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  1. #1751
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    Quote Originally Posted by Takeovers View Post
    The railway station Kupiansk is on the other side of the river, still controlled by russian troops.
    That is no longer the case. This is a very fast moving front line and the Ukrainians are in full control of Kupiansk and have moved much farther east of the Oskil river. Updated mapping is hard to find since the line at the front is changing so rapidly.

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    Putin Bailed on Top Military Meetings After Crushing War Losses

    After Russian forces in Ukraine suffered a series of crushing defeats over the weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin went into retreat himself.

    The Russian president postponed a planned meeting with his top military brass and representatives of the defense industry in Sochi, in a sign that Putin is caught in the lurch after Ukrainian forces reclaimed a lot of territory that Russian armed forces had seized earlier in the war, according to TASS. It is thought to be the largest Russian defeat since the beginning of the war.

    “The Sochi meetings are in demand, they will continue,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, indicating that the meeting was just being postponed, not canceled.

    Peskov said Putin had pushed off the meeting with Russian defense leadership and defense industry representatives, which is usually held in May, due to a “very, very busy” schedule.


    But he also suggested that Putin needed time to digest the new developments in the war, alluding to the losses.

    “Especially since as the special military operation develops, certain experience is gained that needs to be discussed,” Peksov added.

    This is now at least the second shakeup Russian defense leadership have had to endure in trying to set up this meeting with Putin this year. In the thick of the invasion this May, Peskov suggested there were no plans to hold the usual meeting.

    Other signs that the Ukrainian counteroffensive has left the Kremlin shaken have emerged in recent hours. Putin had planned to host a series of referenda as a way to fabricate support for Russia’s takeover. But Putin has now allegedly canceled them, according to Meduza, which cites two sources close to the Kremlin.

    A pro-Moscow official in Kherson, Kirill Stremousov, has also suggested the referenda are on “pause” given the Ukrainian counteroffensive, although he has sought to walk back his comments, according to France 24.

    The news comes days after Ukrainian forces began launching a counteroffensive in southern territories captured by Russia. Ukrainian forces also launched operations aimed at the northeast of the country, which Russian troops likely weren’t prepared for. Russia had rerouted forces to the south to handle the expected counteroffensive there, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

    That regrouping may have been a strategic blunder. In the end, Russian forces were outnumbered by eight to one in the Kharkiv region, according to Vitaly Ganchev, a top military official appointed to the region.

    Ukrainian forces have so far reclaimed over 3,000 square kilometers of territory since the beginning of the month, according to Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces—a statistic that would indicate the Ukrainians have tripled their won territory in just a couple of days. Ukrainians have reclaimed more than 20 settlements in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, sending Russian forces retreating. Ukrainians have also taken Vysokopillia, Novovoznesenske, Bilohirka, Myroliubivka, and Sukhyi Stavok, Natalia Humeniuk, the head of the United Coordinating Press Center of Defense Forces of the South of Ukraine, said Monday.

    The wins that Ukrainian armed forces secured in the last several days could place Russian narratives about the war—which, in Russia, remain focused on an alleged attempt to “liberate” the Donbas—in jeopardy.

    According to a British intelligence assessment, the losses will likely inject tension into Russia’s military leadership and exacerbate existing suspicions in Russia’s military ranks, which have been gutted in recent weeks.

    “The rapid Ukrainian successes have significant implications for Russia’s overall operational design,” the British intelligence assessment states. “The majority of the force in Ukraine is highly likely being forced to prioritize emergency defensive actions.”

    “The already limited trust deployed troops have in Russia’s senior military leadership is likely to deteriorate further,” the assessment read.

    Already, Russian officials are second-guessing the entire “special” military operation in Ukraine. Municipal deputies from Moscow and St. Petersburg demanded that Putin resign, noting that “everything went wrong.” Some lawmakers have accused Putin of high treason for invading Ukraine.

    Even Ramzan Kadyrov, Putin’s key ally in Chechnya, has started lobbing criticism at Russia’s military.

    “Mistakes were made,” Kadyrov said on Telegram. “And if today or tomorrow changes are not made to the strategy of the ‘special military operation,' I will be forced to turn to the leadership of the Ministry of Defense, the leadership of the country to explain to them the situation that is really happening on the ground.”

    So far, though, the Kremlin has attempted to project a sense of calm about the losses in Ukraine. Russia’s Defense Ministry hasn’t explicitly admitted a defeat, but rather has indicated Russia has made a decision to “regroup.”

    “In order to achieve the declared goals of the special military operation for the liberation of Donbas, it was decided to regroup the Russian forces stationed near Balakleya and Izyum to boost efforts in the Donetsk direction,” Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov told reporters.

    Peskov, for his part, said that Russia will continue to work to achieve its military goals.

    “The special military operation is underway and will continue until the goals that have been set are achieved,” Peskov told reporters.

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/vladim...in-ukraine-war

  3. #1753
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    Originally Posted by Takeovers (Russia launches Ukraine invasion)
    The railway station Kupiansk is on the other side of the river, still controlled by russian troops.



    That is no longer the case. This is a very fast moving front line and the Ukrainians are in full control of Kupiansk and have moved much farther east of the Oskil river. Updated mapping is hard to find since the line at the front is changing so rapidly.
    Not confirmed by reliable sources. Much doubt about reports. There are unconfirmed reports about Russian troops fleeing without Ukraine forces near.
    "don't attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by incompetence"

  4. #1754
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    Quote Originally Posted by Takeovers View Post
    Not confirmed by reliable sources. Much doubt about reports.
    By the time you hear from the usual reliable sources, it is old news. I have seen that it was confirmed by multiple other sources. The deep state maps are not updated until the Ukrainian government confirms they have taken the territory, and they are currently in a media blackout. So other sources are the only way to get information. I will continue to post from my sources as much of the information is verified via geolocation. But feel free to err on the side of caution, you just get the same information later.

  5. #1755
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    Quote Originally Posted by bsnub View Post
    After Russian forces in Ukraine suffered a series of crushing defeats over the weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin went into retreat himself.
    If only he'd topped himself while he was holed up in his version of Hitler's bunker

  6. #1756
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    An undisclosed Israeli defense contractor is supplying anti-drone systems to Ukraine’s military by way of Poland, The Times of Israel’s Hebrew sister site Zman Yisrael reported on September 12 echoed by Tani Goldstein reports in The Times of Israel. A source in the firm told Zman that the equipment was being sold to Poland to circumvent Israel’s refusal to sell advanced arms to Ukraine.

