₦airaland Forum

Ukraine Propaganda - BBC Tries To Sell Telegram Rumors That Make No Sense

Do they really think that the people are dumb enough to believe such shit?

Russian media: retired Russian major general killed in skies over Ukraine



Which 'Russian media' one might asks:

A [Russian] fighter has been shot down in the skies over Ukraine, and Kanamat Botashev, a retired Major General of the Russian Air Force, was killed.
Source: Russian edition of BBC with reference to Botashov's three former subordinates

Details: Subordinates who had kept in touch with Botashev after leaving the service agreed to comment on condition of anonymity for reasons of personal safety.

Oh, the 'Russian media' is in fact the Russian language site of the BBC World Service which is financed and directed by the British government's Foreign Office. The same BBC World Service which since March has suspended its operation and which had its its website blocked in Russia.

That BBC World Service will surly have reliable sources for making such nonsense claims:

One of Botashev's former colleagues confirmed that a retired general was carrying out missions in a Su-25 aircraft in Ukraine.
In one of the Russian Telegram channels, this participant reported on Botashev's death ...

'Russian Telegram channels' are anonymous and also widely used by Ukrainians. They are often unreliable.

The picture above is somewhat curious too. Its resolution is too low to read the name patch of the pictured officer who does totally not look like 63 year old retired man.

The plane the Ukrainians allegedly shot down was a Su-25 ground attack aircraft. Why then is the 'retired Major-General Botashev', should he actually exist, pictured in front of an Su-34, a supersonic fighter-bomber. According to Tineye the photo was first published on May 23 by a news site in Tbilisi, Georgia. There is no metadata in the picture and I am unable to find any caption for it.

The whole story makes absolutely no sense:

It is unclear how the 63-year-old retired general found himself at the controls of the Su-25 in Ukraine.
...

Botashev commanded a regiment of the Guards Air Base in Voronezh. His military career came to an end in June 2012, when he was accused of crashing a Su-27 fighter near Petrozavodsk. The general asked his friend-colonel to let him fly a Su-27, a flight permit he did not have.
So the dude was kicked out of the military? He hasn't flown military planes for 10 years? Somehow he steals an Su-25, which he probably did not know how to fly, and gets shot down over Ukraine? Yeah, that makes totally sense ...

What will the BBC World Service editors try to sell us next? Bridges?

https://news.yahoo.com/russian-media-retired-russian-major-131900289.html

9jahotblog:
Tinubu is a goner

Why do you think Tinubu is goner?

Are all the machination by APC is aimed at denying him candidacy?

I have not been good at following Nigerian politics.

Someone said Tinubu may leave to a new party with Kwankwaso? Any inkling of this?

����❗The Americans will not defend Taiwan, they will only supply weapons

The White House explained that Biden meant only arms deliveries when he spoke of Washington's readiness for military intervention to protect Taiwan from China.

An unnamed US official told NBC:

“Our policy has not changed. President Biden reaffirmed our commitment under the Taiwan Relations Act to provide Taiwan with military means for self-defense."

����❗Fighting for Liman right now, the Russian army continues to occupy street after street

Ukrainian militants are hiding from the attacks of rocket and artillery.

����⚡The Russian army is preparing to advance towards Zaporozhye, the battalions are concentrating in Vasilievka - Arestovich

“Russian troops in Vasilievka have been reinforced by three battalion tactical groups, and now there are more Russian soldiers in the city than local residents,”

Trillodillo:
G

Is it that your IQ is slightly above room temperature or what?

How could you be advertising ID card forgery and “oluwale” runs on Nairaland?

Aside the hot war, this war is also fought in nuances.

As the war drags ... regimes will change in the west

����❗The Russian army broke through the front line near Popasnaya and almost cut off the AFU grouping in Lisichansk and Severodonetsk - military analyst Tom Cooper

Cooper's new report is disappointing for the Kyiv regime due to the difficult situation for the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Popasna, which he called "the most critical". Because there is a critical breakthrough of the front line.

The RF Armed Forces are actively moving forward and have recently gained control over the settlement. Trypillya, Novaya Kamenka and are only 1-2 km from Soledar and Bakhmutsky, which threatens the critical road T1302 - the main supply artery of the fortified area of ​​the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Severodonetsk-Lysichansk. Moreover, the Russians expanded their breakthrough zone by capturing Lipovo and Vasilyevka north of Tripoli and west of Vrubovka. Also n.p. Vyskriva came under the control of the Russian Federation.

