bump
Ukrainian arms sales to Russia seem to be going well. Get free fancy western hardware worth millions, sell it for $0.10 on the ruble (hryvnia?), profit!
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Gas cuts hit home in Germany as one city bans hot showers to save gas.
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It appears that even Amnesty International is in Putin’s pocket … according to the Ukrainian leader …
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy angrily denounced the report, saying Amnesty International “tries to amnesty the terrorist state and shift the responsibility from the aggressor to the victim.”
“If you provide manipulative reports,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address, “then you share the responsibility for the death of people with them.”
I’m not sure if his response went out locally, or was only for the international media.
Meanwhile, Russian forces continue to use nuclear power stations as a backdrop for their artillery and munitions storage…
It’s an ugly situation all around, but when you’re defending yourself against a highly motivated aggressor that is not following the rules, it likely requires difficult decisions that won’t have the full truth available until the conflict is over.
RUSSIA STATE MEDIA: NORTH KOREA OFFERING KREMILIN 100,000 VOLUNTEERS TO ASSIST IN UKRAINE WAR
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Yes, the North Korean giant has told Putin that he can have as many “soldiers” as he needs. The only stipulation is that if any are returned, they must weigh 100% more that when Russia receives them.
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I’m not trying to argue, but that is probably one of the arguments any country uses when they’re caught doing something wrong, or to justify something that looks bad …
Iran, Iraq, Syria, the “PLO”, Russia, China (soon), even dear old Uncle Sam, all claim they’re being attacked, persecuted, mistreated, profiled, etc.
Speaking of which,
The Ukrainian military has endangered Ukrainian civilians by establishing bases and operating weapons systems in residential areas - including in schools and hospitals - as it has sought to repel the Russian invasion, Amnesty International said today. Ukraine’s tactics have violated international humanitarian law as they’ve turned civilian objects into military targets.
International humanitarian law requires that all parties to a conflict should avoid locating, to the maximum extent feasible, military objectives within or near densely-populated areas. Other obligations to protect civilians from the effects of attacks include removing civilians from the vicinity of military objectives and giving effective warning of attacks that may affect the civilian population.
Amnesty researchers witnessed Ukrainian forces using hospitals as de facto military bases in five locations… Using hospitals for military purposes is a clear violation of international humanitarian law.
The Ukrainian military has also routinely set up bases in schools in towns and villages in Donbas and in the Mykolaiv area… At 22 out of 29 schools visited, Amnesty researchers either found soldiers using the premises or found evidence of current or prior military activity - including the presence of military fatigues, discarded munitions, army ration packets and military vehicles.
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Isnt there quite a difference between storing stuff by a power plant, and actively operating out of and within a residential area? I know I’ll get dismissed as being pro-Russian with this comment, but do you really expect any army to store their munitions in the middle of an open field to be destroyed indiscriminately? That’s a far cry from conducting operations within a hospital, where the enemy’s only option to stop said operations is to attack the hospital.
Conversely, regardless of where munitions are being stored, the objective is not to destroy those munitions, it is to stop those who are using those munitions. And those munitions are being used elsewhere. It’s a pretty fine line, and in reality I dont know where anyone has actually fallen in regards to that line, but I can see this quite easily not being a “tit-for-tat” breaking of the rules.
On the other hand, is there any argument to be made that they’re defending those civilian populations against that invading force? That’s kinda hard to do from afar.
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Another region in eastern Ukraine being consolidated into Russia
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KREMLIN ON ERDOGAN PROPOSAL FOR UKRAINE TALKS: THERE IS CURRENTLY NO BASIS FOR A MEETING BETWEEN PUTIN AND ZELENSKIY
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RUSSIA-INSTALLED OFFICIAL IN UKRAINE’S ZAPORIZHZHIA REGION SIGNED DECREE ON HOLDING REFERENDUM TO JOIN RUSSIA - RIA
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GERMAN GOVT SPOKESPERSON ON REDUCED GAS SUPPLY: WE FACE DIFFICULT MONTHS AHEAD, BUT WE STAND BY UKRAINE AND THE SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA
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Isnt there quite a difference between storing stuff by a power plant, and actively operating out of and within a residential area? I know I’ll get dismissed as being pro-Russian with this comment, but do you really expect any army to store their munitions in the middle of an open field to be destroyed indiscriminately? That’s a far cry from conducting operations within a hospital, where the enemy’s only option to stop said operations is to attack the hospital.
