Very long day today, so just a brief update tonight.
I want to just really quickly make sure we touch on the Iranian news:
#BREAKING: Iran national team players choose not to sing national anthem at World Cup match; some of the Iranian crowed booing their own national anthem pic.twitter.com/RYPvgHMNUi
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) November 21, 2022
“Whatever we have is from them and we have to fight, we have to perform the best we can and score goals and represent the people. I hope conditions change as to expectations of the people.” /2
— Ehsan Hajsafi#EhsanHajsafi #MahsaAmini #IranRevoIution #FIFAWorldCup #بیشرف— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) November 21, 2022
This is significant!
Unfortunately, so is this:
Iranian regime – which has friends in Moscow, Minsk and Budapest – is apparently using nerve agent against unarmed protesters. A defeat of Russian and Iranian regimes would mean freedom for millions of people in many countries https://t.co/wZV3bQK6K8
— Olga Tokariuk (@olgatokariuk) November 21, 2022
President Zelenskyy was very busy today. We’ve got his regular address followed by his speech to the annual meeting of the NATO Parliamentary assembly. Daily address video below, English transcript after the jump followed by the NATO address video and English transcript after that.
Fellow Ukrainians!
Today we celebrate the Day of Dignity and Freedom. A holiday that shows that for us dignity and freedom is a holiday. The answer to the question of who Ukrainians are and what is most important to them.
Dear people!
I said these words in the same place on the same day exactly one year ago. What has changed since then? A lot. In our country, Europe and the whole world. But something remains unchanged. This is the answer to the question of who Ukrainians are and what is most important to us. Two values, inextricably intertwined, like the right and left banks of the Dnipro River. Like blue and yellow colors. Like Chubynsky’s words and Verbytsky’s music. Like two threads of a pattern on a vyshyvanka where our genetic code is encrypted. This is dignity and freedom.
We always remembered this and have no right to forget. We always valued this and are not afraid to defend this. We always knew what we wanted. And this year, everyone found out what we are capable of. Friends and enemies saw it. Allies and partners. We saw for ourselves. Someone – once again. Someone – for the first time. But all together we proved and continue to prove that dignity and freedom are a holiday for us. This remained unchanged. And everyone saw what Ukrainians are capable of.
Everyone saw what defenders we have. How to hold out against one of the greatest armies in the world and become one of the best armies in the world. Someone will say: it sounds loud. Yes. Our army sounds loud. For the last eight years. And for the last nine months. When hardened fighters are joined by musicians, actors, Olympic champions, IT specialists, scientists, businessmen. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who did not get on the plane, but stood in line at the military commissariat. And side by side they stood up for our dream. Free Ukraine forever.
And everyone saw what our civilians are capable of. Everyone saw what kind of citizens we have! How can you become a living wall on the path of the occupier’s military columns, stop and turn around enemy tanks and armored personnel carriers with bare hands. Go to rallies under the occupation despite the gunshots and stun grenades. Preserve the Ukrainian flag and wait to finally meet the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Flood your village to prevent the orcs from entering Kyiv.
Shoot down a Russian drone with a can. Give seeds to the occupiers so that sunflowers sprout in the place where they perish.
And everyone saw what kind of doctors, firefighters, rescuers, railway workers, energy workers, and farmers we have. How can you be on duty for several weeks in a row. Pull dozens of wounded from the battlefield. Carry out surgeries under bombs and bullets. Sow a crop and gather it as a harvest under bombs and bullets. Give lectures to students online, in the trenches. Get a bachelor’s degree online, in the trenches.
Everyone saw what kind of volunteers and caring people we have. How can you raise funds for drones, ambulance vehicles, optics, thermal imagers in a matter of hours. How to get everything. Buy everything. Bring everything. And then get, buy and bring again, because that wasn’t all. And in every village, people canned borscht and stewed meat for the frontline, because we would go red with embarrassment if our warriors ate expired dry ration, like orcs.
We are willing to give the last we have so that the Ukrainian warrior looks decently. Fights decently. Wins decently. And everyone saw what kind of business we have. Not oligarchs, but a modern, creative, humane and responsible business. How to turn your office, hotel or gym into a shelter for IDPs. How fashion shoe brands manufacture army boots. Designers of women’s dresses manufacture body armor. A garden furniture manufacturer makes anti-tank hedgehogs. A famous model cooks food for warriors and refugees. A TV presenter makes a “Bandera smoothie”. A doctor of science sorts humanitarian aid in Poland. And an opera singer evacuates hundreds of people in his car.
