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Cont: The Russian invasion of Ukraine part 6

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Pixel42 said:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64047058

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit Washington to meet US President Joe Biden on Wednesday, the White House has confirmed.

It's his first foreign trip since the Russian invasion in February.

Mr Zelensky will also be given the opportunity to address Congress.
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There are very few times where I miss ex-members but I'm sure that one prominent ex-member would categorise this as a rat deserting a sinking ship and that Zelensky has no intention of returning to Ukraine and would instead be bolting to Italy to join is money there. :rolleyes:

Then something, something Pre$$titutes. :rolleyes:
 
SpitfireIX said:
The omnibus spending bill, which seems likely to pass Congress within the next few days (although there will have to be some horse-trading in the Senate to get a few recalcitrant Republicans to agree to fast-track the legislation) contains a large amount of funding for Ukraine. From The Hill:

Ukraine aid

The funding bill includes more than $40 billion for Ukraine aid, higher than what the White House requested last month. The jump comes as there have been concerns about how such funding would fare next year in a GOP-led House where some conservatives have become critical of the aid.​

Note that this money will all need be spent by September 30, 2023, as that is the last day of the US fiscal year.
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It's good to see that Democrats recognise that the GOP intend to hang Ukraine out to dry and are taking steps while they can. I guess that Russia now knows that unless a peace agreement is in place by 2023-09-30, the GOP will ensure that Russia will have the upper hand. :(
 
The Don said:
There are very few times where I miss ex-members but I'm sure that one prominent ex-member would categorise this as a rat deserting a sinking ship and that Zelensky has no intention of returning to Ukraine and would instead be bolting to Italy to join is money there. :rolleyes:

Then something, something Pre$$titutes. :rolleyes:
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One current but temporarily absent member would doubtless say the same. He recently accused Zelensky of being interested only in his bank account, having apparently forgotten that this was a man who, despite being offered asylum by several countries and the chance to set up a government in exile when Russia first invaded, opted to stay in Kyiv to lead the fight. Like most people, I expected him to be dead within days. Incredible bravery.
 
a_unique_person said:
Interesting. Putin goes to Belarus. Belarus now has it's economy and armed forces fully integrated with Russia but it's still a "Sovereign State". Lukashenko won't be around for much longer, either.
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So having beggared Russia, Putin is now on track to beggar Belarus.

Hmm, I think I might be using an incorrect letter in there somewhere
 
I'll just let this speak for itself. From Newsweek:

Putin Complains About Civilian Casualties as Zelensky Heads to U.S.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has complained that Ukrainian forces are inflicting civilian casualties in eastern parts of the country occupied by Russian troops, as his Ukrainian counterpart President Volodymyr Zelensky heads to the U.S. to lobby for expanded American support for Kyiv. . . .

"I call attention to the fact that not a single foreign media outlet or human rights organization has broken the silence on this issue," Putin said, referring to Ukrainian shelling of areas in Donetsk, including the eponymous city just behind the front line. . . .

Putin did not acknowledge the tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians killed by Russian forces since February. Nor did he mention the alleged war crimes committed by his forces across occupied Ukrainian territory, with thousands thought to have been tortured, disappeared or executed. The Kremlin denies that any atrocities have taken place despite significant evidence for them.​
 
That complaint about civilian casualties is something that was remarked on in Perun's video this week. Protecting pro-Russian civilians from Ukrainian shelling is one of the main excuses Russia used for its invasion. The numbers of civilian casualties in Donbas in recent years due to the Russian-created insurgency has been running at around two dozen per year (on both sides, and mostly victims of mines). The Russian invasion has made that worse by a factor of perhaps two hundred times.
 
SpitfireIX said:
I'll just let this speak for itself. From Newsweek:

Putin Complains About Civilian Casualties as Zelensky Heads to U.S.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has complained that Ukrainian forces are inflicting civilian casualties in eastern parts of the country occupied by Russian troops, as his Ukrainian counterpart President Volodymyr Zelensky heads to the U.S. to lobby for expanded American support for Kyiv. . . .

"I call attention to the fact that not a single foreign media outlet or human rights organization has broken the silence on this issue," Putin said, referring to Ukrainian shelling of areas in Donetsk, including the eponymous city just behind the front line. . . .

Putin did not acknowledge the tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians killed by Russian forces since February. Nor did he mention the alleged war crimes committed by his forces across occupied Ukrainian territory, with thousands thought to have been tortured, disappeared or executed. The Kremlin denies that any atrocities have taken place despite significant evidence for them.​
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I think that just wrecked a lot of Irony Meters...
Of course there is a precedent; Hitler complained like hell about German Civilian Casualties.....
 
Zelinsky's US visit appears to be very sucessful;I think some of the comparasions to Churchill's 1941 Christmas visit to the US might be overblown, but still significent.
And he will be taking home a nice Christmas present: Patriot MIsiles.
 
Pixel42 said:
One current but temporarily absent member would doubtless say the same. He recently accused Zelensky of being interested only in his bank account, having apparently forgotten that this was a man who, despite being offered asylum by several countries and the chance to set up a government in exile when Russia first invaded, opted to stay in Kyiv to lead the fight. Like most people, I expected him to be dead within days. Incredible bravery.
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You should inform him of your admiration when he returns from suspension.
 
a_unique_person said:
Blocking brigades are part of the standard Russian BTG.
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dudalb said:
I knew they were during WW2,,the opening scenes of "Enemy At The Gates" is quite accurate in that regard, did not know they have become standard. THngs don't change much in Russia in many ways...
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From a discord chat (DefMon3's)

Between Polish milbloggers there are roumors that those 20-25k of recruited prisoners are used as a cannon fodder guided real-time from drones thru radio by "elite" of Wagnerites (they call themselves as league or orchestra - anyway not the recent recruited fodder).

The squad receives direction of attack and they need to go.... if they deviate/retreat/not listnening to the directions given from radio there is always possibility of friendly fire
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jimbob said:
From a discord chat (DefMon3's)
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Between Polish milbloggers there are roumors that those 20-25k of recruited prisoners are used as a cannon fodder guided real-time from drones thru radio by "elite" of Wagnerites (they call themselves as league or orchestra - anyway not the recent recruited fodder).

The squad receives direction of attack and they need to go.... if they deviate/retreat/not listnening to the directions given from radio there is always possibility of friendly fire
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So these drones are basically herding dogs?
 
a_unique_person said:
Blocking brigades are part of the standard Russian BTG.
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No they're not. Soviet/Russian Battalion Task Groups are sub-units of a division, organized in place of brigades, typically a core of combined arms troops plus combat support and logistical elements. In the current Russian scheme of things, they are doctrinally unsound, and performed quite poorly in the early phases of this war. Russia is not currently employing any proper BTGs right now.

By many accounts, Russia is using blocking troops, just not whole brigades of them blocking BTGs. Especially since BTGs are supposed to be composed of well-trained volunteers, who shouldn't need that sort of thing. Supplementing a BTG with blocking troops would be very much nonstandard.

On the other hand, it's probably the case that Wagner is using low-quality conscripts as cannon fodder on the Bakhmut front. I've also seen reports that the Kadyrovites are being used almost exclusively as blocking troops in some sectors.
 
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