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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / War for Ukraine Day 313: A Big Boom!

War for Ukraine Day 313: A Big Boom!

by Adam L Silverman|  January 2, 20237:34 pm| 71 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Military, Open Threads, Russia, Silverman on Security, War, War in Ukraine

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Yesterday the Ukrainians struck a Russian position in Russian occupied Makiivka:

These people were watching Putin's propaganda video (the one where he's standing in front of actors dressed as soldiers) when the strike occurred. pic.twitter.com/suH6UqacRW

— Michael MacKay (@mhmck) January 1, 2023

Before and after

Vocational School No. 19 in Makiyivka – a city that has been occupied by the Russian fascist invaders since 2014 pic.twitter.com/oWEKo1pUpP

— Michael MacKay (@mhmck) January 1, 2023

The Guardian has the details on the strike:

A New Year’s Day attack on a complex in the Russian-controlled Ukrainian city of Makiivka has killed scores of recently mobilised troops sent by Moscow, in one of deadliest single strikes against Russia’s forces since the war began.

Russia’s defence ministry, in a rare admission on Monday, said 63 Russian soldiers died when Ukraine hit “a temporary deployment facility” with four US-supplied Himars missiles.

Without claiming the strike, Ukraine’s military command said up to 400 Russian soldiers were killed in the city, which is in a Moscow-controlled area of the Donetsk region.

Even if the total numbers are lower, the strike in Makiivka would be one of the deadliest attacks involving conscripts and will add further pressure on Moscow’s military leaders.

Reuters has some more:

Russia’s Defence Ministry acknowledged the attack only in the final paragraph of a 528-word daily roundup, more than 36 hours later.

Even then, it did not address some of the allegations made by pro-war bloggers, who said casualties were far higher, and that the military had not only failed to hide its soldiers from the enemy but also stored ammunition close by.

Nationalist bloggers and chat-show hosts with hundreds of thousands of followers have had licence from the Kremlin to publicise the failings of the army – a potential criminal act under a law passed shortly after the invasion of Ukraine in February.

Ukraine had alleged that 400 Russians had been killed, a number dismissed as an exaggeration by Russian bloggers.

A pro-war blogger known as Rybar, with more than a million subscribers on Telegram, said that, besides around 70 confirmed dead, more than 100 had been wounded. He said about 600 people had been in the building.

Igor Girkin, a former commander of pro-Russian troops in east Ukraine who has become a high-profile critic of Russia’s military, said on Telegram that there were “many hundreds” of dead and wounded.

Like Rybar, he said ammunition had been stored at the college, potentially accounting for its extreme devastation, and that the military’s presence had not been disguised.

Archangel Spetznaz Z, another Russian military blogger with more than 700,000 followers on Telegram, wrote:

“Who came up with the idea to place personnel in large numbers in one building, where even a fool understands that even if they hit with artillery, there will be many wounded or dead?”

Reuters was unable to verify the battlefield accounts, but did confirm the location of the video from the buildings and road layout seen in the footage, although not the date that it was filmed.

Here’s Girkin’s actual response courtesy of Dmitri at WarTranslated:

President Zelenskyy’s address, both video and English transcript, will be after the jump today.

I wish you health, dear Ukrainians!

Only two days have passed since the beginning of the year, and the number of Iranian drones shot down over Ukraine is already more than eighty. This number may increase in the near future. Because these weeks the nights can be quite restless.

We have information that Russia is planning a prolonged attack with “Shaheds”. Its bet may be on exhaustion. On exhaustion of our people, our air defense, our energy sector.

But we must ensure – and we will do everything for this – that this goal of terrorists fails like all the others.

Today, I would like to mention the Air Commands “Center”, “South” and “East” for the successful protection of the sky these days. And especially – the warriors of the 96th Kyiv, 208th Kherson and 138th Dnipro anti-aircraft missile brigades, the 301st Nikopol anti-aircraft missile regiment of the Air Forces, as well as the warriors of the 39th anti-aircraft missile regiment of the Ground Forces.

Of course, I am grateful to our pilots, the pilots of our fighters and warriors of mobile firing groups.

