All your statements are correct, and Ukraine has a ton of work to do to become a member. But with pro-West sentiment at an all-time high, he is capitalizing on the emotions. He's a politician at the end of the day.
I don't blame him one bit, I think he truly has the desire to become a full member.
Ukraine's application should be fully vetted like any other and conditions shouldn't be waived in the heat of the moment. If that vetting process has been going on and/or can be accelerated then by all means make it happen.
Text messages allegedly written by a Russian soldier to his mother describe how the invading army is “hitting everyone, even civilians.”
The circumstances surrounding the soldier’s death were not disclosed, other than it occurred in combat. Kyslytsya said the texts were sent “several moments before he was killed.”
In the exchange that has only been verified by Ukrainian sources, the soldier tells his mother, in Russian, that he is no longer in Crimea doing training exercises. When his mother asks if she can send him a parcel, he says “the only thing I want now is to hang myself.” He goes on to explain that he is in Ukraine, where there is a “real war.”
“I’m scared, we’re hitting everyone, even civilians,” he wrote. “We had been told that people would welcome us here but they jump under our vehicles, not letting us pass. They call us fascists. Mom, it’s so hard.”
“If you want to just visual the magnitude of the tragedy, you have to imagine next to you, next to every name plate of every single country in this general assembly, more than 30 souls of killed Russian soldiers already,” said Kyslytsya, when he finished reading the text messages. “Next to every name of every single country in this assembly, 30 plus killed Russian soldiers. Hundreds of killed Ukrainians. Dozens of killed children. And it goes on and on and on.”
Ukraine will be hit hard tonight. Massive convoy on the way to Kyiv. Silence in Kharkov during the 'negotiations' but the second they stop, back to attacking.
My wife said that on the news they fear the internet being knocked out in her area soon, news told them to prepare for that. Today 3 men were missing or kidnapped from her village. Not sure if it was an altercation of some kind, but they still have not gone outside for days. She said the solidiers that roam her village are more volatile now, where as before they simply asked people for food and directions.
Added a UA long distance call package from my cell phone provider, tested it out and can still call her. I'm not an expert how cellular mobile services work, or if calling will even be available even if internet is out. Either way, told her it's at least worth a try to load this UA plan on both our Polish sim cards with this plan and hope for the best with it, even down the road.
Told her if the internet is out, I will call her in the morning and evening every day to try and reach her. I promised her that I will never stop looking for her.
Is there anything we can do? I know it’s next to impossible being in Canada, but can we raise funds and she can bribe her way out?
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Map updates for the day. Situation in south Ukraine isn't going as well with Russia linking up their Southern MD and airborne units. Russians seem to have taken the areas around Berdyansk and are also making inroads heading up from Melitopol on their way up to Dnipro. Western MD groupings are still heading to Kyiv to join up reinforce the Central MD grouping's siege of Kyiv but the advance seems to have slowed there. https://twitter.com/user/status/1498306272839585793
Those are some wicked salients. Just begging to be pinched off!
In all likelihood, the Ukrainian Army does not have any mobile reserves capable of those actions (or unable to move due to Russian air power), much like the Germans after the summer of 1944 or the Iraqi Army in the two wars. It's not helped by the seemingly disastrous positioning of so many of their forces close to the border before the invasion.
“I’m scared, we’re hitting everyone, even civilians,” he wrote. “We had been told that people would welcome us here but they jump under our vehicles, not letting us pass. They call us fascists. Mom, it’s so hard.”
Undoubtedly there are many soldiers who were told the same lies that the Russian people are being fed by state media, about liberating Ukraine and that it was being run by 'neo-fascists'... I feel badly for those grunts who have been unwittingly duped by Putin and his cabal.
occupying a country where the majority want you there is tough enough...invading a country where everyone is going to fight tooth and nail against you is going to be very, very difficult.
In all likelihood, the Ukrainian Army does not have any mobile reserves capable of those actions (or unable to move due to Russian air power), much like the Germans after the summer of 1944 or the Iraqi Army in the two wars. It's not helped by the seemingly disastrous positioning of so many of their forces close to the border before the invasion.
How bad were the Ukrainian army positions? They seem to have done reasonably well and the US seems to have been informing them the whole month prior.
I can understand a personnel problem since they are heavily outnumbered and reserves are still getting spun up.
It should be relatively easy to determine, based on their unis and equipment, no?
Also, I would imagine they are Russian, simply due to the civilian standing there nonchalantly - can't imagine that being the case if these were Ukrainian soldiers being detained by Russian soldiers.
The answer seems to be: both are lying. The picture apparently is taken during an exercise a few years back.
This would explain the casual onlooker and the gun that's still right next to one soldier.
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How bad were the Ukrainian army positions? They seem to have done reasonably well and the US seems to have been informing them the whole month prior.
They were placed very forward, close to the break away republics, meaning that the Russians can try to cut them off before they can retreat to the more defensible western side of the Dneiper. And even if they can retreat in time, they are highly vulnerable to air and artillery and will likely lose all of their heavy equipment.
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Good analysis of the Russian performance so far. Jibes pretty well with the twitter thread posted earlier. Poor tactics and performance, but Russia fighting with one hand tied behind its back.
Quote:
The woes of the Russian war machine are big and real. Are they also temporary?
… Russia’s biggest problem appears to be logistics. A Western official says that Russia has particular problems with engineering units. Ukraine has blown up many bridges, and Russia has been unable to get bridging units through congested roads. Russian tanks and other vehicles lie abandoned on the roadside, either broken-down or out of fuel, suggesting supply lines are overstretched, and support units are unable to keep up. Marooned units are prime targets for ambushes. Ukrainian forces have no shortage of arms with which to strike them—in recent days, Denmark, Luxembourg and Finland became the latest European countries to say they would supply thousands of anti-tank missiles.
… Some Western officials and military experts conclude that Russia’s army is a paper tiger. “This isn’t a good army executing a bad plan…or out-of-context tactics,” says BA Friedman, a military analyst and reserve officer in the US Marine Corps. “It’s a bad army!” Others are more cautious. They say that Russian tactics may adapt in the days and weeks ahead, and that the country has mass on its side. Russia is yet to deploy a quarter of the forces on Ukraine’s border, according to American officials. One column, its southern end 27km from Kyiv’s centre, stretches over another 27km of road, according to satellite imagery. American officials also say that the Kremlin has sent fighters from the Wagner Group, a Kremlin-linked mercenary outfit, to Ukraine.
Russia has so far worked much harder to avoid civilian casualties than in its air campaign in Syria and than was expected at the start of the conflict, says Mr Adamsky. But the war may be entering an “uglier stage”, he warns. That is evident in Kharkiv. Rockets and cluster munitions have begun targeting residential areas, causing widespread damage to entire blocks of flats. Images show corpses littering the street. The appearance of Su-34 bombers suggests that the city may soon be struck from the air. Mr Putin’s gamble on a quick war has failed—now he appears set on a grim one.
