Assault on Kiev: Russian helicopters swoop above Ukraine's capital

[Bkk Brian]

As time passes new evidence is being discovered of the nightmares people endured:

 

New Evidence Shows How Russian Soldiers Executed Men in Bucha

Witness testimony and videos obtained by The New York Times show how Russian paratroopers executed at least eight Ukrainian men in a Kyiv suburb on March 4, a potential war crime.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/19/world/europe/russia-bucha-ukraine-executions.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20220519232823/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/19/world/europe/russia-bucha-ukraine-executions.html

 

NEW: One of the most harrowing stories I’ve ever reported. When the Russian army occupied Hostomel for 35 days, it visited unspeakable horror on the town and its residents. Then it came for the only doctor, and tore her family apart.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/05/bullets-and-blindfolds-in-a-ukrainian-city-under-siege

 

[farmerjo]

https://nypost.com/2022/05/19/antony-blinken-accuses-russia-of-using-food-as-a-weapon-in-ukraine/

 

The UN are trying to get a deal done.

[heybruce]

35 minutes ago, farmerjo said:

https://nypost.com/2022/05/19/antony-blinken-accuses-russia-of-using-food-as-a-weapon-in-ukraine/

 

The UN are trying to get a deal done.

A deal may require allowing both Russia and Ukraine to sell their wheat and other foods, along with an international naval escort to ensure Ukraine's exports safely cross the Black Sea and reach the Mediterranean.  That would be a bitter pill to swallow, but if the alternative is malnutrition and starvation around the globe, it needs to be done.

[Bkk Brian]

4 minutes ago, heybruce said:

A deal may require allowing both Russia and Ukraine to sell their wheat and other foods, along with an international naval escort to ensure Ukraine's exports safely cross the Black Sea and reach the Mediterranean.  That would be a bitter pill to swallow, but if the alternative is malnutrition and starvation around the globe, it needs to be done.

Russia is playing hardball on this and saying sanctions need to be lifted first in return for easing the blockage.

 

Earlier on Thursday, Dmitry Medvedev, a former president of Russia who is now senior security official, warned that Russia would not continue food supplies unless the west eased its sanctions on the Kremlin.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/20/us-accuses-russia-of-weaponising-food-in-ukraine-crisis-and-holding-global-supplies-hostage

[Jingthing]

2 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

Russia is playing hardball on this and saying sanctions need to be lifted first in return for easing the blockage.

 

Earlier on Thursday, Dmitry Medvedev, a former president of Russia who is now senior security official, warned that Russia would not continue food supplies unless the west eased its sanctions on the Kremlin.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/20/us-accuses-russia-of-weaponising-food-in-ukraine-crisis-and-holding-global-supplies-hostage

Nyet

[Hellfire]

On 5/19/2022 at 12:26 PM, Bkk Brian said:

Ah ok, thats a separate package of 40 billion aid that he stalled. The Lend lease is different and he cannot stop that

 Yes, my bad. But whatever help this (sob) senator has blocked - it is vital for the people on the ground in Ukraine. Hope this will be sorted out asap.

P.S. Just found out the bill has passed through finally. God Bless America!

 

 

Edited May 20, 2022 by Hellfire

[Hellfire]

8 hours ago, ballpoint said:

The retired colonel who spoke out against the invasion, telling some uncomfortable truths on live Russian TV a few days ago, reappeared the following day.  He's changed his tune and is now singing from the Putin song book.  Amazing how persuasive the Russian choirmasters can be:

 

 

 

 

You should expect nothing from a Russian colonel. Or from any Russian military person. They are the worst kind of them all. Lacking a proper education (in the normal sense of this word), deeply indoctrinated (by the soviet times propaganda) and stupid alcoholics without a true personal opinion on anything.

 

 

Edited May 20, 2022 by Hellfire

[placeholder]

This addition to the the Ukrainian armory will, I think both figuratively and literally sink the Russians.

 

Exclusive: U.S. aims to arm Ukraine with advanced anti-ship missiles to fight Russian blockade

The White House is working to put advanced anti-ship missiles in the hands of Ukrainian fighters to help defeat Russia's naval blockade, officials said, amid concerns more powerful weapons that could sink Russian warships would intensify the conflict.

Ukraine has made no secret it wants more advanced U.S. capabilities beyond its current inventory of artillery, Javelin and Stinger missiles, and other arms. Kyiv's list, for example, includes missiles that could push the Russian navy away from its Black Sea ports, allowing the restart of shipments of grain and other agricultural products worldwide.

https://www.reuters.com/world/exclusive-us-aims-arm-ukraine-with-advanced-anti-ship-missiles-fight-russian-2022-05-19/

[ballpoint]

From a link to a story posted further up this page:

 

"Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said it was “absolutely false” that Russia was to blame for a global food crisis that had been brewing for several years.

