Russia's invasion of Ukraine: Part 5

Personally, I would have preferred if they had shut down the borders sooner; maybe that would have increased the pressure in the pot before things boiled over.
And what happens now with all the refugees fleeing mobilization? We're looking at a number that will easily exceed half a million. They can't exactly head back to Russia until there's a change in leadership.

Political immigrants...

Rybar (that big propaganda channel) is having a total meltdown right now. He’s out here ranting about how the guys mobilized over the last four or five days have basically just been left to wander around training grounds with zero supervision or any actual refresher training to brush up on their skills.
The military apparently told the new recruits that there’s no body armor available unless they want to cough up the cash and buy it themselves. 🙏

https://twitter.com/wartranslated/st...23754095841280

Videos like this one, showing mobilized guys just sitting around chopping wood in the forest, pretty much back up everything he's saying.

https://twitter.com/wartranslated/st...28015261409286

On September 26th and 27th, NATO member states and partner nations are set to conduct military exercises on the grounds of a National Armed Forces air base in Latvia.

The scope of these drills includes practicing aircraft interceptions, managing radio communication failures, maintaining flight control, and providing support for allied aviation during various emergency scenarios both on the ground and in the air.

"We’re also planning to involve a Spanish NASAMS unit stationed at the Lillehammer air base this year to participate in anti-aircraft defense training," noted Captain Matis Students, a training planning officer for the Latvian Air Force.

American HIMARS rocket systems will also be part of the maneuvers. According to the Latvian Ministry of Defense, operations will be centered around the Liepaja and Spilve airfields starting on September 26th.

U.S. Special Operations forces in Europe will be conducting MC-130J Commando II landing drills and demonstrating rapid deployment capabilities alongside HIMARS training.

Defense Minister Artis Pabriks, National Armed Forces Commander Leonid Kalnynsh, and U.S. Ambassador to Latvia John Carwile are expected to observe the HIMARS demonstrations at the Spilve airfield.

Once they land at the Liepaja airfield, the rocket systems will be transported to the Shkeda military base to practice target acquisition over the Baltic Sea within Latvian territory.

Each HIMARS unit can launch six high-precision projectiles with a range of up to 80 kilometers. This capability allows for strikes against Russian command posts, ammunition depots, fuel supplies, and troop concentrations deep behind the lines. The crews operate from within an armored cabin, and their speed is notable: they can fire after parking for just two or three minutes and can be back on the move only 20 seconds after a launch. Each HIMARS rocket carries a price tag of $155,000.

https://babel.ua/news/84745-u-latvij...stemami-himars

dustyowl29 said:Political immigrants...

It would be quite fascinating to see if they actually renounce Russian policy. It certainly doesn't seem to be working for the Georgians.

hollowdriver13 said:Rybar (that big propaganda channel) is having a total meltdown right now. He’s out here ranting about how the guys mobilized over the last four or five days have basically just been left to wander around training grounds with zero supervision or any actual refresher training to brush up on their skills.
The military apparently told the new recruits that there’s no body armor available unless they want to cough up the cash and buy it themselves. 🙏

https://twitter.com/wartranslated/st...23754095841280

Videos like this one, showing mobilized guys just sitting around chopping wood in the forest, pretty much back up everything he's saying.

https://twitter.com/wartranslated/st...28015261409286

Fantastic news. They should just clog the system with as many people as possible. Go ahead, mobilize another 500,000 and toss them into this "top-tier" organization.
They probably don't even have enough food to go around. If there are any canned goods left from the USSR era—assuming they haven't all been sold off recently—they might actually look decent.

Moldova considers stripping citizenship from citizens fighting for Russia in Ukraine

President Maia Sandu stated that her country is weighing the possibility of revoking citizenship for individuals who choose to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine.

The report comes via Reuters.

In the breakaway region of Transnistria, there are roughly 200,000 people holding dual Moldovan-Russian citizenship. According to Sandu, there is a distinct risk that Russia might move to mobilize some of these individuals.

“To prevent that scenario, we are analyzing the potential application of citizenship revocation processes for those people [holding Russian passports] who fight on the side of the aggressor. We are also looking into increasing penalties for Moldovan citizens [without Russian passports]... who join the ranks of the aggressor's armed forces,” the President noted.

She indicated that Moldova is consulting with Moscow to ensure its citizens aren't being repurposed for foreign interests.

Back in the summer, a campaign was already underway in Transnistria to encourage men to sign contracts with the Russian military.
Transnistrian men were targeted by campaigns to enlist in the Russian military; these recruitment efforts were pervasive across mass media, appearing increasingly in mailboxes and on street corners.