Now is the time when everyone involved in the protection of the sky should be especially attentive.

The Russian regime needs mobilizing emotions. Something that they want to demonstrate to their country in order to continue lying that everything is going “according to the plan”. And our task is to give Ukraine every day successes, achievements, even small, yet victories over terrorists and terror. Each shot down drone, each shot down missile, each day with electricity for our people and minimal schedules of blackouts are exactly such victories.

And every step forward of our servicemen at the front, every saved position is such successes that are of strategic importance now.

We must increase the price of new mobilization and war in general for the terrorist state as much as possible. I am grateful to every warrior of ours who ensures this!

I am grateful to everyone who stands near Bakhmut! I am grateful to everyone who despite everything holds positions in Soledar and other areas!

Thank you for the Luhansk region, for the south!

No matter how difficult it is now, we must endure it. For it to be easier at the end of this winter.

Today I spoke with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. I am glad that the first international conversation in the new year was held with the head of the European Commission.

We equally understand the challenges of this winter, this year for Ukraine and the whole of Europe. We have discussed financial support for our state – in January, we expect the first tranche of macro-financial aid, as was agreed upon last year.

This is extremely important right now, when Russia is trying to gather new forces for aggression.

We have also discussed the preparation of the Ukraine-EU Summit to be held in early February. I believe that at this summit, we will be able to outline the key new steps for this year for our common resilience, for our common victory.

Today, I held a special preparatory meeting with members of the NSDC and representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Verkhovna Rada and the Office on global trends for Ukraine this year and in the future. I instructed to elaborate draft decisions of the NSDC for the internal transformation of our state to continue and for us to ensure security and leadership of Ukraine under any external conditions.

I am grateful to everyone who will be on duty at combat posts tonight! 

I am grateful to all who are fighting for our native Ukraine!

I am grateful to everyone who helps!

Glory to Ukraine!

Here is Major General Budanov’s take on the strikes on the Engels airbase in Russia:

Here is former NAVDEVGRU Squadron Leader Chuck Pfarrer’s most recent assessment of the situation in Kremenna:

KREMENNA AXIS /2340 UTC 2 JAN/ Heavy fighting is reported around the village of Dibrova. As UKR forces advanced, RU conducted fixed and rotary aviation strike missions west of Kremenna on 1 & 2 JAN. UKR units are also reported in contact N of Bilohorivka. pic.twitter.com/AepSXnpP2j

— Chuck Pfarrer | Indications & Warnings | (@ChuckPfarrer) January 2, 2023

 

To reapply Abba Eban’s famous quote regarding the Palestinians, the Israelis never miss an opportunity to miss an oppurtunity:

2 In his speech Cohen hinted that unlike his predecessor Yair Lapid he will not condemn Russia publicly. “On the issue of Russia and Ukraine we will do on thing for sure – speak less in public”

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) January 2, 2023

4 Why it matters: Cohen’s predecessor Yair Lapid led a tough line Russia, condemned it publicly & even said the Russian military committed war crimes. Since the invasion Lapid didn’t speak to Lavrov & after he assumed office as caretaker prime minister he didn’t speak to Putin

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) January 2, 2023

 

Don’t make vodka at home in the bathtub from whatever you’ve got lying around!

Mother of metal. https://t.co/sy1l7NaFw1

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) January 2, 2023

Also, whoever got into my storage pod, stole my table cloth, and made it into a dress has some explaining to do!

The Financial Times editorial board gets it right!

Ukraine’s battlefield successes do not mean its allies can ease up on support. There are signs Moscow plans a new offensive. Even if that does not materialise, a festering stalemate could play into Putin’s hands. For him, long-term destabilisation of Ukraine is a win.

Nor is this the time to entertain the idea of ceasefires or negotiation. With Russia still in control of much of the four regions it “annexed” in October, plus Crimea and parts of the eastern Donbas seized in 2014, the conditions are not right for Kyiv to come to the table.

