#Glory to Ukrainian Army | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ohsalome · 8 months

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"Khokhol (this is the slur russians use agains ukrainians) nazis can only play with their anuses. What is this going to be, fag festival with swastica? And who is founding this? Fans of nazi pigs with yellow-vomit rag?"

"Is this another attempt of begging for more money for laundering?"

"Fucking dogpigs"

"Khokhols are fags, stop khokhol, country 404 shouldn't exist, hillibilles don't know how to make games" (this particular message was spammed in many games, I will not showcase its every repetition)

(jfc imagine being this mad about a cozy bunny game)

"Khokhlovpiteks on the screen"

"Glory to russia"

September (ru): "You are spoiling the game indurstry with these feces only to gather money for your Mykolas and Tarases (in russian, this is supporsed to be a demeaning stereotypical general name for ukrainians, somewhat similair to how americans harrassing asian people would call them "ching changs"). You are incapable of creating anyting concrete. You all have pig lard in your heads ( ukrainians being obsessed about pig lard is yet another xenophobic anti-ukrainian stereotype used by russians)."

Remy Azphel (ukr): "Seems like you aren't as brave as you try to seem, not risking to become meat in trenches) God forbid a real drone gets you)

Neurofixer (ru): In the meantime, yet another Striker (fighting vehicle used by Ukr army) is burning from Lancets (russian UAV) XD

September (ru): and geraniums are blooming in Kyiv (Geran-2 is another drone used in russian attacks on Ukraine)

Neurofixer (ru): why don't you collect the stinky corpses of your soldiers?

Neurofixer (ru): this game is dumber than the khokhols ffs _____________________

In conculsion: I find it really exceptional how putin, while single-handedly fighting in every battle on Ukrainian frontier and personally commiting every single war crime, has managed to find time to create hundreds of bot accounts and personally spam ukrainian game streams with hate speech and slurs; because obviously it couldn't be "simple russians", after all, every single russian is a pure innocent soul which by nature is not capable of evil (actual quote by pope francis), and, as westerners who don't know a single word in russian never tire of condenscendingly tell me, they would never, ever, ever go out of their way to harrass ukrainian gamedevs and totally would not brag about their army's attacks on our civillian sites, nonono #notallrussians

#ukraine #war in ukraine #russia #russian invasion of ukraine #not all russians #russian culture #steam #games #gamedev #ukrainian games festival #xenophobia #hate speech #tw slurs

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argyrocratie · 3 months

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"The darkest hour is before the dawn?"

Assembly's view on another year of trench warfare in 2024 (december 2023)

"War is a kind of action, thanks to which people who do not know each other kill each other for the sake of glory and benefit of people who know each other very well, but do not kill each other." (Paul Valéry)

(...)

Stalemate. This word began to appear in almost every analytical material of the Western press about the Russian-Ukrainian war. Since the retreat of the Russian army from Kherson in November last year, the front line has frozen almost without movement, despite the bloody attempts of each side to achieve a turning point in their favor and gain operational space. After the new Verdun – the winter-spring meat grinder near Bakhmut – came a new battle on Somme for a dozen villages in the steppes of the Azov Coast, which from October smoothly turned into another Verdun/Bakhmut around Avdeevka. If it falls, the same will continue on new frontiers a little further. Meanwhile, the mess of mud and corpses in Krynki, perhaps, is already looking like a new Passendale.

If the current positional balance is not compared to the First World War only by the lazy, its finale is not yet remembered so often. It was disrupted by the workers of the warring countries:

“The war did not end in 1918 because of the military defeat of one side or another. The generals would have happily spent a few more years killing millions of people to achieve their goals. It ended because it was against the various armies and populations of Europe took action. Most people know that Russia emerged from the war in 1917 thanks to the Russian Revolution. One of the key factors in the revolution was that the workers and peasants of Russia rebelled against the war and against their own ruling class. What is less known is that that there had been major mutinies in the French army, as well as smaller but equally significant mutinies in the British army, in 1917. The key uprising ended the war was the Kiel mutiny of the German navy in 1918. The High Command, in a desperate attempt to turn the tide of the war, ordered bring the practically intact fleet to sea. However, the naval underground organizations, which included anarchist sailors, were already expecting this. In response, they formed the Soviets and seized their ships, surrounding ports and barracks. This caused a wave of military mutinies and workers' strikes, forcing the panicked ruling class of not only Germany, but also Europe as a whole to sit down at the negotiating table and work out a peace treaty.”

By the time of the probable arrival of Trump or another isolationist candidate for the presidency in the United States, the Russian-Ukrainian war will rage for 3 years already. This is approximately the same amount of time it took for the revolutionary situation to appear then. Neither the barrier detachments, nor the military tribunals, nor the hordes of street screamers for “until the bitter end” helped.

