Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

with the Kraken taking a plea, the Cheese stands alone.

Somebody needs to explain to DeSantis that nobody needs to do anything to make him look bad.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

I was confident that someone would point it out and thought why not me.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Let’s finish the job.

Republicans would impeach Biden if he bit into a whole Kit Kat rather than breaking the sections apart.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / War for Ukraine Day 581: A Brief Wednesday Night Update

War for Ukraine Day 581: A Brief Wednesday Night Update

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Just a brief update tonight.

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

Our warriors need more means of Russian missiles, combat drones and aircraft destruction –  address by the President of Ukraine

27 September 2023 – 22:25

Dear Ukrainians!

A brief report on this day – it was a long and busy one, with many meetings and various events…

Morning conference call – reports from the military, the Security Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In particular, on the Russian shelling and dealing with the aftermath.

Special attention is paid to Kherson and Kherson region. These days, Russia has been shelling Kherson, Beryslav, and villages in Kherson region with particular brutality. Artillery, guided bombs. Targeting houses, farms, ordinary shops and infrastructure. It is a deliberate terror of the occupier. My condolences to all those who have lost their loved ones!

And I express my gratitude to each and every person who works in this region – in Kherson – and in all our other regions that are experiencing similar strikes. Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, northern regions. It is extremely important that despite everything there are rescuers and salvation. When they are there, when lives are saved, terror will not prevail.

I thank all the doctors and employees of the State Emergency Service, all the volunteers, police, utility workers, power engineers, local authorities and everyone who helps. I thank you for saving the lives of our people and for restoring their living conditions!

There are special orders for the military, there will also be special orders for everyone involved in international affairs: our warriors need more means of destroying Russian missiles, “Shaheds” and other combat drones, as well as Russian aircraft. And I am grateful to everyone in the world who is already helping and is willing to ramp up assistance to our country with the means that can provide more protection against Russian terror.

Today, I received letters of credence from the ambassadors – seven ambassadors who are starting their mission in Ukraine. The UK, France, Estonia, Canada, Hungary, Slovenia and the European Union. I talked to all of them. They are determined to work with Ukraine as productively as possible, and I am sure that this is the kind of work that all of us need now. Everyone in the world, who wants to bring the war to an end. To bring our mutual victory closer.

From now on, we have a new ambassador for our United24 fundraising platform. It is the British actor Mark Strong. We spoke today, and I thanked Mark for his decision to work in the Education and Science direction. His goal will be to raise funds to rebuild Ukrainian schools. Our task is to give all Ukrainian children the opportunity to study at school, not remotely, where and when security conditions allow.

By the way, United24 has already raised more than $470 million. Almost half a billion in donations from more than 110 countries. Different countries, different levels of contributions. People are helping – ordinary people and companies. I am grateful to everyone!

And one more thing.

I held several preparatory meetings today. This month we are planning powerful measures to reinforce the state, and we are already working on the agenda of October and November. Ukraine will be stronger. Ukraine will have more capabilities to defend itself.

No matter what happens in the world, no matter what the external conditions are, we must remember that it is only our conditions, our internal attitude to Ukraine, to freedom, to our goals, that will determine when we will achieve our goal. The main goal – Ukraine’s victory.

For Ukraine, strength has no alternatives. And everyone who strengthens the state, everyone who becomes stronger, everyone who helps fight the enemy and achieve results for Ukraine – all of them bring our goal closer.

Glory to our warriors!

Glory to our unbreakable people!

Glory to Ukraine!

In September 2022, Yehor Oliynyk lost his leg in battle.
He was fitted with a prosthesis at the UNBROKEN National Rehabilitation Center last December.
After just a month of rehabilitation, he returned to the battlefield.
«I am an upgraded version of myself: my leg does not freeze, does not get wet,»—he says about his artificial limb with humor and pride.
Yehor goes on assaults just like any other soldier. He is the quintessential unbreakable Ukrainian defender. One cannot even dream of defeating a soldier like Yehor.

“We will enjoy the originals after our victory.”
Lviv residents are working hard to preserve their city’s historic sites. Neither a UNESCO World Heritage Site status nor a “Children” warning sign stops russian terrorists from destroying Ukrainian cities and villages. Terrorists have no respect for history, for culture, for art and architecture, or for human life.

