff. The French delegation is headed by General Burkhard, and the British delegation by Admiral Radakin.
@ukraine_watch
Posted by: Jo | Apr 4 2025 20:15 utc | 70
Internal turmoil in Ukraine gradually accelerating:
Dnipro City Council Member Yurii Fedko, whose car exploded in Dnipropetrovsk Region, died in hospital – case investigated as terrorist attack
Member and head of the Left Bank Administration of the Dnipropetrovsk City Council Yurii Fedko, who was injured in a car explosion, died in hospital.
This was reported by the Proposytsia party.
It is stated that the police qualified the event as a terrorist attack and opened criminal proceedings under Part 2 of Article 258 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Recall that the explosion occurred on April 4 at around 7:40 am. 61-year-old Fedko and his wife were injured.
https://ukranews.com/en/news/1074316-dnipro-city-council-member-yurii-fedko-whose-car-exploded-in-dnipropetrovsk-region
This is the third explosion in a Ukrainian city in the last two days that isn’t a direct result of Russian military action. Yesterday a grenade was detonated in a supermarket and an IED-type device also claimed a victim.
Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Apr 4 2025 20:27 utc | 71
Aleksey Berezutski 🇷🇺🎖
@aleksbrz11
Kaja Kallas, you too will soon slip on soap and fall out of the window. I warn the Estonian people that the end of the path you are following is absolute destruction and defeat. 🇷🇺Z💪
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 4 2025 21:24 utc | 72
“Looking at what is happening in the world, in other countries, I want to say to those who are still waiting for Russia’s gradual decline: we are only concerned about one thing — not to catch a cold at your funeral.” – President Putin.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 4 2025 21:38 utc | 73
About 15-20 minutes ago, someone in another discussion elsewhere offered two links supporting an accusation that Russia has attacked Ukrainian civilians. I offer this (without supporting it) while asking for comments on the content, the sites quoted, and anything else.
/————————————-\
While you were sitting in your comfortable chair in the USA today, Russia struck a Kyrvyi Rih residential neighborhood with a ballistic missile with a cluster munitions warhead [1], obliterating their homes and killing at least 18, including 9 children. [2]
This terrorism comes from Putin’s Russia, not from Ukraine, the so-called proxy of the US.
Peace in Ukraine won’t come until Russia’s war of aggression is stopped.
1. RBC-Ukraine, “Russia strikes residential area in Zelenskyy’s hometown with ballistic missile: Many dead and injured,” April 4, 2025, https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/russian-missile-hits-zelenskyy-s-hometown-1743784654.html.
2. Tim Zadorozhnyy, “18 killed, including 9 children, over 50 injured in Russian strike on Kryvyi Rih,” Kyiv Independent, April 4, 2025, https://kyivindependent.com/12-killed-at-least-50-injured-in-russian-missile-attack-on-kryvyi-rih/.
\————————————-/
Posted by: John A. La Pietra | Apr 4 2025 22:07 utc | 74
while asking for comments on the content, the sites quoted
Posted by: John A. La Pietra | Apr 4 2025 22:07 utc | 74Posted by: John A. La Pietra | Apr 4 2025 22:07 utc | 74
As a comment on the sources: neither of those quoted are great, with dubious connections to USAID-related funding resources.
Regarding damage to civilian infrastructure, lots of Ukrainian media carry these kind of reports, but never, ever, point at poorly-aimed or misfiring anti-air/anti-missile defences landing on random buildings. Remember that these Ukrainian forces are just firing away, aiming at missiles that fly faster than the defence projectiles, so where do those defence projectiles end up landing?
Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Apr 4 2025 22:25 utc | 75
64 – It is indeed incorrect to say Erdoğan “didn’t shed a tear” – diplomatic relations between Turkey and Israel were disrupted though trade relations went on. Given that US and European politicians can end their careers if they criticise Israel, Erdoğan’s criticisms may seem a lot, but they aren’t. In concrete terms, Turkey and Israel cooperate and have long done so.
