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Technically true, but collectively nonsense

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I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

“Joe Biden deserved better than he got from some folks in his own party.”

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / War for Ukraine Day 749: Russia Attacked Kryvyi Rih, Sumy, and Myrnohrad Overnight!

War for Ukraine Day 749: Russia Attacked Kryvyi Rih, Sumy, and Myrnohrad Overnight!

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Screen shot of new artwork by NEIVANMADE. The background is black. In the bottom foreground are grey Ukrainian homes and apartment buildings being bombarded by red Russian missiles with the Special Military Operation "Z" symbol on them. Above the missiles, written in red is the word "Ruzzians". Below the buildings being attacked is the statement "Turns Homes Into Graves".

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

Myrnohrad, Sumy, and Kryvyi Rih. Overnight, russian attacks destroyed residential buildings in three Ukrainian cities.

In Myrnohrad, 2 people died. 4 people died and more than 50 were injured in Kryvyi Rih. 8 residents were injured in Sumy, 3 people are considered missing.

The world must see the consequences of russian terror. The world has to support Ukraine in our fight against russian evil.

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

It is very important that our people are not left alone with pain and problems after Russian strikes – address by the President of Ukraine

13 March 2024 – 22:30

Dear Ukrainians!

Briefly about this day.

Reports from the regions of our country on the elimination of the consequences of Russian strikes and on providing assistance to the victims. Sumy – a “Shahed” drone hit a residential building, Kryvyi Rih – the aftermath of a Russian missile attack, Donetsk region, in particular the city of Myrnohrad – a Russian strike, an air bomb directly hit a residential building. Each of these strikes took lives. My condolences to all those who have lost loved ones. Today we also had a separate conversation about Odesa – about helping people after the destruction of a house on Dobrovolskoho Avenue. As agreed, the regional authorities and the Cabinet of Ministers are helping with new housing and other similar issues. In general, after each Russian attack, all services respond promptly, all necessary resources are involved: from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, regional authorities, utilities, and the National Police.

I would like to once again thank everyone involved in the rescue operations, working to clear the rubble, helping and supporting people who have lost their loved ones. It is very important that after the Russian strikes our people are not left alone with pain and problems. And it is the responsibility of local authorities, all state and municipal services, and if necessary, the central government, including the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, to respond and handle all situations so that people truly feel that Ukraine always helps. And no matter what happens, there will be support in every corner of our country. This is exactly what is needed.

I would especially like to recognize the employees of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Sumy region. Sergeants Oleh Sakhnenko and Ivan Vorozhko, Master Sergeant Volodymyr Ponomarenko, Captain Oleksandr Moyseyenko and Colonel Volodymyr Prokopchuk. I would also like to recognize the staff of the State Emergency Service in Dnipropetrovsk region, in particular those who work in Kryvyi Rih and help safeguard people’s normal life. Sergeant Maksym Zaliznyi, Master Sergeant Oleksandr Makhno, Senior Lieutenant Illia Mustiatsa, Captain Volodymyr Havryliuk and employees of the State Mining Rescue Unit of the State Emergency Service Pavlo Doroshenko and Yevhen Konovalov. I am grateful to you guys and all your colleagues!

A few more things.

I held several meetings on our international work. First, the European Union. Next steps towards full membership. Yesterday, the European Commission finalized the Negotiating Framework. Next, we are waiting for the decision of European leaders on its approval. It will be an important and strong signal for both Ukraine and the entire European community to do everything possible to start negotiations as early as during the Belgian presidency in the first half of this year. This should be our common pace, both for Ukraine and the EU. We have a clear sequence of steps and I am confident that we can achieve the result.

I also held a more strategic meeting on the American vector of our policy. We discussed how to give more proper impulses to our work with partners and joint pressure on the Russian state throughout this year. Winning here in Ukraine in this confrontation with Russian terror is a matter of survival for democratic systems, a matter of what democracies are capable of. Ukraine is capable of defending itself, given sufficient support. And having defended ourselves, we can ensure that no other international criminal will be tempted by aggression like Putin. We can protect life and we must do so.

Glory to everyone who fights and works for Ukraine! Glory to our people!

Thank you to everyone who stands with Ukraine.

Glory to Ukraine!

Good job Republican members of the House and Senate!

You can’t shame the shameless.

Secretary of State Blinken met with EU High Representative Borrell today.

This is a very good question:

This seems like it could be a positive development:

We have to wait to see what, if anything results.

In case you’ve seen the AP reporting on Putin’s remarks regarding the use of nukes, here’s what he said:

And here’s what’s really going on.

Sorry, what’s BREAKING about this?

Other than the fact that Putin is again starting a new wave of global nuclear blackmailing and extortion in his war propaganda, of course.