📷 Yuriy Dyachyshyn / AFP

The cost:

This morning, I got the call I long dreaded. My wife’s cousin Sasha or Sashko, with whom she was close, was killed in action in the Verbove direction in Zaporizhzhia.

Sashko was only 33 years old and already served in the army in the Donbas in 2015-16. After the full-scale invasion started, he and his father initially remained in the occupied territories in northern Luhansk. The two of them fled Svatove in early April, once the horrors of Bucha broke the news. The Russian’s then had systematically began to search houses looking for veterans. They got lucky because they were not there when the Russian army raided their house.

Together Djadja Ihor and Sahshko fled with their small, ancient Zhiguli in what both described as an adventure that included a lot of dirt roads to Rivne. Days after, Sashko voluntarily enlisted to the Airborne Forces, where he had served in 2015-16. Just like many infantry men, he saw a lot of intensive fighting since April 2022. I vividly remember how happy he was when we helped him to buy decent boots, spare cloth, a modern helmet and a decent bulletproof vest…

My wife was very close with Sashko but he never wanted to speak about ‘the horrors of war’ as he put it. He was wounded twice. The most serious was in September last year in eastern Ukraine. When I asked him what happened, he jokingly said he fell from a tank. He left the multiple shrapnel in his legs unexplained.

While in the hospital with his second injury this spring, he got to know his wife Tetiana in the hospital. To marry her, Sashko got two days off and hurried to Kryvih Rih, the nearest place the two spontaneously got an appointment! One day after the wedding, Sasha returned to the frontline in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Back then, he already spoke of intensive fighting in March 2023, months before the Ukrainian counter offensive.

His biggest wish was to have a daughter… and just last week, he got the results from his latest medical examination. Because of the multiple injuries and a disability status he would have been allowed to return to the training grounds as an instructor. He refused as he did not want to leave his unit in the middle of intensive fighting.

The last we heard of him few weeks ago, he echoed the sentiment that so many of our Ukrainian friends and acquaintances share: as difficult as it is and despite the high cost, I want to fight this war, so that his future children would not have to. Sashko paid the ultimate price before becoming a father. We will never forget you. Rest in peace, brother!

Zaporizhzhia Oblast:

Compare and contrast:

Ukraine:

.@ZelenskyyUa This Sunday, October 1, Ukraine will mark the Day of its Defenders, for the first time on a new date. This day is devoted to everyone who fights for our nation, everyone who adds to Ukraine’s strength, and everyone who has given their life for Ukraine. On this day, Ukraine will pause for a minute. To honor those who gave their lives in defense of our country and people. May this become our new tradition. 9 am, Sunday, October 1st. Central squares and streets of Ukrainian cities. A minute of honor. A minute of silence. And eternity of memory for our fallen defenders.

📹 @United24media

Russia:

Orkhiv:

Irpin:

Bakhmut:

Klischiivka:

Andrijivka:

Kherson to Kyiv:

In case anyone was wondering what Russia’s strategic goals are for the next two years, Defense Minister Shoygu has been good enough to share them:

The plywood marshall Shoygu, who barely managed to save his skin by fleeing Rostov just hours before Prigozhin’s arrival, says that the Moscow regime is increasing its firepower to achieve set goals by 2025. What goals exactly, no one knows, but it doesn’t matter – Shoygu’s only purpose is to keep the Kremlin Ripper on the throne for as long as possible, and no Russian lives will be spared for this. Iron curtain 2.0 and permawar are the only way for P*tin to make up for the huge mistake of failing the invasion of a much stronger nation.

Vague goals are ideal in that they cannot be achieved – the widely promoted Kuypansk offensive and promises to take Kharkiv failed with occupier forces unable to move more than a few miles in some areas. Even the tankies stopped talking about it.

For you enthusiasts of Russian military equipment going kaboom:

I know we talked about it in comments last night, but the Speaker of Canada’s House of Commons has resigned. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has the details:

Liberal MP Anthony Rota is stepping down as House of Commons Speaker after inviting a former Ukrainian soldier who fought in a Nazi division to Parliament — a dramatic turn of events that will be welcomed by MPs on all sides who said the embarrassing incident was unforgivable.

