Russia and Ukraine Current Events

or boredom. but it also indicates they are not upset about invading ukraine (the story i've been hearing) as why would you steal Funions and oranges from Ukrainians if you felt bad.
Is being bored an excuse? Stealing from civilian stores is clearly wrong if you are a soldier. Does the concept of good military discipline mean nothing to you? What gives any invading soldier to right to steal if they are simply bored. Boredom among soldiers is yet another sign of low morale and motivation. Effective, efficient well drilled troops who get bored, simply stay bored at their posts, not indulge in theft.

If you respect an enemy you behave differently - the acts of theft indicate again a lack of respect for the country they are in, that may be why they are stealing.
 
Almost all of Russia’s proposed routes out of Ukraine go to Russia or Belarus: Ukraine has slammed Russia's unilateral announcement of evacuation routes for civilians trying to escape the conflict. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister, Iryna Vereshchuk described the Russian proposal as unacceptable, particularly as all but one of the corridors leads to Russia or close ally Belarus. Meanwhile, an official with one humanitarian organization described the announcement as "cynical as well as impractical, without any preparation."
https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-putin-news-03-07-22/index.html

An attempt to move the population out of the country and into internment camps?
 
your video doesnt show knocking on doors, just a bunch of guys standing around. plus the instagram is from 2 days ago and says they havent eaten in 4 days.

the invasion started on feb 24th. that's why i asked if you if it was normal to invade a country with less than 3 days rations of food. sounds suspicious to me.
Ukrainian civilians have reported hungry Russians knocking on their doors asking for food, and some asking for directions as they are not sure which country they are in. Is this confirmed? No, but not implausible.

I invaded Iraq in 2003 with 48hrs rations, as the logistic chain was staged for replen within that timeframe. The Russian advance has thus far been chaotic at best.
 
If you respect an enemy you behave differently - the acts of theft indicate again a lack of respect for the country they are in, that may be why they are stealing.
which is exactly what i said.

Is being bored an excuse? Stealing from civilian stores is clearly wrong if you are a soldier. Does the concept of good military discipline mean nothing to you?
which is why i said Funions and oranges. Technically i saw snickers bars and soda, not Funions, but the concept is the same.. the video i saw, they were not stealing the whole store. They were picking and choosing just the types of items non-hungry children would steal. ie. junk food.

I did see one soldier look at two crates of oranges and walk by them, then eventually turn around and he took one small crate. These "soldiers" were not stealing because they were hungry (after 5 whole days of being in Ukraine), they were stealing oranges and calories from children and old people because they are selfish, unhonorable men.

The topic was low morale because Russia was starving them and because they didnt want to be taking up arms against Ukraine. The concept of "good military discipline" is off topic, so i ignored it.
 
By Stijn Mitzer in collaboration with Joost Oliemans Kemal, Dan and Jakub Janovsky

A detailed list of the destroyed and captured vehicles and equipment of both sides can be seen below. This list is constantly updated as additional footage becomes available.

This list only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here. Small arms, munitions, civilian vehicles, trailers and derelict equipment (including aircraft) are not included in this list. All possible effort has gone into discerning the status of equipment between captured or abandoned. Many of the entries listed as 'abandoned' will likely end up captured or destroyed. Similarly, some of the captured equipment might be destroyed if it can't be recovered. ATGMs and MANPADS are included in the list but not included in the ultimate count. The Soviet flag is used when the equipment in question was produced prior to 1991.