    Ukraine army getting Israeli anti-drone systems via Poland | Defense News September 2022 Global Security army industry | Defense Security global news industry army year 2022 | Archive News year
    Uh huh

    The Ukraine military claimed Tuesday it had downed one of Russia's Iran-built drones as Kyiv's counteroffensive continued to drive back the invaders from northeastern towns occupied since the early weeks of the war.
    The Ukrainian military published images of wreckage from the drone, encountered near Kupiansk in Kharkiv province where Ukraine troops have made a push in recent days into the strategically important city of Izyum.

    Ukraine live updates: Iranian drone shot down; more towns liberated
    Uh Huh.

    Russia launches Ukraine invasion-d16fb556-730c-489b-b1a5-07898583348c-ap_russia_ukraine_war_10-a

  7. #1757
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    Olaf Scholz urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to completely withdraw his troops from Ukraine during a call Tuesday, as the German chancellor faces growing pressure at home to give more military aid to Kyiv.

    A German government readout from the 90-minute call said that given “the seriousness of the military situation and the consequences of the war in Ukraine, the chancellor urged the Russian President to find a diplomatic solution as soon as possible, based on a ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of Russian troops and respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.”

    “The chancellor stressed that any further Russian annexation moves would not go unanswered and would not be recognized under any circumstances,” the readout added.

    Scholz also appealed to the Russian leader to treat prisoners of war according to the Geneva Conventions on humanitarian standards; called for Russia to avoid any escalation in violence around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant; and urged Putin to implement rather than “discredit” the deal brokered by the U.N. and Turkey to resume Ukraine’s shipments of grain through the Black Sea.

    A readout from the Kremlin, meanwhile, pointed the finger at Ukraine for continued violence and reiterated false claims about the Black Sea deal.

    The call with Putin comes as Scholz continues to face criticism over his hesitance to increase military support for Kyiv.

    Ukraine’s recent swift battlefield advances have led to fresh calls on Germany and other Western allies to send more weapons, particularly tanks, to bolster Kyiv’s efforts to reconquer territories in the south and east occupied by Russian forces.

    Germany is the world’s fifth-largest arms exporter, producing the renowned Leopard battle tank, and its defense industry also possesses large stockpiles of decommissioned Marder infantry fighting vehicles. But so far Berlin has refused to deliver those vehicles to Ukraine.

    Kyiv’s frustration over Germany’s restraint was on public display Tuesday. “Disappointing signals from Germany while Ukraine needs Leopards and Marders now — to liberate people and save them from genocide,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter. “Not a single rational argument on why these weapons can not be supplied, only abstract fears and excuses. What is Berlin afraid of that Kyiv is not?”

    Kuleba’s public scorn for the EU’s largest economy stood in stark contrast to the praise he gave to Estonia, one of the smallest countries in the bloc, which he thanked for its “outstanding support.”

    Germany has delivered lighter weapons like anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles and grenades to Ukraine, and it has also supplied Kyiv with some heavier weapons, notably howitzers and anti-aircraft tanks. However, Scholz has repeatedly argued that he won’t deliver tanks as long as other allies are not sending similar Western tanks either, stressing that Berlin would not do any “solo runs.”

    The U.S. embassy to Germany appeared to counter that argument in a rare, direct tweet on Tuesday, suggesting Berlin did not have to wait for its allies when it comes to weapon deliveries to Ukraine and could decide on its own.

    “We call upon all allies and partners to support Ukraine in its fight for its democratic sovereignty as much as possible … The decision over the type of [military] aid ultimately lies with each country,” the embassy’s tweet said.

    Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the chair of the German parliament’s defense committee and a staunch supporter of increasing military support for Ukraine, used the embassy’s tweet to make a fresh appeal to Scholz to ramp up weapons supplies.

    “When it comes to the question of supplying tanks and heavy weapons to Ukraine, some sides like to point out defensively that we cannot go it alone without our partners. But our partners themselves are giving us the green light to finally go ahead ourselves,” said Strack-Zimmermann, whose liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) is a junior member of Scholz’s Social Democrat-led coalition.

    Scholz is expected to face fresh pressure from both the FDP and the Greens, the third member of the coalition, during a Cabinet meeting Wednesday. While it currently appears unlikely that the chancellor will agree to send tanks to Ukraine, some of his coalition partners say he should at least send armored vehicles for the safe transport of soldiers, such as the German “Dingo” or “Fox.”

    Germany’s main opposition party, the center-right Christian Democratic Union, is also piling pressure on the government to do more, announcing on Tuesday that it will submit a parliamentary motion next week urging Scholz to step up arms deliveries. Unless Scholz makes a move, such a motion could attract support from within his own coalition, which could in turn jeopardize the government’s majority in parliament and its stability.
    Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

  8. #1758
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    Ukraine’s southern offensive ‘was designed to trick Russia’

    The much-publicised Ukrainian southern offensive was a disinformation campaign to distract Russia from the real one being prepared in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine’s special forces have said.

    Ukrainian forces are continuing to make unexpected, rapid advances in the north-east of the country, retaking more than a third of the occupied Kharkiv region in three days. Much of Ukraine’s territorial gains were confirmed by Russia’s defence ministry on Saturday.

    “[It] was a big special disinformation operation,” said Taras Berezovets, a former national security adviser turned press officer for the Bohun brigade of Ukraine’s special forces.

    “[Russia] thought it would be in the south and moved their equipment. Then, instead of the south, the offensive happened where they least expected, and this caused them to panic and flee.”

    On 29 August, Ukraine’s southern command announced that the long-anticipated offensive in the Kherson region had begun. But soldiers on the Kherson frontline said at the time that they saw no evidence of said offensive or that the active battles taking place were a reaction to an attempted Russian offensive several days earlier.

    For the past two weeks, Ukrainian forces in the south took several villages – no small feat given the reported strength of Russian positions and one which nevertheless resulted in injuries.

    But the gains were not remarkably different from the steady but limited progress Ukrainian forces had been making in the Kherson region over July and August.

    And yet, the capture of these tiny Kherson villages, with populations of a few thousands, suddenly became big international news.

    Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern command, had insisted on a “regime of silence” and temporarily banned journalists from visiting the frontlines in Kherson.

    But Berezovets said the media stir around the southern offensive was a coordinated disinformation campaign by Ukraine, targeted at Russian forces, that had been building for several months.