Rota’s resignation will take effect at the end of the sitting day on Wednesday.

“I have acted as your humble servant, carrying out the important responsibilities of this position to the very best of my abilities. The work of this House is above any of us. Therefore, I must step down as your Speaker,” Rota said ahead of Tuesday’s question period.

“I reiterate my profound regret for my error in recognizing an individual in the House.”

Rota said the “public recognition” he gave to a former Nazi soldier “caused pain to individuals and communities,” including Jewish people, Poles and “other survivors of Nazi atrocities.”

Rota’s decision to step aside means MPs will need to pick another presiding officer soon so the Commons can continue to function.

On Friday, Rota invited Ukrainian veteran Yaroslav Hunka, a constituent of his from North Bay, Ont., to sit in the parliamentary gallery during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address to Parliament.

Over the weekend, it emerged that Hunka was part of the First Ukrainian Division, also known as the Waffen-SS Galicia Division or the SS 14th Waffen Division — a voluntary unit under the command of the Nazis.

The shockwaves from the 98-year-old’s appearance in Parliament are still being felt.

Poland’s education minister has said he wants Hunka to be extradited to face criminal penalties for his role in the Galician division, a unit that committed atrocities against Poles in the Second World War. Przemysław Czarnek said he has “taken steps” to get Hunka to Poland.

The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre (FSWC), a Jewish rights group, said Rota’s action “compromised all 338 MPs” and “handed a propaganda victory to Russia.”

The FSWC is also calling on the Commons’ Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC) to hold public hearings, investigate what took place and examine “vetting process failures.”

B’nai Brith, another Jewish group, said the government must make the Deschenes Commission‘s 1980s-era report public in its entirety so the country can learn the true extent of Ukrainian Nazi activities in post-Second World War Canada.

Reports suggest as many as 2,000 Ukrainian members of Adolf Hitler’s Waffen-SS were admitted to Canada after the war — after some British prodding. The commission said the number is likely lower than that.

But Jewish groups have long been critical of how these collaborators have been allowed to live in peace in Canada after voluntarily serving in Hitler’s war machine.

Historians have documented how soldiers like Hunka were trained at SS facilities in Germany, swore an oath to Hitler and received an education in Nazi doctrine.

“We cannot move forward as a country from Friday’s humiliating debacle without the government committing to finally opening its wartime records,” said Michael Mostyn, B’nai Brith Canada’s CEO.

Government House Leader Karina Gould, who is of Jewish descent, said she’s horrified she celebrated Hunka. The Ontario MP also posed for a picture with the man after Friday’s festivities.

“This is very emotional for me,” Gould said, holding back tears as she spoke to reporters after Rota’s departure.

“My family are Jewish Holocaust survivors. I would have never in a million years stood and applauded someone who aided the Nazis.”

She said Rota should have never invited “someone like this.”

She said the outgoing Speaker was also “very misleading” when he encouraged parliamentarians to stand and applaud a Nazi collaborator.

The CBC also gives us a partial explanation for how this mistake was made:

As for who vetted Hunka, Rota’s spokesperson has said that the Speaker’s guest list for the event was not shared with the Prime Minister’s Office.

Rota’s picks to be in the gallery were sent to the House of Commons protocol office and the confirmed list of attendees was then shared with corporate security, which is partly responsible for security in the parliamentary precinct, including the Commons chamber in West Block.

That’s enough for tonight.

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@patron__dsns

Така от розмова з @Leon the cat 😂🦅

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Such is the conversation with @Leon the cat 😂🦅

Open thread!

Reader Interactions

46Comments

  1. 1.

    Cacti

    Since I’m sure you have an opinion about it, Adam, what is your take on BRICS inviting in a raft of new authoritarian hells?

  2. 2.

    Alison Rose

    9:00 am October 1st in Ukraine will be 11:00 pm September 30 here in CA. I’m gonna set a reminder for myself to observe the moment.

