Russia's invasion of Ukraine: Part 5

Russia is burning again

A video circulating on social media shows a massive fire tearing through a warehouse located just outside of Moscow. The facility belongs to the e-commerce giant Amazon.
It’s basically the Russian version of Amazon.

In a recent post on Twitter, commentator Igor Sushko reported that the flames have scorched nearly nine hectares of land.
https://theins.ru/news/253787

feralhawk45 said:Who even is this Schröder guy?
Instead of giving him a platform, we should be tossing his statements straight into the trash and charging him with treason and war profiteering.

Basically just an unofficial mouthpiece for Putin.

Italian sources are reporting that Lavrov spoke with the US Secretary of State today, suggesting there might be some movement toward resuming negotiations.
Peskov stated that a diplomatic solution remains on the table for the Russian Federation, noting they are open to the March 29th framework—which involves Ukrainian neutrality, third-party guarantees, and settling the status of Crimea and Donbas.

It bugs me that the Russians are negotiating through intermediaries like this. It’s just blatant disrespect. I mean, we already know they treat Ukraine like a Schrödinger's state—existing and not existing at the same time—but this is just low.

Anyway, let them show some actual good faith with a peace offering. ☕🕺

Sandra Harris2 said:Italian sources are reporting that Lavrov spoke with the US Secretary of State today, suggesting there might be some movement toward resuming negotiations.
Peskov stated that a diplomatic solution remains on the table for the Russian Federation, noting they are open to the March 29th framework—which involves Ukrainian neutrality, third-party guarantees, and settling the status of Crimea and Donbas.

It bugs me that the Russians are negotiating through intermediaries like this. It’s just blatant disrespect. I mean, we already know they treat Ukraine like a Schrödinger's state—existing and not existing at the same time—but this is just low.

Anyway, let them show some actual good faith with a peace offering. ☕🕺

By withdrawing.

The first signs of "good faith" from the Russians came with Schroeder after his trip to Moscow, and now we have this.

Sandra Harris2 said:Italian sources are reporting that Lavrov spoke with the US Secretary of State today, suggesting there might be some movement toward resuming negotiations.
Peskov stated that a diplomatic solution remains on the table for the Russian Federation, noting they are open to the March 29th framework—which involves Ukrainian neutrality, third-party guarantees, and settling the status of Crimea and Donbas.

It bugs me that the Russians are negotiating through intermediaries like this. It’s just blatant disrespect. I mean, we already know they treat Ukraine like a Schrödinger's state—existing and not existing at the same time—but this is just low.

Anyway, let them show some actual good faith with a peace offering. ☕🕺

It is Moguce that any kind of unilateral Russian ceasefire regarding Ukraine could actually end up being more detrimental to Russia than to anyone else.

We could see another offensive in a few years. Russia simply needs to be defeated, isolated, and sanctioned for at least the next two decades.

The fact that they’re suddenly pushing for negotiations tells me everything—things aren't going nearly as well on the ground as they'd like to admit. 😍

Based on the terms they laid out back when they were in Turkey...
No matter what kind of nonsense people try to feed you—it’s all just noise. They have barely any capacity left, and they can keep pushing this agenda as far as they want. Honestly, those EU sanctions haven't even made a dent; it’s like they’ve completely lost sight of that dream of theirs.
In the end, they’re going to get exactly what they set out to achieve in Ukraine, one way or another...

Robin Fisher53 said:Based on the terms they laid out back when they were in Turkey...
No matter what kind of nonsense people try to feed you—it’s all just noise. They have barely any capacity left, and they can keep pushing this agenda as far as they want. Honestly, those EU sanctions haven't even made a dent; it’s like they’ve completely lost sight of that dream of theirs.
In the end, they’re going to get exactly what they set out to achieve in Ukraine, one way or another...

They aren't getting everything until Ukrainians agree to it.
What does it actually mean for them to seize a city after leveling it first?
Ukraine can use a few missiles to sabotage any attempt to steal oil, gas, or any other resources from that area, and I expect they will if the front lines freeze. As for the idea that sanctions don't affect them—that's a fairy tale for anyone who thinks Russia is a superpower. No country exists today that is entirely self-sufficient, especially not one that relies almost exclusively on exporting raw materials. I honestly don't know if people realize we live in the 21st century; unilateral border changes won't be permitted because that would essentially give a green light for more aggression down the road.
We'll see how Russia manages being backed by the most developed nations in the world.

crimsoncyclist71 said:They aren't getting everything until Ukrainians agree to it.
What does it actually mean for them to seize a city after leveling it first?
Ukraine can use a few missiles to sabotage any attempt to steal oil, gas, or any other resources from that area, and I expect they will if the front lines freeze. As for the idea that sanctions don't affect them—that's a fairy tale for anyone who thinks Russia is a superpower. No country exists today that is entirely self-sufficient, especially not one that relies almost exclusively on exporting raw materials. I honestly don't know if people realize we live in the 21st century; unilateral border changes won't be permitted because that would essentially give a green light for more aggression down the road.
We'll see how Russia manages being backed by the most developed nations in the world.

