Ukraine - Russia Conflict

Nope, the conscripts from the DPR/LPR were used this way long before Russia started emptying its prisons. After all, while they didn't count as Russian forces, they didn't count as Russian losses... The puppet DPR/LPR regime mobilized long before Russia itself did precisely because they didn't get to count as "real Russians".

By now, of course, everyone gets to be sacrificed in meat assaults; the poorly-trained mobilized are sent to fight where survival seems unlikely, so as to keep what remains of the actually trained troops for more "important" combat missions.

The intensity of fighting was nowhere until 2015 compared to today. Donbas did not have the troops necessary to use as cannon fodder either. Recruitment began only after the war started in 2022.

There's no LOL big enough to adequately reply to this silliness.

Russia has done more to suppress their identity than Ukraine ever could; mostly by making them deliberately and consciously decide to renounce any sort of identity tie to the country of ravening monsters on their Eastern border.


Pretty interesting interview with a Ukrainian artillery captain:
Subtitles are in English, even if the Youtube interface believes it's in Russian.

Meanwhile in Russia:
Russians serving in the military have effectively been stripped of their legal rights and serve without recourse to justice. A group of Russian lawyers say that government restrictions and the sheer volume of cases have left them effectively powerless to defend the rights of those fighting for Russia.​
A 'Committee of Military Lawyers' was formed in the western Russian city of Vladimir in the autumn of 2022 to provide legal assistance to those who were being mobilised. Since then, the five women lawyers on the committee have been helping with a range of legal issues.​
However, in a "cry from the heart" posted to their Telegram channel on 9 July, the lawyers describe frankly the obstacles that the government and military have placed in their way. They admit that they are overwhelmed and unable to help most applicants.​
Their comments are worth reviewing to highlight how the Russian state has systematically curtailed the protections of those fighting for it. They write that the situation has evolved through four phases over each of the last four seasons.​
In the autumn of 2022, they write, there was "general confusion (prosecutors would throw up their hands and say "we don't know how it should be"), confusion in the heads of officials and a mess on the ground." They nonetheless managed to get some things done to help their clients.​
The Russian government cracked down on the lawyers over the winter of 2022-23:​
"Our legislators woke up, worked hard, and instead of streamlining the legal field of military affairs, they eradicated it altogether. Well, that is in general. They tightened laws aimed at suppressing any discontent in the ranks of servicemen and their relatives, untied the hands of officials in relation to prisoners sent to the front, and not only to them. People were intimidated. And so were we."​
"You probably don't know, but lawyers dealing with such cases are under the scrutiny of various bodies, because we are in the way."​
Things continued in the same way in the spring of 2023: "We went to the courts for payments to the wounded, we wrote complaints about the lack of allowances, we tried to put things in order with the registration of servicemen, who, in fact, became phantoms in the ranks of the Armed Forces because of the mess and loss of documents, in particular."​
"Spring conscription began, and our help was needed there too."​
Ukraine's counter-offensive in the summer of 2023 made things drastically worse.​
"Summer came. And we are drowning under the flood of appeals. Their character has seriously changed. You probably know what we're talking about. Soldiers have been at the front for months. Many are missing in action. There are many prisoners and mobilised men among them. The situation at the front is very difficult, it's no secret."​
"And the mess since autumn hasn't gone away. It has become even worse. And we have three factors today that make it impossible to provide legal aid in the true sense of the word:​
1. The difficult situation at the front​
2. Closure of any information about the fighters.​
3. Inability and inability of the bodies supervising the observance of the rights of servicemen to fulfil their duties (yesterday we received 25 complaints sent to various instances, which were never answered. These were replies and forwardings to other instances)."​
"The lawyers lament that "in the current circumstances, it is simply impossible to help in the legal field in many cases. ... But tell me, dear subscribers, what else can we do if your husbands, sons and brothers are thrown into battle, threatening extrajudicial reprisals? These are the appeals that are the most numerous now."​
"Do not expect magic from us, we do not make decisions for you and your relatives and do not give advice outside the legal field. We will always listen to you, study the situation, assess it, make every effort to resolve it, but in the end only the servicemen themselves can make certain decisions and implement them. This is war."​
Source:​

People are starting to grumble. They're starting to notice that the soldiers are not actually getting paid, and that when there's a complaint about this, the outcome is not compensation but further threats and intimidation.


