Ukraine Invasion: Part 36

[MagicFox]

Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦 Thanks as usual to all contributors and lurkers

I wonder if he realises the irony of posting "Those who want power are the ones who least deserve it", which seems to be his most recent tweet.

I think there are going to be major problems for Twitter anyway. Far too many techies were fired.

ISW Key inflections in ongoing military operations on December 18:

Ukrainian Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) representative Andriy Yusov reported that the Russian military received a new batch of Iranian-made drones and continues to negotiate with Iran on the acquisition of ballistic missile systems.[17]

Ukrainian and Russian sources reported that positional fighting continued along the Svatove-Kremmina line.[18]

Ukrainian and Russian sources reported ongoing fighting in the outskirts of Bakhmut and to the northeast and south of the city.[19] The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that Russian forces captured Yakovlivka, Donetsk Oblast, northeast of Soledar.[20]

Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces dislodged Russian forces from long-held positions near Bakhmut.[21]

A Ukrainian official stated that Russian forces are redeploying units from the east (left) bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast and that it is too early to tell whether Russian forces are withdrawing.[22] Russian and Ukrainian forces continued routine artillery and rocket strikes across the Dnipro River.[23]

The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces struck two Russian force concentrations and two ammunition depots in Zaporizhia Oblast on December 16, injuring 150 personnel and destroying 10 pieces of equipment.[24] Ukrainian Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov stated that Russian forces are placing dragon’s teeth anti-tank defenses in Melitopol.[25]

Russian forces and occupation authorities continue to struggle to address a severe shortage of medical personnel and supplies.[26]

+++

Zelenskyy: "I held a meeting of the Staff today. The situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions was examined in great detail. The Bakhmut direction is key. We keep the city, although the occupiers are doing everything so that not a single undamaged wall remains there" [as someone (sorry, can't remember who!) said upthread, Bakhmut seems to be much more important than was originally thought]

Kyiv Indep Telegram

⚡️European Parliament chief calls for more weapons, aid for Ukraine.
The European Union needs to strengthen its financial and military support for Ukraine because “Ukraine must win this war,” Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament, told (kyivindependent.com/news-feed/european-parliament-chief-calls-for-more-weapons-aid-for-ukraine) Germany's Bild newspaper.

⚡️General: Putin will push for Belarus' broader involvement in war against Ukraine

⚡️Watchdog: Russia transfers more military equipment to Belarus.
Russia transferred at least 50 Ural military trucks to Belarus on Dec. 16, the Belarusian Hajun, a watchdog that monitors the movement of Russian troops, reported (kyivindependent.com/news-feed/watchdog-russia-transfers-more-military-equipment-to-belarus) on Dec. 18.

⚡️ Media: Latvia allocates (kyivindependent.com/news-feed/media-latvia-allocates-over-500-000-euros-to-support-ukrainian-state-media) over 500,000 euros to support Ukrainian state media.
The Latvian government has agreed to allocate nearly 560,000 euros ($593,292) to purchase generators for Ukrainian state media, Delfi reported on Dec. 18.

⚡️ Zelensky: Electricity restored (kyivindependent.com/news-feed/zelensky-electricity-restored-for-9-million-ukrainians) for 9 million Ukrainians.

⚡️9 kamikaze drones shot down over Kyiv.
The Iranian-made Shahed drones were shot down over Kyiv amid a Russian attack on the city overnight on Dec. 19, the Kyiv City Military Administration said on Telegram.

⚡️General staff: Russia amassing (kyivindependent.com/news-feed/general-staff-russia-amassing-additional-troops-near-occupied-melitopol) additional troops near occupied Melitopol.
The Ukrainian military has observed an increase in the number of Russian troops near Russian-occupied Melitopol, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported in its daily update on Dec. 19.
The increase in Russian troops may be a response to reports of Ukraine's imminent counteroffensive in the southeast. [this is an unusually bald statement of future intentions. Possibly for real, possibly deception?]

