Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Dostoevsky]

Another $800M in military aid to Ukraine from the US, along with (an unspecified amount of?) more economic assistance money. Biden is going to request another $1.3B appropriations supplemental.

The latest arms shipment includes artillery and about 120 "Phoenix Ghost" UAVs. According to a Pentagon rep (well, according to a reporter who talked to a Pentagon rep) it's a flash-developed variant of the Switchblade (i.e. a kamikaze drone or 'loitering munition') made specifically for UA needs. Given the relative success of the MRAP program back in Afghanistan and the potential merits of using the conflict as a testbed (a very cynical thing to say, I know) I wouldn't be surprised to see more programs like this attempting to tailor tech for UA - i.e. to counter RU.

[EuchreJack]

EDIT: Nevermind, I just couldn't understand Joe.
His official speech from WhiteHouse.gov
...it is mostly what he said.  I think a couple of words/phrases might have come out differently during his speech, but I think it is a correct reflection of everything said, and perhaps a better representation of what he meant to say.

The best part of the speech:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

But to modernize Teddy Roosevelt’s famous advice: Sometimes we will speak softly and carry a large Javelin.  Because we’re sending a lot of those in as well.

It was actually better when Joe said it.

[Lord Shonus]

Given the relative success of the MRAP program back in Afghanistan and the potential merits of using the conflict as a testbed (a very cynical thing to say, I know) I wouldn't be surprised to see more programs like this attempting to tailor tech for UA - i.e. to counter RU.

Probably less than we saw in Operation Infinite Occupation. Most of the military problems that came out of that conflict were because the US armed forces and all US equipment plans were heavily optimized to obliterate a mass invasion from Soviet equipment in open battle (this is one reason why Desert Storm was so one-sided), and thus poorly suited toward a grinding low-intensity occupation. So there was great need of adaptation.

Ukraine right now is facing a mass invasion using Soviet equipment in open battle. One of the reasons NATO military aid is so effective is that the weapons being used against T-72s right now were created by engineers who sat down and devoted great ingenuity and expense trying to figure out how to destroy T-72s. There's much less need to adapt, except in exploring new and exciting fields like cheap drones.

[brewer bob]

Russia is accused of hiding evidence of war crimes by burying bodies in mass graves.

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

Russian forces accused of secret burials of civilians in Mariupol

Russia has been hiding evidence of its “barbaric” war crimes in Mariupol by burying the bodies of civilians killed by shelling in a new mass grave, the city’s mayor said on Thursday.

The mayor, Vadym Boichenko, said Russian trucks had collected corpses from the streets of the port city and had transported them to the nearby village of Manhush. They were then secretly thrown into a mass grave in a field next to the settlement’s old cemetery, he said.

“The invaders are concealing evidence of their crimes. The cemetery is located near a petrol station to the left side of a circular road. The Russians have dug huge trenches, 30 metres wide. They chuck people in.”

The mayor estimated that more than 20,000 Mariupol residents had been killed since Russian forces began attacking the city during the early days of Vladimir Putin’s invasion. Most corpses had now been removed, he said, with some disposed of in mobile crematoriums.

Boichenko denied claims by Putin that the city had been “liberated” by Russia. He said Ukrainian soldiers remained holed up in the Azovstal steel factory on Mariupol’s left bank, together with between 300 and 1,000 civilians, including women and children.

He told the Guardian:

“We don’t know the precise civilian figure because we haven’t been able to get them out. We need a day’s ceasefire for this to happen.”

The civilians were living in desperate conditions in a network of underground tunnels, surrounded by Russian troops.

Read more of Luke and Andrew’s article: Russian forces accused of secret burials of civilians in Mariupol

Also, over 7,600 war crimes committed by Russia have been recorded so far.

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

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General, Iryna Venediktova, has confirmed war crimes experts are helping Ukraine “to ensure the inevitability of Russia’s responsibility”.

