Ukraine Invasion: Part 32

[MagicFox]

Gosh, that last one filled up quick! Welcome to 32, all 🇺🇦

@faytuks

Some of the US largest airports have been targeted by cyberattacks from an attacker within Russia, senior official says - ABC News.

Gosh this piece by Peter Zeihan is just viscerally precise.

"War Crimes as Policy": us11.campaign-archive.com/?u=de2bc41f8324e6955ef65e0c9&id=414322783f

Worth reading fully. This bit though...

"On October 10 the Russians unleashed their biggest missile barrage of the war, sending over 100 large-scale munitions across Ukraine. To my knowledge, at the time of this writing roughly eight hours after the first missiles fell, only one target of “military” significance was hit: the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Instead, nearly all missiles were aimed at densely populated regions, with the bulk of the assault occurring during rush hour when Ukrainians were out and about.

The targets and timing tell us one of two things: either that the Russians are running out of precision munitions and were doing little more than flinging ordinance in the general direction of population clusters, or that the express goal was to kill the maximum number of civilians. Both could be true. Both are very clearly war crimes. But this time, the war crimes are in the full light of day for the world to see. Russian state media is abuzz with excitement at the damage inflicted. And that is new.

The shift in approach is the hallmark of Russian General Sergei Surovikin, the new commander of the Russian war effort. He was appointed but two days before today’s missile swarm. Surovikin is greatly respected by the genocide wing of Russian society, with none other than Yevegeny Progozhin calling him “Russia’s best general”. Progozhin is the founder of the Wagner Group, the paramilitary organization the Russian government uses to provide a fig leaf of legal separation between its war-crime-riddled operations around the world and the Kremlin. Specifically, Surovikin was the commander responsible for the siege-starve-surrender policy that destroyed Aleppo in the Syrian Civil War.

Russian cruelty in the Ukraine War to this point has had the feel of standard operating procedure, rather than any conscious state effort to inflict human suffering. That now appears to be changing. Surovikin’s elevation to theater commander means Putin has decided war crimes are to no longer to be casual, but deliberate. No longer incidental, but celebrated. The new approach combines the statist aspects of Nazi-style genocide with lynching. Russia is becoming a maskless KKK in state form."

The Red Cross having paused their work in Ukraine has really upset me. I know they need to consider the safety of their staff etc. and I’ve no doubt it won’t have been an easy decision but my god if ever there was a time that people needed their help.

Today feels very dark indeed. @MagicFox that article you shared was very visceral. I have no idea where we as a World go from here.

A naval warehouse north of Moscow is on fire. The Russians blame an accidental detonation of an S300 surface to air missile.

twitter.com/WhereisRussia/status/1579410643673022466

It must be painful to have to pick publically blaming your own incompetence vs admitting that the Ukrainians can strike inside of Russia.

@Igotjelly It seems the Red Cross says they have -not- stopped humanitarian work.

If this barrage is Surovikin's work, it's not going to get any better. Oh for a really good sniper nearby.

Is this another fear mongering headline?! I find it so hard to see this juxtaposed with headlines about Kim Kardashian being booed at a basketball game.

mobile.twitter.com/michaeldweiss/status/1579516679004258305 says that this is not about the Kerch bridge, lots of information in Russia that this was coming before the bridge was attacked

I think you have answered your own question with the Kim K comment 🙂. This is no more than extremely poor and click- baity journalism.

I think the longer he goes without using them the more likely it is that they don't work. They probably haven't been maintained properly. They'll be frantically trying to get them up and running again, probably using duct tape and a prayer.

I think the "they don't work" narrative is wishful thinking. He stands more to lose than gain from using them. The scary thing now is the shock and awe tactics being used on ukraine

The only reason he hasn't used them is either because they don't work or he's scared of the response.

To be honest he hasn’t needed to. Today’s attacks have showed Russia still has plenty of scope for causing utter terror without the risk that’s associated with nukes.

That's deterrence

Reposting that Snyder article : snyder.substack.com/p/how-does-the-russo-ukrainian-war?utm_campaign=post

mobile.twitter.com/Mike_Eckel/status/1579510326986698752 Tbilisi this evening

That's lovely.

That’s really moving, and incredibly brave of the Georgians.

@Greenshake yes you’re probably right - my news feed on Apple News is just a rollercoaster, something isn’t quite right with what they choose to put in front of me!

I mean at this point I think @Igotjelly is completely right, the nukes are a bit of a pointless discussion when they’re causing widespread destruction without them already.

Interestingly my partner had a work call with Ukrainians this morning which I overheard and it basically went like this after he asked them how they were doing and sending his well wishes “Errr yes we have been bombed this morning but also have you seen the draw for the euros…England and Ukraine are in the same group!”

People have to keep living their lives. Amongst the terrible devastation are real people with beautiful lives. Putin can’t take that away, it’s entirely intangible but so precious and the Ukrainians have shown it in spades.

@YorkshireLondonMiss re the Euros football draw comment …I am just in awe of the Ukrainian spirit. It really is something else. I am not sure we would fare quite as well.

@Greenshake I thought the same, it’s inspiring to say the least.

They are also demonstrating in Prague

I am interested in this @minsmum and wonder whether what @Ijsbear posted at 12:06 is connected-

Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas believes that due to "war fatigue" and "obvious internal problems", the EU finds it increasingly difficult to remain united on sanctions against Russia

I hope I am not adding 2 plus 2 and making 5. I think it is too early to start getting soft because of inflation or heating. There is much more at stake for the West and genocide is being perpetrated against Ukranians.

I am hoping these movements are just small factions with incommensurate headlines. But more so, fake news.

Just researched. That is 1 in 153 of the Czech population. All drawn from different backgrounds. Some pro Putin and others who would die under Putin. Inconclusive whether it means anything.

@TargusEasting2 I believe the demonstrations in Prague are in support of Ukraine. If you scroll down minsmum's link, you will see it is awash with Ukraine flags in Poland ❤