Switchgear Posted February 12, 2023 Share Posted February 12, 2023 https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-politics-donetsk-e95c0f599a117e2f1b21d077ccd075cf Quote Similar to other front lines along the east, the Russians are losing scores of infantrymen in an attempt to tire and weaken Ukrainian defensive lines. Serhii, the commander of a Ukrainian intelligence unit, said he saw Russian soldiers sent straight through fields mined by the Ukrainians following Russia’s capture of the village of Pavlivka, south of Vuhledar, in November. “They de-mine our fields by using their own people,” he said. That's one way to do it, I guess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfitzo53 Posted February 12, 2023 Share Posted February 12, 2023 That's horrifying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 Ukraine Receives 20,000 Applications for 'Stormtrooper' Fighting Force Ukraine has unveiled a new initiative to create a fighting force that can help in liberating occupied territories. Those who apply for the "Offensive Guard" assault brigades among the country's National Guard will be called stormtroopers. The National Guard of Ukraine stated Saturday that they've already received more than 20,000 applications to become part of the fighting force. Ukrinform reported that NSU spokesman Ruslan Muzychuk announced Saturday during a national telethon that interest in joining the Guard has grown by the thousands. "In general, there are already more than 20,000 applications. We have three main sources of applications," Muzychuk said. "We receive the largest number through www.storm.mvs.gov.ua, where the online survey works. More than 14,000 questionnaires were received through this channel, more than 7,500 of them are applications for joining the National Guard units. "TsNAPy" also work, "hot lines," of course, work is carried out through the picking centers." Muzychuk said the next step is to cipher through the applications and determine which potential fighters will best fit its assault brigades. Any candidates selected during the process must go through a medical examination, psychological testing and a thorough review of documents. Click on the link for the full article You mean they're not going to just throw them on the front lines as cannon fodder like the Russians do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 Russia Launches Web Crawler for Anti-Putin Memes, Banned Content Russia’s state media watchdog has launched a tool to scrape the internet for banned content, the Vedomosti business daily reported Monday as the country presses onward with its wartime censorship efforts. The web crawler, dubbed Oculus, can detect videos and images of protesters, “positive depictions” of LGBTQ+ culture and memes criticizing President Vladimir Putin, according to investigative outlets that reported on it and other censorship tools last week. “The system recognizes images and symbols, illegal scenes and actions, [as well as] analyzes text in photos and videos,” a spokesperson for the state company behind the search tool told Vedomosti. The automated tool frees employees of Russia’s General Radio Frequency Center (GRFC), a subsidiary of the Roskomnadzor media regulator, from manually analyzing up to 106 images and 101 videos per day. Oculus is capable of scraping up to 200,000 images for prohibited content every day. The tool’s speed and efficiency are prompted by the “snowballing growth of hoaxes across all types of prohibited information,” a GRFC spokesperson told Vedomosti. The spokesperson noted that more than 100,000 websites were deleted or blocked in 2022 — up from 7,000 the previous year, 1,500 in 2020 and just “several hundred” in 2019. “Such content must be found and blocked before it spreads widely online,” the GRFC spokesperson said, referring to so-called “fake” information about the war in Ukraine, the promotion of drug use, calls for suicide and child pornography. Click on the link for the full article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 Russia is draining a massive Ukrainian reservoir, endangering a nuclear plant Russia appears to be draining an enormous reservoir in Ukraine, imperiling drinking water, agricultural production and safety at Europe's largest nuclear plant, according to satellite data obtained by NPR. Since early November 2022, water has been gushing out of the Kakhovka Reservoir, in Southern Ukraine, through sluice gates at a critical hydroelectric power plant controlled by Russian forces. As a result, satellite data shows that the water level at the reservoir has plummeted to its lowest point in three decades. Separate images provided by the commercial companies Planet and Maxar show water pouring through the gates, and shoreline along the giant reservoir emerging as a result of the rapidly falling water levels. At stake is drinking water for hundreds of thousands of residents, irrigation for nearly half-a-million acres of farmland, and the cooling system at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Late last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency said it was aware of the potential risk posed by dropping water levels at the reservoir. Click on the link for the full article 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 President of Second Country Scrambles to Prevent Putin Incursion Days after a Russian missile breached Moldovan airspace en route to a