On September 21, Putin announced a partial mobilization for the war against Ukraine. The Russian Federation Defense Minister stated that 300,000 people would be mobilized, allegedly drawn from the reserves and various reserve pools.
Russia intends to recruit 300,000 reservists, though some analysts suggest the actual number of people called up will be significantly higher.

https://babel.ua/news/84751-moldova-...-rf-v-ukrajini

gentlerider7 said:They’re actually thinking about banning people from leaving Russia

"So, get this—this senator over there, Sergej Cekov, is out here suggesting that anyone fit for military service should be barred from even stepping foot outside of Russia because of this whole partial mobilization mess. He dropped that bombshell during an interview with RIA Novosti.

According to this guy in the legislature, the only way you'd be allowed to travel abroad is if you had some serious health issues or if you were just physically incapable of serving in the military. Can you imagine?

Then you’ve got Senator Andrei Klishas weighing in on what Tsekovljev is proposing.

Klishas says his colleague isn't just stopping at travel bans, either; he’s also pushing to jack up those fines for dodging a mobilization call from a measly 3,000 rubles all the way up to 50,000 rubles, while basically hinting that they might start looking into actual criminal charges too. Talk about going full throttle, right?

https://www-gazeta-ru.translate.goog..._x_tr_pto=wapp

I thought this was a mistake, but it isn't 😲.

jadetinker85 said:Spot on. You nailed it. 👍 If it's all a show, why the sudden outcry over mobilization? They should go to Ukraine and film it themselves. Trolling Russia on a Russian forum is a bold move. 🙏

Why do they think Ukrainians are stupid?

Well, they turned their backs on Russia for the Evil West, and now they're actually fighting them (acting as if Russia was the one invaded and the war is happening inside Russia 🙄). Now that this mobilization is hitting, everyone’s panicking—and naturally, they blame "stupid Ukrainians" for not just surrendering. It’s funny, though—at the start, everyone was so upbeat and full of hope, but lately, that energy has just... faded.

Here’s what some of the "geniuses" are saying about Putin's strategy:
Once those "referendums" wrap up and they annex those territories to Russia, Putin is going to offer to let the Ukrainian military pull back from Russian soil 🙏 🤣. If they don't take the deal, he'll call for the total destruction of Ukraine—meaning everything from civilian infrastructure to whatever else can be leveled. That's the grand design, and supposedly, Russia wins 🙄.

There is a genuine opening here for a massive uprising among the women in Russia's minority regions.
Ditch the Russian boots, the hijabs, the headscarves, and the dresses, and just trample Putin's filth underfoot.

https://twitter.com/Liveuamap/status...iwIIFikebxuHbA

"You gotta understand the Russians," they say. Give me a break. That's the exact same crowd that swore up and down those miners and factory workers just spontaneously decided to show up and join Crimea Russia 😍

Here is the actual root cause of the war. All this talk about Nazis, NATO, gas reserves, and other nonsense is just noise...

PUTIN ANNOUNCES NEW STRATEGY TO COMBAT ALHOLIZM IN THE PROVINCES VIA A "MOBILIZATION" OF 300,000

In a move characterized by his usual bluntness, Vladimir Putin has unveiled a bold new initiative aimed at tackling the rising tide of AlHOLIZM within the bleak, endless stretches of the Russian provinces.

The strategy involves trapping the unconventional Russian military in an unwinnable conflict alongside a major ally backed by NATO, then leveraging this "national emergency" as a convenient pretext to mobilize the vast numbers of peasants living in the depressed hinterlands of Russia.

It seems this desperate measure is being framed as the only way to liberate these unfortunate souls from the cheap, soul-crushing moonshine they often distill themselves in old gasoline canisters using red pepper flakes, dead bugs, and unwashed laundry.



The plan, which has been quietly underway since at least February of this year, was only recently made public during a Zoom call where Putin's experts were instructed that the government initially intends to round up roughly 300,000 semi-comatose alcoholics from train station lobbies and from beneath tractors.

https://neokrat.blogspot.com/2022/09...-to-fight.html

Nancy Gomez26 said:I suspect they would make decent soldiers. It’s quite evident they’ve been thoroughly indoctrinated to embrace the "Russian world" ideology—even if they are currently stationed at a safe distance from the actual front lines. 😁

The Dagestani population is only about 2.5 million. For them, the West is a distant concept; instead, they are much closer to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Georgia. But looking at their situation provides a clear window into how modern Russia actually functions—it’s a system where the state crushes anyone too weak to fight back, while those deemed "untouchable" enjoy elite privileges at the expense of everyone else.

