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

[Chomper Higgot]

13 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Not only does war criminal Putin "need" to win but China "needs" Putin to win too. Thus hoping I am wrong WW3 has already started and/or is inevitable.

China needs food, and the US controls the food China needs.

 

China will fall back on its non interference doctrine while seeking to buy up Russian raw materials and resources.

 

China knows Ukrainian grain is not included in any deal Russia can make.

[Chomper Higgot]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

So long as western Europe needs Russian energy I doubt that. IMO a year after it's over it'll be forgotten except in the Ukraine, and it'll be just like prior to active hostilities.

Western Europe has been on a boats to renewable energy for some time now.

 

This war will accelerate that move.

 

[Jingthing]

58 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

China needs food, and the US controls the food China needs.

 

China will fall back on its non interference doctrine while seeking to buy up Russian raw materials and resources.

 

China knows Ukrainian grain is not included in any deal Russia can make.

Or maybe it's not that clear cut.

 

[RJRS1301]

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

China needs food, and the US controls the food China needs.

 

China will fall back on its non interference doctrine while seeking to buy up Russian raw materials and resources.

 

China knows Ukrainian grain is not included in any deal Russia can make.

Providing China does not choose to exert its financial control and call in the debts owed

Major Foreign Holders of U.S. Public Debt

Japan is the largest holder of U.S. debt.

 

Japan

 

$1.3T

China

 

$1.07T

United Kingdom

 

$647.4B

Ireland

 

$334.3B

Luxembourg

 

$323.5B

Cayman Islands

 

$261.9B

Taiwan

 

$251B

Brazil

 

$244.5B

Hong Kong

 

$225.7B

France

 

$224.4B

Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury

 

Remembering that the rare earth metals for the devices we depend on for daily living, manufacture and defence/aggression weapons 90% held by China 

[heybruce]

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

So long as western Europe needs Russian energy I doubt that. IMO a year after it's over it'll be forgotten except in the Ukraine, and it'll be just like prior to active hostilities.

Putin has wasted a great deal of Russia's conventional forces, given the west motivation to become less dependent on Russian energy, strongly re-invigorated NATO, and now must choose between a costly indefinite occupation of Ukraine or withdrawing and having a hostile nation on its border. 

 

Difficult to see that as a win.

[heybruce]

1 hour ago, RJRS1301 said:

Providing China does not choose to exert its financial control and call in the debts owed

Major Foreign Holders of U.S. Public Debt

Japan is the largest holder of U.S. debt.

 

Japan

 

$1.3T

China

 

$1.07T

United Kingdom

 

$647.4B

Ireland

 

$334.3B

Luxembourg

 

$323.5B

Cayman Islands

 

$261.9B

Taiwan

 

$251B

Brazil

 

$244.5B

Hong Kong

 

$225.7B

France

 

$224.4B

Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury

 

Remembering that the rare earth metals for the devices we depend on for daily living, manufacture and defence/aggression weapons 90% held by China 

The US debt China holds is largely in the form of treasuries.  China can stop buying treasuries and attempt to sell what it holds, but if it does this too fast it will lose a lot of money.  All this also spills over into the interest treasuries yield, the US's ability to purchase goods from China, and a lot of other stuff.

 

The bottom line is that China can not use the US debt it holds to significantly hurt the US without significantly hurting itself.

[Bkk Brian]

If they measure success on calling Phase one complete and getting spanked and humiliated by the Ukraine defense then yes I agree it was a success.

 

Utter failure on Putin's intended objectives now the spin starts and its hilarious...........

 

Twitter thread from an F.T. correspondent and Reuters investigative team.

 

"Russia's military held a big briefing this afternoon, announcing the war was entering a 'second phase'. Here's a summary of how Russia, at this point in the war, is depicting what it set out to do, why, and where we're at. (relaying their words, pls don't shoot msnger)"

 

"Firstly, the generals said Russia had always intended only to 'liberate' the Donbas, that was what it set out to do. It had two options: fight a war in the east, but allow Kyiv to replenish its forces, or start off by knocking out Ukrainian military capacities across the country."