Everyone saw what kind of children we have. How they give up smartphones and gadgets to donate money to the army. How they wash cars and sell drawings, collecting money for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. How a boy runs away from home to enroll in the territorial defense. How a girl with shot legs drives a car 15 kilometers to take out four wounded adults.
Everyone saw what kind of people we have! Willing to give the last. Willing to stand to the last. They did not lose dignity. Bravery. Faith in themselves. And they united. In order not to lose freedom. Not to lose independence. Not to lose Ukraine.
We can be left without money. Without gasoline. Without hot water. Without light. But not without freedom. And it remains unchanged.
Yes, we have paid and continue to pay a very high price for freedom. And we will never forget all those who gave their lives for Ukraine. And we will never forgive everyone who took away their lives and wanted to take away our freedom. But the main thing is that no one succeeded and no one will ever succeed.
Dear people!
I said these words in the same place on the same day exactly one year ago. What has changed since then? A lot. Craters appeared on our land. There are roadblocks and anti-tank hedgehogs in our cities and villages. It may be dark on our streets. It may be cold in our homes. There are many changes, but they have not changed the most important thing. Because the most important thing is not outside, but inside. And it remains unchanged. And that’s why we will hold out. We will endure.
Everyone. Different. But Ukrainian men and women. Defenders. Everyone who knows: we must be worthy, we must not give up. Because Ukrainians are not used to giving up. Because they have dignity. And therefore – freedom!
This remains unchanged. We will overcome everything. Endure. Survive. Prevail!
And on the Day of Dignity and Freedom, we will gather on Maidan Nezalezhnosti. Where dignity and freedom have always been protected. On the granite, on the barricades during the Orange Revolution and the Revolution of Dignity. Where we celebrated the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence. And where we will celebrate the Victory Day of Ukraine. In a peaceful Kyiv, in a peaceful Ukraine, I will speak about the important. About the main thing. What remained unchanged. And will remain unchanged.
Glory to Ukraine!
Glory to Ukraine!
Here’s the NATO address video, there are English subtitles, they just take a second to kick in.
Dear Mr. President of the Assembly!
Dear attendees!
Dear representatives of Spain and all other countries of the Alliance!
Dear friends!
I am glad to see you and thank you for all the kind words that have just been spoken and will be spoken in the Assembly in our support – in support of the struggle for freedom.
Today, Ukraine marks the ninth anniversary of the beginning of Maidan – the Revolution of Dignity. In those months of 2013-2014, when Ukrainians in the squares and streets of our cities defended the right to European choice for our state, an important thing happened for our entire community – a community of nations united by the values of freedom, respect for law, democracy and diversity.
Ukrainians filled with a powerful life force what many began to think was just a bureaucratic formality. Ukrainians and all people in Europe, in America, in the world, who supported us and continue to support us, filled the flag of the European Union with new energy. And in fact, with the way we defend freedom in Ukraine, we united both the European Union and NATO. We showed the commonality of challenges and proved the commonality of values.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
Although Ukraine has not yet become a full-fledged part of the EU and NATO, I am addressing you on behalf of the people who have always been, are and will be part of the valuable space to which you all belong. History brought us to different sides of ideological walls. But the walls fell, and our values are all preserved.
And not only me, but millions of our people and the majority of citizens of your states support the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine. Now, when we are defending European values not in the squares and streets, but on the battlefield in a full-scale war, it is absolutely obvious how unfair and unnatural Ukraine’s alienation from Europe was. We will not leave a single percent of that alienation.
I urge you to do everything in your power so that our community of nations – nations of values – will never again be divided or weakened!
All of you see what endangers us. All of us! All who cannot imagine their life without freedom. All of you can see Ukraine’s significant contribution to the protection of our community. Everyone sees how important it is that we really united in defense after February 24.
So, due to this, you also see that Ukraine should become a full member of the European Union and NATO. And I urge you to support our applications for membership in the EU and the Alliance!
Ukrainians do not just believe – Ukrainians are sure that we can defend ourselves in this war and return the borders of a united Europe to the entire length of our eastern and southern borders. Ukrainians do not just believe – Ukrainians know that the strength of our democracy will be a guarantee that no tyranny to the east of us will be able to threaten Europe.
