Russia Invades Ukraine. Again
POSTED BY: captaincrunch
UPDATED: Sunday, September 6, 2026 21:09
VIEWED: 562266
PAGE 299 of 1104
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/2/11/can-eu-russia-relations-b
e-repaired-post-putin
Can EU-Russia relations be repaired post-Putin?
Putin’s decision-making has set Russia down a path that any successor would find difficult to turn from.
by Dimitar Bechev, Visiting Scholar at Carnegie Europe
A year after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the debate about whether this is President Vladimir Putin’s war or not continues. Anti-war Russians, many of whom have sought refuge outside the country, blame the Russian president. For them, his delusions and paranoia have caused a turn to neo-totalitarianism at home and military aggression abroad.
The Russian opposition in exile and in prison insists that if Putin is to fall from power, the situation would reverse. Leonid Volkov, the number two of imprisoned opposition leader Alexey Navalny, has even suggested that following the end of the war, the West should offer “a Marshall Plan” not only for Ukraine, in dire need of reconstruction, but also for Russia.
In other words, opposition-minded Russians hope that Moscow will rebuild bridges with Europe and the US once Putin is no longer on the throne.
Understandably, the notion of “Putin’s war” has next to no purchase in Ukraine itself. By and large, Ukrainians fault Russia as a country and as a society, whether it is the jingoistic cheerleaders for Moscow’s “special military operation” or the silent majority who choose to simply ignore it and get on with their daily lives.
Why should Russia be trusted to behave differently one day, they ask, given that Putin speaks for a nation with an imperial mindset?
Besides, a successor to the 70-year-old leader is unlikely to come from the pro-Western opposition or be any different from the current occupant of the Kremlin. Some of the names pundits speculate about – say the head of Russia’s Security Council, Nikolay Patrushev – are at least as hawkish as Putin. So for Ukrainians, Russia has to be defeated, no matter who runs the show in Moscow.
But what about the European Union? Has the war moved its relations with Russia – cultivated so carefully for so long – past a point of no return?
For Poland and the Baltic States that is very much the case. For a year now, they have had their “told you so” moment. Even before the Russian invasion last year and the occupation of Crimea in 2014, they made the case that Russian revanchism poses a fundamental threat to the post-Cold War order in Europe.
To the west, France and Germany, however, have been much more ambiguous in their approach to relations with Russia. From the moment he first assumed office in 2017, French President Emmanuel Macron has been making a case that Europe should think about the long term and engage the Russians. Macron stuck to this line pretty much until the invasion and kept calling Putin in the hope of working out a diplomatic solution of some sort. And as recently as last December, the French president spoke of “security guarantees” to Russia that should be part of a settlement.
Germany has elicited even more frustration and ire among Eastern European friends of Ukraine. Long years of cosying up to the Russians and business cum political ventures, such as the Nord Stream gas pipeline, have tainted its record. The German political class has long seen Russia as a friend and some, like former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, landed lucrative gigs with Moscow’s state-run energy companies.
In the past year, there has been some change in action and rhetoric. In the wake of the invasion, Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared the so-called Zeitenwende (historic turning point), the idea that Berlin will finally take European defence seriously and put its weight behind it both financially and politically. His position has found support among the German public, the majority of which is pro-Ukraine, too.
However, the German bias towards hugging closely Russia, in the expectation that denser ties yield greater security and predictability, has not been relegated to the past. Wit
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So SECOND, I see that you're splattering the board with walls of shit, again.
Just OOC how many NYT, WaPo, CNN, MSNBC, etc articles depend on "anonymous"? Nearly every one? CLEARLY, SECOND, you're a brain-broken inmate posting from a psych ward. There's no other explanation for your posts which are so disconnected from each other. And from reality.
And... we attacked a democratic ally's vital energy infrastructure. An act of war by any interpretation.
Neocons are as nutty as you.
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake
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USA Today: "Little By Little" Russia Is Winning Key Ground War
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2023/02/13/ukraine-russia-wa
r-live-updates/11246942002/
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake
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Quote:The scenes are chaotic: Russian tanks veering wildly before exploding or driving straight into minefields, men running in every direction, some on fire, the bodies of soldiers caught in tank tracks.