Ukraine’s allies should instead do everything possible to ensure it can repel any renewed onslaught, and regain more territory. The aim is to put Kyiv in a position where it feels able to negotiate, with the strongest possible hand. That means budget support and accelerated financial help with repairing infrastructure.

It also means more sophisticated defensive weapons, such as the Patriot missile defence system now approved by Washington, and offensive arms. Ukraine needs longer-range missiles, helicopters and tanks. The US and others have balked at supplying such weapons for fear they could be used to hit targets inside Russia, potentially triggering a Nato-Russia conflict, or in an effort to retake Crimea that Putin has hinted might provoke a nuclear stand-off.

It is fair for Washington to agree privately with Kyiv on rules of engagement for weapons it provides. But the objective should be to push Russia back at least to pre-February 24 lines. Retaking southern regions would put Kyiv in striking range of Crimea, giving it a robust negotiating stance. Ukraine’s people were in 2022 an example to the world of fortitude and resilience. They deserve redoubled support in 2023.

Much more at the link!

That’s enough for tonight.

Your daily Patron!

The beginning of the year is a great time to study. I always learn something new. And you? What did you do today? ☺️ pic.twitter.com/13TZpjK0zq

— Patron (@PatronDsns) January 2, 2023

There is no new video tonight from Patron’s official TikTok.

Open thread!

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    71Comments

    1. 1.

      Chetan Murthy

      January 2, 2023 at 7:36 pm

      Slava Ukraini!

      Reply
    2. 2.

      scav

      January 2, 2023 at 7:45 pm

      Eurovision suddenly looks sane.

      Reply
    3. 3.

      Cmorenc

      January 2, 2023 at 7:45 pm

      To what extent and when might the GOP house assholes who are either putin’s useful idiots (some) or actually in his pocket (others) be able to begin crippling us support for ukranian resistance?  If mccarthy fails to win the speakership, are any of the realistically potential alternatives more favorable to supporting ukraine?

      Reply
    4. 4.

      Alison Rose

      January 2, 2023 at 7:48 pm

      I enjoy russians being scared.

      I also enjoyed Budanov’s answers in that clip, and I love how supremely chill he seems. Reminds me of the soldier a few months back who, when asked if there would be a push in Kherson, just smiled and started eating a slice of watermelon.

      Israel continues to be a shanda. A day that ends in ‘y’.

      Thank you as always, Adam.

      Reply
    5. 5.

      BC in Illinois

      January 2, 2023 at 7:53 pm

      Apparently, there are reports of explosions in Sevastopol.

      And I discover that, if you call up “Sevastopol” on Google Maps, they will not specify

      • Sevastopol Ukraine, or
      • Sevastopol (not Ukraine).

      Google Maps doesn’t want to get involved.

      Reply
    6. 6.

      Mike in NC

      January 2, 2023 at 7:54 pm

      Hope they smoke a lot of Wagner orcs in the new year.

      Reply
    7. 7.

      dmsilev

      January 2, 2023 at 7:55 pm

      No ‘Boom today’ Susan Ivanova clip or Marvin the Martian ‘Earth shattering kaboom’ image? You’re slipping, Adam.

      Reply
    8. 8.

      WaterGirl

      January 2, 2023 at 7:55 pm

      These people were watching Putin’s propaganda video (the one where he’s standing in front of actors dressed as soldiers) when the strike occurred.

      I laughed out loud. 400 died and 300 more injured and I laughed.  Has there ever been a war before that was so clearly between good and evil, right and wrong?

      Reply
    9. 9.

      Alison Rose

      January 2, 2023 at 7:57 pm

      @BC in Illinois: We have a town called Sebastopol adjacent to my city, and a friend driving through it a few months back saw a lot of Ukraine flags on porches and such. Seems fitting :)

      Reply
    10. 10.

      Chetan Murthy

      January 2, 2023 at 7:57 pm

      @dmsilev: well, but, there *was* an earth-shattering kaboom!

      Reply
    11. 11.

      Gin & Tonic

      January 2, 2023 at 7:58 pm

      @Alison Rose: You know the significance of watermelon, right?

      Reply
    12. 12.

