TheOldGuy @TheOldGuy@qoto.org
I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian fascist invaders.
I am a 73 year old Covid hermit who
lives on 10 acres in a sparsely populated area of the Ozarks. I heat with wood that is leftover by the lumber industry. When cutting oak for lumber only the trunk is used.
The largest town is population 2993. The county is 13k people scattered over 713 square miles.
Joined Dec 2022
🔥 The Ukrainian band "Antitila" handed over 5.000 tactical first-aid kits equipped according to NATO standards to the soldiers of the GUR. Funds for them were collected during the band's world tour, which included European countries, Canada, the USA, Australia and New Zealand. Dozens of concerts, during which funds were accumulated for the purchase of necessary materials.
❗️ The guys didn't just buy ready-made first-aid kits, they bought the best means to save the lives of our defenders. Then, together with the United Help Ukraine fund, each set was assembled by hand. The set of first-aid kits was formed on the basis of the front-line experience of Ukrainian paramedics.
😎 The band members plan to continue their volunteer activities to accumulate funds for the needs of the Ukrainian military. They are not limited exclusively to the medical component: combat boats, FPV drones, long-range drones. All this may also reach the special units of Ukrainian military intelligence in the near future.
@ukrainejournal
UN: Evidence of torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war
A United Nations investigative commission says it has collected further evidence that Russia is systematically and extensively torturing Ukrainian prisoners of war. Reports from victims reveal unrelenting brutality, commission chairman Erik Møse told reporters in Geneva.
Accordingly, the victims were inflicted severe pain and suffering in long-term detention "with blatant disregard for human dignity." In a report, the commission documented threats of rape and electric shocks to the genitals. Some Ukrainian prisoners in Russian custody are so hungry that they eat soap, worms and leftover dog food. Russia initially did not comment on the information. It has denied torturing or otherwise ill-treating prisoners of war.
😠😡🤬
@ukrainejournal
UN report reveals how Ukrainian POWs are subjected to prolonged torture in Russian captivity.
Russian authorities employ torture tactics to extract information from civilians suspected of collaborating with the Armed Forces. Additionally, prisoners of war endure torture as a means of punishment and intimidation.
The torture is carried out by personnel from the Russian correctional service and prison guards, with interrogations also conducted by FSB officers.
The report recounts the harrowing experience of a prisoner of war held in a correctional colony in the city of Donsky, Tula Region. He endured constant torture, resulting in broken bones, knocked-out teeth, and gangrene on his wounded foot.
"I lost all hope and will to live. I attempted to end my life, but they responded with further beatings," he recounted.
Upon his release from captivity, the serviceman required hospitalization on 36 occasions due to the severe physical and psychological trauma inflicted upon him.
@ukrainejournal
NOT A GOOD ELECTION DAY
The trouble around Moscow and St.Petersburg was low key for the most part, give or take a couple of bombings at polling stations. Protests included an older woman setting fire to her vote and burning the booth down, several attempts to set fire to ballot boxes, and by all accounts a lot of protest votes and spoiled voting papers, many with abusive names written on them.
The police in several towns were there to make sure your vote wasn’t cast for the wrong person. Some actually standing over voters while they filled their vote out.
There were said to be several incidences of jostling and police bullying. In one case police were seen taking the votes out of the boxes and ‘correcting’ them. And all on camera! They just don’t care at all.
Meanwhile ‘liberation forces’ are still running amok in the Belgorod and Kursk regions, with grad like rockets actually seen landing in Belgorod centre, suggesting
they aren’t terribly far away. Of course the purpose is maximising disruption and chaos and making a point. The Russian authorities seem unable to stop it and are just waiting for the whole thing to peter out by itself.
The election protest on the scale they seem to have been this year are unprecedented in the Putin era. There’s a lot more dissatisfaction and resentment, palpable frustration, under the surface.
Economic conditions are worse. Money doesn’t last and prices rise, but payments for pensioners especially don’t go up anything like the amount they need to.
The death toll at the front is reaching millions of people at home.
Based on the idea that every soldier had ten people in their extended families and friends who cared directly about them, that alone is 4,000,000 directly affected by every death. Most of them would know other families and their friends with another 10 people in their work, colleagues, direct friendships, let alone acquaintances. Overall
Some 10 million people know what’s going on and with the way the grapevine works ten times that are very aware something isn’t right and they don’t like it.
Most are of course too afraid to say or do anything. Yet those propaganda channels have less viewers with every passing month. Some of the hard core opinion shows and ‘debates’ have audiences below 1%. People have cut themselves off from ‘news’ and fake reality. They stick their heads in the sand and hope nothing happens.