Relatives of mobilised Russians say the Ukrainians have inflicted huge casualties in their counter-offensive, with even lightly wounded Russians dying for lack of first aid. Food, water and ammunition is barely available and soldiers are not being rotated for months on end.​
The relatives, who are from the Russian Far East, say that their male relatives were mobilised in late September 2022 but "did not receive proper training." The men were sent to Ukraine with the 60th Independent Motorised Rifle Brigade only ten days after being called up.​
The relatives point out that Russian government promises that the men would be granted leave have not been met. Instead of being rotated, most have been on the front line for eight months without a break. By 1 June 2023, only a third of the brigade had been granted leave.​
"For a full eight months they worked on the first line of defence. During this time there was not a single rotation of mobilised men. All the time they were under fire from the Armed Forces of Ukraine."​
"The reasons for not sending people on leave were the anticipation of an offensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Despite the lack of replacements for the men, the difficult situation at the front did not prevent the brigade leaders themselves from resting and going on leave. During their time in defence, our men did not leave a single position. Stoically endured all the difficulties of the situation. Knocked down a quadcopter.​
"The fighters took prisoners of war in the woods under shelling while in contact [with Ukrainian forces]. The distinguished lads were presented with awards. The families of the mobilised men received letters of commendation for excellent service ... It was impossible for them to stay out of their dugouts during the day due to artillery shelling and at night the AFU snipers were active. Food delivery was difficult, in difficult conditions The guys were doing their job, holding their positions.​
"From 23 May, the massive offensive of the AFU began along most of the front line. The main blow came to the positions of the 60th brigade because of incorrect information about the number of AFU soldiers, as well as their heavy artillery. The guys who were on the first line of defence were surrounded and had to get out of an encirclement. Some guys had to swim across the river, as a result of which they drowned. There are guys who were taken captive under physical and moral violence.​
"The guys were forced to record video messages addressed to the Russian government and the Ministry of Defence during the battle, as well as during open engagements with the enemy and artillery fire. Support by [Russian] artillery fire left much to be desired. The brigade waited for reinforcements, or rather tanks, for three days, but they never came. Caught under a barrage of artillery fire from the AFU, our guys suffered huge losses of personnel.​
"Their comrades were killed before their eyes. They saw limbs, arms, legs, heads torn off, but there was no way to help the wounded. From shock, pain and loss of blood the wounded died on the battlefield. Even lightly wounded soldiers with shrapnel wounds died. After first aid the wounded were sent back to their positions.​
"All of the above circumstances led to critical losses of both personnel and destruction of heavy guns. The units that survived due to the strength of the battalions were forced to retreat, after which, without reinforcing the battalions, providing combat equipment, and replenishing the units with guns, the brigade command gave new orders to go to the line of contact with the enemy without artillery support.​
"Soldiers are sent to the sawmills 'on vacation', to wait for reinforcements, without supplying them with everything they need. As a result, under the pouring rain, documents are ruined, clothes and personal belongings fall into disrepair. There is no possibility of drying them, as a result of which the guys have colds and diseases. They have water and food in very limited quantities."​
The women complain of the "arbitrariness and lawlessness" of the brigade's commanders, whom they say are sending their men on an "offensive project from which they will not return."​
Some of the men have refused to return to the front line and have filmed themselves imprisoned in a basement. They say they were "thrown into tree lines like dogs". The men are being threatened with charges for desertion.​
According to the relatives: "Our surviving men are now demoralised and morally exhausted. In addition to limited communication with family and friends, the guys need medical and psychological assistance in urgent rehabilitation to restore their health and psyche.​
"But instead of all this, [battalion commander] Gavrilov and other commanders, having unlimited power over the mobilised men with their threats of blackmail, force them to go to the front line without proper uniforms and weapons and equipment.​
"Our men are being sent to unjustified sacrifices. Our men do not refuse to take part, but are ready to fulfil their duty in front of and follow the competent orders of their commanders. This is a sure step towards a loss of life that will do no good. We ask [army leaders and regional governors] to conduct a check on the competence of the command of the 60th Brigade. And stop irresponsibly risking the lives of citizens of the Russian Federation, the defenders of the Motherland."​
Source:​

Those are mobilized, not prisoners. You can see they're treated no better.

Highly exaggerated nonsense. If this was the case, then the entire frontline would have collapsed long ago, with soldiers surrendering left and right.