      WaterGirl

      January 2, 2023 at 8:01 pm

      @Gin & Tonic: I do not.  Not in Ukraine.

      edit: I googled.

      The watermelon as a symbol of victory.

      Reply
    13. 13.

      dmsilev

      January 2, 2023 at 8:02 pm

      @Chetan Murthy: That’s fair.

      Reply
    14. 14.

      HypersphericalCow

      January 2, 2023 at 8:07 pm

      Am I hallucinating, or were they dancing on a giant LP record?

      Reply
    15. 15.

      Alison Rose

      January 2, 2023 at 8:14 pm

      @Gin & Tonic: Indeed :)

      Reply
    16. 16.

      Gin & Tonic

      January 2, 2023 at 8:14 pm

      @WaterGirl: Kherson is famous for its watermelons. The soldier saying nothing and eating a slice of watermelon may as well have been holding a flashing neon sign.

      In summer, in Kyiv, the arrival of the first Kherson watermelons in the markets is a day of rejoicing.

      Reply
    17. 17.

      lowtechcyclist

      January 2, 2023 at 8:16 pm

      For more kabooms, or at least prologue and aftermath, check out this Rob Lee thread.
      Apparently a Russian soldier posted some photos of him and his buddies, and forgot to turn off the location tagging. They were geolocated to the Grand Prix country club in Sahy, Kherson Oblast, and now the country club is a bit worse for wear, to say the least.​
       

      ETA: This apparently happened in November.

      Reply
    18. 18.

      WaterGirl

      January 2, 2023 at 8:17 pm

      @Gin & Tonic: Interesting!

      Reply
    19. 19.

      Chetan Murthy

      January 2, 2023 at 8:18 pm

      @lowtechcyclist: And the soldier *goes back* to the country club afterwards, ends up showing the damage (so UA AF get an after-action damage assessment survey/report !!)

      Reply
    20. 20.

      Gin & Tonic

      January 2, 2023 at 8:18 pm

      If you have access to Instagram and a few extra seconds, I recommend this “reel” of a soldier in Bakhmut. Viewer discretion is advised.

      Yesterday, I got a New Year’s greeting from a friend who is stationed there: “Happy New Year 2023, the year of our victory.” (He is not the soldier in the reel.)

      Reply
    21. 21.

      zhena gogolia

      January 2, 2023 at 8:23 pm

      @scav: OMG, what it looks like when an entire country goes insane. And have they entered some time warp that takes them back to 1952? I can’t, I just can’t

      Reply
    22. 22.

      Alison Rose

      January 2, 2023 at 8:24 pm

      Found that watermelon eating video clip I mentioned :)

      Reply
    23. 23.

      jackmac

      January 2, 2023 at 8:25 pm

      That Julia Davis video clip:

      Russian state television or 1970s SCTV sketch?

      Reply
    24. 24.

      Adam L Silverman

      January 2, 2023 at 8:29 pm

      @BC in Illinois: Ukrainian drone strikes. Russian air defense went active in Sevastapol an Simferopol. I’ve seen Rybar – one of the more reliable pro-war Russian mil bloggers – confirm it. Also, Jason Jay Smart from The Kyiv Post. Haven’t seen anything on whether the drones got through to their targets yet.

      Reply
    25. 25.

      Adam L Silverman

      January 2, 2023 at 8:30 pm

      @dmsilev: Because there was a boom. If there hadn’t been a boom, then they would’ve been appropriate.

      Reply
    26. 26.

      Raoul Paste

      January 2, 2023 at 8:39 pm

      That Russian video is so surreal.  It could be part of a Terry Gilliam movie.  Disturbing.

      Reply
    27. 27.

      Kent

      January 2, 2023 at 8:40 pm

      @jackmac: That Julia Davis clip is what happens when you purge all the LGBT people and all the young people from your artistic endeavors as Russia has done.

      Reply
    28. 28.

      trollhattan

      January 2, 2023 at 8:42 pm

      “What if all Russia teevee is like ‘Donny and Marie’ only without the Donny or the Marie, and all audience clap like North Korea arirang audience?”

      “You having job!”

      Reply
    29. 29.