If the war doesn't actually stop once territory is returned, then Ukraine will be forced to hit back even harder inside Russian borders, and I doubt the Russian public is going to take that sitting down—they'll probably start organizing protests more seriously.

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One move could be hitting those gas pipelines in Russia that they rely on so heavily.

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Robin Fisher53 said:Based on the terms they laid out back when they were in Turkey...
No matter what kind of nonsense people try to feed you—it’s all just noise. They have barely any capacity left, and they can keep pushing this agenda as far as they want. Honestly, those EU sanctions haven't even made a dent; it’s like they’ve completely lost sight of that dream of theirs.
In the end, they’re going to get exactly what they set out to achieve in Ukraine, one way or another...

In what sense? Soldiers, artillery? In my estimation, there are roughly 200,000 troops on both sides. Given current conditions, you don't really need more than that since artillery is king—plus drones, satellites, everything is being tracked constanty.
I guess "minimum capacity" means something like 4,500 strikes at a single point on a frontline. On the Ukrainian side, let's say it's around 500. Even with those numbers, the lines haven't moved. If you consider the Russian army's "minimum capacity" includes their endless supply of "cannon fodder," then it's a different story. They’ll send 10 soldiers without any cover—sometimes the Ukrainian side actually feels bad and lets them slip behind the lines just to trap them. But even when those 10 are taken out, the Russians just send another 10, and another, and another—it never ends. Their only real strategy is using artillery to just level everything in their path; they don't care what they hit.

They worry about their own soldiers so much that there aren't any Chechen prisoners—without them, there wouldn't even be prisoner exchanges. Honestly, I'm almost 100% sure there are no Chechen prisoners; if there were, they'd probably move all the Ukrainian prisoners to one spot and a "random" fire would just happen to break out.

Amnesty International

Ukrainian forces are reportedly using schools and hospitals as military bases

https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-rel...tial-areas-new

The Russian propaganda machine will have a field day with this, obviously.

Robin Fisher53 said:Based on the terms they laid out back when they were in Turkey...
No matter what kind of nonsense people try to feed you—it’s all just noise. They have barely any capacity left, and they can keep pushing this agenda as far as they want. Honestly, those EU sanctions haven't even made a dent; it’s like they’ve completely lost sight of that dream of theirs.
In the end, they’re going to get exactly what they set out to achieve in Ukraine, one way or another...

By using "minimum capacity," they leveled Mariupol. It makes me wonder what would have been left if they had actually used "medium" or "full" capacity? Probably nothing but rubble—with people buried underneath it. With that "minimum" effort, they still managed to wipe out beautiful Mariupol. If that was their goal, the evidence is right there. They hit the city from the air—sometimes hitting it with 200 airstrikes in a single go—plus attacks from the ground and the sea (honestly, that sound coming from the sea before an attack is terrifying; you just feel like everything around you is about to collapse). My brother mentioned his impression was that there were roughly 15,000 Russian soldiers and about 7,000 Ukrainian troops facing off. Now, we're talking about nearly 500,000 residents. In those conditions, the Russians just leveled everything in their path. It’s clear they were targeting buildings and civilian sites—if there are 7, 9, or 12 buildings, they just move down the line, building by building. Then, two hours later, they strike those same buildings again, usually starting fires. Their goal wasn't just destruction; it was death. They killed people inside the buildings, and when they hit them a second time to start fires, anyone left inside would be trapped.

They showed up full of hate, claiming they were there to "liberate" the people of Donbas and Mariupol from some "anti-international Kyiv Nazi regime"—as if one neighbor just deciding to hit another is somehow justified. It was heartbreaking—people were literally on their knees, begging Russian soldiers for help, only to have them laugh right in their faces.
With what they called "minimal capacity," they blocked all access to Mariupol for essential aid—food, water, medicine... things you can't live without. People were actually forced to drink water from radiators. Then, they started arresting anyone trying to help, including humanitarian workers bringing in supplies. They wiped out the local Water utility company and targeted people just standing in line for water. They’d toss bombs into basements and tell people to come out or be killed. They even staged "humanitarian aid distributions" for the cameras—you can see it in those videos from Russian propaganda journalists who claim to be showing the "real truth."