He accused Ukraine of holding foreign vessels in its ports and mining the waters and said the Russian military had repeatedly tried to open safe corridors for vessels".

 

Antony Blinken accuses Russia of using food as a weapon in Ukraine (nypost.com)

 

The only place this global food crisis has been "brewing for several years" is on Putin's drawing board.  Given this statement, however, the solution to the current impasse is simple; Sail into the ports with a military convoy and blow anything that tries to stop them out of the water.  The Russians can't complain as they insist that they're not the ones doing the blockading.

[Jingthing]

Here's something to chew on. Watch till the end.

 

 

[JerseytoBKK]

Interesting post about why Russia hasn't called up more reserves, more background info on the retired Russian colonel, and  other topics including the possibility of the US sending Harpoon missiles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo2ZVKRK00E

 

 

[Bkk Brian]

Kremlin propaganda is directly responsible for Russia's genocide in Ukraine, war-crime investigators say

 

Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency, the pro-Kremlin journalist Timofey Sergeyetsev called for the destruction of Ukraine's national identity and a campaign of brutal punishment of its people, that Ukraine must be "denazified" and its people made to "assimilate" the experience of the war "as a historical lesson and atonement for [their] guilt." He called for imprisonment, forced labor, and death for Ukrainians who refused to comply with the Kremlin's mission to assimilate the country into Russia.

 

For Wayne Jordash, a barrister advising Ukrainian officials investigating possible Russian war crimes, the Bucha atrocities were the culmination of escalating attacks on Ukrainian civilians that can be directly linked to Russian state media.

[transam]

A very interesting read, I wonder if the Russian supporters here will reply to it.......

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/evidence-shows-russian-soldiers-executed-141908975.html

[RJRS1301]

24 minutes ago, transam said:

A very interesting read, I wonder if the Russian supporters here will reply to it.......

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/evidence-shows-russian-soldiers-executed-141908975.html

Reminiscent of the disgusting behaviours of  the Nazi soldiers during WW11.

 

[transam]

1 minute ago, RJRS1301 said:

Reminiscent of the disgusting behaviours of  the Nazi soldiers during WW11.

 

Yes, and Putin is trashing Ukraine to oust Nazi's, if it wasn't so sad it would be funny. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Chris.B]

‘F*** the war!’ Putin backlash begins as thousands stage revolt at St Petersburg concert

Russian people screamed condemnation of the war in Ukraine at a concert in St Petersburg.

Footage from the concert records a crowd of thousands of Russians chanting “<deleted> the war” over and over again.

The defiant display of opposition to Putin’s ‘special military operation’ suggests the Russian leader’s propaganda machine of state television is failing.

 

Express

 

[RJRS1301]

7 hours ago, Chris.B said:

‘F*** the war!’ Putin backlash begins as thousands stage revolt at St Petersburg concert

Russian people screamed condemnation of the war in Ukraine at a concert in St Petersburg.

Footage from the concert records a crowd of thousands of Russians chanting “<deleted> the war” over and over again.

The defiant display of opposition to Putin’s ‘special military operation’ suggests the Russian leader’s propaganda machine of state television is failing.

 

Express

 

Brave humans

[Bkk Brian]

Good extensive report from the New York Times, they've unlocked the paywall on this article for 2 weeks.

 

‘Such Bad Guys Will Come’: How One Russian Brigade Terrorized Bucha

 

A particularly fearsome unit of Moscow’s invading army arrived in the Kyiv suburb in mid-March. The soldiers’ reputation preceded them.

 

Residents had already been warned that things would get worse. A pensioner, Mykola, 67, said that the Russian troops who first came to the neighborhood had advised him to leave while he could. “‘After us, such bad guys will come,’” the commander told him, he recalled. “I think they had radio contact and they knew who was coming, and they had their own opinion of them.” Mykola left Bucha before the 64th Brigade arrived.

 

nytimes

 

 

 

[Bkk Brian]

Pentagon Weighs Deploying Special Forces to Guard Kyiv Embassy

 

WASHINGTON—U.S. military and diplomatic officials are weighing plans to send special forces troops to Kyiv to guard the newly reopened embassy there, proposals that would force the Biden administration to balance a desire to avoid escalating the U.S. military presence in the war zone against fears for the safety of American diplomats, U.S. officials said.

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/pentagon-weighs-deploying-special-forces-to-guard-kyiv-embassy-11653237183

[Rimmer]

Please ensure when posting you adhere to the 'fair use' forum rule,  we do not want to be banned from using a particular news content if we continually go over the three sentence rule.

