Ukraine invasion

[randy]

Kyiv will investigate video that appears to show Ukrainian forces shooting Russian prisoners of war

Well the Ukrainian government is making the right noises. Now to see if there is any follow up.

[BDK]

So…. How well does individual psychology carry over to sociology?

Modern “Russian” culture is a mix of “Americans Born Elsewhere” and typical Asian “master race” serf mindset.

I have the fortune to have some excellent Russian born friends, and the misfortune to be related to some of the filth.

(He was a decent kid, until he turned started buying into the BS - usual story, the more indolent and talentless the more likely to believe in the “excellence” of his blood.)

As individuals, they’re the type anyone from a free society starts to feel an overwhelming urge to attack.

And, we’re now seeing the world pretty well decide to destroy Russia, aside from PotatUS.

There’s a bunch of decent people in Russia, especially in St. Petersburg.

Hopefully, they can get out. Their escape would damn Russia, long-term, but it’s been damned for the last 800 years or so…

Asides, er… aside, as the nerdy “new kid” most of my life, I learned to drop the bully’s “muscle boy,” quickly.

Russian culture REALLY values children. Most couples only have one. Society as a whole is very protective of them.

Not in the Karen sense, but in a “you don’t have to worry ?about your kid playing in the street sense” (outside of Moscow. Moscow is broken)

Sending back too many body bags for Putin to hide, is going to bother Russians. And, lots of Russians are intermarried with Ukrainian families. Using Chechens against Ukrainians will alienate more Russians.

So, I guess I’m asking what do the deluded do, to protect themselves from admitting failure.

No matter what happens in Ukraine, Putin will have to cope with it as a failure, as will the Patriarch of Moscow…. Maybe… the Patriarch may try to push it as some kind of spiritual failure.

If it leads to the need to purge the Chechens from Russian forces, that’s good for the world in general, but I’m not sure a centralized Apostolic church, on a jihad is a good thing for society.

[D5CAV]

Ukraine bio-weapons labs - the gift that keeps on giving: https://news.antiwar.com/2022/04/01/pen ... aine-labs/

Yes, we funded bio-weapons labs, but not for "offensive" bioweapons:

“I can say to you unequivocally there are no offensive biologic weapons in the Ukraine laboratories that the United States has been involved with,” Deborah Rosenbaum, the assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical, and biological defense programs, told the House Armed Services subcommittee.

But if anyone finds any "offensive" bioweapons at those labs, they were from those "big, bad Russians":

Robert Pope, the director of the DTRA’s Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, told the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in February that the labs might contain Soviet bioweapons and warned that the fighting in Ukraine could lead to the release of a dangerous pathogen.

'First it was "Russian Disinformation". Now it is Russian bioweapons:

The Biden administration has tried to portray any concerns about the labs as “Russian propaganda.” When the issue gained more media attention, Biden officials started accusing Moscow of plotting to use chemical or biological weapons, but the US hasn’t presented any evidence to back up its claims.

My 5-year old nephew comes up with better stories when he is caught doing a naughty.

[HTRN]

So they kneecapped Russian POWs because they were hungry?

They can't stuff them in POW camps. Their options are "let them go", in which case they'll just wind up fighting them again, or the more likely solution , executing them.

Considering the practical solution is "dead", wounded is a small mercy.

[D5CAV]

They can't stuff them in POW camps.

Seriously? https://www.cato.org/commentary/ukraine ... itarianism

Medvedchuk is hardly the only target of an increasingly ugly political crackdown. In mid‐​April, Ukraine’s state security service detained 60 demonstrators in the city of Kharkiv who sought to protest actions by the local city council. The authorities did not accuse the protestors of engaging in violence; indeed, there was no evidence of such behavior. Instead, the state security service alleged that “pro‐​Russian political forces” had sent the demonstrators to stage protests as a way to “justify possible acts of Russian aggression against Ukraine.” One could include almost any political activity under the rubric of such a vague, emotionally charged allegation.

So Ukraine can find room to detain 60 people for disagreeing with Zelinsky but can't find room for a few POWs?

[D5CAV]

"Wag the Dog"

...was a documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp41QhVEFZQ

At least in "Wag the Dog" they did a better job of making the clothes and faces look dirtier, like they were really in a war zone. These guys are really sloppy. Same set. Clean faces. Clean uniforms. Clean weapons. I've never been that clean in the field, even after a few hours.

"Wag the Dog" on Bucha: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0qcv4bYPlo

Gonzalo Lira Lopez is a producer and director, so he knows movie making: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1921893/bio ... _ov_bio_sm

[HTRN]

So Ukraine can find room to detain 60 people for disagreeing with Zelinsky but can't find room for a few POWs?

T
It isn't a "few people", it's thousands. NATO estimates that the fatalities alone are between 7-15k. I wouldn't be surprised if the number detained nearly equals it.

[Vonz90]

So Ukraine can find room to detain 60 people for disagreeing with Zelinsky but can't find room for a few POWs?

T
It isn't a "few people", it's thousands. NATO estimates that the fatalities alone are between 7-15k. I wouldn't be surprised if the number detained nearly equals it.

It is still a war crime, the reason doesn't matter.

[Vonz90]

So Ukraine can find room to detain 60 people for disagreeing with Zelinsky but can't find room for a few POWs?

T
It isn't a "few people", it's thousands. NATO estimates that the fatalities alone are between 7-15k. I wouldn't be surprised if the number detained nearly equals it.

It is still a war crime, the reason doesn't matter.

Looks like the Russians are giving as much back to them. Crappy show all around.

[blackeagle603]

Long read. Good read

Russian strategic culture: Why Russia does things the way it does
By Martti J. Kari, former intelligence Colonel in the Finnish Defence Forces

The theory of strategic culture is based on trying to outline what factors influence the decision-making of the state leadership. It then looks at how things are reflected in government decision-making and how they are reflected in practical action. This is a pretty good way to explain the actions of a state, in this case, Russia. On why Russia has acted as it has. This will help us understand.

When I say understand, I do not mean that we have to approve of what Russia is doing. But it helps us understand why Russia does things differently. It may even give us the instruments to predict what may happen next. Churchill said that “Russia is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” It is true. This is well said. Let us now set out to dispel this riddle through the theory of strategic culture.

There Is Not One Russia

Before we start with that, we must remember that we do not have one Russia. We kind of have many layers of Russia. Different historical layers still influence the thinking of the Russians about how the Russians work today. If we start from that very first movement, that is, Slavic Russia. Language and entity and Russianness were born there...

RTWT