    It was successful in provoking Russia to move equipment and personnel to the southern front, including partly from Kharkiv region, said Berezovets.

    “Meanwhile [our] guys in Kharkiv were given the best of western weapons, mostly American,” he said.

    Part of the special operation involved rooting out informants in Ukrainian-controlled parts of Kharkiv to stop them passing information about Ukraine’s preparations to the Russians, said a military source with knowledge of the operation.

    “The [informants] were almost completely cleaned up. They mostly comprised normal Ukrainian civilians but there were some Russian agents undercover as Ukrainian civilians,” said the source. “The Russians had no idea what was going on.”

    Russia’s defence ministry has confirmed the retreat, describing it as a regroup. It says it has retreated from Izium and the town of to “bolster efforts” on the Donetsk front.

    “A three-day operation was carried out on the drawdown and organised transfer of the Izium-Balakliia group of troops to the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic,” said the Russian defence ministry spokesperson, Igor Konashenkov.

    “In order to prevent damage to the Russian troops, a powerful fire defeat was inflicted on the enemy.”

    Russian state media and bloggers have confirmed Russian soldiers have been forced to make a large-scale retreat from Kharkiv.

    Ukrainian troops have in the past few days pushed Russian forces out of a number of settlements in the region that Moscow occupied since the first days of its invasion.

    In a video address late on Friday, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Ukrainian forces had liberated more than 30 settlements in the Kharkiv region.

    A local resident of Izium, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that the Ukrainian troops had entered the city. Before that, “Russian occupying forces were rapidly withdrawing, leaving ammunition and equipment behind”.

    Ukraine’s retake of Izium could be its most significant success in pushing back the Russians since the beginning of the invasion.

    By capturing the nearby town of Kupiansk, Ukrainian forces have managed to cut off the supply lines for the Russian formations in control of the Izium area,” said Serhiy Kuzan, a military expert at the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center.

    Kuzan said the Russian formations in charge of the south-east area of Kharkiv, labelled the Izium area by military experts, were professional Russian soldiers, not mercenaries or conscripts from Russian-occupied Donbas.

    The offensive has been carried out at lightning speed, with a third of occupied Kharkiv being captured by Ukrainian forces in just a matter of days, he said.

    The UK’s Ministry of Defence has said Ukraine’s counter-offensive took Russian forces by surprise, adding that Kyiv’s forces had advanced 50km (31 miles) along a narrow frontline and retaken or surrounded several towns.

    With Ukrainian operations also continuing in Kherson, the Russian defensive front is under pressure on both its northern and southern flanks,” it said.

    “We are actually surprised by how poorly the Russians have retreated,” said Kuzan. “Retreat is part of the art of war. When we retreated, we made sure they suffered losses as they advanced and we did to so to ensure that they only advanced 1, 2, 3 kilometres.

    “They were so confident that they didn’t prepare their defences,” he added. “This has shown that the only advantage they have is in the number of artillery pieces and heavy equipment. So all we need is the same amount.”

    After the big territorial gains made this week by Ukraine, Moscow is sending columns of military reinforcements to the Kharkiv region, according to reports in Russian media.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ation-campaign

  9. #1759
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    No surprise here

    Wagner Group: Head of Russian mercenary group filmed recruiting in prison

    The founder of Russia's shadowy Wagner mercenary group has appeared in leaked footage attempting to recruit prisoners to fight in Ukraine.

    In filmed footage, verified by the BBC, Yevgeniy Prigozhin can be seen addressing a large group of detainees.

    Mr Prigozhin told prisoners their sentences would be commuted in exchange for service with his group.

    The video would confirm long-running speculation that Russia hopes to boost its forces by recruiting convicts.

    While Russian law does not allow commutation of prison sentences in exchange for mercenary service, Mr Prigozhin insisted that "nobody goes back behind bars" if they serve with his group.

    "If you serve six months (in Wagner), you are free," he said. But he warned potential recruits against desertion and said "if you arrive in Ukraine and decide it's not for you, we will execute you".


    He also informed prisoners of Wagner's rules banning alcohol, drugs and "sexual contacts with local women, flora, fauna, men - anything".

    Speaking in what appeared to be the penal colony's exercise yard, the mercenary chief also alluded to the difficulties Russia has faced in the protracted conflict, telling potential recruits that "this is a hard war, not even close to the likes of Chechnya and the others".

    It is unclear who filmed the video, when it occurred or how it was released.

    But the BBC has geolocated the footage to a penal colony in Russia's central Mariy El Republic. Analysts did this by conducting a reverse image search a church visible in the background of the video, which matched to penal colony number six.

    A screengrab on the recruiter's face was also run through facial recognition software tools, returning a positive match of between 71% and 75% with an actual photo of Mr Prigozhin.

    What is the Wagner Group?

    Separately, sources confirmed to the BBC's Russian service that the person in the video was likely Mr Prigozhin.

    "This is his voice. His intonation. His words and manner of speaking... I'm 95 percent sure that this is him and this is not a montage," one source told the BBC.

    "Very similar, his manner, and his voice is very similar," another said.

    The 61-year-old's own company, Concord, refused to deny that he appeared in the footage, noting the "monstrous" similarity when approached by Russia

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62911618

  10. #1760
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    Germany will transfer two more MARS II multiple rocket launcher systems and approximately 200 GMLRS missiles to Ukraine.

    Christine Lambrecht, Minister of Defense of Germany, stated this during a meeting of the Bundeswehr leadership.

    According to the official, the Ukrainian servicemen should undergo training in operating these systems by the end of September.

    In addition, Lambrecht claimed that Germany plans to transfer 50 Dingo ATF armored vehicles. Dingo ATF armored military infantry mobility vehicles of the Krauss-Maffei were adopted by the Bundeswehr in 2003.

    The Head of the German Defense Ministry also promised to complete the planned so-called circular exchange with Greece in the near future.

    As part of this exchange, the government in Greece will deliver 40 Soviet-era armored infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine and, in return, will receive 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles from Germany.

    As previously reported, at the beginning of August this year, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine confirmed that German MARS II rocket launchers were received by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

    Germany handed over three rocket launchers to Ukraine.

    This launcher is basically a licensed copy of the American M270 MLRS with minor modifications.

    The Armed Forces of Ukraine will be equipped with 27 multiple rocket launcher systems for GMLRS missiles.

    The M142 HIMARS carries six missiles, the M270 carries twice as many, namely twelve missiles. 25 multiple rocket launcher systems of Ukraine will be able to simultaneously launch 204 GMLRS missiles.

