Russia Invades Ukraine. Again
POSTED BY: captaincrunch
UPDATED: Sunday, September 6, 2026 21:09
VIEWED: 562266
PAGE 151 of 1104
Quote:
Originally posted by captaincrunch:Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Russia’s inevitable defeat, deep economic malaise, and loss of great-power status at the hands of a country whose existence the Kremlin didn’t even recognize will be fertile ground for extremists. That counts double should Putin’s regime fall and a struggle for the future course of Russia ensue. If the pro-war nationalists searching for enemies to blame are the only opposition left in Russia, the world may be going down a dark and dangerous track.
Putin is getting squeezed on both sides. Something's gotta give - or someone.
https://puck.news/fear-and-loathing-in-moscow/
The former queen mother of the Russian opposition, Evgenia Markovna Albats, now living in exile, reflects on the terror that drove her compatriots from the capital, the contempt among those left behind, and the oligarchs who are on the verge of revolt.
Julia Ioffe: What are things like in Moscow?
Evgenia Markovna Albats - Moscow is unbearable. I couldn’t stand being there. In the square where I live, I saw the PriceWaterhouseCoopers sign come down and the Starbucks close and the office towers empty out.
Like SECOND'S posts I get one or two sentences in and I trip over something so egregiously stupid I have to stop.
Life is unbearable bc she misses Starbucks??
She should try a Starbucks in San Francisco. Or what Berlin is gonna look like in a winter with no heat and soldiers on the street corners.
That tells you something about relative economies.
Jeez!
She needs to get a grip, and so does anyone who agrees with her.
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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake
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The Kharkov game-changer
September 14, 2022
by Pepe Escobar
Wars are not won by psyops. Ask Nazi Germany. Still, it’s been a howler to watch NATOstan media on Kharkov, gloating in unison about “the hammer blow that knocks out Putin”, “the Russians are in trouble”, and assorted inanities.
Facts: Russian forces withdrew from the territory of Kharkov to the left bank of the Oskol river, where they are now entrenched. A Kharkov-Donetsk-Luhansk line seems to be stable. Krasny Liman is threatened, besieged by superior Ukrainian forces, but not lethally.
No one – not even Maria Zakharova, the contemporary female equivalent of Hermes, the messenger of the Gods – knows what the Russian General Staff (RGS) plans, in this case and all others. If they say they do, they are lying.
As it stands, what may be inferred with a reasonable degree of certainty is that a line – Svyatogorsk-Krasny Liman-Yampol-Belogorovka – can hold out long enough with their current garrisons until fresh Russian forces are able to swoop in and force the Ukrainians back beyond the Seversky Donets line.
All hell broke loose – virtually – on why Kharkov happened. The people’s republics and Russia never had enough men to defend a 1,000 km-long frontline. NATO’s entire intel capabilities noticed – and profited from it.
There were no Russian Armed Forces in those settlements: only Rosgvardia, and these are not trained to fight military forces. Kiev attacked with an advantage of around 5 to 1. The allied forces retreated to avoid encirclement. There are no Russian troop losses because there were no Russian troops in the region.
Arguably this may have been a one-off. The NATO-run Kiev forces simply can’t do a replay anywhere in Donbass, or in Kherson, or in Mariupol. These are all protected by strong, regular Russian Army units.
It’s practically a given that if the Ukrainians remain around Kharkov and Izyum they will be pulverized by massive Russian artillery. Military analyst Konstantin Sivkov maintains that, “most combat-ready formations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are now being grounded (…) we managed to lure them into the open and are now systematically destroying them.”
The NATO-run Ukrainian forces, crammed with NATO mercenaries, had spent 6 months hoarding equipment and reserving trained assets exactly for this Kharkov moment – while dispatching disposables into a massive meat grinder. It will be very hard to sustain an assembly line of substantial prime assets to pull off something similar again.
