Abandoned armoured vehicles? Anyone up for crowdfunding a retrieval on GoFundMe?
I had the same exact reaction. Mmm, "salvage".
Abandoned armoured vehicles? Anyone up for crowdfunding a retrieval on GoFundMe?
Washed, shaved, dressed in clean clothes , five Ukrainian soldiers from the 53rd Motorized Rifle Brigade entered the room with their hands interlocked behind their backs. Every day in the DPR, dozens of Ukrainian servicemen voluntarily leave their positions and surrender to the republican troops. These decided to end their war the day before.
We meet with them at the temporary accommodation centre. I had a chance to communicate with prisoners in 2014-2015. Their stories are monotonous, as if under a copy. Therefore, I did not expect much from the upcoming conversation. However, she painted not so much a portrait of Ukrainian soldiers as an image of modern Ukraine, in which people are killed out of desperation.
"I didn't see the Javelin in the eye"
Senior Lieutenant Alexander Markov comes from Pavlograd, Dnipropetrovsk region. He studied at the Metallurgical Academy, has a specialty "heat treatment of metal". He worked at the military department at the Mining University, receiving the rank of second lieutenant.
Then wandering through different parts of the Ministry of Defense and the National Guard in search of the optimal ratio of safe and paid work, until he finally settled in the 53rd brigade.
"I just wanted to work near the house," says Starley.
He came to Donetsk's Bogdanovka as the commander of an anti-tank platoon, but he did not see the Javelins in his eyes. And the British NLAW, as they say, only once - in the door peephole. He says that he did not take part in the battles, the soldiers were engaged in domestic issues, they guarded themselves.
- In the morning, a massive artillery preparation began, a lot of shells flew. That is, we sat there in the trenches, we could not even do anything. Until about seven in the morning we waited for the equipment. I think these were brigade tanks, they went out into the field, we had already begun to turn away. I called the command, with the combatant, I said – what should we do? He says , sit on, hold our ground. I mean, we sat there. About two hours later, the art preparation began again. I got in touch, told me to curl up. Me and the soldier Derevyanko ran to the house, hiding there and sitting for three hours. We thought to wait out the artillery preparation. When it calmed down, we heard equipment, helicopters. We ran out onto the road and saw your guys standing there, well, we immediately gave up.
- Have you been ideologically pumped up, against whom are you fighting?
- Well, I was told that there was a breakthrough, separatists with the support of Russia.
- Is the 53rd Brigade staffed mainly by people from which regions?
- Luhansk, Donetsk Oblast. In technical terms, the equipment is very bad. And there is no fuel, and the cars are broken, everything is old, there is nothing new. We have about 115 new people in the battalion who just came under the first contracts. No one expected such actions to unfold.
Voenkor kp.ru spoke with those who voluntarily laid down their arms.
Photo: Alexander KOTS
Voted for the LPR
The operator of the anti-tank platoon Roman Golub is from Artemivsk, in the Donetsk region, which during the decommunization was renamed Bakhmut. He once served in the Ukrainian Crimea, then worked at a factory.
- Until the last I did not want to go to the armed forces, it so happened that my wife was fired from work, I was left without a job. Two children. There was no means of subsistence. I went to the draft board. And where to go? Factories cut everything, machines, cars on the secondary, I personally saw, they take out the equipment from the factories. No work at all. Well, in order to earn money, you need to support your family, I decided to sign a contract.
- Did you participate in the referendum in Artemovsk in 2014?
- Yes.
- What did you vote for?
- For the LPR.
- And why did you end up fighting against the LPR?
- 8 Years Of War. When will it end? There was no money. There is no work. The family must be supported. When a child says I want to eat... It would have ended sooner...
I bought my own uniform
Soldier Andrei Litvinov was born in the Krasnodar Territory, in the Uspensky District, but then moved with his mother to Ukraine - to the Lugansk region. He received the specialty of a tractor driver-driver, a mechanic-combine harvester. He served in Lviv, then for two years he kicked a fool on a civilian and returned to the army to earn money.
Their stories are monotonous, as if under a copycat.
Photo: Alexander KOTS
- I signed the contract, they didn't shoe me, they didn't dress me, the boys, what they could, they gave me. The wife had already sent a jacket, a jacket, a fleece from the house so that she would not be in the civilian. We were brought to the front line, abandoned, told – go, watch the equipment, guard ... They gave 4 stores and one Kalash. All. Fighting broke out, I called. He asked what to do, will they take us away or not? They said, keep on the defensive. And then we realized that there was no point in fighting at all, and we decided to retreat.
- Have you decided to hide in an apartment building?
- Yes. We threw away the assault rifles, the armored men, then we heard a noise, shined a flashlight - we did not resist, gave up and we were accepted, taken to the authorities, talked, fed and brought here.
- Who's Waiting at Home for You?
- My wife at home is seven months pregnant, two children from the first marriage. Sisters and brothers.
- If you are released now and the house is called again?
- I'm not going anymore, I've had enough. This war has already taught me that there is no point in fighting. Why? For being treated so rudely? They abandoned it like cattle, and they ran away. I think that's not normal.