⚡️Ukraine's Air Force downs (kyivindependent.com/news-feed/ukraines-air-force-downs-30-drones-overnight) 30 drones overnight.

⚡️Danilov: Russia has missiles for 3-4 more mass attacks
(kyivindependent.com/news-feed/danilov-russia-has-missiles-for-3-4-more-mass-attacks-on-ukraine-before-running-out-of-stocks)on Ukraine before running out of stocks.
According to National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksii Danilov, “they (Russian troops) have already passed the limit (of rockets’ amount) that according to the regulations they should have kept, and they passed it quite a long time ago.”

⚡️Ukrenergo: Ukraine’s energy system ‘in difficult situation (kyivindependent.com/news-feed/ukrenergo-ukraines-energy-system-in-difficult-situation-due-to-russian-attacks)’ due to Russian attacks.
Emergency power outages have been introduced in 10 Ukrainian oblasts and the city of Kyiv, the state grid operator Ukrenergo said.

UNITED24 Media

🇲🇩 Moldova is no longer dependent on Russian gas

The Russian occupiers have not let people out of the temporarily occupied territories for three days, Mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov said

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Russian military had deported about two million Ukrainians, many of whom were children. In particular, according to him, employees of the Zaporizhzhia NPP in Enerhodar were blackmailed, taking their children to “vacation” in camps in the Russian Federation, and then they demanded to cooperate with the occupiers, to exchange Ukrainian passports for Russian ones.

In the Irkutsk region of the Russian Federation, an installation at an oil and gas condensate field was caught on fire

Fights for control over the Kinburn Spit continue
The Armed Forces of Ukraine deliver powerful blows. Kinburn is the only part of the Mykolaiv region that remains under occupation.

🤝 The UK intends to transfer hundreds of thousands of artillery munitions to Ukraine in 2023 under a £250m contract, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will announce this shortly, — The Guardian.
[!!!!]

Japan is deploying two squadrons of F-15 fighters to the United States, they can be transferred to Ukraine, — military expert Roman Svitan
"The 44th and 67th squadrons of F-15S, F-15C and F-15D are being transferred from Okinawa to the United States. F-22 aircraft are sent there instead. These two Japanese squadrons will be decommissioned by 2025. I think that more than 30 aircraft can be deployed, including to Ukraine. Our pilots are preparing to fly these fighters. Positive news should be expected in aviation," the analyst said.
He added that negotiations are also underway with Poland and Slovakia on the supply of MiG-29 fighters to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. @notimagain @MissConductUS

Israel Ambassador to Ukraine, Michael Brodsky, said that Jerusalem and Moscow have concluded security agreements that now "create restrictions that cannot be crossed." This is how he explained to the Washington Post the country's "low-key" approach to helping Ukraine. [I wont write here exactly what I think of this, but in mild terms it seems to me that a country who has experienced appalling genocide and then sits by when another country nearby experiences it, has lost all moral claim to sympathy]

Another Mi-8 helicopter crashed in Russia

Live: Ukraine Telegram

🇳🇴Norway has almost stopped issuing visas to Russians - The Barents Observer.
Russian citizens cannot obtain a Norwegian visa even if they are invited to the country by Norwegian organizations.

Volodymyr Zelensky said that he was personally dealing with the issue of transferring Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems to Ukraine. They can strengthen protection against Russian missile attacks.

Deputy Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate Vadym Skibitsky said in an interview with Spiegel that Putin has postponed the start of the invasion of Ukraine three times - the last time it happened in mid-February.
"The FSB insisted on the beginning of the offensive, they were convinced that they had sufficiently prepared for the invasion. They invested huge resources and pushed the head of the Russian General Staff Gerasimov to attack," Skibitsky said.
Eventually, Gerasimov succumbed to the pressure and approved the start of the offensive.

