War in Ukraine. Did the West handle the post Cold War era badly?

Damn, these guys are legends

"Ukrainian forces free kidnapped Melitopol mayor from Russian captivity

Ukrainian forces have freed Melitopol mayor Ivan Fyodorov from Russian captivity, a top Ukrainian government official said on Wednesday.

"Good news from Zaporizhiya, a special operation aiming to free the mayor of Melitopol Ivan Federov has just now been successfully completed," Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office, said in a video message."

https://www.businessinsider.com/ukrainian-forces-free-kidnapped-melitopol-mayor-from-russian-captivity-2022-3

Aah, deep fake stuff. That point in time when you realize technology might just be the greatest threat the world has ever faced. Up there with nuclear and biological weapons.

Another thing Star Trek predicted.

@uninspiredcup: imagine the level of desperation when you have to resort to deep fakes of you adversaries surrendering.

Ukraine should publish one of Putin being gang banged while waving a white flag and hack that into Russian state TV.

Ironically that's exactly the plotline in Starwars Trek as well haha

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Pale_Moonlight

But yea, still in its infancy, but Deepfakes prob something to be worried about in the future as tech rapidly improves.

Russia seems to have the problem where they look like an anime villain, and no matter how hard they try, they look like an anime villain.

Doubt Putin and co had even the slightest concept that Zelenskyy would a thing. Now running round like a headless chicken throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks.

@kadin_kai: Finally a comment that is sensible.

Russia is getting to Black Mirror levels of weirdness.

@ghost_of_phobos:

They sure love their sweets.

They really do, seems to be like cocaine to old woman.

Do you think most Russians will connect this with consequences of the actions of their country, or listen to Putin and blame the West?

Younger generations: Probably the former.
Older generations: Probably the latter.

A miracle imo if it is that black and white.

Well, sugar is a preservative that can potentially last for ages, so its understandable that there be lines. Hell, since the war in Ukraine started, the import of salt has been disrupted in Lithuania, and there is scarcity of it. And, on those days when salt does get imported in to the country, the next day it is gone. EDIT: ordinary rock salt, you can still get abundance of Himalayan salt.

Hum... Say what?

"A man on the FBI’s wanted list for his alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot has been granted asylum in Belarus, the country’s state media reported Tuesday.

Evan Neumann, a 49-year-old from California, fled to Europe after the attack on the U.S. Capitol. "

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/23/evan-neumann-belarus-capitol-riot-asylum-ukraine/

That guy who done the "you wot m8?" face when during the Duke Putin announcement appears to have disappeared, he was a close ally so it might not mean much. Another done a runner.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10642949/Furious-Putin-begins-witch-hunt-inner-circle-growing-wary-close-allies.html

Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu vanishes ‘with heart problems’ as strains appear in his relationship with Putin over Ukraine war and his daughter poses in Ukraine colours

.

Putin Adviser Chubais Quits Over Ukraine War and Leaves Russia

• Respected longtime reformer had been Kremlin’s climate envoy
• Few senior insiders have gone public opposing invasion
  

  Ukraine news live: Putin adviser quits government 'and flees Russia'; Kremlin threatens NATO over 'extremely dangerous' peacekeeping forces; Moscow 'likely preparing large-scale offensive'

  An adviser to Putin leaves the government and reportedly flees Russia; the Kremlin warns NATO after talk of peacekeeping forces in Ukraine; Moscow said to be preparing for a "large-scale offensive"; Zelenskyy offers hope on "confrontational" peace talks.

A high-ranking and long-standing aide of Russian President Vladimir Putin has quit his role as Moscow’s climate envoy due to his opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier on Wednesday Bloomberg reported that Anatoly Chubais had stepped down and left the country, citing two people familiar with the situation.

The Kremlin has since confirmed to CNBC that Chubais has left his role, without providing any further details.

Chubais is the highest-ranking individual to publicly break with Putin’s regime with almost all Russian officials and state media maintaining a wall of silence when it comes to criticizing the president, or his invasion of Ukraine.

There have been a few dissenting voices, however.

Last week, Arkady Dvorkovic, a former senior economic advisor to former president and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, and his one time deputy, also quit his role as chairman of the Skolkovo Foundation.

Chubais was described by Reuters on Wednesday as “the architect of Russia’s post-Soviet economic reforms” and it too cited one source as telling the news agency that Chubais had left his post “for ties with international organisations.” The source did not say why he decided to leave the country.

If this is true, this war will end in an outright Ukrainian victory meaning, the war is almost over. They may end up retaking Crimea.

Yeah I start to think Russia might drop a Nuke on Ukraine if things start to go even worse than they are already.

My thoughts too, unfortunately.

They didn't in Afghanistan. Why in Ukraine? I bet they'll just negotiate an end to it. Despite all the bluster, the Russians know full well what using nukes means.

I doubt that. At that point Russia would be in a lot more trouble than they are now.

Sus'

Roman Abramovitsj is suspected poisoned by Russian government during peace talks.

