Ukraine 3

[Kamaji]

Russia continues its war against Ukrainian civilians:

Houses flooded after missiles hit major dam

11 hours ago


Ukrainian officials say as many as eight Russian missiles hit the dam on Wednesday

Russian missiles have hit a reservoir dam near the southern Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, officials say.

Residents in some areas were told to evacuate, city head Oleksandr Vilkul said, but he added the situation was under control.

Ukraine said the strike was revenge by Russia for its recent counter-attack.

President Volodymyr Zelensky - who was born in the city - described Russia as a "terrorist state" after the attack on the Karachunivske reservoir.

"You are weaklings who fight civilians," Mr Zelensky said in his late night address on Wednesday. "Scoundrels who, having escaped from the battlefield, are trying to do harm from somewhere far away."  .  .  .

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62910245

Orcs will be orcs.

[Elderberry]

Ukrainian drone drops bomb into open Russian tank hatch with precision


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYEoiuDNY3U

[Hoodat]

'Mass burial site containing 440 graves' found in Izyum after city liberated by Ukrainian forces

The key city had been under Russian occupation for months but was recaptured amid the surging Ukrainian offensive.

Deborah Haynes  |  Friday 16 September 2022 01:19, UK

A mass burial site containing around 440 graves has been found in the Ukrainian city of Izyum after it was liberated from Russian control, a top police officer has told Sky News.

Ukraine's president confirmed that a "mass burial site" has been found but he said "clear, verified information" would be released on Friday.

"We want the world to know what is really happening and what the Russian occupation has led to," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a nightly video address to the nation.  .  .

https://news.sky.com/story/mass-burial-site-containing-440-graves-found-in-izyum-after-city-liberated-by-ukrainian-forces-12698332


More Russian war crimes.

[Kamaji]

Ten torture chambers are discovered in recaptured Ukrainian region where 'Russia has left death everywhere' – as images of mass burial site with hundreds of graves are revealed

By CHRIS PLEASANCE  and RACHAEL BUNYAN FOR MAILONLINE
16 September 2022

At least ten torture chambers have been discovered in the same Ukrainian region where a fresh mass grave site containing at least 450 bodies was found after Russian forces retreated from the area.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia has 'left death everywhere' as he vowed to hold Moscow 'accountable' following the grim discoveries.

Ukrainian authorities discovered the torture chambers one after the other in the Kharkiv region, where Ukrainian civilians and foreigners were detained in 'completely inhuman conditions', officials said.

*  *  *

Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11218677/Mass-graves-Izyum-Zelensky-says-Russia-held-accountable.html

[Hoodat]

Ten torture chambers are discovered in recaptured Ukrainian region where 'Russia has left death everywhere' – as images of mass burial site with hundreds of graves are revealed

But . . . but . . . but someone here told us that Putin was a "liberator and protector".

[catfish1957]

But . . . but . . . but someone here told us that Putin was a "liberator and protector".

Which Briefer was that?  I don't remember anyone here saying that.

[Hoodat]

Which Briefer was that?  I don't remember anyone here saying that.

I do.  Like it was this morning.

[Kamaji]

Woman in charge of bogus 'referendum' on joining Russia in occupied Ukraine is killed alongside her husband in one of two 'double-executions' targeting Putin cronies

By DAVID AVERRE and WILL STEWART FOR MAILONLINE
16 September 2022

The woman in charge of Putin's 'bogus referendum' which would see citizens in occupied Ukraine vote on whether to join the Russian Federation was killed today in an evident sabotage attack.

Lyudmila Boyko headed the election commission in Berdyansk in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, and had been preparing to implement the Kremlin's plans for a poll.

But she was slain alongside her husband Oleg Boyko, himself a senior local official official in the Russian-installed local government, in an explosion close to their home.

It came as the Prosecutor General of the so-called Luhansk People's Republic Sergey Gorenko was killed in another blast which destroyed his office and also killed his deputy, Yekaterina Steglenko.

All four victims of the deadly attacks were in their 40s.

Russia blames both explosions on operations authored by Ukrainian saboteurs.

