Russian Invasion of Ukraine

[China]

WHO: 41 Russian attacks on Ukrainian health facilities and counting

 

The World Health Organization confirmed there have been at least 41 attacks on Ukrainian health facilities since the start of Russia's unprovoked invasion.

 

Driving the news: The organization has deemed two other attacks as "possible." It also found that at least 12 people have died as a result of the attacks and 34 more have been injured since Feb. 24.

 

WHO said last week that the attacks included one on a children's hospital in Mariupol, which also housed a maternity ward.

 

What they're saying: "WHO strongly condemns these attacks," the organization said in a statement

 

"Attacks on health care violate international law and endanger lives. Even in times of conflict, we must protect the sanctity and safety of health care, a fundamental human right," WHO said earlier this week, The Washington Post reported.

 

Click on the link for the full article

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[sjinhan]

5 hours ago, Renegade7 said:

 

Russia already promised not to invade Ukraine after they gave up their nukes, look where that got them.  I agree with supporting their decision and would say if Russia ends their invasion the sanctions put in place because of it should be lifted.  But I do believe Ukraine should continue to try to join NATO as an alternative to seeing Russia keeps their word, which didn't didn't work the last time.

 

Edit: right now it's a stalemate at best, Ukraine promising to never join NATO would be a Russian victory, to Putin, it would be worth it.

I am sure if Putin will be able to sell to his people that it was a Russian victory if the sanctions stay in place.  End the war in Ukraine with them agreeing not to join NATO but be stuck with a Russian economy that has been cut off from most of the world…. Not sure if that is something that Putin can accept… also who is their inly remaining major trading partner…. China is going to own everything in Russia in short time…

 

 

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Syrians join Russian ranks in Ukraine as Putin calls in Assad’s debt | Russia | The Guardian

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Syrians join Russian ranks in Ukraine as Putin calls in Assad’s debt

After 11 years of war, the destruction of towns, cities and much of the Syrian military, Bashar al-Assad’s army has launched a recruitment drive. But the recruits are not fresh from bootcamps and will not fight on the home front. They are the vanguard of what could be the biggest state-backed mercenary force in the world. Within days, Syrian troops could be deployed to reinforce the stalled Russian frontlines in Ukraine, where Vladimir Putin is about to extract a lethal price for Moscow’s rescue of the Syrian leader.

 

The first Syrian troops to join Putin’s ranks – an advance force of 150 – arrived in Russia on Thursday, European intelligence officials claim. Ukrainian military intelligence, echoing a claim by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, believes 40,000 Syrians have signed up to fight – a figure that would represent a sizeable chunk of the battle-ready capacity of the country’s entire military.

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In western Syria, some of the regime’s most prestigious units claim to have signed up thousands from their ranks. The Fifth Division, which was trained by Moscow, the 4th Division, which is loyal to Assad’s brother, Maher, and the Tiger Forces, which played prominent roles in the war, are all central to the recruitment push, which will seriously stretch their already depleted ranks and potentially turn Assad’s ragtag army into the largest mercenary force in Ukraine.

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Ukrainian officials say the mercenary force will fly from the Khmeimim base on daily military transport flights. Militia groups that had fought alongside them are also joining the recruitment drive, with Palestinians, National Defence Front troops, the Ba’ath party and even some members of Shia militia groups that fought in Syria under Iran’s auspices joining in.

 

Pro-regime militia groups have been trained and backed by Russian units since late 2015, when Putin formally intervened to save Assad. At that point, the Iranian general Qassem Suleimani had convinced Putin that Assad was only weeks away from losing the Alawite heartland of western Syria to opposition groups who had decimated his armoured units with precision-guided missiles smuggled across the Turkish border by the CIA.

 

Ever since, Putin has established a tutelage over Assad and, during visits to Syria, has rarely wasted an opportunity to assert his dominance. During inspections of Russian troops at Kheimemin, Putin led entourages, forcing Assad to trail behind him. He has insisted on meetings in Russian bases instead of the presidential palace – a clear slight to a leader who he regularly complained was yet to return Russia’s investment in blood and treasure.

 

Edited March 24, 2022 by visionary

[Renegade7]

14 minutes ago, sjinhan said:

I am sure if Putin will be able to sell to his people that it was a Russian victory if the sanctions stay in place.  End the war in Ukraine with them agreeing not to join NATO but be stuck with a Russian economy that has been cut off from most of the world…. Not sure if that is something that Putin can accept… also who is their inly remaining major trading partner…. China is going to own everything in Russia in short time…

 

Yea know, I've said it once and I'll say it again, if Russia ends their invasion Ukraine and we don't lift our sanctions like we said we would, it will likely backfire.

 

Having said that, regarding China, Russia has grossly miscalculated their relationship with them.  China is acting like the younger brother who's now taller then their older brother watching their older brother F up. China already has Russia by the balls, whether want to admit it yet is another conversation. 

 

Russia should be nervous with the natural resources they have, a sturggling economy, and dwindling population.  They are ripe for getting the same "love" China is giving Africa, or worse.

Edited March 24, 2022 by Renegade7

[China]

Putin plans to attend G20 summit this year, Russian ambassador says

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to attend this year's G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, Russia's ambassador in Jakarta said Wednesday, per Reuters.