"People are dying everywhere"
Oksana Kravtsova, a medical shooter, also from the Luhansk region, worked as a cook in the dining room. She completed medical courses and "decided to go save people." And unlike her male co-workers, she seemed to say exactly what she thought. Without ostentatious audacity, without challenge in the eyes, but firmly and confidently.
Oksana Kravtsova, a medical shooter, also from the Luhansk region, worked as a cook in the dining room
Photo: Alexander KOTS
- Did you know that the armed forces of Ukraine kill civilians in Lugansk and Donetsk?
- Of course I did. They have been killed for eight years, this war is going on.
- And that didn't stop you?
- At the time when I signed the contract, there was no such war as in one day now.
- Did you know about 2014, about 2015, when people were killed here?
- Yes, I knew that there was a strong war at that time.
- And still decided to join the army?
- Yes, I did. I decided to go medicated.
- How did you get captured?
- I was the only one left out of all the survivors, as a medic - and that's it. So I got there. I was in the dugout at the time. After each heavy shelling, I would go out and check if there were any wounded or not. The first time everything worked out, all the people were alive, healthy at that time. The second time I didn't come out because there was a lot of shelling. I came out when there were already a lot of military men and a lot of tanks. All.
- How old are you?
- 36.
- So when the war started, you were already quite an adult and understood what was happening?
- Sure.
- Do you have children?
- Yes, there is. One child. Daughter.
- Have you seen the footage of the murdered children in Donetsk?
- Yes, of course.
- And still you went into the army. Why?
- I went not to kill. I went to just provide medical care.
- To the One Who Kills?
- And they are also killed, they are also assisted. Here, too, they kill. And they kill there.
- Now you will return home and will no longer live in Ukraine, but will live in the LPR. How do you like this reality?
- Well, if it actually already exists. In the city where I lived, it belonged to Ukraine yet. When I come back, it's a matter of time – it could be a day, a month, a year, five. A lot can change during this time. The main thing is that there should be good power. For people to live. It doesn't matter in which state.
- Well, the people who gave their lives for this are probably still important.
- People have given their lives now. When I came out of hiding and saw how human bodies were mixed with the ground ...
It is clear that Oksana Kravtsova does not regret anything and is completely confident in her rightness. I did not explain to her the difference between those who carried out criminal orders and those who voluntarily stood up to defend their homeland. While it is useless, it has yet to undergo reformatting. Perhaps a visit to the Alley of Angels in Memory of the People Who Died in Donbass will help speed up this process.
Читайте на WWW.KP.RU: https://www.kp.ru/daily/27369.5/4551555/
People are aware of Ukrainian war crimes to a degree.
One wrong does not justify another, but also, again, I have no issue with coups with significant popular support. Second, he was actually impeached by the elected congress, so this was a democratic exchange of power. People seem to forget that. You are also forgetting that Russia invaded then too.
Mainstream YouTuber Real Life Lore actually pointed out the energy reserves located in the Donbass Region... just out of reach of the poor unfortunate Donbass Seperatists.
I don't know why NATO placed those energy reserves there but it's destabilized the region.
It's actually a pretty good video overall. Talks about the pipelines, the Crimean Water Crisis, the precursor War with Georgia, how Belarus could be threatened if Ukraine joined NATO, Russia's Demographic Crisis so to speak etc.
The script was also clearly written right before the Invasion began but after Putin declared the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions Independent.
Oh, you are one of those.Think you have an extra begin quote.
As for democracy and mob rule, yes there is a difference. But 1) Ukraine never had a democracy (and now maybe has a flawed one at best) and 2) I'm an Anarcho-Capitalist at heart only contained by the reality that it doesn't work cause warlords, so I'm fine with even a minority coup breaking away on their own. Freedom to leave is definitely a thing.
Actually, they are going to great lengths to keep casualties down to a minimum, see what Ritter had to say about the entire situation.So I was probably too hasty in thinking this would be Russian roll of Ukraine. The longer this takes, the worse it is going to be for them as Ukraine takes deliveries of weapons. This is gonna be a total clusterfuck for Russia (unless they win soon, they look incompetent).
They no longer give a shit about soft power in Europe, if you look at what they are focusing on it is mostly Asia.Basically, Russia sacrificed all of it's Euro softpower in this move, and that was really good for a flagging NATO. This could also cause more hostility toward China, as Europe starts realizing it needs to follow the US more.
Oh, how much raping, murdering and enslavement have the Russians done?Again if an enemy is coming to rape murder and enslaved you. Throw everything and the kitchen sink at them. Russians historically have not been gentle when fighting.
Oryx: I think they're Turkish but they have affiliates or whatever everywhere.
That's just, like, your opinion man.From my perspective, y'all have just gone nuts.
No, it very much didn't. The Germans put armies defending both Calais and Normandy (already a win, as it split forces), and the forces defending Normandy were the more unreliable conscripts (as famously alluded to by the 'German' trying to surrender in Saving Private Ryan) with more unreliable forces. On top of this, the 15th Army was delayed by staying in Calais to fight off another landing (which never appeared, cause that was part of the deception).
