Ukraine 2

[DCPatriot]

Allegation:  the Russians are eating live any Ukrainian babies they find.

 

[Kamaji]

Exactly. Just as laughable. 

[Elderberry]

The truth about Ukraine’s far-Right militias

UnHerd by Aris Roussinos 6/3/2022

https://unherd.com/2022/06/the-truth-about-ukraines-nazi-militias/

Russia has empowered dangerous factions

Like any war, but perhaps more than most, the war in Ukraine has seen a bewildering barrage of claims and counter-claims made by the online supporters of each side. Truth, partial truths and outright lies compete for dominance in the media narrative. Vladimir Putin’s claim that Russia invaded Ukraine to “de-Nazify” the country is surely one of the clearest examples. The Russian claim that the Maidan revolution of 2014 was a “fascist coup” and that Ukraine is a Nazi state has been used for years by Putin and his supporters to justify his occupation of Crimea and support for Russian-speaking separatists in the country’s east, winning many online adherents.

But the Russian claim is false: Ukraine is a genuine liberal-democratic state, though an imperfect one, with free elections that produce significant changes of power, including the election, in 2019, of the liberal-populist reformer, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukraine is, unequivocally, not a Nazi state: the Russian casus belli is a lie. And yet, there is a danger that the understandable desire by Ukrainian and Western commentators not to provide ammunition for Russian propaganda has led to an over-correction — and one that may not ultimately serve Ukraine’s best interests.

During one recent news bulletin on BBC Radio 4, the correspondent referred to “Putin’s baseless claim that the Ukrainian state supports Nazis”. This is, itself, disinformation: it is an observable fact, which the BBC itself has previously reported on accurately and well, that the Ukrainian state has, since 2014, provided funding, weapons and other forms of support to extreme Right-wing militias, including neo-Nazi ones. This is not a new or controversial observation. Back in 2019, I spent time in Ukraine interviewing senior figures in the constellation of state-backed extreme Right-wing groups for Harper’s magazine; they were all quite open about their ideology and plans for the future.

More at link.

[mountaineer]

Allegation:  the Russians are eating live any Ukrainian babies they find.

Which side is pulling the wings off flies in this battle of PR departments?

[Hoodat]

DNR fighters on Kherson front appeal to Putin for return to Donetsk.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Glenn Greenwald
@ggreenwald

Before Congress approved Biden's extra $40b for the war in Ukraine - with all Dems voting YES - @RandPaul was widely called a Kremlin agent for urging basic oversight and accountability.

Now, of course, nobody knows where the money or weapons are going:

Pentagon vs. Congress tension builds over monitoring billions in Ukraine aid
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/02/congress-pentagon-ukraine-aid-oversight-00036463

8:07 PM · Jun 2, 2022   Twitter Web App

[Right_in_Virginia]

Aaron Maté
@aaronjmate

Interpol chief warns that the weapons flooding into Ukraine will create "an influx of weapons in Europe and beyond.  We should be alarmed and we have to expect these weapons to be trafficked not only to neighbouring countries but to other continents."

Arms sent to Ukraine will end up in criminal hands, says Interpol chief
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/02/ukraine-weapons-end-up-criminal-hands-says-interpol-chief-jurgen-stock

8:33 PM · Jun 2, 2022  Twitter Web App

[Right_in_Virginia]

Glenn Greenwld
@ggreenwald

And by the way: losing track of cash and these weapons in a gigantic spending spree for war isn't a bug in Washington, but a feature: the key feature.

That's why nothing enriches the permanent DC class and empowers the Deep State more than war packages. It's why they love them.

8:11 PM · Jun 2, 2022·Twitter Web App

[Kamaji]

Putin's 100th day of death, destruction and shame: Russia's 'plan has failed' MoD says as Kremlin media is 'ordered not to draw attention' to gut-wrenching milestone

By DAVID AVERRE FOR MAILONLINE
3 June 2022

It has now been one hundred days since Russian tanks rolled across the border and into neighbouring Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

A torrent of gut-wrenching images and clips have emerged since that fateful day: Civilian corpses in the streets of Bucha; a blown-up theatre in Mariupol; the chaos at a Kramatorsk train station in the wake of a Russian missile strike, to name a few.

But those images tell just a small part of the overall picture of Europe's worst armed conflict since World War II.