 

"Russia had never intended to capture Kyiv, Kharkiv and other cities, the generals said - these are not setbacks in other words, it's all part of the plan. And the plan was to distract Ukrainian forces while Russia/ Donetsk/ Luhansk made territorial gains in the east."

 

"Numerous statements made about not targeting civilian infrastructure, avoiding civilian casualties."

 

"Defence ministry briefing also shared a new official figure for the number of Russian soldiers killed, the second statement by Russian side during the course of this war. Said 1,351 were killed - figure is far below Ukrainian and international estimates."

 

"Here's the full english text of the briefing per military's translation just now" (I have removed the link here but its in the twitter thread)

[farmerjo]

17 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

If they measure success on calling Phase one complete and getting spanked and humiliated by the Ukraine defense then yes I agree it was a success.

 

Utter failure on Putin's intended objectives now the spin starts and its hilarious...........

 

Twitter thread from an F.T. correspondent and Reuters investigative team.

 

"Russia's military held a big briefing this afternoon, announcing the war was entering a 'second phase'. Here's a summary of how Russia, at this point in the war, is depicting what it set out to do, why, and where we're at. (relaying their words, pls don't shoot msnger)"

 

"Firstly, the generals said Russia had always intended only to 'liberate' the Donbas, that was what it set out to do. It had two options: fight a war in the east, but allow Kyiv to replenish its forces, or start off by knocking out Ukrainian military capacities across the country."

 

"Russia had never intended to capture Kyiv, Kharkiv and other cities, the generals said - these are not setbacks in other words, it's all part of the plan. And the plan was to distract Ukrainian forces while Russia/ Donetsk/ Luhansk made territorial gains in the east."

 

"Numerous statements made about not targeting civilian infrastructure, avoiding civilian casualties."

 

"Defence ministry briefing also shared a new official figure for the number of Russian soldiers killed, the second statement by Russian side during the course of this war. Said 1,351 were killed - figure is far below Ukrainian and international estimates."

 

"Here's the full english text of the briefing per military's translation just now" (I have removed the link here but its in the twitter thread)

It sounds logical to me.

Let's see if they stick to their word and leave Odessa alone.

[Bkk Brian]

Just now, farmerjo said:

It sounds logical to me.

Let's see if they stick to their word and leave Odessa alone.

It sounds logical to you, no surprise there then...............lol

[Bkk Brian]

Kremlin TV Descends Into Screaming Match Over Putin’s War Failures

 

In January, experts on the same show estimated that Russia could overtake the entire neighboring country in a matter of 11 minutes. Their current predictions have shifted from minutes to decades for the Russian armed forces to achieve Putin’s goals in his senseless war against Ukraine.

...

The resistance from the Ukrainian side is neither stopping nor weakening.” Tretyakov pointed out that despite the Russian media’s attempted depictions of Zelensky as a drug addict, he is being perceived by the West as a leader of a country that has been attacked. He also questioned the wisdom of “liberating” Ukrainians who don’t seem to want to be “liberated” and vehemently hate seeing the Russian troops on their territory.

 

 

[Chris.B]

8 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

You say that as if Putin is the first to do so. Britain executed troops that deserted during WW1 for sure, and far as I know every army does so during active service.

After a court martial. Not the same as the Russian kill squads.

 

[ballpoint]

Interesting report covering a few items, such as the Ukraine army has more tanks now than before the invasion began, due to captured Russian ones, plus intercepted Russian radio communications, including one clearly stating orders to "remove the first  property from the residential area, and to cover the residential area with artillery", and another priceless exchange where one guy frantically says "Looking for retreat routes, looking for retreat routes", and gets the reply "Buran, go home. It's better to be a deserter than fertiliser".  Other messages highlighting their supply chain failures are also recorded.  The fact that these are being sent by open radio is also rather telling.