The very threat that those celebrating 2024 in the trenches next New Year will meet on the neutral land, drink 100 grams each and go home with weapons, can become a powerful incentive for the Kremlin and the Ze-Office to begin to negotiate in order to prevent something much more dangerous for both of them option. But even if the scenario of the last century beginning is repeated – instead of, for example, the story of Iran and Iraq, which got stuck in the same massacre for 8 years and then both declared it won, that only strengthened the two regimes – this means that the next year will bring many more rivers of blood. According to BBC News Ukraine, with the new bill on mobilization Ukrainians may be required to appear at the recruitment centers within 48 hours after receiving a summons by email or registered mail. Death postmen will receive more tools to check the military registration documents of citizens on the streets, deliver them to enlistment offices, and put them on the wanted list. For ignoring of summonses, the terms of arrest and fines will be increased, it will be possible to prosecute violators in absentia, and the circle of those entitled to a deferment will be narrowed. It is also proposed military registration for those in prison. Will prisoners want to go to the front, knowing that even law-abiding people, to put it mildly, are not very well trained and equipped – a big question that could threaten prison riots. It will be especially hard for draft evaders who prefer to go to prison rather than fight. When the “Assembly” began to sound the alarm about the fact that Kharkov courts stopped issuing suspended sentences for failure to appear to a unit, many local readers brushed it aside like it is “better to jail than to the grave.” Well, let's see how soon the first will cease to be an alternative to the second.

(...)

According to counting by “Mediazona”, released on the anniversary of the start of Russian mobilization, over the year in the Russian Federation there have been almost four times more sentences for unauthorized leaving of a unit and desertion than there were annually in such cases before the war: since July 2023, courts have handed down more than 500 of them every month.

(...)

It should also be taken into account that the motivation to desert is reduced by the European borders closed to Russians, the social control system in Russian cities, unprecedented in the history of wars, and the predominantly open terrain of south-eastern Ukraine, where it is difficult to hide from the military police.

The decay of the Russian army is also hindered by Ukrainian propaganda, which portrays as enemies all Russian citizens who are not lacqueying for Ukraine, even if they refuse to fight (they say, these are the same “orcs”, only funky). This is being done for the same reason why in the defense of Ukraine the emphasis is on driving people under pressure instead of developing voluntary initiative: horizontal ties at the grassroots are dangerous for anyone holding power. But this same barrack slavery can contribute to the fraternization of yesterday’s workers in camouflage uniforms, quickly making them understand that forced people have nothing to share, and the enemy is those who drive them to slaughter.

Almost right now, was published a statement of Russian soldiers from the Moscow and Ulyanovsk regions about monetary extortions and beatings from the command. Servicemen of military unit 41680 stated that two weeks after signing the contract, they were sent to an assault on the Avdeevka direction without training or preparation. From their words, most fighters are “beaten and kept in basements” before a mission."

...

#russian ukrainian war #anarchism #the translation of the text seems a bit clunky in some parts

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warsofasoiaf · 5 months

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Was the Russian invasion a failure of deterrence on the West's part and, if so, what can we learn to make sure it doesn't happen again?

Yes.

I think the big issue is to re-establish credible deterrence. The Russian invasion of Ukraine was enabled by the failure of deterrence in the annexation of Crimea in 2014; so to re-establish credible deterrence, you need to ensure treaty obligations that obligate the destruction of the invading army. If we had turned the columns outside of Kyiv to slag, Russia would not be so willing to kidnap children and conduct widespread atrocities against the Ukrainian civilian population because they'd actually have consequences for their actions.

Of course, the actual response matters based on the psychology of the country. Russia doesn't really give a shit if a bunch of mobiks brought up from the non-Slavic portions of Russia die miserable deaths - that's just the lesser peoples dying for the glory of Greater Russia which is the natural order (yes, Russia is an extraordinarily racist society). So you need to establish deterrence measures that hurt the country in areas that they value. For Russia, that would be seizure of their sovereign wealth funds stored abroad, seizure of Russian-owned foreign properties connected to state actors and siloviki, and revocation of Russian visas for their elites to study in Western universities. For China, it would be expulsion from supranational entities, revocation of charters for their outreach organizations, decoupling industrial and commercial partnerships, and using supranational governmental forums explicitly to call out Chinese subversion - such as calling out the WHO for supporting China's cover-up of COVID and suppression of the virus's origins because the truth is detrimental to Chinese national prestige.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

#russia

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avian-misdemeanors · 5 months

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airplanes but as people

707: classy, elegant, cultured, very big presence, Audrey Hepburn vibes

717: smart, unassuming, a feminist before it was socially acceptable

727: autistic, will tell you everything about its special interest, weird and lovable, may use it/its pronouns

737: she likes her pumpkin spice lattes and her leggings. gets called basic, but she's reliable and easy to get along with

747: 6'6" woman with broad shoulders and long, wavy, dark hair. she looks amazing in an elegant dress and has a commanding presence. powerful dark voice, very charismatic. when she speaks, you listen.

757: 74's little sister, much less imposing, very leggy, plays volleyball, total tomboy, very very likeable and cute but also very pretty and athletic, short dyed hair

767: pantsuit businesswoman, smart, a little conventional but that's not always a bad thing

777: she's a professional athlete, a competitive powerlifter. she looks intimidating, but once you get to know her she's a pretty open book.