But in order to realize all these years, to realize all this, we have to use all the strength of our community, all the potential of our cooperation in order to gradually stop this terrorist Russian war and restore peace.
That is why I proposed the Ukrainian Peace Formula. All points of our Peace Formula are beyond doubt.
Every nation in our community is interested in ensuring that no dangerous incidents occur at nuclear facilities. We all want Russian terrorists to no longer be able to take people’s lives. Each of our states needs guaranteed protection against any Russian missiles and any sabotage against infrastructure facilities. We are all interested in the stability of energy, food and other markets. We all strive for international law to retain its force and actually work. Each of us considers it fair that those guilty of war crimes, deportations and any manifestations of genocidal policy should be brought to justice. We all wish there would be no burnt cities and ruins instead of a normal life anywhere in Europe.
All this is ensured by the Ukrainian Peace Formula, which, without being mistaken, can be called both the European peace formula and the world peace formula, as it is built on respect and protection of universal human values, on international law. From nuclear safety to the restoration of our territorial integrity, from the Tribunal for the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine to countering ecocide – everything is envisaged in our Formula.
Dear friends!
I suggest that you and your countries choose the point of the peace formula in which you can show your leadership. Joint action is what constitutes true peacemaking.
And while we concentrate our forces to implement this Formula, we must maintain one hundred percent principled position in countering Russian aggression. Russia has bet on a genocidal policy, and that is why it is destroying our energy infrastructure. To “kill” electricity, water and heat supply in winter – and this is Russia’s goal – is to put the lives of millions of people in direct danger. This is equivalent to the use of weapons of mass destruction – an absolute crime.
Therefore, it will be right if you in your parliaments designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, as the parliaments of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and the Czech Republic have done. It will be right if your countries constantly strengthen sanctions against Russia, which has become the complete opposite of our community and the most anti-European power in the world. It is the constant strengthening of sanctions that will not allow the terrorist state to adapt and find new ways of ensuring its terror. A new, ninth sanctions package of the European Union is needed, new world sanctions against Russia for terror – immediately after limiting export prices for Russian energy resources.
It will be right if we prevent Russia’s key terrorist plan and provide Ukraine with full protection of the sky. When Russian missiles, Iranian drones, and any other instruments of terror fail to reach their intended targets, Russia will have to do what we need, namely, follow our Peace Formula.
We can ensure this! But for this, Ukraine needs to be provided with a sufficient number and quality of air defense and missile defense systems. With a sufficient weight of defense and financial support. The terrorist state must see that it stands no chance.
Since 2013 and until today, Ukrainians, with the support of our friends, have demonstrated that nothing is impossible for us when we are truly united and defend our unconditional values. So, let’s maintain our unity! And let’s fight for freedom!
I thank all of you for your support!
Long live freedom!
Glory to Ukraine!
Today marks nine years since the start of Maidan. A significant date for our society. Many people consider this event as one that shaped their personality. However, not only the new history of Ukraine began on that day.
— Mariam Naiem (@mariamposts) November 21, 2022
This was an essential step in our decolonization: on the Maidan, our society refused to continue living in a "Russian world" on our territory. The Russian government answered this refusal with military invasion and annexation.
— Mariam Naiem (@mariamposts) November 21, 2022
21/11/2013 will remain one of the most important dates in our history. But maybe the second one after the day of our victory. 💙💛
— Mariam Naiem (@mariamposts) November 21, 2022
Dignity is all about conscious choice and moral acts.
Freedom is not free. Freedom is something you must fight for.
Our nation made its choice and now has to fight for it.
Today, let us honor those who are sacrificing their lives to defend our freedom! pic.twitter.com/sPsv7Vo2oO— Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) November 21, 2022
Here’s a really interesting personal recounting of the 2013 revolution:
Exactly 9 years ago today, I was in a pub with my uni pals when we heard the news that then-president Yanukovych would not sign the association agreement with the EU, crushing Ukraine's European hopes and locking us to Russia.
We were not buying it.
Here's what happened next 🧵
— Stas Olenchenko 🇺🇦 (@TheStanislawski) November 21, 2022
In 2013, we were second-year social & political science students – we were young and angry, and we definitely were not ready to spend our adult lives in a post-Soviet dictatorship.
So the next day, we went to Maidan Square in Kyiv with thousands of others fed up with Yanukovych.