*  *  *

Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11219585/Election-chief-charge-Putins-referendum-joining-Russia-occupied-Ukraine-killed.html

[Hoodat]

It came as the Prosecutor General of the so-called Luhansk People's Republic Sergey Gorenko was killed in another blast which destroyed his office and also killed his deputy, Yekaterina Steglenko.

Gee, I hate it when that happens.  Looks like Ukraine has quite the partisan army.

[Kamaji]

Gee, I hate it when that happens.  Looks like Ukraine has quite the partisan army.

[catfish1957]

There is enough Soviet blood and culture left in the Russians that tells me, that Vlad's days are numbered.  How he leaves may or may not be up to him.

[Kamaji]

There is enough Soviet blood and culture left in the Russians that tells me, that Vlad's days are numbers.  How he leaves may or may not be up to him.

Agreed.

[Hoodat]

There is enough Soviet blood and culture left in the Russians that tells me, that Vlad's days are numbered.

The sooner that happens, the more Ukrainian civilians will be spared.

[catfish1957]

The sooner that happens, the more Ukrainian civilians will be spared.

Agree there.  The one point that kind of concerns me is that if Putin, truly is very ill, how is it affecting his mental capacities, and if he feels like he is a cornered animal, will he unleash some nukes in revenge? 

Odds of that happenening are also much greater if Ukraine decides to keep going into Russia if the war gets that far.
I hope Zellinski shows some restraint in that regard.

[Hoodat]

Huge Explosion as Pro-Russian Officials Hit By Ukraine HIMARS, Video Shows

Isabel van Brugen  |  7h ago

Ukraine struck its occupied Kherson region at least five times on Friday using U.S.-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), causing a huge explosion at a building where officials of the Russian-installed administration were holding a meeting, authorities said.

A video published by Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti shows a huge plume of smoke rising from the building of the Kherson regional administration. Another video shows extensive damage to Kherson's district court building.

Kherson has been under Russian control since the beginning of March. However, Ukraine is waging a counteroffensive in the region, and has had success in another counterattack in the Kharkiv area in the northeast of the country.

Ekaterina Gubareva, the deputy head of the Russian-installed administration in Kherson, said that at the time of the strike a meeting was underway between the heads of the city and municipal districts.

She called the attack "a vile act of terrorism" and said the head of the labor department was injured, and her driver died.

Another official in the Russian-installed administration was wounded, according to Tass.  .  .  .

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/huge-explosion-as-pro-russian-officials-hit-by-ukraine-himars-video-shows/ar-AA11UjVI


I suspect Ekaterina Gubareva will be relocating to Russia in the coming weeks to spend the remainder of her short life.  She's a dead woman walking in Kherson right now.

[Hoodat]

Germany promised Ukraine weapons but hasn’t delivered. Now, anger toward Berlin is rising

Holly Ellyatt  |  FRI, SEP 16 2022  |  1:13 AM EDT

Ukraine’s relations with Germany have soured this week, with Kyiv asking why Berlin reneged on its promise to provide heavy weaponry.

Tensions over Germany’s provision of Leopard tanks and infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine — or lack thereof — came to a head this week when Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, publicly asked why Berlin was backtracking on a pledge made to send these weapons to Ukraine.

“Disappointing signals from Germany while Ukraine needs Leopards and Marders now — to liberate people and save them from genocide,” Kuleba said on Twitter, adding that there was “not a single rational argument on why these weapons can not be supplied, only abstract fears and excuses.”

“What is Berlin afraid of that Kyiv is not?” he added.

The Marder is a German infantry fighting vehicle designed to be used alongside Leopard battle tanks in combat.

Kuleba’s comments came as Ukraine launches counterattacks against Russian forces in both the south and northeast of the country. Ukraine’s counterattack in the northeast Kharkiv region was hailed as a particular success, with Russian forces withdrawing from towns and villages across the region, almost completely deoccupying it.  .  .

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/16/ukraine-slams-germany-for-failing-to-send-it-weapons.html


Those Leopards would come in handy right now.  I'm sure Ukraine will remember this after they kick the Russians out of East Ukraine and ramp up production in their oil and gas fields.

