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What is the most powerful flying bug? This poll is closed. |
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|---|---|---|---|
| 🦋 |
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15 | 3.71% |
| 🦇 |
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115 | 28.47% |
| 🪰 |
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12 | 2.97% |
| 🐦 |
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67 | 16.58% |
| dragonfly |
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94 | 23.27% |
| 🦟 |
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14 | 3.47% |
| 🐝 |
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87 | 21.53% |
| Total: | 404 votes | ||
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“Why aren’t the US and UK directly joining the war against Russia?” is a problem created by the western media gassing these guys up so hard. They’ll do it, hesitatingly, for Israel against a regional power, but they aren’t going to take swings at Russia because they can cut Ukraine loose in a way they won’t entertain w Israel (yet).
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Apr 14, 2024 07:17
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Not So Fast posted:https://twitter.com/PolyglotFella/status/1779309189208170942?t=7KZ6x4OTUpwAQr4DDIozbA&s=19 It's not a double standard because Israel can't shoot down all of Iran's (or Hamas' or Hezbollah's) missiles either
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Apr 14, 2024 07:23
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Source: Radio Free Europe https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-mobilization-law-criticism-manpower/32903913.html Many Critics, Few Enthusiasts As Ukraine Moves To Fill The Ranks For The Fight Against Russia's Invasion\ By Aleksander Palikot April 13, 2024 12:19 GMT KYIV -- Dmytro Yasynok showed up at the recruitment office of the Da Vinci Wolves Battalion two days after a Russian bomb hit the center of his hometown of Bilopillya. The 27-year-old civil-law lecturer came to Kyiv from Sumy, more than 300 kilometers east, near the Russian border, to join the ranks of a popular unit that promises recruits real training and decent service conditions. His hands shook as he went through a 20-minute interview with a recruiter, held in an art-deco drama theater in the capital. He'd prefer to be a sniper, a drone operator, or a combat medic. But with no military experience, he will most likely have to serve in a basic infantry position, the recruiter, Maksym, told RFE/RL. Yasynok will soon spend a trial week at a training center, and then officially join up or head back home. As the third spring since the Russian full-scale invasion blooms, millions of Ukrainians like him struggle to find their place in a stark wartime reality that's getting harder and harder for civilians to escape. On April 11, after months of delays and heated debate, the Ukrainian parliament approved a mobilization bill seeking to replenish the country's army and address some of the burning issues. The legislation, which President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is expected to sign, comes as the depleted Ukrainian forces suffer setbacks on the front lines amid a shortage of ammunition and a lack of new U.S. weapons supplies leaves the country increasingly vulnerable to Russian attacks. With many of the initial proposals on sanctions for draft evasion watered down and other widely expected measures excluded from the bill -- above all a framework for the demobilization of exhausted soldiers -- its many critics argue it will not fix a recruitment system that is widely regarded as broken. 'Busification' The method of recruitment offered by the Da Vinci Wolves Battalion, which unlike most other units carries out its own recruitment campaign -- the slogan: "Everyone will fight" -- bears little resemblance to the realities of the draft in Ukraine. The days when volunteers were lining up in front of the military enlistment offices after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 are long gone. A month ago, Tymofiy, 28, was working as a project manager in the IT industry in the western city of Lviv, which has been targeted in missile attacks but is far from the front. Now he lives in barracks in central Ukraine and is training for the war. He wouldn't be here if not for a trip to the Carpathian Mountains, where he was stopped by conscription officers -- most of them veterans with visible war wounds -- who bundled him onto a bus and drove him to an enlistment office. Within a few hours, he had been interviewed, photographed, and examined by a medical commission. "It's what people call 'busification,'" Tymofiy told RFE/RL -- one of the ways the military snares mobilization-age men off the streets as it struggles to fill the ranks... ... Yuriy, 34, was drafted in February during a business trip to Chernivtsi, a city about 40 kilometers from the Romanian border. He said he was approached by men in uniforms and told he needed to register at the draft office, as he was in the border area. As an employee of a pharmaceutical company working with the Health Ministry, he had a document exempting him from military service, but recruiters at the draft office said they couldn't open the file on their computer. The medical commission qualified him as fit for service despite his severe nearsightedness... ... He keeps a high spirit although he believes that most people around him were drafted unwillingly, their morale is low, many of them have weak health, and the army organization is poor. He recently finished military training abroad. He wanted to operate a drone, but he would operate anti-tank weapons... ... No Demobilization Framework The day before the Rada vote, it became clear that a provision outlining rules for the demobilization of those currently serving in the armed forces would