    At the beginning of June, it was reported that Great Britain would be transferring M31A1 GMLRS missiles to Ukraine.

    Germany Says It Will Deliver Two More Multiple Rocket Launchers to Ukraine

    ___________


    • Defense of Ukraine - Ukraine government organization


    Mass graves are being discovered in Izyum after liberation from the russcists. The current largest burial sights has 440 unmarked graves.

    "The necessary procedural actions have already begun there. More information - clear, verified - should be available tomorrow." https://twitter.com/DefenceU/status/1570529438013739010








    • Zelensky says mass burial site found in recently recaptured city of Izyum


    A mass burial site was found in the recaptured Ukrainian city of Izyum, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an address on Thursday.

    Zelensky told the Ukrainian people that more “clear, verified” information about the site should be available on Friday, but the necessary “procedural actions” have begun. He said Ukrainian and international journalists will be in Izyum on Friday.

    “We want the world to know what is really happening and what the Russian occupation has led to. Bucha, Mariupol, now, unfortunately, Izyum… Russia leaves death everywhere. And it must be held accountable for that,” Zelensky said, referencing other cities in Ukraine that have come under intense Russian attacks that have killed many Ukrainians.

    A top Ukrainian police official told Sky News that 440 graves were found in the city. The official said the bodies will be exhumed and taken for forensic evaluation to gather evidence of alleged Russian war crimes.

    ___________


    • U.S. announces $600 million in new military aid for Ukraine


    The Biden administration on Thursday announced the U.S. will provide another round of military aid to Ukraine, this time for $600 million, as Russia's invasion nears the seven-month mark.

    Driving the news: The funds are intended for "defense articles and services of the Department of Defense," as well as for military education and training, President Biden said in a memorandum.

    By the numbers: The U.S. last month announced nearly $3 billion in additional military aid to Ukraine, proceeded by other packages of $550 million, $1 billion and $775 million.

    State of play: The latest aid package comes days after a Ukrainian counteroffensive forced Russia's military to retreat from the Kharkiv region, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited this week.




    https://www.axios.com/2022/09/15/us-...ry-aid-ukraine
    Last edited by S Landreth; 16-09-2022 at 08:13 AM.

  11. #1761
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    More war crimes from the murderous putin scum.

    A mass burial site containing around 440 graves has been found in the Ukrainian city of Izyum after it was liberated from Russian control, a top police officer has told Sky News.

    Ukraine's president confirmed that a "mass burial site" has been found but he said "clear, verified information" would be released on Friday.

    "We want the world to know what is really happening and what the Russian occupation has led to," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a nightly video address to the nation.

    An image released by his chief of staff showed a number of wooden crosses jutting up from mounds in the earth, surrounded by trees.

    "A mass burial was found in Izyum, Kharkiv region," Andriy Yermak wrote.


    "Necessary procedures have already begun. All bodies will be exhumed and sent for forensic examination… Russia is a murderer country. A state sponsor of terrorism."

    'Mass burial site containing 440 graves' found in Izyum after city liberated by Ukrainian forces | World News | Sky News

  12. #1762
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    OhWoe/Backspit/sabang . . . they all had a heart attack and shot one another at the same time. Heroic Russian soldiers tried to help.

    TASS/Pravda/Global News

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    Yahoo News Ukrainian soldiers are refurbishing abandoned Russian tanks and trucks

    KYIV, Ukraine — It was an early and delightful symbol of underdog resistance. Dubbed the “John Deere Brigade,” Ukrainian tractors were shown all over social media lugging away hastily abandoned Russian military equipment, from tanks to self-propelled artillery systems to complicated air defense platforms, worth tens of millions of dollars. Western predictions that Ukraine would fall to its invaders in as little as three days proved wildly off base. The breadbasket of Europe could punch above its weight. And now it was in the repo business.

    Around the time of the Battle of Kyiv, captured Russian vehicles were generally just given a quick coat of paint and liberally decked out with Ukrainian flags before being sent back out to fight their previous owners. But what was at first an organic and ad hoc tractor effort by Ukrainian farmers has transformed into something far more organized and systematic, as the Ukrainian military have pushed vast quantities of captured Russian armor into frontline service. And since Ukraine retook almost all of Kharkiv district in the last week, there has been a windfall of new vehicles to “MacGyver” and repurpose.

    In the aftermath of Ukraine’s successful Kharkiv offensive over the past week, fleets of Russian armored vehicles were left abandoned on the battlefield, left behind by Russian troops as they desperately tried to escape the Ukrainian advance. Footage uploaded to social media by victorious Ukrainian troops showed rows of BMP infantry fighting vehicles, neatly parked in the liberated city of Izium, seemingly in near-perfect condition, while T-80U tanks from Russia’s elite Fourth Guards Tank Regiment were left abandoned at a maintenance station, in various states of repair.
    According to the independent monitor Oryx, which uses publicly available footage to visually confirm Russian and Ukrainian equipment losses, the Ukrainians have captured a minimum of 1,841 pieces of heavy Russian military equipment since the start of the war, including 356 tanks, 606 armored fighting vehicles, and 363 trucks and jeeps. As Oryx only includes equipment that has been visually confirmed as captured, the true total is probably much higher.

    “During the early days of the war, a lot of Russian vehicles totally ran out of gas and were abandoned in perfect condition,” said Yuri Matsarsky, a soldier in Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces (TDF), the nation’s military reserve. “That’s happening less in the last few months. But after Kharkiv, it’s picked up again.”

    The Ukrainians have been repainting these captured vehicles in their now-familiar digital camouflage. They’ve also been upgrading and improving them. Captured “Tornado-U” trucks were given an extra Browning M2 heavy machine gun mounted on the cab, while a BTR-82A armored personnel carrier was upgraded with extra armor, a thermal-imaging sight, and Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet platform.

    “Many of the vehicles we captured have been MT-LBs,” Pavlo Kazarin, another soldier in the TDF and a well-known journalist before the war, told Yahoo News, referring to the versatile Russian armored vehicle often used as an armored personnel carrier or an artillery tractor. “At least one of these has been upgraded with added weapons, such as a ZSU-2 23 anti-aircraft autocannon.”
    In fact, one TDF brigade has an entire garageful of repurposed Russian armored vehicles, owing to what Matsarsky described as “special tactics” to immobilize Russian vehicles and force their crews to abandon them. “One group of TDF fighters used a light mortar to shell a Russian BTR armored personnel carrier that took a regular patrol route, intentionally bursting the vehicle’s tires and forcing the crew to leave it behind.”