"In other words, the Russian troops are advancing north of Popasna, bypassing the Ukrainian forces entrenched in Kamyshevakh, Yekaterinovka and Gorny; they move without pause for respite or regrouping, leaving little time for Ukrainian units to react."

Cooper is also surprised by the carelessness of the Ukrainian command, which is on the defense of the settlement. Ternovoe (a strategically important direction) in the Shakhtyorsky district of the DPR sent only 1 battalion of the defense against the reorganized battalion group of the 200th motorized rifle brigade of Russia. As a result, the Armed Forces of Ukraine were completely defeated, and n.p. came under the control of the Russian Armed Forces.

Since May 16, 2,439 Nazis of “Azov” and servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces blocked on the territory of “Azovstal” surrendered, according to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

Commander of the Azov regiment Denis Prokopenko (Radish, in the center), Deputy Commander Svyatoslav Palamar (Kalina, leftward) and acting commander of the 36th Marine Brigade Sergei Volynsky (Volyna, rightward) are currently being held captive by the Russian military.

34th Marine brigade commander -VOLYN- has surrendered.

Ukraine SitRep - Russians Break Through U.S. Bolsterism

On May 14 I noted that the U.S. had asked Russia for a ceasefire in Ukraine:

The U.S. readout of the call says:

On May 13, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu for the first time since February 18. Secretary Austin urged an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication.
Austin initiated the call and the U.S. is seeking a ceasefire in Ukraine!!!

Yesterday the top officers of the U.S. and Russia had a call which, again, the U.S. side had initiated:

Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, held a conversation that the Pentagon declined to further detail beyond acknowledging it had happened.

Thinks must be bad in Ukraine for this to have happened. Indeed if one trusts the daily 'clobber list' the Russian Ministry of Defense puts out all positions of the Ukrainian army are under heavy artillery fire and it is losing about 500 men per day. There are additional Russian effective strikes on training camps, weapon storage sites and transport hubs all over the country.

On top of that the tactical situation at the eastern frontline has changed after Russian forces broke through the heavily fortified frontline.
A few days ago the Russian army went forward along the H-32 road, broke through the line in the direction of Propasna and took the town. It has since extended the bulge by taking several villages to the north, west and south.


This breakthrough gives the chance to roll up the Ukrainian fortifications along the frontline through flank attacks or from behind. By cutting the supply lines of the Ukrainian troops to the north and south envelopes can be created which will eventual lead to cauldrons with no way out for the Ukrainian troops.

This is especially dangerous for the several thousand soldiers north of the bulge which currently defend the cities of Sieverodonetsk and Lysychansk in the north eastern part of the upper bubble.



The Russian plan was to have another breakthrough from the north pushing to Siversk to then close the upper envelope. But after several failed attempts to cross the forest area and the Seversky Donets river that breakthrough has still to happen.

Russia is now likely to push fresh troops into the Propasna bulge to extend its reach into all directions. Reports of current actions show that the heavy fighting and bombing on the frontline continues and that bombing also continues to target traffic nodes.

Other fronts in Ukraine are currently relatively quiet with little direct fire. Still daily Russian artillery attacks hits all Ukrainian front lines and will cost daily casualties.

Some 2,000 Azov militia and Ukrainian army troops have left the catacombs of Azovstal in Mariupol. Another thousand may still be down there. The Russian army is filtering these prisoners. Members of Azov and other militia will be put to court. Ukrainian army soldiers will become prisoners of war.

The gasoline and diesel scarcity in Ukraine is currently having severe impacts. Even the Ukrainian military is now rationing its fuel. Since about six weeks ago Russia has systematically attacked refineries and fuel storage sites in Ukraine. It also disabled railroad bridges along the lines that brought fuel from Moldova and Romania.

At the same time the Ukrainian government had held up price regulations for fuel. The consumer sale prices for diesel and gasoline were fixed. The cost of fuel brought in by private trucks from Poland exceeded the price gas station owners could ask for. In consequence gas stations ran dry as their owners refrained from purchasing new fuel.

Three days ago the Zelensky regime in Kiev finally ended the fuel price control:

According to [economy minister] Svyrydenko, the government expects that the maximum prices for diesel will not exceed UAH 58 ($1.97), for gasoline — UAH 52 ($1.76) per liter, once controls are lifted.
“As soon as we feel that market operators are abusing their position, we will impose sanctions on them,” she added.