not be included, a big blow to soldiers exhausted by months and years of warfare -- and to their families as well...' ... A Workable Compromise? The initial response to the bill suggests that it's a compromise that few Ukrainians fully approve of -- and that some doubt will be workable. Maryana Bezuhla, a deputy from Servant of the People, said that the law was "as soft and confusing as possible" and that while it leaves a lot of avenues to postpone or avoid the draft "not everyone is satisfied anyway" and "months were lost" before it came to a vote. Volodymyr Vyatrovych, a deputy from the opposition European Solidarity party, said the bill was not only "bad but also belated." "[It] will not strengthen the mobilization of new [soldiers] but may well weaken the motivation of those who have been defending the country for years," he said. It's getting a lukewarm reception in the military as well. Maksym Zhorin, a deputy commander of the 3rd Assault Brigade, warned not to expect miracles on the battlefield. "For sure, it will generally bring a little more order and systemic approach to the issue of mobilization," he said on television, but he added, "Personally, I would make it much tougher and also continue to reduce the conscription age."... ... According to Zelenskiy, there are 880,000 soldiers in the armed forces. It is not clear how many of them are actually fighting. In February, Zelenskiy said that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed since February 2022. Other estimates, including from U.S. officials citing intelligence, are much higher -- up to 70,000 killed and 120,000 wounded.
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Apr 14, 2024 07:54
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The youtuber Willy OAM who's solidly pro-Ukrainian but seems to cut through most of the propaganda, or what he believes to be so, raised the question in a recent video that would one really want to be in a difficult situation with someone who doesn't want to be there? So that reminded me of this thesis a Finnish nco wrote about an infantry company in WW2 from his observations: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/39944309.pdf page 165: quote:...soldier 293 disappeared just before the Ukraine's method of conscription is "unconventional" to say the least to my mind, either institute it wholesale from the beginning or do it on a volunteer basis. The kind of vacillating they have been doing while shoving guys into vans and forcing them into service sends a mixed message to put it lightly.
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Apr 14, 2024 08:11
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Grimnarsson posted:The youtuber Willy OAM who's solidly pro-Ukrainian but seems to cut through most of the propaganda, or what he believes to be so, raised the question in a recent video that would one really want to be in a difficult situation with someone who doesn't want to be there? So that reminded me of this thesis a Finnish nco wrote about an infantry company in WW2 from his observations: Supposedly, there is a real issue with guys just refusing to go to the line as well or simply refuse to participate when they get there, I am sure plenty of them desert as well. It is why the whole mass mobilization thing is simply too late. Most of the people they would catch would refuse or be incapable of fighting, and they don't even have the equipment for the forces they still have in the field. Usually, the territorial militia units they send more don't last long because a lack of training and equipment doesn't mean to survivability or results. The Ukrainians have ground up their more capable forces, and they are left with political units they are more of a liability than anything and conscripts who don't want to fight and even if they do, they don't last long. It really depends on the Russians though because even from the West and Ukraine, they are saying the AFU is heavily outnumbered and many of its units are threadbare but the Russians prefer to wait until there basically no opposition in front of them.
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Apr 14, 2024 09:10
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Not So Fast posted:https://twitter.com/PolyglotFella/status/1779309189208170942?t=7KZ6x4OTUpwAQr4DDIozbA&s=19 Intellectually, I know it's categorically impossible. But in my heart where I dream about impossible things I'd fantasize about Ukraine getting so stabbed-in-the-back mad they simply turn around and go to war against western Europe. Just one last rage out shooting their last few shells at Germany or Poland or whoever else they can reach.
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Apr 14, 2024 09:22
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Personally Id prefer they understand that they have nothing to gain from further warfare except for the overthrow of the post Maidan government through whatever means necessary and the fair and democratic election of a new government that represents all peoples of Ukraine, including the ethnic Russians
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Apr 14, 2024 09:25
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Whitenoise Poster posted:Intellectually, I know it's categorically impossible. But in my heart where I dream about impossible things I'd fantasize about Ukraine getting so stabbed-in-the-back mad they simply turn around and go to war against western Europe. Just one last rage out shooting their last few shells at Germany or Poland or whoever else they can reach. western shitlibs will be claiming stab-in-the-backs faster than ukrainians, its soooo predictable
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Apr 14, 2024 10:10
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Ukraine is like Belgium, only with a geopolitical fault line running right through the country. This will never work.