On December 17th, 2022, the Russian tycoon and former owner of 'biggest' developer group Don-Stroi (it operates in the Nonresidential Building Construction industry from Moscow) - Dmitriy Zelenov has died in France after „falling from the stairs“.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced joint naval exercises with China at the end of 2022.
The exercises will take place on December 21-27 in the East China Sea, including missile launches and artillery fire. Such maneuvers have been held annually since 2012.

3 more days and the estimated dead will top 100k.

Think he also tweeted something along the lines of be careful what you wish for. He’s a total narcissist!

It does feel like Twitter is being run by an arrogant, resentful teenager with worrying political leanings.
I feel like we're watching an emotional & economic meltdown in real time!

♥️Our military on the Bakhmut front conducted a series of counterattacks and knocked out Russian troops from the recently occupied outskirts of Bakhmut

Bakhmut is currently under the full control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine 🇺🇦

This has been reported recently. The Russians had taken the East of Bakhmut but it seems now they are driven out.

@ReleaseTheDucksOfWar Israel Ambassador to Ukraine, Michael Brodsky, said that Jerusalem and Moscow have concluded security agreements that now "create restrictions that cannot be crossed." This is how he explained to the Washington Post the country's "low-key" approach to helping Ukraine. [I wont write here exactly what I think of this, but in mild terms it seems to me that a country who has experienced appalling genocide and then sits by when another country nearby experiences it, has lost all moral claim to sympathy]

Hold on a second. Israel is still facing appalling genocide from the forces of Hezbollah and its allies, who are committed to killing every single Jewish man, woman or child. Even more so than the Russians in Ukraine who only have massacred a certain number of civilians and kidnapped children (not killed every single Ukrainian they invaded). Hezbollah and its allies are committed to completely wiping Israel off the face of the earth and every single one of its Jewish inhabitants. They kill Israelis whenever they have the possibility, civilian or otherwise and celebrate the murder of children when they can manage it. The only reason they are not able to implement their full policy is because of Israeli military might, the committment is unquestionably there. The West chose not to go into Syria, leaving a power vacuum into which Russia stepped. Russia is therefore one of the major powers on Israel's borders, and indirectly in control of much of the territory from which Hezbollah operates. As a consequence Israel was forced into negotiating with Russia for its own security and safety - long before Russia invaded Ukraine. Russia may be in breach of its treaties and promises elsewhere, but so long as its promises and agreements with Israel vis a vis Syria hold, I don't see that it is Israel's responsibility to reneg on those promises and agreements on behalf of Ukraine. That seems to me all that the Israeli ambassador is saying.

Even more so than the Russians in Ukraine who only have massacred a certain number of civilians and kidnapped children (not killed every single Ukrainian they invaded).

You missed that Putin wanted to erase Ukrainian culture and people. You missed Holodomir.

They kill Israelis whenever they have the possibility, civilian or otherwise and celebrate the murder of children when they can manage it.

Just like Russians then. Mariupol erased. Destroyed.

Just how long do you think Russia will hold to its promises if it's in its interests to break them? Just like it's in Israel's interests to hold to them now, because it's afraid of Russia and its presence on the edge of Syria.

Don't you think that it would be better for Israel to actively support Ukraine, which is also facing genocide? If so, you can claim that Israel is acting in its own best interests by -not- helping Ukraine. But you really can't expect much sympathy from anyone else at this point.

If not* you can claim that Israel is acting in its own best interests - as the Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine has done.

Even more so than the Russians in Ukraine who only have massacred a certain number of civilians and kidnapped children (not killed every single Ukrainian they invaded).

You missed that Putin wanted to erase Ukrainian culture and people. You missed Holodomir.

I most certainly did not. I totally agree that what Putin wants to do is absolutely vile. Completely and totally and utterly. However, even within the category of vileness, there is vileness and vileness. It is important to recognise that. I am absolutely no supporter of what Putin is doing. But - how does one put this for you to see. If somebody kills one in ten civilians, it is absolutely and totally abhorent. BUT, even within that horribleness. There are levels - horribly horrible levels. Someone who kills 9 in 10 civilians, and only misses the last one because they missed, is even more vile than somebody who kills 1 in ten civilians.

