Ukraine

[JoeMemphis]

Joe, you vote for people who support Putin. If you vote for people who support Putin, YOU support Putin.

[marindem01]

I am NOTpissed over how Joes chooses to vote. But what Joe continues to refuse to accept is that if you vote for a person based their political affiliation/party, then you are actively accepting the conduct of that person you vote for.

I choose to vote for people who reflect my political values, as does Joe. Which I have never.....repeat NEVER voted for Diane Feinstein. I refuse to campaign for her. I refused to endorse her at the CADEM Conventions when she was up for endorsement.

Joe, when you vote for Republican/Conservative you are voting for people who reflect your political point of view. IF a person or persons YOU vote for condones, defends and/or endorses the actions of Putin then you by your vote are condoning, defending and/or endorsing Putin. By your vote that is what you are doing.

I have never voted a candidate or slate of candidates who do not reflect my political beliefs/political philisophy. And Joe, when a pol that I have voted for does something or votes on something I do not support I am in the position tlet them know I would NOT support or endorse them unless they can justify that vote. That political asshat running for Insurance Commissioner against Lara in California is just case in point. I disapprove of his negavtive campaigning and have refused to endorse him. He went so far as to call me to ask I will not endorse him. I may no longer be an active member of the DCCM, but my endorsement still counts.

Joe votes Conservative/Republicans then he is condoning/defending/endorsing/ supporting that those Conservative/Republcans do. You personally may not condone/defend/endorse what Putin is doing, but by your vote for people who do condone/defend/endorse/support Putin then you are by that vote approving of what they do.

You cannot seperate ACT (Voting for Conservatives/Republicans) from INTENTION (condoning/defending/endorsing/supporting Putin).

Your famous double speak ain't working Joe. You may say one thing, but by your vote you are doing something else.

[marindem01]

Talk Talk, that all you do Joe...Talk Talk.

[Number6]

Russia may have lost an entire batallion when Ukrainian artillery destroy a pontoon bridge.

New satellite images from BlackSky intelligence firm show the parts that remain of a pontoon bridge built by Russian troops to access the Ukrainian territory. Images showed smoke rising from the bridge after it was hit by Ukrainian artillery on May 10, leaving Russian tanks and trucks protruding from the water. It is unclear how many Russian troops died in the strike, but Forbes put its estimate at around 1,000 troops and 50 tanks. Britain’s defense intelligence said almost all of the Russian force’s armored vehicles were lost in the battle.

The BBC reports Russian forces have been relentless in their three fruitless attempts to establish bridges to cross the river. Oleh Zhdanov, a Ukrainian defense analyst, told the news service that the fighting is so fierce because the orders to take the territory came “from the very top.”

“They are advancing so hard because it is a political task, because Putin has ordered it,” he told the BBC. He said holding the area is crucial to a plan to encircle the city of Severodonetsk, as the Kremlin is directing its troops to cut off Ukraine’s entire eastern Donbas region.

Nonetheless, Ukraine’s defense ministry reveled in the evidence of the bridge strike, posting on Twitter that it had “opened the holiday season” for Russian soldiers, which it referred to as “ruscists.” The post showed the same satellite imagery and a smug comment about the Russian tourists. “Some bathed in the Siverskyi Donets River, and some were burned by the May sun,” they said.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/russia-lo ... e?ref=home

[gounion]

Meet the pro-Russia, pro-Putin right: https://accountability.gop/ukraine-quotes/

And you can add Rand Paul to the mix:

During an exchange with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Paul pointed out that Russia's attacks, in the recent past, have been on countries that were once part of the Soviet Union.

Putin publicly has dismissed Ukraine's right to function as a sovereign nation separate from Russia.

The Kentucky Republican's comments came during a congressional hearing with Blinken, during which Paul raised concerns about U.S. displays of support for Ukraine potentially joining the NATO military alliance, including during former President George W. Bush and President Joe Biden's administrations.

He asked Blinken: "Knowing full well that Ukraine was unlikely to ever join NATO since it had already been 14 years since they said they were going to become members, why was it so important last fall — before this invasion — to continue agitating for Ukraine's admission to NATO?"