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Apr 14, 2024 10:11
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Whitenoise Poster posted:Intellectually, I know it's categorically impossible. But in my heart where I dream about impossible things I'd fantasize about Ukraine getting so stabbed-in-the-back mad they simply turn around and go to war against western Europe. Just one last rage out shooting their last few shells at Germany or Poland or whoever else they can reach. Ukraine pull off an armoured assault with their remaining Leopards and Abrams and they just breeze through western europe. yeah that would be neat alright or would it be funnier if they did it with soviet armour? I can't decide
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Apr 14, 2024 10:20
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I'm reminded of this textbook about nationalisms and the article about Ukraine suggested that the best way to keep Ukraine together would be to admit them and simultaneosly Russia into the EU. That way the western ukrainian nationalists could be part of the western world, and the eastern parts wouldn't be separated from russia which they had been part of for centuries, most people having ties of various nature across borders even then. but that book was written in 2005. And wasn't that one of the concerns Russia had in 2013 with Ukrainian economic association talks with the EU? That Russia should be part of the talks because there really was no "hard" border between Russia and Ukraine and therefore Russia should have been part of the negotiations, EU said no, Russia offered a better deal to Ukraine which Yanukovich accepted and then the Maidan demonstrations started. It seems to me that Russia has at many points asked to be included in deliberations, talks, etc, that affect Russia but always been told "no" by the West. Not to say that their illegal, brutal, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is righteous, but where ever was the diplomatic option?
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Apr 14, 2024 10:37
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Yeah, neither side is really interested in democratic elections at this point, the US doesn't want to lose control, and the Russians didn't go through all this effort just to have nationalists elected. The only way it is going to work with a reduced Ukraine being pretty much a puppet of the Russians, and even then, it probably be "controlled" democracy at best. That is if the Russians just don't try to gobble it up and then Ukrainians would be to vote in Russian elections...which arguably are expressing the will of the Russian population, it is just the Ukrainians wouldn't have much of a say in affairs beyond some protest parties in the Duma.
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Apr 14, 2024 10:38
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Grimnarsson posted:It seems to me that Russia has at many points asked to be included in deliberations, talks, etc, that affect Russia but always been told "no" by the West. Not to say that their illegal, brutal, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is righteous, but where ever was the diplomatic option? In complete defiance of Minsk 2, eight days leading up to the 16th recorded some of the highest shelling of people in the Donbas by azov-guys. https://twitter.com/martyrmade/status/1530405122840227841 Prior to that, the government was also doing cultural erasure of the eastern region. I mean ultimately it wasn't really entirely unprovoked considering that we setup fake peace treaties that we never intended to honor so we could continue arming up neo-nazi RETVRN guys, and given the Istanbul peace talks were basically Minsk 3, it also wasn't intended to be a serious invasion from Russia.. until it was. This is old but was a good summary of the lead-up and how everyone saw it was coming unless they did peace, which america does not do peace.
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Apr 14, 2024 11:00
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Whitenoise Poster posted:Intellectually, I know it's categorically impossible. But in my heart where I dream about impossible things I'd fantasize about Ukraine getting so stabbed-in-the-back mad they simply turn around and go to war against western Europe. Just one last rage out shooting their last few shells at Germany or Poland or whoever else they can reach. It is in Ukraines interest to reject the war debt placed upon it from the west in its role as a proxy, which would end up meaning that it somehow joins the Russian economic sphere again. This is what Putin constantly counts on when he says that he believes that the two nations will reconcile one day The OUN politicians would rather it go down the path of total servitude than this route though, not really surprising. the collaborationist tendencies run deep
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Apr 14, 2024 11:18
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PawParole posted:https://twitter.com/ArmchairW/status/1779255342251347971 hmm, don't think you can hide a whole spring-offensive, even if a few satellites are looking the other way. Even discounting all the other satellites, the sky is lousy with drones.