    «I am an upgraded version of myself: my leg does not freeze, does not get wet,»—he says about his artificial limb with humor and pride.

    This should be added to the dictionary as an example for “silver lining”. That is some serious resilience — though nothing less than what I have come to expect from Ukrainians.

    Nice video of two young kids playing the Ukrainian national anthem on electric guitars to raise money for the troops.

    Thank you as always, Adam.

  3. 3.

    Betty

    I can hardly express how furious I am when I read these stories of Ukrainian sacrifice shortly after reading that now 104 Republican House members are opposing aid to Ukraine. They are treating this horror as some kind of game. It is evil.

  4. 4.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Cacti: Not sure it makes a difference except puts them all in one place for meetings several times a year. They’re not going to behave any better or worse.

  8. 8.

    japa21

    @Gin & Tonic: ​
      I would assume any Dem opponent of those who are against continued aid will make a major point of it, specially in any districts with a decent Ukrainian population.

  10. 10.

    wjca

    @kalakal: distribution of Ukranian Americans

    Looks like there may be some House seats in the Dakotas (or maybe eastern Montana) which would otherwise be safely red.  But with a big percentage of Ukrainian Americans, an otherwise hopeless D candidate might do something.

  11. 11.

    Gin & Tonic

    Adam is more scrupulous about sourcing, but I’ve seen a number of reports that a Wagner plane crashed in Mali a few days ago, apparently killing everyone on board.

    An IL-76 which reportedly belongs to Wagner PMC crashed in Mali. The number of dead is currently unknown. pic.twitter.com/7UK7jrmRtZ
    — NOELREPORTS 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@NOELreports) September 23, 2023

  14. 14.

    oldster

    @Gin & Tonic:

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Y’all didn’t see the film of this? I have seen video in which the plane lands, overshoots the end of the runway, pitches forward onto its nose, and then bursts into a BIG kerosene fireball.

    It was on Ukraine Video Report on Reddit a day or two ago.  Did not look like a shoot-down, just bad brakes or incompetent piloting. And the report said that the plane had a tail-number associated with Wagner.

  20. 20.

    Yutsano

    @Another Scott: I’m looking at the accident from my amateur avgeek eyes. It looks like the pilot landed too far down the runway, figured out too late he didn’t have enough room to stop, tried to execute a go-around, ran out of runway, then the plane hit the trees at the end and plane go boom. Looks like pilot error from here.

  21. 21.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Yutsano: Denys Davydov’s vid tonight concluded the same thing.  But it remains to verify that this was legit a Wagner plane, and  it really did happen yesterday (or whenever it’s supposed to have) and where it’s supposed to have happened.

  23. 23.

    Jay

    Logo
    Anton Gerashchenko
    @Gerashchenko_en
    13h
    I sometimes see Westerners saying that the more human losses Russia sustains, the more injured and traumatized Russians return back home, the sooner public opinion will change and Russians will start opposing the war.

    Many Ukrainians, including myself, have thought so, too, in the first months of the war. We addressed Russian mothers, Russian women, told them that their sons and husbands will be killed or maimed. We got very little feedback and virtually no results.

    For the Russians these dead soldiers are “heroes who protected the Motherland”. And Russians choose to see them this way, empowered by propaganda and ideology – Russia is very good at hero-izing the dead. They refuse to realize that it was their country that invaded another state, their country that kills, loots, rapes and injures civilians in Ukraine; that these Russian soldiers are murderers and villains. In fact, for many of Russian women life becomes better with their men gone – a lot of them had drinking problems, abused their families, did not work proper jobs. Usually the people who get mobilized or sign contracts with the Russian army are from specific social circles – the educated middle class (a broad generalization) is not keen to go to war. Usually it’s poorer men from distant villages who are in the trenches. So now these women can live freely and get a substantial amount of money from the government, living with a glossed over memory of their son, husband or father. In a way, that reassures them that Russia is doing everything right. And as Russia has over 140 million people, it has a virtually endless resource of cannon fodder.

    As for the injured – Russia mostly hides its invalids inside, so no one sees them and remembers them. After WWII people who lost limbs or had other deformities were even sent to special “colonies” so they wouldn’t get in contrast with the shiny myth of the great victory. What Russians don’t see, they don’t care about.