Thousands grew into tens of thousands as Yanukovych ignored our demands.
Here’s a photo from a 50,000-strong protest in late November. Still peaceful, still hopeful.
The next four months were so densely packed with protests, emotions, and news that it’s impossible to put them all into one thread.
I’ll just mention some of the most notable moments.
Maidan became permanently occupied by the protestors (us) after the brutal beating of the students.
It was getting clear at that point that Yanukovych was trying to crush the protests and usurp the power to become a true dictator.
Now, hundreds of thousands went to the streets.
I was watching a live stream from Maidan at 1AM in mid-December when Berkut (the special police) went on the offensive, trying to rip the Maidan crowd and take back the square.
I woke my dad up, and we decided to go. Thousands more flooded Maidan at 2AM to defend the protest.
Yanukovych’s police never managed to crush Maidan. In January 2014, after approving a set of draconian laws, the regime started to unleash lethal violence on the even more outraged crowd.
I remember crying hard when Serhiy Nigoyan was shot dead in the middle of the rally.
Here’s Serhiy reciting Taras Shevchenko in Maidan only a couple of weeks before getting murdered by the regime.
He was 20 years old, only a year older than me.
Clashes with the police, Molotov cocktails, fortification building – it all become the new norm from later February.
Everybody was at Maidan – friends, family, people from all around Ukraine. My grandma regularly made a massive tank of borscht and carried it to feed the folk.
On February 19, we stayed late at Maidan until 2AM helping prepare the Molotov cocktails and building fortifications from car tires.
Here’s a (very) blurry photo of me and my friend Daniel from that night.
6 hours after we left to get some sleep, the shootings started.
On February 20, more than 80 protestors were shot dead by the special forces in another, most brutal series of early morning clashes.
Following a series of shock, chaos, and negotiations, Yanukovych just took his belongings and ran away to Russia.
We won.
Lots of things happened next.
The annexation of Crimea, the start of the war in Donbas, the new elections, and, finally, a complete return to a European path for Ukraine.
As you are well aware, post-Maidan events were only the beginning of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
As years went by, I realized, to my surprise, that some foreigners believed Maidan was a Western coup designed to hurt Russia.
I saw a lot of people on the outside doubting the real reasons behind Maidan and mixing up the chronology of the events. It was a mess.
As with any revolution, Maidan was not perfect, and it did not bring a perfect government to power. That’s not how revolutions work.
However, those three months in 2013-2014 changed my life and the life of Ukraine forever. My generation finally arrived and demanded change.
My people finally took power into their hands and went through blood and terror to break away from authoritarianism and Russia’s imperial influence.
It truly was a Revolution of Dignity, a people’s movement – and everyone who saw Maidan in person understands it crystal clear.
In 2022, we have entered the final stage of the events triggered by Maidan.
This war will decide who wins in the end – the people who have chosen a democratic European future for their country or a bunch of post-Soviet police states led by dictators with imperial issues.
If 9 years ago someone in the pub told us what would happen next, I would have done it all over again – with more dedication and certainty.
And I definitely would have done it alongside the same brave, bright, unbelievable people.
End of thread.
✊💙💛
Here’s former NAVDEVGRU Squadron Leader Chuck Pfarrer’s most recent assessments of the situations in Kherson and Izium:
KHERSON AXIS/ 2300 UTC 21 NOV / RU forces continue shelling of urban targets in Kherson and other north bank positions. UKR reports that Russian UAVs are conducting cross-river reconnaissance to assist in target selection for RU artillery and missile forces. pic.twitter.com/2k7WHo7QK8
— Chuck Pfarrer | Indications & Warnings | (@ChuckPfarrer) November 21, 2022
IZIUM AXIS/ 1330 UTC 21 NOV/ UKR has essentially cut a 20Km stretch of the P-66 HWY. RU engineering equipment and troop reinforcements must now travel long, non-direct routes to construction sites for their planned winter defensive fortifications. pic.twitter.com/hFEiTJP7Hw
— Chuck Pfarrer | Indications & Warnings | (@ChuckPfarrer) November 21, 2022
Earlier on Nov. 21, Tymoshenko reported that the Russian shelling of Kherson killed one person and injured three people.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) November 21, 2022
Update: Canadians can now purchase Ukraine Sovereignty Bonds. These bonds allow Canadians to provide direct support to Ukraine, so the Ukrainian government can keep providing essential services. Find out more here: https://t.co/7X0K3mvWXJ
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) November 21, 2022
And a valkyrie to finish things off:
Olha, call sign "Witch", serves in 241st brigade of @TDF_UA
She is a fierce fighter and a platoon commander. Olga is also a lawyer, an aspirant working on PhD, and a mom of a six-year-old son.