[Elderberry]

Peter Zeihan on the Ramifications of Russian Imperial Decline

https://www.battleswarmblog.com/?p=52632

Peter Zeihan says the abysmal performance of the Russian Army is going to have a whole lot of ramifications around the world, many in Russia’s own near abroad. “It means that the image of the Russians as a regional power, much less a global one, is gone, and it’s not coming back.”


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs6pIpCE00Y&t=1s

Some takeaways:

•  “The countries that had signed on to kind of a Russian Alliance, if you will, [they’re] on their own completely, and that provides opportunities for their rivals to take matters into their own hands.”

•  He covers the Armenia-Azerbaijan flare-up.

•  Belarus: “Here’s a country of 10 million people that has basically hitched itself to Putin’s star. And the Poles, the Latvians, the Lithuanians, the Estonians, the Finns, and the Swedes they have been chomping at the bit for years to try to take Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus down to size and basically peel Belarus out of the Russian orbit. They will now have the opportunity, and it’s unlikely that anyone in Europe or the United States is going to try to stand in the way.”

•  “Unless Lukashenko sues for peace with the Balts and the Nordics, very quickly we should count on seeing him being brought up on war crimes before very long. Because after all he did provide the access that was necessary for the assault on Kiev early in the war.”

More at link.

[Hoodat]

'Torture chambers' found in liberated towns and villages - report

2h ago  |  15:28

When Russian forces failed to capture Kyiv in the early days of the war and withdrew, evidence of atrocities was found in their wake.

In the Kharkiv region similar horrors are being discovered, including a mass burial site.

What is more, Ukraine’s national police chief Ihor Klymenko said “torture chambers” have been found in the region's recaptured towns and villages.

These locations number at least ten, the Kyiv Independent has reported.

Sky News has not been able to the reports.

https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-war-latest-updates-putin-rejected-deal-that-met-his-demands-on-ukraine-before-war-12541713?postid=4479216#liveblog-body

[Hoodat]

First body recovered from mass burial site showed signs of suffering 'violent death'

Deborah Haynes  |  6h ago  |  12:02

A top prosecutor claimed that the first body to be recovered from a mass burial site in the newly-liberated city of Izyum had a rope around his neck and showed signs of having suffered a "violent death".

Oleksandr Filchakov, the chief prosecutor for Kharkiv region, was speaking as police investigators and forensic experts worked to retrieve hundreds bodies of civilians from shallow graves.

Separately, the top police investigator for the region said the total number of civilians buried at the site was believed to be 445.

On Thursday he had put the number at around 440.  .  .

https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-war-latest-updates-putin-rejected-deal-that-met-his-demands-on-ukraine-before-war-12541713?postid=4476825#liveblog-body

[Hoodat]

Inside the recaptured city of Izyum

Orla Guerin, BBC - Izyum, Ukraine  |  1 day ago


Ukrainian soldiers planted a Ukrainian flag on a captured Russian tank

On Monday, President Zelensky raised the Ukrainian flag in the recently-liberated city of Izyum. The BBC visited soon afterwards to find a city cut off from power and water, but relieved at the arrival of Ukrainian troops.

The closer you get to Izyum, the more evidence there is of Russia's rapid retreat.

Ukrainian soldiers are grouped by the roadside near the city, inspecting the spoils of war with broad smiles.

There are two abandoned Russian tanks - the Ukrainian flag already planted on one of them. Troops hug in celebration as they try to use one tank to tow the other out of a ditch.

Just inside the city another abandoned tank sits in the middle of the road - like a monument to Russia's defeat. A local man poses in front of it for a selfie, giving the tank a thumbs down.

Two women emerge from a minivan with a handful of small bags, including some groceries. Larissa, 61, and her friend Victoria, are returning to the city for the first time.


People had been huddled in the centre of the building to keep warm when an airstrike hit

.  .  .  Tatiana, 69, who lived in the building for 22 years, points out her singed balcony on the second floor.

She says the attack happened in the morning. She wasn't there because she had gone to the shelter.