Just try to wrap your head around this—the Russian Federation is letting foreigners fight in Ukraine for a year, and after that, they can grab citizenship without going through the usual red tape or waiting out that five-year rule.
The whole point I'm making is that the people rushing to join the Russian Federation are absolute fools. If another war breaks out, they'll be the first ones sent right back into the meat grinder.

gentlerider7 said:Look, in Russia, there isn't anyone actually capable of pulling together an organized opposition, unless you count a soldier like Navalny trying everything from a prison cell, or those guys living abroad. What they're really left with are these sudden, explosive outbursts of rage—and honestly, isn't that always how something much bigger starts to brew?

Navalny isn't the only one, though. I'm pretty sure there are others out there who can step up. Besides Navalny being behind bars, you've still got Ilya Yashin.

Rachel Barrett8 said:What "West" are we even talking about?
Do you really just swallow everything those politicians and news anchors spew on TV without a second thought?

The "West" isn't some monolith... there are just democratic nations, which you all seem to have reduced to mere pawns within the Russian criminal federation.

I wonder what the poet meant by that. 🤔

Rachel Barrett8 said:I didn't ignore them.
If an arms embargo were actually placed on Ukraine and Russia, it would be a much more effective way to stop the aggressor.
Just look at how things worked in the US or Canada.

But since this is all part of a "pre-arranged war"—where billions of dollars in Russian gas flow through Ukrainian pipelines straight to the West—it's obvious the idiots in Russia have completely lost their minds.
Who wouldn't be arrogant in that position? One side gets flooded with billions, while the other gets handed weapons.

When it's time to collect billions, the West doesn't exist. But when it's time to freeze or die, suddenly we're the "West"?

First you condemn an embargo in the DR, and now you're claiming that kind of embargo should have been applied to this war. Are you saying if Ukraine wasn't being armed, it would be easier to stop Russia? 🤔 Just like back in Ex-America, Russia has piles of weapons, so an embargo wouldn't bother them much.
You aren't making much sense. 🤷

But since we're talking about a "pre-arranged war" where billions in Russian gas flows through Ukrainian pipelines toward the "West," it's obvious the folks in Russia have lost their minds.
Who wouldn't be arrogant in that situation? One side gets showered with billions, while the other gets handed weapons.

When it’s time to take the billions, the "West" doesn't exist, but when it’s time to freeze and die, suddenly we are the "West"?

A war arranged between whom?

"Being showered with billions" was just trade—standard business buying gas, oil, etc. You're implying people bought gas from Russia specifically to fund the start of the war in Ukraine, only to then have weapons gifted to Ukrainians, all for what purpose? 🤔 ...is that really the theory? You're forgetting the timeline; it wasn't billions followed by weapons, the weapons started coming after the Russian threats and aggression began.

But the whole "Evil West" thing is a great bit. Either they colonize and plunder, so they're bad, or they shower people with billions, and they're still bad. 😁

It feels like there's some sort of deal struck between the USA and Russia just to tear Europe apart 🙄?

Is Putin going to call for a mobilization referendum in the name of democracy? Or maybe a referendum on who actually wants to stop being part of the Russian Federation?

Since the conflict in Russia began, there have been 54 instances where military commissariats and administrative buildings were set on fire.

Notably, 17 of these incidents occurred within just the last five days, following Putin's announcement regarding mobilization.


Prior to the mobilization announcement (blue): 37
Following the mobilization announcement (red): 17

https://zona.media/news/2022/09/26/tarusa_fire

After that recent statement comparing Russian soldiers killed during the invasion of Ukraine to Jesus, Orthodox churches really ought to break ties with the Moscow KGB Patriarch Kirill.

While other nations have surged ahead into the 21st century, Russia remains stuck firmly in the 20th...
Outside of Moscow and St. Petersburg, everything else just runs on old-school KGB propaganda. It's basically the only thing available in those rural areas...

James Chavez91 said:Where on earth did you get the idea that I'm rooting for a nuclear disaster? Seriously, just go take a hike.
Unbelievable.

For those of us who are genuinely terrified of a nuclear catastrophe, there’s a growing feeling that we need to find a way to force Putin to the negotiating table. We have to compel him to actually seek peace, don't we? If we want to avoid the worst-case scenario, shouldn't we be pushing for negotiations at any cost?
Putin isn't interested in sitting down at the negotiating table because he feels untouchable. Now, don't get me wrong—he’s certainly not showing any real strength on the battlefield in Ukraine. Thank God for that, really, since they're just firing blindly in every direction over there. But his real power? It's all happening back home. That's where the core of the problem lies.
It’s pretty wild when you look at the numbers, isn't it? Just because of that massive demand for cheap Russian energy, the EU managed to rake in more profit in just six months than they did during the entire previous year. How does that even happen?