Reminder that a very, very large majority of Donbas citizens voted in favor of Ukrainian independence in 1991. Yes, including in Donetsk and Luhansk oblast, we're talking 83% in favor of independence here.

Anti-incumbency, it's normal. Like Brexit and independent Scotland.

The idea that because their language is Russian, and because they had (note the past tense) a relatively good opinion of Russia, then they wanted to become Russian and see their land annexed by Putinistan, is the narrative told by Putin. But it has no validity.

And it has even less validity now, as the people can realize what it means to be a subject of Russia, compared to the freedom and safety found in the West. Putin's war of aggression has helped break a lot of delusions, and changed a lot of minds about how Russia should be seen. This is why Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO after having been neutral for so long.

I find it funny you think what applies to a Frenchman in the UK is the same as what it's gonna be for a Russian-speaker in Ukraine. The EU is allied with Ukraine, but Ukraine isn't anywhere near close to the values of the EU. Turkey is a much better contender for the EU than Ukraine, that alones tells a lot.
 
The only frustrating part is they only have like at best 6-8/SU-24's aircraft that can launch the shadow and scalp which means you can't launch a massive cruise missile strike.

That fleet is big enough to hit a single heavily defended target. And the attack doesn't have to be with SCALP alone.
@randomradio Take note. Russia has quantity not quality. The greater accuracy and associated surveillance of Ukraine's military allows it to tie Russia with far less artillery pieces. When the numbers equal out, Russia will get pounded into the dirt.

It's not showing on the ground though. The West has effectively doubled Ukraine's artillery numbers, but both sides have equally precise capability. It's still Russia taking the most amount of ground.
 


And looks like this is what Andriy Yermak meant with his cryptic emoji:

Zelensky wants 50 Patriot batteries. So I guess every single one counts.

It won't be available during the war, but it's good news overall.
 
Lol, we have killed 50,000 terrorists in Kashmir.
Genocided you mean? I don't believe that, I'm just demonstrating what listening to your crap on Ukraine is like. 50,000 in a population of 1.3bn is roughly the same as the number of separatists killed in the Donbass War relative to the population of Ukraine.
There were 7-7.5 million people living in Donetsk and Luhansk. The Donbas region only has 2.7 million people. It was the deciding factor during elections.

Generally Eastern Ukrainians controlled Ukraine. But in 2010, Donbas came to power, giving them control over Ukraine. Hence the coup and war.
Similarly, West Pakistan controlled Pakistan from 1947 to 1970, then East Pakistan came to power, hence the genocide and the war.

This always happens when dissimilar people try and rule each other. In both cases, Donbas and East Paksitan rebelled.

In a more fair and just world that actually followed international law, the UAF wouldn't have invaded the Donbas in 2014, just like how West Pakistan wouldn't have been allowed to conduct their genocide in the East. But both were allowed because of their alliance with the West.
Don't give me that crap. 37.5m Ukrainians vs 8m Russians. Russians weren't deciding anything in an election. Yanukovych won in 2010 because he promised to do something and then refused to do it. When a negotiation fails you keep negotiating, not break your promise. And the fact he fled to Russia speaks volumes. Eastern Pakistanis were in a genuine majority, Russians were not, not even close.

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In fact, the Russian population % in Ukraine ~ the same as Muslim population in India. How much influence do they have in your politics?

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IRA's enemy = Britain
Donbas' enemy = Ukraine

The IRA fought for the unity of Ireland as a whole and free from British rule. Any new Donbas insurgency would fight for the unity of Donbas as a whole and free from Ukrainian rule.
Which is separatism not fighting for unity. The IRA were also rooted in Ireland although they got help externally. The Russians were embedded in Ukraine from an external source. Note how they went from 9.2% to 17.2% in 75 years. Russia then sent 12,000 troops and extra volunteers in on top of that.

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I'm referring to a situation where Russia has decided to sit back.
It will wish it had by the time this war is over. They could have negotiated for Sevastopol, and it would have taken Ukraine a lot longer to get into NATO and the EU. After this war is over, the Russian Navy will have no chance of being let into Sevastopol again and Ukraine will likely join NATO and the EU almost immediately. And long before the war is over, Russian ships won't be able to dock in Sevastopol without getting blown up anyway.
Lol. This has already been discussed with A Person. The Russians are at least 20 years ahead of Ukraine and will become an advanced economy long before Ukraine will even match current levels of life in Russia.
Russia was 20 years ahead of Poland 1991 too, but Russia progresses backwards... hence why European countries want to join the EU.

