Running Newsticker for the War in Ukraine

Government Corruption is inevitable. Alas.
Ukraine is clearly cracking down on its crooked officials.
The rest of the West should follow that example.

 

...yeah can you imagine what the Russians will do those Russian towns and cities.....after they've nicked all the washing machines and fridges.....

 

yup...there's been corruption in Ukraine for years but now they are trying to do something about it.....they'll get there.....just look at the Baltic States....

 

Russian officers apparently find ways to steal much of the pay distributed to the troops under their command. No wonder poor Russian troopers would rather loot than fight.

I doubt they will hesitate to take everything they can carry from 10s of thousand's of homes abandoned by Russian refugees. There is video of them carrying washing machines and refrigerators out of Ukraine on their backs. Ibuprofen is probably a higher priority for Russian grunts than bullets.

 

To ye pravda…..

 

When the Moskhailiy invaded and then kicked out of Ukrainian towns not only did they steal washing machines but took toilet sheet, toilets, and other crazy things. A family friend of my parents who was Ukrainian and from the Kuban used to make fun of what crazy schiest Moskhailiyy did by saying sarcastically “bolshoi Moskhailka kultura”. He knew the Moskhailiy well since he was drafted into the Red Army and saw battle on the Finish front. He had an amazing history. He was taken prisoner by the Finns escaped and the ended up in Poland illegally. Was given a chance to live in Poland if he served in the Polish army. He was captured by the Germans when they invaded Poland. The Germans threw him into a forced labor camp instead of a POW camp where my dad met him after my dad was “arrested” by the Germans. He ended up in the same refugee camp that my parents were in and where I was born. He was the chief story teller at Thanksgiving, Easter brunch and Christmas which he and his family celebrated with us even though they were Orthodox and we Eastern Rite Catholic.

 

So sad and so true……..or should I say “duzhe’ pravda”.

 

...what does that mean? I tried to look it up...

 

https://www.newsweek.com/russia-ukraine-ryan-three-options-kursk-
Ukraine's Kursk Operation Faces Three Options: Ex-General


This is a very good article written by a retired Australian general Mick Ryan expressing some options for Ukraine based on their incursion ,into the Kursk area. I brought up at least one of the concerns in a post a few days I am providing a very scaled down resin of Ryan,s article and I strongly urge people here read it.

OPTION ONE

Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region could hand Kyiv leverage in negotiations with Russia, but defending gains could also be a high-risk strategy. Ryan warned that this would be the "highest risk option" for because the “multiple salients of the operation could be "easily cut off and destroyed by even a semi-competent Russian commander.”

Second Option

Second option “would be to partially withdraw from seized territory to more defensible ground. “ Ryan said. This would provide good chance to move Ukrainian troops elsewhere such as the Donbas or other areas threatened by Russia.
Third Option

“A third option for Zelensky could be to fully withdraw back to the border, maximizing the political and strategic benefits of the incursion while preserving experienced combat troops who would be needed in future.”


“This would send the message to the Russians "we can invade and hurt your country if we choose, but we have no wish to occupy our neighbors,"

 

Moskhailiy means Russians a term Ukrainian Kozaks ( Cossacks ) started to call Russians in the 18th century or maybe earlier. I am not sure of the spelling so I made up my own spelling.

 

https://kyivindependent.com/us-senator-says-ukraines-kursk-oblast-operation-is-bold-brilliant/
During a visit to Kyiv on Aug. 12 US senator says Ukraine's Kursk Oblast operation is 'bold, brilliant' U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R) and Richard Blumenthal (D) expressed support for the incursion by Ukraine into Russia's Kursk Oblast.

With Kyiv's operation proceeds into its seventh day, Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said that Ukrainian forces control abound 1,000 square kilometers in Kursk Oblast.

"What do I think about Kursk? Bold, brilliant, beautiful. Keep it up," Graham told the reporters in Kyiv.

Sen Graham has gone a log way to restoring faith in him.

 

The Pootster is having trouble keeping his story straight.