 

 

[coolcarer]

2 hours ago, farmerjo said:

It sounds logical to me.

Let's see if they stick to their word and leave Odessa alone.

Struggling to see how you can find logic in the announcement. 
 

So the Russians would now have us believe that the invasion of Ukraine was all a distraction to their actually newly revealed goal of capturing Donbas.

 

In that so called distraction they flattened cities, killed thousands of civilian’s. Attacked 64 hospitals confirmed by WHO. Killed around 300 civilians sheltering in a theatre. Made NATO countries and the alliance stronger than it has ever been before.
 

Isolated Russia from the majority of the international community for years to come. 
 

Logical? A dismal failure that has ended up with serious war crime accusations that are actively being investigated.

 

We have yet to see what this announcement will mean in terms of evidence on the ground and how this war continues.

[CatCage]

On 3/25/2022 at 8:18 AM, ozimoron said:

I wonder if it was any of these ships?

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/japan-spots-four-russian-amphibious-transports-sailing-far-east-2022-03-17/

Russian Navy Ship That Exploded In Ukrainian Port Seen Totally Destroyed In Satellite Image

 

A satellite image confirms that a Russian Navy amphibious warfare ship was left destroyed next to the pier where it was moored in the occupied Ukrainian port of Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov. Its demise came after it suffered multiple explosions and massive fire yesterday. Exactly what happened to the Project 1171 Alligator class landing ship Orsk remains murky, but from what we can see now it seems unlikely that Ukrainian forces targeted it with a Tochka-U short-range ballistic missile, as had been reported initially.

 

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/44925/russian-navy-ship-that-exploded-in-ukrainian-port-seen-totally-destroyed-in-satellite-image

[Bkk Brian]

5 minutes ago, CatCage said:

Russian Navy Ship That Exploded In Ukrainian Port Seen Totally Destroyed In Satellite Image

 

A satellite image confirms that a Russian Navy amphibious warfare ship was left destroyed next to the pier where it was moored in the occupied Ukrainian port of Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov. Its demise came after it suffered multiple explosions and massive fire yesterday. Exactly what happened to the Project 1171 Alligator class landing ship Orsk remains murky, but from what we can see now it seems unlikely that Ukrainian forces targeted it with a Tochka-U short-range ballistic missile, as had been reported initially.

 

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/44925/russian-navy-ship-that-exploded-in-ukrainian-port-seen-totally-destroyed-in-satellite-image

Video of it here in the linked article taken when it was unloading supplies before it got hit..............

Russian Military TV Dispatch Showed Vessel at Ukraine Port Prior to Attack

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/russian-military-tv-dispatch-showed-010613686.html

[tgw]

displaying the Russian "Z" is now a criminal offense in Bavaria

https://topnynews.com/the-z-symbol-was-banned-in-german-bavaria/

 

 

[tgw]

35 minutes ago, CatCage said:

Russian Navy Ship That Exploded In Ukrainian Port Seen Totally Destroyed In Satellite Image

 

A satellite image confirms that a Russian Navy amphibious warfare ship was left destroyed next to the pier where it was moored in the occupied Ukrainian port of Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov. Its demise came after it suffered multiple explosions and massive fire yesterday. Exactly what happened to the Project 1171 Alligator class landing ship Orsk remains murky, but from what we can see now it seems unlikely that Ukrainian forces targeted it with a Tochka-U short-range ballistic missile, as had been reported initially.

 

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/44925/russian-navy-ship-that-exploded-in-ukrainian-port-seen-totally-destroyed-in-satellite-image

https://www.overtdefense.com/2022/03/25/russian-landing-ship-badly-damaged-at-berdyansk/

 

the Ukrainian Navy operates Bayraktar drones, apparently some sources claim these drones carried out the attack

[jollyhangmon]

57 minutes ago, coolcarer said:

Struggling to see how you can find logic in the announcement. 
 