(Click on the numbers to get a picture of each individual captured or destroyed vehicle)

Russia - 905, of which: destroyed: 362, damaged: 10, abandoned: 150, captured: 381​


Tanks (140, of which destroyed: 42, damaged: 2, abandoned: 26, captured: 70)​


Armoured Fighting Vehicles (90, of which destroyed: 31, abandoned: 16, captured: 42)​


Infantry Fighting Vehicles (131, of which destroyed: 52, abandoned: 25, captured: 54)​


Armoured Personnel Carriers (52, of which destroyed: 16, abandoned: 10, captured: 26)​


Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Vehicles (5, of which destroyed: 2, abandoned: 1, captured: 2)​


Infantry Mobility Vehicles (34, of which destroyed: 18, damaged: 1, abandoned: 2, captured: 11)​


Communications Stations (8, of which destroyed: 2, abandoned: 4, captured: 2)​


Engineering Vehicles (37, of which destroyed: 11, abandoned: 11, captured: 15)​


Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (47, of which captured: 47)​


Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (16, of which captured: 16)​


Heavy Mortars (3, of which captured: 3)​


Towed Artillery (24, of which destroyed: 4, abandoned: 3, captured: 17)​


Self-Propelled Artillery (21, of which destroyed: 4, abandoned: 9, captured: 8)​


Multiple Rocket Launchers (19, of which destroyed: 8, abandoned: 2, captured: 9)​


Self-propelled Anti-Aircraft Guns (7, of which destroyed: 5, abandoned: 2)​


Surface-To-Air Missile Systems (24, of which destroyed: 11, damaged: 1, abandoned: 3, captured: 9)​


Radars (1, of which destroyed: 1)​


Jammers And Deception Systems (1, of which damaged: 1)​


Aircraft (11, of which destroyed: 11)​


Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (2, of which destroyed: 1, captured: 1)​

  • 1 E95M target drone (likely used as unmanned bait in order for Ukraine to reveal the location of air defence systems): (1, captured)
  • 1 Orlan-10 reconnaissance UAV: (1, destroyed)

Helicopters (11, of which destroyed: 8, damaged: 1, abandoned: 2)​


Logistics Trains (2, of which destroyed: 2)​


Trucks, Vehicles and Jeeps (280, of which destroyed: 135, damaged: 6, abandoned: 36, captured: 102)​

https://www.oryxspioenkop.com/2022/02/attack-on-europe-documenting-equipment.html
 
I’ve always been under the impression that polls regarding Putin’s approval rating at home would be largely untrustworthy due to deliberate massaging of the data and respondents’ fear of government reprisal. But an independent 2016 study suggests that’s actually not the case and that Russian Levada Center polls appear to be comparably accurate to similar polls conducted in other non-authoritarian countries. This evidence is further outlined in the opening minutes of this fivethirtyeight podcast.

Putin’s approval rating at the beginning of February was about 71% according to the Levada Center. His approval rating has been similarly favorable during previous military actions. It has taken its biggest hits during periods of Russian economic hardship. And due to recent widespread sanctions against Putin, a decline in his popularity would seem likely as the real-world effects of the sanctions begin to be felt by Russian citizens.

Of course even if the polls accurately reflect the opinions of the respondents, the government’s tight grip on the country’s media and the lengths to which it goes to promote seemingly false propaganda (such as its assertion that Ukrainian civilians are in no danger) might contribute heavily to Putin’s high favorability right now.
 
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Article:
Former president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, has issued a simple warning to the West about the Russian President: "Don't trust Putin."


Vladimir Putin "considers himself an emperor... very close to God", untouched by "rules, international laws, and normal democratic human values", Mr Poroshenko told 7.30.

From 2014-2019, Mr Poroshenko was president of Ukraine and commander in chief of its armed forces as it faced its most dire crisis of the post-Soviet era — the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine
 

58 percent of Russians support the invasion of Ukraine, and 23 percent oppose it, new poll shows​

Article:
About 58 percent of Russians approve of the invasion of Ukraine, while 23 percent oppose it, according to a poll conducted across Russia a week into Moscow’s full-scale assault.
The telephone survey, carried out last week by a group of independent survey research organizations, found relatively modest support for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine compared with typical levels in the early stages of past incursions… Gary Langer, a U.S.-based polling expert who runs a research firm, obtained the results of the study from the Russian research organizations and shared them with The Washington Post. He declined to name the Russian firms involved because of the risks they face as Moscow tightens censorship,..
Source: Washington Post (sorry about potential pay wall)

The poll was surveyed nationally between 2/28 and 3/1 on a random sample of 1,640 people across Russia. The research firms released the complete questionnaire and data set.
 