Woot!

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Interesting how much drones have changed the battlefield.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/28/the-drone-operators-who-halted-the-russian-armoured-vehicles-heading-for-kyiv

In part a lot of the Russian equipment is just junk. Combined with terrible supplies and unfriendly terrain, but drones have been giving the Russians hell.

"The unit’s commander, Lt Col Yaroslav Honchar, gave an account of the ambush near the town of Ivankiv that helped stop the vast, lumbering Russian offensive in its tracks. He said the Ukrainian fighters on quad bikes were able to approach the advancing Russian column at night by riding through the forest on either side of the road leading south towards Kyiv from the direction of Chernobyl.

The Ukrainian soldiers were equipped with night vision goggles, sniper rifles, remotely detonated mines, drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras and others capable of dropping small 1.5kg bombs.

“This one little unit in the night destroyed two or three vehicles at the head of this convoy, and after that it was stuck. They stayed there two more nights, and [destroyed] many vehicles,” Honchar said.

The Russians broke the column into smaller units to try to make headway towards the Ukrainian capital, but the same assault team was able to mount an attack on its supply depot, he claimed, crippling the Russians’ capacity to advance.

“The first echelon of the Russian force was stuck without heat, without oil, without bombs and without gas. And it all happened because of the work of 30 people,” Honchar said.

The Aerorozvidka unit also claims to have helped defeat a Russian airborne attack on Hostomel airport, just north-west of Kyiv, in the first day of the war, using drones to locate, target and shell about 200 Russian paratroopers concealed at one end of the airfield.

“That contributed largely to the fact that they could not use this airfield for further development of their attack,” saaid Lt Taras, one of Honchar’s aides."

Anyone who thinks russia is on the back ropes is in denial.

Axis powers are forming. Russia/China/North Korea. WW3 has unofficially started, with the actual start date being in 2-3 years

Russian resolve coupled with Chinese precision and equipment is a war nobody wants and they know it.

Get ready, everyone 35 and under about to get the draft (I'll be watching from afar, have fun zoomers)

Russian failure has nothing to do with equipment, and what do you mean with Resolve? Russian Morale is absolutely dismal.

Anyways, Russia is looking to lose this war. China does not want to go to a needless war with trading partners and Russian logistics is what is dooming them. They are fighting a war with outdated means.

I can't even...

@ghost_of_phobos: Similarly, the US military and burn pits shows just how little we actually care about our troops as a species.

Whether trampling over radioactive ground or burning toxic waste next to where you live and sleep while serving overseas, soldiers pay a price they shouldn't have. Dying in combat is one thing; returning home alive only to die as you cough up your lung or die from radiation poisoning is quite another.

I wouldn't say they are on the back ropes, but it is definitely not going as planned.

Russian military uses dated equipment and dated methods, and moral is at an all-time low. In contrast, Ukrainian military actually trained for a "militia/partisan" style structure that adapts well to things like this.

I'm hoping either Putin realizes his mistake (unlikely) or someone takes Putin out before things end up going on for a decade or longer.

Vid, can't post here of a guy in a car driving through the street between Mria and Myla of prev Russia occupied in the space of 200 yards it looks like bodies have been raining from the sky. The road is just littered with them nonchalantly peppered everywhere.

Messed up, to say the least.

@uninspiredcup: I've seen that one two.

Russian Forces are effectively retreating, Ukraine is taking back a lot of territory. Now the Ukrainians are even making some attacks on Russian Soil. Targetting their oil industry.

@ghost_of_phobos: Image (again obv can't post it but can link to the account) of a guy with a plastic bag walking along in Bucha, and bodies just, laying there like litter while he walks past them.

Seen a lot of horrible shit on the net over the years, but that's image is disturbing as ****. Like, so many people dead and all over the place it's just been normalized.

Edit - Apparently

"1/2 Maria Genkin: Pictures of some villages freed in Kyiv region, specifically Bucha, are devastating. Dead people lying outside of their houses, in what can only have been a “zachistka” - systemic execution of the men of each house. One body in front of every house."

^ Can't even make a quote box cause this forums that badly designed now.

Basically repeating Nanjing again.

In#Buchaall males between the ages of 16-60 were massacred by the the#RussianArmywith their hands died behind their backs.

Yeah the stuff that's surfacing now is very disturbing.

The dregs.

They've def earned the term "orc"

Still some sympathy in that many of them there are due to a lie, totally clueless 20 year olds barely men.

But when you're doing all this shit, worse than an animal.

Also a clip now (which again obv can't post) where in the now liberated Velyka Dymerka Russains have been killing dogs "for fun".

Much like the road video, the camera just follows a long trail but it's dead dog after dog dead dog.

Looks like they're finding mass graves now. I'm always skeptical on these war crime claims until I've seen proof, but there is little doubt that Russian soldiers are now committing rape and murder.

You boys following this massacre in Bucha Ukraine?

Utterly sickening