World Politics

[FrostyWinnipeg]

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/u-k-lawmaker-resigns-after-viewing-porn-in-house-of-commons-1.5883153

[Tracker]

 

Brutal Sect of Putin’s Army Accused of Murdering Their Own Comrades

Serving under “Putin’s soldier” Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechen troops have been linked to vile war crimes against civilians in Bucha—and their own severely injured brothers-in-arms.

BUCHA, Ukraine—Ihor Yuschenko, 61, a former colonel in the Ukrainian Armed Forces who once served as the deputy chief of staff of ground forces in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine, watched in horror as a war crime took place right outside his window in broad daylight.

According to Yuschenko, a column of Russian troops advancing through the town stopped and opened fire on his street in central Bucha on Feb. 27, killing two pedestrians. This column had included Chechen fighters known as Kadyrovtsy, members of various military groupings who are loyal to Chechnya’s local strongman, Ramzan Kadyrov, known as “Putin’s soldier.” Yuschenko said he was able to identify them by their black garb, their use of Islamic slogans, and Kadyrov’s name on their body armor.

About an hour later, their column was decimated by the Ukrainian army in a different part of town—but the Kadyrovtsy returned. “Many Chechen soldiers penetrated this street to kill Ukrainian civilian people,” Yuschenko told The Daily Beast.

He described how Chechen fighters, also dressed in black, shot up a car that had been driving down the street with at least “thirty bullets,” according to Yuschenko, killing its occupants and causing it to come to a stop on the side of the road next to the apartment building he was staying in. The Kadyrovtsy then allegedly dragged the two dead people whom they had shot out of the car, left them by the side of the road, and drove off in the car themselves.

 

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

An insightful and comprehensive thread on the battle of the Donbas, for those interested:

 

 

[Tracker]

4 hours ago, wanna-b-fanboy said:

An insightful and comprehensive thread on the battle of the Donbas, for those interested:

 

 

This was predicted- Putin's army is  struggling with incompetent leadership, irregular air support, unreliable and outdated equipment (some dating back to WW2), very poor food and sinking morale as more and more of their comrades  are killed right next to them. And this is even before the bulk of internationally-supplied armament is deployed in the field. The kill ratio between the Ukrainian forces vs the Russian forces is about 8 dead Russians for each dead Ukrainian. 

On top of that the top Russian general was meeting with his field commanders near Izium yesterday. The Ukrainian military found out about it and lobbed an artillery at the meeting, apparently killing or injuring many of the officers. General Gerasimov was hit in the leg by shrapnel and immediately departed for Russia.

The Russians have had two consecutive days of losing ground along with heavy losses. Further, there are reports that hackers have penetrated the Russian Central Bank's computer records and are threatening to delete them.  

Russian media are ginning up reports of ethnic Russians being attacked in Moldova, and the Times of London is saying that the decision has been made for Russian troops in Crimea to invade as part of a campaign to seize Odessa.

And:

[blue_gold_84]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-says-hitler-was-jewish-1.6437936

Quote

Israel has lashed out at Russia over "unforgivable" comments by its foreign minister about Nazism and antisemitism — including claims that Adolf Hitler was Jewish.

Nazism has featured prominently in Russia's war aims and narrative as it fights in Ukraine. In his bid to legitimize the war to Russian citizens, President Vladimir Putin has portrayed the battle as a struggle against Nazis in Ukraine, even though the country has a democratically elected government and a Jewish president whose relatives were killed in the Holocaust.

Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov made the comments during an interview with an Italian news channel, in response to a question about Russian claims that it invaded Ukraine to "denazify" the country.

Lavrov said that Ukraine could still have Nazi elements even if some figures, including the country's president, were Jewish. 

"So when they say 'How can Nazification exist if we're Jewish?' In my opinion, Hitler also had Jewish origins, so it doesn't mean absolutely anything. For some time we have heard from the Jewish people that the biggest antisemites were Jewish," he said...

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called Lavrov's statement "unforgivable and scandalous and a horrible historical error."

"The Jews did not murder themselves in the Holocaust," Lapid said. "The lowest level of racism against Jews is to blame Jews themselves for antisemitism."

Israel's Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem called the remarks "absurd, delusional, dangerous and deserving of condemnation."

"Lavrov is propagating the inversion of the Holocaust — turning the victims into the criminals on the basis of promoting a completely unfounded claim that Hitler was of Jewish descent," it said in a statement.