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One thing about this "new" poll: some of the people were surveyed 8 days ago, and all of them at least 5 days ago. Makes me wonder if things might have changed, with presumably less support now. This post from Mendel seems to indicate that they have:

https://www.metabunk.org/threads/media-information-control-and-misinformation.12315/post-267338
That’s certainly possible. But I didn’t see a date on when the “snap poll” you linked to was actually conducted (not just reported). I probably overlooked it.

Edit 2: I did overlook it. It appears the snap poll you cited is at least 5 days old as well? (March 3)

It’s also worth considering that the snap poll’s sample size was less than half that of the poll the WP cited, and it consisted only of Moscow residents while the WP poll was a national survey across Russia.

Both polls might be worth considering.

Edit 1: another factor worth considering is that the snap polls appear to have been conducted by a group founded by Putin’s opposition leader (Alexey Navalny).
 
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But I didn’t see a date on when the “snap poll” you linked to was actually conducted (not just reported). I probably overlooked it.
4 polls, the dates are on the graphs.
It’s also worth considering that the snap poll’s sample size was less than half that of the poll the WP cited, and it consisted only of Moscow residents while the WP poll was a national survey across Russia.
The ACF (Nawalny) poll is admittedly not representative of the general popularion, but the argument is that the registered strong shift in attitudes can be generalized anyway. If that'a true, the WaPo poll may already be outdated.
 
Article:
The authorities of the Republic of Poland, after consultations between the President and the Government, are ready to deploy – immediately and free of charge – all their MIG-29 jets to the Ramstein Air Base and place them at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America.
At the same time, Poland requests the United States to provide us with used aircraft with corresponding operational capabilities. Poland is ready to immediately establish the conditions of purchase of the planes.

My translation: If the USA want Ukraine to have MiGs, the USA can give them to Ukraine themselves, because Poland won't bear the political risk.
 
My translation: If the USA want Ukraine to have MiGs, the USA can give them to Ukraine themselves, because Poland won't bear the political risk.

I'm not sure how .pl, .de, and .us coordinating the transfer of military equipment is *less* acting as a union with .ua than just one party doing it.
Everyone saw through lend-lease last time, you can't pull only minor variations on the same trick and expect to get away with it.
And when the opponent is already a cornered rat, I don't think it will be taken the intended way at all. Unless the intent was WWIII.
 
the invasion started on feb 24th. that's why i asked if you if it was normal to invade a country with less than 3 days rations of food. sounds suspicious to me.
I can't quote a source, but I've seen a slightly different version in the UK press: soldiers in the Russian advance forces carried personal rations for 3 days, with the expectation that they would soon be resupplied. But delays due to Ukrainian resistance and traffic problems, like that notorious 40-mile convoy, meant the rations ran out before they could resupply. This sounds quite plausible: a snafu typical of many conflicts.

I did a bit of casual searching to see what kind of rations a modern British soldier would normally carry. The answer seems to be that they would routinely only carry a personal ration pack for 24 hours, which if necessary could be stretched out for a few days without discomfort, but the expectation of resupply was built into the system. The standard 24-hour ration pack weighs 2.3 kilos and looks quite bulky, so it would be awkward for each soldier to carry more than a few.
 
I did a bit of casual searching to see what kind of rations a modern British soldier would normally carry. The answer seems to be that they would routinely only carry a personal ration pack for 24 hours, which if necessary could be stretched out for a few days without discomfort, but the expectation of resupply was built into the system. The standard 24-hour ration pack weighs 2.3 kilos and looks quite bulky, so it would be awkward for each soldier to carry more than a few.
it never occurred to me they had to carry all their own food. figured they had more in all those trucks. like how the ukrainians supposedly found boxes of rations in one of the trucks.

