Quizzes & Puzzles5 mins ago
War News From Ukraine
We have not had one of these for a while, and I apologise for the lack of any links.
On Monday Aug 29 Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in the south of the country, all along the line from Zaporizhzhya to Kherson and Mikolaiv. After initlal breahthroughs, there has been a news blackout on Ukraine's troop movements and consequently any news of progress on the ground. However enough has leaked out to indicate that they are making slow but steady advances.
The real objective appears to blast and starve Russian forces, now effectively cut off in the Kherson region north of the Dnipro, all bridge crossings having been rendered unusable, including the largest pontoon bridge and very probably a recently operational ferry crossing, There are now no road or rail bridges across the Dnipro from Kherson all the way to Zaporizhzhya. There have been a series of air attacks on Russian tropop concentrations, ammunition and airfields. About 800 Russian troops are estimated to have been killed in this region alone in the last two days.
In Donetsk to the east, Ukrainian forces appear also to be making small gains, including crossing the Siverskiy Donets River (that gives Donbas its name)to territory previously all controlled by invading forces. This is probably significant, as there would be little point making this advance were it not also part of a larget counterattack.
Putin set his military the target of taking all of Donetsk by Sept 15 - Thursday week. Given they still have roughly have of the region to take in that time and given their progress to date, that would seem to be a fantasy.
It's hard to know that the top military in Russia must be thinking by now: it's plain their offensive has stalled and indeed may be going backwards in most places, and yet there is still no sign that they think they cannot carry on to achieve their "objectives".
There's a growing feeling that their war effort will have collapsed by next spring.
Fingers crossed.
On Monday Aug 29 Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in the south of the country, all along the line from Zaporizhzhya to Kherson and Mikolaiv. After initlal breahthroughs, there has been a news blackout on Ukraine's troop movements and consequently any news of progress on the ground. However enough has leaked out to indicate that they are making slow but steady advances.
The real objective appears to blast and starve Russian forces, now effectively cut off in the Kherson region north of the Dnipro, all bridge crossings having been rendered unusable, including the largest pontoon bridge and very probably a recently operational ferry crossing, There are now no road or rail bridges across the Dnipro from Kherson all the way to Zaporizhzhya. There have been a series of air attacks on Russian tropop concentrations, ammunition and airfields. About 800 Russian troops are estimated to have been killed in this region alone in the last two days.
In Donetsk to the east, Ukrainian forces appear also to be making small gains, including crossing the Siverskiy Donets River (that gives Donbas its name)to territory previously all controlled by invading forces. This is probably significant, as there would be little point making this advance were it not also part of a larget counterattack.
Putin set his military the target of taking all of Donetsk by Sept 15 - Thursday week. Given they still have roughly have of the region to take in that time and given their progress to date, that would seem to be a fantasy.
It's hard to know that the top military in Russia must be thinking by now: it's plain their offensive has stalled and indeed may be going backwards in most places, and yet there is still no sign that they think they cannot carry on to achieve their "objectives".
There's a growing feeling that their war effort will have collapsed by next spring.
Fingers crossed.
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.well I'm sort of hoping that too, Gromit. But I suspect she'll be too busy arranging tax breaks for the rich to pay much attention abroad.
///Truss, who is expected to be named as the new prime minister on Monday, said it was fair that her planned tax cut would benefit the highest earners 250 times more than the poorest///
https:/ /www.th eguardi an.com/ politic s/2022/ sep/04/ liz-tru ss-ener gy-pric es-acti on-plan
///Truss, who is expected to be named as the new prime minister on Monday, said it was fair that her planned tax cut would benefit the highest earners 250 times more than the poorest///
https:/
A cynic might say Liz Truss wanted to avoid promising help in order to endear herself to the Tory membership, and differentiate herself from "soft" Sunak.
I couldn't possibly comment.
The fact is she will have to change tack.
Interesting to hear the BBC's Moscow correspondent quoting Komsomolskaya Pravda, forecasting sky high gas prices, industry shut downs and "huge civil unrest". But perhaps even more interestingly suggesting that "pro-Kremlin media" needs to be awake to the fact that the G7 price cap can cause serious damage to Russia's economy. And blaming the "ultra-nationalist" commentators on Russian TV for "disinforming" local politicians and calls for a "speedy search to this important problem"
I couldn't possibly comment.
The fact is she will have to change tack.
Interesting to hear the BBC's Moscow correspondent quoting Komsomolskaya Pravda, forecasting sky high gas prices, industry shut downs and "huge civil unrest". But perhaps even more interestingly suggesting that "pro-Kremlin media" needs to be awake to the fact that the G7 price cap can cause serious damage to Russia's economy. And blaming the "ultra-nationalist" commentators on Russian TV for "disinforming" local politicians and calls for a "speedy search to this important problem"
Girkin has been slagging off the war almost since day one.
He belongs to the “we aren’t hard enough on them” ultra-nationalist faction.
In another development, copied from The Daily Beast:
Several municipal lawmakers in St. Petersburg are calling on Russia’s State Duma to charge Vladimir Putin with treason, according to a local lawmaker. Dmitry Palyuga, a deputy with the Smolninskoye municipal council, announced the news on Twitter late Wednesday, sharing a copy of the letter he said had been prepared for Russian lawmakers. “The decision [to send the request to the State Duma] was supported by the majority of deputies present,” he wrote, without specifying exactly how many lawmakers had voted in favor of the move. The letter notes that the lawmakers in Putin’s hometown want him removed from power for his “special military operation” against Ukraine, which they said constitutes high treason. In addition to scores of Russian troops getting killed in the war, the letter notes, “Russia’s economy is suffering” as a result of foreign companies leaving and a huge segment of the population fleeing. NATO is also “expanding” as a result of Putin’s war, despite his declared goal being to stop the alliance from growing, the letter says, adding that the Russian leader’s “demilitarization of Ukraine” has also backfired spectacularly as the West provides more weapons. “We believe that President Putin’s decision to begin the [special military operation] is harming Russia’s security and its citizens,” the letter reads. Notably, the lawmakers made no mention of Putin’s senseless motivations for the war, though they had previously sent him an open letter condemning his “historical fantasies” and demanding he stop the “bloodshed” in neighboring Ukraine.
He belongs to the “we aren’t hard enough on them” ultra-nationalist faction.
In another development, copied from The Daily Beast:
Several municipal lawmakers in St. Petersburg are calling on Russia’s State Duma to charge Vladimir Putin with treason, according to a local lawmaker. Dmitry Palyuga, a deputy with the Smolninskoye municipal council, announced the news on Twitter late Wednesday, sharing a copy of the letter he said had been prepared for Russian lawmakers. “The decision [to send the request to the State Duma] was supported by the majority of deputies present,” he wrote, without specifying exactly how many lawmakers had voted in favor of the move. The letter notes that the lawmakers in Putin’s hometown want him removed from power for his “special military operation” against Ukraine, which they said constitutes high treason. In addition to scores of Russian troops getting killed in the war, the letter notes, “Russia’s economy is suffering” as a result of foreign companies leaving and a huge segment of the population fleeing. NATO is also “expanding” as a result of Putin’s war, despite his declared goal being to stop the alliance from growing, the letter says, adding that the Russian leader’s “demilitarization of Ukraine” has also backfired spectacularly as the West provides more weapons. “We believe that President Putin’s decision to begin the [special military operation] is harming Russia’s security and its citizens,” the letter reads. Notably, the lawmakers made no mention of Putin’s senseless motivations for the war, though they had previously sent him an open letter condemning his “historical fantasies” and demanding he stop the “bloodshed” in neighboring Ukraine.