“We will monitor the situation on a daily basis”.

The expected prices are lower than what is currently asked for in Germany and that is without trucking the fuel the 600 kilometer from Poland to Kiev. The threat of sanctions also means that local wholesalers will have little incentives to actually deal in fuel. With the average wages in Ukraine being about $480 per months the real fuel prices will soon become another economic shock.

The Ukrainian government also continues its attacks on unions and labor laws:

In March, the Ukrainian parliament passed wartime legislation that severely curtailed the ability of trade unions to represent their members, introduced ‘suspension of employment’ (meaning employees are not fired, but their work and wages are suspended) and gave employers the right to unilaterally suspend collective agreements.
...
But beyond this temporary measure, a group of Ukrainian MPs and officials are now aiming to further ‘liberalise’ and ‘de-Sovietise’ the country’s labour laws. Under a draft law, people who work in small and medium-sized firms – those which have up to 250 employees – would, in effect, be removed from the country’s existing labour laws and covered by individual contracts negotiated with their employer. More than 70% of the Ukrainian workforce would be affected by this change.
Against a background of concerns that Ukrainian officials are using Russia’s invasion to push through a long-awaited radical deregulation of labour laws, one expert has warned that the introduction of civil law into labour relations risks opening a “Pandora’s box” for workers.

In total the social-economic situation for Ukraine is catastrophic. The military situation is even worse. Mariupol has fallen and Russian troops working there will soon be able to go elsewhere. The Propasna bulge is threatening to envelope the whole northern frontline together with the core of the Ukrainian army.

There is no more talk of the Ukrainian army 'winning' like in Kiev or Karkov where the Russian troops retreated in good order after finishing their task of holding Ukrainian forces in place.

The Ukrainian command has sent several territorial brigades to the front lines. These units were supposed to defend their home towns. They consist of middle age men drafted into service. They have little fighting experience and lack heavy weapons. Several of these units have published videos saying they were giving up. They are lamenting that their commanders left them when their situation became critical.

That the Ukrainian army is now using such units as cannon fodder shows that it has only few reserves left.

Weapons that come in from the 'west' have difficulties reaching the front lines and had so far very little effect. They amount to drops of water on a hot plate.

All the above are the reasons why Austin and Milley have phoned up their Russian equivalents. They are also the reasons why the New York Times editors call on the Biden administration to end its bluster and to take a more realistic position:

Recent bellicose statements from Washington — President Biden’s assertion that Mr. Putin “cannot remain in power,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s comment that Russia must be “weakened” and the pledge by the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, that the United States would support Ukraine “until victory is won” — may be rousing proclamations of support, but they do not bring negotiations any closer.
In the end, it is the Ukrainians who must make the hard decisions: They are the ones fighting, dying and losing their homes to Russian aggression, and it is they who must decide what an end to the war might look like. If the conflict does lead to real negotiations, it will be Ukrainian leaders who will have to make the painful territorial decisions that any compromise will demand.
...

[A]s the war continues, Mr. Biden should also make clear to President Volodymyr Zelensky and his people that there is a limit to how far the United States and NATO will go to confront Russia, and limits to the arms, money and political support they can muster. It is imperative that the Ukrainian government’s decisions be based on a realistic assessment of its means and how much more destruction Ukraine can sustain.
Confronting this reality may be painful, but it is not appeasement. This is what governments are duty bound to do, not chase after an illusory “win.” Russia will be feeling the pain of isolation and debilitating economic sanctions for years to come, and Mr. Putin will go down in history as a butcher. The challenge now is to shake off the euphoria, stop the taunting and focus on defining and completing the mission. America’s support for Ukraine is a test of its place in the world in the 21st century, and Mr. Biden has an opportunity and an obligation to help define what that will be.

Surrendering units at other fronts are growing.

���� It is reported that the Allied troops entered Viktorovka, which means the complete collapse of the Ukrainian group near Popasna

����⚡War correspondent Yevgeny Poddubny reports that in the DPR, twenty servicemen of the 95th Airborne Assault Brigade of Ukraine voluntarily laid down their arms and surrendered.

Opolopoopolonio:
Pro-Putin luuuunatics are just fixated on the word 'propaganda'. Too bad!