Previous attempts to scare the West off from providing Ukraine with all appropriate tools to curtail and end Russia’s invasion were quite successful — so why not carry on and extort more — and then more, and more, and more?

My question is if the media realize that with such BREAKING headlines, they only help the Kremlin play its “Give me this and that and kneel to me because otherwise, it’s NUKES” card.

It’s not that we spent two years beating our heads against the wall and trying to make it clear that you can’t encourage warmongering dictators by backing down to their nuclear intimidation — this would inevitably only make things worse.

Ukraine has gone on the hunt in response to Russia’s bombardment of civilian targets.

The Financial Times has the details:

Ukraine has stepped up drone strikes on oil refineries deep inside Russia, in what officials depict as an intensifying effort to hit the country’s economy.

In the second consecutive day of assaults on Russian energy infrastructure, explosions were confirmed on sites in the country’s heartlands such as Ryazan, Kstovo and Kirishi.

The damaged facilities, which are all hundreds of kilometres away from the border with Ukraine, account for about 10 per cent of Russia’s total oil processing capacity.

A Ukrainian official with knowledge of the attacks said the state security service used drones overnight in “a series of special operations against enemy oil refineries”.

The official added that Ukraine was “systematically implementing a detailed strategy . . . to deprive the enemy of resources and reduce the flow of oil money and fuel”.

Kyiv and Moscow have both stepped up drone attacks in recent months as Ukrainian forces struggle to repel their better-armed Russian foes on the battlefield.

The targeting of oil refineries comes amid growing frustration in Ukraine with the hesitant approach western powers have taken to targeting Moscow’s energy revenues.

While the G7 and the EU have tried to limit how much Russia can sell its oil for, they have also sought to keep Russian barrels on the market to avoid a price spike ahead of the US presidential election in November.

Earlier this month, Russia implemented a ban on petrol exports in an effort to keep prices stable amid rising demand.

The Russian defence ministry on Wednesday claimed to have shot down more than 60 Ukrainian drones.

But videos posted on Russian social media showed several Ukrainian drones bypassing air defences and causing explosions.

Another Ukrainian official said Wednesday’s attack had caused “quite significant” damage on the targeted refineries.

One video showed flames and a huge plume of black smoke rising from the Ryazan oil refinery south-east of Moscow. Pavel Malkov, governor of the Ryazan region, said there were injuries but did not elaborate.

Ukrainian security forces also launched drone strikes on Wednesday against a Russian air force base in Buturlinovka and a military airfield in Voronezh, both about 200km from the Ukrainian border.

The previous day Ukraine had launched a wave of drone strikes against energy sites and oil refineries in at least seven Russian regions.

Ukraine-backed Russian paramilitary units opposed to President Vladimir Putin’s regime also launched cross-border incursions with tanks and armoured vehicles into Belgorod and Kursk regions on Tuesday.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was responding to Russian aggression.

“We will inflict losses on the Russian state in response — quite rightly,” he said in an evening address on Tuesday. “Those in the Kremlin must get used to the fact that terror does not go unpunished for them.”

Russian missiles and attack drones, including Shahed drones made by Iran and supplied to Moscow for its war effort, often target Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure.

A Russian missile strike on Tuesday morning destroyed an apartment building in Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih, in southern Ukraine, killing three people and injuring 30 more.

A Shahed drone attack on Wednesday morning also crushed an apartment building in Sumy, northern Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities said there were deaths and injuries but did not clarify how many.

At least four of 32 Russia’s major refineries have been attacked since the beginning of 2024. Some of them, including the Rosneft plant in Tuapse on the Black Sea coast that was attacked in January, have had to cease operations.

More at the link!

Well this is an amazing coincidence!

The Ukrainians, despite all they’ve been through, do this for the Russians despite the fact that the Russians do not do this for the Ukrainians.

Kursk Oblast:

 

Last night in the comments, Sister Inspired Revolver of Freedom asked:

Adam, Alison, this is a personal question, & I am fine if you choose not to answer it or comment. What do the 2 of you think of Jonathan Glazer’s Oscar acceptance speech? Despite being Jewish himself, he’s received an incredible amount of criticism for it. There’s been some praise too, but it doesn’t balance out.

I can’t speak for Alison, nor would I try. I do not watch the Oscars, not this year or ever. So I did not see the speech. My understanding is that it was initially misreported and misrepresented. From what I can tell from reading his full remarks, they do not bother me at all. I think they are nuanced, which was something that disappeared quickly after the 7 October attacks. As far back as I can remember we have had a group of “professional” Jews who purport to speak for all Jews and who also do boundary maintenance on what is and is not acceptable for Jews to say or do. Basically they think the Deity died and left them in charge. I don’t have any real issues with what Glazer said.