Posted by: Waldorf | Apr 4 2025 17:41 utc | 67
____
In other words, it is correct to say what I said. Please do not mistake a dearth of pretty words for anything meaningful. After all, the spice kept flowing, as you point out. The rest of your comment makes my point nicely.
Posted by: malenkov | Apr 4 2025 22:38 utc | 76
Negotiations have begun in Kiev with representatives from France and the United Kingdom regarding the deployment of a military contingent.
These are talks at the level of chiefs of staff. – @ukraine_watch
I’m getting a feeling that this and some other of the Eurotard saber rattling amounts to as much as a Potemkin’s Unternehmen Zitadelle, intended to hand them “a card” for the negotiations. Probably someone came up with it after asking ChatGPT what tactics have worked in the past against Russia.
Posted by: persiflo | Apr 4 2025 23:03 utc | 77
Interesting article from the ‘KyivIndependent’ website titled “Inside Ukraine’s desperate race to train more soldiers” which follows a journalist who has spent the last 6 months touring the military training camps.
From surreal images of training in view of fake body parts to the admission that most of the new ‘recruits’ are over 45. A company commander is quoted as saying “The people are not morally or physically ready, especially the older people.”
It’s similar in tone to the fascinating article ‘Please Don’t Use My Name’ that b. recently provided a link for as both reveal the real state of affairs on the ground for the Ukrainian military.
https://kyivindependent.com/inside-ukraines-desperate-race-to-train-more-soldiers/
If you haven’t read the article that b. posted a link to, I highly recommend it:
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2025/03/27/please-don-t-use-my-name
Posted by: FakeBelieve | Apr 4 2025 23:13 utc | 78
From Reuters
Zelenskiy says details of foreign troop contingent in Ukraine could be ready in a month
Friday night funnies!
Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 5 2025 0:02 utc | 79
Thanks to Jeremy Rhymings-Lang @75 (22:25 UTC) for initial general comments in response to my post @74 (22:07 UTC). Can anyone else find reports of an attack in the vicinity of the Kyrvyi Rih (or transliterated equivalent) location mentioned in the posting I saw elsewhere? Comments on how those reports match, differ from, or contradict what the report I saw elsewhere said are most welcome.
Posted by: John A. La Pietra | Apr 5 2025 0:20 utc | 80
A quick check of easily-found reports:
https://duckduckgo.com/?t=h_&q=Kyrvyi+Rih&ia=news&iar=news
suggests to me that Reuters may be about as impartial on this story as a mainstream news source gets. Can anyone point out better results than those from (or based on) Reuters?
(I also wonder if this story is being pushed a bit more strongly because Kryvyi Rih a/k/a Krivoy Rog is Zelenskyy’s birthplace. . . .)
Posted by: John A. La Pietra | Apr 5 2025 0:38 utc | 81
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 3 2025 21:16 utc | 16
Going by your moniker “LoveDonbass” you might be the right person to ask for support in my ongoing struggle with Kiev Ukraine supporters.
They, of course, claim to be ‘Ukraine Supporters’.
I try to point out that they are actually supporting an attempt to destroy, kill, subjugate, ethnic cleanse a Ukrainian population that once was say 10 million people. And that’ not ‘supporting Ukraine’. That’s supporting the destruction of Ukraine and Ukrainians.
They come back at me claiming all kinds of things (and quite a lot of ad hominem, of course) some of which claims Donbas was really ‘invaded’ by Russians who ‘took’ the place against the will of the people. That most of the people fled and the only ones remaining were a few russian sypathisers. That of those that remained most died in the trenches already. And so on. You can imagine.
Perhaps you can provide links and references that will tell the truth of the current and past situation for the people and governments of Donbas?
I tell them, for instance, that you still have your own governments even, and that those governments with your approval chose to Federate your republics with the Russian Federation. That you therefore still own land and property that you owned before, that you still have all rights you had before and that you even still have you own ‘local’ govt. albeit now Federation with many others in the Russian Federation.