The true death toll will probably never be known—some perished in fires, others were tossed into that mobile crematorium that was patrolling the streets of Mariupol. They won't even allow people the dignity of a proper burial. There were so many suicides, too. My brother told me that on March 21st alone, in just one hour, 23 people took their own lives because the attacks were simply too much to bear. The absolute worst part? When a child grabs your hand and says, "I don't want to die."
I won't even get into how they label everyone as militants—claiming 14 people died at the Theater. It's total dehumanization.

Zachary Jackson4 said:Amnesty International

Ukrainian forces are reportedly using schools and hospitals as military bases

https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-rel...tial-areas-new

The Russian propaganda machine will have a field day with this, obviously.

Look, in any war, both sides end up doing this—it’s just reality. Wars aren't fought in empty deserts, though that would certainly make things simpler. If Russia would just pull back and finally admit that Ukrainians are a real people with their own independent nation—regardless of the massive struggles they face—then nobody else has to die. No more civilian casualties on the Ukrainian side, no more soldiers lost on either side. At the end of the day, it feels like Putin is just obsessed with fixing some old Bolshevik mistake, and that hunger for power has clearly clouded his judgment.

It was clearly fake anyway. I couldn't even open it.

Edit: I can access it again now. I have no idea what happened.

Russia needs to realize that Spain's economy holds almost zero geostrategic weight for them.

I think they played this exact same game 45 years ago when the stakes were much lower, and they lost back then.

They're going to lose this one, too.

And here we were, thinking the Orcs were just picking out civilian targets on purpose. 🤣

Ukraine Violates War Laws, Endangers Civilians: Amnesty International

While digging into Russian strikes across the Kharkiv, Donbas, and Mykolaiv regions from April to July, Amnesty International investigators found that the Ukrainian military was operating out of civilian buildings in at least 19 different towns and villages. Satellite imagery apparently backs this up, according to their report.

The organization claims that Ukraine committed a "clear violation of international humanitarian law" by placing at least five military sites inside civilian hospitals. Of course, the World Health Organization has noted that Russian airstrikes on medical facilities have caused a massive number of civilian casualties and deaths throughout the war.

Amnesty International also found that Ukraine set up military bases in 22 out of the 29 schools they visited during their investigation in the Donbas and Mykolaiv regions. According to the release, Russia then started hitting many of those exact same schools between April and late June, leading to a high number of deaths and injuries.

After schools in at least three cities were leveled, the Ukrainian military was accused of simply moving their bases into other schools in different areas, essentially putting whatever community lived near the new sites right back in the line of fire.

Now, technically, having bases in schools might not be a direct violation of international humanitarian law if the schools weren't being used for anything else, but the organization pointed out that Ukraine set up these bases in schools near homes and apartment buildings without ever warning the residents or helping them evacuate.

In certain situations, the laws of war dictate that schools and hospitals can become legitimate military targets, per the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Mark Carter14 said:And here we were, thinking the Orcs were just picking out civilian targets on purpose. 🤣

Ukraine Violates War Laws, Endangers Civilians: Amnesty International

While digging into Russian strikes across the Kharkiv, Donbas, and Mykolaiv regions from April to July, Amnesty International investigators found that the Ukrainian military was operating out of civilian buildings in at least 19 different towns and villages. Satellite imagery apparently backs this up, according to their report.

The organization claims that Ukraine committed a "clear violation of international humanitarian law" by placing at least five military sites inside civilian hospitals. Of course, the World Health Organization has noted that Russian airstrikes on medical facilities have caused a massive number of civilian casualties and deaths throughout the war.

Amnesty International also found that Ukraine set up military bases in 22 out of the 29 schools they visited during their investigation in the Donbas and Mykolaiv regions. According to the release, Russia then started hitting many of those exact same schools between April and late June, leading to a high number of deaths and injuries.

After schools in at least three cities were leveled, the Ukrainian military was accused of simply moving their bases into other schools in different areas, essentially putting whatever community lived near the new sites right back in the line of fire.

Now, technically, having bases in schools might not be a direct violation of international humanitarian law if the schools weren't being used for anything else, but the organization pointed out that Ukraine set up these bases in schools near homes and apartment buildings without ever warning the residents or helping them evacuate.

In certain situations, the laws of war dictate that schools and hospitals can become legitimate military targets, per the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Are you seriously suggesting that every single building hit in a completely destroyed city was occupied by soldiers? 🤦