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Apr 14, 2024 11:33
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Xaris posted:It's actually worse than that because there were diplomatic options, but the West was a) never serious about them, b) actively torpedoed diplomacy. The march-april Istanbul peace talks were basically just Minsk 3 with full withdrawl and actually a pretty reasonable peace, then west torpedo'd it promising totally got ur back bro lets give those orks a bloody nose!!. NATO leaders also then later admitted that Minsk 1 and 2 were a joke that they weren't taking seriously so they could arm up Azov and neo-nazi groups, which should be an immense (and for lack of a better word) crack-ping for anyone with 2 braincells So it really looks like the West provoked all this. Wonder if they discovered the 'bloodless coup' plan and thought that when that failed Russia would just retreat. So they made sure Russia would commit.
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Apr 14, 2024 11:38
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iirc that OSCE data doesn't show the direction of fire - it shows launches and arrivals lumped together because it's apparently fairly difficult to discern which is which from the OSCE observation posts. so while it clearly shows an increase in the intensity of the firing it doesn't really provide enough information to attribute this to provocation by either side the stuff about minsk 2 is dramatic enough that people will generally just deny that it happened when i bring it up though
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Apr 14, 2024 12:15
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V. Illych L. posted:iirc that OSCE data doesn't show the direction of fire - it shows launches and arrivals lumped together because it's apparently fairly difficult to discern which is which from the OSCE observation posts. so while it clearly shows an increase in the intensity of the firing it doesn't really provide enough information to attribute this to provocation by either side The map either show multiple firing point in the DNR / LNR firing at very few target in Ukraine controlled territory or few firing point firing in Ukraine controlled territory firing spread pattern along the border zone + a bit into Donetsk.
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Apr 14, 2024 12:32
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Putin gives a good run down and explanation in the tucker interview as well.
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Apr 14, 2024 13:25
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samogonka posted:Ukraine is like Belgium, only with a geopolitical fault line running right through the country. This will never work. Doesn't Belgium have issues with their Flemish population wanting independence?
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Apr 14, 2024 13:28
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Palladium posted:western shitlibs will be claiming stab-in-the-backs faster than ukrainians, its soooo predictable even though it's their own drat fault for not adding Ukraine flags to their Twitter bio sooner?
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Apr 14, 2024 13:29
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Looking at /worldnews, it is already happening.
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Apr 14, 2024 13:35
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gradenko_2000 posted:Doesn't Belgium have issues with their Flemish population wanting independence? it’s like a mini ukraine in some ways
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Apr 14, 2024 13:40
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gradenko_2000 posted:Doesn't Belgium have issues with their Flemish population wanting independence? also collaborating with the Nazis, and glorifying them since the 2000's.
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Apr 14, 2024 13:56
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DJJIB-DJDCT posted:also collaborating with the Nazis, and glorifying them since the 2000's. How dare you. Since the late 80s at *best*
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Apr 14, 2024 14:10
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double nine posted:How dare you. Since the late 80s at *best* I didn't realize things were that bad. A bit of a funny parallel, iirc the Flemish also had a derpy lion as their SS insignia, which was also banned until recently.
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Apr 14, 2024 14:28
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https://twitter.com/MarkAmesExiled/status/1779493288434626678
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Apr 14, 2024 15:00
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double nine posted:How dare you. Since the late 80s at *best* I'm pretty sure the catholics were playing along with nazis while the nazis were there no?
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Apr 14, 2024 15:02
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DJJIB-DJDCT posted:“Why aren’t the US and UK directly joining the war against Russia?” is a problem created by the western media gassing these guys up so hard. They’ll do it, hesitatingly, for Israel against a regional power, but they aren’t going to take swings at Russia because they can cut Ukraine loose in a way they won’t entertain w Israel (yet). also, Russian attacks on Ukraine would look different if, to get to Ukraine, they had to fly ordnance over the sovereign airspace of multiple other countries. Jordan doesn’t have to say “yay, Israel” to decide that it won’t tolerate drones and cruise missiles trying to use its airspace as a highway. So between sovereignty and a desire to limit escalation by everyone else, neighboring countries have an interest in stopping weapons from flying through their airspace. and: Ukraine isn’t anyone ally. Ally vs “nation with support” matters.
