Ukraine Invasion: Part 27

[MagicFox]

27th thread, thanks for the continued company and analysis all

That Housman poem has been much in my mind these last 100 days.

The "mercenaries" in the poem... weren't. They were the professional soldiers of the British Army who formed the British Expeditionary Force to France in 1914, mocked by some other nations for being a standing army who received regular pay. The Kaiser allegedly gave his invading troops an order to "exterminate ... the treacherous English and walk over General French's contemptible little army" . Inevitably, the Brits claimed the name for themselves as "The Old Contemptibles".

The poem is about the early days of WWI, when these professionals soldiers critically held up the German advance. In Aug or Sep 1914, when one British regiment was largely wiped out in an apple orchard they'd been defending, their fire-rate with their single-shot rifles was so great the German attackers had believed they were facing machine guns.

This is for the Azovstal defenders:

Their shoulders held the sky suspended;
They stood, and the earth's foundations stay;
What God abandoned, these defended,
And saved the sum of things...

.

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime · Today 22:12
“Ijsbear
that's either Kipling or Housman ...? :)”

(But this is not about Ukraine, so I shall shut up.)

Please don’t. Ukraine has somehow ended up being about life, or trying to sift out what is right or true, as are these poems.

Talking poetry, the Wilfred Owen poem "Dulce et decorum est" ..... pro patria mori

....was the main poem that Scots pupils of my era studied for their English O grade.

(As it happened, I didn't study it as I got back from NZ 6 months before the O Grades so didn't have time to study it).

oh yes. The Kremlin tells with such high zest to children ardent for some desperate glory, the old lie: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori...

The Kremlin uses chemical weapons, too.

oh I never knew the background to it!

and Ill look up the fairy tales, I love them. There's a great deal of depth in them and the old ones don't shy away from human nature in all its aspects.

Robert Service too =)

Would it be totally crass to say fuckin' ell, we're wide-read bunch?

more seriously

Ukraine NOW
@UkraineNowMedia
⚡️Mayor of Melitopol Fedorov: "The invaders have left almost all checkpoints in the Melitopol area. The heroic Ukrainian military is doing all they can to liberate the settlements from the Rashists."

ISW Key Takeaways

Russian forces likely retain control over most of Severodonetsk as of June 6, though the exact situation in the city remains unclear. Control of terrain is likely changing hands frequently.

Russian forces in the Izyum area did not make any confirmed advances, while forces advancing west from Lyman secured minor gains.

Russian forces continued unsuccessful attempts to sever Ukrainian lines of communication northeast of Bakhmut.

Limited and localized Ukrainian counterattacks on June 5 forced Russian troops to focus on holding defensive lines north of Kharkiv City on June 6.

Russian occupation authorities are advancing efforts to issue Russian passports to Ukrainian citizens and cement their control over occupied territories.

The Ukrainian Navy claimed to have pushed the Russian Black Sea Fleet more than 100 km from the Ukrainian coast, likely to reduce the pressure of the Russian blockade on Ukraine’s southern ports.

[too bad about Severodonetsk :((]

+++

The Kyiv Independent, [07/06/2022 05:44]
⚡️CNN: US spy chief says Biden declassified intel prior to Russia’s invasion due to skepticism. The move was aimed at combating Russian propaganda globally and ensuring that U.S. partners are sharing a unified picture.

+++

From UkraineNOW:

⚡️ The EU abolishes all duties on Ukrainian goods for a year
For one year, all Ukrainian producers will be able to supply their goods to the EU member states without paying additional duties.
The decision applies to the following goods:
• industrial products (aluminum and steel);
• fruits and vegetables;
• agricultural products;
• fertilizers.

💥 Ukrainian helicopters struck enemy forces in Kherson region, and aircraft struck ammunition depots in Mykolaiv region

Not much other news yet though to repeat something from yesterday, ⚡️ Mayor: Russian troops leave 'almost all' military checkpoints around Melitopol amid Ukrainian advances.

Reading the twittersphere there are such conflicting reports about Sieverodonetsk that I think all you can say is ' fierce fighting, fog of war'

The best fog of war story Ive heard about Sieverodonetsk is definitely the one about how Ukraine tactically withdrew ensuring that there was loads of alcohol to loot. Then once the Russians had taken the bait and got pissed they counterattacked.

I have no idea if its true. Its one of those stories you kind of want to believe but think its probably made up bullshit, but leaves you with that doubt in your mind that actually its a good idea that might actually have worked.