Sadly that’s not really how the Russian world works. Sooner or later it reaches you. It happened in the stringent oppression of the Soviet era and it will happen again to Putin. That’s how Russia changes. Eventually people have enough and it’s usually messy. It can’t come soon enough.
The Analyst
@ukrainejournal
Russian losses
https://t.me/noel_reports/9668
Denmark to begin drafting women
https://mil.in.ua/en/news/denmark-plans-to-expand-military-draft-to-women-and-extend-service-terms/
Two years ago, Russia attacked the Drama Theatre in then besieged Mariupol. While inscriptions in large letters displaying the word "Children" were made next to the theatre, indicating children among other civilians were hiding there, Russia bombed the theatre with two 500-kilogram bombs. According to various estimates, up to several hundred lives were lost, including children.
Mass murder, and a war crime.
Hey Rudy, don't despair. They give you free room and board in prison.
https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/more-bad-news-tonight-for-rudy-giuliani/55050/
Good morning Resisters everywhere. A special good morning to those who resist the brutal government of Iran.
The GOP has been stepping in it regularly
https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/the-gop-just-stepped-in-it/55034/
Fani Willis is "full speed ahead"
What does kamikaze literally mean?
Divine, Wind 💨
The name, Kamikaze, means Heavenly, or Divine, Wind.
The name was resurrected from Japanese history stemming from the 16th Century tale of a Mongol emperor whose fleet was sunk or turned by "the gods" who sent a heavenly wind.
A suicide bombing tactic used by the Empire of Japan during World War II, in which a pilot would deliberately crash an explosives-laden plane into an enemy warship.
Now we have these amazing un manned massive Kamikaze drones.
Ukraine has in recent months demonstrated a remarkable capacity to manufacture drones, particularly first-person-view (FPV) variants, which are guided by a user wearing a virtual reality (VR) headset. Such munitions are used to devastating effect in frontline combat, often compensating for Ukraine’s near-constant shortfall in conventional artillery ammunition.
From January to February 2024, the Deputy Minister of Strategic Industries claimed that FPV production totalled a staggering 200,000. To avoid targeting by Russian strikes, a small army of dispersed volunteers, supported through online resources such as Telegram channels and even instructional courses on Zoom, is producing drones from small and discreet warehouses, converted barns, cellars, or even their living rooms.
🇺🇦@ukraine_report 🇺🇦🔱 Liz
World's Richest Politician Putin Is Worth $200 Billion, he owns A $700 Million Jet.
Updated: January 21, 2024
Even though Vladimir Putin officially claims an annual salary of $140,000, the Russian President's reported net worth and lifestyle tell a different tale.
While Putin acknowledges ownership of an 800-square-foot apartment, a trailer, and three cars, persistent rumours suggest a more extravagant reality. Reports suggest that Putin's personal wealth stood at a staggering $200 billion. Such claims, originating from a major investor in Russia during the 1990s, continue to circulate and add layers to the mystery surrounding Putin's finances.
The most iconic symbol of Putin's alleged wealth is the Black Sea mansion, often dubbed "Putin's Country Cottage." Despite conflicting statements, the property, perched atop a cliff, is said to boast a marble swimming pool adorned with statues of Greek gods, an amphitheater, a state-of-the-art ice hockey rink, a Vegas-style casino, and even a nightclub.
The mansion's luxurious interior includes dining room furniture valued at $500,000, a bar table worth $54,000, and decked-out bathrooms featuring Italian toilet brushes priced at $850 and toilet paper holders at $1,250. Maintaining this grandeur requires an annual expenditure of $2 million by a 40-person staff, according to Fortune.
Adding to the list of Putin's extravagances are reports of 19 other houses, 700 cars, 58 aircraft and helicopters, and a $716 million plane humorously named "The Flying Kremlin."
The president's alleged ownership of a mega yacht named Scheherazade, worth a staggering $700 million, further fuels speculation about the extent of his wealth.
Putin's collection of luxury watches, including the Patek Philippe Perpetual
Calendar valued at $60,000 and a $500,000 A. Lange & Sohne Tourbograph, adds another layer of extravagance to his reported lifestyle.
These watches alone cost six times his officially declared annual salary.
Source
🇺🇦@ukraine_report 🇺🇦🔱
US to open a plant in Australia to produce long-range guided missiles for HIMARS for Ukraine's needs — Wall Street Journal.