The next days will show whether Kharkov and Izyum are connected to a much larger NATO push. The mood in NATO-controlled EU is approaching Desperation Row. There’s a strong possibility this counter-offensive signifies NATO entering the war for good, while displaying quite tenuous plausible deniability: their veil of – fake – secrecy cannot disguise the presence of “advisers” and mercenaries all across the spectrum.
Decommunization as de-energization
The Special Military Operation (SMO), conceptually, is not about conquering territory per se: it is, or it was, so far, about protection of Russophone citizens in occupied territories, thus demilitarization cum denazification.
That concept may be about to be tweaked. And that’s where the tortuous, tricky debate on Russia mobilization fits in. Yet even a partial mobilization may not be necessary: what’s needed are reserves to properly allow allied forces to cover rear/defensive lines. Hardcore fighters of the Kadyrov contingent kind would continue to play offense.
It’s undeniable that Russian troops lost a strategically important node in Izyum. Without it, the complete liberation of Donbass becomes significantly harder.
Yet for the collective West, whose carcass slouches inside a vast simulacra bubble, it’s the pysops that matters much more than a minor military advance: thus all that gloating on Ukraine being able to drive the Russians out of the whole of Kharkov in only four days – while they had 6 months to liberate Donbass, and didn’t.
So, across the West,NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
'We will survive Russia's blackmail and the long winter, but we need unity,' Sanna Marin tells MEPs
Updated: 13/09/2022 - 13:10
The European Union will survive "Russia's blackmail" of energy supplies and the looming "long winter" but only if the bloc maintains its "unity, determination and courage," said Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin.
"Russia may challenge us, blackmail us and threaten us, but we will not give in," she told the European Parliament in Strasbourg, speaking in Finnish.
"Russia's actions have unified the West as never before, while Russia is lonelier than ever."
During her speech before the plenary, Marin painted a grim picture of the challenges the EU faces, including the Ukraine war, the worsening energy crisis, soaring inflation, an increasingly likely recession, strained public finances, natural disasters, democratic backsliding and the technological rise of authoritarian countries.
"However, even in the darkest moments there is hope," she noted.
"Ukraine will win the war with our support. There is no other alternative. In our hearts, the Ukrainians have already won it."
Marin said the EU's greatest strength – and the only way out of the overlapping crises – was the mutual trust and unity among its 27 member states.
"Blackmailing our societies through energy supply is a way to erode European support for Ukraine and break down our unity. Putin must not succeed in this," she said.
"With its war, Russia is destroying its economy and future. Russia has broken our trust. Even if the war ended today, our confidence would not be restored for a long time."
Since the war broke out in late February, Marin has taken a hard line against the Kremlin, calling for sanctions and a speedy transition away from Russian fossil fuels.
Marin has also led Finland's bid to join NATO, a process that, once completed, will redraw the alliance's map.
In recent weeks, her government has pushed for a broad ban on visas for Russian citizens, as the country shares a 1,300-kilometre-long land border and is one of the few entry points for Russians coming to the EU.
Last month, EU foreign affairs ministers agreed to fully suspend a visa agreement with Russia and make the application system lengthier and costlier– but still possible.
For Marin, the EU must be ready to slap Moscow with "even tougher sanctions" to make the war unsustainably expensive.
"Sanctions must be reflected in the everyday lives of ordinary Russians," she said. "It is not right that while Russia kills civilians in Ukraine, Russian tourists travel freely in Europe."
Throughout her speech, Marin repeatedly praised Ukraine's resistance and the "brave and unyielding" character of its people and said the bloc's support for Ukraine must not collapse under the weight of the energy crisis.
"We may count the cost of war in euros, but Ukrainians count it in human lives," she told MEPs.
Reflecting on the developments over the past months, the Finnish PM said the EU was paying a "heavy price" for its entrenched dependency on Russian fuels, which she blamed on geopolitical mistakes made in the past.