Please, if i am wrong tell me. If I am right help me with links and references or simple testimony. If I am missing something please point it out. This venue sometimes makes it hard to stay in touch so though I will try to return frequently for a few days and search the threads for any response I might mention I can be contacted via ukrainehonsty.com
Posted by: arthur abrogard | Apr 5 2025 1:05 utc | 82
can’t edit. ‘ukrainehonesty.com’ that should be. 🙁
Posted by: arthur brogard | Apr 5 2025 1:06 utc | 83
@ John A. La Pietra
Short answer is – details provided by so-callled-ukrainian so-called media is insufficient to confirm what happened. Which is suspicious and not exactly uncommon from them.
Personally, I do not recall a single instance of AFRF using a cluster warhead in a strike on a single building anywhere near a residential area. Sure, it’s technically not impossible. Pointless to use on a concrete building though, unless as a follow-up double-tap, but that was never mentioned by anyone. Russian MoD did report a successful HE strike on a packed command gathering event in an unspecified restaurant.
While a number of events are possible here, so-called-ukrainian media are well known for their expertise in quickly organizing a PR event after Russian strikes. This looks like one.
As an extra, even if we assume this claim be true in one way or another, why would a packed high ranking military gathering supposedly be held next to an active public park, nobody in the Western media will ever ask.
Posted by: boneless | Apr 5 2025 1:07 utc | 84
Posted by: John A. La Pietra | Apr 4 2025 22:07 utc | 74
The accusation that Russia has used a cluster munition is false, as can be seen by the single rising column of dust in the video of the aftermath of the strike. If cluster munitions were used, you would see lots of small explosions.
Whether Russia actually hit the intended target (Magellan Cafe packed with Ukrainian and foreign military) or missed is unclear. If Ukraine shows a video of the cafe still standing mostly intact, it will mean that the missile has missed. If it is unable to show such a video, it will mean that the missile has hit its target and the dead civilians are unfortunate collateral damage.
Posted by: S | Apr 5 2025 4:49 utc | 85
Tass on the targeted Krivoy Rog strike…
Ukraine Loses Up To 85 Service Members, Foreign Military Officers in Strike on Krivoy Rog
https://tass.com/defense/1939189
“The Russian Armed Forces has targeted a meeting of Ukrainian commanders and Western instructors at a restaurant in the city of Krivoy Rog, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement…”
Posted by: John Gilberts | Apr 5 2025 6:05 utc | 86
This is Just One House of Ukraine’s President Zelensky (& vid)
https://x.com/timand2037/status/1908380996636420009
“How much of the billions given to the neo-fascist Kiev regime went into Zelensky’s mansions?”
$35+ billion from Canada alone. No questions asked. Canucklheads should inquire of their nazi-clapping political candidates where it all went.
Posted by: John Gilberts | Apr 5 2025 6:40 utc | 87
Corrected from above:
This is One House of Ukrainian President Zelensky
https://x.com/timand2037/status/1908380996036420009
Posted by: John Gilberts | Apr 5 2025 6:47 utc | 88
Posted by: John A. La Pietra | Apr 5 2025 0:20 utc | 80
Posted by: John A. La Pietra | Apr 5 2025 0:38 utc | 81
I don’t have links (b/c I don’t collect them) but Russian sources report all the time that Ukr military headquarters are very often placed in hotels, near schools & kindergartens, in the immediate vicinity of hospitals, town markets etc. If only half of this is true, it’s a serious violation of every thinkable rule for war behaviour from the Ukr side. I tend to believe the Russians here, at least far more than the notoriously untrustworthy Ukrainian authorities.
And well, so the Russians bomb these headquarters and the Ukr authorities scream “civilian victims”. Who most probably are what Jeremy Rhymings-Lang suggests: victims of shrapnels from Ukr AD.
Somehow, I doubt it will ever be investigated.
When it comes to Reuters, no, it’s absolutely not objective. It’s a major part of Western propaganda and it’s behind the most sinister distortion of truth & facts that has been presented to mankind.