    So these incredible losses of the Russian army serve more to mobilize and inspire the Russian society and increase Putin’s approval ratings. This prolongs the war, and the longer the war lasts, the harder it will be to overpower Russia. And every day Russia becomes a bigger problem for the whole world.

    What to do, then?
    It’s important to destroy, disrupt and break down Russia’s military potential – as quickly as possible. That is what Ukraine is doing with attacking plants that produce military goods, breaking down logistical chains, taking down headquarters and so on. That is why it’s so important for Ukraine to get long-range missiles.

    Another crucial thing is combating Russian propaganda – it is the source of war and a huge part of it. Russian propagandists are war criminals. Severe personal sanctions are needed not just against the most known figures but against everyone who serves that machine.
    Sep 27, 2023 · 1:47 PM UTC

    https://nitter.net/Gerashchenko_en/status/1707029104300577114#m

  24. 24.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Jay:

    After WWII people who lost limbs or had other deformities were even sent to special “colonies” so they wouldn’t get in contrast with the shiny myth of the great victory.

    This is consistent with what we know of Russia since time immemorial: the vast body of Russians are just bodies for the ruling elite, just as the serfs were.  They don’t care a whit about their lives: they’re just meat and always have been.

  25. 25.

    Jay

    @Chetan Murthy:

    Meat cubes.

    Our building has a gym.

    I was in the gym yesterday, wearing my Our Lady of Mariupol t shirt, (in charcoal).

    https://www.saintjavelin.com/products/azovstal-mariupol-our-lady-of-mariupol-adult-tshirt

    I had some Vatnick take offense.

    He picked up two 15lb handweights and threatened me.

    I pointed out that if he assaulted me, I would put him in the hospital for several months, his and his families visa would be pulled, Canada would deport him to Ruzzia, where Putin would draft him and make him a meat cube.

    He backed down and fucked off.

    I was so pissed that I reported him to building Mgmt, they reviewed the video, (all common areas have video/audio survelliance).

    So now, he has to find new accomodation for himself and his family by October 1st, in a city where it’s really hard to find and afford a place.

    Sucks to be him.

  26. 26.

    teezyskeezy

    @Chetan Murthy: And on top of that their propaganda machine is very good at convincing these serfs to willingly support their own servitude.

    And on top of *that* the global plutocratic elite is happy to assist Russia in spreading that propaganda to the world through social media at a rate and volume they could have only dreamed of in the Soviet days, and to share the fruits of that labor as more people everywhere blindly support authoritarian oligarchs against their own interests.

  27. 27.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Jay: Good for you, and happy that you were able to end the encounter safely and positively.  I haven’t seen anything like that in SF, but then, I don’t get out enough, so …..

  28. 28.

    NobodySpecial

    @Jay: Yep, that could be easily predicted. If there’s no outcry at the outset, there’s not going to be any meaningful pushback ever.

    What worries me more is that the longer this goes on, the better Russian forces get as the dumb and the slow get run over, they’re not losing meaningful production capacity, and the morale issues haven’t caused enough loss of unit cohesion to degrade Russian defenses. It only gets harder from here.

  29. 29.

    Chetan Murthy

    @teezyskeezy: [I’m such a broken record about this] The thing that’s so surprising to me, is that both Russia, and our own Reichwingers, are such incompetent versions of the original Fascists.  In Nazi Germany the OG Fascists were absolutely concerned about the welfare of Their Base, repeatedly diverting money from rearmament to housing, *clothing*, food.  Repeatedly the murder and dispossession of Jewish populations in conquered territories were expedited in order to take their worldly goods (literally, clothing and furniture, not just money) and give it directly to Their Base.  They actually did care about the conditions of life of their base.  [Not that that excuses their genocide, nor their wars of conquest].

    Our own Fash (and, I guess, Russia since forever) can’t even manage that: they simply don’t care about Their Base.  The first time as tragedy, the second time as farce, I guess.

  30. 30.

