Ukraine unbroken two years into Putin's War

[jusplay4fun]

Russians pushed out of Ukrainian territories:

Russia Confirms Flight of Troops From Ukraine’s Kharkiv Area
Kyiv’s forces capture logistical hub, Russian staging post
Military gains mark major setback for Russian invasion

Thousands of Russian troops retreated in the face of a lightning Ukrainian offensive in the Kharkiv region that threatens to derail the Kremlin’s bid to cement control of Ukraine’s east.

A local Moscow-backed official and pro-Russian military bloggers said Saturday that Kremlin forces had pulled out of Izyum, a staging post for the campaign in Donbas, to avoid being encircled.

Russia’s defense ministry confirmed the pullout from Izyum and other areas in a statement from Moscow, describing the move as necessary to bolster forces in the eastern Donetsk region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the Russian forces were making “a good decision” to leave the area, according to a video released by his office Saturday.

(...)

The advances come after Kyiv received increasing supplies of weapons from the US and its allies over the past few months, including powerful HIMARS rocket launchers, giving Ukraine’s backers confidence that it can push back against the Russian invasion, now in its seventh month.

Daniil Bezsonov, first deputy minister of information for the Moscow-backed Donetsk People’s Republic in Donbas, said the Russian military had abandoned Izyum and some other localities in Kharkiv.

“Of course, this is the result of high command mistakes,” he said on his Telegram channel.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-10/russian-forces-flee-as-ukrainian-army-makes-swift-eastern-push

Clashes in the south
Ukrainian forces say they have broken through Russia's first line of defence in parts of the occupied region around the southern city of Kherson.

But Moscow, which has controlled the area since March, says Ukrainian troops suffered heavy losses and that the operation has been a failure.

The claims by both Ukraine and Russia have not been independently verified but they follow weeks of Ukrainian attacks aimed at cutting off Russian forces in the region.

On Tuesday, senior US officials said there had been an "uptick of fighting" in the area but could not confirm whether a counter-offensive had started.

And the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said there had been significant fighting at five locations in the past 24 hours.

Ukraine said it had "destroyed warehouses, weapon accumulations and enemy control points with high precision strikes" and damaged bridges across the Dnieper River making it "possible to cut off the Russian army from the supply of weapons and personnel from Crimea".

Russian state news agency Tass reported Russia was using air defence systems in an attempt to fend off Ukrainian attacks in the area.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60506682

also:

Russia’s front lines have collapsed in a crucial pocket of northeast Ukraine, ceding a wide area. Maps help show where Russian forces are retreating and how Ukraine’s offensive has reshaped what had been a grinding war of attrition.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/09/11/world/ukraine-russia-war

[GaryDenton]

I admire Ukraine. Those who say Ukraine sucks have very poor "news" sources and suck mightily.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ru ... r-AA11IgPd

Russians continue retreat in northeast Ukraine, strike power plants as ‘revenge’

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian troops on Sunday successfully pressed their swift counteroffensive in the northeastern part of the country, even as a nuclear power plant in the Russia-occupied south completely shut down in a bid to prevent a radiation disaster as fighting raged nearby.

But Russia struck back at Ukraine’s infrastructure Sunday night, causing widespread blackouts, with the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions among those without power, officials said.

Kyiv’s action to reclaim Russia-occupied areas in the Kharkiv region forced Moscow to withdraw its troops to prevent them from being surrounded, leaving behind significant numbers of weapons and munitions in a hasty retreat as the war marked its 200th day on Sunday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mocked the Russians in a video address Saturday night, saying “the Russian army in these days is demonstrating the best that it can do — showing its back.”

He posted a video of Ukrainian soldiers hoisting the national flag over Chkalovske, another town reclaimed in the counteroffensive.

Yuriy Kochevenko, of the 95th brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, tweeted a video from what appeared to be the city center of Izyum. The city was considered an important command and supply hub for Russia’s northern front.