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Apr 14, 2024 15:07
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Jel Shaker posted:it’s like a mini ukraine in some ways A mini big Israel if you will
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Apr 14, 2024 15:32
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Palladium posted:western shitlibs will be claiming stab-in-the-backs faster than ukrainians, its soooo predictable They already are that's the true message behind all the 'give us more artillery shells' articles and posts. Once Ukraine finally surrenders the unwinnable war NATO pushed them into the entire narrative from both Ukrainian freaks and Western talking heads will be 'gee the boys from SS Blood Und Soil Regiment 147 would've had them if only we got more shells' fizziester posted:Source: Radio Free Europe How are they not mutinying yet. Jesus
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Apr 14, 2024 15:53
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DaysBefore posted:They already are that's the true message behind all the 'give us more artillery shells' articles and posts. Once Ukraine finally surrenders the unwinnable war NATO pushed them into the entire narrative from both Ukrainian freaks and Western talking heads will be 'gee the boys from SS Blood Und Soil Regiment 147 would've had them if only we got more shells' How would we know? I'd bet it has been happening.
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Apr 14, 2024 16:03
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If we're being told about people malingering, straggling, deserting etc. and the two or three times a unit straight up refused to follow orders into danger, probably there is more going on. Remember Ukraine cracked down super hard on soldiers filming those video appeals a while back.
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Apr 14, 2024 16:06
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https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1779471732274872433quote:Ukraine condemns Iran’s attack on Israel using “Shahed” drones and missiles. We in Ukraine know very well the horror of similar attacks by Russia, which uses the same “Shahed” drones and Russian missiles, the same tactics of mass air strikes.
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Apr 14, 2024 16:06
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gently caress this tiny clown man i'm bored of him now, i think Russia should use a special shahed on him that makes him even smaller
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Apr 14, 2024 16:09
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Virtual Russian posted:How would we know? I'd bet it has been happening. DJJIB-DJDCT posted:If we're being told about people malingering, straggling, deserting etc. and the two or three times a unit straight up refused to follow orders into danger, probably there is more going on. Remember Ukraine cracked down super hard on soldiers filming those video appeals a while back. True. And also as bad as the Donbass line seems to be it's not, like, Verdun. Still it's amazing that an army comprised of militant fascist groups that refuse to fight and middle-aged conscripts has stayed together this long
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Apr 14, 2024 16:13
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DJJIB-DJDCT posted:If we're being told about people malingering, straggling, deserting etc. and the two or three times a unit straight up refused to follow orders into danger, probably there is more going on. Remember Ukraine cracked down super hard on soldiers filming those video appeals a while back. There has been progressively surrenders as well, usually what is whatever is left of a unit. I wouldn't talk the Ukrainians too far down, in that there are still formations in the field and there is still a front line even if it is clearly going more and more in the favor of the Russians; it is the current nature of war that even a relatively small number of men can make assaults messy. DaysBefore posted:True. And also as bad as the Donbass line seems to be it's not, like, Verdun. Still it's amazing that an army comprised of militant fascist groups that refuse to fight and middle-aged conscripts has stayed together this long Granted, some of it is just also the Russians don't want to have to deal with the mess of direct assaults where they are going to take at least some causalities. So it is a very slow moving war even though the Ukrainians are being ground down. Ardennes has issued a correction as of 16:21 on Apr 14, 2024 |
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Apr 14, 2024 16:16
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It's also very hard to either surrender, or slink away unnoticed, when fighting is mostly slow moving. You can't surrender to an artillery barrage, first of all, but also, when the front line is clearly delineated, even if it's slowly moving backwards, the Military Police are still going to be able to do their jobs. You can drag your heels moving up to the front line, but everybody knows where you started from, and where you're supposed to go, and will look for you if you don't eventually arrive. It takes the kind of chaos where stragglers can just wander off, or units can surrender with minimal risk, for those numbers to tick up rapidly.
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Apr 14, 2024 16:21
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DJJIB-DJDCT posted:You can't surrender to an artillery barrage, skill issue
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Apr 14, 2024 16:22
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Admittedly, the issue probably is just troops not even getting to the frontline in the first place, and conscripts know they can't jail/shoot them all. Also, while the mutiny issues decreased, I doubt the issues did and probably also have plenty of units that just stay in their trenches and basements. There are occasional surrenders if units get the chance to establish communication with the other side, which supposedly happens under some frequencies, but they are obviously also monitored by the Ukrainians themselves. That said, I think there are also plenty of true believers that really will give everything for Ukraine, no matter how f'ed up the situation is because they were simply bought up like that. It is also they are also probably the ones that are slowly disappearing because bravery and loyalty don't really seem to be rewarded by the situation.
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Apr 14, 2024 17:48
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