    Chetan Murthy

    @NobodySpecial: Re: your worry, from what I’ve read, your worry isn’t actually a problem.  I’ve read that on both sides, the experienced, well-trained troops are all gone — at best injured, at worst, dead.  The way I heard it,

    1. the original well-trained and experienced troops are all gone
    2. and the reservists who came back into the fight with the start of hostilities, are gone
    3. so now both sides are fighting with conscripts

    It’s really a question of which side can generate forces on a continuous basis, and train/equip them.  I’m hopeful that the answer to that question is “Ukraine, of course.”

  31. 31.

    teezyskeezy

    @Chetan Murthy: I guess if you open up the propaganda fire house enough by way of modern digital means, you can completely unhinge The Base’s support from material reality.  I’m not sure how much that *really* is an explanation, or maybe on some scale propaganda always worked like that, but it really does seem like they can replace material results with bullshit brainwashing and get away with it.

  33. 33.

    teezyskeezy

    @Hkedi [Kang T.Q.]: Yeah, but I wonder why 40% of the United States suddenly fell in love with a POS like Trump and now embrace authoritarianism. I can point to dozens of potential contributing factors that have slowly molded segments of our society into little right wing fascists (fundie lobbying, growth of right wing media, etc)…but what tipped us over into the full on crazy batshittery with 40% of the population completely untethered from reality and ready to burn the country down?  Was it really just the natural evolution of the right wing noise machine slowly devouring its own sanity along with The Base’s, or is it some new development like social media or even new techniques of propaganda that might even be unknown to most of us?

    Like I said, it’s easy to suspect a bunch of different things, harder for me to really synthesize a clear working theory of it all.

  34. 34.

    Jay

    Anton Gerashchenko
    @Gerashchenko_en
    21h
    He refused to surrender into captivity at Azovstal and walked 200 km to get to safety. This is not a movie plot but a real life story of a Ukrainian Defender Oleksandr, callsign “Skhid” (“East”).

    Oleksandr has now returned to military service and is defending Ukraine in the 3rd Assault Brigade.

    He promised to write a book about his escape.

    📹: Pressing

    https://nitter.net/Gerashchenko_en/status/1706943184184520979#m

  35. 35.

    a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)

    @teezyskeezy: There have always been a significant chunk of Americans with strong authoritarian tendencies; I say this as some growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, when they were pretty obvious and outspoken about the ways in which “things are going wrong in America”. Both the anti-Vietnam War protests and the Civil Rights protests horrified them; things like Woodstock revolted them. All of these were a direct assault on their vision of the proper world order.
    That there is a strong streak of racism and religious bigotry in there as well should not come as a surprise; both were pretty well baked in from the beginning, and serve to reinforce each other. White Christian evangelical fundamentalism is strongly authoritarian (forget anything the OG Baptists ever had to say about the priesthood of the believer) and perfectly at home with racism as well; it actively pushes the notion that white men are the people the Almighty wants to be in charge.
    With the exception of Gerald Ford and the elder Bush (and maybe Bob Dole) virtually every major GOP politician since Nixon has been not just willing to woo these people but has actively worked to make them happy.

    What is new is the obviousness with which they stake out their positions (although there was a lot of that in the 1960s) and the extent to which the news media have been co-opted (in large part by ownership) to support this.

  36. 36.

    Carlo Graziani

    Reviewing ISW reports since September 25, I no longer see any reported Russian attacks at the base of the Orkhiv salient. This may mean that they are deprioritizing efforts to compress the salient and force the offensive forces to withdraw. Given the Russian STAVKA’s obsession with aggressive, “active defense” (however tactically ill-considered), that would be a significant indication of deep concern regarding their ability to contain the Ukrainian offensive at the Verbove-Robotyne line (the “tip” of the salient).

  37. 37.

    Andrya

    @Chetan Murthy:   I live in the SF Bay Area south bay, but one of my brothers lives in SF, and when I visit him (weekly) I usually wear my “Slava Ukraini” t-shit.  I’ve never got a negative response- I either hear “I love your t-shirt” or a puzzled “what does your t-shirt say?”.  The second is the reason I wear it- it’s a conversational opening for pro-Ukraine educational effort.