They do seem a bit bulky though. And calories may keep you alive... but small portions, vs what they likely eat in non-conflict situations i think would make you still feel hungry. ex: i normally eat alot of bread, but during the strictest lockdown and highest virus rates, bread was hard to come by (without risking a grocery store visit ) and crackers, which is what are in those pack, really don't satisfy the soul at all. Now i'm going to go toast a bagel at the memory of it all.
 
Article:
The authorities of the Republic of Poland, after consultations between the President and the Government, are ready to deploy – immediately and free of charge – all their MIG-29 jets to the Ramstein Air Base and place them at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America.
At the same time, Poland requests the United States to provide us with used aircraft with corresponding operational capabilities. Poland is ready to immediately establish the conditions of purchase of the planes.

My translation: If the USA want Ukraine to have MiGs, the USA can give them to Ukraine themselves, because Poland won't bear the political risk.

Article:
ARSAW, Poland (AP) — The Pentagon on Tuesday rejected Poland’s offer to give the United States its MiG-29 fighter jets for use by Ukraine, in a rare public display of disharmony by NATO allies seeking to boost Ukrainian fighters while avoiding getting caught up in a wider war with Russia.
 
I'm not sure how .pl, .de, and .us coordinating the transfer of military equipment is *less* acting as a union with .ua than just one party doing it.
Germany doesn't come into it, Ramstein is strictly run by the US.
The Pentagon on Tuesday rejected Poland’s offer to give the United States its MiG-29 fighter jets for use by Ukraine
My translation: We asked you guys to stick your neck out for us, but we're not going to do it ourselves.

Poland didn't want to do it because they're afraid of Russia, so they put the US in a position where the US says it doesn't want to do it either.
 
The UK MOD says that the Russian MOD confirmed its use of a thermobaric weapon in Ukraine, but apparently the confirmation isn't public, or the media would've reported on it directly.

Article:

Russia says it's used thermobaric weapon system in Ukraine: UK​

The Hill

The Russian Ministry of Defense claims it has used a thermobaric rocket launching weapon in its deadly attack on Ukraine, the United Kingdom (U.K.) announced Wednesday.

Moscow "confirmed the use of the TOS-1A weapon system in Ukraine," the U.K.'s Ministry of Defense tweeted.

Source: https://twitter.com/DefenceHQ/status/1501621370614173701

The U.S. military, however, has still seen "no indications" that thermobaric weapons have been used, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters later Wednesday.
 
use of a thermobaric weapon in Ukraine
There are no international laws specifically banning their use, but if a country uses them to target civilian populations in built-up areas, schools or hospitals, then it could be convicted of a war crime under the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907.
Of course that's also true if you target civilians with more traditional weapons.
[Axios:] Russia has a long history of using chemical weapons, most notably in Syria by the Russian-backed regime of Bashar al-Assad
"The US has a long history of using chemical weapons, most notably in the Iran-Iraq war by the US-backed regime of Saddam Hussein." I'm not really ok with that kind of logic.
[Jan Psaki:] we should all be on the lookout for Russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine
I don't think the US is claiming evidence that Russia even has biological or chemical munitions right now?
 
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Did Russian forces really cut power to the Chernobyl nuclear power site containment area ?
Does that even matter ?
Report from many sources.....
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-10/ukraine-deputy-pm-chernobyl-power-cut-concerns/100897350
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for a ceasefire to fix power issues and said reserve diesel generators could power the plant for 48 hours but after that he would be concerned about radiation leaks.

In other words, will "hot" radioactive rods (and waste) continue to be cooled without electric cold-water pumps ??
Is it a real worry ? Most sources say 'no, for the time being'.
It would seen that there should always be water cooling pumps available and working.