"Equally serious is calling the Ukrainians in general, and President (Volodymyr) Zelensky in particular, Nazis. This, among other things, is a complete distortion of the history and an affront to the victims of Nazism."

Reprehensible comments from Sergei Lavrov. What a ******* garbage human.

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

Propaganda video from Iran.

 

 

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

5 russian soldiers and a Ukrainian family in a cellar for weeks:

 

 

[Tracker]

All available experience indicates that you cannot reason with a fanatic. Putin is certainly that as a psychopath.

[Mark F]

Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper charges in a memoir out May 10 that former President Trump said when demonstrators were filling the streets around the White House following the death of George Floyd: "Can't you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something?"

 

https://www.axios.com/mark-esper-book-trump-protesters-24e93272-2af5-423d-be3b-164daab7b43d.html

 

Book vetted by Pentagon.

[HardCoreBlue]

On 2022-04-30 at 2:00 PM, FrostyWinnipeg said:

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/u-k-lawmaker-resigns-after-viewing-porn-in-house-of-commons-1.5883153

Back in the day this would be scandalous. Now it’s, that’s it? That’s all he did? What about (insert name) and what they did? No resignation?

[Mark F]

2 hours ago, HardCoreBlue said:

Back in the day this would be scandalous. Now it’s, that’s it? That’s all he did? What about (insert name) and what they did? No resignation?

On the other hand much serious stuff went on back in the day that is no longer accepted.

Also.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/04/28/ukraine-war-russia-resources-energy-oil-gas-commodities-agriculture/

 

"But the far bigger prize eyed by Russia may be Ukraine’s extraordinary resource riches, including some of the largest energy, mineral, and agricultural assets in the world., Russia’s announced war aim of conquering Ukraine’s eastern regions and southern shores is hardly coincidental. These regions—including Ukraine’s section of the Black Sea, now mainly controlled by Russia—account for about half of Ukraine’s conventional oil, 72 percent of its natural gas, and almost its entire coal production and reserves. The bulk of Ukraine’s critical minerals, especially the rare earth metals that are now in high demand, are likewise found in Donetsk and other parts of Ukraine either occupied or threatened by Russia. A number of crucial agricultural crops feeding global markets—including wheat, corn, barley, and sunflower oil—are harvested in eastern and southeastern Ukraine.

 

 

Edited May 2, 2022 by Mark F

[HardCoreBlue]

40 minutes ago, Mark F said:

On the other hand much serious stuff went on back in the day that is no longer accepted.

Yup. Depends on what one is talking about I guess. 

[Tracker]

'Inclined Toward Treason': More And More Russian Soldiers Reportedly Refusing To Fight In Ukraine

A stamp that was purportedly placed in the military-service booklet of one soldier who refused to serve in Ukraine. “Inclined toward treason, lies, and deception,” the official-looking stamp reads.

“They called me one morning from the office of the division commander in Amur Oblast, where Pavlik served,” said a woman from Russia’s Tambov region who asked to be identified only by her first name, Yelena. “The man said: ‘Do you know that they are searching for your son, that he is AWOL?’ Pavlik was supposed to board a troop train, but he didn’t. And five other soldiers were with him.”

Yelena’s son, Pavel, was serving in the Far Eastern Amur region when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Almost immediately, his unit was sent to the front, and he served almost 40 days in combat. Then his unit was sent back to Russia to regroup, Yelena told RFE/RL’s North.Realities. When his unit was preparing to return to Ukraine, Pavel refused.

“If he doesn’t want to go back, am I supposed to push him, to tell him, ‘Grab your weapon and go,’” Yelena said. “Those who haven’t been there have no right judge those who have.”

Yelena’s son is one of a significant but unknown number of Russian contract soldiers who have refused to either fight in Ukraine in the first place or who have fought and do not want to return.

Lawyer Pavel Chikov, founder of the Agora legal-aid NGO, has written on Telegram that more than 1,000 military personnel and National Guard troops from at least seven regions have refused to go to Ukraine.

https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-ukraine-treason-soldiers-refusing-to-fight/31806466.html

 

Edited May 3, 2022 by Tracker

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

Solid and thorough thread on two armies going in different directions:

 

 

[Tracker]

1 hour ago, wanna-b-fanboy said:

Solid and thorough thread on two armies going in different directions:

 

 

As an FYI on Russian tanks, the t-72, their most prevalent tank has a deadly design flaw- the ammunition is stored beneath the occupants with only a thin sheet of metal separating them. Almost any direct hit which normally might disable the tank but leave the crew alive will detonate the magazine, killing the crew instantly and hurl the turret several stories in the air. The T-90 corrects that flaw but is in very limited supply. 

