World Politics

[HardCoreBlue]

A surreal thought came over me walking the dog the other day that because a lunatic thought to himself 'I want that' has lead to enormous amounts of death, despair and destruction.

[Tracker]

1 hour ago, blue_gold_84 said:

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-wagner-bakhmut-40eea0f86be16a77830c369acd0a9d9f

Probably mostly BS but time will tell. NATO Europe is sending one million 155mm artillery shells to Ukraine, so this might be the result.

[Fatty Liver]

On 2023-05-03 at 9:22 AM, HardCoreBlue said:

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/russia-accuses-ukraine-of-attempted-drone-attack-on-putin/ar-AA1aGcLl?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=0c88bd0253504aac8251c6954a5ac3d7&ei=23

 

What am I missing here?

Person leading said country responsible for waging war and destruction on my country then said country is upset at us retaliating against this person who attacked us? 

No kidding, the guy responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths and casualties on both sides is whining like a little ***** about his personal safety.  No fair!

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

Damn- War criminal, going to war crime.

You have to click on a few tweets- they seemed to have barred linking of the original tweet.

 

 

Here is a more direct link:

 

Edited May 5, 2023 by Wanna-B-Fanboy

[Tracker]

Wagner Boss Makes Major Battlefield Exit After Grisly Video

-Press Service of Prigozhin/Telegram
Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin on Friday said his fighters will pull out of the key eastern Ukraine battleground of Bakhmut on May 10, ripping a lack of support from Moscow that is dooming his troops “to a senseless death.”

His mercenaries have led the bitter fight for control of the small city that has become the scene of some of the bloodiest conflict in Ukraine in recent months despite Bakhmut holding little strategic significance. In a series of furious tirades against Russia’s military commanders, Prigozhin said he’ll now pull his forces out of the city because Wagner is not being given the ammunition it needs.

“I am officially addressing the supreme commander-in-chief, the chief of the General Staff, the minister of defense, and the people of Russia,” Prigozhin said in a statement shared on Telegram. “I declare on behalf of the fighters of the Wagner Group… that on May 10, 2023, we are being forced to hand over our positions in Bakhmut to Ministry of Defense units and withdraw what’s left of Wagner to the rear to lick our wounds.”

“I am withdrawing Wagner’s units from Bakhmut because in the absence of ammunition they are being doomed to a senseless death,” Prigozhin continued. He added that he’d decided to hold Wagner’s positions until after May 9, when Russia celebrates Victory Day, commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

“We will lick our wounds, and when the Motherland is in danger, we will again stand up for her defense,” Prigozhin said. “The Russian people can count on us.”

The announcement comes a day after Prigozhin’s long-standing criticisms of Russia’s leaders appeared to boil over. In a video shared on Telegram on Thursday, the Wagner chief stood alongside what looked like rows of his recruits’ bloodied corpses and became apoplectic with rage as he said he lacked 70 percent of the ammunition he needs on the battlefield.

[Tracker]

                                                The coronation ritual is completed as the new king receives the Holy Hand Grenade:

 

                                                      

[Tracker]

 

             

                                                        

[Wideleft]

1 hour ago, Tracker said:

 

             

                                                        

If you're being paid $4+K a month, you're not a volunteer - you're a mercenary.

[blue_gold_84]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-65433284.amp

Quote

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has decreed six new indigenous reserves, banning mining and restricting commercial farming there.

The lands - including a vast area of Amazon rainforest - cover about 620,000 hectares (1.5m acres).

Indigenous leaders welcomed the move, but said more areas needed protection.

Recent years have seen an alarming rise in deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, a crucial buffer in the global fight against climate change.

The new reserves are in central Brazil, as well as the country's north-east and south.

The presidential decree grants indigenous people exclusive use of natural resources on the reserves. All mining is banned, and there are tighter rules for commercial farming and logging.

While hailing Lula's decision, some indigenous leaders pointed out that his government had vowed to recognise 14 new territories.

One step of hopefully many more in the right direction.