No less that John McCain warned that Rand Paul was working for Putin:

Video of the late Senator John McCain (R-AZ) saying that Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) was working for Russian President Vladimir Putin has garnered renewed attention online after Paul single-handedly blocked a vote on a new aid package to Ukraine on Thursday.

A C-SPAN video of McCain's remarks in 2017 was shared to Twitter on Thursday by patient advocate Peter Morley, Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko and other social media users.

"So I repeat again - the senator from Kentucky is now working for Vladimir Putin," the late senator said in the short video.

In the clip, McCain was discussing NATO membership for the Balkan nation of Montenegro. Paul had blocked a vote to ratify a treaty that would have allowed Montenegro to join the U.S.-led military alliance by refusing to agree to unanimous consent.

During those remarks on the Senate floor in 2017, McCain said that Paul "has no argument to be made. He has no justification for his objection to having a small nation be part of NATO, that is under assault from the Russians."

[ProfX]

Should obviously be taken with an entirely massive grain of salt.

Ukraine’s spy chief claims a coup to overthrow Putin is underway
https://news.yahoo.com/putin-russia-war ... 17898.html

Ukraine’s head of military intelligence claimed he believes that a coup to remove Russian President Vladimir Putin was already underway in Russia — and said he thinks the war is likely to be over by the end of the year.

Speaking to Sky News in an article published Saturday, Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov said he was “optimistic” about Russia’s defeat, suggesting that the loss would lead to Putin being removed from power.

"It will eventually lead to the change of leadership of the Russian Federation," Budanov said. "This process has already been launched."

When asked if a “coup” was underway, he told Sky News: “Yes. … They are moving in this way, and it is impossible to stop it.”

[snip]

During the interview, Budanov also claimed that Putin is currently in “a very bad psychological and physical condition, and he is very sick." In recent years, there has been considerable speculation about Putin’s alleged ill-health.

On Saturday, New Lines Magazine reported that an oligarch close to Putin had claimed the Kremlin leader is “very ill with blood cancer.” In a recording obtained by the publication, an unidentified oligarch was heard allegedly discussing Putin’s health. He went on to complain that Putin had gone “crazy” and claimed that the Russian president had had surgery on his back linked to his cancer, just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

[snip][end]

I have heard many rumors about Putin's health. Here, I do not claim to know the truth. Soviet leaders were often very secretive about their health; sometimes "the people" didn't find out about their death until later. The "New Russia" doesn't seem dramatically different.

Obviously, Budanov's a spook. Spooks disinform. It's a wartime prop tactic. I have to be cautious that while I'd like it to be true, doesn't mean it is. Maybe he wants to push people toward having a coup by saying one is underway: who knows? I also still think merely removing Putin from power may not change much if his successor keeps the same course. But nobody knows who that will be at this point, I thought it was Shoigu, it's a big question mark now.

[Number6]

Should obviously be taken with an entirely massive grain of salt.

Ukraine’s spy chief claims a coup to overthrow Putin is underway
https://news.yahoo.com/putin-russia-war ... 17898.html

Ukraine’s head of military intelligence claimed he believes that a coup to remove Russian President Vladimir Putin was already underway in Russia — and said he thinks the war is likely to be over by the end of the year.

Speaking to Sky News in an article published Saturday, Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov said he was “optimistic” about Russia’s defeat, suggesting that the loss would lead to Putin being removed from power.

"It will eventually lead to the change of leadership of the Russian Federation," Budanov said. "This process has already been launched."

When asked if a “coup” was underway, he told Sky News: “Yes. … They are moving in this way, and it is impossible to stop it.”

[snip]

During the interview, Budanov also claimed that Putin is currently in “a very bad psychological and physical condition, and he is very sick." In recent years, there has been considerable speculation about Putin’s alleged ill-health.

On Saturday, New Lines Magazine reported that an oligarch close to Putin had claimed the Kremlin leader is “very ill with blood cancer.” In a recording obtained by the publication, an unidentified oligarch was heard allegedly discussing Putin’s health. He went on to complain that Putin had gone “crazy” and claimed that the Russian president had had surgery on his back linked to his cancer, just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

[snip][end]

I have heard many rumors about Putin's health. Here, I do not claim to know the truth. Soviet leaders were often very secretive about their health; sometimes "the people" didn't find out about their death until later. The "New Russia" doesn't seem dramatically different.