 

Driving the news: White House National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Tuesday that the U.S. would consult with allies about whether Russia should remain a member of the Group of 20 major economies after the invasion of Ukraine.

 

"We believe that it cannot be business as usual in international institutions and in the international community," Sullivan said.

What they're saying: "Not only G20, many organizations are trying to expel Russia ... the reaction of the West is absolutely disproportional," said Lyudmila Vorobyova, the Russian ambassador to Indonesia, at a news conference on Wednesday, per Reuters.

 

 

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[FrFan]

They should have implemented these sanctions much harder and earlier, now they're preparing the fifth package. How many more ?

 

 

Edited March 24, 2022 by FrFan

[FrFan]

Edited March 24, 2022 by FrFan

[DogofWar1]

5 hours ago, DCSaints_fan said:

Thats what I thought Putin was going to do it, just roll tanks into the Donbas and force Ukraine to displace them.  He might have even gotten away with it too. 

But the more I've been reading about this, the more I think the essential problem was Zelinsky.  Because if my sources are correct Zelinsky, unlike Poroshenko (and obviously Yanukovych before him), was starting to reform the Ukranian government to elminate corruption.  It wasn't just the problem of having a "pro-Russia, pro-West" government in place.  Even a pro-West government could be exploited, as long it was corrupt.  And would assure that Ukraine did not join NATO and probably not the EU.   Because those organizatons (with the exception of Turkey I guess, which is sort of a grandfather thing, like the Green Bay Packers ) 

This may turn out to be, quite ironically,  Putins "invade Russia" moment, like Hitler and Napoleon before him.

 

Oh yeah there's more to it than the religious aspect.  It's a lot of different things together, Ukr moving westward, potential NATO membership, the religious aspect, trying to remake the USSR, it all combined together to make this something Putin felt was necessary.

 

What I was saying is he often opines about the Donbass and religious aspect of it, so he has already given himself something of a narrower strategic vision he could pursue if he was so inclined given the stalling around Kyiv.

[FrFan]

 

[DogofWar1]

 

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[China]

Putin sends in 'execution squads' to kill own troops if they try to flee Ukraine war

 

Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin are reportedly sending execution squads after their own army with orders to kill any Russians who try to flee.

 

Ukraine security services claim that prisoners of war have told them of the horrific tactic that has reportedly seen Russian guns aimed at their own.

 

The ‘execution squads’ are a revival of Stalin’s World War Two tactics and are another sign of dire morale among Moscow’s troops, The Mail Online reports.

 

There have also been reports of Chechen units being sent in to try and stop Russian deserters.

 

Since the Russian invasion began on February 24, Kyiv has released videos of Russian captives who were saying on camera how they chose to quit rather than keep fighting.

 

Ukraine has sought to take advantage of poor Russian morale throughout the invasion and is waging a propaganda war of its own to promote success stories.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[visionary]

 

[CousinsCowgirl84]

26 minutes ago, China said:

Putin sends in 'execution squads' to kill own troops if they try to flee Ukraine war

 

Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin are reportedly sending execution squads after their own army with orders to kill any Russians who try to flee.

 

Ukraine security services claim that prisoners of war have told them of the horrific tactic that has reportedly seen Russian guns aimed at their own.

 

The ‘execution squads’ are a revival of Stalin’s World War Two tactics and are another sign of dire morale among Moscow’s troops, The Mail Online reports.

 

There have also been reports of Chechen units being sent in to try and stop Russian deserters.

 

Since the Russian invasion began on February 24, Kyiv has released videos of Russian captives who were saying on camera how they chose to quit rather than keep fighting.

 

Ukraine has sought to take advantage of poor Russian morale throughout the invasion and is waging a propaganda war of its own to promote success stories.

 

Click on the link for the full article

Should solve that morale problem

[Die Hard]

2 hours ago, FrFan said:

They should have implemented these sanctions much harder and earlier, now they're preparing the fifth package. How many more ?

I read something a few days ago that said there are 6 packages/levels before war.

[DogofWar1]

It's incredible how lacking an NCO corp has made Russia's army so ineffective.

[RansomthePasserby]

10 minutes ago, DogofWar1 said:

It's incredible how lacking an NCO corp has made Russia's army so ineffective.

It makes sense, without NCOs a military is basically just a mob of college aged kids

[The Sisko]

On 3/23/2022 at 7:40 AM, FrFan said:

Quebec sniper Wali, ex of the 22nd regiment, is alive and well.

 

 

I have to wonder how many of the Russian generals and high level officers we've heard about getting popped recently were his work.

 

13 minutes ago, DogofWar1 said:

It's incredible how lacking an NCO corp has made Russia's army so ineffective.

I don't think this has been posted already, but this guy has a great analysis on how it's all gone wrong for an alleged superpower. In short, he says they spent too much of their military budget building/maintaining prestige systems like nukes and their navy while ignoring maintenance/replacement of their ridiculously large inventory of Soviet era equipment, much of which is being shown to be obsolete. Interestingly, in spite of appearances, he says they're not exactly a paper tiger, but that their military simply wasn't built for this kind of conflict. He also feels it would be a good time to go all in and send the Ukrainians all the Soviet era stuff in NATO arsenals to make it clear to Putin that he can't win, prevent his doubling down with more resources, and probably just to get rid of obsolete equipment.