Conversely, regardless of where munitions are being stored, the objective is not to destroy those munitions, it is to stop those who are using those munitions. And those munitions are being used elsewhere. It’s a pretty fine line, and in reality I dont know where anyone has actually fallen in regards to that line, but I can see this quite easily not being a “tit-for-tat” breaking of the rules.
In this particular case, the Russians have been actively operating out of that power plant since fairly early in the conflict (March, if I recall correctly).
They have been using it as a deterrent to counter-attack on their artillery – and the latest propaganda from the commander there is that if they risk losing the power plant that they’ll destroy it completely. (the statement was something to the effect of “this is Russian land, or it is a desert”)
Though to your second paragraph – destroying enemy munitions storage is absolutely a military objective to deny your enemy further use of those munitions and disrupt their logistics.
I have some budget problems, but no one’s throwing me $5B. Must be nice, until the taxpayers get the bill.
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U.S. TO SEND $4.5 BILLION MORE TO UKRAINE FOR BUDGET NEEDS
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WORLD BANK GROUP SAYS IT IS MOBILIZING $4.5 BLN IN ADDITIONAL GRANT FINANCING FOR UKRAINE
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U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES $1 BILLION IN ADDITIONAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE FOR UKRAINE
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LATEST U.S. ASSISTANCE FOR UKRAINE INCLUDES ADDITIONAL AMMUNITION FOR HIGH MOBILITY ARTILLERY ROCKET SYSTEMS - PENTAGON SPOKESPERSON
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LATEST U.S. ASSISTANCE FOR UKRAINE INCLUDES 75,000 ROUNDS OF 155MM ARTILLERY AMMUNITION - PENTAGON SPOKESPERSON
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I have some budget problems, but no one’s throwing me $5B. Must be nice, …
Yeah, sure must be nice to be invaded and pillaged by Russia.
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Speaking of pillaging, here in the US, we take what we want.
- U.S. OBTAINS WARRANT TO SEIZE AIRPLANE FROM SANCTIONED RUSSIAN OLIGARCH ANDREI SKOCH -MANHATTAN FEDERAL PROSECUTORS
Shockingly, the Biden family proceeds from Ukraine and Russia seem to have avoided scrutiny.
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Yes, upholding sanctions and acting via warrant is clearly the same type of thing as invading the neighboring country and murdering, raping, and pillaging.
Absolutely equivalent. No question.
Isnt this pissing away a billion here and a billion there just putting a band aid on a bullet wound? It isnt enough to make a tangible difference let alone turn the tide, thus it is just prolonging and delaying what is inevitable anyways.
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I mean, we made up the sanctions and we made up the warrant and we took some Russian dude’s plane. Clearly we don’t respect property rights, so if you piss off the Feds, you’re a Russian sympathizer and I’m sure they can get a warrant for taking your stuff and your bank account too (unless your last name is Biden, and then the FBI can’t seem to bother tracking down multi million dollar Russia wire transfers, nope nope nothing to see here). Almost $100M worth, nice plane.
U.S. DOJ SAYS UNITED STATES OBTAINS WARRANT FOR SEIZURE OF AIRPLANE OF SANCTIONED RUSSIAN OLIGARCH ANDREI SKOCH, WORTH OVER $90 MLN
That’s no different than the mugger on the street making up a Black Reparations manifesto and warrant for whitey’s wallet and then mugging you. Expect the Feds have bigger guns to mug people with.
If you’re in favor of “might makes right”, well, then you don’t need warrants and all that. But if that’s your take, Russia is right to take what they can from Ukraine or anyone else too. I’m not quite sure if I remember this quote right 
“The strong do as they will, the poor suffer as they must, and these days, the lawyers make up excuses for the former instead of protecting the latter”
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It isnt enough to make a tangible difference let alone turn the tide, thus it is just prolonging and delaying what is inevitable anyways.
Is it? Guess we’ll see.