Russia and its “Special Operation” in Ukraine

[avfc1982am]

10 minutes ago, Lichfield Dean said:

Some comments suggest it's a training video?

Yep, so much bs out there. 

[magnkarl]

Russia trying to recruit soldiers for "short contracts" on civilian job platforms in Russia. You know it's going well when you're resorting to printing rubles to pay for untrained kids to go to war.

Apparently the application sites are being swarmed with CV's full of pictures of what has happened in Bucha with Ukranian trolls applying with experience such as "killing civilians, murdering kids and killing anyone opposed to Putin".. Wonder if whoever reads the CV's is having a good time.

[Genie]

Just now, magnkarl said:

Russia trying to recruit soldiers for "short contracts" on civilian job platforms in Russia. You know it's going well when you're resorting to printing rubles to pay for untrained kids to go to war.

Apparently the application sites are being swarmed with CV's full of pictures of what has happened in Bucha with Ukranian trolls applying with experience such as "killing civilians, murdering kids and killing anyone opposed to Putin".. Wonder if whoever reads the CV's is having a good time.

They’ll be telling Putin that the recruitment is going really well though, we can be sure of that.

[PussEKatt]

Yes,its like Hitler in WW II.If anyone gave him news that he dint like they got shot/prison.

[Awol]

If you’re setting out to commit genocide I suppose you have to double down and own it when the world finds out.

 

[Davkaus]

4 hours ago, magnkarl said:

Russia trying to recruit soldiers for "short contracts" on civilian job platforms in Russia. You know it's going well when you're resorting to printing rubles to pay for untrained kids to go to war.

Short contracts is a nice euphemism for cannon fodder not expected to last long enough to require a wage.

[mjmooney]

58 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

Short contracts is a nice euphemism for cannon fodder not expected to last long enough to require a wage.

I wonder how long it will be before they revive their WWII tactic of sending in unarmed infantry in the second wave - with instructions to pick up rifles from the dead bodies of the first wave? 

[Mr_Dogg]

9 hours ago, BleedClaretAndBlue said:

 

What are those lights in the sky?

[Awol]

2 minutes ago, Mr_Dogg said:

What are those lights in the sky?

Para-illum. White Phosphorus hanging under a parachute to illuminate a portion of the battlefield. Normally put into the sky via a mortar or a small hand held rocket called a schermuly (in the British army). 

[Sam-AVFC]

5 minutes ago, Awol said:

Para-illum. White Phosphorus hanging under a parachute to illuminate a portion of the battlefield. Normally put into the sky via a mortar or a small hand held rocket called a schermuly (in the British army). 

Well this post makes me feel stupid. I've seen a few clips of these lights and it never crossed my mind something had to hold them up.

[magnkarl]

It looks like Azov’s special forces are alive and well. It also looks like Russians are being Russians.

(put in spoiler as graphic)

Spoiler

 

 

[KentVillan]

Something that worries me a bit with this situation is how far Boris would be willing to go to save his own job / satisfy his own Churchillian fantasies.

So far, Boris’s political interests have aligned well with (IMO) sensible policy on Ukraine. We’ve armed them well, stood up to Putin, and generally been a good ally. We’ve done a far better job than Germany and France.

But what happens if Boris gets addicted to the U.K. “leading the way” and starts to freelance outside the broader Nato / US strategy? Is there a risk that he gets it wrong?

It’s worth also noting that the Orban situation in Hungary owes a lot to the British Conservative Party. And that our response to the refugee crisis has been shameful. There’s still plenty this govt has got wrong on Russia/Ukraine, even if the military aid has been well thought out.

[bickster]

17 minutes ago, magnkarl said:

It looks like Azov’s special forces are alive and well. It also looks like Russians are being Russians.

(put in spoiler as graphic)

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Saw this yesterday, it would actually have been easier to throw it the other way

[bickster]

This raises a question

Did TikTok take it down or Apple? TikTok being Chinese, the answer is very relevant. Instagram, which Russians cant access without a VPN is still up in the App Store so that suggests it may have been TikTok themselves

 

[Awol]

41 minutes ago, KentVillan said:

 

But what happens if Boris gets addicted to the U.K. “leading the way” and starts to freelance outside the broader Nato / US strategy? Is there a risk that he gets it wrong?

I wouldn’t worry. UK freelancing was done on the slipway into this conflict when individual European states needed someone to ‘go first’ in supplying lethal aid, thus giving them some cover to do the same. Between Russian war crimes and the obvious determination of Ukrainians to resist invasion, the western alliance is now committed and in lock-step (those that matter, at any rate).

 

Edited April 19, 2022 by Awol

[avfc1982am]

8 minutes ago, bickster said:

This raises a question

Did TikTok take it down or Apple? TikTok being Chinese, the answer is very relevant. Instagram, which Russians cant access without a VPN is still up in the App Store so that suggests it may have been TikTok themselves

 

Maybe someone in a Russian bunker somewhere has called his special friend in Beijing and asked them to take it down as Russians may see stuff they don't want them to?  

[bickster]

10 minutes ago, avfc1982am said:

Maybe someone in a Russian bunker somewhere has called his special friend in Beijing and asked them to take it down as Russians may see stuff they don't want them to?  

I can't imagine it’s that because the Russians would just block it like they have with Instagram. Unless the stories about their internet blocking really starting to struggle with the sheer amount of work it has to do are true.

TikTok was also the favoured platform for the likes of the Kadyrovites to publicise their fake battles. The Russians were actively using it for propaganda

[Awol]

I know Russian soldiers are murdering civilians like it’s going out of fashion, but something about this seemed extra disgusting and mindless.

 

[tonyh29]

1 hour ago, KentVillan said:

It’s worth also noting that the Orban situation in Hungary owes a lot to the British Conservative Party.

 as someone who lived in Hungary  and has close ties to it (indeed I flew in from there this morning ) you’ve lost me there , can you elaborate ? 

[KentVillan]

22 minutes ago, tonyh29 said:

 as someone who lived in Hungary  and has close ties to it (indeed I flew in from there this morning ) you’ve lost me there , can you elaborate ? 

David Cameron formed an alliance with Orban around 2016 and legitimised him as a voice of sensible Eurosceptic conservativism in Central Europe. Orban got a lot of good press from the Spectator, Telegraph, etc because he was "standing up to Brussels" and being tough on migration.

(I've probably overstated the influence of British politicians tbh... guess a more accurate way to describe it is that it wasn't a smart move from the Tories to ally themselves with a corrupt Putin puppet.)

Edit: https://www.ft.com/content/7210239c-b567-11e5-8358-9a82b43f6b2f

Quote

Mr Orban, who has described Europe’s refugee influx as a Muslim invasion that threatens the continent’s Christian foundations, is an unlikely ally for Mr Cameron, who on Thursday became the first western leader to visit Budapest in nearly a year.

As the leader of one of the “Visegrad Four” group of central and eastern European countries, Mr Orban’s support for Mr Cameron’s proposals to reform British welfare entitlements for EU workers could be crucial, particularly if he can move countries such as Poland, which are more intransigent on the issue, closer to an agreement with the UK.

“Hungarians that work well and contribute to the UK economy should not suffer or experience discrimination,” Mr Orban told reporters. “But we are open to solutions that tackle abuses of the system.”

Analysts said Mr Cameron’s visit was a chance for Mr Orban to clear an air of diplomatic isolation that has lingered in Budapest since he hosted Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital last February, in the midst of violence in eastern Ukraine.

 

Edited April 19, 2022 by KentVillan