russians made a big mistake by trying to go against brave Ukrainian women like Olha. pic.twitter.com/OFhAQJ6DhK— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) November 19, 2022
So interesting bit of history. During World War II the Soviets had a cadre of female bomber pilots and crews that flew night time sorties: the 588the Night Bomber Regiment. They were so deadly and dangerous, and so feared by the Germans, that the Germans referred to them as die Nachthexen/the Night Witches. Nice to see it is now the Russians worried about the witches!
That’s enough for tonight.
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Open thread!
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
As always, thanks for the update, Adam!
Alison Rose
CRYING.
Thank you so much for sharing that Maidan thread. It’s so important to learn about and understand these things from people who were actually there, to get the truth and to honor their fight. And it really proves that this is a nation that cannot and will not ever be easily subdued.
Also: Chef José was in Kyiv! He has a plaque on the Alley of Courage, and seeing him and Zelenskyy together was so wonderful. There’s a moment in the video where the two of them are standing close and it sounds like Zelenskyy thanks him, and José pats his shoulder and leans his head against Zelenskyy and it’s just the sweetest moment. Two incredible men!
Thank you as always, Adam.
Mike in NC
Using nerve agents against unarmed protesters was something Trump could only dream of.
Tony G
Certain American “leftists” (e.g., Chris Hedges) consistently refer to the Maidan protests as a “coup”. In normal usage, a “coup” refers to a military takeover, but in this usage it refers to protests during which more than 80 of the protestors were shot and killed by government security forces. It’s remarkable that all of these “leftists” use the same inappropriate term — “coup”. It’s almost as though they’re all reading from the same script.
Gin & Tonic
@Tony G: They *are* all, in fact, reading from the same script, which is written by russia.
The Olenchenko thread is very good. This is precisely the cohort my nephew is in, and it is very hard to overstate the significance of the Revolution of Dignity (aka “Maidan”) in their lives and their worldview.
Carlo Graziani
Nerve agents. That’s unspeakable.
It’s a weapon selection that is so unnecessarily off the scale that it comes from a place of pure hatred. These people are psychopaths.
If this kind of horror doesn’t turn parts of their own forces against them, I can’t imagine what will.
Tony G
Not surprising, but interesting about the close relationship now between the repressive governments of Russia and Iran. I’m old enough to remember when the American right-wing deemed Iran to be “the enemy” (even while the Reagan Administration was selling weapons to Iran). Now, by effectively supporting Russia the American right is effectively supporting the government in Iran. There will be no cognitive dissonance about this, however. The leaders of the American right have no shame, and most of their supporters are functionally illiterate.
lashonharangue
Thanks Adam. For those interested, here is a link from the Yale class on Ukraine that focuses on the Maidan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg_CLI3xY58
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Tony G:
In a recent New Yorker interview, John Mearsheimer did not want to talk about his meeting with Orban. Nor the reason for his refusal to discuss why. The interviewer was “being very unfair” to him in Mearsheimer’s own whiny words. You can’t make this shit up! He came across as having something to hide and looked like a fool
Gin & Tonic
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Because he is.
Tony G
@Gin & Tonic: Yeah, I think that’s right. (That was a lame attempt at sarcasm on my part.). I’m just curious (as someone who took Psychology 101 49 years ago) about what motivates these de-facto pro-Putin “leftists”. Are they being paid, or is it something more complicated? (Hedges was actually getting paid for a few years by Russia Today — RT — for some Mickey Mouse talk show, but it probably wasn’t a tremendous amount of money.) My own half-baked opinion is that almost all people develop a view of the world at a young age, and then tend to stick with that view regardless of evidence. (The Who were the greatest rock band. My “research” at age 13 proved it.) Some of these people developed the point of view 50 years ago that the U.S. is intrinsically evil — there is, of course, significant evidence to support that view — and that therefore any opponent of the U.S. is intrinsically good (a false conclusion even if the first statement were true). If I were capable of being shocked I would be shocked that “leftists” who make a handsome living by talking and writing could be so simple-minded, but there are grifters across the political spectrum, and the best grifters have convinced themselves that they’re honest and righteous. They’re probably not being paid directly by the Kremlin; instead they’re playing “Jumping Jack Flash” for the 10,000th time, just like their fans want to hear.
