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[Loud Whispers]

How remarkable. Could be seeing a whole new crop of young Russian generals after this war

[King Zultan]

How many damn generals do the even have, at this rate they'll be out of em in a couple of weeks.

[Starver]

I saw something the other day that quoted maybe 1,000 or so (though I don't have the link, and I presume that's the whole range of General ranks, not just the strict single stratum). Losing sevenish per every two months would give them three decades of attrition before they bottom-out on the original complement. Battlefield Special-Operation commissions would, at the very least, delay that exact result, and I suspect regular promotions would significantly replace losses as well, so long as people are willing to take them).


I just tried to confirm my memory, and just "How many g" in the search engine bar provoked several possibly pertinent suggestions, including the one ending "enerals does Russia have"...  Though the above half-remembered mystery (it might as well be!) source was not amongst them, I saw other summaries to other sources that suggest a tad more than 1000 back in 2008 (which I can't be sure isn't what my version said), etc. Reliability concerns of online sources (and self-/circularly-referencing facts conjured out of thin air) aside, it looks like a consensus-like result.

But it's obviously a question that Google has noticed being asked... Or thinks I am highly likely to ask, specifically, given my general (NPI!) reading and writing on this device.

[brewer bob]

The Guardian reports, that there is evidence of Ukrainian women being raped before being killed.

Here's the article. (Warning: contains graphic descriptions)

[brewer bob]

Sweden and Finland have decided to submit their NATO applications at the same time, according to the Guardian.

Sweden and Finland have agreed to submit applications to join Nato at the same time, the Swedish newspaper Expressen reports.

Both countries have agreed to announce their applications in the week of 16 to 22 May, during Finland’s president Sauli Niinistö’s visit to Stockholm, according to Swedish government sources.

[brewer bob]

According to officials of Moldova's breakaway region of Transnistria, a government building has been hit by a hand grenade launcher.

Spoiler:  from the Guardian live updates (click to show/hide)

A government building in Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria was shelled by a hand grenade launcher on Monday, the press service of the Russian-backed unrecognised state said on its Telegram channel.

According to Transnistrian officials, a building belonging to the ministry of state security was hit in the region’s capital of Tiraspol on Monday evening, with no immediate reports of injuries.

A number of images circulating on social media appeared to show smoke coming out of the broken windows of the government building. It was not immediately clear who was behind the apparent attack.

Last week, a senior Russian commander said the goal of Russia’s new offensive was to seize control of southern Ukraine and to gain access to Transnistria which lies on the southern Ukrainian border.

While military experts have said it was unlikely that Russian forces would be able to stage an offensive towards the border with Moldova at this moment, the statements nevertheless raised fears in Moldova over Russia’s intentions towards the small impoverished Eastern European nation.

With Moscow’s support, Transnistria fought a war against Moldova in the 1990s that left the territory with de facto independence and a garrison of around 1,500 Russian troops.

[brewer bob]

Continuing with the news spam:

Sergei Lavrov warns of danger of World War III and says that Western arms deliveries to Ukraine means that NATO is in essence engaged in war with Russia.

Russia foreign minister warns of ‘real’ danger of World War III

Sergei Lavrov told Russian news agencies that Russia’s peace talks with Ukraine will continue, but that there remains a “real” danger of a third world war. The Russian foreign minister was critical of the Ukrainian president’s approach to peace talks, accusing him of “pretending” to negotiate and calling him a “good actor”.

“Good will has its limits. But if it isn’t reciprocal, that doesn’t help the negotiation process,” he said. “But we are continuing to engage in negotiations with the team delegated by Zelenskiy, and these contacts will go on.”

He said he was confident that “everything will of course finish with the signing of an accord”, but that “the parameters of this accord will be defined by the state of the fighting that will have taken place at the moment the accord becomes reality.”

The danger of a world war is real, he said. “The danger is serious, it is real, you can’t underestimate it,” Lavrov told the Interfax news agency.

Lavrov: 'Nato, in essence, is engaged in a war with Russia'

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said deliveries of Western weaponry to Ukraine mean that the Nato alliance is "in essence engaged in war with Russia”.