Bookworm1398 asked:

@ Adam. The right wing blogs I visit are full of speculation about the resignation of Victoria Nuland and what it might mean for the administration’s Ukraine policy. So I was just wondering, is it significant? Does it mean anything?

Most of Biden’s top nat-sec people have either stayed far longer than one would expect or have been quietly resigning and moving on for the past six to ten months. The burn out rate for these positions is quite high. The work days never really end. You’re always on call and never really off the clock. And the Biden administration inherited multiple major crises and wicked problems and, over the past two years, have had a number of others rise to the surface as a result of neglect by prior administrations, the lack of adjustment of American policy and strategy going back decades, or a combination of the two. I’m not surprised she’s stepping down. Nor do I think it’ll make any difference. Right now the two major issues affecting the Biden administration’s Ukraine policy is the failure to get the Ukraine supplemental through the GOP majority House of Representatives and the Biden nat-sec team’s seeming inherent risk aversion.

That’s enough for tonight.

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Open thread!

Reader Interactions

31Comments

  1. 1.

    Adam L Silverman

    I’m going to go get cleaned up and rack out. Everyone is, as always, most welcome.

  2. 2.

    Gin & Tonic

    I refuse to link to it, but Elmo posted some idiotic Tweet again conflating russian-speakers in Ukraine with pro-russians, having apparently swallowed russian propaganda hook, line, and sinker. So not only is he malevolent, he is a complete moron. I eagerly await his Tweet explaining how all the English-speakers in Dublin want to be ruled by King Chuck.

  3. 3.

    Gin & Tonic

    Two moderately interesting linguistic notes on that 3rd Assault Brigade video. First, the Ukrainian soldiers speak to their prisoner in russian – russian soldiers would *never* speak to a Ukrainian prisoner in Ukrainian. Second is kind of a funny word you hear a lot – “davai.” Technically it is the second-person singular imperative form of “to give,” but it’s used as a general-purpose interjection that’s almost as versatile as the word “fuck.” Depending on context, it can mean almost anything. It’s not vulgar, it’s just very flexible.

     

    ETA: It’s pronounced and used the same in most eastern Slavic languages.

  5. 5.

    Lyrebird

    @Gin & Tonic: Agreed re: the moron.  Not like I’m in any position to  judge, but I have noticed that a ton of the Ukr. videos of, like, Army Dude Showing How He Made A Drone With Popsicle Sticks are narrated in Russian.  People only recently released from horrific captivity kissing their Ukrainian soil and calling on the volunteer’s phone, “Mama, ya vernulis” – which I assume is Russian bc I understand it.  (ETA : “I came back”)

    Funny thing, I always though “davai” mean “go on” “go ahead” “come on [and do something]” bc my Russian teacher in ages dark used that word so much.

  6. 6.

    Wombat Probability Cloud

    @Gin & Tonic: Out of curiosity, can some of the Russian soldiers speak Ukrainian? (Though I understand that even if they could, they wouldn’t.)

  8. 8.

    wjca

    Zelenskyy highlights a reason why TIFG, and the House GOP, don’t want aid to Ukraine to pass: “Winning here in Ukraine in this confrontation with Russian terror is a matter of survival for democratic systems”  They definitely wouldn’t want that — not when they’re working so hard to destroy democracy here.

  9. 9.

    Carlo Graziani

    As to Russia’s nuclear threats:

    it is well to remember what was speculation in 2022, and confirmed in 2023: the Biden administration early on established and communicated to Russia red lines thresholding NATO intervention in Ukraine, the pricipal one of which was Russian battlefield NBC use.

    In effect, Ukraine has been protected from nuclear intimidation by the threat of NATO involvement in the war, and this threat acted as an effective deterrent to Russian nuclear use—which was otherwise inexplicable, given Russian reverses in 2022, and Russian Army doctrine concerning tactical nuclear warfare.

    This fact establishes context for Putin’s threats: Russia is already deterred from actual use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, as it was already from use against NATO member states. No such threat is credible, barring an existential threat against Russia itself. And this observation merely recapitulates the history of nuclear deterrence with the USSR.

  10. 10.

    wjca

    @Gin & Tonic: I eagerly await his Tweet explaining how all the English-speakers in Dublin want to be ruled by King Chuck.

    Not to mention all, for example, South Africans.

  13. 13.

    Anoniminous

    Biden nat-sec team’s seeming inherent risk aversion.

    France was “risk averse” when Hitler marched into the Rhineland in 1936.

    Worked out well. Didn’t it?

  15. 15.

    Jay

    BTW, all 3 Russian Legions attacked into Belogrod Oblast, in mutually supporting attacks, yesterday, and are still there today. They claim that the Rosguardia and OMON troops ran away, and that they are collecting tons of “gheema”*,

    *tanks, IFV’s, APC’s, Arty, ammo, light and heavy weapons.