Bill Arnold
@Mike in NC:
Automated translation [1] of that tweet (Farsi?) says that it is Hexachloroethane. From wikipedia, basically smoke, in this case used for riot control, with a bunch of associated controversy that make its use discouraged or illegal in many countries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexachloroethane
Said to have CNS depressant effects but not a nerve agent in the normal sense. (Trump’s police goons may have used it…)
[1]
The Pale Scot
588the Night Bomber Regiment.
And they flew Biplanes
Iran? Nerve Gas? Special place in hell for those bastards
All the Persians I ever met were awesome people, they are our natural allies, not the Sauds
Carlo Graziani
@Bill Arnold: Thanks for the clarification. They are still assholes, but I’m going to sleep a little easier.
Tony G
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Mearsheimer is another guy who has no shame, and his fan-boys support him no matter what. Like Beatlemania, but for a pasty old right-wing college professor. (Having seen the legions of Elon Musk fans, nothing can shock me anymore.)
Martin
@Bill Arnold: Yeah, my sense is most claims of nerve agents aren’t nerve agents and many mass casualty events are nerve agents but not indicated as nerve agents.
I think claims of nerve agents are better as propaganda than nerve agents actually are as weapons. When they are good as weapons they are deployed in such volume that nobody is likely to have video of it on Twitter.
You don’t need a nerve agent for the activity to be terrible. It can just be terrible as is.
Ruckus
@Bill Arnold:
Hexachloroethane.
That is some nasty shit. Repressive governments do not actually care if they maim or kill the people they don’t like or more importantly to them, the people that don’t like and obey them.
Which seems to be similar to conservatives in this country, they don’t mind when someone goes on a killing spree at, say a drag show, because those people really do not give a shit about obeying conservative values. And they shouldn’t have to because conservative values are not what this country was founded on. We are seeing in many countries in the world, that conservatives are trying extremely hard to be in charge and run/ruin the country by imposing conservative values, some far worse than our conservatives, but all of them of he mind that actual freedom to be human can not stand. Sure there have to be laws and limits, but not to the extent that conservatives even here want. And often here it is supported by conservative wealth because they can make more money. I imagine in other countries the same holds true. They can’t have actual freedom, that would cost them and take away the power to control others.
Carlo Graziani
An update on UA operations in the east, so far as I can follow what’s going on in Luhansk oblast: it evidently did not prove possible to wheel rapidly enough from Kherson to Svatove-Kreminna with enough forces to power through, if that was the UA’s intention. It certainly seems to be where they have made their main offensive commitment, but possibly weather and other factors prevented a second Kharkhiv surprise.
Nonetheless I’ve been picking through some Telegram posts flagged by ISW and shoving them through Google Translate for a few days now, and I’ve come across a lot of distress concerning deep Ukrainian artillery strikes at various places, including two references now to Starobilsk. The latest one is at https://t.me/miroshnik_r/9642, and translates to
Whining aside, “infrastructure” seems likely “rail”. So it looks as if the advance may achieve some important goals even without liberating much territory. In fact, interdicting that rail line could lead to a chain of events resulting in a lot of movement later on in the winter.
phdesmond
this could be important. Cheryl posted it earlier in the day:
Captain C
There’s a good Young Adult-oriented book on the 588th called A Thousand Sisters by Elizabeth Wein (link is to the GoodReads page).
Tony G
@phdesmond: Ha. Maybe Putin will end up presiding over the dissolution of the Russian Federation. (Of course, the Chechen’s attempted this more than 20 years ago, and Putin reacted by essentially destroying their cities and territory.)
CaseyL
@Tony G: …which he is trying to do to Ukraine as well. But the Chechen Republic didn’t have the allies Ukraine does.
Tony G
@CaseyL: Yup.
LadySuzy
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I used to think that Mearsheimer was simply an intellectual too rigid to consider other perspectives than his old rigid one about Russia/NATO etc.. Now I am seriously wondering if he has been a russian asset all along. Meeting Orban... seriously ???!!!
Russia is not good at anything, EXCEPT propaganda and influence operations. For decades, they have devoted enormous amounts of money and efforts to infiltrate different institutions and groups in America.