The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) says,

 
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When i read through this it gives me the impression that the separatists would have lost without Russian aid.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Donbas

With that in mind and along with the added capabilities of the new weapons being brought to bear I don't think it strange that Russia decided to go in. Granted their expectations were that Ukraine will not put up much resistance as they have so they are behind, but the damage they are doing will insure that for the near future Ukraine will have a difficult time supporting any kind of offensive to the Donbas or Luhanske. So they are accomplishing some goal of rendering Ukraine neutral or unable to be a serious foe again in the east.

Of course this is not decided yet, things may change. So far the Russians are losing a lot more than they'll ever gain from this.
 
Living in a country (the UK) where in the last few years the Russian state has used both chemical (nerve poison) and radiological (polonium) weapons against its enemies, with great risks to innocent bystanders (one of whom died), when the Russians complain about possible chemical weapons in Ukraine I can only admire their chutzpah.
 
On March 7 and 8, ISW predicted an assault on Kiev "in the coming 24-96 hours", on March 9 they reported the assault had begun "on a smaller scale and in a more ad hoc manner than expected", and now they're saying that "the likelihood is increasing that Ukrainian forces could fight to a standstill the Russian ground forces attempting to encircle and take Kyiv."
Article:
  • Russian operations around Kyiv remained largely stalled over the past 24 hours.
  • Ukrainian forces badly damaged a Russian armored unit east of the capital, likely disrupting Russian efforts to encircle or assault the city from the east.
  • Russian forces continue to struggle in efforts to seize Chernihiv city and to secure the long ground lines of communication from Sumy, which the Ukrainians still hold, to eastern Kyiv.
  • A new Russian invasion from western Belarus, with or without Belarusian ground forces’ support, appears increasingly unlikely.
  • Russian forces remain pinned down attempting to reduce Mariupol by siege and bombardment.
  • Russian efforts to bypass Mykolayiv and establish a reliable ground line of communication across the Southern Bug River to the north of Mykolayiv remain stalled.
  • Ukrainian air force and air defense operations continue to hinder Russian ground forces maneuver by likely limiting Russian close air support and exposing Russian mechanized forces to Ukrainian air and artillery attacks.

Russian forces will likely require a period longer than the previous operational pauses of 48-72 hours to sufficiently reinforce their forces to resume advances on Kyiv, if they are able to at all.

The Ukrainian General Staff additionally reported on March 10 that Russian saboteurs are wearing yellow armbands (an identifying marker of Ukrainian forces) as well as a yellow band on the leg to identify themselves to other Russian forces. The General Staff additionally stated Russian saboteurs may have infiltrated Kyiv under the guise of evacuated residents of Kyiv’s suburbs. ISW cannot independently confirm the possible successes of Russian efforts to infiltrate Kyiv.

Russian and/or Belarusian forces remain unlikely to attempt to open a new axis of advance into western Ukraine in the near future. The Ukrainian General Staff reported on March 10 that Ukrainian forces continue to cover the border with Belarus. The Russian military is unlikely to be able to concentrate sufficient combat power to conduct any meaningful operation against western Ukraine. The Ukrainian General Staff reported at midnight on March 9 that Belarus is supplying Russian forces with fuel and supplies and allowing Russian forces to use Belarusian bases but has not committed its own forces. Russian aircraft additionally continue to operate from several Belarusian airbases.

It looks like most real progress is in the South. The Russians obviously have naval superiority, and that may translate to local air superiority via ship radars and anti-aircraft systems.
Elsewhere, the Russians might have to wait for the Ukranian air force and air defense to succumb to attrition.

I expect the Russians to build on their success in the South and to try and roll up the entrenched Luhansk frontline by coming up from the South and getting behind the entrenched positions, and if they manage that and take Luhansk and Donezk completely, Putin might declare his liberation objective reached (and declare the advances on Kyiv and Odessa to be diversions)? We'll see.
 
Confirmed Russian losses with video/photo evidence are now above 1000 pieces of military hardware.