Putin claimed that Ukraine is "indiscriminately strik[ing] civilians, [striking] civilian infrastructure, and threaten[ing] nuclear power facilities" and implied that Russia cannot conduct good-faith negotiations with an actor who commits such actions.[9] Putin unironically but hypocritically accused Ukraine of striking civilians and endangering the nuclear power plants — actions that ISW has thoroughly documented Russia committing in Ukraine with strikes against civilian targets since the start of the full-scale invasion and the endangerment of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) since the Russian military occupied it in March 2022.[10] Putin also claimed, however, that Ukraine may be conducting operations into Kursk Oblast in order to "improve its negotiating position in the future."[11] Putin's assessment inherently implies that Ukraine is interested in negotiations — undermining the Kremlin's ongoing attempts to portray Ukraine as unwilling to negotiate. Putin also claimed that Ukraine may be conducting operations into Kursk Oblast to prevent Russian advances in eastern Ukraine and to destabilize the Russian domestic political situation. Putin notably did not present one assessment of Ukrainian operations in Kursk Oblast as more likely than another and did not present them as mutually exclusive. ISW will not offer assessments about the intent of Ukrainian operations in Kursk Oblast or Putin's claims of Ukrainian intent.

Ukraine Conflict Updates
Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 12, 2024

Click here to read the full report.
Key Takeaways:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to portray himself as an effective and knowledgeable manager of the situation along the Ukrainian-Russian border and to shift responsibility for ongoing challenges in responding to the Ukrainian incursion in the area to other Russian military and government officials.
• The Kremlin's decision to publish footage showing Putin chastising senior Russian officials is likely a warning to other Russian officials to refrain from commenting about the Ukrainian incursion into Russia.
• Putin delegated overlapping tasks to the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD), Federal Security Service (FSB), and Rosgvardia in the Ukrainian-Russian border area — further highlighting how the Russian force grouping in Kursk Oblast is struggling to establish the joint command and control (C2) structures necessary to coordinate operations.
• Putin offered several assessments about Ukrainian operations in Kursk Oblast, including one that undermined a long-standing Kremlin information operation falsely portraying Ukraine as unwilling to engage in legitimate, good-faith negotiations and putting the onus for peace negotiations on Ukraine.
• Ukrainian forces appear to be advancing further within Kursk Oblast despite recent milblogger claims that Russian forces were stabilizing the frontline in Kursk Oblast.
• Regional Russian officials appear to be offering notably frank assessments of the ongoing Ukrainian incursion.
• Senior Ukrainian officials provided updates about the ongoing Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Oblast and warned that Russian forces may stage war crimes in Kursk Oblast in order to discredit Ukraine and Western support for Ukraine.
• Ukrainian forces reportedly conducted a drone strike against a Russian airbase in Moscow Oblast on the night of August 11 to 12.
• Russian forces recently advanced near Vovchansk, Chasiv Yar, Toretsk, and Pokrovsk.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) emphasized Russia's international defense ties at the Army-2024 International Military-Technical Forum in Moscow, likely in an effort to expand international military-technical cooperation and posture strong defense relations with Russia-friendly states. . . . .

 

More options are opening up for Ukraine every day. Winning attracts support.

REUTERS, Europe

Ukraine receives 4.2 billion euros from EU, prime minister says
By Reuters
August 13, 20247:00 AM EDTUpdated 6 hours ago

Ukraine receives 4.2 billion euros from EU, prime minister says

TodayUkraine has received a new 4.2 billion euro tranche from the European Union's lending facility, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Tuesday.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-receives-42-billion-euros-eu-prime-minister-says-2024-08-13/

 

Very nice indeed.

 

$4+Billion more before the end of the year.

 

The Russians continue to undermine their own propaganda.

