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[Strongpoint]

If thing continue at this rate, the entire northern prong of the invasion will be gone within days. After that is done, there will be little to prevent a proper counterattack in the south. It can be hoped that Ukraine will regain her prewar borders by the end of the month.

No. No. No. There is something to prevent a proper counterattack - Russian air superiority. Troops on the move are very vulnerable. And it is many km to move from Kyiv area to the south or east. Also, Russia is destroying one fuel depot after another, this will have a severe effect on mobility of Ukrainian forces.

Also, the situation on the Eastern front is quite dire and Russians move almost everything they got there. For the next month, Ukraine's goal is not to regain "prewar borders" but keep our best forces from being surrounded. Knowing Russians, it is obvious that they will try to achieve victory before May 9 whatever the cost.

In a vacuum, the proper thing to do would be to pursue retreating Russian troops to Bryansk and Belgorod disrupting their supply lines... But damned nukes.

Seriously, don't think that Ukraine is anywhere close to winning the war. It isn't. Finns destroyed many, many Russian columns in the Winter War but at no point of it they were winning.

[Quarque]

...monsters presumably following orders.  These acts aren't the work of bored and frustrated conscripts.  These are scared young men doing what they're told to do.
That tank on the road between Mria and Myla was obviously following orders.  Mass graves take organization.

I still have a shred of sympathy for (some) of the Russian soldiers.  Young, scared, with a gun in your hand and everyone else around you being young, scared with guns in their hands, human nature is to conform to even the worst of deeds, especially if directed by an older person probably trained in manipulating little shits like them and with the authority to punish or kill any soldier that disobeys.  Plenty of room in that mass grave for any soldier that says "no".

On the bright side, the soldiers will be clearly be going home from a losing war.  They'll get the same sort of welcome that US Vietnam War veterans got.  Nobody likes a loser, and no amount of lipstick can completely cover this pig of a war.

The "some" is what matters. Calling a collective of thousands or millions of people as monsters is our tribal brain speaking. We see evidence of evil commited by individuals within a group and attribute it to the entire group.

The individual Russian soldiers who shot those civilians are monsters. The other 800.000 of them? They are humans. You would find every sort of human trait among them if you knew them personally: evil, good, lazy, coward, brave, you name it. The fact that we are capable of thinking they're all the same is what allows us to fight wars.

[martinuzz]

Looks like Russia has attacked our Dutch railway system. All trains have been cancelled, the planning systems are broken.

EDIT: Possibly civil war starting in Pakistan, after a failed attempt to bring down prime minister Khan.
President Arif Alvi has disbanded parliament when they wanted to hold a vote of no confidence against Khan.
Opposition parties protested and will appeal before the High Court.
Khan held a television speech claiming 'foreign powers' tried and failed to bring him down.
He has asked Alvi to disband parliament and write out early elections. He called upon his supporters to hit the streets and protest.

Police and army have taken up positions around government buildings and main roads leading in and out of Islamabad.

[Strongpoint]

Russian soldiers don't only have no basic morals, they are also morons\think that they are immune from any justice.

They are sending their "hard-earned loot" to their families using Belarussian courier services using their real names and disclosing their mailing addresses. Ukrainians will get that data, one way or another.


Also, I don't think that it is some sporadic actions of Russian soldiers. It is ALL of their gang that cosplays as an army. No soldier will openly marauder knowing that he can be caught by his commander and be punished. This means that it is, at least, permitted by their commander. No commander will allow marauding knowing that they are responsible for the actions of their unit unless they know that it is permitted. And it goes straight to the top of the chain of command.

[martinuzz]

I suppose it's a good thing our trains were all halted.
Imagine if a Russian hack had caused trains to collide and kill people.
Then we would have had to invoke article 5

[ChairmanPoo]

Also, I don't think that it is some sporadic actions of Russian soldiers. It is ALL of their gang that cosplays as an army. No soldier will openly marauder knowing that he can be caught by his commander and be punished. This means that it is, at least, permitted by their commander. No commander will allow marauding knowing that they are responsible for the actions of their unit unless they know that it is permitted. And it goes straight to the top of the chain of command.

And as an addenum: the ones killing civilians are not "bad eggs". The society as a whole is encouraging this.