By Stijn Mitzer in collaboration with Joost Oliemans Kemal, Dan and Jakub Janovsky

A detailed list of the destroyed and captured vehicles and equipment of both sides can be seen below. This list is constantly updated as additional footage becomes available.

This list only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here. Small arms, munitions, civilian vehicles, trailers and derelict equipment (including aircraft) are not included in this list. All possible effort has gone into discerning the status of equipment between captured or abandoned. Many of the entries listed as 'abandoned' will likely end up captured or destroyed. Similarly, some of the captured equipment might be destroyed if it can't be recovered. ATGMs and MANPADS are included in the list but not included in the ultimate count. The Soviet flag is used when the equipment in question was produced prior to 1991.

(Click on the numbers to get a picture of each individual captured or destroyed vehicle)

Russia - 1081, of which: destroyed: 446, damaged: 13, abandoned: 166, captured: 456​


Tanks (183, of which destroyed: 63, damaged: 2, abandoned: 35, captured: 83)​


Armoured Fighting Vehicles (110, of which destroyed: 39, abandoned: 19, captured: 50)​


Infantry Fighting Vehicles (159, of which destroyed: 70, abandoned: 25, captured: 64)​


Armoured Personnel Carriers (63, of which destroyed: 21, abandoned: 11, captured: 31)​


Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Vehicles (7, of which destroyed: 2, abandoned: 1, captured: 4)​


Infantry Mobility Vehicles (37, of which destroyed: 19, damaged: 1, abandoned: 2, captured: 13)​


Communications Stations (8, of which destroyed: 2, abandoned: 4, captured: 2)​


Engineering Vehicles (36, of which destroyed: 11, abandoned: 7, captured: 18)​


Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (48, of which captured: 48)​


Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (16, of which captured: 16)​


Heavy Mortars (5, of which captured: 5)​


Towed Artillery (26, of which destroyed: 4, abandoned: 4, captured: 18)​


Self-Propelled Artillery (26, of which destroyed: 5, abandoned: 11, captured: 10)​


Multiple Rocket Launchers (19, of which destroyed: 8, abandoned: 2, captured: 9)​


Anti-Aircraft Guns (1, of which captured: 1)​


Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft Guns (8, of which destroyed: 5, abandoned: 3)​


Surface-To-Air Missile Systems (29, of which destroyed: 11, damaged: 1, abandoned: 6, captured: 11)​


Radars (1, of which destroyed: 1)​


Jammers And Deception Systems (1, of which damaged: 1)​


Aircraft (12, of which destroyed: 12)​


Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (3, of which destroyed: 1, captured: 2)​

  • 1 E95M target drone (likely used as unmanned bait in order for Ukraine to reveal the location of air defence systems): (1, captured)
  • 1 Orlan-10 reconnaissance UAV: (1, destroyed)
  • 1 Eleron-3 reconnaissance UAV: (1, captured)

Helicopters (12, of which destroyed: 9, damaged: 1, abandoned: 2)​


Logistics Trains (2, of which destroyed: 2)​


Trucks, Vehicles and Jeeps (332, of which destroyed: 158, damaged: 9, abandoned: 38, captured: 126)​

https://www.oryxspioenkop.com/2022/02/attack-on-europe-documenting-equipment.html
 
Article:

Ukraine Accuses Moscow Of 'False Flag' Operation To Lure Belarus Into War​


Kyiv has accused Russia of firing at a settlement in Belarus near the border with Ukraine in a “false flag” attempt to draw Minsk into joining Moscow’s unprovoked invasion of its neighbor.

Ukraine’s Air Command said in a statement on March 11 that border authorities received information detailing how Russian aircraft took off from an airfield in Belarus, crossed into Ukrainian airspace, and then fired back across at the Belarusian village of Kopani.
The Ukrainian military said two other Belarusian settlements were also targeted in the same operation.