  16. 16.

    wjca

    @Jay:  the US, y’all speak english, right?

    Those outside the US, especially in the UK, have some skepticism on that point.

    Of course, in reality we are the ones who speak “the language of Shakespeare” — having missed out on the changes in pronunciation and such which have occurred in England in the last few hundred years.

  17. 17.

    Anoniminous

    @Jay: ​
     
    Not surprising OMON ran away. Paramilitary police are valiant when facing unarmed civilians. Not so brave when people are able to shoot back.

  18. 18.

    Redshift

    The right wing blogs I visit are full of speculation about the resignation of Victoria Nuland and what it might mean for the administration’s Ukraine policy. So I was just wondering, is it significant? Does it mean anything?

    When you see that wingers are all a-twitter (as it were) about Nuland, the thing to remember is that she has outsized importance in their mythology about Ukraine. In their telling, she single-handedly engineered the overthrow of Yanukovich in 2014, it wasn’t a popular uprising at all. So if she’s leaving, that must mean something, instead of being a perfectly ordinary (arguably overdue) retirement.

  20. 20.

    BeautifulPlumage

    Adam: as always, I appreciate your continued diligence in reporting on Ukraine. I’ve been taking small breaks recently because the US GOP House situation has been so, so frustrating. Please keep it up to ensure this invasion remains on our front burner.

  21. 21.

    Yutsano

    @Carlo Graziani: I just realised I hadn’t heard her name in forever and a day. I’m shocked she’s only leaving now instead of during the previous maladministration.

  22. 22.

    Jay

    @Carlo Graziani:

    Dieppe Raid wound up with all the landed tanks* and troops barely getting off the beach and everyone but a few swimmers died, were wounded or taken prisoner. The NAZI’s also got working models of the Churchill tank, Spitfires and a ton of more modern small arms. Only the Commando’s had any sucess, and the raid lasted 9 hours.

    *most of the tanks never got off the beach, cobble stones.

    These guys are 60km inside ruZZia, have been for two days, are collecting a ton of weapons and while they expected serious push back last night, didn’t happen, so far, just one ruZZian Cop politely asking them not to loot and rob the towns.

    Yeah, it’s just a raid, not a conquest, yet.

    Yet, in 2 years, the Russian Legions have gone from 0, to 1500 well trained soldiers with everything but an airforce.

  23. 23.

    Carlo Graziani

    @Jay: The relevance of the Dieppe Raid here is not in the specific tactical/operational factors. It is in the futility of committing scarce resources to doomed enterprises that offer no strategic payoff commensurate with the inevitable sacrifice that they entail.

    In the end, these forces are just going to be mopped up. There will be nothing to show for their sacrifice. It’s all a romance.

  24. 24.

    Jay

    @Carlo Graziani:

    the Dieppe Raid was a trial of landing tech and strategy that would inform the Normandy Landings.

    This is the 3rd Raid by the Russian Legions, (1 Legion in the first, 2 in the second, now 3), and none of their previous raids resulted in them being “mopped up” or taking serious casualties. In the first two raids, they came back with more men, arms and armor than they invaded with.

    It took the ruZZian’s 3 days to respond to the first raid, and they didn’t cut off the Legion’s retreat.

    Like drone attacks inside ruZZia, these raids bring “home” the war to ruZZia.

  25. 25.

    Roberto el oso

    Maybe a better analogy for the Russian Legions incursion is the Doolittle raid on Tokyo? A huge morale-boost with some small damage to the enemy.

  29. 29.

    wjca

    @Jay: They claim that the Rosguardia and OMON troops ran away, and that they are collecting tons of “gheema”*,

    *tanks, IFV’s, APC’s, Arty, ammo, light and heavy weapons. 

    Be interesting to know just how much ammo, specifically artillery shells, they are collecting, and how much gets back to Ukraine.  Might they end up providing Ukraine with a net gain in ammo?  That might be more useful than any psychological boost from them taking to war to the Russians.

  30. 30.

    Jay

    @wjca:

    Sadly, not much.

    They arn’t (yet) able to “raid” in with follow up convoys of semi trucks. Plus. the ruZZian’s still haven’t figured out how to use pallets in their supply chain, so reloading is man power intensive.

    But they have been self sustaining with weapons and ammo since the first raid, despite tripling their number.

    And they burn what they can’t take.

  31. 31.

    glc

    This thread may be more or less expired but I’m wondering about the next NATO leader. There are now  two candidates, Rutte and Iohannis, with Rutte the presumptive successor. While there are questions of process, my question is whether they differ materially on issues (or energy).

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