Putin's Invasion of Ukraine

[Hydra009]

An Estonian guy who follows the war closely has noted that Russian officials and even regular Russians always seem to play the part of the victim.

If Russia attacks someone, it's justified because they somehow victimized Russia. If Russia is being attacked, it's an outrage. Russians can do no wrong and no act of self-defense against them is justifiable. They're like a burglar who sues if a dog attacks him in the middle of the burglary.

[Hydra009]

First, the bad news.

Fedorov has been dismissed

Fedorov enumerated over 20 major accomplishments of his term, including the shutdown of Starlink systems for Russian forces, the campaign against Russian logistics in occupied Crimea, and "an unpopular but extremely important" military reform initiative.

This is the guy responsible for the Starlink shutdown and the middle-strike drone campaign that has not only shut down the expected Russian summer offensive this year, it has basically made Crimea unlivable for the Russians. Imho, he's doing a fine job and his dismissal is a mistake. It'd make just as much sense to fire Magyar.

Apparently, Fedorov and Syrski butted heads and Zelenskyy had to make a decision. Politics.

Additionally, Ukraine's 155th Mechanized Brigade (aka Anne of Kyiv Brigade) has brought shame down on itself again. Here's the wiki but allow me to briefly summarize: a serviceman was brutally beaten in front of the assembled soldiers. Additionally, nine members of the battalion, including the commander, were arrested on suspicion of abducting and murdering two civilians in the Kyiv region.

The Russians act like this.

Obviously, something is deeply wrong with this brigade and imho, everyone involved in wrongdoing should be held accountable, and the whole brigade should be disbanded and reformed with an eye for moral fiber and closely watched afterwards for anything like this.

Ukrainians should hold themselves to higher standards, because if this sort of thing isn't removed, it harms Ukraine. For starters, it definitely doesn't look great. And Ukrainian units are always doing fundraisers and these rely heavily on positive feelings towards Ukraine in general and the unit in particular. Don't give people a reason to get cold feet.

[Hydra009]

[Cassia]

The fact that they even acknowledge corruption is light years ahead of the invading orcs.

[Hydra009]

The fact that they even acknowledge corruption is light years ahead of the invading orcs.

Yes, but they have to be light years ahead of the orcs to win. Ukraine isn't in a position to make mistakes. This is a boss fight in progress and every advantage is crucial, so the slightest error can be very dangerous.

Ukraine had several important people quit because of Fedorov being fired.

Deputy Commander of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Pavlo Yelizarov, submitted a request for dismissal.

Ukrainian electronic warfare expert Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov announced that he is no longer an adviser to the Ministry of Defense. Serhii Sternenko as well.

We were just about to finalise new procurement requirements for FPV drones that would have allowed the Armed Forces to receive the best available equipment and develop infrastructure for deeper strikes. I hope they will eventually be approved.

There are big protests in Kyiv today, backed by United24. Ukrainians are generally very opposed to this move and the atmosphere is comparable to the attempt to undermine the independence of watchdogs NABU and SAPO. That decision was reversed, so it's possible this decision will be too. The EU is also a bit spooked and hopefully will talk some sense into Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy is aware of the public mood and generally will correct missteps after a while. Hopefully, he does so.

Fedorov's middle-strike approach was working wonders and such innovative, asymmetric approaches are key to winning this war. These people are vital. Various people in the Ukrainian military lamentably still use "Soviet style" traditional warfare approaches that have typically not been very successful and come with unacceptable losses. These people are not vital. Hopefully, Zelenskyy figures that out and reverses course. Otherwise, this war could last longer and be much more costly for Ukraine.

[Hydra009]

[Hydra009]

What air defense doing? Hit the deck! (edit - same thing from a different angle)

It's always strange how blase the Russians are filming absolute carnage not far from them. Unless you want to become a statistic, you get to safety first, film second.

Translation in the comments (I can't verify the accuracy of this)

"Where am I supposed to go?" (laughing)

"RIP my scooter." (looking at the tracer rounds hitting the wall)

"I was just standing here..."

"Fuck, the fire alarm just went off."

You might lose a lot more than your scooter unless you find a basement or some sort of cover.

[Hydra009]

The Russian military has been using civilian warehouses to store military equipment for a while now, thinking that such sites are untouchable. They are not. This Wildberries (Russian version of Amazon) warehouse in the Moscow region was hit very hard by multiple Ukrainian drones. Big plumes of smoke. Whatever was there simply isn't anymore.

A Russian woman was talking about the incident on a social media video and noted that this company will not reimburse anybody over damaged goods, so lots of Russians are going to lose a lot of money.

This is a perfect example about why it's important for everyone that military facilities and civilian facilities be separate. A military that hides behind civilians imperils them, turning a military defeat into a military defeat with unnecessary additional harm to civilians. If a purely military facility goes up in flames, the state absorbs the loss. If a mixed facility goes up in flames, civilians bear the brunt of the loss. Plus, strictly military facilities can better control access to avoid infiltration and have much less territory that needs to be guarded. It's just better for everyone.

This isn't the first time the Russian military imperiled civilians. During the fuel crisis on Crimea, the Russian military filmed themselves loading civilian cars with fuel containers in the trunk. They also used a school bus on at least one occasion. And earlier, during the battle for Pokrovsk, the Russians had the bright idea to infiltrate the city by disguising themselves as Ukrainian civilians and also to attack Ukrainian civilians to sow terror. Shockingly, lots of Russians ended up shooting each other. Definitely didn't think that one through.

To this day, Russian civilians continue to suffer because of Russian military choices.

[Cassia]

Did he say those random anti-aircraft missiles hitting Russian soil were Pantsir type? Surprised thy didn't self-destruct when that low like almost all anti-air missiles. Plus, they were moving slow. I think maybe those were just shells.

[Hydra009]

Did he say those random anti-aircraft missiles hitting Russian soil were Pantsir type? Surprised thy didn't self-destruct when that low like almost all anti-air missiles. Plus, they were moving slow. I think maybe those were just shells.

Those were 30mm shells repeatedly hitting Russian buildings, including a different Wildberries warehouse. They appear very slow, but that might just be a trick of perspective and that this is happening at night, so there's not much ability to gauge distance.

My brother tells me that 30mm shells are serious business and even hiding behind a concrete wall isn't necessarily any better than being out in the open. We both agreed that that guy should've just laid down flat, preferably behind a small hill, instead of pacing back and forth with a cell phone out.