“This is a provocation! Goal: to get Belarusian armed forces involved in the war in Ukraine,” the Ukrainian Air Force Command said in a statement.
“We officially declare: The Ukrainian military has not planned and does not plan to take any aggressive action against the Republic of Belarus,” the security service said in a statement on its Telegram channel.
“We appeal to the Belarusian people: Do not let yourself be used in a criminal war!” it added.

The report came on the same day Belarus’s authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka visited with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Belarus has assisted Putin in launching the attack by allowing its territory to be used as a staging ground for Russian troops.

Belarusian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Ina Harbachova dismissed the Ukrainian Air Force Command's statement as false.
"The Defense Ministry unequivocally states that the information about a missile strike at a Belarusian village is nonsense," Harbachova said.


Update: "Residents of Kopan, Bukhlich and Upper Terebezh did not hear the sounds of explosions or shots"

Source: https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1502304801111134209
 
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Article:

Russia has lost nearly as many soldiers in Ukraine as US has in Iraq/Afghanistan since 2001​

A U.S. official told CBS News on Wednesday the U.S. is estimating between 5,000 and 6,000 Russian troops have been killed, adding, however, that it is difficult to count war casualties at this time in Ukraine.
The number of Russian troops killed could possibly be as low as 3,500, according to the official, although the head of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency had estimated earlier this week that as many as 4,000 Russian troops had been killed, Military.com reported.
Even with the lower estimates of Russian troops killed, the total would be higher than all the U.S. troop casualties in Afghanistan alone, which the Pentagon estimates to be 2,461 troops.

The Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs at Brown University estimates 7,057 U.S. troops died from 2001 to 2019 during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The count excludes those killed in 2020 and 2021.
CNN reported Thursday 7,075 U.S. soldiers were killed during the 20 years the U.S. was at war in the two countries.

Ukraine has been able to gather support with at least 20 countries sending them weapons and 20,000 foreign nationals volunteering to join the military and fight the Russian invasion.

Calling 5,000 to 6,000 deaths "nearly as many" as 7,057 is a stretch, but at this rate it won't take 20 years to get to 7,057.
The above article got one thing backwards, so I didn't quote this part: "Russia and Ukraine have offered vastly different totals of how many Russians have been killed. Moscow has said as low as 2,870 troops while Kyiv states more than 11,000."
If you follow the link, you'll see that Moscow said 2,870 Ukrainians were killed, not Russians: "Russia has claimed Ukraine has lost 2,870 troops and had more than 3,500 injured as of last Friday, The Washington Post reported. Ukrainian officials have disavowed those numbers but have not given their own estimates."

Wikipedia cites an article that cites an official Soviet estimate of 14,453 Soviet forces killed in the Soviet-Afghan War from 1979 to 1989.
 
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Ukraine Accuses Moscow Of 'False Flag' Operation To Lure Belarus Into War
This news reminded me of this thread about the Ukrainian claim that Belarus is willing, but unable, to join the invasion.
I'd believe this item more if Belarus had not denied it, or if there was some evidence of the damage.
 
Article:
Two large explosions were seen on Sunday at the base in Yavoriv, a garrison city just 12km from the Polish border. The rocket attack took place at 5.45am. Kozytskyi said Russian forces fired more than 30 cruise missiles at the Yavoriv base.

SmartSelect_20220313-123918_Samsung Internet.jpg

This looks like Russians were testing Ukrainian air defenses, and trying to trigger NATO air defenses stationed in Poland. It may also have been targeted to hit international volunteers.
 
Article:
The Russian occupiers are planning to hold a pseudo-referendum on the territories of Kherson region temporarily occupied by them to proclaim the so-called KhNR [Kherson National Republic], deputy of Kherson Regional Council Serhiy Khlan said.

According to him, the occupiers call deputies of the Kherson regional council on the phone with the question "are they ready to cooperate with the invaders?"

Looks like Krim 2.0, if true.
 
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