Several Russian regiments comprising several thousand of Russia's elite troops have apparently refused to deploy to Ukraine in spite of threats. There are persistent rumours of  plots in the military to unseat and/or kill Putin who has assumed personal control of military actions. much as Hitler did in the dying days of WW2, and we know how effective that was.

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

16 minutes ago, Tracker said:

As an FYI on Russian tanks, the t-72, their most prevalent tank has a deadly design flaw- the ammunition is stored beneath the occupants with only a thin sheet of metal separating them. Almost any direct hit which normally might disable the tank but leave the crew alive will detonate the magazine, killing the crew instantly and hurl the turret several stories in the air. 

 

SOlid Article here:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2022/04/01/why-do-russian-tanks-explode-violently-when-hit/?sh=4361e329fc48

 

There was one video that showed a Ukranian, BTR take down a T-72 with an autocannon... by hitting the the space between the turret and the body, detonating the ammo and popping off the top. Needless to say- an autocannon should not be able to take a tank down.

Edited May 4, 2022 by wanna-b-fanboy

[Tracker]

                                                        

[Tracker]

                                           

[blue_gold_84]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/amnesty-international-war-crimes-evidence-1.6443704

Quote

Amnesty International announced Friday that it has evidence of alleged war crimes committed earlier this year by Russian forces in the Kyiv region during the invasion of Ukraine.

Investigators from the human rights group have been documenting alleged war crimes in eight cities around the Ukrainian capital since the end of February.

The names of some places may already be familiar, including Bucha and Borodyanka, where Ukrainian authorities and the international media shocked the world with the images of bound and slaughtered civilians and mass graves.

[do or die]

Oleksiy Goncharenko, head of Odesa regional council, said Russian frigate Admiral Makarov got into 'trouble' in the Black Sea overnight 

Around half an hour later, he posted an article from local news outlet Dumskaya which said: 'According to preliminary information, the frigate was unable to dodge the Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missile. 

'The ship is badly damaged, but remains afloat. For now.'

The Makarov is an Admiral Grigorovich-class frigate, one of the Russian navy's newest vessels and the most state-of-the-art frigate operating in the Black Sea.

[JCon]

13 minutes ago, do or die said:

Oleksiy Goncharenko, head of Odesa regional council, said Russian frigate Admiral Makarov got into 'trouble' in the Black Sea overnight 

Around half an hour later, he posted an article from local news outlet Dumskaya which said: 'According to preliminary information, the frigate was unable to dodge the Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missile. 

'The ship is badly damaged, but remains afloat. For now.'

The Makarov is an Admiral Grigorovich-class frigate, one of the Russian navy's newest vessels and the most state-of-the-art frigate operating in the Black Sea.

Looks like the Russians might have a new submarine. 

[do or die]

Turns out.....the Makaov was designated as the new Black Sea flagship..........after the loss of Moskva
Next.

[Tracker]

The Russian government has ruled that the Moscow sank not from an act of war, but from an accident, therefore the 400-500 dead seamen's families are not entitled to any compensation. Doubtless this concept will be applied to the Makarov sinking as well.

[Tracker]

Ukraine Says It Sank Another Russian Ship Near Snake Island
-Defense Ministry of Ukraine
The Ukrainian military announced Saturday that it has brought down yet another Russian ship trolling the Black Sea near Snake Island. The Defense Ministry of Ukraine tweeted a video of a ship that it identified as a Russian Serna craft, a type of boat used to transport troops for amphibious landings, Radio Free Europe reports. According to the military, a Bayraktar drone was used to sink the warship. “The traditional parade of the Russian Black Sea fleet on May 9 this year will be held near Snake Island—at the bottom of the sea,” the Defense Ministry said. A Russian antiaircraft system en route to Snake Island was also allegedly destroyed by the Bayraktar drone strike. Russia has yet to comment on the incident and outside sources have yet to independently verify the sinking.

(HAT TRICK!!!)

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

I would support this 1000%: