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
Trump's Secret Plan
"Handing over Crimea and Donbas to Russia", writes The Washington Post.
Privately, Trump has said that he thinks both russia and Ukraine “want to save face, they want a way out,” and that people in parts of Ukraine would be okay with being part of russia 😡, according to a person who has discussed the matter directly with Trump.
Accepting russian control over parts of Ukraine would expand the reach of Putin’s dictatorship after what has been the biggest land war in Europe since WW II. Some of Trump’s supporters have been trying to persuade him against such an outcome.
Foreign policy experts said Trump’s idea would reward Putin and condone the violation of internationally recognized borders by force.
Besides, Crimea and Donbas is not for Trump to give away - it is part of Ukraine.
CONTINUES (1/2)CONTINUED (2/2)
"Former president Trump’s inexplicable and admiring relationship with Putin, along with his unprecedented hostility to NATO, cannot give Europe or Ukraine any confidence in his dealings with Russia,” said Tom Donilon, President Barack Obama’s national security adviser. “Trump’s comments encouraging Russia to do whatever it wants with our European allies are among the most unsettling and dangerous statements made by a major party candidate for president. His position represents a clear and present danger to U.S. and European security.”
Russia experts doubted Trump’s peace efforts could succeed. Fiona Hill, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who was Trump’s top Russia adviser and has since emerged as a prominent critic, said it reminded her of 2017 — when unvetted foreigners and business executives approached Trump with various peace plans, and he thought he could sit down with Russia and Ukraine and mediate on the strength of his personal charisma.
Trump’s team “is thinking about this very much in silos, that this is just a Ukraine-Russia thing,” Hill said. “They think of it as a territorial dispute, rather than one about the whole future of European security and the world order by extension.”
Read more:
https://archive.is/EbhRB
No surprises there! It only confirms what we all suspected! GREAT solution 🤦♀
@Dianna_DiDi
@ukrainejournal
❗️Ruzzians murdered unarmed Ukrainian prisoners of war in Krynky, Kherson region, the Prosecutor General's Office reports.
Today, one of the TG channels posted a video recording of the war criminals shooting three unarmed prisoners.
A pre-trial investigation has been launched into the violation of the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder.
From the "The Analyst":
BATTLE FOR CHASIV YAR BEGINS
A massive Russian assault involving just about everything they could use was hurled at Chasiv Yar yesterday.
An unusual mix of well trained units coupled to randomly assigned units with little experience attacked on a wide front - their biggest problem quickly becoming apparent. The usual failure of coordination caused by poor equipment for many, lack of proper radios in the untrained units, and simple lack of any experience quickly saw those units losses soar.
The attack came in front of the town’s eastern most extremities.
The attack began with massive artillery attacks and multiple glide bombs to suppress Ukrainian fire, resulting in the destruction and ruin of everything standing, Russia’s usual way of proceeding.
The Russians started with a column of 8 BMP’s keeping well separated, but one diverted off as they got near acting as some kind of distraction. It was quickly stopped and its soldiers got out - you can imagine their terror when they realise they’re on their own and about to die, their lives a valueless distraction to their commanders.
The other 7 BMP’s took their troops into the small forest that allows them to assault the canal district, a line they must cross. The vehicles quickly tried to withdraw having left their troops to fight.
At this point the excellence of Russian coordination came to the fore once again as the VKS Su-25’s in the area dropped a stack of bombs on their own troops and wiped them out.
This clearly shows how Russian command lines work and how rigidly bureaucratic they are. Intelligence estimates are that it takes around 4 hours to order a strike on a position, by which time it’s not uncommon for the ground forces to have advanced into an area that was authorised for a strike 4 hours previously. There isn’t any way for ground forces to be able to stop it and they wouldn’t have been considered worthy enough to be told it was coming.
The Ukrainian military had been expecting just such an assault on the town, entrenching in front of high rise buildings and in key streets.
The Russians were unable to make their further assaults stick at all and were left only with forested area. They have still not cleared the canal. Inevitability says they will storm it again and use heavy bombs to break any resistance. Now they know this works they will do it again and again. Only air defences can change this pattern.
There are arguments that the Russians won’t yet try and cross the canal line that is heavily defended and runs north-south. They will instead try and spread out to take the rest of the villages on the eastern side and push the Ukrainians back from there.
If they manage to take the rest of Ivaniske in the south and Bohdanivka in the north, that will give them a huge flanking advantage to come around the north and south of Chasiv Yar, crossing the canal in more weakly defended areas. By creating a pocket they will force the Ukrainian forces to withdraw without a long and bitter fight in the urban sprawl of the town.
You may remember from the Bakhmut siege that there are underground tunnels from there to Chasiv Yar - you can only hope that this time Ukraine has blocked them after the lessons in south Avdivka.
It is looking increasing like the Russians are readying for two possible assaults against the eastern front in the spring-summer. Chasiv Yar is certainly one, the other may be a widening of the attempts to take Kupiansk. Retaking that and moving on to Lyman and eventually Izyum would be their goals. These are of huge strategic importance and would signal a real and permanent change in any chance of a successful outcome for Ukraine.
That’s why we cannot let that happen.
There is still talk of moving closer to Kharkiv - as distraction and buffer. If this happens it’s Ukraine’s own fault for drawing so much attention to the area with these wasteful incursions by ‘free’ Russia forces. If they hadn’t let this happen it would not be under consideration.
Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦!
Trump is broke two ways. Not just financially but functionally
https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/donald-trump-is-broke-2/55373/
Jehovah's Witness Anton Olshevsky, sentenced to six years and three months in a colony, was transferred to strict conditions of detention (SUS) in a colony. OvDInfo
Before this, the believer spent six months in a cell-type room (PKT).
The prisoner can call loved ones six times a month and receive parcels once every four months. From time to time he is also allowed to see his wife Ekaterina.
In December 2022, Olshevsky was sentenced to six years and three months in prison under the article on participation in the activities of an extremist organization (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). In May 2023, the verdict was confirmed on appeal, and in September in cassation. The case against the believer and several other people was opened in October 2019.
In October 2023, it became known that after the quarantine, Olshevsky was immediately placed in a punishment cell.
In 2017, the Supreme Court recognized the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses as an extremist organization, liquidated it, and banned its activities in Russia. All organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses were included in the list of banned organizations, after which a stream of criminal cases against believers began. The Federal Financial Monitoring Service has included hundreds of Russian followers of Jehovah's Witnesses in the "list of extremists and terrorists." Most of the people on the list are believers between the ages of 40 and 60.
On June 7, 2022, the European Court of Human Rights declared the ban on Jehovah's Witness organizations and the subsequent persecution of believers illegal.
Even the Z-courts admit that there is no base for these cases. In October 2021, the Plenum of the Supreme Court clarified the application of "anti-extremist" legislation. The document, in particular, states that actions "consisting solely in the exercise of the right to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, including through individual or joint confession of religion, worship or other religious rites and ceremonies, do not in themselves constitute a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (Participation in the activities of an extremist organization)"
Source
Not that it matters...
@freerussia_report
Ilya Yashin was placed in a punishment cell for 10 days for taking off his jacket
As Ilya Yashin’s support team reports, on Wednesday, after a meeting with his mother, Yashin was summoned to a disciplinary commission. They informed him that he was sentenced to 10 days in a punishment cell because he removed his jacket before sitting down at the breakfast table.
"Obviously, a jacket taken off before breakfast is only a formal reason to draw up a report on the identified violation. The real reason is the ongoing pressure on political prisoners, their deliberate isolation not only from the outside world, but also from other convicts, an attempt to deprive, suppress, break their will,” the politician’s support group commented.
Also, supporters of Ilya Yashin note that a few hours before being placed in a punishment cell, the colony where the politician is being held was visited by the head of the regional Federal Penitentiary Service.
Read more
@freerussia_report
The condition of Ukrinform journalist Olga Zvonareva, who was seriously injured during the shelling of Zaporizhzhia, has stabilized. According to doctors, she is expected to return to work in about two months.
Zvonareva provided details about her injuries, mentioning a fragment in her stomach which doesn't require immediate removal, as well as recovered fragments from her leg and arm. She also mentioned a broken thigh bone with the presence of an Ilizarov device and a plate.
Couple more pictures of the 12 year old who will be running in the Boston Marathon
🇺🇦 President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a long interview for the telethon "Edyny Novyni". Briefly about the main thing:
• In the coming weeks, the Council will vote on the bill on mobilization. It will probably happen on April 11.
• Regarding Belarus, we do not yet see any plans, threats or capabilities to attack.
• At the moment, the Ukrainian troops do not have the ammunition to launch counter-offensive actions - they only have enough ammunition for defense.
• Ukraine has a certain stockpile of missiles for air defense, but with a high intensity of shelling, they may not be enough.
• Ukraine needs 25 Patriot systems with 6-8 batteries each for full protection.
• Russia plans to mobilize 300,000 troops by June 1.
• Ukraine must prepare a significant number of personnel and have a reserve among the military in order to thwart the enemy's counteroffensive.
• Currently, Kharkiv is not protected from air attacks, but it is protected by defensive lines: "Kharkiv is protected today. Not from heaven's point of view. As for our defense lines, Kharkiv is not in danger today."
• Ukraine is building three lines of fortifications for future protection against a possible Russian attack. In some areas, 92-98% of the work has been completed.
• Ukraine will receive 10% of the amount of F-16 fighter jets that is needed.
@ukrainejournal
Estonia found an opportunity to purchase another batch of ammunition for the Ukrainian army worth several billion euros.
According to Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur, Estonia has the opportunity to purchase projectiles and missiles worth two to three billion euros for the Ukrainian army. However, this will be possible if the Allies provide funds.
Taking into account the cost of the projectiles, we can be talking about approximately one million projectiles and "Grad" missiles.
Pevkur said that he had already talked about such a possibility at the meeting of "Ramstein", which took place on March 19. According to him, Estonia could get these ammunition mainly from non-European countries.
"Unfortunately, I cannot clarify. In many cases, the seller himself does not want this to be known. Since the orders include both 155 mm and 152 mm shells, Russia is also actively looking for suppliers worldwide through Belarus. There is kind of a race against time to see who can secure them first," he said.
He also explained that this idea of Estonia is separate from the initiative of the European Union to provide Ukraine with a million shells.
📷Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur in an interview with Postimes.
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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