The Maidan was a response to Yanukovych's authoritarianism and physical abuse of peaceful protesters.
Sure, afterall it's what USA is doing on regular basis, realpolitik sucks for anyone who is at the receiving end, it has been a fact of life since time immemorial. Just look at all the people dying in Jemen from Saudi bombings and even more from starvation and disease brought by Saudi blockade, aided by USA - it far exceeds the death toll of Ukrainian conflict and yet you hear hardly anything in world media about it.Oh, so you'll let yourself be bullied by someone continually, since they know it can work with you.
And Turkey is backing Ukraine in this.They are from Netherlands I think one is Saffie expat. They did great work analyzing wars in the Middle East and North Korean military but dew years ago they took money from Turkey, deleted most of their older articles , so any article involving Turkey or Turkish made weapons has a very obvious bias now.
The Germans had bigger problems in the East, that is where they kept their best divisions.Germany had units in fixed positions from Spanish border to (almost) Nordkapp because Allies had capabilities to launch a landing wherever they didn't defend. These were lower quality units all along the Atlantic Wall and units in Calais were no better than those in Normandy, with Normandy being assigned a greater share of available mobile reserves, as by April the Germans considered Normandy the most likely location for invasion. The main reason why 15th army didn't join the fight was that it was a stationary force, it lacked trucks and horses to move more than fraction of it's heavy equipment.
Yup, but uninformed geniuses in the USA have the right to demand you do whatever they find ideologically expedient because Muh Freedom!Sure, afterall it's what USA is doing on regular basis, realpolitik sucks for anyone who is at the receiving end, it has been a fact of life since time immemorial. Just look at all the people dying in Jemen from Saudi bombings and even more from starvation and disease brought by Saudi blockade, aided by USA - it far exceeds the death toll of Ukrainian conflict and yet you hear hardly anything in world media about it.
Actual annexation could hardly avoid creating the exact type of unresolved border dispute that NATO hates. If such a thing happened at all, I would have to imagine it would be under the justification of administering a region of an otherwise defunct Ukraine on its people's behalf. If so, I would further imagine that such administrative regions would be likely to congeal the way I dimly recall the British, American, and French administered portions of Germany did into West Germany.NATO would not get involved but if Romania, Hungary, and Poland did move to occupy those areas and had an under the table understanding with Russia to not contest those areas and they publicly say they are providing a cordon of security to refugees trying to escape Russia. NATO would not kick them out, there might be harsh words reminding them that Poland made similar mistakes in the Czech crisis with Germany and to be careful.
I'd think it's more likely that they want their best troops to be going to the places where there's unexpectedly stiff resistance, which naturally means they're in the reserves or second thrust rather than the first wave.Makes sense, keep good men out in case nato does something, and you also get live fire training for your less qualified soldiers.
We should be careful to avoid derailing, but my impressions are:Also, how much real influence does Obama still have? He was basically the affirmative action preseident IMO.
100% accurate, you say? In wartime? Contemporaneously reporting facts on the ground as they develop? This is how you know someone is bullshitting."Their information so far has been 100% accurate"
Quite certain I saw nighttime footage of a wrecked vehicle in this exact same arrangement being passed off as Russian near Kharkov. Well, someone's lying.
...for a soyboy that fell asleep in the tanning room.We should be careful to avoid derailing, but my impressions are:
1. Don't underestimate Obama; whatever "affirmative action" you think got him over the top he is still a highly intelligent and extremely charismatic man.
I think Cammelface is his protege, but that is about it.2. I agree the specific crisis in question is probably one that isn't in his strong suit.
3. That being said, he probably keeps up to date with the intelligence briefings that I believe ex-Presidents are entitled to.
4. He probably has considerable influence on the establishment people in Biden's administration, but not to the point of ordering anyone around.
That is a verbatim quote from CRP, you wanna take him up on it - the telegram channel link is there.100% accurate, you say? In wartime? Contemporaneously reporting facts on the ground as they develop? This is how you know someone is bullshitting.
Oh sure, I don't mean to pin someone else's quote on you—I meant to communicate that with the quotation marks. He is the one I'm saying is bullshitting, for the reasons I gave and alluded to.That is a verbatim quote from CRP, you wanna take him up on it - the telegram channel link is there.
No,Russia started war.And Putin started his career as president with blowing up russian homes,so he could conqer Czecznya.Which he ,after genociding 10% of population or more,gave to his friend Kadyrow who now turned people into little good muslims dreaming about jihad.Well, the USA started all this by supporting a coup, so...
He is actually in Ukraine, has been living there for years.Oh sure, I don't mean to pin someone else's quote on you—I meant to communicate that with the quotation marks. He is the one I'm saying is bullshitting, for the reasons I gave and alluded to.
The conflict in Ukraine started after an US-supported coup, then escalated when their pet neonazis burned people alive and started shelling the Donbass.No,Russia started war.
He is actually in Ukraine, has been living there for years.
I take his view over yours.
The conflict in Ukraine started after an US-supported coup, then escalated when their pet neonazis burned people alive and started shelling the Donbass.