Ukraine Invasion: Part 20

[HappyWinter]

Thanks to everyone for taking part in the thread.

Yeah all the tank column footage seems to show Russians with all the tanks at 12 as if on military parade.

I did wonder how effective a tank column is if their guns (sorry, wrong lingo) are all pointing to the front, so essentially you would be shooting your colleague in front. I am sure the turret (lingo ...) can swing around but it makes sense to move in clock formation for optimal look out purposes and preparedness for attack.

If I was a general looking at that procession, I'd probably be shaking my head and waving my arms around

Aiden Aslin has pretty much switched sides in his confessions to camera. I suspect he has had the precariousness of his situation made clear.

RT: “The situation in Mariupol is catastrophic. It could have been avoided should Ukraine have left but they chose to stay. Zelensky had a big role [in this decision]. He could have told them to leave but they stayed. I did not want this, I wanted to leave because we do not need war,” ..... “They are criminals,” he added, referring to the Ukrainian soldiers, when asked about the Ukrainian military allegedly killing civilians in the city.

When/if Mariupol falls, as it has been about to for a month now, there will no doubt be some Azov confessions, unless they fight to the last man.

There's also an article there that blames the west for wanting war 'rather than pursuing a truce'. That's an interesting set of words.

www.rt.com/news/553925-west-want-war-moscow/

Any more news on whether the Neptune factory was actually bombed?

Leaving aside the mental gymnastics needed to figure out why the Russians need to bomb a Neptune factory at this point in time if their flagship wasn't actually hit by Ukrainian Neptune missiles.

No we have not. Nor would I expect us to.

[quote MMBaranova]Aiden Aslin has pretty much switched sides in his confessions to camera. I suspect he has had the precariousness of his situation made clear.

RT: “The situation in Mariupol is catastrophic. It could have been avoided should Ukraine have left but they chose to stay. Zelensky had a big role [in this decision]. He could have told them to leave but they stayed. I did not want this, I wanted to leave because we do not need war,” ..... “They are criminals,” he added, referring to the Ukrainian soldiers, when asked about the Ukrainian military allegedly killing civilians in the city.

When/if Mariupol falls, as it has been about to for a month now, there will no doubt be some Azov confessions, unless they fight to the last man.

There's also an article there that blames the west for wanting war 'rather than pursuing a truce'. That's an interesting set of words.

www.rt.com/news/553925-west-want-war-moscow/[/quote]
The photos of him appear that hes been beaten heavily (possibly tortured).

By all accounts he is actually a dual national and officially in the Ukrainian army proper.

So Geneva convention does apply.

I think its too easy to say he's 'changed sides' in the context of clear physical abuse.

If I remember rightly he said to his family if he was captured not to believe anything he said. I think he knew he would be tortured, probably

Darth Putin
@DarthPutinKGB
·
29m
Dark humor is like rescue in Russian Navy - not everyone gets it.

Cheers me up in an otherwise grim twitter feed.

And his fiancée is Ukrainian, isnt she? In an occupied area?

Trent Telenko's thoughts for the day seem to be about the skills of Russian soliders and driving.

When my DF did his (Italian) national service the instructor crushed the gears. DF commented that he couldn't drive and said he'd rather not sit with him.

As you can imagine a massive incident arose. Eventually the top commanding officer said to DF to drive the lorry around the camp and if he crushed the gears it was 2 years of very hard service.

DF drove it around without a squeak. The CO was amazed and said in all his years he'd never heard it not crush and was told "they all do that".

"They all do that if you can't drive" said DF, as he accepted the promotion to squad driving instructor. He spent 2 years teaching driving from motorbikes to tanks. It's why I can double declutch and drive a car with a broken clutch mechanism.

I think I just heard EU complete oil embargo in 10 days.
I hope it's true and wish it was sooner.

The Vizar plant that makes Neptun's had it

twitter.com/UkrWarReport check 1 hour ago.

People have pointed out that Aiden Aslin has what looks like a boot-print stamped into his head and a head injury caused by a rifle butt. The Russians are also falsely claiming that he is a mercenary and holding the threat over him of the Geneva Convention not applying.

Journalists have discovered the identity of the Russian soldier and his wife who were discussing raping Ukrainian women. They were originally from Russia but are living in occupied Crimea. I guess there are two people who are hoping and praying that Ukraine doesn't get Crimea back.

Back on 28 March, I posted this about Marina Ovsyannikova (the editor who made the live TV protest), who after her detention called for the EU to drop sanctions:

I'm going to stick to my assessment of Marina Ovsyannikova having done a damn brave thing and now trying to keep herself and her family alive and not (very) tortured. It's something we may have to get used to seeing: resistance followed by mitigating statements. I'm not going to hate on folk who do that.

And also this article:

“If they catch you, they will get you on camera and they will make you say that everything you filmed is a lie,” he said. “All your efforts and everything you have done in Mariupol will be in vain.”

www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/21/the-russians-were-hunting-us-down-the-war-on-journalism-in-mariupol

So Aslin being beaten then paraded with a script is exactly as expected.

Remember the pregnant woman with a newborn the Russians captured after the bombing of the Mariupol hospital and after she'd been captured, she turned up on their TV saying she had been an actress.

@MMBaranova

You should be ashamed for questioning Aiden Aslin’s courage, resolve and his position. Shame on you!

@RedToothBrush

Thank you for stepping in there with reason.

You were being gentle I think. It’s impossible he will ‘change sides’.

Easy, Odesa. MMBaranova has relatives in an occupied zone and she's simply reporting what's happened. She is not questioning it. Simply saying what appears to have happened. She said herself that the precariousness of his position had probably been made clear.

@Ijsbear

Easy, Odesa. MMBaranova has relatives in an occupied zone and she's simply reporting what's happened. She is not questioning it. Simply saying what appears to have happened. She said herself that the precariousness of his position had probably been made clear.

You should be questioning his/her post at 18:57.

You really should.

I can't seem to reply to PMs today, so to the person who messaged me -

Thank you! I read along every day but don't really have much to add, and would struggle to find the words to say it in anyway.

The thread seems remarkably un-botted the last day or two, which makes me wonder what the farms are up to/where they're focusing.

I work in energy infrastructure, and we're definitely having a sharp increase in security issues/events atm.

Odesa, thank you very much for that link to a charity feeding refugees.

I didn't get any sense of judgement of Aidin Aslin in @MMBaranova's post : if anything I got a sense of sympathy from her because of the vulnerability of his position

In fact, what I get from her post is a sense of judgement from her about what the Russians will have done to him to get him to make that statement.

Plus he will be worried about his (Ukrainian) family - who themselves are in a "precarious" position.

And yes, I have read her post of 18.57. Absolutely nothing to be ashamed of or to question

Hi @AthelstaneTheUnready - long time no see

@prettybird

Hi *@AthelstaneTheUnready* - long time no see

Priveet!

Am kicking about in Glasgow in a couple of weeks time if you fancy a coffee?

Adding my voice to the ones saying MMBaranova seemed to be pointing out the results of being threatened/having family threatened, not an actual change of heart.

I'd love a coffee @AthelstaneTheUnready Just let me know when and where.

I’m another one standing up for @MMBaranova! Has been very informative throughout these threads and very much does not come across as a Russian bot (unlike others…)