      Mallard Filmore

      January 2, 2023 at 8:44 pm

      *Tap tap tap*   Hello?  Hello?  Is this thing on? For those of you that like big booms.

      Just a day after destroying an ammo dump in Donetsk stored in the same school building as hundreds of Russian soldiers, Ukraine has destroyed a huge Russian ammo dump near Svatove.

      The exact size of the dump isn’t known, but it has been estimated that it has been stocked for two weeks.

      https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/2/2144983/-Ukraine-hits-huge-Russian-ammo-dump-at-Svatove

      Reply
    30. 30.

      Freemark

      January 2, 2023 at 8:50 pm

      @Adam L Silverman: Rybar definitely ain’t reliable about 70 dead/ 100 injured if there were 600 people in that building. Every single person in that former building was at least injured and only 70 dead would be a miracle.

      Reply
    31. 31.

      patrick II

      January 2, 2023 at 8:51 pm

      The Russian New Year’s party reminds me of the picnic scene in “Get Out” where everyone’s forced smile and cheerfulness were an effort to suppress the knowledge of the murder they were about to commit.

      Reply
    32. 32.

      Ohio Mom

      January 2, 2023 at 8:51 pm

      @WaterGirl: World War II was pretty clear on who was good and who was evil. But in my life time, this is the first war in which the US has taken a side that I agree with wholeheartedly.

      On another note, when Ohio Son was a toddler, he went through a period when he loved watching Lawrence Welk. I know people are comparing that Russian show to Larry’s (as we affectionately starting calling him) but Larry was much better quality. There was actual humor and good cheer and musical talent.

      Reply
    33. 33.

      wombat probabilty cloud

      January 2, 2023 at 8:53 pm

      @WaterGirl: My mind immediately went to “I hope those trees around the school survive.”

      Reply
    34. 34.

      raven

      January 2, 2023 at 8:55 pm

      Reminds me of Beirut.

      Reply
    35. 35.

      zhena gogolia

      January 2, 2023 at 8:57 pm

      @trollhattan: It may be hard to believe, but in about 1988-91, Russian TV was fabulous. Informative, intelligent, funny.

      Reply
    36. 36.

      trollhattan

      January 2, 2023 at 9:02 pm

      @zhena gogolia: I do believe it, and ponder if all the enthusiastic, artistic Russians have been driven out of the country or intimidated into silence. (The journalists, guess they also have door #3.) It’s one of the saddest outcomes of Putin’s rise that their best people have been silenced.

      Reply
    37. 37.

      wombat probabilty cloud

      January 2, 2023 at 9:09 pm

      @Ohio Mom: I understand the comparison based on the superficial cheesiness of presentation. But–having grown up with a single TV station in central Wisconsin that broadcast Dairyland Jubilee every weekend (a polka extravaganza) and now with one of my dearest friends who grew up in Strasburg, ND, Welk’s home town that he visited regularly and supported–I think the difference is the relative innocence, and lack of irony, of those prior times. What my friend and I experienced when young was home-grown culture (granted with all sorts of fucked up things embedded in it like pineapple or cherries in jello salad) but not broadcast with the intent of manipulation of minds. It was a non-weaponized expression of the culture put out to share joy.

      Reply
    38. 38.

      Adam L Silverman

      January 2, 2023 at 9:12 pm

      @Freemark: No, but he’s reliable in that he doesn’t deny incidents happen. Rather he spins them in favor of Russia.

      Reply
    39. 39.

      Lyrebird

      January 2, 2023 at 9:15 pm

      @Ohio Mom: When I was little, I went through a serious hate for Laurence Welk’s show, which a babysitter of ours loved.  Even so, I can agree wholeheartedly that it was never like that.  He seemed genuinely kind.  Family from Odessa, now that I look it up!

       

      Never a dig at other countries or anything ominous

       

      ETA: Wombat probability cloud said it better than I did, but hey.

      Reply
    40. 40.

      Ihop

      January 2, 2023 at 9:18 pm

      A field of smiles without mirth.

      Reply
    41. 41.