I rely on Al Jazeera for my news. [/b]Is it also a propaganda news platform? Is it not trustworthy enough?

[b]The sanctions are biting Russia hard and they cannot continue the war with it.

Also the West see this as the greatest opportunity ever to punish Russia and weaken it. They have vowed to do so and they are already doing it.

The West will keep arming Ukraine for as long as it takes. It's similar to the North Korea/South Korea war in the early 1950s. China and Russia were on the side of the north against US and the West on the side of the south. If not for US and the West, the whole of Korea would have been under the Kims by now.

Unlike Mariupol that was easily surrounded being in the middle of separatist territories, Odessa is sitting deep in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the Donbas operation is not going as planned for the Russians. It's a dead end for them.

Phase one - Kyiv and Kharkiv operation has failed.

Phase two - Donbas operation has stalled.

Phase three - may never happen!

That's it.

The two bolded statements tell me a whole lot about your class view of geopolitics. I won’t stretch this reply any further.

PS:
who is accruing sales surplus from the war?
Whose economy is in shrink?
Who is buying rubles for gas?
Who is still collecting gas transit fee from Russia?


Propaganda is indeed an opiate

seunny4lif:
I’m not changing the topic, UK and France declare war on Germany but did both came to Poland aid?

Did UK troops attack Germany because of Poland?

For example, if I say I will be beat you, if you touched my friend, yet you are slapping my friend but I ran away, is that a fight?

I thought you would have known by now that many here are victims of psychological operations from the three letter agencies to inversely view any Russian victory as a strategic failure. You can identify these victims because they view things inversely like
Evacuation is not surrender.
Russia failed to take Kiev Russia failed.
Russia’s territorial gains are insufficient
Russians are dying So Russia lost the war

And the list goes... many are just victims of the Psyops... they will never see the facts as they appear as long as the compromised main stream media keeps conditioning these subjects with Psychological manipulation of the facts.

It is really a waste of time arguing with these folks. Even if Russia takes all of Ukraine, they will be conditioned to think otherwise.

Opolopoopolonio:
It's the separatist leaders themselves that said it.

Russia don't control Azovstal up till now.

And they will NEVER go near Odessa. Of course, they have met a dead end in Donbas already.

Propaganda is an opiate.
Avoid it as much as possible
It clouds vision and thought

When you are hell bent on tactical operations of these - a few victories and defeat here and there, then you can’t understand the strategic and operation complexes of this war.

I suggest you tone down a little the views from the MSM and reflect on views from alternate media. Remember it’s a massive information war going on. Forget the rhetorics that surrounds the fact, and stuck to the fact. In this case EVACUATION to Russia held territory = SURRENDER that’s a fact.

Odessa and the southern territories to Transnistria falls into phase 3 of this operation. Look at the strategic view.

From the Russians perspective, a slow grind offers a strategic advantage to pressure the political elites in Europe via economic and political upheavals. Remember many will be facing their electorates in the near future. And an economy under pressure from Russo-Ukraine war is no good news for most them. War doesn’t have to be guns and bomb. It could be fought in nuances.

Look at the map. How much in territory have the Russians taken. Then judge who is winning the war.

Forget tactical

.

Indeed propaganda is an opiate.

Surrender = evacuate ....only by western propaganda media ...lol

Ukraine - For Laughs

'Western' media are nothing but Zelenski regime megaphones.

Liveuamap @Liveuamap - 21:30 UTC · May 16, 2022
Zelensky confirms Azovstal troops evacuation: «Ukraine needs Ukrainian heroes alive. This has been our principle»
https://liveuamap.com/en/2022/16-may... via @myroslavapetsa

---

The New York Times @nytimes - 22:59 UTC · May 16, 2022
Breaking News: Ukraine ended its “combat mission” in Mariupol and said fighters were being evacuated, signaling that the battle at a steel plant was over.
link

---

CNN International @cnni - 23:39 UTC · May 16, 2022
Ukrainian forces say they have ended their "combat mission" in besieged Mariupol, as hundreds are evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant. https://cnn.it/3FQALcV

---

Reuters @Reuters - 3:35 AM · May 17, 2022
Ukraine's military said it was working to evacuate all remaining troops from their last stronghold in the besieged port of Mariupol, ceding control of the city to Russia after months of bombardment https://reut.rs/3wlYbUG

From the false headline down the Washington Post report on the issue is a master piece of propaganda:

Ukraine ends bloody battle for Mariupol, evacuates Azovstal fighters

Ukrainian fighters have ended their weeks-long defense of a besieged steel plant in the strategic port city of Mariupol, as hundreds of combatants — dozens of them seriously wounded — were evacuated from the complex Monday.
One has to read beyond 323 words of falsehood to find out, down in paragraph 7, what really has happened.

