Why Should Anyone Stuck in Ukraine Side With Russia?
Russia has recently abandoned a large swath of territory around Kharkev, surrendering towns that were taken in months of hard fighting. Contrary to what the official sources were telling us from the Russian side, many pro-Russian residents have been abandoned in the haste of the Russian retreat.
God help those people.
Well, at this rate, they won't need to capture Ukraine, because all the Russians will be in Russia
Residents of Svatovo, 60 km from Kupyansk, leave their homes in a hurry, fearing reprisals from the Kyiv regime
Hundreds of cars at the exit from the city of Svatovo in the Luhansk region. People began to leave their homes from yesterday evening, when there were reports that the Armed Forces of Ukraine were approaching Kupyansk and preparing for an assault. According to Readovka military officer Kirill Imashev, local residents are leaving towards the Luhansk region, the territory controlled by Russia, being wary of various kinds of reprisals from the Ukrainian army.
“Anyone who somehow assisted the administration, or at least somehow clapped at a pro-Russian rally, they will be subjected to repression. People, of course, are scared, ”Kirill said.
That’s Readovka. A very pro-Russia, pro-SMO and toe-the-line news resource.
The SBU is going to be sent in now to do what they do best - slit throats and then demand confessions. Yes, in that order. These people are monsters. We have no idea how many people have simply been disappeared in Ukraine. I complain about the FSB, but the SBU just do whatever they want with no restraint at all. Torture, mutilations and mass-killings are standard SBU operating procedure. The Ukrainians, ironically enough, are fighting like Bolsheviks - with no concern for any norms or conventions or anything resembling humanity.
The Grey Zone, hardly one of those unpopular channels that tries to give a sober analysis of the situation to the clapping seals, has shared information confirming that many residents were abandoned in the retreat.
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Second paragraph:
The Ministry of Defense took up and ran leaving behind the OMON and SOBR guys (Russian SWAT police) who broke through the encirclement on their own. No established corridors or anything. The situation is fucked up.
The outrage is quite real.
And the point I’m driving at is quite simple here: the people stuck in Ukraine, the brotherly Slavs as they’re referred to, are in an unenviable position.
What happened to the people who came out with Russian flags when the Russians rolled down into Kiev from the north? What will happen to the people in the recently abandoned towns and territories who were registering to vote in the referendum?
Why does the FSB make it so difficult for Ukrainians to claim Putin’s offer of citizenship? Is it because the FSB wants them to stay in Ukraine so that they can be enlisted to fight against Kiev?
Things are not going well with those militias by the way.
Patriotic groups in Russia fund-raise for the soldiers and militia men because there are critical equipment shortages.
But the outrage has spread to even official state media channels where political pundits like Vladimir Soloviev look like deflated balloons. If Zhirinovskiy was still with us, the rafters would be shaking in the TV studio and the Duma from his howling for chinonik and silovik heads.
It’s one thing to deal with stupid Millennial students protesting for LGBT and Navalny. It’s another thing entirely when the great patriotic bloc is riled up.
Hopefully, the reforms and firings that started in February will resume as a result of this debacle. Also, hopefully, the UAF has overextended and a counter-attack is in the works now.
Topwar reports:
The grouping of Russian troops that advanced to the Kupyansko-Izyumskoye direction immediately got to work. A blow was struck on the main rear support base for the advancing Ukrainian troops in Chuguev. As a result of accurate hits on the base of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, multiple detonations occurred, which indicates that either ammunition was stored at the facility or military equipment was located. The object is completely destroyed.
In addition, attacks on military targets in Kharkov continue. Russian artillery inflicted a defeat on an object containing at least 200 Ukrainian servicemen, including officers. Some of them were preparing to be sent in the direction of Balakliya and Shevchenkovo.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops, using NATO weapons, are attacking Kupyansk. According to the latest information, the Hymars MLRS ammunition seriously damaged the bridge over the Oskol River. It actually divides the city into two parts - eastern and western. At the same time, the Ukrainian assault groups, located a few kilometers west of Kupyansk, are trying to move forward, counting on the fact that the artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will suppress the resistance of our troops.
It is also confirmed that fighting is still going on in Balakliya. Ukrainian troops, having occupied the western quarters and the central district of the city, have not been able (at the moment) to capture the territory of the arsenal.
Fighting continues virtually throughout the entire Kupyansk-Balakleya-Izyum triangle. At the same time, Ukrainian troops use every media opportunity to demonstrate success. The fashion of the last few days is a photograph with a flag near a sign with the name of a settlement. Often, such photos are taken by 2-3 members of the DRG, but in Ukrainian public this is a “synonymous” with the capture of a particular village or town.
There are still significant groupings of Russian troops in the region. Let’s see what they can do to salvage or reverse the situation.
Another point worth making: patriotic groups are calling for an end to the policing operation and for Russia to go on a full war footing. It makes sense, after all, if NATO is really actively fighting for Kiev now, as the MOD claims, why then would you not get more serious about the war?
Also, now would be a good time to revise the stated objectives of the war. Here’s a simple proposal that will give many stuck Ukrainians heart: “Russia is now in a war to liberate Ukraine and incorporate the territory back into Russia. Ukrainians will be given citizenship and become equal citizens in our country. We are one people tied by bonds of blood, history and culture. We will not abandon you. We will fight to the very end against the occupiers and NATO. Join us.”
Time to drop the legalese and start fighting a populist war, finally.
Where the Russian flag was raised once, it should not ever be taken down again. - Emperor Nikolai I.
There's a kind of mechanical and legalistic cruelty to the Russian ruling establishment that really shows they didn't want this war. They are more international and liberal and border respecting then the actual West. In a sense, they always have been (Soviets!)
Still, it's heartening to see these failures, because it means things can only go up: either righteous punishment for spiritual failure, or momentous success from learned pain.
"Another point worth making: patriotic groups are calling for an end to the policing operation and for Russia to go on a full war footing."
There were/are critical things that need(ed) to happen before going to a war footing.
This is one if them -- possibly the single most important one.