    “Many Russian vehicles that are left behind are not that badly damaged,” Matsarsky said. “The Russians simply lack the motivation or the discipline to repair them.” Despite Russia’s inability to match the latest Western advances in drone technology or precision-guided weapons, building rugged heavy trucks is always something it has historically done well.

    And because so many Ukrainians were pressed into military service as a result of the war, they initially had to rely on civilian cars for transportation. Generally, these had limited off-road capability and no armor, making them highly vulnerable to Russian attack. One of Matsarsky’s commanders went through three vehicles in a single month due to shelling.

    Thanks to what the Ukrainians have nicknamed “Russian Lend Lease,” more and more of Kyiv’s soldiers now drive around with bullet- and artillery-proof plating. That not only translates into fewer casualties but also into greater operational sustainability on the battlefield. Matsarsky joked that it’s often easier to simply steal a Russian armored vehicle for TDF’s use than to barter or argue with other units in the Ukrainian Army for an official deployment.

    The “Tornado-U,” for instance, is one of Russia’s latest heavy military trucks, and the models the Ukrainians have captured feature an armored cab, a 440-horsepower engine and a 6x6 chassis. The Tornado-U can also easily drive off road and haul a range of towed weapons, such as howitzers or anti-tank guns.

    Ukrainians have also been snagging other types of Russian kit. One BM-21 “Grad” Multiple Launch Rocket System was found beyond effective repair, and so the Ukrainians salvaged the rocket-launcher tubes and mounted them on the backs of pickup trucks. While it is old technology (Grad rockets are not too dissimilar to the “Katyusha” rockets the Soviet Army used in World War II), ammunition for such systems is still relatively plentiful, and the rockets remain deadly.

    Ukrainian soldiers insist, however, that refurbished Russian materiel is no substitute for continued support from their Western partners.

    Russian guns and tanks show a lot of wear and tear. The barrels are worn out and the age of the equipment is extremely dated, 30 or 40 years old, and sometimes even older than that.
    “Imagine what miracles we could perform with a brand-new Abrams tank,” Matsarsky said.

    Ukrainian soldiers are refurbishing abandoned Russian tanks and trucks

  14. #1764
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    Ukraine has stopped publicly asking for high-end U.S. weapons such as Patriot air defense systems, F-16 fighter jets and Gray Eagle drones.

    But behind the scenes, the push hasn’t stopped for weapons that could turn the tide of the war. Kyiv’s just getting savvier about its requests.

    Both sides are discussing whether to send all three items as long-term financing deals are being hammered out, according to advisers to the Ukrainian government, Pentagon officials and defense industry executives.

    President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hasn’t been a wallflower in calling out Western governments for the weapons his country needs to repel Russian invaders, and has demanded more artillery, rocket launchers and precision weapons, which the U.S. and Western allies eventually provided in large numbers this summer.

    But there’s been a shift in recent weeks from loudly calling for air defense and fighter jets to quieter negotiations. The campaign to tone it down has been led by Zelenskyy’s advisers in Kyiv and key interlocutors in Washington, along with friendly advice from the Biden administration itself, which encouraged Kyiv to focus more intently on what it needs right now to push Russian forces out of entrenched positions in Ukraine’s east and south, the people said.

    The change from a public campaign to a private one came as advisers grew concerned that the requests for high-end weapons were a distraction from Kyiv’s more immediate battlefield needs and concerns that the asks were muddling their tightly-scripted message.

    For months after Russia’s full-scale invasion in late February, Ukrainian leaders asked for Patriot systems and other high-end technologies, putting them at the top of the wish lists sent to Washington and circulated in the press. But big-ticket items have been left off the latest requests for must-need weaponry, which have stuck to requesting more artillery shells and rockets for HIMARS rocket launchers.

    Talks about eventually obtaining Patriots, F-16s and Gray Eagles at some point down the road continue at low levels, however, according to three industry sources and people who are in touch with the Kyiv government.

    The concerns aren’t merely that the high-tech systems would be provocative to Moscow, but also that complex maintenance and support for the systems would challenge Ukraine in the middle of the war. In the case of Patriots, their relative scarcity makes supplying Ukraine a challenge. U.S. Army Patriot units are some of the most deployed units in the service, with allies across Europe, the Middle East and Pacific demanding the protection they provide.

    There is also a prioritization problem: existing NATO allies want these systems too. As more Eastern European countries ditch their older Russian or even Soviet-era aircraft, they’re looking to the U.S. to begin selling or financing F-16s for their own defense. Already, the delivery of 14 F-16s to Slovakia has been delayed a year — to 2024 — due to supply chain issues, and Taiwan remains high on the priority list for the jets and their spare parts.

    Some of these more complex systems — including the F-16s slated for retirement by the U.S. Air Force — “are likely to arrive after this conflict is over,” said a congressional staffer with knowledge of the discussions.

    As for the request for Patriot missile batteries, the U.S. has agreed to finance the sale of the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, or NASAMS, for Ukraine. Officials warn that Ukraine’s capacity to train on and put to use both systems at once would be limited, at best.

    “The NASAMS and Patriot are different systems and you’re training the same air defenders so there’s only so much they can do,” the staffer said, who like others in this story spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the talks. “I think we’ll get there.”

    The Pentagon recently awarded a $182 million contract to Raytheon Technologies, using Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funds, for NASAMS. The first two systems will be delivered within the next two months, the Pentagon said Friday.

    Ukraine’s blitz to capture Kharkiv and push Russian troops out of thousands of square miles of Ukrainian territory this month has played to Ukraine’s strengths — quick decision-making on the ground and the effective use of artillery and precision munitions guided in part by timely U.S. intelligence — while exposing Russian weaknesses in leadership and logistics that were evident in the Kremlin’s lunge toward Kyiv in February.

    While the Ukrainian advances have been stunning, the war doesn’t appear to be close to winding down. Kyiv and the Kremlin have yet to engage in talks to end the conflict, while Ukraine appears intent on pressing its newfound advantages. Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, has shown no sign of backing down from his maximalist position to change the government of Ukraine.

    As the artillery and armor-heavy fight continues in the east and south, Russian ballistic missiles continue to target civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, underscoring the need for more modern air defense systems than the handful of Russian-made S-300s Ukraine currently operates.

    To get there eventually, U.S. officials continue to discuss whether to send the Patriots to Ukraine as part of a long-term strategy, the people said. Discussions about whether to send the system are in early stages at the Defense Department, and a final decision would be up to President Joe Biden. But the fact that officials are talking about such a move is a major shift from this spring, when U.S. officials rejected the idea.

    If the plan moves forward, it’s likely the U.S. would sign a contract with Raytheon to build additional systems for Kyiv, rather than transferring relatively rare — and heavily deployed — Patriot batteries in the U.S. inventory.

    The Patriot system would be a significant boost in capability for the Ukrainians.

    Patriot is a sophisticated, multi-mission system designed to shoot down fixed-wing aircraft, ballistic or cruise missiles. In addition to the United States, 17 countries operate the system, including Romania and Poland.

    It’s a defensive weapon that would cause Russian pilots to “think twice” before attacking Ukrainian forces, said Tom Karako, a senior fellow with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

    “For it to be used in anger, you’ve got to have a Russian missile or a Russian aircraft that has done the escalating, has come into range,” Karako said. “I would say it’s deescalatory.”

    Compared to Ukraine’s existing air and missile defense assets, Patriot is a much newer, longer-range system that would provide Kyiv a critical new capability against Russian attacks, Karako said. Slovakia in April sent Ukraine an old Soviet S-300 missile defense system. The NASAMS being sent by the U.S. can shoot down short-to medium-range missiles.

    If the U.S. decides to go the acquisition route, the Ukrainians would not expect delivery of the Patriots for years, a timeline similar to weapons the Biden administration announced in August as part of a $3 billion package that directly funds contracts with the U.S. defense industry.

    The defense industry funding will go to the production of artillery rounds, mortar rounds, surface-to-air missile systems; a new counter-drone capability; additional drones; and 24 counter-battery radars. None of the equipment will arrive for months; some will take years. But officials say the investment will allow Ukraine to plan for its own future defense.

    Asked about sending Patriots and other new weapons to Ukraine, a DoD spokesperson said the department has “no new announcements to make at this time.”

    “Generally speaking, we are working around the clock to fulfill Ukraine’s priority security assistance requests, delivering weapons from U.S. stocks when they are available, and facilitating the delivery of weapons by Allies and partners when their systems better suit Ukraine’s needs,” said the spokesperson, Lt. Col. Garron Garn.

    Patriot would be “less escalatory” than some other systems that are being considered, a DoD official said, including longer-range rockets such as the Army Tactical Missile System, an offensive weapon that can fly up to 190 miles and reach into Russian territory, and which the White House has said is not being considered.

    Talk of supplying the MQ-1C Gray Eagle drone has also been ongoing for months. The drones don’t appear any closer to heading overseas than they were this spring, when discussions first became public, though two advisers to the Ukrainian government told POLITICO that talks continue.

    There are several concerns, including the potential loss of technology carried on the drone if Russians were to shoot them down, along with uneasiness within the U.S. Air Force — which is eager to retire its own fleet of Gray Eagles — should the systems prove more survivable on the modern battlefield than expected. The Air Force wants to move the money spent on the aging drones on other modernization priorities.

    Whenever more new technologies arrive, it has become clear that Ukraine will increasingly be flooded with NATO-standard equipment as older Russian stockpiles of everything from ammunition to spare parts dries up across Europe, putting Western donors in the position of donating — or selling — increasingly high-end equipment to Kyiv for decades to come.

  15. #1765
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    Narendra Modi’s admonishment for Vladimir Putin: ‘I told you this was not an era for war’

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/09/16/indias-prime-minister-confronts-putin-need-end-war-ukraine/

  16. #1766
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    is that because he's seriously depleted and needs time to train the new enlist......erm prisoners?

    Ukraine war - latest: Putin warns of ‘serious’ response to Kyiv’s counter-offensive

    Russian president Vladimir Putin warned on Friday that Ukraine risks provoking “more serious” action from Moscow with its sweeping counteroffensive, claiming t hat “we so far have responded with restraint”.

    Mr Putin vowed to press on with his “special military operation” in Ukraine during his address to reporters after attending the a meeting of Asian world leaders, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, in Uzbekistan.

    He said the “liberation” of Ukraine‘s entire eastern Donbas region remained Russia’s main military goal and that he has no intention of giving up the fight.

    It came as Indian prime minister Narendra Modi offered a public rebuke to Mr Putin for the first time and the Russian leader admitted there were also concerns about the situation in Beijing.

    “We aren’t in a rush,” Mr Putin said, as some pro-Kremlin politicians and military bloggers have urged Moscow to order a broad mobilisation to beef up the ranks while lamenting Russia’s manpower shortage.

    He accused Ukraine of striking civilian infrastructure in Russia and said it attacked “near our nuclear facilities, nuclear power plants”.

    “If the situation develops this way, our response will be more serious,” Mr Putin said.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/vladimir-putin-russia-ukraine-war-latest-b2169266.html

  17. #1767
    Thailand Expat HermantheGerman's Avatar
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    Russian Lada group discontinues prestige project Xray
    It was the first Lada that no longer looked like a Lada: The Russian automaker is burying its flagship project Xray, which once started the modernization of the group - an indirect result of the war against Ukraine.


    The design was penned by ex-Volvo artist Steve Mattin


    Russia = failed State

  18. #1768
    Thailand Expat HermantheGerman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by malmomike77 View Post
    Putler: “we so far have responded with restraint"l
    Sounds like Skidmark

  19. #1769
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    • Biden: Putin using nuclear weapons would see "consequential” U.S. response


    President Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin not to use chemical or tactical nuclear weapons in the war against Ukraine or there would be a "consequential” response from the United States.

    The big picture: The Kremlin last week said that Russia would continue to wage its war in Ukraine until all its military goals have been achieved despite facing a rapidly advancing Ukrainian counter-offensive.




    Why it matters: Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine increased tensions between the U.S. and its former Cold War foe — both of which have nuclear weapons, Axios' Julia Shapero reports.




    What they're saying: “It would change the face of war unlike anything since World War II," Biden said in an interview with CBS that will air Sunday.


    • "They’ll become more of a pariah in the world than they ever have been. And depending on the extent of what they do will determine what response would occur," he added.


    https://www.politico.eu/article/bide...l-war-ukraine/

  20. #1770
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    Standing in the gloom, Maksim Maksimov pointed to the spot where he was tortured with electric shocks. Russian soldiers took him from his cell in the basement of Izium’s police station. They sat him on an office chair and attached a zig-zag crocodile clip to his finger. It was connected by cable to an old-fashioned Soviet military field telephone.

    And then it began. A soldier cranked the handle, turning it faster and faster. This sent an excruciating pulse through Maksimov’s body. “I collapsed. They pulled me upright. There was a hood on my head. I couldn’t see anything. My legs went numb. I was unable to hear in my left ear,” he recalled. “Then they did it again. I passed out. I came round 40 minutes later back in my cell.”

    The Russian army occupied the police station in April. This followed a furious month-long battle with Ukrainian forces who had based themselves on a hill next to Izium’s Soviet war memorial. According to Maksimov, a 50-year-old publisher, the soldiers rounded up anyone suspected of having pro-Ukrainian views. He had stayed behind to look after his elderly mother.

    They sought veteran servicemen, home guard volunteers and city hall officials. The Russians turned up with a list of names. Some local politicians appear to have collaborated. They included several city council deputies and a retired police chief Vladislav Sokolov, who became Izium’s new pro-Vladimir Putin “mayor”.

    Residents were unable to say how many people vanished during Russia’s five-month occupation of the city. One answer could be found on Saturday in a sunny pine forest on the outskirts of town, close to a Russian checkpoint. Beneath orange-barked trees, Ukrainian forensic experts were carrying out a gruesome process of exhumation and truth-telling.

    A Russian battalion had parked its tanks next to a cemetery, cutting down branches and building underground shelters with neat log roofs. Izium’s war dead – 443 people since February – joined them in nearby sandy plots. They included 17 Ukrainian soldiers. They were dug up on Friday from a scooped-out hollow for a tank, used as a mass grave.

    Ukraine’s armed forces discovered the grisly site when they swept into Izium a week ago, as part of a stunning counter-offensive that saw them recapture almost the entire north-eastern Kharkiv region. On Friday, the first 40 bodies were removed. Some had their hands bound together; on the decayed arm of a woman was a bracelet in Ukrainian blue-and-yellow colours. On Saturday, experts in white boiler suits continued digging. Graves were marked with wooden crosses. Watched by police, they scraped, pulled out bodies and laid them carefully in a glade. The first was a soldier, identifiable from his camouflage trousers and boots. Then two civilians – one possibly female – and another soldier. All were zipped up in white bags.

    “Sometimes we find ID and passports. But we don’t have names for many of those here. Or cause of death,” Roman Kasianenko, the deputy chief prosecutor for Kharkiv, told the Observer. “There are some signs of torture. We found individuals with hands tied together and broken limbs.” But, he stressed: “It’s too early to say if this is another Bucha.”

    Much more in the article……

    Most of Izium has been destroyed. The main boulevard is full of gutted apartment blocks and walls pockmarked by bullets. The administration building is an eerie sandbagged ruin. A bomb tore a chunk out of a church’s cupola. The city’s road bridge has been destroyed, with residents getting around on bikes.

    But life is already returning. Locals queue for aid parcels, delivered in the central square that was once used for celebrations. Women wheel shopping trollies past a mural of John Lennon. The city’s beer factory remains closed but a cafe reopened on Saturday. “You look at all this and think we don’t have a future,” Maksimov said. “But I believe we do. We can rebuild.”

    Ukraine, G-7, partner states discuss possible tribunal on Russian war crimes: Zelensky

  21. #1771
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    Russia Has No Reserves Left As Ukrainian Troops Surround A Key Eastern Town

    May 27 was a dark day for Ukraine. That was the day Lyman, the last free town north of the Donets River in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas River, finally fell to Russian forces. Capturing Lyman helped the Russian army to consolidate its position in Donbas and secure supply lines across the region.

    Lyman was a domino. As it fell, it knocked down Severodonetsk, the last free city east of the Donets. And as Severodonetsk fell, it toppled Lysychansk, its twin city on the opposite side of the river.

    Nearly four months later, the dominos are falling in the opposite direction. A Ukrainian counteroffensive that kicked off east of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city 100 miles northwest of Lyman, in a heady two weeks has liberated a thousand square miles of northeast Ukraine.

    Fleeing a dozen eager Ukrainian brigades, Russian forces in Kharkiv Oblast —including the once-elite 1st Guard Tanks Army—have fled east across the Oskil River, leaving behind hundreds of vehicles and potentially thousands of casualties.

    The Ukrainians’ momentum, weighted by aggressive air and artillery support, has carried them a short distance across the Oskil and south toward Lyman. Now several of Kyiv’s brigades—a mix of paratroopers and territorials—also are closing on Lyman ... from the opposite direction.

    It’s a proverbial noose for the Russians in the town.

    The Institute for the Study of War in Washington, D.C. explained what’s at stake. “Further Ukrainian advances east along the north bank of the Siverskyi Donets River could make Russian positions around Lyman untenable and open the approaches to Lysychansk and ultimately Severodonetsk.”

    The Russians, in other words, might soon lose a lot of the territory they spent the summer—and much of their combat power—capturing.

    The disposition of forces in and around Lyman favors the attackers. As recently as last week, one analyst placed just four Russian battalions—motorized infantry, mostly—in the area. A battalion might have just a few hundred front-line troops. A brigade usually includes several battalions.

    ISW’s own assessment is even less favorable for the Russians. “The Russian defenders in Lyman still appear to consist in large part of ... reservists and the remnants of units badly damaged in the Kharkiv Oblast counteroffensive,” the think-tank stated.

    Worse, “the Russians do not appear to be directing reinforcements from elsewhere in the theater to these areas,” ISW added.

    That latter point should come as no surprise. The Kharkiv counteroffensive at its climax a week ago consumed a Russian battalion every day. The vaunted 1st Guard Tank Army lost at least half of its roughly 200 T-80 tanks as it pulled back across the Oskil.

    Perhaps most embarrasingly for Moscow, the reserve 3rd Army Corps—which the Kremlin struggled to form this summer—rolled into Kharkiv in a desperate bid to slow the Ukrainian attack, promptly lost a few skirmishes then joined the wider Russian retreat.

    That is to say, there are no reserves to reinforce the Lyman garrison because the Kremlin already spent the bulk of its reserves—the 3rd AC—in a failed effort to stop the initial Ukrainian counterattack. Russia has run out of healthy young men and spare modern equipment and no longer can stand up effective new units.

    The Russian garrison in Lyman is outnumbered, increasingly isolated—and on its own. It’s a safe bet the Russian troops occupying Lysychansk and Severodonetsk closely are watching as the Second Battle of Lyman looms.

    They, after all, are next.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidax...h=196d7ef43126

  22. #1772
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    Kyiv Accuses Russia of Strike on Southern Nuclear Plant

    Ukraine's nuclear energy agency Energoatom on Monday accused Moscow's troops of an attack on the country's second-largest nuclear plant in the south.


    The accusations come after the Moscow-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine — Europe's largest atomic facility — faced frequent shelling in recent months, raising fears of a nuclear incident.


    On Monday, "the Russian army carried out a missile attack on the industrial site" of the Pivdennoukrainsk nuclear power plant, Energoatom said in a post on the Telegram messaging service.


    It added that a "powerful explosion" took place "just 300 meters" (985 feet) from the facility's reactors but they were operating as "normal."

    The strike damaged more than 100 windows of the power station's building, the nuclear agency said, posting photos of glass shattered around the broken windows.


    The agency also released photographs of what it said was a two-meter-deep crater from where the missile landed.


    "Fortunately, no one among the power plant staff was hurt," Energoatom said.


    "Russia endangers the whole world. We have to stop it before it's too late," Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram, reacting to the strike.

    PICS Kyiv Accuses Russia of Strike on Southern Nuclear Plant - The Moscow Times

  23. #1773
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    Quote Originally Posted by misskit View Post
    Russia endangers the whole world.
    Yes, it does.

  24. #1774
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    ^ its Putin not Russia

  25. #1775
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    ^ Yes but as long as Putin holds the reins, the Russia is a menace.


    ‘If you didn’t follow instructions, they shot you’ A Russian convict recruited by the Wagner Group tells his story


    In recent months, representatives from the Wagner Group, a notorious private military company that’s said to be funded by Kremlin-linked oligarch Evgeny Prigozhin, have visited at least 20 prisons throughout Russia in a campaign to recruit inmates to fight in Ukraine. On September 15, Ukrainian journalist Yury Butusov posted a video of his interview with a man named Yevgeny Nuzhin. In the interview, Nuzhin recounts his journey from a prison in Russia’s Ryazan region to a Wagner boot camp in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, and finally to the battlefield, where he was captured by Ukrainian forces. Meduza summarizes Nuzhin’s story.


    Yury Butusov, the director of the Ukrainian media outlet Censor.net, has published a video of an interview he conducted with a man named Yevgeny Nuzhin. Previously an inmate at a Russian prison in the city of Ryazan, Nuzhin went to Ukraine as part of the Wagner private military company (PMC) and was captured by Ukrainian forces soon after. A source who served time in prison alongside Nuzhin confirmed to the investigative outlet iStories that the man in the video is indeed “Yevgeny from the penal colony.”


    Nuzhin told Butusov that he first went to prison in 1999. “There was a skirmish, and I had to shoot,” he said. “I killed one guy and injured another.” He was originally sentenced to 24 years in prison, but four years were added after he tried to escape. In recent years, he’s been held in a prison in the city of Skopin in Russia’s Ryazan region.


    According to Nuzhin, in July, Kremlin-linked oligarch Evgeny Prigozhin, who is widely believed to own the Wagner PMC, arrived at the prison in a helicopter. After all of the prisoners were rounded up, Prigozhin offered them a chance to join the war in exchange for clemency. “He promised everybody pardons,” said Nuzhin. “Our salaries would be around 100,000 rubles ($1,653). If you got killed, your family would get something like five million rubles ($82,644). [He said that] the motherland was in danger, and so on and so forth.”

    92 inmates decided to take the offer, including Nuzhin himself. In August, Prigozhin returned to the prison; that’s when Nuzhin learned they would be joining the Wagner PMC rather than the Russian Armed Forces. The men were picked up in late August and taken by helicopter to Ukraine’s Luhansk region, where they went through a week-long boot camp that concluded on September 2. Nuzhin said they were given uniforms and guns, though whenever Prigozhin came to visit their training sessions, their weapons were confiscated.


    The convicts were organized into an assault detachment. When asked what the unit’s task was, Nuzhin told Butusov, “I don’t even know how to explain it. As far as I understood, [we were there to serve as] cannon fodder. If you didn’t follow instructions or if you did something wrong, they would neutralize you. Shoot you. They called it ‘neutralization.’”


    “Not far from [our training area], there was another boot camp. We came from Penal Colony No. 3, and the other group came from Penal Colony No. 5, also from Ryazan, about 60 people. Before them, one person was neutralized: he talked back to the instructor, just verbal diarrhea, and he was neutralized. And then one person from Penal Colony No. 5 was neutralized — they told us about it when we met on the field. For nothing at all, it’s safe to say, for running his mouth, they shot him and buried him there somewhere,” said Nuzhin.


    On September 2, Nuzhin and 17 other convicts were taken to “some residential area” and instructed to search for dead and injured Russian soldiers. They performed their duties at night; during the day, while there was shelling, they waited in shelters.


    On September 4, Nuzhin was captured by Ukrainian forces. “I had decided to surrender long before that. When I was in the camp, and everything was starting, I was watching TV. I had a phone, so I could watch it on YouTube. Here [in Ukraine], there’s the Russian legion, and they called for people to come. And then, when this whole [recruitment] thing started, I told myself that when I came, I would do whatever it took to surrender so I could try to make it [to the Freedom for Russia legion],” he said.


    Nuzhin claims he wants to fight on the Ukrainian side. “Because it’s not Ukraine who attacked Russia,” he said. “It’s Putin who attacked Ukraine. And I have relatives who live here. My uncle lives in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, and my sister lives in Lviv.”


    As iStories noted, this is the second high-profile case of a convict ending up in Ukrainian custody after being recruited by the Wagner PMC. On September 2, Yury Butusov posted a video of another prisoner who claimed to have undergone a week-long boot camp upon his arrival in Ukraine.


    The first media reports of Russian inmates being recruited to fight with the Wagner PMC appeared in late July. On September 14, associates of jailed opposition politician Alexey Navalny published a video that appears to show Evgeny Pigozhin himself speaking to a group of inmates at a prison in the Mari El Republic. On September 15, Prigozhin said, “Everyone who doesn’t want PMCs or inmates to fight, everyone who’s debating the topic, and those who don’t want to do anything and who simply don’t like this issue, send your kids to the front. It’s either PMCs and convicts or it’s your children. Decide for yourselves.”

    https://meduza.io/en/feature/2022/09...-they-shot-you

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