Ukraine

https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1527743847782141953

Russian occupants in Mariupol are attempting to erase Ukrainian culture in its schools.

https://twitter.com/lapatina_/status/1537400156919824384

Polyphonic’s latest video reminded me of this Tweet as I was watching it, where Russia tried to do a similar thing in Estonia decades ago. Please watch this video.

UPDATE:

First new teammates in a long time:

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Is Russia really trying to find out where all that money goes since y’all don’t have free healthcare and free college?

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Here’s the complete list.

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The (absolutely awful) Cato Institute (known for right wing/libertarian apologism among other things) is freaking out about this. XD

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Ukraine is rapidly liberating its stolen territory. Faster than the news can keep up. The Ukrainian forces are being greeted by grateful people and the Russian military is abandoning huge amounts of equipment as they retreat.

Russia may well have to fortify Crimea and hold out there. But this war won’t end until Crimea itself is liberated.

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I really hope that the world will see peace.

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Putin is now doing a mobilization, which is pure insanity to me. Not only does it risk displeasing the populace of russia, but it is also completely wrongheaded. Russia isn’t losing because of manpower, but because of material, resources, and strategic failings.

However, I just read the conflict referred to as the Blyatskrieg, which I find hilarious.

Stay strong, Ukraine!

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Foolishly checked the internet when I woke up at 4am


Sounds like they’re mobilizing and trying to force thru referendums in the various territories to make them ‘part of Russia’ which I can only assume is to make it so that an attack on them becomes an attack on Russia.

So mobilization seems like an attempt to stuff those areas full of troops to ensure that the population actually votes to become part of Russia’s sphere, and that when they do, the armies clearly hold those territories. It probably doesn’t matter how many problems they had attacking in the initial push, how crap the strategy was or how haphazard it all was. Perhaps this is a fall back and punt play, but, seems they pushed the defenders far enough back that they can now stuff a few hundred thousand warn bodies into the regions. And now any attempts to reclaim that territory will be far more difficult. Don’t need strategy to just sit there and say “if you attack us, you are now the invaders and we can do whatever we want to stop you”

Sure the international community may disagree with the legitimacy, or the rights of Russia to consider that land theirs, but if Putin says it is, and plans to defend it like it’s his, ultimately who will call the bluff and at what cost?

The Partial Mobilization is to fill manpower gaps in the invasion forces due to high causalities over the course of the war. Of course conscripts barely trained are no replacement for contract professional soldiers, but having under-trained men on the frontlines is better than not manning that front at all even if those under-trained men are likely to break under heavy attack.

At this point I assume the strategic view is to hold as much territory as long as possible and try to grind out a negotiation position with the energy crisis in Europe over the winter.