There's a good read connected to the images I've posted below. It's from BreakingDefense.com (link below) and this column is about not only how Ukraine has held off Russia for 9 months, but also how they will fair going forward, and what's needed from her allies. Armaments that are being withheld so far, but badly needed. Also something that really intrigued me, what will happen to Russia after her invasion of Ukraine has ended in a shattering defeat. Many are seeing no less than the breakup of Russia, a country still made up in large part of remnants of the former Soviet Union, as we know it today. So-called “autonomous republics” inhabited by ethnic minorities within Russia, but obviously large majorities in their "republics" under the thumb of Moscow. https://breakingdefense.com/2022/11...ine-months-heres-what-it-needs-to-keep-going/ A Ukrainian boy cheers for Ukraine from Liberty Square after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise visit to Kherson on November 14, 2022 in Kherson, Ukraine. (Paula Bronstein /Getty Images) A member of the Ukrainian 63rd Separate Mechanized Brigade puts away the Ukrainian flag while packing up equipment in the midst of dismantling a frontline position that the brigade had occupied for more than five months at the border of Mykolaiv and Kehrson Oblasts as they move to a new forward position in Kherson Oblast on November 15, 2022 in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images) A girl stands next to graffiti of a child throwing a man on the floor in judo clothing on a destroyed building on November 14, 2022 in Borodyanka, Ukraine. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
Curious Russian recruiting tactic - a special "guest star", supporting moral Russia's recruiting efforts against the decadent West? The jokes write themselves. Ms Gray, BTW, was NOT consulted (or paid).
Most Russian Army thing ever. They're like locusts. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the Yampolsky Zoo ate all the animals. While the settlement was under occupation, the Russian army ate bison, deer, ostriches and starved the camel and wolves to death.
This is from Politico.com - panic is beginning in Crimea - link below - an excerpt: Target Crimea Partisans are mobilizing, and Russians are trying to sell their holiday homes — as fear grows that the war is closing in on the peninsula. BY JAMIE DETTMER NOVEMBER 30, 2022 6:04 AM CET KYIV — In Crimea, the war is drawing ever closer, and nerves are on edge. In conversations via secure communications, people in Crimea describe growing tension across the Black Sea peninsula as they increasingly expect the advent of direct hostilities. They say saboteur and partisan groups are now readying in the territory, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. Frustration and panic are surging, over everything from conscription to runaway prices. One person told of anger over an inability to secure hospital places thanks to the numbers of Russian wounded brought in from the fronts, while another said that the fretful Russian elite were trying to sell their glitzy holiday homes, but were finding no buyers. When Vladimir Putin launched his all-out invasion of Ukraine in February, few people expected Ukrainian forces would nine months later be threatening to reclaim Crimea. That no longer feels like a military impossibility, however, after Kyiv’s well-organized troops showed that they could drive out Russian forces in offensive operations around Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine and Kherson in the south. Tamila Tasheva, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s permanent representative in Crimea, has high hopes the peninsula will end up back in Ukrainian hands. “Yes, of course, it is entirely possible we will get Crimea back,” she told POLITICO. “Our goal is the return of all our territory, which of course includes Crimea,” she said in her office in Kyiv. A 37-year-old Crimean Tatar, whose family lives on the peninsula, Tasheva is busy preparing plans for what happens after Crimea is “de-occupied” and is drafting a legal framework to cope with complex issues of transitional justice that will arise. She says while Kyiv would prefer the peninsula to be handed back without a fight, “a military way may be the only solution.” “The situation is very different now from 2014. We have a lot of communication with people in Crimea and they’re increasingly angered by the high food prices and shortages in drugs and medicines,” she said. “And there’s been an increase in anti-war protests, especially since the start of conscription and partial mobilization.” When asked about people forming anti-Russian partisan groups, she simply commented: “Of course they are.” The difference between 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea and now comes down to the fact, she argues, that Ukraine has a strong army and a determined leadership and that is affecting and fortifying people’s thinking in Crimea. Against the occupiers For Putin, Crimea has long been a sacred cause — he called it an “inseparable part of Russia” — and