The United States said it has also been in contact with Ukraine’s prosecutor and is assisting with the preservation and collection of evidence of war crimes committed by Russia, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Thursday.

Venediktova said experts from Slovakia - including police, judicial and medical experts - arrived to Kyiv on Thursday to help in the investigation of war crimes.

Over 7,600 war crimes committed by Russia have been recorded, she added with support of the world in the gathering of evidence “desperately needed”.

“Our goal is absolutely transparent - a thorough investigation of every war crime of the Russian Federation for the sake of bringing the culprits to justice,” she said.

Venediktova claimed nine burial places of those killed during Russian occupation, including two children, were discovered in Borodіanka.

“[Russian] criminals fired at and ran over civilians by tanks. Prosecutors are investigating circumstances of everyone’s death, and evidence will be presented to and international courts,” she added.

[Loud Whispers]

Damn that's fucked up, completely voided rules of engagement

[brewer bob]

Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian opposition leader, has been charged for spreading 'false' information. He was arrested last week.

Kara-Murza was arrested outside his home in Moscow last week and is serving a 15-day detention for allegedly evading police.

The more serious charge — an alleged violation of a vaguely-defined law supported by Russian President Vladimir Putin and enacted by Russia’s parliament just after the country’s invasion of Ukraine — was leveled Friday by a court in Moscow, according to a charging document posted on Facebook by his attorney, Vadim Prokhorov.

Kara-Murza, 40, who lives with his family in Northern Virginia, faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Source: The Washington Post

[Random_Dragon]

My guess is the political purge over there is officially underway, or if not then soon.

[EuchreJack]

This article is relevant to the Long Term Objectives of Russia.
Although it is perhaps more opinion than fact.

[brewer bob]

My guess is the political purge over there is officially underway, or if not then soon.

There's also something going on with Russian oligarchs suddenly committing suicide. Six have died so far since the invasion began.

[brewer bob]

More mass graves found near Mariupol:

Another mass grave has been found outside of Mariupol, the Associated Press has reported, citing the city council and an adviser to the mayor.

The city council posted a satellite photo provided by Planet Labs showing what it said was a mass grave 45 metres by 25 metres that could hold the bodies of at least 1,000 Mariupol residents.

It said the new reported mass grave is outside the village of Vynohradne, which is east of Mariupol.

Maxar Technologies, a US satellite imagery company, has also released images of the site.

Earlier this week, satellite photos from Maxar Technologies revealed what appeared to be rows of more than 200 freshly dug mass graves in the town of Manhush, located to the west of Mariupol.

Also, Moldova is concerned about Russian plans to take Donbas and southern Ukraine, which would open a gateway to the breakaway region of Transnistria.

Moldova has expressed “deep concern” and summoned the Russian ambassador following comments by a Russian military commander who said Moscow’s new aim was to seize control of southern Ukraine, which would also give it access to Transnistria, a pro-Russian breakaway region of Moldova.

“These statements are unfounded and contradict the position of the Russian Federation supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova, within its internationally recognized borders,” Moldova’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

In a meeting with Russian ambassador Oleg Vasnetov, the ministry “reiterated that the Republic of Moldova, in line with its Constitution, is a neutral state and this principle must be respected by all international actors, including the Russian Federation,” it continued.

[martinuzz]

Moved to the emotional response thread sorry for polluting this thread with emotions

[EuchreJack]

Russian government and military need to be eradicated like the cockroaches they are.

Just an FYI, that sort of talk belongs in the Emotional Response thread. The discussion that could follow may be intense enough to risk this thread.

[martinuzz]

Oh sorry I thought I posted it in the emotional response thread

[EuchreJack]

You are forgiven, my son.

[brewer bob]

Two more Russian generals have been killed, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence

Two Russian generals killed near Kherson – Ukrainian Ministry of Defence

Two Russian generals have been killed near Kherson, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence’s intelligence directorate has said. One is in critical condition.

The Ukrainian military on Friday hit a Russian command post near occupied regional capital Kherson, according to the statement.