Ukraine Conflict Updates
Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 13, 2024

Click here to read the full report.
Key Takeaways:

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other senior Ukrainian officials provided updates about the ongoing Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Oblast and outlined several Ukrainian objectives of the operations in the area.
• Russian milbloggers claimed that Ukrainian forces continue to advance in Kursk Oblast amid Russian attempts to stabilize the frontline in the area.
• The Russian military command may be pulling select elements of Russian irregular units from Donetsk Oblast to address the Ukrainian incursion in Kursk Oblast.
• Russian authorities appear to be largely relying on Russian conscripts, and elements of some regular and irregular military units pulled from less critical sectors of the frontline to address the ongoing Ukrainian incursion, however.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly appointed Russian Presidential Aid Aide Alexei Dyumin to supervise Russia’s “counterterrorism operation” in Kursk Oblast on August 12
• Russian officials continue to undermine a long-standing Kremlin information operation that falsely portrays Ukraine as unwilling to engage in legitimate, good-faith negotiations and places the onus for peace negotiations on Ukraine.
• Russian authorities fined Telegram and WhatsApp four million rubles ($44,000) each for failing to remove "prohibited" content on August 13.
• Russian forces recently advanced near Chasiv Yar and southwest of Donetsk City, and Ukrainian forces recently advanced in the Siversk direction and in western Zaporizhia Oblast.
• The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) continues to use the Army-2024 International Military-Technical Forum in Moscow to expand its international defense ties. . . .

 

Is Putin now a dictator without a clue?

Does Putin still have intelligence officials that will tell him what will happen next as he withdraws troops from Ukraine to defend Russia?

Putin scrambles as Ukraine claims more territory inside ...
Axios
https://www.axios.com › World

8 hours ago [8/14/24] — A surprise Ukrainian offensive is reportedly forcing Russia to pull some troops out of Ukraine to defend a new front line on its own territory.
https://www.axios.com/2024/08/14/ukraine-russia-offensive-troops-new-line

 

Putin seems to be working overtime to transform Zelensky into The Liberator of Ukraine and Russia.

THE INDEPENDENT

NewsWorldEurope

Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv ‘strikes Putin’s airfields’ 500 miles over border amid Kursk incursion
Ukraine attacks Russia with 117 drones and four missiles overnight, Russian officials claim

Alexander Butler

36 minutes ago [8/14/24]

Russia Ukraine war live: Kyiv 'strikes Putin's airfields' 500 ...


https://www.independent.co.uk › World › Europe


35 minutes ago [8/14/24]— In an address on Sunday, the Russian leader accused Ukraine of breaking “all permissible boundaries” after they grabbed up to 95 square miles of land and forced ...

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...k-putin-incursion-drones-latest-b2596024.html

 

Russians are feeling the heat.

Ukraine Conflict Updates
Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 14, 2024

Click here to read the full report.
Key Takeaways:

• Russian milbloggers claimed that Ukrainian forces marginally advanced in Kursk Oblast amid a generally slower tempo of Ukrainian operations as Russian forces continue attempts to stabilize the frontline in the area.
• Ukrainian officials continue to discuss ongoing Ukrainian operations in Kursk Oblast and offer their interpretations of the political impact that Ukraine may aim to generate.
• Ongoing Ukrainian operations in Kursk Oblast are generating tangible defensive, logistical, and security impacts within Russia.
• The Russian government continues recruitment efforts to support operations in Kursk Oblast.
• Chechen Akhmat Spetsnaz Commander Apty Alaudinov seems to be posturing himself as the spokesperson for the Russian defense in Kursk Oblast, but his claims have consistently been false and largely contradict claims made by relatively reliable Russian milbloggers.
• Ukrainian forces conducted a large series of drone strikes against Russian air bases in Russia on the night of August 13 to 14, damaging several airfields.
• Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party furthered a narrative echoing a Kremlin information operation meant to justify Russia’s violence against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of states formerly colonized by the Soviet Union and Russian Empire.
• Russian forces advanced north of Kharkiv City and southeast of Pokrovsk. . . .

 

Rare good news item for the Russian working class: Lot's of new jobs for ditch diggers near Russia's borders.

"A recruiter for one of the trench-digging advertisements posted on the Russian social media website VKontakte told The Moscow Times over the phone that “a lot of people are needed urgently.”

According to the recruiter, the construction company offers daily pay ranging from 5,000 to 7,000 rubles ($56-79), with the possibility of negotiating weekends off. The name of the company was withheld for safety reasons.