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
"Little By Little" Russia Is Winning Key Ground War
Russian military bloggers are calling it a fiasco, and worse.
About 20 videos geolocated by CNN show basic tactical blunders in an area that’s open and flat, where Ukrainian spotters on higher ground can direct artillery strikes and where minefields are worsening Russian casualties.
The Russian Defense Ministry has insisted the assault on Vuhledar, where the 155th Marine Brigade is prominently involved, is going according to plan. In remarks recorded for a Sunday television show, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the “marine infantry is working as it should. Right now. Fighting heroically.”
A previously ill-conceived plan in November to take Vuhledar led to heavy casualties and a near mutiny among men of the 155th Marine Brigade.
Critics of Russia’s military high command say the handling of the latest offensive is worse still, with one military blogger describing it as a “shameful debacle.”
Cooper says the Russians built a formidable force around Vuhledar, “say, a total of about 20,000 troops, 90 MBTs [main battle tanks], perhaps two times as many IFVs [infantry fighting vehicles], and about 100 artillery pieces.”
But attacks launched in the last week of January were fatally flawed, he said. “They were advancing along a relatively narrow route, all the time in sight of Ukrainian observers posted atop of high buildings in Vuhledar, and now facing about 500 meters of empty terrain on the eastern side of the town,” Cooper wrote on his blog.
“Ukrainian artillery not only caused heavy losses to the advancing units but hit their rear too – cutting off both their supply links and their possible withdrawal routes.”
A number of prominent Russian military bloggers have been unrestrained in their criticism of the Vuhledar offensive.
“They were shot like turkeys at a shooting range,” said former DPR Defense Minister Igor Strelkov, who has become a strident critic of the campaign.
Strelkov, also known as Igor Girkin, added on Telegram that “a lot of good T-72B3/T-80BVM tanks and the best paratroopers and marines were liquidated.”
In another post on Telegram, Strelkov wrote: “Only morons attack head-on in the same place, heavily fortified and extremely inconvenient for the attackers for many months in a row.”
Moscow Calling asserted that older T-72 tanks deployed in Vuhledar lack upgrades that would improve the driver’s breadth of vision. That may help explain several instances in which Russian tanks seemed to get entangled or reverse blindly.
“How are blind, deaf tanks, armored personnel carriers, with equally blind, deaf infantry supposed to fight without columns? And then how to coordinate any actions if there is no communication and situational awareness?” he wrote.
“If the Russian Armed Forces try to disperse, they will shoot each other, because they do not understand who is in front of them.”
Russian forces continue to have a distinct advantage in firepower. On Saturday they launched a barrage of thermobaric missiles at Vuhledar, a reminder that they are more capable of inflicting destruction than taking territory.
Much, much more at https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/13/europe/russia-ukraine-vuhledar-donetsk-
fiasco-intl/index.html
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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Oh look!!!
It's Weapons of Mass Distraction!!!
Snowden Says UFO Hysteria Is "Engineered" Distraction From Nord Stream Pipeline Bombshell
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/snowden-says-ufo-hysteria-engineer
ed-distraction-nord-stream-pipeline-bombshell
followed by ...
In Sudden Narrative Shift, Pentagon Admits Mystery Objects 'Probably' Private Craft Not Tied To Spying
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/sudden-narrative-shift-pentagon-ad
mits-mystery-objects-probably-private-craft-not-tied
Yep, our war in Ukraine must be going really well if we have to float "UFO" spy balloons.
"The truth is out there".
Somewhere.
But not in the M$M.
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake
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Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Oh look!!!
It's Weapons of Mass Distraction!!!
Snowden Says UFO Hysteria Is "Engineered" Distraction From Nord Stream Pipeline Bombshell
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/snowden-says-ufo-hysteria-engineer
ed-distraction-nord-stream-pipeline-bombshell
followed by ...
In Sudden Narrative Shift, Pentagon Admits Mystery Objects 'Probably' Private Craft Not Tied To Spying
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/sudden-narrative-shift-pentagon-ad
mits-mystery-objects-probably-private-craft-not-tied
Yep, our war in Ukraine must be going really well if we have to float "UFO" spy balloons.