I think it more likely that the story is tosh though but its great PR and for Ukrainian morale.

I see nothing conclusive that Ukraine has successfully managed a serious counterattack in the city. That doesn't mean they haven't, but I certainly can't see anything as strong as the footage of Russians in the centre of the city which we saw last week.

@Ijsbear · Today 07:45
Thank you for the round up of news.
Severodonetsk must be awful beyond belief.

Re: The Ukrainian Navy claimed to have pushed the Russian Black Sea Fleet more than 100 km from the Ukrainian coast, likely to reduce the pressure of the Russian blockade on Ukraine’s southern ports

Is this the first time we have heard of Ukraine taking action in the sea? Or was this by means of shelling or bombing?

Today programme Radio 4 is now talking about the situation in east Ukraine.

The best fog of war story Ive heard about Sieverodonetsk is definitely the one about how Ukraine tactically withdrew ensuring that there was loads of alcohol to loot. Then once the Russians had taken the bait and got pissed they counterattacked.

it tends to fit with their highly resourceful and original thinking! :D

@ScrollingLeaves I haven't heard any details actually. Tbh I imagine it can't be by Navy, there's almost nothing left of them after Crimea and the initial invasion.

@ScrollingLeaves

"The Ukrainian Navy claimed to have pushed the Russian Black Sea Fleet more than 100 km from the Ukrainian coast, likely to reduce the pressure of the Russian blockade on Ukraine’s southern ports"
Is this the first time we have heard of Ukraine taking action in the sea? Or was this by means of shelling or bombing?

If true I'd speculate one reason might be Russian int/Russian Navy have looked at the published envelope of whatever anti-ship weapons the Ukrainians might have now deployed, then drawn a few arcs of a suitable radius on a few charts, went 🤔 and decided to increase their stand-off from the coastline to a more suitable distance.

Whether it provides safety or not depends on how good your intelligence is...

I wonder if some of the new further-reaching armaments will be able to reach Snake Island. There's a big Russian presence there now.

Losses.

I fear as well there is one Ukrainian fighter plane lost from friendly fire.

I fear as well there is one Ukrainian fighter plane lost from friendly fire.

TBH I think in reality you'd expect there to have been more than the one (on both sides), but I know the recent one was quite high profile.

When it comes to tactical aviation both Air Forces are flying pretty much the same equipment over the contested areas and electronic aids to assist identification are not infallible/may not be serviceable.

Ouch. Of all the deaths that particular variety seems the most wasteful and filled with regret.

If this is the same plane, there seems to some confusion as to how it was shot.
This article mentions it could have been air-to-air.

Possible air-to-air shootdown captured on camera in Ukraine

www.aerotime.aero/articles/31218-possible-air-to-air-shotdown-captured-on-camera-in-ukraine

Friendly fire: the person who shoots someone from their own side must feel so terrible - it doesn’t bear thinking about.

Another accident. Another 'accident'?

The Moscow Times
@MoscowTimes
Russian internet giant VK’s first deputy CEO and director of procurement have died in a “tragic accident” in the remote Arctic tundra, the company said.

@notimagain - or anyone else:

Those planes fly so fast it must be extremely difficult to see any markings, especially as they are not brightly delineated like commercial jets are.

How on earth can people know whether to shoot them or not (apart from common sense if you’ve just seen one vdrop a bomb where your own side would not have)?

A good one to look for would be his A Doorway in Fairyland, with illustrations by his sister Clemence, but they are not old stories: he made them up from the whole cloth. There was a bit of a fashion for doing that among the late Victorians; some were good, like these ones, others were very Goddy stuff full of a pot of message and about as much fun as eating uncooked rolled oats without milk or sugar.

Incidentally, I may not have mentioned how much I value your posts that give me a digest of what is going on. Thank you for them.

I;m glad that they are useful. I can't work so to do something useful really does matter.

NEXTA
@nexta_tv
Shoigu said that the total number of Ukrainian prisoners of war is 6,489

There may be more than just military personnel among them - occupiers often kidnap civilians.

The Ukrainian authorities have not yet commented on figures voiced by the representative of aggressor country.

(it has to be said that Shoigu suffers from the wooden nose too so who knows how reliable this is)

@Ijsbear · Today 11:32
That cartoon is very funny.
@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime Today 11:27
I was delighted to learn from you last night about Laurence Houseman’s illustrations and fairy tales and the illustrations by their sister Clemence. The illustrations are wonderful, and I hope to search out some of the books of fairy tales.