787: trans girl programmer, drawer full of thigh high socks, RGB everything

797: 787's fursona

Spitfire: short British girl who owns and carries a pistol. she's a skilled martial artist but she much prefers spending time on her other hobbies: makeup and ballroom dancing

AN-225: rural Ukrainian grandma in her 70's. still milks the cows every morning, and still chops her own firewood. her grandson is off fighting the Russians and she's very proud of him

B-1: used to wear a black cape and Naruto-run around the playground at school as a kid. was and still is obsessed with Batman, joined the army and has had a long career

B-21: like the 787; trans furry gamer girl obsessed with programming. wears thigh highs, RGB everything, but also joined the military and has guns at home

U-2: shy and introverted, lean and kind of lanky, she spends all her spare time hiking in the middle of nowhere. the kind of person who you stop being surprised by when she tells you she did a "light" 30 mile hike over the weekend. you're convinced she could just get up and walk the whole Appalachian Trail if she felt like it. has an account on FurAffinity and she will make it your problem. she also has the absolute best weed

L-1011: beefy working class woman with broad shoulders and a heavily worn-in denim jacket. she quit smoking in the '90s but she still knows a bunch of lighter tricks and does them when she's bored using her old beat-up Zippo. will come into your life for one week and ruin every other person for you, forever.

Tu-144: former Soviet professional athlete who had huge potential but got super addicted to amphetamines and burnt out REALLY hard, did not live up to her potential, and gave up fast. she's now a retired but functioning alcoholic watching the collapse of the modern Russian state going "here we go again"

Concorde: slightly stuck up but not mean at all, had her day in the sun, won a lot of gold medals in the Olympics, now gracefully retired and coaching the next generation of athletes. keeps in touch with Boeing 2707, Tu-144, and Lockheed L-2000

SR-71: older legendary retired Olympic sprinter, kind of a loner but she sometimes hangs out with Tu-144, L-2000, B2707, and Concorde

Space Shuttle: hotshot test pilot who wears aviators everywhere, loves to reminisce about her glory days

MiG-15: retired soldier, left Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union and now lives in a cabin in northern Canada. used to believe in the USSR but now basically doesn't believe in governments at all and just keeps to herself. drinking problem.

F-86: retired Olympic fencer, focuses on her grandkids now, visits MiG-15 to play chess and drink

F-111: furry trans girl techie who likes to watch mecha anime. taller than she'd like but she still loves herself and finds ways to see her own beauty.

F-117: Goth girl who was best friends with the B-1 in school, they'd both watch anime together as kids. F-117 kinda vanished after high school then reappeared on instagram years later as an owner of a crossfit gym

F-22: expert martial artist, small in stature but tough as nails, buzz cut, tank top, combat boots. she will be your friend but she is also a little...unhinged

XF-85 Goblin: tried to join the military but was rejected due to ADHD. no longer believes in the military and is glad she got rejected. when asked about it she says "the military is dumb and war is for straight people". silly little shit who makes bad puns and likes rolling around on the floor with cats. drinks soda in the shower.

P-51: played quarterback in high school, then drafted into WWII

P-38: played tight end on P-51's team.

P-51 and P-38 got drafted together, went to boot-camp together, but they got deployed to different theaters of war.

They write each other. The letters don't always go through. When they get a letter, they head back to their bunk, shirtless with dog-tags dangling, they read with a big smile on their face and a cigarette in their mouth

They rehash heroic football plays that sent the bleachers into uproarious cheers, sounding like a crowd ten times larger than the entire population of Littletown, Arkansas that they were.

Their letters also contain very very vague but pointed allusions to the times they spent together after the games were over and the other teammates went out with their girlfriends. Locker Rooms. Cornfields. And the Ice House. Oh, the Ice House…

P-51 bitches about the cold in western europe. P-38 bitches about the tropical humidity and mosquitos, and how he always forgets the name of the island he's on this week.

It'll be over soon, right?

P-38 says he overheard B-29 saying that the war is going to end one way or another very soon in a very confident manner. B-29's tone kind of spooked P-38, and he's not sure why. He prays that B-29 is right, but something feels off around here.

The censors blacked out most of that letter. P-51 is glad P-38 is alive…but what is going on over there?

P-51 wanders the aerodrome, and he spots B-17 and C-47 making eyes at each other. His hands ball up in fists in his pockets. Those two get to go home and get married, ring bearer, flower girls. Tuxedo, Wedding Dress.

All he gets is the Ice House. But oh…Oh, the Ice House…

A300: Old fashioned diesel dyke. She's in her 60's but still does powerlifting as a hobby. She lives with her cute femme wife, who is absolutely the top in the relationship. They're both retired and raise goats together at their cottage in the country to sell goat dairy at the local farmer's market. She wears denim vests covered in patches, many of which are old and faded, she's tattooed and still has a buzz cut. She was on the front lines helping her fellow queers during the AIDS crisis.

A320: When you find out your friend from high school who said she was going to major in finance actually did major in finance, got a finance job, and has been working for 10 years and somehow hasn't burned out, has savings, bought a car, a normal but attractive fiance, and watches an appropriate amount of Netflix in the evening

A320neo: Same woman but she just discovered aromatherapy

A350: Same woman but she got a masters from an online college while still working full time and has multiple CFO job offers

Honda Jet: The only posts on her instagram are her college graduation in 2016 with her white american mom and japanese dad, and she's taller than both of them, and a STOP ASIAN HATE post from 2020

Stipa Caproni: down for literally anything and will absolutely blow your mind but not for long.

Wright Military Flyer: an 85 year old lady who still beautiful and dainty but also keeps a fucking Colt 1899 on a thigh holster. under her dress, of course. she's still a lady.

Tu-154: a track star and will go all night long, you won't be sure if you're boinking or in a cardio race

F-14: a retired Subaru lesbian who lives with her wife and 3 dogs. was the popular girl in school and kind of everyone's friend in college.