      Chetan Murthy

      January 2, 2023 at 9:20 pm

      @Ihop: It reminded me of the old joke about how when Stalin finishes a speech, everybody claps.  The one who stops first gets sent off to the Gulag, so y’know, they never stop.

      Reply
    42. 42.

      Yutsano

      January 2, 2023 at 9:23 pm

      @Gin & Tonic: I remember your explanation. That was indeed quite the cold cut.

      Reply
    43. 43.

      CaseyL

      January 2, 2023 at 9:23 pm

      @zhena gogolia: That very brief window of time before the USSR fell, when the people of Moscow made themselves a cordon around Parliament to protect against the anti-Gorbachev coup attempt.  I remember being hopeful.

      IIRC, that hopefulness was literally beaten out of Russians during one of the early anti-Putin demonstrations.  IIRC, the government’s counterattack was vicious.

      Reply
    44. 44.

      Whomever

      January 2, 2023 at 9:24 pm

      @trollhattan: I recently read Masha Gessen’s “The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia” (https://www.amazon.com/Future-History-Totalitarianism-Reclaimed-Russia/dp/159463453X).  Written before the Ukraine war, it talks about this, how there was sort of a drip by drip lessening of freedom.

      BTW while it’s about Russia, so Ukraine doesn’t pop up much, it does occasionally, mostly as a relatively much free-er place.  For example at one point someone ends up having to host a conference in Ukraine because they couldn’t get away with it in Russia anymore (IIRC it was about LGBTQ stuff).

      Reply
    45. 45.

      Devore

      January 2, 2023 at 9:28 pm

      And thanks for your diligent work keeping all of us updated.   I don’t think saying that I look forward to these updates is the right way to put it.   But they provide a lot of value

      Reply
    46. 46.

      oldster

      January 2, 2023 at 9:28 pm

      @trollhattan:

      Thanks for your comment. I laughed!

      Reply
    47. 47.

      Mike in NC

      January 2, 2023 at 9:29 pm

      Maybe Putin and his stooges lack an appreciation for military history. During WW1 and WW2 several battleships were basically vaporized with most of their crew due to improper ammunition storage or poor magazine design (e.g. three survivors from HMS Hood).

      Reply
    48. 48.

      Adam L Silverman

      January 2, 2023 at 10:04 pm

      @Devore: You’re most welcome.

      Reply
    49. 49.

      evodevo

      January 2, 2023 at 10:09 pm

      @scav: And to think I used to make fun of Italian variety shows lol

      Reply
    50. 50.

      Jinchi

      January 2, 2023 at 10:13 pm

      @scav: Is it just me or is there something weird about the video quality?

      The people in the foreground look like they’ve been badly photoshopped over a video of an audience on a green screen.

      Reply
    51. 51.

      Chetan Murthy

      January 2, 2023 at 10:29 pm

      @Jinchi: Dunno: the twitter video is terrible, but I wrote that off to heavy compression.  Do you have a pointer to a higher-definition version of the video ?

      Reply
    52. 52.

      Ivan X

      January 2, 2023 at 10:30 pm

      @BC in Illinois: Same if you visit Tiraspol and post something on Instagram. No country specified.

      Reply
    53. 53.

      Chacal Charles Calthrop

      January 2, 2023 at 10:32 pm

      @BC in Illinois: and “Ukrainian village” on Google maps has gone back to being East Village, alas

      Reply
    54. 54.

      NutmegAgain

      January 2, 2023 at 10:36 pm

      @WaterGirl: And yet, it’s one more thing that I blame the Russkies for–the fact I feel at all happy to learn that some hundreds of people got blown to smithereens. I don’t want to have those feels. It’s grotesque, but it’s also what war does.

      Reply
    55. 55.

      NutmegAgain

      January 2, 2023 at 10:39 pm

      @wombat probabilty cloud: Best Lawrence Welk performance: Gale & Dale bring you ‘One Toke Over the Line“. Unironic.

      Reply
    56. 56.

      Sister Golden Bear

      January 2, 2023 at 10:40 pm

      <Ivanova voice> “Boom today!!!”

      Reply
    57. 57.