Obviously, Budanov's a spook. Spooks disinform. It's a wartime prop tactic. I have to be cautious that while I'd like it to be true, doesn't mean it is. Maybe he wants to push people toward having a coup by saying one is underway: who knows? I also still think merely removing Putin from power may not change much if his successor keeps the same course. But nobody knows who that will be at this point, I thought it was Shoigu, it's a big question mark now.

This is Ukraine's head of military intelligence saying this so, yes, it should be taken with a massive grain of salt. It could just be a propaganda tactic to bolster worldwide support for Ukraine and/or to sow paranoia in Putin's mind.

[marindem01]

I have to agree. This is of show me the beef.

[ProfX]

I do not claim that these reports are true, I have no way of knowing, but they seem to be coming from more than one source.

I would be lying if I said I didn't hope they were; but yeah, hope is not proof. (BTW, some have noted that conversely, it could be Putin's failing health is causing him to behave more aggressively.)

Putin "Seriously Ill", Says Ex-Spy. Blood Cancer, Says Oligarch: Reports
An oligarch with close ties to the Russian leader has reportedly been recorded as saying "Putin is very ill with blood cancer".
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/putin-s ... ts-2978132

Russian President Vladimir Putin is "seriously ill" and it is an "element" of what is happening in Ukraine, said a former British spy. "It's not clear exactly what this illness is - whether it's incurable or terminal, or whatever. But certainly, I think it's part of the equation," he said.

Christopher Steele, who wrote a dossier on Donald Trump and alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election campaign, told Sky News: "Certainly, from what we're hearing from sources in Russia and elsewhere, is that Putin is, in fact, quite seriously ill."

Meanwhile, an oligarch with close ties to the Russian leader has reportedly been recorded as saying "Putin is very ill with blood cancer".

In a recording obtained by a US magazine New Lines, the unnamed oligarch was heard discussing Putin's health with a Western venture capitalist.

Speculations around the Russian President's health intensified since the Ukraine war as the leaders appeared frail at public events including the Victory Day celebrations last week. In the photos and videos doing the on social media, Putin had a thick green cover draped over his legs as he sat among Second World War veterans and senior dignitaries to watch a military parade in Moscow's Red Square.

Putin, in a black bomber jacket, was also spotted coughing and was the only person among his group who needed additional coverings to combat the relatively mild 9-degree Celsius weather, reported the Independent.

The Russian oligarch says in the recording that Putin had surgery on his back linked to his blood cancer shortly before ordering the invasion of Ukraine. The president has gone "crazy", he adds.

Recently, a video meeting between Putin and Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu, showed him tightly clutching the table, not letting go for the entirety of the 12-minute clip.

"We all hope that Mr Putin dies. He absolutely ruined Russia's economy, Ukraine's economy and many other economies - ruined absolutely," the oligarch says. "The problem is with his head. One crazy guy can turn the world upside down."

[snip][end]

This oligarch has not been named.

And yes, I too acknowledge there were falsehoods in the earlier Steele Dossier.

[Drak]

Yep. Putin doesn't look well. There are rumors that his health is fading - rumors from Parkinson's to blood cancer. His face is pretty bloated compared to how it used to look, and he does seem to have control issues with one of his arms. In the meeting with Shoigu Putin spends the entire time holding firmly to the underside of the table with one of his legs turned in. He was also doing this weird body twitch thing when he met with the leader of Belarus. Or shots at the parade where he's holding his hand down firmly. The videos where he's talking to the Z audience from a month or so ago were also heavily edited.

But these are just rumors and nothing is confirmed.

[gounion]

Why would we think that any replacement would be an improvement?

A nightmare scenario would be Russia falling into chaos with nuclear weapons.

[marindem01]

Why would we think that any replacement would be an improvement?

A nightmare scenario would be Russia falling into chaos with nuclear weapons.

That's the problem, would any replacement for Vlad as nuts as he is and be willing let go with nukes. Le'ts hope there are calmer heads in the Kremlin.

[gounion]

That's the problem, would any replacement for Vlad as nuts as he is and be willing let go with nukes. Le'ts hope there are calmer heads in the Kremlin.

"Calmer heads in the Kremlin"???

Did you think about what you just wrote?

I kid, but I'm not as sanguine as you that there are calm heads in the Kremlin to be found. We got lucky once with Gorby. Can it happen again?