"We have to admit that we have been far too naïve about Russia and have built our assumptions about Russia's activities on wrong ideas," she said. "We should have listened more closely to our friends from the Baltic states and Poland, who have lived under Soviet rule."
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/09/13/we-will-survive-russian-
blackmail-and-the-long-winter-but-we-need-unity-sanna-marin-tells- <-- that final 'dash' is important.
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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The EU depends on energy from Russia bc they have no economical alternative. They want to stay competitive in world markets,and given their high labor costs they need to shave expenses elsewhere.
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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake
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Quote:Original article is pure Russian self-hype: https://www.geopolitika.ru/en/article/kharkov-game-changer
Originally posted by SignyM:
The Kharkov game-changer
September 14, 2022
by Pepe Escobar
Russia claims: "We have not yet begun to fight." The entire world awaits Russia revealing its true mightiness in battle, but in the meantime, Russia looks lame. There are veiled threats in that article of nuking Kyiv, London, Berlin, DC which is pretty typical on any and every day from Moscow.
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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Omfg. You're spouting nonsense.
Not gonna explain.
You figure it out.
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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake
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Quote:"Nobody goes back behind bars," Prigozhin, founder of the Russian private military company Wagner, can be seen telling men in a video from a Russian prison yard. "If you serve six months, you are free. If you arrive in Ukraine and decide it's not for you, we execute you."
Originally posted by SignyM:
Omfg. You're spouting nonsense.
Not gonna explain.
You figure it out.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/video-shows-the-head-of-a-shadowy
-mercenary-group-recruiting-at-a-russian-prison-offering-inmates-freedom-if-they-fight-in-ukraine-but-death-if-they-run/ar-AA11PLXe
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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Quote:
Originally posted by second:Quote:"Nobody goes back behind bars," Prigozhin, founder of the Russian private military company Wagner, can be seen telling men in a video from a Russian prison yard. "If you serve six months, you are free. If you arrive in Ukraine and decide it's not for you, we execute you."
Originally posted by SignyM:
Omfg. You're spouting nonsense.
Not gonna explain.
You figure it out.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/video-shows-the-head-of-a-shadowy
-mercenary-group-recruiting-at-a-russian-prison-offering-inmates-freedom-if-they-fight-in-ukraine-but-death-if-they-run/ar-AA11PLXe
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
So, to show that you're not spouting nonsense you spout moe nonsense?
"The first sin is desertion... the second sin is alcohol and drugs ... the third sin is looting, includng sexual contacts with local women... flora, fauna, men.. anything"
Sounds like they're supposed to be on a tight leash.
This is the stuff of many Hollywood hero movies.
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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake
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Quote:It is the Russians spouting nonsense. Make prisoners into instantaneous soldiers? That is Russian nonsense.
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
So, to show that you're not spouting nonsense you spout moe nonsense?
Also, the people who are threatening to bring nukes into the war with Ukraine? They are Russians. The Ukrainians aren't talking about nuking Moscow, but the Russians talk constantly about nuking Kyiv, London, Berlin, DC. The Russians aren't thinking ahead to what happens after they nuke Kyiv, which means the Russians are spouting nonsense. Hope they don't try it. The results will be bad . . . for Russians.
And freeing prisoners? Do prisoners become good people after surviving the war and returning to society with PTSD? The Russians aren't thinking ahead to what happens after the prisoners return, which means the Russians are spouting nonsense. Hope they don't try it. The results will be bad . . . for Russians.
Russian oligarch recruiting convicts into private military -- turn on sound and scroll down
https://imgur.com/gallery/c4bsjN6
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
Like SECOND'S posts I get one or two sentences in and I trip over something so egregiously stupid I have to stop.
Life is unbearable bc she misses Starbucks??
Speaking of "so egregiously stupid" ... Zignym is offended when someone says they miss Starbucks, but killing innocent Ukrainian women and children?? Bombing hospitals and schools? "Meh - Ukies aren't people!" - Zignym
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