that led many in the West to fear it could be a strategic red line. That sense was hardly helped by nuclear saber-rattler-in-chief, former President Dmitry Medvedev, who issued ominous warnings about any attack on Crimea. “Judgment Day will come very fast and hard. It will be very difficult to take cover,” Medvedev, now deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, said earlier this year in comments reported by the TASS news agency. Undaunted, the Ukrainians have repeatedly gone after Russian targets in Crimea since August, including airbases and ships. Tensions ratcheted up dramatically, however, after the explosion on October 8 that damaged the Kerch Bridge, a vital supply line between Russia and Crimea. People in Crimea say the Russians are jittery and on the hunt for pro-Ukrainian sympathizers, fearing more acts of sabotage. Kyiv has never formally claimed responsibility for what was most likely a truck bombing. The people POLITICO talked with can’t be named for their own safety, but they included businessmen, lawyers and IT workers. “There was panic afterwards,” said one IT worker. “Since then, officers and soldiers have been moving their families back to Russia. And the rich have been trying to sell their properties worth $500,000 to a million, but the market is dead,” he added. “Because of the sanctions, a lot of people have lost their jobs and prices for everything, food especially, have skyrocketed and there isn’t much choice available either. If you were making a $1,000 a month before February, now you need to be around $3,000 to be where you were, and how are you going to do that with the tourism industry dead,” he said. Locals are fuming that they can’t receive medical attention because the peninsula’s hospitals are full of Russian soldiers wounded in the fighting in Kherson and Donetsk. With the situation worsening, more partisan cells are forming, they say. “My group of patriots know each other well: We studied and worked together for years and trust each other — we are preparing, and we understand secrecy will determine the effectiveness of our actions,” said a former banker, who claimed to be leading a seven-man cell. Inspired by the Kerch Bridge blast, his cell is planning to sabotage military facilities using rudimentary explosives made from ammonium nitrate and diesel fuel. “There are many provocateurs around and the Russians are anxious, so we’re vigilant. We know other partisan groups, but we don’t actively communicate for security reasons,” he said. “We’ve a deal with a police chief who understands Russia is losing and is worried — he’ll give us key to his arsenal when needed with our promise that we will put in a good word for him later,” he added. Whether such cells represent any kind of serious threat remains to be seen and POLITICO can’t verify the claims of would-be saboteurs, but retired U.S. General Ben Hodges, a former commanding general of the United States Army Europe, says he had expected partisan cells to form, encouraged by Kyiv and otherwise. “I would have assumed this. Both locals as well as saboteurs who have been infiltrated into Crimea. Remember the Ukrainians, of course, did this to the German Wehrmacht throughout World War II. There’s a tradition of sabotage and insurgency,” he said. “I would hate to be a Russian truck driver on a convoy somewhere, anywhere in the area these days. I think when it does come time for decisive action, it will be a combination of local partisans and infiltrated saboteurs,” he added. ‘Crimea is Ukraine’ https://www.politico.eu/article/cri...raine-war-volodymyr-zelenskyy-vladimir-putin/
Same as they ever was. Read Antony Beevor's work on WW2 and the Russians constantly look like something out of Fury Road, but without the skill or dedication. Seriously, **** them.
She was talking about this on Twitch before streaming God of War Ragnarok. You can't make this stuff up.
I've been really thinking about this image. It shows the global reach of Judo and how important of a sport that Judo is to both the Ukrainians and also the Russians. The founder of Judo, Dr. Kano Jigoro, wanted Judo to be about values including giving the world a Japanese sport that everyone could do. Vladimir Putin has used Judo to burnish his tough guy image and as a relfection of his own personal power. This image though shows that Judo is also about using an opponent's power against them.
I don't think you can assume that. If Putin fails, he is dead. He will not be able to lead. So his choice is win or die.
The problem currently for Russia is that Putin has spent 30 years forcing people to become disengaged and demotivated from all politics, but the current state of the war with mobilization requires people to be engaged and patriotic and willing to sacrifice for Mother Russia. Large scale attacks on Russia proper would effectively solve Putin's main problem by motivating Russians to rally around the flag and support the war. Popularity of "the Z" is currently severely flagging in Russia. Better to not give Putin a potential lifeline, when things are already falling apart on the current trajectory.