Russia invades Ukraine

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

I can't watch that now. Is Bakhmut officially liberated then?

Negative.


Not even close.


More of a first steps story, but it's nice to hear an little bit about Ukraine on the front foot in Bakhmut after months upon months of holding on.

[Trojan97]

Definite progress made in the SW of Bakhmut based on the accounts I assume many of us follow at this point. Will be interested to see if this ground is held moving forward.

Sounds like a Russian frontline retreat + zero communication = a bad time for Wagner. Word is there is zero communication between Russian troops + Wagner at this point which led to a slaughter of hundreds of Russians & Wagnerites during the chaos of those fleeing in that area. Up to 2KM of ground retaken based on some reports. Hopefully Ukrainian forces can continue to poke holes in the line and see what comes of it.

[burn_this_city]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1656407331914108930

[Francis's Hairpiece]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

https://twitter.com/user/status/1656407331914108930

Hooooly crap, that is one lucky Russian. How he isn't totally perforated is beyond me. Insane.

[greyshep]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

I can't watch that now. Is Bakhmut officially liberated then?

Even if it becomes liberated, what is left of the city? It looks like a complete wasteland and will require a lot of time to rebuild into anything resembling a city again. Sad.

[icarus]

UK sending Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine which have >3x HIMARS range.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65558070

Originally Posted by nik-

It was never about NATO. NATO was just the public reason. This was always about preventing Ukraine from developing their O&G industry to become a competing supplier to Europe.

I feel like you're giving Putin too much credit. This implies he is noble enough to care about Russian industry or Russian people (even if just oligarchs). I think he's just a narcissistic megalomaniac who is still butt hurt Ukraine no longer has leadership or a population willing to be a vassal state like Belarus that will kiss the ring. He's wealthy and protected beyond compare and so just wants his name to go down in the history books alongside the tsars who added territory during their reigns (make no mistake, he is as much a monarch as they were) and correct what he perceives to be mistakes of history.

[Trojan97]

Continued positive news from Bakhmut & area over the last 24 hours. Word of breakthroughs by Ukrainian forces and withdrawals of Russian troops on both flanks continue to be reported by pro Russian/Wagner channels. Seems everything you read about Russian troops today is of them continuing to flee which is nice to see.

Appears Wagner has sent troops from the city, where they have been primarily situated, out to the flanks to try and stabilize that situation leaving them vulnerable in the city. Ukraine forces have responded accordingly and are now conducting strong counter offensives within Bakhmut to try and retake ground there as well.

Lots of "bad news" and copium from pro Wagner/Russian commenters over the last 24 hours and there is a clear belief on their end that further Ukrainian reinforcements are on their way to the area shortly to aid in these operations and that the counteroffensive has infact begun.

Hopefully more positive news to come as we move into the weekend.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by icarus

I feel like you're giving Putin too much credit. This implies he is noble enough to care about Russian industry or Russian people (even if just oligarchs). I think he's just a narcissistic megalomaniac who is still butt hurt Ukraine no longer has leadership or a population willing to be a vassal state like Belarus that will kiss the ring. He's wealthy and protected beyond compare and so just wants his name to go down in the history books alongside the tsars who added territory during their reigns (make no mistake, he is as much a monarch as they were) and correct what he perceives to be mistakes of history.

I don't think killing a bunch of your citizens to ensure your country's revenue stream (de facto: your revenue stream) is caring about the Russian people, or noble, in the slightest. Loyalty and protection beyond compare costs money.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Trojan97

Continued positive news from Bakhmut & area over the last 24 hours. Word of breakthroughs by Ukrainian forces and withdrawals of Russian troops on both flanks continue to be reported by pro Russian/Wagner channels. Seems everything you read about Russian troops today is of them continuing to flee which is nice to see.

Appears Wagner has sent troops from the city, where they have been primarily situated, out to the flanks to try and stabilize that situation leaving them vulnerable in the city. Ukraine forces have responded accordingly and are now conducting strong counter offensives within Bakhmut to try and retake ground there as well.

Lots of "bad news" and copium from pro Wagner/Russian commenters over the last 24 hours and there is a clear belief on their end that further Ukrainian reinforcements are on their way to the area shortly to aid in these operations and that the counteroffensive has infact begun.

Hopefully more positive news to come as we move into the weekend.

UA should play this on loudspeakers from their NATO tanks, IFVs and APCs

[Jacks]

Russia retreats from Bakhmut, wow.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia...sive-1.6841643

Moscow acknowledged on Friday that its forces had fallen back north of Ukraine's battlefield city of Bakhmut after a new Ukrainian offensive, in a retreat that the head of Russia's Wagner private army called a rout.The setback for Russia, which follows similar reports of Ukrainian advances south of the city, suggests a co-ordinated push by Kyiv to encircle Russian forces in Bakhmut, Moscow's main objective for months during the war's bloodiest fighting.
It means both sides are now reporting the biggest Ukrainian gains in six months, although Ukraine has given few details and played down suggestions a huge, long-planned counteroffensive had officially begun.
Russian Defence Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said Ukraine had launched an assault north of Bakhmut with more than 1,000 troops and up to 40 tanks, a scale that if confirmed would amount to the biggest Ukrainian offensive since November.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner forces that have led the campaign in the city, said in an audio message: "What Konashenkov described, unfortunately, is called 'a rout' and not a regrouping."

Putin must be seething at all this failure around him.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Jacks

Putin must be seething at all this failure around him.

Putin is probably even more pissed that his prized Kinzhal hypersonic missiles are being popped out of the sky by the American Patriot air defense system, now he's asking himself does he really have much of a nuclear threat.

[burn_this_city]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1657368124788809728

[nik-]

[Huntingwhale]

Sounds like the pilots went down with them (obviously) and didn't survive.

It's not often in life you cheer for a plane wreck...but here we are.

[jeffman]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...ked-documents/

I wonder if article 5 gets invoked if Zelenskyy attacks Hungary, a nato member’s, energy infrastructure

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by jeffman

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...ked-documents/

I wonder if article 5 gets invoked if Zelenskyy attacks Hungary, a nato member’s, energy infrastructure

I kind of sped through the article, but I didn't see any suggestion that they would attack Hungary. It was suggested that they had entertained the idea of targeting the pipeline in Russia that distributes oil to Hungary. Targeting Russian infrastructure, even if it affected Hungary, wouldn't be a cause to invoke Article 5.

i thought the more interesting part was about opening up a front against Russian forces in Syria with help of Kurdish allies. That could open up a really big can of worms, but Zelenskyy kyboshed it anyway.

[FlameOn]

Originally Posted by icarus

UK sending Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine which have >3x HIMARS range.

[chemgear]

I keep thinking of this guy.

[Trojan97]

Lukashenko is rumoured to be dying/possibly already dead. Nothing solid from the usual sources but he apparently hasn’t been seen since he was rushed home from the Victory Day parade after falling ill. Lots of different ways that could play out if it turns out to be true.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Trojan97

Lukashenko is rumoured to be dying/possibly already dead. Nothing solid from the usual sources but he apparently hasn’t been seen since he was rushed home from the Victory Day parade after falling ill. Lots of different ways that could play out if it turns out to be true.

Maybe, Hopefully

https://www.intellinews.com/is-lukashenko-dead-278618/