  38. 38.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Andrya:

    my “Slava Ukraini” t-shit.

    Do you have a pointer to a pic of that t-shirt?  I have a couple of Ukraine-supporting tshirts, but ….. well, it’s hard to find ’em that are well-made, so always looking for some.

  40. 40.

    Geminid

    @Carlo Graziani: Chuck Pfarrer’s map shows movement of Russian forces from the front on either side of the salient, southwards towards Verbove and Robotyne.

    If this is so, it seems like Russian defenses on the shoulders of the salient are now weakened. They are exposed to attack from the flanks as well as the north, and vulnerable to infiltration tactics if they are much spread out. Also, Ukrainian drone operators can concentrate on fewer targets. I doubt that the formations left behind will stick if pushed much.

    Maybe they also will be moved back, but this runs counter to Russian practice thus far. If Russia had a different, more mobile Army they might fall back slowly to a line anchored by Tokmak. Then they could mount a more powerful and effective counterattack, as opposed to the relatively piecemeal efforts they have made.

    But they don’t  have that kind of Army anymore (if they ever did). Now the losses incurred in their Winter/Spring attacks at places like Vuhledar(sp?) and the Bakhmut area are being felt. Those were on top of the many troops and officers lost last year.

    And the Russians’ lack of strategic depth becomes a factor because a line anchored on Tokmak is so close to the Sea of Azov. This has been a weakness all along for the Russian Zaporizhia front, and was made possible by the courage and sacrifice of the Ukrainian forces who defended that battlefront last year, and by their tenacity throughout this year.

  41. 41.

    Andrya

    @Chetan Murthy:   I actually have several but no sources you don’t know about.  The first two I got from Amazon but they were not especially well made (on one I had to repair a seam before I wore it the first time).  And of course with Amazon none of the profits go to Ukraine.

    When I heard about St Javelin I switched to them.

  42. 42.

    dr. luba

    WRT the russian “Day of Unification.”  They tried to pull this same shit in 1989–celebrating the “reunification” of eastern and western Ukraine.  Made all sorts of posters and gear.  Planned huge celebrations.

    The Ukrainians responded with huge protests which marked the beginning of the end of the USSR.

  43. 43.

    Bill Arnold

    @Jay:

    Another crucial thing is combating Russian propaganda – it is the source of war and a huge part of it. Russian propagandists are war criminals. Severe personal sanctions are needed not just against the most known figures but against everyone who serves that machine.

    Yes. They are akin to members of the German Nazi propaganda ministry. (J. Goebbels (a true believer) killed himself in a family murder-suicide, first killing (with the assistance of his wife Magda and few subordinates) his 6 children.)

  44. 44.

    evodevo

    @Chetan Murthy: Yep… constituent services is how you retain the loyalty of the base…amazing that they can’t understand the concept…I guess they figure they don’t have to if they are well-enough armed…

  45. 45.

    Geminid

    @evodevo: Republican Representative Max Miller (OH-7) seems to have responded to the relatively large numbers of Ukrainian Americans in his district by taking a supportive stance towards Ukraine. Also, there are a lot of people with roots in Poland and other East European countries in the Greater Cleveland area Miller represents, and they also likely side with Ukraine against Russia.

    Anthony Gonzalez used to represent this district, but he voted to impeach Trump and retired afterwards.

  46. 46.

    Carlo Graziani

    @Geminid: Getting back to this late (I’m on CET this week).

    Tokmak is very clearly the Ukrainian operational objective of this part of the campaign. It’s the key road and rail junction in that area, and if the Russians lose it their ability to coordinate and supply the defense of Melitopol and Berdyansk will be in very serious trouble. If their defense is “anchored” at Tokmak, they will be in trouble even if they hold it, because their communication lines will be under direct observation of local artillery. Basically, if they allow matters to get to that point, they will have eminently good reasons for fully-fledged panic.

    According to Brady Africk’s current fortification maps there is a strong defensive line at Solodka Balka that seems to be the next stop on that road. It was reported defended by inferior (non-VDV) infantry as of 2 days ago. If/when, and how, the UA goes through it should tell us a good deal about what to expect next.

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