      Carlo Graziani

      January 2, 2023 at 10:41 pm

      Good update tonight, Adam. Thanks.

      Reply
    58. 58.

      Carlo Graziani

      January 2, 2023 at 10:42 pm

      @evodevo: You mean the ones on Berlusconi’s TV stations?

      There are no coincidences.

      Reply
    59. 59.

      Timill

      January 2, 2023 at 10:44 pm

      @Mike in NC: Battlecruisers. Indefatigable, Queen Mary, and Invincible at Jutland, and Hood in the Denmark Strait.

      https://medium.com/@marcusmagister/the-loss-of-the-battlecruisers-at-the-battle-of-jutland-an-overview-and-analysis-of-various-b9598770fddb

      Reply
    60. 60.

      Another Scott

      January 2, 2023 at 10:50 pm

      @Jinchi: There’s lots of weird cutting going on – I noticed that too.  But it seems that it was put on the air that way.

      Here’s another clip from her Twitter thing. It’s like the audience closeups are in a different room or something (lighting very different, etc.).

      Dunno.

      Cheers,
      Scott.

      Reply
    61. 61.

      Carlo Graziani

      January 2, 2023 at 11:00 pm

      This tidbit from today’s ISW Russian Campaign Offensive caught my eye:

      Spokesperson for Ukraine’s Eastern Group of Forces Colonel Serhiy Cherevaty stated on January 2 that Russian forces have decreased their rate of shelling from 20–80,000 rounds per day to a maximum of 20,000 per day and are searching for Soviet 122mm and 152mm caliber ammunition stores both domestically and internationally.

      This is in the theatre that serves Bakhmut, and where Prigozhin has been screaming about MOD starving Wagner out.

      Reply
    62. 62.

      wombat probability cloud

      January 2, 2023 at 11:15 pm

      @NutmegAgain: Yep, perfect, thanks!

      Reply
    63. 63.

      Fake Irishman

      January 2, 2023 at 11:26 pm

      @zhena gogolia:

      The journalist Scott Shane had a wonderful book about the end of the Soviet Union called “Dismantling Utopia” with an entire chapter on the changes in Media. It was a fascinating read.

      Reply
    64. 64.

      Redshift

      January 3, 2023 at 12:36 am

      @Another Scott: She has the clips on her YouTube channel, too, and the quality isn’t great there either. It also has the same weird audience-looks-green-screened effect.

      Reply
    65. 65.

      Mart

      January 3, 2023 at 2:25 am

      Remember when Dem leadership sanctioned Rep. Ilhan Omar over her statements on US/Israeli Government funding versus Israeli Government actions? I can totally see McCarthy doing that to Boebert, MTG, Gaetz, Gohmert, et. al. when they work to squeeze Ukraine funding…

      Reply
    66. 66.

      Geminid

      January 3, 2023 at 4:25 am

      @Mart: I don’t recall Democratic leadership sanctioning Ihlan Ohmar. I remember some pushback from her peers.

      And I think Omar was talking about the reason Democrat Congress members support Israel. She attributed it to their funding. Some protested that they had good reason to support Israel besides campaign donations.

      Reply
    67. 67.

      HeartlandLiberal

      January 3, 2023 at 7:04 am

      @WaterGirl: WWII and the Germans under Hitler? After all, the Holocaust, which I, for one, do not deny. As Tom Brokow said, The Greatest Generation.

      Reply
    68. 68.

      Barry

      January 3, 2023 at 7:46 am

      @Alison Rose: Likkud plays for Team Fascist. At this point they are in bed with the government of Iran.

      Reply
    69. 69.

      WaterGirl

      January 3, 2023 at 9:19 am

      @HeartlandLiberal: You make an excellent point.  Never in my lifetime has there been a war that I thought we had a moral obligation to be involved in.

      Reply
    70. 70.

      Haroldo

      January 3, 2023 at 10:27 am

      Romy Gosz, baby, Romy Gosz

      Reply
    71. 71.

      Haroldo

      January 3, 2023 at 11:10 am

      And, as always. thank you, Adam.

      Reply

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