Moscow hasn’t yet publicly responded to the developments in Mariupol, which were described by Russian state media as an order from Ukrainian military command for its troops to “surrender.
Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, Anna Malyar, said 53 seriously wounded soldiers were taken to a hospital in Novoazovsk, a nearby town which is controlled by Russian-backed separatists. Another 211 were transported to another Russian-aligned village, Olenivka, she said. Moscow and Kyiv are brokering a prisoner swap to secure their release.

Malyar said officials were still working to rescue the remaining soldiers, though it is unclear how many are still inside. Ukrainian authorities said last week there were nearly 1,000 holdout fighters in the plant.

The f***ers finally gave up and surrendered unconditionally to the Russian forces as their only alternative was to decease within the next hours or days.

I am sure that the Russian authorities will apply a fine filter to determine who of those prisoners of war are allegeable for war crime prosecutions, de-nazification and a long stay in some north Siberian road builder camp.

There are also rumors of NATO personnel presence in the Azovstal catacombs. They will likely get to know the cellars of the famous Lubyanka building in Moscow before being exchanged in this or that deal with their home countries.

The rest will eventually be exchanged for Russian soldiers who are unfortunately held by the Ukrainian military.

———————————————
Another cauldron forming at Severodonetsk.

Over the past 24 hours, 265 AFU servicemen have laid down arms and surrendered in Azovstal, according to the Russian MOD;

Clashes between the AFU and Russian forces continue to the north of Popasnaya;
Russian forces claimed control over Novoselovka-2;

Russian forces entered the village of Novomikhailovka;

Russian forces are advancing in the northern and north-western outskirts of Lyman;

Clashes between the AFU and Russian forces continue on the outskirts of Severodonetsk;

Clashes between the AFU and Russian forces continue near Belogorovka;

Clashes between the AFU and Russian forces continue in the Vuhledar area;

Clashes between the AFU and Russian forces continue near Avdiivka.

———————
PS. I do get 24hr ban after every post Of this thread. Wonder why?

HolinessForever:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fGEM-QGzwg


https://metro.co.uk/2022/05/16/russia-moves-nuclear-missiles-to-finland-border-in-backlash-over-nato-16651761/amp/

Why do folks just like to “dunce“ themselves with cheap western media propaganda. Finland and Sweden were NATO before all these events. Russia recognizes that these two nations have tuned their military Defence complexes to NATO standard. They train with NATO. They use NATO hardwares. They are in NATO but not in Name.

Stop this junk propaganda that appears to make Russia an aggressor in the face of FIN/Swede formal application to NATO.

Fin/Sweden membership to NATO is no news to many folks who have been following events in Euroasia for years.

Abuja should be better than this considering our oil wealth
And there is nothing magical about these photos.

When are we going to stop the habit of posting bills on the walls? They stain the walls and make the city look dirty

Ukraine - Congress Passes The Bucks, Realism Sneaks In, Poland Plans For More War

After a lot of talk about defeating Russia in the Ukraine and an alleged lack of Russian fighting abilities Congress passed another $40 billion fund for weapons and economic support. That brings the total to some $53 billion for Ukraine.

Most of the money will go to the U.S. weapon industry, the CIA and to various Ukrainian oligarchs. Hardly anything will be received by those in need.

With that packet now passed reality is allowed to sneak into U.S. media reporting on the issue.

Not one but two reports in the New York Times suddenly lament about the huge area of land the Russian troops have taken in east Ukraine:

How much of Ukraine does Russia hold?
Ukraine War’s Geographic Reality: Russia Has Seized Much of the East
From the later:

Nonetheless, the Donbas seizure, combined with the Russian invasion’s early success in seizing parts of southern Ukraine adjoining the Crimean peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, gives the Kremlin enormous leverage in any future negotiation to halt the conflict.
And the Russians enjoy the added advantage of naval dominance in the Black Sea, the only maritime route for Ukrainian trade, which they have paralyzed with an embargo that could eventually starve Ukraine economically and is already contributing to a global grain shortage.

I have often pointed out that the Ukrainian frontline will have a huge number of casualties from Russian artillery strikes. It is even worse than I had thought:

At the main hospital in Kramatorsk, a city in Donetsk, ambulances stream in day and night, carrying soldiers wounded at the front, who describe being pinned down by near constant shelling.
About 80 percent of the patients are wounded by explosives such as mines and artillery shells, said Capt. Eduard Antonovskyy, the deputy commander of the medical unit at the hospital. Because of this, he said, very few patients have serious injuries. Either you’re far enough from an explosion to survive or you aren’t, he said.

“We either get moderate injuries or deaths,” Captain Antonovskyy said.

Additional to those more realistic reports the NYT allowed one of it authors to write an opinion piece against the widening of the war:

America and Its Allies Want to Bleed Russia. They Really Shouldn’t.
At first, the Western support for Ukraine was mainly designed to defend against the invasion. It is now set on a far grander ambition: to weaken Russia itself. Presented as a common-sense response to Russian aggression, the shift, in fact, amounts to a significant escalation.
By expanding support to Ukraine across the board and shelving any diplomatic effort to stop the fighting, the United States and its allies have greatly increased the danger of an even larger conflict. They are taking a risk far out of step with any realistic strategic gain.
...
When I was in Ukraine during the first weeks of the war, even staunch Ukrainian nationalists expressed views far more pragmatic than those that are routine in America now. Talk of neutral status for Ukraine and internationally monitored plebiscites in Donetsk and Luhansk has been jettisoned in favor of bombast and grandstanding.
...
What’s more, the invasion has led directly to greater military spending in second- and third-tier European powers. The number of NATO troops in Eastern Europe has grown tenfold, and a Nordic expansion of the organization is likely. A general rearmament of Europe is taking place, driven not by desire for autonomy from American power but in service to it. For the United States, this should be success enough. It is unclear what more there is to gain by weakening Russia, beyond fantasies of regime change.
...
Diplomatic efforts ought to be the centerpiece of a new Ukraine strategy. Instead, the war’s boundaries are being expanded and the war itself recast as a struggle between democracy and autocracy, in which the Donbas is the frontier of freedom. This is not just declamatory extravagance. It is reckless. The risks hardly need to be stated.

Indeed. The current U.S. strategy will end in a catastrophe for Ukraine because it is based on false narratives. Lt.Col. (ret) Daniel Davis has consistently provided a more realist view of the military situation in Ukraine. His latest piece fits that record:

Russia’s Progress in Donbas Means Ukraine Likely Won’t Win the War
Over the past few days, a flurry of senior leaders in both Ukraine and Washington have issued defiant claims of not merely resisting Russian aggression, but pushing towards outright victory. While such aspirations are entirely understandable, it is unwise to set policy seeking a preferred outcome if there does not exist a rational path by which Ukraine could accomplish that objective. At present, most indicators, fundamentals of war, and current battlefield trendlines support the prospect of a Ukrainian defeat.
Davis correctly describes the current military situation on the ground and concludes:

By continuing to seek a military victory in Ukraine, Ukraine’s troops will continue fighting, no negotiated settlement will be realistically sought, and most likely Russian troops continue making progress. As a result, more Ukrainian civilians and troops will continue to be killed and wounded, more cities destroyed, and the economic and food crises – for both Ukraine and the world – will worsen. The most likely outcome will not change (a negotiated settlement, not a Ukrainian military victory), but the cost to Kyiv will be much, much worse.
Another former military man who has a realist view of the war is Col. Douglas Macgregor (ret). During the first Gulf war he led a unit in the Battle of 73 Easting:

Macgregor was the "squadron operations officer who essentially directed the Battle of 73 Easting" during the Gulf War. Facing an Iraqi Republican Guard opponent, he led a contingent consisting of 19 tanks, 26 Bradley Fighting Vehicles and 4 M1064 mortar carriers through the sandstorm to the 73 Easting at roughly 16:18 hours on 26 February 1991 destroyed almost 70 Iraqi armored vehicles with no U.S. casualties in a 23-minute span of the battle.
The previously quoted Lt.Col. Davis was wounded in the same battle. As both men have seen real mechanized war it is not by chance that they have come to similar conclusions.