[JCon]

 

[Tracker]

46 minutes ago, JCon said:

 

One WW2 tank, no flyovers, no mass marches and, above all, no Putin who was tucked in far a far away bunker. While all this was going on, Russians were fleeing occupied Ukrainian territory and hundreds of his soldiers were dying in futile charges.  This reminds me of a line from Dr. Zhivago when his half-brother says, " I underestimated our (Russian) capacity for suffering".

Edited May 9, 2023 by Tracker

[blue_gold_84]

17 hours ago, JCon said:

 

Eat all the ****, Russia. You get what you deserve.

[Tracker]

And yesterday, Russia bombed their own troops:

Russian Troops Injured as Drones Attack Their Military Base: Reports
-Reuters
At least 10 Russian troops were injured early Wednesday in a drone attack at a military training ground in the Voronezh region, according to multiple reports. Voronezh Gov. Alexander Gusev confirmed the attack in a statement on Telegram but said the assault using two “enemy” drones had been “thwarted.” While Gusev made no mention of any injuries, Astra reported that 10 ambulances responded to the scene after at least 10 troops were wounded at around 4 a.m. Baza reported that 14 troops had been hurt, though no details were immediately available on the extent of their injuries. The injuries were reportedly caused by the two explosive-packed drones blowing up as they fell toward the military site.

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

Wow... this is next level stuff. 

Amazing thread on Global surveillance via... your phone. Surprise, it's not a government... 

 

 

[Tracker]

Moscow Secretly Preps Takedown of Russia’s Shadow Army Boss

-Press service of Concord / Handout via Reuters
Russia’s shadow army boss has incensed some figures in the Kremlin so much with his increasingly scathing takedowns of the country’s top military brass that staffers in the presidential administration are preparing to take him down.

That’s according to a new report out Wednesday by Meduza, which cited sources close to the Kremlin as saying that Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin’s trash-talking rants about the war have begun to “seriously bother the country’s top leadership.”

A day earlier, Prigozhin publicly accused troops from Russia’s regular army of “hauling ass” from their positions in Bakhmut, mocked Victory Day celebrations on Red Square, and lashed out at an unnamed “happy grandpa” in charge of the war effort who he said was actually a “complete jackass.”

(The jibe was widely seen as a possible swipe at Vladimir Putin, though Prigozhin on Wednesday said the label “could” have been directed at either the former deputy defense minister, current Chief of the General Staff, or possibly a former reality TV contestant.)

Though Prigozhin has butted heads with defense officials for months, his attacks have escalated in recent weeks as his public tirades expose growing infighting and dysfunction. He and his supporters have repeatedly hinted at the specter of a civil war if Russia loses in Ukraine, and he has accused “traitors” in the Russian establishment of trying to tank Wagner's efforts to seize the embattled Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

[blue_gold_84]

https://apnews.com/article/russia-poland-war-kaliningrad-map-811eb734576cc567051558372daa51cd

Quote

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland is reverting to using its historical name for Kaliningrad, the Russian city and administrative region that sits on its border.

From now on, it will be designated on Polish maps as Krolewiec, based on the recommendation of the government commission for geographic names abroad.

The Kremlin has reacted angrily: spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called it a “process bordering on insanity,” going beyond Russophobia.

The city, formerly known as Koenigsberg, was ceded from Germany to the Soviet Union after World War II. In 1946, it was renamed Kaliningrad, after Mikhail Kalinin, one of the leaders of the Bolshevik Revolution.

The Polish authorities point out that Kalinin was one of six Soviet officials who ordered the execution of more than 21,000 Polish prisoners of war at Katyn and elsewhere in 1940.

They said the current name was artificial, lacking any connection to the city or the region, but the centuries-old name of Krolewiec was part of Poland’s cultural heritage.

[Tracker]

                                                    

 

                                  

First reports of russian troops abandoning their positions in Bakhmut area are appearing on the internet

 

 

[blue_gold_84]

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-bakhmut-zelenskyy-wagner-prigozhin-4e99119fac2b0fb3ffcf95e5aa6ecf07

Quote

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The territorial gains made this week by Ukrainian forces in the hotly contested eastern city of Bakhmut have secured an important logistics hub, Ukrainian military commanders said this week.

Their appraisal came as Russia’s Defense Ministry said Kyiv had stepped up attacks north of the region, in a statement on Friday.