Carol Johnson21 said:Personally, I would have preferred if they had shut down the borders sooner; maybe that would have increased the pressure in the pot before things boiled over.
And what happens now with all the refugees fleeing mobilization? We're looking at a number that will easily exceed half a million. They can't exactly head back to Russia until there's a change in leadership.

Honestly, bravo. This is exactly how you think if you actually want to get things done. This is how you apply real pressure to a dictator, instead of the complete mess we're dealing with right now. It’s just a total disaster.
If they had just banned the wealthy elites in Russia from leaving the country, things would be looking very different right now. Can you imagine? If those people couldn't just fly off to escape the chaos, they’d actually start worrying about their own kids and families. Once they realized their own lives were on the line, the whole trajectory of the country would have shifted completely. Wouldn't that have changed everything?

So, you drop $9,000 just to make sure your kid gets safely out of the country, while everyone else left behind gets pushed straight into a war zone? And then you have the nerve to sit there and argue that the conflict is actually justified? It’s honestly relentless. It never ends, does it?

Thomas Walker84 said:I wonder what the poet meant by that. 🤔

First you condemn an embargo in the DR, and now you're claiming that kind of embargo should have been applied to this war. Are you saying if Ukraine wasn't being armed, it would be easier to stop Russia? 🤔 Just like back in Ex-America, Russia has piles of weapons, so an embargo wouldn't bother them much.
You aren't making much sense. 🤷

But since we're talking about a "pre-arranged war" where billions in Russian gas flows through Ukrainian pipelines toward the "West," it's obvious the folks in Russia have lost their minds.
Who wouldn't be arrogant in that situation? One side gets showered with billions, while the other gets handed weapons.

When it’s time to take the billions, the "West" doesn't exist, but when it’s time to freeze and die, suddenly we are the "West"?

A war arranged between whom?

"Being showered with billions" was just trade—standard business buying gas, oil, etc. You're implying people bought gas from Russia specifically to fund the start of the war in Ukraine, only to then have weapons gifted to Ukrainians, all for what purpose? 🤔 ...is that really the theory? You're forgetting the timeline; it wasn't billions followed by weapons, the weapons started coming after the Russian threats and aggression began.

But the whole "Evil West" thing is a great bit. Either they colonize and plunder, so they're bad, or they shower people with billions, and they're still bad. 😁

If we had shipyards scattered across the US, we would have been forced to pour massive investments into LNG tankers by now. Wouldn't we?
If they had been building that pipeline toward those African states from the start—and if they’d actually worked at the same lightning speed as Nord Stream 2—it would probably be halfway finished by now. Wouldn't it?
Do you ever see politicians like that?
ili
Energy companies are starting to pull back from their positions in Greece, and honestly, it’s making you wonder what exactly is shifting behind the scenes. It looks like several big players are rethinking their investments there, moving away from certain sectors that used to seem like sure bets. Why the sudden change of heart? You have to look at the broader landscape. The energy market in Europe is incredibly volatile right now, and even though Greece has been a strategic hub for a while, the math just isn't adding up for everyone anymore. Is it about shifting regulations, or are these companies just playing it safe because they can't predict where prices will land next month? It feels like a calculated retreat. When major corporations start pulling out of a specific region, it usually means they’ve spotted a storm on the horizon that the rest of us might be missing. They aren't necessarily running away in a panic, but they are definitely stepping back to reassess. It makes you think: if the giants are pivoting, what does that mean for the smaller players left holding the bag?

So, how exactly is everyone supposed to get their hands on cheap oil when every single country in the EU is basically running a side hustle with Russia? It’s become the new normal, hasn't it? They're all cutting deals behind the scenes, and we're just meant to act like it's business as usual. Honestly, does anyone really believe this kind of maneuvering is going to do anything to stop Putin?
So, they’re just going to keep transferring oil from tanker to tanker, and we're supposed to call that "policy"? I honestly don't know. Are we even counting Greece and Turkey as part of the "West" anymore? I mean, sure, they're in NATO, but that doesn't tell the whole story. That’s exactly why I said there isn't one unified "Western" strategy aimed at actually neutralizing the aggression against Ukraine. If we can't get on the same page, how are we ever going to be effective?