“There’s a risk, of course, and everyone will be covered by insurance,” the recruiter said..." (emphasis mine)



The Moscow Times

Scores of Job Ads for Trench Diggers Appear Online as Ukraine Advances in Kursk Region

Scores of job advertisements for trench diggers and construction workers in the Kursk region have appeared online in recent days as Russian forces struggle...

.

21 minutes ago [8/15/24]
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024...ne-as-ukraine-advances-in-kursk-region-a86034

 

And so goes the Curse of Kursk…. They need some songs to accompany their digging. You know like the Volga Boatmen song etc

 

That is a nice and well deserved ending to a gang Fascistas. So make room for Putin, Medvedev, Lukashenko….. et all . A nice mix of Ruskies and Belarus fascists.

 

Ukrainians are taking care of Russian civilians, while the Muscovite regime is pulling 14-year-olds into the war effort.

Ukraine Conflict Updates
Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 15, 2024

Click here to read the full report
Key Takeaways:

• Ukrainian officials are taking steps to consolidate and coordinate the management of ongoing Ukrainian operations in Kursk Oblast while continuing to highlight Ukrainian advances.
• Russian milbloggers claimed that Ukrainian forces continued advancing in some areas in Kursk Oblast amid a generally slower tempo of Ukrainian operations in the area.
• Russian forces are maintaining their relatively high offensive tempo in Donetsk Oblast, demonstrating that the Russian military command continues to prioritize advances in eastern Ukraine even as Ukraine is pressuring Russian forces within Kursk Oblast.
• The Kremlin and the Russian military command are creating a complicated, overlapping, and so far, ineffective command and control (C2) structure for the Russian response to the Ukrainian incursion in Kursk Oblast.
• The delayed establishment of a complicated Russian C2 structure in Kursk Oblast continues to highlight the fact that the Kremlin failed to plan for the possibility of a significant Ukrainian incursion into Russia.
• The Kremlin appears to have a more coordinated approach to securing its control over the Russian information space than to addressing its military and C2 problems in Kursk Oblast.
• The Kremlin is likely trying to hastily create a new information space that predominantly features coopted Russian milbloggers and established Russian state propagandists.
• Ukrainian forces are reportedly using Western-provided equipment in Kursk Oblast but remain limited in their ability to strike Russian military targets within Russia with Western-provided weapons.
• Ukraine is organizing the creation of a humanitarian corridor through which to evacuate Russian civilians who are impacted by the ongoing Kursk operation, filling an apparent vacuum left by the Kursk Oblast administration and fulfilling international legal requirements for the evacuation of civilian populations.
• The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces successfully conducted drone strikes against Russian air bases in Russia on the night of August 13 to 14.
• Russian forces recently made confirmed advances in the Pokrovsk and Toretsk directions.
• The Russian government submitted a bill on August 15 to lower the admission age for the Russian Volunteer Society for Assistance to the Army, Aviation, and Navy of Russia (DOSAAF) from 18 years of age to 14. . . . .

 

Putin and the Russian political class are a curse on Kursk and the Russian people.

Euromaidan Press

The Independent: Ukraine captures around 2,000 Russian POWs in Kursk, Ukrainian colonel says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed that a key objective of the recent Kursk offensive is to increase Ukraine's "exchange fund" of Russian...
.

40 minutes ago

https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/08...russian-pows-in-kursk-ukrainian-colonel-says/

 

"If there are more blunders like this one, Russia might lose the war," Shakhnazarov warned.

The director went on to criticise the rose-tinted view often presented on Russian media. He said: "We must stop saying that everything in our country is fine. There's a lot that isn't fine."

In a particularly candid moment, he addressed the mischaracterisation of Ukrainian forces, stating: "On TV, we're always showing Ukrainians who don't want to fight.

“But now we can see: they're fighting well. And they're highly motivated. Why are we kidding ourselves?"
(emphasis mine)


London Evening Standard

Russian state TV makes rare admission over Ukraine warFilm director Karen Shakhnazarov made several candid statements while discussing Ukraine's advance into Kursk. Russian President Putin and his Belarusian...
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13 minutes ago

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/wor...kraine-kursk-war-zelensky-putin-b1176912.html