Ukraine target, the former Soviet country says it is in the Kremlin’s sights. President Maia Sandu confirmed reports by Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky that Russia is working to undermine Moldova’s government, even as the U.S. State Department tamped down such threats. On Monday, Sandu called for new laws to help defend the country from what many see as an inevitable next step for Putin. Zelensky raised the alarm when he told the European Union summit that Kyiv had “intercepted the plan for the destruction of Moldova by Russian intelligence.” He went on to say that the “document” shows “who, when and how it is going to break the democracy of Moldova and establish control over Moldova.” Vedant Patel, State Department spokesman, said last week that their intelligence indicated no direct threat to the eastern European country, but Sandu said over the weekend that internal intelligence backed up by Ukraine documents pointed otherwise. “Documents received from our Ukrainian partners show documentation of the locations and logistical aspects of organizing these subversions,” Sandu said in a televised address. “The plan also involves the use of people from outside the country for violent actions.” At a press conference on Monday, Sandu said the plan involved a violent coup d’état. “The plan for the future period envisages sabotage with the involvement of persons with military training, disguised as civilians, to resort to violence, attack government buildings, and take hostages,” she said. “The documents received contain instructions for citizens of Russia, Belarus, Serbia, and Montenegro on how to cross into Moldova.” Moldova has been in a perilous position since the war began last February, and the president said the country had likely been infiltrated by criminal gangs working to offset the stability of the country. “The purpose of these actions is to overthrow the constitutional order, to change the legitimate government from Chisinau to an illegitimate one, which would put the country at the disposal of Russia to stop the process of integration into the EU,” Sandu said, putting her state institutions on high alert. Click on the link for the full article I have no doubt Putin would like to acquire Moldova as well. However, he can't even take and hold Ukraine. I think it unlikely that he's able to get troops in to take over Moldova. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sisko Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 20 hours ago, China said: Russia Launches Web Crawler for Anti-Putin Memes, Banned Content Russia’s state media watchdog has launched a tool to scrape the internet for banned content, the Vedomosti business daily reported Monday as the country presses onward with its wartime censorship efforts. The web crawler, dubbed Oculus, can detect videos and images of protesters, “positive depictions” of LGBTQ+ culture and memes criticizing President Vladimir Putin, according to investigative outlets that reported on it and other censorship tools last week. “The system recognizes images and symbols, illegal scenes and actions, [as well as] analyzes text in photos and videos,” a spokesperson for the state company behind the search tool told Vedomosti. The automated tool frees employees of Russia’s General Radio Frequency Center (GRFC), a subsidiary of the Roskomnadzor media regulator, from manually analyzing up to 106 images and 101 videos per day. Oculus is capable of scraping up to 200,000 images for prohibited content every day. The tool’s speed and efficiency are prompted by the “snowballing growth of hoaxes across all types of prohibited information,” a GRFC spokesperson told Vedomosti. The spokesperson noted that more than 100,000 websites were deleted or blocked in 2022 — up from 7,000 the previous year, 1,500 in 2020 and just “several hundred” in 2019. “Such content must be found and blocked before it spreads widely online,” the GRFC spokesperson said, referring to so-called “fake” information about the war in Ukraine, the promotion of drug use, calls for suicide and child pornography. Click on the link for the full article Well, #PedoPutin has been trending for some time now. j/s https://weehingthong.org/2022/08/20/why-is-pedoputin-is-trending-twitter/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 Russians defiantly shout 'f**k the war' at concert in St Petersburg Thousands of Russian concertgoers furiously screamed out against the war at a concert in St Petersburg, Russia. The footage, shared on Twitter by Lubov Sobol, shows thousands of people in the audience for Russian band Kis-Kis. The crowd can be heard chanting "f*** the war" in unison. Click on the link for the full article and video Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Posted February 15, 2023 Share Posted February 15, 2023 Seized Iranian Weapons Could Go To Ukraine: Report The U.S. government is reportedly considering sending Ukraine weapons and ammunition previously seized as part of efforts to combat Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. The transfers could include assault rifles and associated ammunition, as well as anti-tank guided missiles, among other things. The Wall Street Journal reported on these deliberations earlier today, citing unnamed U.S. and European officials. The U.S. military, together with various allies and partners, regularly conduct counter-smuggling operations to interdict the flow of weapons and other materiel from Iran to Yemen as part of a broader Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) construct. "U.S. officials said they are looking at sending Ukraine more than 5,000 assault rifles, 1.6 million rounds of small arms ammunition, a small number of antitank missiles, and more than 7,000 proximity fuses seized in recent months off the Yemen coast from smugglers suspected of working for Iran," according to The Journal. "The unusual move would open up a new supply of firepower [that] America and its allies could tap into as they struggle to meet Ukraine’s need for military support as its war with Russia enters its second year." Click on the link for the full article 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riggo-toni Posted February 15, 2023 Share Posted February 15, 2023 On 2/13/2023 at 2:40 PM, China said: Russia is draining a massive Ukrainian reservoir, endangering a nuclear plant Russia appears to be draining an enormous reservoir in Ukraine, imperiling drinking water, agricultural production and safety at Europe's largest nuclear plant, according to satellite data obtained by NPR. Since early November 2022, water has been gushing out of the Kakhovka Reservoir, in Southern Ukraine, through sluice gates at a critical hydroelectric power plant controlled by Russian forces. As a result, satellite data shows that the water level at the reservoir has plummeted to its lowest point in three decades. Separate images provided by the commercial companies Planet and Maxar show water pouring through the gates, and shoreline along the giant reservoir emerging as a result of the rapidly falling water levels. At stake is drinking water for hundreds of thousands of residents, irrigation for nearly half-a-million acres of farmland, and the cooling system at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Late last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency said it was aware of the potential risk posed by dropping water levels at the reservoir. Click on the link for the full article When the Ukrainian army retakes Zaphorizhia and Kherson, they should use this as justification to cut off Crimea's water supply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Posted February 15, 2023 Share Posted February 15, 2023 Ukrainian children sent to Russian ‘re-education’ camps At least 6,000 children from Ukraine have attended Russian “re-education” camps in the past year, with several hundred held there for weeks or months beyond their scheduled return date, according to a new report published in the US. Russia has also unnecessarily expedited the adoption and fostering of children from Ukraine in what could constitute a war crime, the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab report found. The report was funded by the US state department. Since the start of the war nearly a year ago, children as young as four months have been taken to 43 camps across Russia, including in Moscow-annexed Crimea and Siberia, for “pro-Russia patriotic and military-related education”, said the report. Click on the link for the full article 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riggo-toni Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 Defenestration... Top Putin war official plunges 160 feet to her death from high-rise building A high-ranking Russian defense official in the war against Ukraine was found dead Wednesday after falling from a high-rise window in an apartment building. Marina Yankina, 58, was discovered by a passerby at the entrance of a high-rise on Zamshina Street in St. Petersburg, Russian news Telegram channel Mash reported. She is believed to have fallen 160 feet to her death. Her personal belongings and documents were found on a balcony in the building. According to a preliminary investigation, it is believed Yankina committed suicide. Click on the link for the full article 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabbyrwock Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 8 minutes ago, China said: Defenestration... Top Putin war official plunges 160 feet to her death from high-rise building A high-ranking Russian defense official in the war against Ukraine was found dead Wednesday after falling from a high-rise window in an apartment building. Marina Yankina, 58, was discovered by a passerby at the entrance of a high-rise on Zamshina Street in St. Petersburg, Russian news Telegram channel Mash reported. She is believed to have fallen 160 feet to her death. Her personal belongings and documents were found on a balcony in the building. According to a preliminary investigation, it is believed Yankina committed suicide. Click on the link for the full article As God is my witness, I thought Russians could fly. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 Hard times for Putin as Viagra supply to Russia goes soft Vladimir Putin has suffered a major ‘blow below the belt’ as Viagra will no longer be shipped into Russia. Pharma giant Viatris, which makes the popular erection drug, said it was suspending supplies due to the war in Ukraine. However, the Russian government vowed to ensure its men will still get access to drugs with the same ‘active’ ingredient. Click on the link for the full article 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sisko Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 I thought the proper response would be something like Russian men don't need it anyway. Given the insane amounts of vodka they drink, it's a wonder that any of their junk works, even with the drugs. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CousinsCowgirl84 Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, China said: Hard times for Putin as Viagra supply to Russia goes soft Vladimir Putin has suffered a major ‘blow below the belt’ as Viagra will no longer be shipped into Russia. Pharma giant Viatris, which makes the popular erection drug, said it was suspending supplies due to the war in Ukraine. However, the Russian government vowed to ensure its men will still get access to drugs with the same ‘active’ ingredient. Click on the link for the full article Damn, that Russian accent might be hot but ain’t dealing with floppy Frederic…. Edited February 16, 2023 by CousinsCowgirl84 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cooked Crack Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cooked Crack Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TradeTheBeal! Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 That wig looks great, Ed! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted February 17, 2023 Author Share Posted February 17, 2023 In wake of Ukraine war, U.S. and allies are hunting down Russian spies https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/02/17/russia-spies-europe-arrests/ Quote Among the slumbering passengers on an overnight flight from Miami to Munich last month were two travelers on opposing sides of an espionage takedown. In one seat was a German citizen who would be arrested upon arrival and charged with treason for helping Russia recruit and run a Kremlin mole in the upper ranks of Germany’s intelligence service. Seated nearby was an FBI agent who had boarded the flight to surreptitiously monitor the suspected operative, according to Western security officials, and make sure that he was taken into custody by German authorities. The Jan. 21 arrest of Arthur Eller — based largely on evidence that the FBI had assembled during the suspect’s stay in Florida — was the latest salvo in a shadow war against Russia’s intelligence services. Over the past year, as Western governments have ramped up weapons deliveries to Ukraine and economic sanctions against Moscow, U.S. and European security services have been waging a parallel if less visible campaign to cripple Russian spy networks. The German case, which also involved the arrest of a senior official in the BND, Germany’s foreign intelligence service, followed roll-ups of suspected Russian operatives in the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Poland and Slovenia. The moves amount to precision strikes against Russian agents still in Europe after the mass expulsion of more than 400 suspected Russian intelligence officers from Moscow’s embassies across the continent last year. U.S. and European security officials caution that Russia retains significant capabilities but said that its spy agencies have sustained greater damage over the past year than at any time since the end of the Cold War. The magnitude of the campaign appears to have caught Russia off-guard, officials said, blunting its ability to carry out influence operations in Europe, stay in contact with informants or provide insights to the Kremlin on key issues including the extent to which Western leaders are prepared to continue stepping up arms deliveries to Ukraine. If so, the fallout may add to the list of consequences that Russian President Vladimir Putin — a former KGB officer in East Germany — failed to anticipate when he ordered the invasion of Ukraine. “The world is quite different for the Russian services now,” said Antti Pelttari, director of Finland’s foreign intelligence service. Because of the expulsions, subsequent arrests and a more hostile environment in Europe, he said, “their capability has been degraded considerably.” More at link. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Posted February 18, 2023 Share Posted February 18, 2023 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted February 18, 2023 Share Posted February 18, 2023 Russia gonna stop supporting the GOP, if Mitch keeps this up. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CousinsCowgirl84 Posted February 18, 2023 Share Posted February 18, 2023 3 hours ago, China said: Better than I expected from Mitch. To bad a lot of his party has been infected by Russian agents… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sisko Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 'Muricun armor is gonna be biting PedoPutin in the arse soon. Quote Ukrainian battalion completes first combined-arms training in Germany Ukrainian troops wrapped up the first rotation of battalion combined-arms training at U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria’s Grafenwoehr training area in Germany this week, the Pentagon announced Friday. Training focused on the M2 Bradley fighting vehicle, a Pentagon spokesman said in a statement. “Approximately 635 Ukrainians completed the approximately five-week period of instruction, which included basic soldier tasks like marksmanship, along with medical training, squad, platoon and company training, and a battalion force-on-force exercise,” said Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesperson.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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