In an interview aired on Monday, he said: "These weapons will be a legitimate target for Russia’s military acting within the context of the special operation.”

Lavrov also told state television: "Nato, in essence, is engaged in a war with Russia through a proxy and is arming that proxy. War means war."

Lavrov: Threat of nuclear war is real

Lavrov also acknowledged there's a possibility of the conflict escalating to nuclear weapons, though he also sounded a hopeful note about the prospects of a peace accord.

Speaking to the Russian First Channel on Monday, he said Moscow wanted to avoid "artificially" elevated risks of such a conflict.

"This is our key position on which we base everything. The risks now are considerable," Lavrov said.

"I would not want to elevate those risks artificially. Many would like that. The danger is serious, real, And we must not underestimate it."

Lavrov also accused President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine of "pretending" to negotiate, calling him "a good actor”.

"If you watch attentively and read attentively what he says, you'll find a thousand contradictions," Russia’s top diplomat said.

The foreign minister said last week that Moscow was committed to avoiding a nuclear war.

On Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted that Lavrov’s latest comments were an indication Russia had lost its "last hope to scare the world off supporting Ukraine”.

"Thus the talk of a ‘real’ danger of WWIII. This only means Moscow senses defeat in Ukraine," he tweeted.

Days after the invasion began back on 24 February, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his nuclear forces to be on alert.

The US and its Nato allies have said they do not want direct military intervention in Ukraine, in order to avoid the risks of a Third World War.

[martinuzz]

Interesting article about weaponised conspiracy theories in Russia

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/25/opinion/putin-russia-conspiracy-theories.html

[martinuzz]

Russia shut off the gas pipeline to Poland (and with it, part of it's gas export to Germany as well since it flows through the same pipe)

[martinuzz]

Russia shut off gas to Bulgaria as well

[brewer bob]

BBC reports that explosions have been heard in the Russian city of Belgorod.

Explosions reportedly heard in Russian city

Multiple explosions have been heard in the Russian city of Belgorod, about 40km (24 miles) north of the Ukrainian border, according to a local official.

On social media app Telegram, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said he was woken at around 03:35 on Wednesday by the sound of an explosion.

He said that while drafting his social media post he heard another three loud booms.

Gladkov later said preliminary reports indicated an ammunition depot was on fire in a rural settlement, and "no casualties among the civilian population" had been reported.

[brewer bob]

Belarus is planning to implement the death penalty after all the railway sabotage.

Belarus has moved to make attempted acts of terrorism punishable by the death penalty after activists tried to sabotage parts of the railway network to make it harder for Russia to deploy forces into Ukraine for its invasion.

The Belarusian lower house of parliament approved the change to the criminal code in two readings, the Belta news agency reported. The change now needs backing from the upper house and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko before entering force.

Reuters quotes house speaker Vladimir Andreychenko, alluding to acts sabotage on the railway, saying “Destructive forces are continuing terrorist extremist activity by trying to rock the situation in Belarus, provoking domestic instability and conflicts.”

“Actions are being taken to disable railway equipment and tracks, objects of strategic importance,” He said. “There can be no justification for the actions of terrorists.”

Russia used close ally Belarus as a staging ground to launch its unsuccessful attempt to encircle Kyiv in the first phase of the invasion. Minsk denies direct involvement in the conflict.

[EuchreJack]

Good Job Junior Reporters!

[martinuzz]

Putin has told the Russian parliament today that Western countries that interfere in the conflict with Ukraine will see a 'lightning fast' military response. He says all decisions required for such action have already been made.
Furthermore, Putin threatens that any country that creates a threat of strategic nature that is unacceptable to Russia will face the Russian army's 'most modern weapons'.
"We have all the means at our disposal for this, which is unavailable to anyone else. We will not hesitate to use them if nescessary, I want everyone to know that" , said Putin.

Scary shit. Looks like Putin is preparing parliament for nuclear war.

[Lord Shonus]

Unlikely. The very first US warhead will be a deep-penetrator targeted on Putin himself, and he knows it. This is more likely to be an equivalent of Goering's TEN TONS FOR ONE promises that were equally impotent.