Yes... the state of the ministry of defence is just abysmal. They fecked up to plan enough budget for buying ammunition, then wrote a letter to the finance ministry, essentially begging for money, which that declined (had to decline, because there wasn't a legal base for that plea), but offered help restructuring the defense bureaucracyTweet
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That is simply stunning. What an incredible piece of forensic journalistic work.This is fantastic work by the NY Times, they have been able to link the killings of civilians in Bucha to the 234th guards parachute regiment from Pskov and they are able to show that the killings where sanctioned by their commanding officer.
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The difference here that they may be regarding is that it would be a US supplied weapon taking action in Russian territory and that could be seen differently. Russian propagandists would no doubt abuse the fact, but they should never be taken seriously.Obviously, from their own perspective, which is quite different from ours.
Not that we know more, it has to be said.
The Russian population as a whole will become even poorer than the sanctions would have made them. The way that country has treated it's population as disposable pieces has always blown my mind.Thread by a retired General and intelligence officer on the expansion of the Russian military that was announced by Putin and Shoigu.
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Who knows what kind of game they are playing at this point?Ukraine already hits military targets in Russia as well as shelling some near-border towns like Bryansk etc. What would change? And what is "nasty" exactly, it's not like Russia holds itself back on anything, nuclear strikes excluded.
The issue is, Russia has already escalated it with more or less everything that it has — as I've said, nuclear threat excluding.Who knows what kind of game they are playing at this point?
My uneducated guess is that Putin would "escalate" it faster with everything he has. Some from the west might think that they can't keep up with it, at least in the short term.
All of the ammunition shortages may indicate that the West does not yet have the industry capacity to fight this war, or that most people are unwilling to commit much with a recession looming. It is not exactly hard to imagine that some might want to somehow freeze the war, even if they don't say it out loud. And Putin will continue to throw bodies. Even if those new Russian recruits don't have good equipment, UKR still needs ammunition to shoot them.
I mean, how many of Russia's troops are in Ukraine right now?The issue is, Russia has already escalated it with more or less everything that it has — as I've said, nuclear threat excluding.
The reason he’s not calling for another wave of mobilization now isn’t because he’s playing it safe — Russia literally doesn’t have the equipment, ammunition and sometimes even food or water (not in general, but in the army supply) to supply the already mobilized troops. They have to buy everything themselves and march forward with WWII helmets and rusty rifles.If he adds more, let's say 500k more (Russia does have more population and Putin will start using the western weapons blowing up on the Russian soil to manipulate more people to join the armed forces, if not already), wouldn't that be more "escalation" in a sense?
We probably have greater compassion for his men than he does. They don't currently have enough equipment to support the number of soldiers mobilized, but it didn't stop them from being deployed to the front line and delaying UAF counterattacks.The reason he’s not calling for another wave of mobilization now isn’t because he’s playing it safe — Russia literally doesn’t have the equipment, ammunition and sometimes even food or water (not in general, but in the army supply) to supply the already mobilized troops. They have to buy everything themselves and march forward with WWII helmets and rusty rifles.
He will call for another wave, most likely in the upcoming couple of months where he would be able to go through the September recruits, but he’s not sitting on, let’s use your number, 500k additional troops that he can throw in at any point.
Russia had spent the last 20 years modernizing and building up it's army to what it was on February 25th, most of that is now gone. It will probably take them up to a decade to rebuild up to the same strenght as before the invasion, if it's even possible to do it with the current sanctions.Some people in the west are expecting that the Russian troops will be stronger next year, then you have Belarus's possible invasion. Putin still has the resources and methods to keep it going and under the control for awhile yet. The west probably can't do it that long or response fast enough in the short term as well.
I mean relatively, I would guess.Russia had spent the last 20 years modernizing and building up it's army to what it was on February 25th, most of that is now gone. It will probably take them up to a decade to rebuild up to the same strenght as before the invasion, if it's even possible to do it with the current sanctions.
Junior officials and senior directors knew that to win plaudits and promotions they should exaggerate good news and play down the bad, for fear of upsetting “papa,” a nickname for Mr. Putin, once used for Russian czars.
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For what it’s worth, I don’t think he’s going to be put in jail for 15 years.Tweet
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Plus , he makes the rules and can do whatever he wants.For what it’s worth, I don’t think he’s going to be put in jail for 15 years.
I find this sort of thing very encouraging as it means Russian units are increasingly desperate and unstable at a time when they need to be precisely the opposite.Tweet
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Terrible sight, but it still isn't phosphorus. That would be chemical warfare and so far even Russia didn't dare to escalate to this kind of forbidden weapons.Using phosphorus on civilians now:
Barbarians.Tweet
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Crass for starters. They really make Alex Jones saner in comparison. I don't need to remind anyone on how impossible that should be.I’m a little bit lost for words….where do you even start with that
My thoughts exactly were, “I bet this is actually more representative of Russia than Europe”. Was this really produced by state media? The mind bogglesCrass for starters. They really make Alex Jones saner in comparison. I don't need to remind anyone on how impossible that should be.
But the irony in that "Christmas 2023" depicts the reality for many Russian families living outside of Moscow. Go figure how many people die freezing every winter because the jackasses working in the Russian Ministry of Energy do not give a flying F about improving heating and electricity supply for the entire population.
Well we're all doomed soTweet
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I really fecking hope my parents have sorted out a hamster-powered Christmas tree for tomorrow though, got to enjoy that at least!Well we're all doomed so
Feel like this sort of drone could be quite effective for the odd role.Tweet
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