[marindem01]

"Calmer heads in the Kremlin"???

Did you think about what you just wrote?

I kid, but I'm not as sanguine as you that there are calm heads in the Kremlin to be found. We got lucky once with Gorby. Can it happen again?

One thing I learned at the Pentagon and being assigned to the MoLink (Moscow Ling, Kleinschmidt Teleprinter) is Russian soldiers are just as fed up as American Soldiers. Their officer corps has to most to heavy lifting, hell maps can be classifed and made only available to officers at times.

I believe leaders in the Russian Military are just as afraid of nuclear war as we are. Putin is insane in my opinion. I'm certain not every Russian General wants war in Ukraine and sure as hell does not nuclear war.

There are saner heads in Russia, I'm sure. Let's hope they will be the ones to take over.

[Motor City]

From 2018

Congress bans arms to Ukraine militia linked to neo-Nazis

A little-noticed provision in the 2,232-page government spending bill passed last week bans U.S. arms from going to a controversial ultranationalist militia in Ukraine that has openly accepted neo-Nazis into its ranks.

House-passed spending bills for the past three years have included a ban on U.S. aid to Ukraine from going to the Azov Battalion, but the provision was stripped out before final passage each year.

{mosads}This year, though, the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill signed into law last week stipulates that “none of the funds made available by this act may be used to provide arms, training or other assistance to the Azov Battalion.”

“White supremacy and neo-Nazism are unacceptable and have no place in our world,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), an outspoken critic of providing lethal aid to Ukraine, said in a statement to The Hill on Tuesday. “I am very pleased that the recently passed omnibus prevents the U.S. from providing arms and training assistance to the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion fighting in Ukraine.”

The United States has been aiding and training Ukrainian forces in their fight against Russian-backed separatists since 2014, and recently expanded that aid to include arms. The omnibus includes about $620.7 million in aid for Ukraine, including $420.7 million in State Department and foreign operations funds and $200 million in Pentagon funds.......

2022

Flood of weapons to Ukraine raises fear of arms smuggling

President Biden is expected to sign in the coming days a $40 billion security-assistance package that will supercharge the flow of missiles, rockets, artillery and drones to a war-torn Ukraine.

But what remains unclear is Washington’s ability to keep track of the powerful weapons as they enter one of the largest trafficking hubs in Europe......

......“It’s just impossible to keep track of not only where they’re all going and who is using them, but how they are being used,” said Rachel Stohl, an arms-control expert and vice president at the Stimson Center.

A State Department spokesman said the United States has conducted thorough vetting of the Ukrainian units it supplies while forcing Kyiv to sign agreements that “do not allow the retransfer of equipment to third parties without prior U.S. government authorization.”

But the means of enforcing such contracts are relatively weak — and made even weaker by Washington’s own mixed history of compliance, as recently as last month.......

Americans donate body armor, ammunition for Ukraine

When Texas marketing executive Bret Starr asked colleagues in Ukraine what they needed after Russia's invasion, he got a surprise.

"You know, it was guns, bullets and body armor," said Starr, for whom Respect.Studio in western Ukraine provides social marketing services.

The young digital marketers at Respect.Studio, part of Ukraine's huge technology services-outsourcing sector, said they were organizing a territorial defense squad.

The Fort Worth businessman knew he could not send guns, but he discovered he could legally ship body armor and helmets.

Starr expects to send the first 20 sets of helmets and bullet-proof vests to Respect.Studio this week, followed by up to 2,000 more through donations of cash and gear........

......American donors are running into U.S. and foreign export licenses requirements for equipment like modern bullet proof vests, firearms and ammunition.

Some are partnering with Ukrainian relief groups to get past export hurdles.

Starr is shipping his vests through the Ukrainian American Coordinating Council, a non-profit group that is licensed to do so, he said.

In New York state, the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office on Monday gave around 450 pieces of body armor to the Long Island-Ukraine Emergency Response Drive.

proliferation, where it ends up and how its ultimately used nobody knows.

[Motor City]

Feed the Rich and Bury the poor

https://twitter.com/greg_price11/status ... 8975853568

Pelosi: "When you're home thinking about [what $40 billion to Ukraine] is all about, just think about 'when I was hungry, you fed me' from the Gospel of Matthew."