Posted by: Avtonom | Apr 5 2025 8:27 utc | 89
Posted by: John Gilberts | Apr 5 2025 6:47 utc | 88
This story about the 20 million dollar mansion in Florida has been debunked several times. Please check these things before posting.
thank you
Posted by: dan of steele | Apr 5 2025 9:00 utc | 90
A blow for the Ukrainian Neo-Nazi’s and their Western weapons suppliers.
“Russia has said that it carried out a missile strike on military personnel in the eastern Ukrainian city of Krivoy Rog on Friday evening.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, its target was “a meeting place of commanders of military units and Western instructors in one of the restaurants.”
Up to 85 Ukrainian and foreign soldiers and officers were killed, and up to 20 vehicles were damaged”
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 5 2025 12:23 utc | 91
Republicofscotland@91….they’d have been completely safe if they had invited Tiny Dancer to pop by for a show……credit Zman though, he and his entourage can travel literally anywhere in the Ukraine and they are perfectly safe. Must be nice to have that kinda power over the Russians.
Cheers M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Apr 5 2025 13:02 utc | 92
sean the leprechaun | Apr 5 2025 13:02 utc | 92
Is Zelensky running the war? Not the impression I get.
Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Apr 5 2025 13:09 utc | 93
Looks like RUAF is seriously moving along the Dniepr shore – they have taken full FPV drone control of the village of Kamyanske and the road north of it.
Posted by: unimperator | Apr 5 2025 13:17 utc | 94
Looks like RUAF is seriously moving along the Dniepr shore – they have taken full FPV drone control of the village of Kamyanske and the road north of it.
Posted by: unimperator | Apr 5 2025 13:17 utc | 94
As I posted, by mistake, in the other thread…
First Zaporizhzhya , then two pronged advance through the west bank.
Dnipro and Nikopol, both can then converge to krivoi rog.
Until I see heavy traffic up the E105 I’ll stay prudent on any timetables.
Posted by: Newbie | Apr 5 2025 13:20 utc | 95
Posted by: Newbie | Apr 5 2025 13:20 utc | 95
I don’t think RUAF will take Zaporozhye any time soon.
They may move the front up to Prymorske (around 20km south of Zaporozhye), where a water barrier exists. Meanwhile they might opt to move north along the Orikhiv route instead, to cut the N15 highway running east out of Zaporozhye. They could also destroy the bridge(s) from Zaporozhye across the river, in effect isolating the city and rendering it moot, hard to supply and little chance of launching any counter-attacks out of it.
Posted by: unimperator | Apr 5 2025 13:33 utc | 96
YetAnotherAnon@93….regardless of what he does or does not run, he is by far the safest person to be around in 404, as in untouchable. Putin been to the front under threat of Iskandar? Nope, HIMARS will cause that. Britkrainia is playing Trump and Putin like badly tuned banjos…..soon will have them squealing like pigs at each other.
Cheers M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Apr 5 2025 13:45 utc | 97
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Apr 5 2025 13:45 utc | 97
RUAF could hit Zelensky at any time, but I don’t think there’s any material benefit in doing so. He is a clown puppet, admitted, very annoying one at that though.
Last year RUAF hit the metal award ceremony in Odessa, 5 minutes after Zelensky had left. At least they killed most of the people (sea drone assemblers and operators) Zelensky handed awards. Reportedly he has also been in sniper crosshairs once when visiting on the Kherson shore, no permission to shoot was given.
Posted by: unimperator | Apr 5 2025 13:49 utc | 98
Scott Ritter: The Enemy Within
https://scottritter.substack.com/p/the-enemy-within
“…The Ukrainian-American diaspora whose loyalty to the odious ideology of Stepan Bandera transcends everything – including the land which they currently call home.”
Posted by: John Gilberts | Apr 5 2025 14:56 utc | 99
‘Poland Plans to Buy or Lease the Odessa Port’ – Deputy Minister
https://x.com/simpatico771/status/1908248919814946937
“He said this way it is possible to provide Poland with access to the Black Sea.”
Poland is hallucinating.
Posted by: John Gilberts | Apr 5 2025 15:14 utc | 100