Putin is totally trying to wipe out Ukrainian people and culture, and it is awful. And the Ukrainians quite rightly say they will die to defend their culture. It is appalling. He is kidnapping children and shipping them into Russia - that is awful, but there are levels.

Ok, let me give you an example from my personal family, to try and let you understand. During the WW1, my grandfather and his family were forced by the Russians into central Russia (from Lithuania) - in fact my great great grandfather is buried somewhere beside a railway track in Ukraine, because he was too elderly and died on the journey. Why? Because the Russians during WW1 were convinced the Jews were a fifth column for the Germans and forced most of those in the cities into central Russia. They were only able to go back to Lithuania post WW1.

During WW2 - the same thing happened to cousins of mine. They didn't have the right papers when the Russians invaded Lithuania, and they were forced by Russia into central Russia (actually Siberia) where they survived by eating grass (well the younger cousins did, their parents died, as they were not young enough to survive that). However my great grandparents and my great uncle and his family had the right papers, so they were able to stay in Lithuania under the Russians, so they were there when the Germans arrived - and none of them survived.

Which is worse, the WW2 Germans or the WW2 Russians? Can you see what I am saying. I had two cousins who survived BECAUSE there were shipped into Russia by the Russians even though their parents did not. Can you understand how bizzare that is? There are levels of horribleness that is sometimes impossible to contemplate.

I agree there are levels of horribleness too awful to contemplate. Ive seen some cruelty to children in the UK that is horrific, certainly not anything one can write here - Im quite sure that quite a few readers of Mumsnet have - but they were not systematic societal brutalities. The movement of appalling cruelty from the individual to the systematic -does- make a difference. It's also hard to say, but agreed that numbers count - an environment where 1 in 10 die is better than an environment where 1 in 5 die.

Your family went through terrible times and the cost, and deaths, cannot and must not be forgotten. As the Holocaust cannot ever be forgotten. Sometimes it is chance that individuals survive ...

I do believe though, having learned more about Russian history (and a certain amount about UK history recently, which is also awful but less deliberate ... mostly), that Russia has a savagery that it has not moved beyond.

Warning: terrible links.
www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/10/17/2129458/-Circassia-The-land-people-and-brutal-Russian-genocide-you-ve-never-heard-of
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Terror

Russia has said they want the Ukrainian culture erased utterly (and there seems to be some claims that there are plans to rape Ukrainian women so badly that they never want sex, and to reproduce, again). They seem to be happy if Ukrainians flee, though they provably try to dirty their name in Poland. I ask this gently - would Hezbollah follow Jewish people, if they left Israel, and try to eradicate them? Perhaps not. At a guess, only a few would then insist on eradication of all Jewish people. At this point what I see is that both peoples, Ukrainians and Jewish people, are the focus of societies who want them -gone- and don't much care how, as long as they get the land they want.

I'm aware that Israel has a lot of Russian Jewish people who have links with Russia and that has to be difficult internally if Israel took a stronger stance to support Ukraine more than the humanitarian aid they have sent. There was, quite a few threads ago, quite a good discussion and information on this, some of which unfortunately I can't quite remember now which is a pity.

But, and I realise this is hard to hear, I do think that Israel, one of the most militarily experienced cultures in the world, could do more to help Ukraine. The price would be trouble with Russia - but Russia will cause trouble when convenient to itself anyway. I can't get away from the view that the Holocaust and the Pogroms and the inhumanity that Jewish people have faced so unfairly for millennia should, in my view, give Israel sympathy for others facing extermination as a people and a culture too, and that sympathy should lead to practical military support. It is frustrating when a highly effective military culture who -know- what victimization is (none better) could help, and don't.

Russia is not and never has been pro-Jewish, though, any more than the USSR was. A previous administration in Greater Russia may have saved a few from the Nazis by accident, but pogrom is a Russian word.

One of those times when I hope that Israel owns a long spoon.

Which is worse, the WW2 Germans or the WW2 Russians? Can you see what I am saying. I had two cousins who survived BECAUSE there were shipped into Russia by the Russians even though their parents did not. Can you understand how bizzare that is? There are levels of horribleness that is sometimes impossible to contemplate.

Which is worse. Which is worse.

In truth, I think that humans, almost all humans, are capable of appalling things in the wrong circumstances. When you are faced with the question 'what will you do to save your life' at the sharp, next-ten-seconds end, it's a rather pressing question.

It does seem to me that culture influences our basic human reactions though. Russia and the DRC seem to be particularly terrible influences. I don't know what North Korea is like under pressure, since they haven't gone to war since the 1950's.

What does strike me though is that a lot of survival is chance, and that's very very hard for people to endure. People like to think that stability and fairness is the norm and it isn't, not really. Not when you look at history and a fair old bit of the world today.

I ask this gently - would Hezbollah follow Jewish people, if they left Israel, and try to eradicate them?

The answer is very clearly yes - it is not much more than a year ago that they were parading through the Jewish areas of London (down the road from me, actually) threatening to rape me with loud speakers. Just where I used to go to the gym before that gym closed. They attack schools and synagogues here and in Europe when they can.

I totally agree with the long spoon - I don't like it either. It is to my mind exactly that, a pact with the devil. And I am sure if the Russians felt it was in their interests to break it, they would, but that doesn't necessarily mean it is the right thing for Israel to do to break whatever commitments they have made either. Just because I know someone has cheated someone else, does that mean that it is morally OK for me to break any deal I have with that person, including one that predated that cheating? Not cheated me, at least so far, just somebody else. Don't know that the morality is so clear. Although once I knew about the cheating, I would certainly be very, very wary.

We keep making the point that Ukraine is being forced to fight with one hand tied behind its back - Russia attacks it, but it is not allowed to properly attack Russia. On the one hand that is infuriating. On the other, you can see the moral issues. Russia is wrong to attack and invade Ukraine. Similarly Ukraine could be argued to in the wrong to attack and invade Russia, no matter how tempting that seems. Strikes at military targets within Russia, like airfields (even though there is a chance, even a high chance ,of civilian casualties), might be OK, although the US seems to disagree - but, let's say Ukraine could take a chunk out of Russia and hold it - as a hostage for Crimea, say. Would that be OK?

We keep expecting and demanding that Ukraine behave in moral ways in the face of immorality - as we do of Western forces generally. In terms of efficiency, there is no question that at least somewhat hamstrings their fighting ability. On the other hand, I think most accept Ukraine to make certain levels of moral compromise - eg Russian troops in churches, hospitals and schools. It is not an easy choice.

When I was in Israel in mid February (ie just before Putin invaded)- everybody was saying they expect another war on the Lebanese border within a year or two. What the invasion of Ukraine has done to that assessment, I don't know. Hezbollah now dominates Lebanon, but the country is falling/has fallen apart, and attacking Israel will draw in more money from Iran and Qatar etc for them to dispense as patronage, and give them someone to blame and focus on. While Russia might be somewhat weaker in Syria than it has been, having Russia provide even covert support would put more Israeli lives including civilians, at stake. If Israel is attacked, they need and want Russia to stay out of it.

Oh, and as you may have just noticed - Iranian technology is actually better than the Russian stuff. That is what Hezbollah has. Europe has spent a lot of time not understanding the Russians, but they have also spent a lot of time not understanding and also underestimating the Iranians. We nearly, nearly had a European driven deal with Iran where Russia was to be the guarantor of Iranian behaviour.

@Naem No because 1 in 10 or 9 in 10, the individual is killed tortured raped etc.