Macgregor warns of a widening of the war through a Polish intervention in west Ukraine which would eventually drag NATO into the war:

The Threat of Polish Involvement in Ukraine
The war against Russia in Ukraine has evolved, but not in the way Western observers predicted.
Why would Poland, with the help of Lithuania, try to take western Ukraine? It is all about history:

The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a country and bi-federation of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch in real union, who was both King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. It was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th to 17th-century Europe. At its largest territorial extent, in the early 17th century, the Commonwealth covered almost 1,000,000 km2 (400,000 sq mi) and as of 1618 sustained a multi-ethnic population of almost 12 million.
Here is how that commonwealth looked on a map with current borders:

See map below
There have been talks for a while that Poland would send a 'peacekeeping' force to occupy Galicia in west-Ukraine. I for one predicted it on February 24, at the very onset of the war:

Thanks to Stalin's additions to the Ukraine three countries, Poland, Hungary and Romania, have claims to certain areas in the Ukraine's western regions. If they want to snatch those up again it is now probably the best time to do so. Despite being part of NATO, which likely would not support such moves, those three will have domestic policy difficulties to withstand the urge.
An official looking document now says that a Polish/Lithuanian operation will start on May 22-24.

Lord Of War @lord_of_war____ - 14:46 UTC · May 10, 2022
����The document was sent to the President of the State Border Service of Ukraine, Serhiy Daynek, stating that it is 22-24. May joint "Lithuanian-Polish peacekeeping contingent" consisting of 4 battalions, 9,500 soldiers and 279 units of military equipment [planned to enter the territory of Ukraine. Another confirmation of the development of plans for the occupation and further division of the country. Even if this particular document turns out to be false (which is not excluded), it does not change the general course of the West in relation to Ukraine.]
picture
9.500 soldiers are way more than fit into 4 battalions. A battalion has typically some 400-800 soldiers. These are more like three small brigades with 3-4 battalions each.

A Polish/Lithuanian move is exactly what Col. Macgregor is warning of:

Ten weeks after the conflict began, it is instructive to re-examine the strategic picture. The war against Russia in Ukraine has evolved, but not in the way Western observers predicted. Ukrainian forces look shattered and exhausted. The supplies reaching Ukrainian troops fighting in Eastern Ukraine are a fraction of what is needed. In most cases, replacements and new weapons are destroyed long before they reach the front.

Confronted with the unambiguous failure of U.S. assistance and the influx of new weapons to rescue Ukrainian forces from certain destruction, the Biden administration is desperate to reverse the situation and save face. Poland seems to offer a way out. More important, Polish President Andrzej Duda and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have both expressed the desire to erase the borders between Poland and Ukraine.

Unconfirmed reports from Warsaw indicate that after Washington rejected the proposals for a no-fly zone over Ukraine, along with the transfer of Polish MIG-29 aircrafts to Ukrainian pilots, the Polish general staff was quietly instructed to formulate plans for intervention in the Ukrainian conflict by seizing the western part of Ukraine. Naturally, military action of this scale would require Kiev’s approval, but given Washington’s de facto control of the Zelensky government, approval for Polish military intervention should not be a problem.

Presumably, the Biden administration may hope that a collision involving Russians and Poles in any form—including air and missile strikes against Polish forces on the Ukrainian side of the border—would potentially call for the NATO council to meet and address Article V of the NATO treaty.

It would mean that NATO, or at least major parts of it, would actively join the Ukrainian proxy war against Russia. While I believe that Russia has withheld forces from the current war to eventually defend against NATO, any entry of it into the war would significantly extend the fighting and the danger of a nuclear exchange would become imminent

Omo.. see Brazil!

Why Nigeria no fit just be like this... clean, organized, and working! Why?!

It breaks my heart!

pj3400:
will still visit again... Even Slum dey there.... Everything u can see in other places of the world...

It appears Brazil looks like South Africa: wealth, poverty, developed and underdeveloped all wrapped in one

plaindealer:
When you are in over your head when your conscience is killing you, when you feel out of place around your own people, when you know you fvuecked up and people no longer respect or trust you, you have no choice but to carry the burden on your face.

I don't know who the VP's advisers are, but they are not good advisers.

You really don't have to do certain things just because you can, a good name and credibility go a long way, but this man lost all that credibility all because of power and petty politics, he lost that shine.

What’s credibility did he loose?

Isn’t he better than all those perfidious lot in the photo?