Bristol F2b: knows how to use flintlock weapons and always smells a little bit like leather and campfire, but she's really sweet and comforting to be around.

T-38: 5'2" and a little fucking firecracker. doesn't actually know how to fight you but she will certainly try and one or both of you will end up with teeth missing.

Kfir: the kind of girl who you suspect might actually be an assassin.

F-4 Phantom: a butch martial artist in her 40s who is suspiciously muscular and shows off by crushing watermelons with her thighs, arms, hands, etc. She wears combat boots and a leather jacket and rides a motorcycle

7J7: refers to the D&D Monster Manual as the "Girlfriend Guide"

F4U Corsair: collects swords but in a hot way

TBM Avenger: a classic softball lesbian

P-47: a bodybuilder, she can lift you over her head. big and imposing, but a kind person who will happily use her large stature to help her smaller friends feel safe.

CRJ-900: collects swords but in a pretentious way

DC-3: keeps pigeons on her roof, but it's cute bc she talks to all of them. they are her friends. get her talking and she will tell you stories from her youth that will haunt you

Convair 990: does illegal street racing

DC-9: has a piss kink. sells landing gear pics online.

UH-1 Huey: smokes cigars and drinks whiskey, and goes hunting often. She's trans and beautiful but still calls herself a "good ol' boy"

Bell JetRanger: in her late 40s and just figured out she's gay, she's doing her best.

V-22 Osprey: a genderfluid gun enthusiast, not in a toxic way but sometimes you worry about their stability. not the best mental health.

MD500C: an aging ballerina who is still way more strong and agile than you.

MD530F: her daughter who took after her mom but is a better dancer and has an undercut she dyes silver.

EC-135: she is a no-nonsense doctor with a femme wife and a 3-year old.

CH-53: is a 'roided out butch whose father was in the Navy, she served in the Navy, and now won't stop talking about the Navy. She's now a volunteer firefighter who has strapped every subby femme in the region but will always remain single.

Mi-26: a heavyset Russian grandmother who only makes one facial expression. She has subsisted off of nothing more than potatoes for at least the past half century. She is old, but she is not frail.

R22: is a lanky truck-stop hooker. Everyone can come inside for a low price, no experience required.

AW-109: works as a first mate on a megayacht. She knows all the secrets of a particular billionaire but won't say who.

MiG-29: she will shove you the fuck up against a wall and you will like it.

Lockheed Constellation: goes by Connie, she will give you the classiest evening of your life.

Ekranoplan: she was going to be an Olympic swimmer for the Soviet Union, but when the USSR collapsed, so did she. she's a sad story, but she's happy in her retirement to see the younger generations taking an interest in her career, and trying to carry it on in some way.

Sopwith Camel: completely unhinged but in a hot way

made with help from @bananabreadloveman

#listen i just really love planes okay #also sad history gays #aviation #avgeek

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marykk1990 · 5 days

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My next post in support of Ukraine is:

Next site, is a little different. Tonight, I'm sharing some Ukrainian art. 1, Kateryna, by Taras Shevchenko. 2. Holiday Divination, by Mykola Pymonenko. 3, Our Army, Our Protectors, by Maria Prymachenko. 4, Moonlit Night On the Dnipro, by Arkhip Kuindzhi.

#StandWithUkraine

#СлаваУкраїні 🇺🇦🌻

Here's another Volodymyr Zelenskyy quote.

"We are all here, defending our independence, our country. And it will stay that way. Glory to the men and women defending us. Glory to Ukraine. Glory to the heroes."

Volodymyr Zelenskyy

#Stand With Ukraine #Слава Україні 🇺🇦🌻

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mariacallous · 1 year

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Alexey Moskalev is a single father from Yefremov, a town in Russia’s Tula region. Back in April 2022, his 12-year-old daughter Masha “shocked” her school teachers and principal by drawing an antiwar picture in art class. The girl’s drawing depicted a woman with a Ukrainian flag defending her child from flying missiles. Above the picture, the sixth-grader had written two slogans: “Glory to Ukraine!” and “No to war.”

The middle-schooler’s protest drawing has since resulted in a year-long ordeal for the family. Masha, now 13, is currently in state custody at a juvenile shelter. Today, her father Alexey was sentenced to two years in prison, on charges of “discrediting” the Russian military. But he wasn’t in the courtroom, having fled from under house arrest the night before.

The day after Masha first got in trouble for her antiwar picture, both the girl and her father were detained by the police. At the police station, Alexey Moskalev found out that he was being charged with discrediting the Russian army, based on his comments on social media. After a court hearing, Moskalev was fined 32,000 rubles (roughly equal to $400).

Masha was now bullied constantly at school. When the girl decided to stop going to school altogether, Moskalev didn’t insist, and his daughter switched to homeschooling.

On December 30, a convoy of five police vehicles arrived at the Moskalevs’ home. The operatives raided the place, overturning the furniture and trampling the family’s belongings. They took away all the electronic equipment and all of the family’s cash savings in both rubles and U.S. dollars: all in all, almost $5,000.

On March 1, Moskalev was arrested again, and presented with new “discrediting” charges, based on alleged social media comments about the Russian atrocities against civilians in Bucha, and also about the Olenivka prison massacre. Since March 2, Moskalev was under house arrest.