"The truth is out there".
Here is some truth comrade.
T
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Quote:I looked, but as per your usual, you've got nothing, Signym.
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Oh look!!!
I've got something:
Feb 14, 2023 - Nick Paton Walsh investigates Russia's use of prisoners to fight the war in Ukraine.
Hear Russian prisoner's chilling final message to wife after fighting in Ukraine.
The Tactical Training for these recruits is both simple and very ineffective.
You can see why the Russians have massive casualties, even if you know nothing about tactics.
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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Russian forces have moved at least 6,000 Ukrainian children to camps and facilities across Russia for forced adoptions and military training, according to a new report issued on Feb 14th.
The report is “Russia’s systematic program for the re-education and adoption of Ukraine’s children.”
https://hub.conflictobservatory.org/portal/apps/sites/#/home/pages/chi
ldren-camps-1
“Consider this report a gigantic Amber Alert,” Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, said on a call with reporters. He added that this is the most “consequential and comprehensive report” yet published on the matter.
Raymond said that Conflict Observatory researchers, in partnership with Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab, discovered a network of at least 43 camps and facilities where Russian authorities hold Ukrainian children.
“The primary purpose of the camps and facilities that we have identified appears to be political re-education,” Raymond said. He added that some sites are dedicated to an expedited adoption process and others are used as military training centers.
The youngest child at an adoption camp is 4 months old, while the youngest children at the military training camps appear to be about 14, Raymond said. He said that all levels of the Russian government are involved in the expansive program.
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/14/ukraine-war-news-russia-has-relocated-
more-than-6000-children.html
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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Elite Russian Marine Unit 'Nearly Destroyed' Near Ukraine’s Vuhledar
An elite Russian naval infantry unit made up of mostly mobilized troops has lost nearly all its troops in fighting near the eastern Ukrainian town of Vuhledar, Russian media reported Monday, citing one of the survivors.
The 5,000-strong 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade has been “nearly destroyed” after up to 300 marines per day were killed in Russia's assault on the coal-mining town, according to comments by the Ukrainian defense forces to Politico on Sunday.
A surviving marine who spoke with the 7x7 regional news site said the losses were so severe that only eight men remained in one landing assault company, while the other survivors were taken prisoner.
“Those who survived were said to be deserters,” the unnamed marine was quoted as saying, estimating the brigade’s losses at 500 or more men killed.
Citing his commander, the marine told 7x7 that the brigade — nearly 90% of whom were recently mobilized soldiers — did not expect to return to Russia alive or unscathed.
“I wish I had been taken prisoner and never returned,” he added, complaining about the officers’ treatment of their soldiers.
The assault began on Jan. 23, the surviving marine told 7x7.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed that its forces had “neutralized” Ukrainian soldiers and military hardware near Vuhledar last week.
That claim drew ridicule from Russian pro-war military bloggers for repeating the mistakes of past failed offensives and dented their belief in the military’s capacity to mount a widely reported large-scale offensive.
The Russian Pacific Fleet’s 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade made headlines in November after accusing its commander of causing massive losses in an assault near the eastern city of Donetsk.
Russia’s Defense Ministry issued a rare statement at the time denying the unit’s claims. The surviving marine told 7x7 on Monday that the brigade commander gave them a “strict reprimand” for airing its accusations in public.
The 155th brigade had to undergo three waves of restaffing after suffering defeats in Ukraine, Oleksiy Dmytrashkivskiy, the spokesman for the regional chapter of Ukraine’s defense forces, told Politico.
The marine who described the assault on Vuhledar to 7x7 said his command was “bringing in new” soldiers, many of whom are killed on the battlefield.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/02/14/elite-russian-marine-unit-ne
arly-destroyed-near-ukraines-vuhledar-a80220
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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I hope you don't mind,but I'm going to shitcan your posts along with the KIEV IS WINNING! and 2000,000 RUSSIAN DEAD! and the rest of the bullshit in the "establishment" press.
Just bc they're "establishment" doesn't mean they're sane.
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake
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