Here is the forum rule again:

 

14) You will not post any copyrighted material except as fair use laws apply (as in the case of news articles). Please only post a link, the headline and the first three sentences.

[Chris.B]

Putin humiliated as Russian forces lose 184 military vehicles in Donbas within ONE WEEK

They wrote: “Armed Forces: Russia loses 184 military vehicles in Donbas within a week.

“The list includes, among others, one anti-aircraft missile system, 43 tanks, 20 artillery systems, and 79 armoured fighting vehicles. Russia has also lost three aircraft.”

This news comes as the Kremlin’s forces batter Donbas and the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv, reported The Guardian.  Express

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I can't how Russia can keep this up. I will give them two weeks and they will be back to their own borders.

 

[Bkk Brian]

Severodonetsk could be turning out to be another Mariupol where the Ukraine forces get surrounded. Its a tough and bloody fight, Zelensky said there were up to 100 being killed daily in another report.

 

"Ukrainian military soldiers have told us it is largely surrounded and they are undoubtedly under pressure.

They’ve taken serious casualties. A Ukrainian military source there said one unit that went into the line there with 240 men came out with 135 - the others killed, wounded or taken prisoner."

 

BBC report

[candide]

10 hours ago, RJRS1301 said:

Brave humans

Brave or not brave. Educated and informed young people from the most developed parts of Russia don't want to fight in this stupid war. That's why the army tends to send conscripts from far regions and from minorities to Ukraine. The mostly white and educated Russians living in Moscow or St Petersburg don't want to die for Putin. 

[Slip]

Life is probably going to get worse for Counsellor Bondarev if he returns home.  Brave of him.

.

[rudi49jr]

2 hours ago, Slip said:

Life is probably going to get worse for Counsellor Bondarev if he returns home.  Brave of him.

.

If I were him I’d stay put. I think he would qualify for political asylum, even in a country like Switzerland. 

[transam]

2 hours ago, Slip said:

Life is probably going to get worse for Counsellor Bondarev if he returns home.  Brave of him.

.

A sensible chap who can see that the invasion of Ukraine was totally uncalled for, bravo....????

[Bkk Brian]

On 5/18/2022 at 8:02 PM, Bkk Brian said:

He's pleaded guilty:

 

NEW: A Russian soldier pleads guilty in a Kyiv court to killing a 62-year-old civilian in what could be considered a war crime. The soldier had acknowledged: “I was ordered to shoot, I fired an automatic burst at him, he fell. We drove on."

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/05/18/world/russia-ukraine-war-news?smid=url-share#a-russian-soldier-accused-of-killing-a-civilian-pleads-guilty-in-a-kyiv-court

 

Found guilty, life imprisonment for the murdering RuZZian

 

Ukraine war: Russian soldier Vadim Shishimarin jailed for life over war crime

 

He admitted shooting Mr Shelipov but said he had been acting on orders and asked forgiveness of the man's widow.

Many other alleged war crimes are being investigated by Ukraine.

Moscow has denied its troops targeted civilians during the invasion, despite a wealth of evidence to the contrary, while Ukraine says more than 11,000 crimes may have occurred.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61549569

 

 

[Slip]

34 minutes ago, rudi49jr said:

If I were him I’d stay put. I think he would qualify for political asylum, even in a country like Switzerland. 

He will still have a target on his back (which for Putin's enemies is often fatal in the long run) , but  yes, one would hope that is a given.

[Slip]

25 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

Found guilty, life imprisonment for the murdering RuZZian

 

Ukraine war: Russian soldier Vadim Shishimarin jailed for life over war crime

 

He admitted shooting Mr Shelipov but said he had been acting on orders and asked forgiveness of the man's widow.

Many other alleged war crimes are being investigated by Ukraine.

Moscow has denied its troops targeted civilians during the invasion, despite a wealth of evidence to the contrary, while Ukraine says more than 11,000 crimes may have occurred.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61549569

 

 

This is such a sad story, and it we will see it has been repeated thousands of times.  I don't forgive or ignore the awful crime this young man committed, but he is a very* young man, and was in a dreadful predicament.  Put there by Putin and his enablers.  Russia needs to ditch the orc in chief and those who have supported him.

[placeholder]

The M-777 howitzers are just beginning to make their effect felt on the Russians. The howitzers not only have far greater range than does Russian artillery, but they are far more accurate as well.

 

American heavy artillery enters the fight in Ukraine.

"Military analysts say the full effect won’t be felt for at least another two weeks, because Ukraine has yet to train enough soldiers to fire all 90 such howitzers pledged by the United States and other allies. Only about a dozen guns are now at the front, and they are not a guarantee of victory, as the Russians continue to engage in fierce fighting in the eastern Donbas region."

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/05/23/world/russia-ukraine-war#us-ukraine-howitzers