So the Russians would now have us believe that the invasion of Ukraine was all a distraction to their actually newly revealed goal of capturing Donbas.

 

In that so called distraction they flattened cities, killed thousands of civilian’s. Attacked 64 hospitals confirmed by WHO. Killed around 300 civilians sheltering in a theatre. Made NATO countries and the alliance stronger than it has ever been before.
 

Isolated Russia from the majority of the international community for years to come. 
 

Logical? A dismal failure that has ended up with serious war crime accusations that are actively being investigated.

 

We have yet to see what this announcement will mean in terms of evidence on the ground and how this war continues.

 

... 555, itsa different 'logic' man, but related to the Thai one perhaps.

You know, that kind of logic where one prepares a Blitzkrieg-victory-over-all-Ukraine hurrah news article ... just in case one happens to invade a bit more neighbourly turf than honestly intended?

 

Now, while there was once a Blitzkrieg this one isn't even their usual bad copy ... and some people might advocate that we're simply dealing with a bunch of lying sihtsackinskys here which - actually - doesn't come as a big surprise either ...

 

[friendofthai]

On 3/25/2022 at 4:37 PM, Bkk Brian said:

#BREAKING 300 feared dead in Russian strike on Mariupol theatre: city hall

https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1507284508466421760

 

Mariupol City Council: Around 300 people killed in Russian attack on Mariupol Drama Theater. Russia bombed the theater, which was known to house hundreds of women and children, on March 16. The City Council says that witnesses report a huge number of casualties.

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1507286032286466060

Mariupol is the home for the Azov group, which is the most desirable target for the Kremlin propaganda. Many people from the Putin`s party in the Russian parliament are sure that showing these gentlemen from the Azov to the world will reverse the opinions regarding who is good and who is bad in this war.

[RJRS1301]

2 hours ago, friendofthai said:

Mariupol is the home for the Azov group, which is the most desirable target for the Kremlin propaganda. Many people from the Putin`s party in the Russian parliament are sure that showing these gentlemen from the Azov to the world will reverse the opinions regarding who is good and who is bad in this war.

Killing of children and bombing of hospitals and bombing shelters , is nothing special, it disgusting criminal behaviour. Nothing special, just blatant murders.

It is not a war, it is an unjustified invasion of a country.

It does not matter how much lipstick you put on a PIG it remains a pig

 

 

 

[Bkk Brian]

2 hours ago, friendofthai said:

Mariupol is the home for the Azov group, which is the most desirable target for the Kremlin propaganda. Many people from the Putin`s party in the Russian parliament are sure that showing these gentlemen from the Azov to the world will reverse the opinions regarding who is good and who is bad in this war.

Well just to put some context around that. Out of over 250,000 Ukraine soldiers there are only around 1,000 Azov, it was estimated back in 2015 that around 10 20% of them were far right but also in 2015 their leader left.

 

They have fought well in Mariupol but Putin was determined to flatten the city and he has as you know destroyed it and hundreds of its civilians.

 

Very good explainer here in this 9 minute video from the BBC just yesterday with historical links though to the present day role of Azov in Mariupol.

 

"You’ll have seen the multiple false claims that Putin and his supporters are making about ‘Nazis’ in Ukraine. We’ve looked at them in detail."

https://twitter.com/BBCRosAtkins/status/1507264052938129412

 

 

[GroveHillWanderer]

2 hours ago, friendofthai said:

 

He wants Mariupol so he can complete a land corridor linking up the Donetsk and Luhansk areas to the Crimea.

 

This is the analysis that's been given many times by different media sources. Also, if you just look at a map, it's a fairly obvious explanation.

 

 

[Phoenix Rising]

12 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I did say in an earlier post that I thought it unlikely that Putin wanted to take the entire country, so that's not surprising to me at all. No doubt the propaganda will be that Putin is being forced to limit his ambitions.

And exactly how would that be propaganda?