“Everything around is destroyed, but we will restore everything. Izyum was, is, and will be Ukraine,” Kochevenko said in his video, showing the empty central square and destroyed buildings.

While most attention focused on the counteroffensive, Ukraine’s nuclear energy operator said the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, was reconnected to Ukraine’s electricity grid, allowing engineers to shut down its last operational reactor to safeguard it amid the fighting.

The plant, one of the 10 biggest atomic power stations in the world, has been occupied by Russian forces since the early days of the war. Ukraine and Russia have traded blame for shelling around it.

Since a Sept. 5 fire caused by shelling knocked the plant off transmission lines, the reactor was powering crucial safety equipment in so-called “island mode” — an unreliable regime that left the plant increasingly vulnerable to a potential nuclear accident.

AP

[jusplay4fun]

More bad news for saxi and his buddy, putin:

As the war in Ukraine marked 200 days on Sunday, the country has reclaimed broad swaths of the south and east in a long-anticipated counteroffensive that has dealt a heavy blow to Russia.

The counterattack began in the final days of August and at first focused on the southern region of Kherson, which was swept by Russian forces in the opening days of the invasion. But just as Moscow redirected attention and troops there, Ukraine launched another, highly effective offensive in the northeast, near Kharkiv.

Facing the prospect of a large group of its forces becoming surrounded, Moscow pulled back its troops from Kharkiv in a dramatic shift in the state of play that posed the biggest challenge to the Kremlin since it launched the invasion Feb. 24.

(...)

"The Ukrainian army has taken advantage of the relocation of the bulk of the Russian forces to the south and is trying to direct the course of the war, excelling in maneuver and showing great ingenuity," said Mykola Sunhurovskyi, a military expert with the Razumkov Centre, a Kyiv-based think tank. Ukraine's quick gains, he added, are "important both for seizing initiative and raising troops' spirit."

Zelenskyy praised the military in a video address Saturday night, saying it has reclaimed about 2,000 square kilometers (over 770 square miles) of territory so far this month. He also taunted Moscow over its withdrawal, saying the Russian army was "demonstrating the best it can do — showing its back" and "they made a good choice to run."

The Russian military debacle has provoked outrage among Russian military bloggers and patriotic commentators, who chastised the Kremlin for failing to mobilize more forces and take stronger action against Ukraine. Even Ramzan Kadyrov, the Moscow-backed leader of the Russian region of Chechnya, publicly criticized the Russian Defense Ministry for what he called "mistakes" that made the Ukrainian blitz possible.

Both sides have suffered heavy losses in Europe's largest conflict since World War II. Ukraine's military chief said last month that nearly 9,000 of its soldiers have been killed in action. And while Moscow hasn't reported its own losses since March, Western estimates put the toll as high as 25,000 dead, with the wounded, captured and deserters bringing the overall Russian losses to more than 80,000.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-russia-war-counteroffensive-kharkiv/

[Dukasaur]

Nice counteroffensive.

200 days and counting!

[saxitoxin]

Is it possible saxi could be in love with a woman who is (a) Irish, (b) socialist, (c) older than 23, (d) insists on wearing clothing?

YES!

[saxitoxin]

The more territory Ukraine takes the closer they push Russia into using deterrence weapons.

Ukraine is on the verge of starting WWIII.

And it is all America's fault. The war would have been over three months ago had the U.S. not flooded Kiev with cash and guns.

[bigtoughralf]

Is it possible saxi could be in love with a woman who is (a) Irish, (b) socialist, (c) older than 23, (d) insists on wearing clothing?

YES!

You're probably more likely in love with Mick Wallace. He's basically the same politician except he looks like some sort of llama/Duk/2d hybrid.

[saxitoxin]

Is it possible saxi could be in love with a woman who is (a) Irish, (b) socialist, (c) older than 23, (d) insists on wearing clothing?

YES!

You're probably more likely in love with Mick Wallace. He's basically the same politician except he looks like some sort of llama/Duk/2d hybrid.