More than 100,000 Russian troops massed on Ukraine's borders in the days leading up to February 24, but many analysts and commentators dismissed the notion that Russia would launch a full scale invasion into its European neighbour.

Those who did predict such a conflict warned Putin's troops, superior in numbers and equipment, would sweep to victory in a matter of days.

More than three months later and Ukraine's armed forces, driven by a duty to protect their homeland and reinforced by Western supplies and weaponry, have successfully repelled Russia's soldiers from Kyiv and are still fighting their invaders fiercely throughout the Donbas. 

Russian state media, which from the beginning portrayed the conflict as a 'special military operation' designed to 'demilitarise and de-nazify' Ukraine, was asked by Putin's administration ahead of the 100th day of war 'not to propagate the theme of the operation' and 'not to draw attention to its duration', multiple sources told Russian-Latvian news organisation Meduza.

*  *  *

Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10881265/Putins-100th-day-death-destruction-shame.html

[mountaineer]

Today marks the 100th day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a campaign that began with a multipronged blitz meant to topple the government in Kyiv but which has evolved into a prolonged war of attrition in the country's east.

After being initially repelled from capturing Ukraine's capital—an effort marred by Russian missteps—Russia has refocused on capturing the eastern Donbas region. Much of the area, Ukraine's primary industrial center, has been under pro-Russian separatist control since 2014.

It is a point of consensus among analysts that the initial phases of the Russian invasion of Ukraine have been a relative failure. Though Russia may still prevail in this conflict, the reasons for its blundering initial attempt are worth unpacking.

In certain regards, Russia’s failures reveal its limitations in fairly basic competencies such as logistical planning. The capability limitations of at least some Russian forces in areas such as tactical communications, as well as poor morale, certainly seem to have added to this mix. However, Russian forces have also suffered early losses due to a perplexing departure from their previous practices. The Russian army, which some have described as an artillery army with a lot of tanks, typically does not advance without substantial preparatory fires, which have been notably absent in the early stages of the conflict, along with any meaningful efforts at combined arms warfare.  ...

In recent days, analysts say Russia has begun to slowly but steadily take control of key cities in the Donbas region. Western officials pledged another round of military aid, including long-range missile systems, though the weapons will take weeks to arrive.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The U.S. and Germany pledged Wednesday to equip Ukraine with some of the advanced weapons it has long desired for shooting down aircraft and knocking out artillery, as Russian forces closed in on capturing a key city in the east.

Germany said it will supply Ukraine with up-to-date anti-aircraft missiles and radar systems, while the U.S. announced it will provide four sophisticated, medium-range rocket systems and ammunition.

The U.S. is trying to help Ukraine fend off the Russians without triggering a wider war in Europe. The Pentagon said it received assurances that Ukraine will not fire the new rockets into Russian territory. ...

To the south, Russia now controls the majority of Ukraine's access to the Black Sea, with the exception of the port city of Odesa. See updates on war, with maps, here.

The death toll from the conflict has been hard to gauge. The United Nations has confirmed almost 4,150 civilian deaths, but believes the true count to be much higher.

This compendium is from 1440 Daily Digest, an email service you can sign up for here.

[Hoodat]

Before Congress approved Biden's extra $40b for the war in Ukraine the midterm elections - with all Dems voting YES -

There, fixed it.  Weapons for Ukraine were an afterthought.  The $40 billion never was for Ukraine.  It was pure government graft.  Contractors getting rich while they funnel money back into DNC campaign coffers.

[Kamaji]

There, fixed it.  Weapons for Ukraine were an afterthought.  The $40 billion never was for Ukraine.  It was pure government graft.  Contractors getting rich while they funnel money back into DNC campaign coffers.

[mountaineer]

US Engaged In "Offensive" Cyber Ops Against Russia In Ukraine: NSA Director. "We’ve conducted a series of operations across the full spectrum: offensive, defensive, [and] information operations." This includes "offensive hacking operations."
Story at Zero Hedge

[Smokin Joe]

Aaron Maté
@aaronjmate

Interpol chief warns that the weapons flooding into Ukraine will create "an influx of weapons in Europe and beyond.  We should be alarmed and we have to expect these weapons to be trafficked not only to neighbouring countries but to other continents."