Will we ever know which people in America are russian agents or assets, and who are useful idiots ? There are many names that I have in mind… Oh I just wish we would know….
LadySuzy
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I used to think that Mearsheimer was simply an intellectual too rigid to consider other perspectives than his old rigid one about Russia/NATO etc.. Now I am seriously wondering if he has been a russian asset all along. Meeting Orban... seriously ???!!!
Russia is not good at anything, EXCEPT propaganda and influence operations. For decades, they have devoted enormous amounts of money and efforts to infiltrate different institutions and groups in America.
Will we ever know which people in America are russian agents or assets, and who are useful idiots ? There are many names that I have in mind… Oh I just wish we would know….
LadySuzy
@Carlo Graziani: It’s not impossible that some of the attacks from Ukrainians have reached civilian infrastructures by accident. However, we have had ample demonstrations that Russians lie . All the time. For example, we can bet that if “education facilities” are attacked, it’s because those facilities are now occupied by russian soldiers and russian administrators. We’ve seen this in other towns, now liberated.
frosty
Zelneskyy: History brought us to different sides of ideological walls. But the walls fell, and our values are all preserved.
That’s really powerful!
Enhanced Voting Techniques
While using WMDs on your own population sounds like the level of stupid the Iranian Republican Guard runs at few things worth noting; the video just shows a green cloud of smoke and the sound of gun shots. The description I always got on nerve gas is it’s colorless, orderless and the effects quite spectacular; vomiting and convulsions. Isn’t a cloud of green gas mustard or chlorine gas?
EDIT: I see above it’s Hexachloroethane.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Bill Arnold: Wiki on it’s effects.
So apparently only reactionary a-holes use Hexachloroethane because it’s as dangerous to the user as at the targets of the gas. So bravo Iran on the own goal.
J R in WV
Thanks, Adam!
And fellow B J Commenters who share knowledge from Ukrainian culture and history! Glory to Ukraine!
And to the guy who stopped the killer at Club Q with his bare hands, took his pistol and beat him til the killer was totally subdued! Protector of his family and cultural group that terrible nignt ! Heroes are every where — all around us!!
Ksmiami
@Tony G: we need to destroy Iranian and Russian leadership. These countries are destabilizing the world.
Sister Golden Bear
Clarification from the only drag performer in Club Q during the shooting. That trans woman is still a warrior queen.
JWR
@J R in WV: Local TV (CBS) news had another interview with the same guy, and he said that he saw a woman running by and told her to “kick this guy”, so she mashed her high heel into his face. Yikes, not what the a**hole expected that night, was it?!
KithKanan
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: Only reactionary a-holes ever used it as a riot control agent. The military used it for creating smoke screens and for marking a location/target visibly for aircraft.
lowtechcyclist
@Tony G:
That’s because to them, we are the true enemy. Whatever happens overseas is of little if any meaning to them anymore, in and of itself. Their only use is as a potential source of bullshit arguments to win the rhetorical upper hand and convince the normies that they’re right and we are abominable.
Geminid
@Tony G: One thing I’ve noticed following reports of the Iran protests on Twitter is that most pro-regime commenters also take the anti-Ukraine side in that conflict. Or more exactly, the anti-NATO side.
In the case of Iran, western supporters of the government depict the protests as a “western” effort to effect “regime change.” As in the case of Ukraine, the contrarians trace the current conflict back to past western meddling.
In the case of Ukraine and the Maidan movement, this is spurious of course. In the case of Iran, there is a grain of truth: the US did instigate the overthrow of Prime Minister Mossedegh. But this was in 1954, and the contrarians really have to stretch logic to explain why a CIA coup 66 years ago, and not the current authoritarian regime’s brutal repression, accounts for these protests.
Many of the contrarians happen to take a very anti-Zionist position on the Israeli/Palestinian question as well, but that’s another story.
Geminid
@Geminid: I would add that there are many people who take a somewhat anti-Zionist stance on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict who are also forthright supporters of Ukraine, and of the protest movement in Iran.
lowtechcyclist
@Geminid:
As a firm supporter of Ukraine (and the Iranian protesters, but this is perhaps less directly relevant to what I’m about to say), I’ve just had it with Israel. They’ve been blocking the sale of Iron Dome to Ukraine since the spring of 2021, and now they’ve got this Barak system that they’ve made available to UAE to protect its oilfields from…Iranian drones! But would they give it to Ukraine? Hell no!