Oh, I thought that was just some homeless dude who wandered into the session. Didn't realize he was an MEP.

[jusplay4fun]

The more territory Ukraine takes the closer they push Russia into using deterrence weapons.

Ukraine is on the verge of starting WWIII.

And it is all America's fault. The war would have been over three months ago had the U.S. not flooded Kiev with cash and guns.

This merely shows how desperate putin is becoming; he may be killed in a coup soon, I read somewhere online. We know how reliable THAT is.

[aad0906]

The more territory Ukraine takes the closer they push Russia into using deterrence weapons.

Ukraine is on the verge of starting WWIII.

And it is all America's fault. The war would have been over three months ago had the U.S. not flooded Kiev with cash and guns.

This merely shows how desperate putin is becoming; he may be killed in a coup soon, I read somewhere online. We know how reliable THAT is.

There are strange things going on. People seem to develop sudden and sometimes deadly hyper-allergic reactions to tarmac, air, drinks and hospital windows.

[jusplay4fun]

The more territory Ukraine takes the closer they push Russia into using deterrence weapons.

Ukraine is on the verge of starting WWIII.

And it is all America's fault. The war would have been over three months ago had the U.S. not flooded Kiev with cash and guns.

This merely shows how desperate putin is becoming; he may be killed in a coup soon, I read somewhere online. We know how reliable THAT is.

There are strange things going on. People seem to develop sudden and sometimes deadly hyper-allergic reactions to tarmac, air, drinks and hospital windows.

By some measures, these are indeed strange times.

BUT, my suspicion is that "strange times" were also present in 1900, 1000 AD, and 1000 BC, too.

[jusplay4fun]

A phalanx of military experts sweeping across Russian TV are admitting the Kremlin's defeat in Kharkiv region as Ukrainian forces on Wednesday pressed a counteroffensive that has driven occupying troops out of about 300 northeastern cities and towns.

MSN

[saxitoxin]

[jusplay4fun]

The War for Ukraine, or the "special military action" continues to go badly for saxi's buddy, pukin' putin:

As mobilization begins in Russia, sold-out flights, protests and arrests
Within hours of President Vladimir Putin’s speech declaring a partial military mobilization on Wednesday, men all over Russia — including some who had tried for months to ignore the messy war in Ukraine — suddenly found their lives thrown into chaos as they were summoned to duty.

The men, mostly reservists under 35 who served in the army and have junior military ranks, were handed written notices in their offices or at their homes. In some cases, they had their identity documents checked on the street and were told to appear for a health check. Others got orders by telephone.

Anxious relatives, meanwhile, began searching for ways to flee the country or otherwise avoid their loved ones being called for service. Flights to the few cities abroad still offering direct service to Russia — most destinations have been cut off by sanctions — were suddenly sold out.

Google search trends showed a spike in queries like “how to leave Russia” and even “how to break an arm at home,” raising speculation some Russians were thinking of resorting to self-harm to avoid the war.

“They’ve been chasing me since February, trying to offer me a contract,” one Moscow resident, who served in the army and has prior combat experience, said in an interview.

from the Washington Post (via MSN)

The Washington Post

As mobilization begins in Russia, sold-out flights, protests and arrests
Mary Ilyushina - 3h ago

[saxitoxin]

Once again, the Western media spread lies and rumors (remember Putin is dying of cancer?) that are obediently lapped up and regurgitated.

Situation at Finland's borders has not changed with the announcement of Russian mobilization. There are videos circulating on social media, at least some of which have already been filmed before and now taken out of context. There is incorrect information in circulation.

https://twitter.com/rajavartijat/status ... 2655420416

[jusplay4fun]

Once again, the Western media spread lies and rumors (remember Putin is dying of cancer?) that are obediently lapped up and regurgitated.

Situation at Finland's borders has not changed with the announcement of Russian mobilization. There are videos circulating on social media, at least some of which have already been filmed before and now taken out of context. There is incorrect information in circulation.

https://twitter.com/rajavartijat/status ... 2655420416

News from Twitter?? Really? is that the BEST you can do on this issues, saxi? Twitter?