Masha Moskaleva has no contact with her father. It turns out that, as far back as January, the local juvenile commission had filed a lawsuit to limit Alexey Moskalev’s parental rights. Since May 2022, the social workers argue, the family has been on their register of at-risk families, in view of the fact that Masha’s father didn’t try to make her go back to school, while her mother lives separately and takes no interest in her daughter. The court hearing on Moskalev’s parental rights has been scheduled for April 6.

On Monday, March 27, the court considered the charges against Alexey Moskalev. While the prosecution requested two years in prison for the defendant, Moskalev himself denied his authorship of the posts in question, saying that his social media account had been hacked more than once.

In his brief concluding statement, Moskalev addressed the court:

If you ask right now, “What is your attitude to the ‘special operation’ in Ukraine,” I think that 90 percent of the people in this room will say they’re against it. And I will agree with them. What else can you say about those deaths, about people being killed? About the adults and children who are all dying. You can only condemn it, what other attitude could you possibly have.

The defendant still denied having written any “negative” or “offensive” political posts.

Moskalev’s lawyer Vladimir Bilienko was able to talk to the staff at the juvenile shelter where Masha Moskaleva is now staying. The social workers gave him some of the girl’s drawings and showed him a letter she had written to her father. “She drew a big heart at the end, and wrote: ‘Dad, you are my hero,’” says the attorney.

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nikoshi9 · 2 years

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The AFU 🇺🇦 have liberated the city of Balakliya today, Kharkiv Region!

You have no idea how happy I am.

This is the kind of news to Ukrainians that’s hard to describe in words. I’m in tears as I am typing this!

So much pride for how far our country, our army has come, how much bravery and courage is exhibited on the frontline. Also notable the incredible help we’re getting from the International Legion there.

I have faith that one day I will see the 🇺🇦 flag over my home-city center as well.

Glory to Ukraine and it’s Warriors! 💙💛💙💛💙💛

P.s. Look at the people from the occupied Kharkiv region greeting the UA soldiers today. Look at the old man standing on his knees as he waves happily at them. I am speechless 💔

#war in ukraine #stand with ukraine #balakliya #kharkiv #Ukraine #russian invasion of ukraine #russia is a terrorist state

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anastasiamaru · 2 years

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Warriors

🇺🇦Georgian legion work hard for our peace 🇬🇪

Glory to the Heroes!!!

#ukraine #ukrainians #war in ukraine #wae will win #georgians #georgia #georgian legion #army #ukrainian armed forces #ukrainian armed forces international legion #warriors #war zone #stand with ukraine #glory to the heroes #defenders

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tuulikki · 10 months

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“In a 30-minute video released on Friday, Mr. Prigozhin had described his country’s invasion of Ukraine as a ‘racket’ perpetrated by a corrupt elite chasing money and glory without concern for Russian lives.

He also accused the Russian minister of defense, Sergei K. Shoigu, of orchestrating a deadly attack with missiles and helicopters on camps to the rear of the Russian lines in Ukraine, where his soldiers of fortune were bivouacked. And he accused Mr. Shoigu of overseeing the strikes himself from the town of Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia, near Ukraine.

The mercenary leader’s claims could not be immediately verified. The Russian defense ministry denied the allegations, saying in a statement that the messages Mr. Prigozhin had posted about supposed strikes on Wagner camps ‘do not correspond to reality.’

Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, said that Mr. Putin was ‘aware of all events around Prigozhin,’ according to Interfax, a Russian news agency.

Mr. Prigozhin’s accusations created a ripple effect among Russian pro-war activists, who fear that an open conflict between the army and Wagner forces could threaten the Russian front lines during the Ukrainian counteroffensive. In Ukraine, some viewed his statements as more evidence of internal divisions within the Russian war effort.

In an earlier videotaped speech, Mr. Prigozhin did not explicitly impugn Mr. Putin, instead casting him as a leader being misled by his officials. But in dismissing the Kremlin’s narrative that the invasion was a necessity for the Russian nation, Mr. Prigozhin went further than anyone in Russia’s security establishment in publicly challenging the wisdom of the war.

‘The war wasn’t needed to return Russian citizens to our bosom, nor to demilitarize or denazify Ukraine,’ Mr. Prigozhin said, referring to Mr. Putin’s initial justifications for the war. ‘The war was needed so that a bunch of animals could simply exult in glory.’

Friday’s diatribes deepened the enigma of Mr. Prigozhin’s ambiguous role in Mr. Putin’s system. His Wagner troops, composed of veteran fighters as well as thousands of convicts whom Mr. Prigozhin personally recruited from Russian prisons, proved key in capturing the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut in May after a monthslong battle.

But, during the battle for Bakhmut, Mr. Prigozhin also emerged as a populist political figure, excoriating Russia’s military leadership for corruption. His angry recordings and videos posted to the Telegram messaging network cast top military and Kremlin officials as unaware and uncaring of the struggles of regular Russian soldiers.”

#russian war on ukraine #russia #ukraine #yevgeny prigozhin #news

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katchwreck · 2 years

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Backbone of the Army

March 15, 2022 by an article translated from JungeWelt — an interview with Dmitri Kovalevich, a Ukrainian journalist and a member of the Ukrainian Marxist organization Borotba.

