The Ukraine war thread
-
From the Institute for the Study of War's Aug 22 Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment:
"Russian occupation officials in Zaporizhia Oblast have obliquely declared the region’s independence from Ukraine by falsely identifying Ukrainian citizens entering the occupied region as temporary asylum seekers. Head of the Zaporizhia Oblast occupation administration Yevheny Balitsky signed an order that designates Ukrainian citizens arriving in occupied Zaporizhia Oblast as temporary asylum seekers based on Russian law. The order requires the registration of Ukrainian and Russian citizens based on their place of residence or place of arrival in the Russian-occupied parts of Zaporizhia Oblast and requires the distribution of temporary identification forms for all “stateless persons.” Ukrainians and Russians may register if they present proof of their temporary asylum application. This decree has various implications under both international law and domestic Russian law. International law states that a refugee is an individual from outside the country (or who is stateless) who is seeking “temporary asylum” in another country to escape persecution. Russian law defines a refugee as a person "who is outside of his/her country of nationality or habitual residence.” Neither of these statuses properly apply to the majority of people crossing from unoccupied Ukraine into occupied Zaporizhia.
"Russian occupation authorities are thus falsely classifying all Ukrainians entering occupied territories in Zaporizhia Oblast as refugees escaping persecution in Ukraine."
For the rest: https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-august-22
-
From the Institute for the Study of War's Aug 23 Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment:
"Russian government sources confirmed that Russia is bringing Ukrainian children to Russia and having Russian families adopt them. Russian federal subject (region) Krasnodar Krai’s Family and Childhood Administration posted about a program under which Russian authorities transferred over 1,000 children from Mariupol to Tyumen, Irkutsk, Kemerov, and Altay Krai where Russian families have adopted them. The Administration stated that over 300 children are still waiting to “meet their new families” and that citizens who decide to adopt these children will be provided with a one-time bonus by the state. Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) additionally reported that Russian officials transferred 30 Ukrainian children from Khartsyzk, Ilovaysk, and Zuhres in occupied Donetsk Oblast to Nizhny Novgorod under the guise of having the children participate in youth educational-training programs. The forcible transfer of children of one group to another “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group" is a violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide."
-
Would not put it past Putin and his FSB thugs to have orchestrated that car bomb that killed Dugina. Just too many coincidences.
Ukraine had nothing to gain by having her or her equally loathsome papa whacked. Nor did Russia - the cowed populace is on board close 100%. The Russian Left is irrelevant. Chechens? Forget it; Kadyrov has made sure they live in terror of crossing his diktats in full support of the Kremlin.
Bluntly, Dugin and his deceased brat were props in an FSB show. My hunch is that Putin and his FSB thugs orchestrated the car bomb that killed Dugina to send an unequivocal message against the real lunatic fringe of Russian nationalists just to remind them just who really is in charge. The longer the war with Ukraine drags on the greater the threat to Putin and his siloviki from the truly fascist elements of Russian society. Naturally nothing can proven to support this hunch but it is neither implausible nor improbable given the wild and enigmatic world of Russian politics and life in general.
As well, the Kremlin and FSB solve the case with hours of the blast up with is some risible nonsense about a Ukrainian woman who came to Moscow in July; lived in the same apartment as Dugina for the past month and; who allegedly escaped to Estonia within three hours of the hit. Makes for a great James Bond movie opening but otherwise does not pass the smell test. We’ve heard this Kremlin narrative or distracter countless times in past.
-
@Renauda said in The Ukraine war thread:
Who is Bosch? Not the Renaissance artist I presume.
A character in a detective series named after the artist.
-
That explains it. thanks I’ll have to look it up
-
I have to disagree with the pope on this one:
The Pope has condemned the car bomb murder of «poor girl» Daria Dugina, daughter of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ideologue Alexander Dugin, and said she is another «innocent victim» of the war in Ukraine.
Dugina was by no means an innocent victim of the war. She was an experienced and belligerent propagandist who was determined to wipe Ukraine off the map.
-
On the other hand, Gwynne Dyer believes it was the Ukrainians or, at least, Russian mobsters in the pay of the Ukrainians:
Dyer has some good points but for now I will stick with my earlier stated hunch for no reason other than the FSB’s reaction and official statement in the immediate aftermath of the bombing.
-
@George-K said in The Ukraine war thread:
earlier today I saw a video of Dugina advocating extermination of Ukranians.
Never heard of the girl until she unbeed. I'd say she's no loss.
That goes for anyone who utters the words extermination and humans in the same sentence.
-
-
From the Institute for the Study of War's Aug 26 Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment:
"Russian forces did not make any claimed or assessed territorial gains in Ukraine on August 26, 2022, for the first time since August 18, 2022. However, Russian forces still conducted limited and unsuccessful ground attacks on the Eastern Axis on August 26.
"The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stated that unspecified actors (but almost certainly Russian forces) reconnected part of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) to the Ukrainian power grid on August 26."
-
Worth reading: