April 22 (Reuters) - Russia is advising citizens to avoid travel to Canada, citing what it calls numerous cases of discrimination against Russians, including physical violence, its foreign ministry said on Saturday.
I came across this interview with Freedom of Russia Legion members fighting in Ukraine. I have been trying to follow the Russian partisan movement as much as possible because I find the resistance movements in wars to be very interesting and have a lot of respect for the people who take part.
For those that haven't really been following it, this is one of the more prominent Russian partisan groups fighting against Putin's Russia. Based on what I have learned from trying to follow this movement, it started at the beginning of the full scale Russian invasion in March 2022 when roughly 100 Russian soldiers immediately defected to the Ukrainian side after crossing the border. Today, there are at least 1,000 members fighting in Ukraine, mainly in the Donbass region including Bakhmut and they have two battalions. It is believed that there may be as many as 4,000 though, with the other 3,000 imbedded with regular UA forces in order to be as anonymous as possible. They are not a rogue group and accept direction directly from the Ukrainian armed forces.
Members mostly include Russian soldiers who defected in Ukraine, as well as civilian volunteers from Russia and Belarus. There are also allegedly thousands of members in Russia that may be responsible for sabotage actions and spreading information to undermine the Russian government. For a while, Moscow denied that they existed, but just recently declared it a terrorist group, thereby at least admitting that they exist.
The reasons why people join are complicated. Some say that if they were sent off to fight in a war anyway, they wanted to fight on the right side. There are others who admit it isn't about defending Ukraine exactly, as much as it is to stop Putin who they believe is weakening Russia. There are some who want Russia to move closer to the West and believe that a Russian defeat will liberate Russia from Putin's grip. Then there are some who just want to be able to survive the war and figured joining the Ukrainian side helped their chances for survival, and have no real political motives.
__________________
"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
The Following 8 Users Say Thank You to FlamesAddiction For This Useful Post:
Murder, ‘alcohol and prostitutes’: Wagner convicts pardoned by Putin return to terrorise home towns
Violent criminals who served with the notorious Russian militia in Ukraine are terrorising the communities they return to
Many are believed to have died in Ukraine, but those who survived the six months in the group’s ranks have earned presidential pardons and are now returning to their home towns. According to the notorious Wagner head Evgeniy Prigozhin, more than 5,000 former criminals have already been freed. One of those is Siukayev who recently returned to his home town of Tskhinvali.
Tsugri’s murder wasn’t the first allegedly committed by a pardoned prisoner turned Wagner fighter.
At the end of March, Yulia Buiskich, an 85-year-old pensioner, was killed at home in the sleepy town of Novyj Burets in the Kirov region, 600 miles east of Moscow.
But a day later, on 29 March, Rossomakhin entered the wooden house of Buiskich, where he is believed to have killed her with an axe.
Just in case there was anyone left that had any doubt
Unsurprisingly, one ambassador's stupid remarks do not overturn decades of a country's foreign policy.
From China foreign minister, Mao Ning, in today's press conference as representing the country's actual position:
Quote:
TASS: Last Friday, Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye took an interview from a French media. On the ownership of Crimea, Mr. Ambassador said that it depends on how the problem is perceived. Crimea was historically part of Russia and had been offered to Ukraine by former Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev. What is China’s comment?
Mao Ning: China’s position on relevant issues remains unchanged.
As to issues related to territorial sovereignty, China’s position is consistent and clear. China respects all countries’ sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and upholds the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. After the Soviet Union dissolved, China was one of the first countries that established diplomatic ties with the countries concerned. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties with these countries, China has followed the principles of mutual respect and equality in developing friendly and cooperative bilateral relations with them. China respects the status of the former Soviet republics as sovereign countries after the Soviet Union’s dissolution.
As to the Ukraine issue, China’s position is clear and consistent. We will continue to work with the international community to make our own contribution to facilitating a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.
Quote:
The Wall Street Journal: Just wanted to follow up on the comments made by the ambassador in France. Could you just clarify for us, do his comments reflect the position of the Chinese government specifically? Or will China retract the comment, as I believe some European leaders have called on China to do? Could you just be as specific as possible about the comments, specifically whether they were appropriate and whether the foreign ministry stands by them?
Mao Ning: I can tell you that what I stated just now represents the official position of the Chinese government.
Edit: Also, here is the link to their statement on the French embassy website rejecting the ambassador's words in that interview as representing China's position and reiterating recognition of sovereignty of post-soviet countries.
There hasn't been much major news with all eyes on the likely Ukrainian counteroffensive that should come within the next 2 months. Bakhmut has held but it has taken a significant toll on Ukrainian defenses, at the same time, Russia's winter offensive turned out to be quite flacid. Wagner is no longer making any significant pushes and seems to have diverted interests to Sudan. Reports that Ukrainian forces have retaken some lost ground in Bakhmut but the situation remains difficult and it appears that there may be a controlled retreat out of the city for the first time.
The east bank Dnipro push is not believed to be a significant offensive yet, but does allow for a potential new front and be part of a broader plan It's believed Ukraine may attempt to take Melitopol from the North and West simultaneously.
A couple of hours ago Humeniuk's remarks is the first acknowledgement from Ukrainian forces that Ukraine is doing a cleaning of Russian forces on the left bank.
But as we all know, the real attack will come to Calais
Last edited by Firebot; 04-24-2023 at 03:20 PM.
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Firebot For This Useful Post:
I'm sure it helps, but they apparently they managed to take over that area because it's too wet and swampy to fortify. That doesn't sound like it can be used as a starting point for any serious offensive, probably mostly unusable for heavy metal.
I'm sure it helps, but they apparently they managed to take over that area because it's too wet and swampy to fortify. That doesn't sound like it can be used as a starting point for any serious offensive, probably mostly unusable for heavy metal.
any step forward is better than a step back.
__________________
Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
Corporal Jean-Marc H. BECHARD, 6 Aug 1993
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to undercoverbrother For This Useful Post:
Edit: Also, here is the link to their statement on the French embassy website rejecting the ambassador's words in that interview as representing China's position and reiterating recognition of sovereignty of post-soviet countries.