Fascists gain more and more ground in Ukraine, West willingly supplies weapons.

Neo-Nazis played a decisive role during the 2013/2014 “Euromaidan” in Ukraine. After that, they assumed a number of leadership positions in all spheres of the Ukrainian state apparatus; their paramilitary armed formations were legalized and incorporated into the National Guard, the police and the regular army. The neo-Nazi Azov-regiment was also given the field of educating (indoctrinating) children and young people who were brainwashed for eight consecutive years in special training camps. There is a perfectly balanced synergy between president Zelenskyy and the fascist and nazi paramilitary organizations batallions.

During all these years, only Ukraine and the United States voted annually in the United Nations against this FN resolution on condemning and stopping glorification of Nazism, which already says a lot. Gradually, the state apparatus merged with several openly neo-Nazi paramilitary battalions, units/organizations, and groups. The ideology of the ultra-right became the state ideology, their symbols became official state symbols. The slogan of the Nazi collaborators, “Glory to Ukraine,” has become an official greeting in the army, and even liberal European politicians do not hesitate to repeat it.

The leader of the neo-Nazi group "C 14," Yevgeny Karas, said at a press conference in Kiev on February 23, the eve of Russia's operation, that a number of countries had provided a large amount of military support "not because they want us to benefit from it," but because the state was "performing the tasks of the West." He continued, "We are the only ones who are willing to perform these tasks because we have fun - we like to kill, and we enjoy fighting."

Not surprisingly, since the beginning of the Russian operation, the neo-Nazis and the extreme right have offered the most stubborn resistance. Denazification is directed specifically against them, but they try to present their cause as the cause of the entire Ukrainian people, as the cause ofl all. Europe, which they are supposedly protecting from the “Asian hordes.” For the past eight years, the Western media have tried to timidly criticize neo-Nazi units such as “Azov”, “Free Corps”, “Right Sector”, “Misanthropic Division”, “C 14”, “Kharkiv-1” and “Kharkiv-2” , “Aidar Battalion”, “Dnipro-1” and “Dnipro-2”, “Kyiv-1” and “Kyiv-2”, “Tornado Batallion” (released from jail), “Wotan Jugens” (Ukrainan unit), but since late February they have become quite acceptable defenders of Ukraine (most notable the “Azov” regiment.

The neo-Nazis of “Azov” are the most motivated forces, and they were, as far as my knowledge goes, the first to receive Western weapons. The US media also freely reports that they supply “Azov”.

On March 3, Ukraine's 'Northern' Operations Command published photos of troops being instructed in the the use of NLAW and Javelin anti-tank weapons. Since then, more such images have been published by the “Azov National Guard” battalion, the U.S. portal Overt Defense wrote on March 8.

In addition to the regular army units, “territorial defense detachments” were formed from the civilian population at the end of February, which immediately received the nickname “Volkssturm” in Ukraine. These units are led by representatives of extreme right-wing groups who have undergone training or have experience of military action in the Donbass. Regularly have to pass their checkpoints, which are established at every intersection. The fighters of the “Territorial Defense” appear quite arrogant even to representatives of the Ukrainian authorities. They do not allow men between the ages of 18 and 60 to leave the region. Refugees fleeing the war zones are often forced to take a “language test” on their Ukrainian language skills. Those who fail the test are either not allowed through or are subjected to a humiliating check where they have to undress in the cold, with many being forcefully taped onto poles, lamp posts, trees, et cetera. They take a particularly harsh attitude toward people from Asian and African countries who try to leave the country.

The “Territorial Defense” as well as military personnel like to show the insignia of the 3rd SS Panzer Division “Totenkopf”, the Nazi symbol “Black Sun”, which even got into congratulatory NATO tweets to fighting Ukrainian women on March 8. Of course, not all soldiers of the army or members of the “territorial defense” are supporters of neo-Nazi views. However, they are all to one degree or another under the leadership and control of the extreme right-wing forces that form the backbone of the Ukrainian armed forces.

Pictured: Members of the “Azov National Corps” celebrate the second anniversary of their establishment in Kiev without any problems (2.3.2019).”

Text from here: https://telegra.ph/Backbone-of-the-Army-03-15

#Kiev #ukraine #ukraine russian war #Fascism #nazism #Batallion #april 30 #Azov #Dimitri Kovalevich

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suratan-zir · 2 years

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Since my most personal "shitty propaganda" posts mentioning my family left in Donetsk seem to annoy some people the most, I think I should post these kinds of stories more often?

It's just that I spoke to my mother today and she told my a couple more stories I can share, you know, to please my anonymous "fans"

This morning, some angry woman, intoxicated by russian propaganda, lashed out at my mom at the mall for refusing to give up her place in line to a Russian soldier with a bandaged arm. The woman shouted that "we must pray for russian soldiers."

So when I write about Donetsk, I'm telling the truth. There are a lot of people who have been eating up russian propaganda for many years. Donetsk has been under the russian occupation since 2014, now it's more of a russian city than a Ukrainian, and I'm not trying to hide this sad truth. Over these years, most of the pro-Ukrainian people were driven out of there. Many, by the way, found a second home in Mariupol, and now Russia has taken away their homes for the second time.

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The husbands of many of my mother's acquaintances were forcibly conscripted into the terrorist "dpr army." Now one of them is back (he got in the hospital) and he told some stories about this "army." I can't confirm any of this, but I do believe it's true.