Lockheed Martin reportedly plans to hire six Australian engineers to prepare and launch production. The decision was made because the US defense industry cannot meet both its own demand and quickly replenish missiles for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
"Rapid consumption of ammunition in Ukraine and the Middle East has undermined the ability of the US industrial base to meet demand and replenish depleted stockpiles. The Biden administration is trying to establish several production lines in allied countries for critical weapons, though it is not easy," the WSJ writes.
Australian officials note that the first batch of 12 GMLRS missiles is scheduled to be tested in late 2025, and by 2030 the country expects to produce thousands of munitions annually. The plan may be hampered by a lack of personnel, transportation difficulties, and a shortage of components needed for production.
The missiles are to be manufactured at a military base on the outskirts of Sydney. The publication emphasizes that this is the first plant for the production of such weapons opened outside the United States.
Lockheed Martin's GMLRS missiles are equipped with a satellite guidance system and can hit targets up to 80 km away.
From "The Analyst":
NUKES IN BELARUS, FRENCH IN ODESA, LIBERATION FORCES IN RUSSIA
President Putin’s upcoming automated re-election has inspired a great deal of external tinkering. The liberation brigades once again are making a huge splash in the border zones, which the Russians are far from containing even though they eventually will force a withdrawal that we all know is already planned. The mayhem it causes while it’s happening is entirely the point of the operation.
France has approved the security agreement with Ukraine and is now seriously talking of sending troops to Odesa within a year. The point of this is to internationalise the port to allow grain exports to continue by sea without the relentless attacks by Russian drones - many nations - most of them in Africa depend on that grain and it’s about securing that export chain.
It also has another point. Moldovan politicians are either pro Russian or pro western and Russian interference in the country has been relentless.
This has been largely due to its previous interference and effective occupation of the slither of territory known as Transnistria. Their troops are still there, mostly garrisoning a huge weapons depot that sits right on the Ukraine border.
They have been stuck there since the war began unable to leave or be rotated. Moldovan opposition leaders have recently been to Moscow begging for help. There have even been rumours that Russia would mount an airborne assault on Moldova from Crimea - but that’s verging on the ludicrous - Moldova is under constant NATO AWACS surveillance and NATO air forces patrol very close by. And the Ukrainians would know and they wouldn’t stand by and let it happen.
Besides which the Russian VDV is not what it was! And the Air Force is hardly in a position to mount such an operation.
Putin’s growing frustrations over military failings to advance at the pace he expected, despite almost unlimited resources but also at huge cost, the stepping up of European leadership to the point where France especially is prepared to act it seems, has thrown him off balance. This was not expected.
Add to that the massive NATO exercise in Scandinavia and the Baltic, in the middle of which Sweden joins the NATO alliance having been neutral for over 200 years - all because of him and what he’s done - and the pressure has clearly gotten to him.
He faces a set of challenges he has never predicted. Europe has seen the light. And it’s not backing down despite the disinformation campaigns. If anything it’s in spite of them. Equal and opposite reactions come to mind.
So what does he do? He orders tactical nuclear weapons into Belarus in full view. More nuclear threats.
Because that’s all he has left.
Now don’t get me wrong, if pushed way too far he would use them. But he’s nowhere near at that point yet and he knows the consequences would be severe, if not crippling. Even the Chinese and certainly India would be racing for the exits. In many ways the threats over nuclear use exacerbate the facts over how weak Russian conventional forces outside of Ukraine are. Everything is tied up in this war, there’s nothing left to fight anyone except perhaps at sea.
Nuclear threats are a weakness, a
‘Tell’ that no poker player should give out so easily.
When you invade someone and get it wrong and you then dig in thinking time is on your side, you have to be ironclad in your resolve, making silly nuclear threats every other week shows you lack confidence. It shows that you think your enemies think you have become weak and you need to remind them you have a means of reaching them anywhere. Well they can reach you too. And don’t you forget it. Which is why your threats can be ignored. Nothing has happened to justify nuclear use, not even in Russian terms, though some undoubtedly think otherwise in the Kremlin’s darker depths.
Putin put himself in this position.
Putin can get himself out of it. If not, the collective west will do its best to assist him out of Ukraine’s land.
Because clearly that’s the only solution - his own failure will bring him down.
I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian fascist invaders.
I am a 73 year old Covid hermit who
lives on 10 acres in a sparsely populated area of the Ozarks. I heat with wood that is leftover by the lumber industry. When cutting oak for lumber only the trunk is used.
The largest town is population 2993. The county is 13k people scattered over 713 square miles.
Joined Dec 2022
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