Russia
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Poland
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Even without higher quality of living, you can't do much without freedom. The Russian speakers in Ukraine are not free. The impact of the language law is yet to be felt. The Russians can live in Ukraine only in a democracy, not in the current structure.
They get a vote, that's democracy, language law has nothing to do with it.

Your comment is laughable given that there are ~140m people living in Russia, along with various minority groups like Chechens, Buryats etc. all not under a democracy, in a system where you can get something approximating a murder sentence just for dissent... or killed.

In any case, with Donbas and some other regions gone, Russian-speakers have lost all political power in Ukraine anyway. They will just be a very big minority group now.

Oh, yeah? Give it a few years.
They lost political power because they started a war and cordoned themselves off from the rest of the country. And what do they have now in the Donbass? No house anymore, no job anymore, no running water, no democracy, martial law, concentration camps for non-Russian passport holders and Russian troops going around taking whatever or whoever they want. Even the very dumbest among the separatists are regretting their stupid sh*t now.
It won't be available during the war, but it's good news overall.
Unless Russia loses before then it will be. Ukraine stated at the NATO summit that they will not accept a frozen conflict, and all NATO nations vowed to continue supporting them.
 
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Overview of the "Ratnik" program and the AK-12 in particular. It shows that Russia failed to achieve the modernization it wanted to achieve, mostly due to shoddy production quality, bad design decision, and general incompetence; and how they've been forced to further cut away on the "new features" the AK-12 was supposed to bring in order to make it more reliable and useful; in other words the only way they had of making a reliability upgrade was by also making it a technology downgrade.




The intensity of fighting was nowhere until 2015 compared to today. Donbas did not have the troops necessary to use as cannon fodder either. Recruitment began only after the war started in 2022.
I'm talking about 2022. When it first appeared that Putin's three-day-war would actually last longer than three days, the people from Donetsk and Luhansk were mobilized and have been used as supplemental cannon fodder ever since.

You'd think the practice would have stopped with the formal annexation ceremony, but no, because at that point it had instead been generalized to Russian mobiks as well anyway.
Highly exaggerated nonsense. If this was the case, then the entire frontline would have collapsed long ago, with soldiers surrendering left and right.
You're one to talk about "high exaggerated nonsense", since you keep on believing the Kremlin's faerie tales about how Russia only decided to start its campaign of mass murder, industrial-scale torture, child raping, and generalized pillaging out of humanitarian concern about supposedly oppressed Russophones.

The Russian line holds so far due to fear, because the soldiers are more afraid of their own side than of the enemies. It's a system that works until it doesn't.
I find it funny you think what applies to a Frenchman in the UK is the same as what it's gonna be for a Russian-speaker in Ukraine. The EU is allied with Ukraine, but Ukraine isn't anywhere near close to the values of the EU. Turkey is a much better contender for the EU than Ukraine, that alones tells a lot.
Yeah, your view is completely warped.

The Ukrainian population actually wants to join the EU. The Turkish population, not so much (outside of Istanbul). Because joining the EU means adopting EU norms and values, and that's what draws in the Ukrainians (who want freedom, rule of law, and an end to corruption) but repels the Turks (who want Islamism and to oppress the Kurds).

Joining the EU requires complying with the acquis. There's not going to be any sort of bypass on that front. In fact, before the whole war was started, the EU told Ukraine about a number of reforms they had to do, and that included their language laws. And don't even try to pretend the Ukrainian government would not actually follow suit, because abandoning plans to join the EU is precisely what triggered the fall of the Yanukovych government. Contrarily to Russians, the Ukrainians are not afraid to fight for what they want.

So the whole thing about a supposedly oppressed population was just an exercise into making a molehill appear to be Himalaya.
 
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I find it funny you think what applies to a Frenchman in the UK is the same as what it's gonna be for a Russian-speaker in Ukraine. The EU is allied with Ukraine, but Ukraine isn't anywhere near close to the values of the EU. Turkey is a much better contender for the EU than Ukraine, that alones tells a lot.
Do French people in the UK fire on the police and military? Are they accompanied by little green men with assault rifles from Russia when they visit? You get the rights you deserve.
 
A moped exploded in the courtyard of a residential building on Zemskaya Street in Feodosia.

The explosion was so strong that it shattered the glass in the entire building.