[saxitoxin]

Once again, the Western media spread lies and rumors (remember Putin is dying of cancer?) that are obediently lapped up and regurgitated.

Situation at Finland's borders has not changed with the announcement of Russian mobilization. There are videos circulating on social media, at least some of which have already been filmed before and now taken out of context. There is incorrect information in circulation.

https://twitter.com/rajavartijat/status ... 2655420416

News from Twitter?? Really? is that the BEST you can do on this issues, saxi? Twitter?

Uhhhh ... it's an official statement from the Finnish Board Guard.

[jusplay4fun]

Once again, the Western media spread lies and rumors (remember Putin is dying of cancer?) that are obediently lapped up and regurgitated.

Situation at Finland's borders has not changed with the announcement of Russian mobilization. There are videos circulating on social media, at least some of which have already been filmed before and now taken out of context. There is incorrect information in circulation.

https://twitter.com/rajavartijat/status ... 2655420416

News from Twitter?? Really? is that the BEST you can do on this issues, saxi? Twitter?

Uhhhh ... it's an official statement from the Finnish Board Guard.

only ONE such guard, or\OR.... the OFFICIAL account of the ENTIRE Finnish Border Guard?

and can we trust Twitter for such things? I DO NOT.

[saxitoxin]

Once again, the Western media spread lies and rumors (remember Putin is dying of cancer?) that are obediently lapped up and regurgitated.

Situation at Finland's borders has not changed with the announcement of Russian mobilization. There are videos circulating on social media, at least some of which have already been filmed before and now taken out of context. There is incorrect information in circulation.

https://twitter.com/rajavartijat/status ... 2655420416

News from Twitter?? Really? is that the BEST you can do on this issues, saxi? Twitter?

Uhhhh ... it's an official statement from the Finnish Board Guard.

only ONE such guard, or\OR.... the OFFICIAL account of the ENTIRE Finnish Border Guard?

and can we trust Twitter for such things? I DO NOT.

Good grief, you can go to the Finnish Border Guard's website - https://raja.fi/en/social-media - and see that they link to their official Twitter account at @rajavartijat.
Then you can look at the Tweet I linked and see it's from @rajavartijat.

So either (a) Putin, who is dying of 17 different types of cancer, has hacked the Finnish Border Guard's Twitter account to erase evidence of the Ghost of Kyiv and - while he was doing that - decided to put out this Tweet, too, or, (b) there are no mass queues at the Finnish-Russian border.

[saxitoxin]

Awesome news!

The pro Russia Brothers of Italy party has just won the Italian parliamentary election! Meloni - who pledged to lift Italian sanctions on Russia - will be the next prime minister!

Good guys are beating evil.

[bigtoughralf]

The EU's historic use of Italy as one if its main scapegoats for its Eurozone f*ck ups means Italy tends to be one of the EU nations least willing to toe Brussels-Washington neocorporate propaganda lines. Hurray for them.

I believe of the remaining EU nations Italy are the most Eurosceptic, followed by France and Greece. The Greek government has already been documented as refusing to support Ukraine in its war and helping Russian oil tankers evade Western sanctions, so it's all eyes on France as we wait to watch the next domino fall!

[jusplay4fun]

Once again, the Western media spread lies and rumors (remember Putin is dying of cancer?) that are obediently lapped up and regurgitated.

Situation at Finland's borders has not changed with the announcement of Russian mobilization. There are videos circulating on social media, at least some of which have already been filmed before and now taken out of context. There is incorrect information in circulation.

https://twitter.com/rajavartijat/status ... 2655420416

News from Twitter?? Really? is that the BEST you can do on this issues, saxi? Twitter?

Uhhhh ... it's an official statement from the Finnish Board Guard.

only ONE such guard, or\OR.... the OFFICIAL account of the ENTIRE Finnish Border Guard?

and can we trust Twitter for such things? I DO NOT.