[ozimoron]

2 hours ago, friendofthai said:

Mariupol is the home for the Azov group, which is the most desirable target for the Kremlin propaganda. Many people from the Putin`s party in the Russian parliament are sure that showing these gentlemen from the Azov to the world will reverse the opinions regarding who is good and who is bad in this war.

A Russian airstrike last week that blasted open a theater being used as a shelter in the suffering city of Mariupol killed about 300 people, Ukrainian authorities said, marking what could be the war’s deadliest known attack on civilians yet.

The death toll announced Friday fueled allegations that Moscow is committing war crimes by killing civilians, whether deliberately or with indiscriminate fire.

 

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-kyiv-entertainment-moscow-europe-a5cfd7683d63c52a5faeee30efdc92e8

 

The Azov Special Operations Detachment, previously known as the "Azov Battalion" but now called the "Azov Regiment", is often targeted in pro-Russian social media posts, including by Russian embassies in Paris, London and elsewhere.

 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov used their presence to justify the bombing of a maternity ward there, saying the Azov regiment "and other radicals" were hiding in the building.

 

But it had since become "de-ideologised" and a regular fighting unit, he told AFP.

 

https://www.rawstory.com/azov-regiment-takes-centre-stage-in-ukraine-propaganda-war/

[nauseus]

8 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

Kremlin TV Descends Into Screaming Match Over Putin’s War Failures

 

In January, experts on the same show estimated that Russia could overtake the entire neighboring country in a matter of 11 minutes. Their current predictions have shifted from minutes to decades for the Russian armed forces to achieve Putin’s goals in his senseless war against Ukraine.

 

The resistance from the Ukrainian side is neither stopping nor weakening.” Tretyakov pointed out that despite the Russian media’s attempted depictions of Zelensky as a drug addict, he is being perceived by the West as a leader of a country that has been attacked. He also questioned the wisdom of “liberating” Ukrainians who don’t seem to want to be “liberated” and vehemently hate seeing the Russian troops on their territory.

 

 

If Zelensky is a drug addict what, then, is Putin?

 

From the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-60856533

 

1. President Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine has inflicted "powerful blows" and "significant losses" on the Russians
2. Ukrainian officials say Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu suffered a heart attack
3. Russia's army says the first phase of its military campaign in Ukraine is over, and it will now focus on the eastern Donbas regiion.

 

I take point 3 as meaning: Looks like plan A failed. Doh. So now we'll try B.

[tgw]

4 hours ago, tgw said:

displaying the Russian "Z" is now a criminal offense in Bavaria

https://topnynews.com/the-z-symbol-was-banned-in-german-bavaria/

 

 

and Lower Saxony followed suit, we can  now expect the Russian fascist symbol to get outlawed in all of Germany really soon. 

[Chris.B]

Putin war unravels as 7th general dead after boast invasion would take HOURS

Lieutenant General Yakov Rezantsev died during a Ukrainian strike on an airfield near Kherson, a Russian-occupied city to the north of Crimea. He was the commander of the 49th combined arms army of the southern military district, headquartered in Stavropol, a city in the south of Russia about 300 miles from the Ukrainian border.

 

Daily Express

 

[clivebaxter]

I don't see Putin will let them retreat so his forces in part at least may get surrounded, Stalingrad in reverse

[ozimoron]

7 minutes ago, clivebaxter said:

I don't see Putin will let them retreat so his forces in part at least may get surrounded, Stalingrad in reverse

The assessment says it is likely Russia will continue to use its heavy firepower on urban areas as it looks to limit its own already considerable losses, at the cost of further civilian casualties.

 

A vast apparatus is being built to gather and preserve evidence of potential violations of international laws of war for possible prosecutions

 

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-biden-kyiv-business-e1f346d4d0fe8281b33f206b9a5338c8

[Kwasaki]

58 minutes ago, clivebaxter said:

I don't see Putin will let them retreat so his forces in part at least may get surrounded, Stalingrad in reverse

BBC world report Russia says it first part of the mission has finished and they are to concentrate on the east.