8:33 PM · Jun 2, 2022  Twitter Web App

But not a peep over 300,000 infantry battle rifles given to the Taliban...not to mention other, more potent hardware...

[mountaineer]

Putin met with the African Union today

https://twitter.com/AUC_MoussaFaki/status/1532745658636963842

[Hoodat]

US Engaged In "Offensive" Cyber Ops Against Russia In Ukraine: NSA Director. "We’ve conducted a series of operations across the full spectrum: offensive, defensive, [and] information operations." This includes "offensive hacking operations."

The NSA should be fired on the spot.  This is the most secretive agency in government, and here is the director blabbing about what the US is doing to a country we are officially not in conflict with.  The sheer incompetence of this regime is stunning to watch on display multiple times each day, every day.

[Hoodat]

But not a peep over 300,000 infantry battle rifles given to the Taliban...not to mention other, more potent hardware...

But . . . but that's different.

[Kamaji]

The NSA should be fired on the spot.  This is the most secretive agency in government, and here is the director blabbing about what the US is doing to a country we are officially not in conflict with.  The sheer incompetence of this regime is stunning to watch on display multiple times each day, every day.

[Elderberry]

Biden says Ukraine might have to give Russia land in ‘negotiated settlement’

https://nypost.com/2022/06/03/biden-says-ukraine-might-have-to-give-russia-land/

President Biden on Friday declined to rule out Ukraine having to cede part of its territory to Russia in order to end Moscow’s more than three-month-old invasion.

“Does Ukraine have to cede territory to achieve peace?” a reporter asked Biden after his remarks on the May jobs report.

“From the beginning, I’ve said and I’ve been — not everyone’s agreed with me — nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” Biden began his answer. “It’s their territory. I’m not going to tell them what they should and shouldn’t do.

“But it appears to me that at some point along the line, there’s going to have to be a negotiated settlement here,” the president added. “And what that entails, I don’t know. I don’t think anybody knows at the time. But in the meantime, we’re gonna continue to put the Ukrainians in a position where they can defend themselves.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that Russian forces currently occupy roughly one-fifth of his country.

More at link.

[Elderberry]

Deadly secret: Electronic warfare shapes Russia-Ukraine war

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-kyiv-technology-90d760f01105b9aaf1886427dbfba917

On Ukraine’s battlefields, the simple act of powering up a cellphone can beckon a rain of deathly skyfall. Artillery radar and remote controls for unmanned aerial vehicles may also invite fiery shrapnel showers.

This is electronic warfare, a critical but largely invisible aspect of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Military commanders largely shun discussing it, fearing they’ll jeopardize operations by revealing secrets.

Electronic warfare technology targets communications, navigation and guidance systems to locate, blind and deceive the enemy and direct lethal blows. It is used against artillery, fighter jets, cruise missiles, drones and more. Militaries also use it to protect their forces.

It’s an area where Russia was thought to have a clear advantage going into the war. Yet, for reasons not entirely clear, its much-touted electronic warfare prowess was barely seen in the war’s early stages in the chaotic failure to seize the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

It has become far more of a factor in fierce fighting in eastern Ukraine, where shorter, easier-to-defend supply lines let Russia move electronic warfare gear closer to the battlefield.

“They are jamming everything their systems can reach,” said an official of Aerorozvidka, a reconnaissance team of Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle tinkerers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of safety concerns. “We can’t say they dominate, but they hinder us greatly.”

More at link.

[Hoodat]

Biden says Ukraine might have to give Russia land in ‘negotiated settlement’

Biden needs to STFU.  The sitting US President is telling the world that Russia should be rewarded for its aggression and war crimes.  Idiot.

[berdie]

Biden needs to STFU.  The sitting US President is telling the world that Russia should be rewarded for its aggression and war crimes.  Idiot.

I couldn't agree more.

[mountaineer]

The NSA should be fired on the spot.  This is the most secretive agency in government, and here is the director blabbing about what the US is doing to a country we are officially not in conflict with.  The sheer incompetence of this regime is stunning to watch on display multiple times each day, every day.

Agreed. This is horrendous.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Biden needs to STFU.  The sitting US President is telling the world that Russia should be rewarded for its aggression and war crimes.  Idiot.

How do you still think this sh*tshow is about Russian aggression?

[DB]

How do you still think this sh*tshow is about Russian aggression?

Really???