The 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) of territory retaken by Ukrainian forces south of Bakhmut earlier this week represent a significant gain for Kyiv and will protect an important supply chain, according to the commanders of Ukraine’s 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, a special forces unit that led the attack.

The battle for Bakhmut, once a salt-mining town, has been grinding on for eight months, making it the longest of the war so far.

In a statement on Telegram on Friday, Hanna Maliar confirmed that Ukrainian forces gained ground around the city, reiterating statements from Ukrainian military commanders earlier this week.

Героям слава!

[Tracker]

2 hours ago, blue_gold_84 said:

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-bakhmut-zelenskyy-wagner-prigozhin-4e99119fac2b0fb3ffcf95e5aa6ecf07

Героям слава!

It is probably important to remember that these incursions are, in all likelihood, probes rather than a full-on counter-offensive. The idea is to confuse and unbalance Russian responses while assessing  their capabilities. 

[Tracker]

                  In the past 24hs Ukraine managed to take back what took Russia 2.5 months to take

 

 

[Tracker]

Russian air defense shot down two of its MI-8 helicopters, one Su-35 fighter and a Su-34 front-line bomber in the Bryansk region today. Air defense operator award

 

 

[Tracker]

Leak reveals Russian oligarch Yevgeniy Prigozhin’s major offer to Ukraine: report

Russian President Vladimir Putin's "chef" and Wagner Group owner Yevgeniy Prigozhin proposed a major deal to Ukraine earlier this year, The Washington Post reports.

Per The Post, according to "unreported U.S. intelligence documents leaked on the group-chat platform Discord," the mercenary chief told Ukraine if its "commanders withdrew their soldiers from the area around Bakhmut, he would give Kyiv information on Russian troop positions, which Ukraine could use to attack them."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the publication earlier this month he "would not confirm the contacts with Prigozhin."

He asserted, "This is a matter of [military] intelligence," and added refused to broadcast "classified information publicly," saying, "he believed that the leaks had benefited Russia."

The unreported documents reveal "Kyiv suspects, or may know, that the Kremlin is aware of Prigozhin's communications with Ukrainian intelligence, if not his secret negotiations over Bakhmut."

Regarding a potential reason behind the offer, The Post reports:

Prigozhin has publicly feuded with Russian military commanders, who he furiously claims have failed to equip and resupply his forces, which have provided vital support to Moscow's war effort. But he is also an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who might well regard Prigozhin's offer to trade the lives of Wagner fighters for Russian soldiers as a treasonous betrayal.

Prigozhin has previously bemoaned the Russian Defense Ministry's failure to provide "his fighters the ammunition and other resources they need to succeed."

 

[blue_gold_84]

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/belarus-pm-replaces-lukashenko-at-ceremony-sparks-speculation-1.6398739

Quote

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has not been seen in public since Tuesday, did not appear on Sunday at a ceremony in the capital, Minsk, triggering speculation that the veteran leader is seriously ill.

The BelTA state news agency reported that Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko read a message from Lukashenko during an annual ceremony at which young people swear allegiance to the ex-Soviet state's flag.

The agency gave no reason for Lukashenko's absence five days after he appeared unwell and skipped parts of commemorations in Moscow marking the Soviet Union's Second World War victory over Germany.

 

Lukashenko also did not speak at an event in Minsk marking the anniversary for the first time in his long presidency. That event was the last time he was seen in public.

Lukashenko's office has declined to comment.

According to the opposition news outlet Euroradio, Lukashenko was taken to an elite Minsk clinic on Saturday.

Lukashenko, 68, has led Belarus since 1994, using police to put down protests, while courts closed dissident media outlets and imposed long jail terms on opponents, and activists fled the country en masse.

Lukashenko received backing from Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin in squashing protests, and last year he allowed his country's territory to be used as part of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

[Tracker]

State Duma deputy and lieutenant general Victor Sobolev has threatened Russian soldiers who join Wagner and other PMCCs with up to 15 years in prison. 

Aaaand....

[Tracker]

31 minutes ago, blue_gold_84 said:

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/belarus-pm-replaces-lukashenko-at-ceremony-sparks-speculation-1.6398739

Maybe....?