Apparently for Israel, it’s all about whatever the fuck game they’re playing in Syria, and since Russia doesn’t hassle them from doing whatever they’re doing there, they don’t want to offend Russia.
They get $3B/year in aid from the USA, and maybe it’s time to pull the plug on that while they think about which side they should be on. I’ve just had it with them.
Geminid
@lowtechcyclist: Israel is not exactly “playing a game” in Syria. They are destroying rockets in transit to southern Lebanon. An article in Aljazeera, which is a fairly unbiased source at least in this area, said the ground-to-ground rockets already under Hezbollah control total 130,000. Israel does not try to destroy those- for now- because Hezbollah stores them in villages. So Israel attacks rockets in transit, and sites in Syria where they claim rockets are being manufactured.
Israel certainly owes the U.S. support in return for the $3.8 billion subsidy we provide them each year. But Russia has not attacked the U.S. but rather an ally of ours, and there is a difference here. When Jimmy Carter began the subsidy in the aftermath of the Camp David accords between Egypt and Israel, he did not buy Israel’s foreign policy but instead was supporting regional stability. Barack Obama and Congress continued the subsidy at its current level in the last year of his administration, but any strings attached did not extend to requiring Israel to participate in any war we do.
Not to justify the subsidy but to put it in context, that $3.8 billion equals 20% of Israel’s defense budget, and 5% of its GDP. It is equivalent also to less than .5% of the Pentagon budget. I don’t believe this makes Israel our “client state,” as some assert.
Israel has a population of 9.5 million, and is under a real threat of the kind of rocket and drone attacks that Ukraine is now undergoing. Ukraine’s allies already include Germany with a population of 85 million, France and the UK with populations of ~60 million each, the U.S. with a population of 330 million, and many more countries with advanced industrial bases. None of them are under the immediate threats that Israel is, and they can provide anti missile systems as capable as Israel’s.
Israel is at least providing Ukraine assistance in setting up effective detection and warning systems. This is an area in which they probably lead Ukraine’s allies, but only because of their experience with rocket attacks that is not shared by Ukraine’s allies.
trucmat
Israel is also a provocateur and instigator of violence in the region. Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have been explicitly trying to elect Republicans and support Trump. I’ve also had it with Israel. Yes it has a right to exist however it has become corrupt and no longer trustworthy as an ally.
Carlo Graziani
@Geminid: I believe that the chief bone of contention between mainstream US Democrats and Israel over the past couple of decades has not primarily concerned regional affairs, so much as the very close ties that developed between Likud and the Republican party — which as early as the GW Bush administration were tight enough to justify the view that the US had essentially contracted out its mideast policy to Likud, and to make politicaly toxic the very enunciation of any distinction between the national security interests of the US and those of Israel (as articulated by Likud).
I’m afraid that to whatever extent the damage to the relationship from that experience has healed, we may see more such damage from Netanyahu’s recent election success, should he attempt to interfere with US politics — which I have no doubt he will be invited to do, and may be tempted to do.
Geminid
@Carlo Graziani: I do not expect that relations between the Biden administration and the soon-to-formed Netanyahu government will be stressed by Netanyahu meddling in partisan US politics. Netanyahu is an ass, but he’s not a dumbass. About the only good thing I can say about Netanyahu is he’s a realist. He knows that Joe Biden is in charge of his country’s most important ally at least until January, 2025, very possibly until 2029, and there is very little he can do to change this.
I think the big potential stressor in relations will be the Palestinian question, and more precisely Israel’s administration of the West Bank. Fourteen MKs out of Netanyahu’s 64 Knesset majority belong to the toxic, racist National Religious bloc. A retired Israeli IDF chief warned before the election that if their ideas were implemented it could cause a civil war, and I think he was just talking about Arab/Jewish relations within Israel proper.
This is one reason Netanyahu has resisted National Religious chief Smotrich’s bid for Defense Minister. The IDF (along with domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet) has primary responsibility for security in the West Bank, as well as dealing with Gaza. Even with a Likud Defense Minister, these I think will be the areas of stress in relations between the U.S. and Netanyahu, not Gaza so much as the West Bank.
Geminid
@Geminid: When it comes to military aid to Ukraine, I expect the Biden administration will encourage more aid but in the end take what it can get, much as we will do with Turkiye, a much larger NATO ally closer to the conflict.