Better to feed people food than prolonged war.

[Libertas]

2 weeks (10 days to be exact) since any of us have posted here.

Are we forgetting (No, I know we aren't) that Putin with the help of the GOP including those here who vote for them is still murdering innocents?


https://www.usnews.com/news/world/artic ... -president

All Critical Infrastructure in Ukraine's Sievierodonetsk Destroyed - President

[bradman]

2 weeks (10 days to be exact) since any of us have posted here.

Are we forgetting (No, I know we aren't) that Putin with the help of the GOP including those here who vote for them is still murdering innocents?


https://www.usnews.com/news/world/artic ... -president

Been following it. i'd like to say Putin would stop after Sievierodonetsk. That'd give him the industrial area of Donbas and more importantly, the land bridge to Crimea. It doesn't seem like he's going to stop there though. Rumor has it he wants Odessa too. Cut off all Ukrainian ports and Ukraine can be better controlled.

In the mean time, Biden's sending state of the art missiles to Ukraine which poot has said would be an act of war. Biden's trying to soften the blow to poot by saying the Ukrainians will not receive long range missiles that could hit Russia. Poot's reaction, he's running more Nuke drills.

[ZoWie]

Putin is not altogether right in the head, and has made vague references to personal fantasies where the war recaptures everything all the way to East Berlin. The various scenarios for the course of the war include the irrational actor ones.

The sooner the other gangsters send him out of the game feet first on his back, the better for the world. He knows that, and it's the real reason he sits at the far end of that long table. Hell, he could force his people to take covid tests before approaching, so that's not what he's worried about.

[ap215]

Britons sentenced to death after ‘show trial’ in Russian-occupied Ukraine

Pro-Russian officials have sentenced to death two British men and a Moroccan national captured while fighting in the Ukrainian army in Mariupol, Russian state media has said.

A court in Russian-controlled east Ukraine convicted Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner after a days-long process that observers have called a “show trial” on “trumped-up charges” meant to imitate war crimes trials against Russian soldiers in Kyiv.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... aun-pinner

[bradman]

He's not crazy. (well, i guess that's debatable)

It's finally come to the point where there's no pretense.

Listen to the latest in Russian media? It's no longer a plan to denazify.

Somewhere around 80% of the Russian population agrees with Putin's plan to rebuild empire.

[carmenjonze]

He's not crazy. (well, i guess that's debatable)

It's finally come to the point where there's no pretense.

Listen to the latest in Russian media? It's no longer a plan to denazify.

Somewhere around 80% of the Russian population agrees with Putin's plan to rebuild empire.

+++++

[ZoWie]

The only proven crazy people are the ones in the West who said Russia could be welcomed into the new globalized economic order. The results have turned 70 years of progress into the same old same old.

Putin may or may not be clinically insane, but he certainly has ego problems. He is now saying he's the new Peter the Great. I'd be more inclined to think he's the new Ivan the Terrible, but that's just me.

He definitely envisions an empire, not quite getting it that empires are just SO nineteenth century. In some of his less coherent ravings, he's made noises about getting everything back all the way to East Berlin.

[bradman]

The rumor is growing....

https://www.yahoo.com/news/secretaries- ... 30651.html

Now, U.S. officials are increasingly concerned that the trajectory of the war in Ukraine is untenable and are quietly discussing whether President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should temper his hardline public position that no territory will ever be ceded to Russia as part of an agreement to end the war, according to seven current U.S. officials, former U.S. officials and European officials.

Some officials want Zelenskyy to “dial it back a little bit,” as one of them put it, when it comes to telegraphing his red lines on ending the war. But the issue is fraught given that Biden is adamant about the U.S. not pressuring the Ukrainians to take steps one way or another. His administration’s position has been that any decision about how and on what terms to end the war is for Ukraine to decide.

Anyone that thinks Putin will stop a Donbas is a fool. Giving him Donbas will only delay the inevitable.

[JoeMemphis]

The rumor is growing....

https://www.yahoo.com/news/secretaries- ... 30651.html


Anyone that thinks Putin will stop a Donbas is a fool. Giving him Donbas will only delay the inevitable.

I agree. If not Putin then perhaps his successor. Russia started this war. I would not reward them with territory. This is 1938 all over again. JMO