One of their grenade launcher "soldiers" is crossed-eyed in both eyes and is visually impaired. Another "soldier" is deaf in both ears and his hearing aid is broken. Another one recently suffered a stroke and has yet to fully recover. But they were all conscripted anyway, because Russia is desperate for more cannon fodder.

Not to mention the fact that the conscription of the population of the territories seized by your country is in itself a war crime. But at this point there is no such war crime that russia hasn't committed.

Photos taken by me on the outskirts of Donetsk a couple years ago. Surprisingly, the Ukrainian flag and the inscription "DPR is bullshit. Glory to Ukraine" lasted quite a long time before being painted over by utility workers.

Just a beautiful Donetsk field and an old "terrikon"

#personal #ukraine #war in ukraine

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unhonestlymirror · 1 year

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That night, the russian army shelled Zaporizhzhia. S-300 missiles.

Hitting - in a house, apartment building. Three people were in it. A man, a woman and a child - a girl, her name was Iryna, she would have turned 11 this year. She died. The husband too. My condolences... The woman is in serious condition now, in the hospital, she is being helped.

This is how the terrorist state spends this Palm Sunday. This is how russia puts itself in even greater isolation from the world, from humanity.

Every bright Christian holiday teaches us that we may not know how, but we must be sure that evil will lose. We have to believe. And we believe. We must bring the defeat of evil closer. And we are getting closer. And the world is with us. Every month, every week, support is added, the circle of those who support us, who support our courage and our faith in life, increases.

Glory to all Ukrainian heroes! To everyone who is now in battle! To everyone who is currently on combat posts and assignments!

Eternal and bright memory to all those who gave their lives protecting the lives of Ukraine and Ukrainians!

May next year's Palm Sunday pass in peace and freedom for all our people!

May the sincere prayers for peace of all who celebrate Easter today be heard!

Glory to Ukraine!

#support ukraine #stop russian aggression #genocide of ukrainians

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warsofasoiaf · 2 years

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What do you think of Russia losing so many generals, and for that matter soldiers in Ukraine? Do they even have a capable officer class or has it always been like that I can't imagine anyone would want to risk their lives and reputations for the Silvoki but maybe that is my Western bias talking.

This has been a problem with the Russian army ever since they were the Red Army. Institutionally, Russia has relied upon conscription to fill its ranks even among its elite troops. There is no real career pathway for privates to become NCO's and establish themselves as seasoned leaders. So much of what a Western army would turf to an NCO is something handled by an officer. Even things like unit discipline is handled at the officer level, hence why one general was sniped by a Ukrainian for yelling at his men, breaking one of Murphy's Rules of Combat: "Look unimportant, the enemy may be low on ammo."

As for why they're losing so many soldiers, a lot of that is due to very poor tactics, little training, bad leadership, low morale, and a lack of equipment brought on by a garbage logistics system and hollowed out by corruption (yes, the picture of the Russian tank with its ERA full of cardboard was not fake). That's one big reason why mobilization in Ukraine isn't going to help Russia - they barely have the capability to make sure their troops have socks and rifles in Russia, let alone in Ukraine. The Russian Army was able to hold the line and make incremental progress when they believed that they were relatively safe from reprisal. These past counteroffensives on the Kharkiv and Kherson axes have shown that they aren't, hence why many Russians are fleeing at the first touch of contact.

The Russians also know they're being lied to about casualties. The Russian MoD has claimed 5,000 KIA so far, but all estimates are well north of that figure, even conservative ones. Some information secrecy is a given, but this feels like they're fighting and dying for Putin's glory - a recipe for disaster as the French Army could tell you in World War I. That saps morale, and it causes disorder in the army. There's a reason you hear about the Russian army getting drunk all the time - who wouldn't want to get blitzed if it means you might not get ordered to die in the next futile assault position on Bakhmut?

Another is the very top-down heavy leadership style, another relic of the Soviet Union. Their targeting cycle is so slow that Ukraine can afford to fire artillery and move before counter-battery fire can open up. The Russians don't have air superiority so they can't take advantage of aerial spotting to help their artillery, so they're forced to rely on maps and forward observers. So Russia's greatest asset, artillery, is not as effective as it could be due to poor design.

With all those factors, it's not surprising that Russian casualties are what they are.

Thanks for the question, James.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

#russia #ukraine #military science

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ammg-old2 · 10 months

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Over the years, with his connections to Mr. Putin and the Kremlin, Mr. Prigozhin was able to secure lucrative contracts to provide food for the Moscow school system and Russian military bases, amassing great wealth. At the same time, he engaged in foreign adventurism through Wagner that suited the Kremlin, advancing Moscow’s aims — and his own — in the Middle East and Africa, where his fighters have been accused of indiscriminate killings and atrocities.

He also shepherded the Internet Research Agency, the infamous St. Petersburg troll farm that interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

So secretive was Mr. Prigozhin about his activities that he long denied any association with Wagner and even sued Russian media outlets for reporting on his connection to the group.

All that changed last year with the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In September, Mr. Prigozhin went public for the first time as the man behind Wagner.

Less than two weeks later, Mr. Putin appointed Gen. Sergei Surovikin to lead the war effort in Ukraine, a boon for the mercenary chief, who had worked with the general in Syria. Mr. Prigozhin described the new leader as a legendary figure and the most capable commander in the Russian army.