I suppose it's a good thing our trains were all halted.
Imagine if a Russian hack had caused trains to collide and kill people.
Then we would have had to invoke article 5

 
Russia has used poison gas in the UK and nothing happened. Why do you think a cyberattack would've been different?

[martinuzz]

TBH, the UK should have invoked article 5, for both the nuclear attack* on UK soil, as well as the chemical weapon attack on UK soil.

*a radiological attack is a nuclear attack. It's just not a thermonuclear attack.

[Strongpoint]

And as an addenum: the ones killing civilians are not "bad eggs". The society as a whole is encouraging this.

One thing horrifies me. My friend delivered humanitarian aid to Trostyanets, another recently liberated town and spoke with residents of it and neighboring villages. The area was occupied by a ragtag force of Russian conscripts, elements of a Russian tank division, DNR\LNR militia, Kadyrov's thugs, Russian riot police... Exactly the type of force you expect war crimes from. And those war crimes were there - widespread looting, sporadic rapes, etc. But it is nowhere close to the horror of Kyiv region.

Kyiv region is a different story. It was occupied by their elite. Paratroopers, marines, guard mechanized division... And they did what they did.

[martinuzz]

The only end to this war can be the demilitarization and denazification of Russia, by means of a limited -totally-not-a-war- military operation.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin denies war crimes, and accuses Ukraine of staging the civilian deaths and mass graves.

[MaxTheFox]

There are lots of bastards in the army. Some are brainwashed or just conscripted, but there are tons of bad eggs.

The professional forces? Fuck them, they have no excuse.

[Lord Shonus]

And as an addenum: the ones killing civilians are not "bad eggs". The society as a whole is encouraging this.

One thing horrifies me. My friend delivered humanitarian aid to Trostyanets, another recently liberated town and spoke with residents of it and neighboring villages. The area was occupied by a ragtag force of Russian conscripts, elements of a Russian tank division, DNR\LNR militia, Kadyrov's thugs, Russian riot police... Exactly the type of force you expect war crimes from. And those war crimes were there - widespread looting, sporadic rapes, etc. But it is nowhere close to the horror of Kyiv region.

Kyiv region is a different story. It was occupied by their elite. Paratroopers, marines, guard mechanized division... And they did what they did.

Sadly, all evidence is pointing to this being deliberate genocidal policy, not the sort of things a conscript would do out of frustration or simple redlining.


In other news, there's reports of Ukranian civilians providing Russian troops with poisoned foodstuffs, killing two and incapacitating hundreds. They needed better poison.

[martinuzz]

In other news, there's reports of Ukranian civilians providing Russian troops with poisoned foodstuffs, killing two and incapacitating hundreds. They needed better poison.

That's really stupid. It would be both a warcrime, and painting a cross on civilians as being legitimate targets of war, because they participate in it.

[Frumple]

This is apparently after russian military started rounding up and murdering non-combatants, though? Nevermind the urban shelling, the deliberate mining of evacuation routes, etc.

They're getting involved whether they want to or not, at that point might as well fight back somehow

[Strongpoint]

In other news, there's reports of Ukranian civilians providing Russian troops with poisoned foodstuffs, killing two and incapacitating hundreds. They needed better poison.

AFAIK, not exactly foodstuff. Methanol disguised as regular vodka. I haven't seen any proof of such stories but I have seen enough casual discussions on Ukrainian social networks about the best ways to poison human beings to believe that some of those rumors are true.

And yes, Ukrainian society will take a lot of time to get back to normal. I remember a joke under one gruesome video with corpses of Russian soldiers "Hey, guys, stop swearing. We are watching those videos with children." It is obviously a joke but... People do seek such photos and videos to get positive emotions.

[Lord Shonus]

In other news, there's reports of Ukranian civilians providing Russian troops with poisoned foodstuffs, killing two and incapacitating hundreds. They needed better poison.

That's really stupid. It would be both a warcrime, and painting a cross on civilians as being legitimate targets of war, because they participate in it.

The war began with a declaration of intent to commit genocide, which is being carried out. Any fear of getting civilians targeted is a moot point.

Also, pretty sure that the laws of war don't restrict the ability of civilians to fight back.