Good grief, you can go to the Finnish Border Guard's website - https://raja.fi/en/social-media - and see that they link to their official Twitter account at @rajavartijat.
Then you can look at the Tweet I linked and see it's from @rajavartijat.

So either (a) Putin, who is dying of 17 different types of cancer, has hacked the Finnish Border Guard's Twitter account to erase evidence of the Ghost of Kyiv and - while he was doing that - decided to put out this Tweet, too, or, (b) there are no mass queues at the Finnish-Russian border.

Of course, IT'S ALL the above, pure and simple. PERIOD.

[saxitoxin]

WOW this is an incredible video of a speech by (probably) the new Prime Minister Meloni in which she mercilessly denounces Leftism and Capitalism. I wish there was any U.S. Republican other than Senator Hawley with this prescience.

https://twitter.com/greg_price11/status ... 5940377607

"We will never be slaves and simple consumers at the mercy of financial speculators!"

Anyone who watches this and doesn't immediately join the Radical Right is already a capitalist cog.

[jusplay4fun]

WOW this is an incredible video of a speech by (probably) the new Prime Minister Meloni in which she mercilessly denounces Leftism and Capitalism. I wish there was any U.S. Republican other than Senator Hawley with this prescience.

https://twitter.com/greg_price11/status ... 5940377607

"We will never be slaves and simple consumers at the mercy of financial speculators!"

Anyone who watches this and doesn't immediately join the Radical Right is already a capitalist cog.

This is merely more hyperbole from saxi. You forgot to say the "SKY is FALLING" too, saxi.

"try harder" to quote your buddy and PAL ralph.

[jusplay4fun]

Once again, the Western media spread lies and rumors (remember Putin is dying of cancer?) that are obediently lapped up and regurgitated.



omitted some, as too many embedded quotes.....JP


only ONE such guard, or\OR.... the OFFICIAL account of the ENTIRE Finnish Border Guard?

and can we trust Twitter for such things? I DO NOT.

Good grief, you can go to the Finnish Border Guard's website - https://raja.fi/en/social-media - and see that they link to their official Twitter account at @rajavartijat.
Then you can look at the Tweet I linked and see it's from @rajavartijat.

So either (a) Putin, who is dying of 17 different types of cancer, has hacked the Finnish Border Guard's Twitter account to erase evidence of the Ghost of Kyiv and - while he was doing that - decided to put out this Tweet, too, or, (b) there are no mass queues at the Finnish-Russian border.

Of course, IT'S ALL the above, pure and simple. PERIOD.

From the website:

Border crossing points
The international border crossing points on the land border between Finland and Russia are (from north to south) Rajajooseppi, Salla, Kuusamo, Vartius, Niirala, Imatra, Nuijamaa, Vainikkala and Vaalimaa.
There are temporary border crossing points on the land border between Finland and Russia in Inari (Lieksa) and Parikkala.
The international border crossing points for recreational watercraft are the coast guard stations of Haapasaari, Helsinki, Hanko and Åland, Santio and the port of Nuijamaa.
The airports and most of the ports are also international border crossing points. The largest of these is Helsinki Airport, which handles the majority of Finland’s international air traffic all year round.

https://raja.fi/en/guidelines-for-travellers-at-border-crossings

and this, from Reuters:

Finland mulls barring Russians from entering as border traffic grows

VAALIMAA, Finland, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Finland said on Thursday it was considering barring most Russians from entering the country as traffic across the border from its eastern neighbour "intensified" following President Vladimir Putin's order for a partial military mobilisation.

Finnish land border crossings have remained among the few entry points into Europe for Russians after a string of Western countries shut both physical frontiers and their air space to Russian planes in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/finlands-border-guard-says-traffic-border-with-russia-increasing-2022-09-22/

saxi need to update his info on this topic; that is WHY he switched this to Italian elections; he was LOSING this one, too.