Mr. Prigozhin’s own stature was growing, too, as his fighters appeared to be making progress in the drawn-out battle for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, while the Russian military had little to show. . Russian commentators lavished positive coverage upon the mercenary group, and a glass tower in St. Petersburg was rebranded Wagner Center. Recruitment posters for the outfit went up across the country.

But by the beginning of this year, Mr. Prigozhin’s adversaries in the Ministry of Defense began reasserting their power.

In January, Mr. Putin appointed Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov, to replace General Surovikin as the top commander of operations in Ukraine. Mr. Prigozhin frequently belittled General Gerasimov in his Telegram audio messages, implying that he was an office-bound official of the kind that smothers regular soldiers with bureaucracy.

The enmity appears to date at least to Moscow’s intervention in Syria’s civil war, when Wagner and regular Russian soldiers sometimes clashed as they competed for resources and the spoils of war, according to the published memoirs of two Wagner veterans. Mr. Prigozhin himself went public about these tensions in Syria last year.

In February, Mr. Prigozhin acknowledged that his access to Russian prisons to recruit had been cut off. The Defense Ministry would later begin recruiting prisoners there itself, adopting Mr. Prigozhin’s tactic.

Tension between Wagner and the Russian military — long alluded to by Russian military bloggers — exploded into the open. By the end of February, Mr. Prigozhin was publicly accusing Mr. Shoigu and General Gerasimov of treason, claiming that they were deliberately withholding ammunition and supplies from Wagner to destroy it.

At the end of February, Mr. Putin tried to settle the feud by calling Mr. Prigozhin and Mr. Shoigu into a meeting, according to leaked intelligence documents .

But the rivalry would only escalate. No longer able to recruit prisoners, Wagner was forced to rely increasingly on its limited supply of skilled veteran fighters to continue waging battle in Bakhmut, according to Ukrainian and Western officials.

Isolated from the Moscow power center, Mr. Prigozhin increasingly turned to his bully pulpit: social media. His messages also grew far more political as he began appealing directly to the Russian people. He began voicing criticisms that, in a country with a law against discrediting the armed forces, few others dared make.

What had once been sharp-tongued trolling of the Russian brass over time turned into regular eruptions of bile.

“You stinking beasts, what are you doing? You swine!” he said in one recording in late May. “Get your asses out of your offices, which you were given to protect this country.’’

He went on to lambast the Russian defense leadership for “sitting on their big asses smeared with expensive creams” and to say the Russian people had every right to ask questions of them. He posted gruesome images of Wagner soldiers killed in action. He gave ultimatums about pulling his troops out of Bakhmut. He even took what was widely viewed as a swipe at Mr. Putin, without naming him, with a reference to a “grandpa’’ who might be “a complete jackass.‘’

Kremlinologists were puzzled as to why Mr. Putin did not just sweep the Wagner chief aside, or intervene and rein him in; some analysts suggested that he favored competing factions operating underneath him, with none gaining too much power. Others wondered if the Russian leader had become too isolated to solve the problem or simply did not have sufficient control.

Mr. Prigozhin’s forces captured Bakhmut at the end of May and soon after departed the battlefield, accusing the Russian military of mining the road they used to leave and briefly apprehending a Russian lieutenant colonel on the way out. That left Mr. Prigozhin newly vulnerable. Wagner was no longer needed to finish off a battle that had been played up by the Russian media.

By June, his isolation became palpable.

Mr. Prigozhin signaled a rift with the Ministry of Defense over his military catering contracts, which have helped fuel his wealth and influence for more than a decade. In a publicized letter to Mr. Shoigu dated June 6, Mr. Prigozhin said the food he had supplied to Russian military bases and institutions since 2006 had amounted to a total of 147 billion rubles — $1.74 billion — a figure that is impossible to verify. Now, he complained, “high-level people” were trying to force him to accept companies associated with them as his suppliers. He also said a new system of “loyal suppliers”threatened his cost structure and could deliver a blow to his business reputation.

His desperation seemed to be growing.

On June 10, one of Mr. Shoigu’s deputies announced that all formations fighting outside the Russian military’s formal ranks would need to sign a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry by July 1.

Mr. Prigozhin initially refused, but then Mr. Putin backed Mr. Shoigu’s plan. In the days that followed, Mr. Prigozhin released several audio and video messages showing what appeared to be attempts to reach a deal on his terms.

In one video, published on June 16, he shows himself delivering a “contract” to the Ministry of Defense in Moscow, but a receptionist behind a caged booth quickly closes the window in his face.

In the days before he led Saturday’s uprising, Mr. Prigozhin began expressing feelings of resignation, saying that none of the problems plaguing the Russian military would be fixed. He also talked about the nation rising up, saying that Mr. Shoigu should be executed and suggesting that the relatives of those killed in the war would exact their revenge on incompetent officials.

“Their mothers, their wives, their children will come and eat them alive when the time comes,” he said in a June 6 video interview, suggesting there might be a "popular revolt.”

He added, “I can tell you, honestly, I think we have only about two to three months before the executions.”

#current events #politics #russian politics #russo-ukrainian war #2022 russian invasion of ukraine #russia #yevgeny prigozhin #vladimir putin #sergei shoigu #wagner group

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