Neighbours who had taken shelter in the apartment block grouped together in the centre of the building for warmth, she says. The airstrike hit the centre of the building.

Outside a city administration building - which was used by the Russians as their command centre - a Russian sign still hangs over the door, but a charred Russian flag has been thrown in the bin.

Inside boxes of files are scattered around in offices. At a nearby police station - where the Russians detained people in the cells - we find piles of Ukrainian passports. Local police say they were confiscated by the Russians during the months of occupation.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62917437

[bilo]

'Torture chambers' found in liberated towns and villages - report

2h ago  |  15:28

When Russian forces failed to capture Kyiv in the early days of the war and withdrew, evidence of atrocities was found in their wake.

In the Kharkiv region similar horrors are being discovered, including a mass burial site.

What is more, Ukraine’s national police chief Ihor Klymenko said “torture chambers” have been found in the region's recaptured towns and villages.

These locations number at least ten, the Kyiv Independent has reported.

Sky News has not been able to the reports.

https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-war-latest-updates-putin-rejected-deal-that-met-his-demands-on-ukraine-before-war-12541713?postid=4479216#liveblog-body

When this war is over I hope the Ukrainians hunt down every last one of these animals that tortured and killed people and give them the justice they deserve.

These reports are just one more confirmation that we are right to try and help Ukraine fight off the evil invader of their sovereign nation.

[Hoodat]

Russian retreat exposes military weaknesses

Olga Ivshina, BBC  |  1 day ago

Russia's retreat from Kharkiv, north-eastern Ukraine, has exposed key weaknesses in the supplies and staffing of the nation's armed forces, Russian veterans and military bloggers say.

"You have no idea how tired I am to say hello to someone in the morning and then have to identify his remains later the same day," one Russian officer serving as a marine in Ukraine reportedly confided over the phone to a former colleague back home, who published it on his Telegram channel.

"Just yesterday two of my sniper groups were destroyed by a tank. Three men died instantly, the fourth one fought for his life for an hour and a half, another one in critical condition was taken to hospital. We have hardly any men left and we are holding a front line dozens of kilometres long."

While Russian officials and state media are trying to play down the Russian forces' retreat from Kharkiv, individual war reporters, veterans and influential military bloggers are acknowledging numerous challenges within closed messaging channels.

Blogs and Telegram channels are littered with stories of inadequate equipment and personnel, compounded by a rigid operational hierarchy.

One Telegram channel, sharing experiences of soldiers in the field in Ukraine shortly after the latest retreat, describes how even deploying a small surveillance drone needs to be approved by a senior officer or a general, considerably slowing down understanding of enemy positions.

Another channel on Telegram, reportedly run by a Russian special forces veteran, has posted a photo of a Russian soldier sporting an arm patch embroidered with the words: "There is no opponent worse than your own commander who is a…

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62914958


This is a severe handicap on the battle field.  The Russian Army stifles combat initiative.  All mid-level officers do nothing unless given orders.

[Hoodat]

Possibly to make the proposition of serving more attractive, the minimum contract length has been slashed from three years to three months, and the upper age limit for a first contract raised from 40 to 60 years old.

Advertised monthly salaries range from 100,000-450,000 roubles (£1,000-£4,500, $1,139-$5,125) - a tempting proposition, despite the dangers of deployment, for those with poor job prospects in economically deprived areas of the country.

Russia is believed to be sending several of these scratch units to Ukraine every 10 days, following training of just a week or less.

[Hoodat]

Russia shortening military training courses for cadets say UK's MoD

16 Sept  |  03:24

Russian military academies are shortening training courses and bringing cadets' graduation dates forwards so they can be deployed to Ukraine, the UK's Ministry of Defence has said.

The latest intelligence update says: "The acceleration of officer cadets' training and Wagner’s demand for assault troops suggests that two of the most critical shortages within the military manning crisis are probably combat infantry and junior commanders."

https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-war-latest-updates-putin-rejected-deal-that-met-his-demands-on-ukraine-before-war-12541713?postid=4474527#liveblog-body

[Kamaji]

That is not going to work out well.