Reply to: [OFFICIAL] Ukraine Thread

[Paddy]

Many years ago I was chatting with my Austrian friend's mother. She was an ex-Nazi. She showed me phots of voting tents used in the Anschluss referendum. She was dressed in a swimsuit outside the Yes Tent and the were armed soldiers outside the No Tent.

[NotAllThere]

I see it's the half of Zaporizhzhia that doesn't include the capital of the oblast.

[vetran]

You'd think they'd at least pretend to make the results look believably in their favour.

How do you vote Comrade? Voting for Russia means I save a bullet!

[d000hg]

Russian state media has announced the preliminary results of the so-called referendums being held in occupied parts of Ukraine. With about a fifth of votes counted, it is reported that an overwhelming majority have voted in favour of joining Russia:

• 97% in Kherson region
• 98% in Zaporizhzhia
• 98% in “Donetsk People’s Republic”
• 98% in “Luhansk People’s Republic”

Ukraine and Western nations have called the process a sham, claiming the results had already been decided.
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You'd think they'd at least pretend to make the results look believably in their favour.

[Paddy]

[Paddy]

Looks like one frigate is going to Moscow...

Putin's parade boat sinking now

[DealorNoDeal]

Has Putin always had this rhetoric and it was simply largely unreported when it was mere words, or is it a new development that he's suddenly gone off the rails since the invasion began?

It looks like the Nazi rhetoric has been going on for a long time.

https://euvsdisinfo.eu/grotesque-kre...bloody-tragedy

"We examined six months’ worth of Ukraine-related rhetoric from Russian state media outlets, pro-Kremlin outlets linked to the Russian state, and Russian official diplomatic accounts on Twitter.

We started by calculating the volume of mentions of Ukraine-related keywords in combination with keywords representing casus belli narratives, or fabrications used as pretexts for invading Ukraine.

For example, pro-Kremlin outlets have consistently portrayed Ukraine as a ‘Nazi’ state to vilify Ukrainians, particularly in the eyes of domestic Russian audiences, and thus to justify Kremlin aggression. We have seen this tactic a number of times, including in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and of course in the past six months, as shown in the diagram below.

It is exactly this framing of Ukraine as a ‘Nazi’ state that has enabled Russian state-controlled outlets and now-sanctioned(opens in a new tab) politicians to make gruesome and completely fabricated allegations of genocide in Donbas and to spin wild conspiracy theories about Ukraine using chemical and other prohibited weapons."

[d000hg]

Has Putin always had this rhetoric and it was simply largely unreported when it was mere words, or is it a new development that he's suddenly gone off the rails since the invasion began?

[SueEllen]

The drugs are strong -

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/09/e...ntl/index.html

In his reverence for Soviet war heroes who helped defeat Nazi Germany in World War II -- the reason Russia celebrates Victory Day -- Putin referred to new Nazi threats in Ukraine, repeating his baseless justification for the invasion as an operation to "denazify" the nation.

In reference to the threat of NATO troops in Europe, Putin said: "Everything indicated that a clash with neo-Nazis, Banderites [Ukrainian nationalists], on whom the United States and their younger partners counted on, would be inevitable."

"Danger was increasing every day. Russia repelled this aggression in a preventative way. This was the only correct decision, and it was a timely decision. The decision of an independent, sovereign and powerful nation," he said.

[AtW]

Looks like one frigate is going to Moscow...

[SueEllen]

Command of sunk MOSCOW warship says it did not enter the territorial waters of Ukraine.

He will say what he's told to say unless he wants an "accident" to happen to himself and his family.

the father calls his own country’s military command “liars” and “scumbags”, and says he “will haunt those bastards till the rest of his life to establish the truth”

Won't be a long life if he goes on like that.

[Paddy]

Command of sunk MOSCOW warship says it did not enter the territorial waters of Ukraine.

According to law, every family of Russian soldiers killed in action is entitled to a remuneration from Russian government. But if a soldier was not killed in action, or - even better - if he was declared missing, then the government is not obliged to pay any remuneration to the family. But if it turns out that a soldier went missing not in action, and not in combat - then no military compensation will ever be paid. Long story short: Father of one of conscripts on the sunk MOSCOW Fleet Leader Warship tried to find out the status of his son. Father was surprised to learn that his son was listed as missing. MOREOVER: Russian military command states that MOSCOW warship !!! "did not enter the territorial waters of Ukraine and was not part of coordinated groups and military camps that participated in the special military operation" !!! In his correspondence with his Russian military authorities, the father calls his own country’s military command “liars” and “scumbags”, and says he “will haunt those bastards till the rest of his life to establish the truth”. Here is his touching correspondence of a Russian father with the Military Prosecutor’s Office of the Black Sea Fleet.

From: Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation* *Military Prosecutor’s Office of the Black Sea Fleet* To: Shkrebets D.I. The military prosecutor’s office of the fleet has received and considered your query dd. 23/04/2022, about military conscript of the military unit 84201 Shkrebets Yegor Dmitriyevich (DOB 21/03/2002). The checks that we have carried out has shown that the war ship on which Shkrebets Y.D. served did not enter the territorial waters of Ukraine and was not part of coordinated groups and military camps that participated in the special military operation. On 13/04/2022, during an occurred emergency that had led to perish of the ship, the person in question went missing. The searches have not shown any positive results, and as of now the whereabouts of your son has not been established. The commander of the military camp No. 84201 issued an order No. 71, dd. 20/04/2022, in accordance with which Shkrebets Y.D. was declared missing in the military camp. Of which you have already been notified by the deputy commander for psychological-political education of the military camp 42948, and also by a conscription office in the City of Yalta, of the Republic of Crimea.

iStand with Ukraine

[quackhandle]

No, that's not true - more tanks than at start of invasion - yes (certainly with those Polish tanks being delivered).

Russia still supposedly has around 2000* operational tanks overall, but most of those are of lower grade (say most don't have night vision scopes), there are also 20k tanks in storage but those will require serious maintenance to get working (which will take a lot of time and spares they won't have).

* chances are half of those aren't actually useable - don't have crews available: some reports indicate that some of the hit tanks now only use 2 crew, instead of 3.

This guy tried to find out.

qh

[AtW]

There was an article in The Times the other day that said Ukraine now have more tanks than Russia.

No, that's not true - more tanks than at start of invasion - yes (certainly with those Polish tanks being delivered).

Russia still supposedly has around 2000* operational tanks overall, but most of those are of lower grade (say most don't have night vision scopes), there are also 20k tanks in storage but those will require serious maintenance to get working (which will take a lot of time and spares they won't have).

* chances are half of those aren't actually useable - don't have crews available: some reports indicate that some of the hit tanks now only use 2 crew, instead of 3.

[DealorNoDeal]

It's only been 2+ months since 24 Feb - proven losses are staggering

Whichever way you look at it, it hasn't gone according to plan. Putin must be