����❗The NATO Secretary General said that the general offensive of the Russian Armed Forces in the Donbass had not even begun yet. The RF Armed Forces use a limited amount of available forces.

����⚡Confirmatory video about the occupation of the village of Svetlichnoye. Earlier, Kadyrov announced the capture of Svetlichny.

https:///intelslava/28177

RUSSIAN FORCES TAKE CONTROL OF KEY STRONGHOLD OF POPASNAYA. STRIKES ELIMINATE DOZENS OF FOREIGN EQUIPMENT PIECES IN KHARKOV


On May 7, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that Russian forces have destroyed a large concentration of military equipment from the USA and European countries near the Bogodukhov railway station in Kharkov Region.

The Russian military revealed that strikes resulted in the elimination of more than 280 members of pro-Kyiv forces and up to 48 armoured and motor vehicles.

The strikes came amid the intensification of clashes in the area of Izum, in the south of Kharkov Region, and in the entire sector of the Russian advance towards the Slovyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration. Intense fighting was reported around Barvenko, Svyatogorsk and Liman in this area.

Also, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, 3 Ukrainian Tochka-U ballistic missiles and 9 Smerch multiple-launch rockets nave been also intercepted over Izyum city, Kharkov Region. Expectedly, the intensification of the strikes by Kyiv forces correspond with the intensification of the fighting.

The positional fighting continued on the contact line in the sector of the Severodonetsk-Lysichansk agglomeration. An active advance there by forces of LPR and Russia have been partly halted as Russian forces carried out a flank strike on the remaining grouping of the Kyiv government there.

Russian-led forces continued regular strikes on fortified positions of pro-Kyiv units around Severodonetsk, while Russian and LPR troops developed offensive in the sector of Popasnaya and Zolotoe.

Popasnaya remained a contested area, but as of the middle day of April 7 local sources claimed that the town came under full control of Russian-led forces and the demining work is ongoing there.

The breakthrough around Popasnaya, if confirmed, will mark the collapse of the northern flank of the grouping of Kyiv’s forces in the sector. This will likely lead to the collapse of Kyiv’s defense in Severodonetsk and Seversk and will open route towards Bahmut.


The tense situation remains around the Azovstal plant in the industrial area of Mariupol. On May 6, clashes were reported in the area with Russian forces striking units of the Azov battalion and affiliated formations that tried carry out attacks from their encircled positions. The direct storm of the area (despite tactical advances of the Russians) is not going because Kyiv’s troops hold a large number of civilians as hostages. The humanitarian efforts to provide aid to civilians or evacuate them are used by Kyiv’s troops for own military purposes. 176 civilians have been evacuated from the area as of now.

Russian strikes pounded depots and positions of Kyiv’s forces around Nikolaev:

As of the middle of May 7, no large clashes are ongoing there. Media reports claimed that some number of pro-Kiyv troops from the Azovstal plant left the plant under a white flag. However, it does not seem that the garrison led by Ukrainian radicals is going to surrender as long as they have hostages to bargain.


Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry revealed additional details about strikes on military targets in Ukraine.

According to the statement, high-precision air-based missiles of the Russian Air Force hit 5 areas of manpower and military equipment concentration, as well as an ammunition depot near Bakhmut, the Donetsk People’s Republic.

At the same time, Russian operational-tactical and army aviation hit 18 military assets of Ukraine. The targets included 2 command posts near Skovorodnikovo in Kharkov Region, 5 areas of concentration of personnel and military equipment, 3 ammunition and fuel depots near Dachnoe in Odessa Region.

Odessa:

The Russian military added that missile troops and artillery hit 44 command posts and 196 strongholds of Ukrainian troops as well as areas of manpower and military equipment concentration during the night.

Also, Russian air defence means shot down 13 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles near Berezovka in Nikolaev Region, Signalnoe, Luganskoe, Krasnogorovka, Yasinovatoe and Zugres in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Olgino in Kherson Region, Cherneshchina in Kharkov Region.

The Russian side says that since the start of the operation Russian forces have destroyed 152 aircraft and 112 helicopters, 762 unmanned aerial vehicles, 295 anti-aircraft missile systems, 2,895 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 333 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,364 field artillery and mortars, as well as 2,716 units of special military vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Just another Bayraktar TB2 shot down by Russia’s Pantsir systems:

���� Satellite images of the destruction of the Azovstal plant