The vileness is the same, or we get to treating individuals as numbers.

i doubt very much that Iranian tech is better than Russian, its just that we failed to give Ukraine the hi end air defence that we should have 6 months ago.

Iran just seems to have more missiles etc to export.

its just that we failed to give Ukraine the hi end air defence that we should have 6 months ago.

For context and fairness:

Six months back hi end air defence in the form of the S 300 and western supplied smaller stuff (e.g. Starstreak, Stinger) had pretty much stopped Russian fixed wing activity over Ukraine and were (especially the S300) successfully engaging many of the ballistic missiles launched by Russia. We've also heard glowing reports of Iris-T in the last month or two.

If by "hi end" you mean specifically Patriot - batteries aren't in unlimited supply and there's the whole training issue.

The Iranian low/slow drones do seem to posing a particular problem for air defences and it will be interesting to see if deploying Patriot makes much difference.

As a counter point to the upbeat article I posted a couple of days ago this is very dark 😖:

www.spectator.co.uk/article/what-will-putin-do-next/

Mick Ryan on Crimea:

Recently, there has been much commentary about whether #Ukraine can - or should - seek to take back its Crimean territory through the force of arms. #Crimea remains Ukrainian territory, occupied by Russia since 2014. A thread on how all roads may lead to Crimea in 2023.

https://twitter.com/warinthefuture/status/1605079411048337408?s=46&t=PgzEXTEVGm0w-ZCQ2OM0Tw

The expanded article that the thread is taken from:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-20/crimea-russia-ukraine-war-2023/101787366?utmcampaign=abccnewsweb&utmmcontent=link&utmmedium=contenttshared&utmsource=abccnews_web

An interesting read and a good deal of it makes sense. However not sure I agree with the assessment that Putin would be willing to sacrifice his life to win this war (i.e. the nuclear option). This is the man who hid himself away from everyone for fear of catching Covid, he's a coward.

i doubt very much that Iranian tech is better than Russian, its just that we failed to give Ukraine the hi end air defence that we should have 6 months ago.

Really not sure you are right. Once upon a time everybody thought Russian technology was top notch, which is why everybody was so convinced they would crush Ukraine, but my sense is that there has now been a major reassessment. Part of having good technology is having the right technology for the intended job. From that perspective, the drones Iran has given Russia are superb - cheap, highly effective in numbers - doing the job that Russia wants them to do far more effectively than anything Russia has.

• look at the latest scandal out of Israel - www.timesofisrael.com/report-iran-hacked-israeli-cameras-a-year-ago-defense-officials-knew-didnt-act/

Do you think the Russians are capable of doing that given what we now know about Russian communications and Russian levels of corruption?

Getting back more to the point of the thread - www.timesofisrael.com/after-4-months-in-russian-solitary-ukrainian-officer-visits-israel-tells-his-story/

10 minutes ago on Twitter!

Zelensky in Bakhmut. Right in the middle of it. Wow.

Wow. Hats off to him. Although he should remain as safe as possible

Day 299, December 19th. Summary of #Arestovych and #Feygin daily broadcast
Posted on 20 December 2022

🔥Battlefield overview

🔥Bakhmut
Russian forces are reporting advances of Ukrainian troops after Ukrainian counteroffensive actions that led to the removal of Russian troops from the Eastern suburbs of Bakhmut.
So, after more than 4 months of Russian attempts to take Bakhmut, immense resources poured into this operation, the Russian marines, Wagner mercenaries, prisoners recruited by Wagner, thousands of KIA Russians, Bakhmut stands.

🔥Soledar-Mariinka & Svatove-Kreminna
Tactical operations and clashes between Ukrainian and Russian troops continue.

🔥Zaporizhzhja
Minor clashes and artillery & drone duels between Ukrainian and Russian forces.

🔥Kherson
Russia is attacking Kherson with artillery. Ukraine has successfully hit several high-profile military targets on the East bank of the Dnipro River.

🔥Russian missile attack on Ukraine
Kyiv was attacked with 36 Shaheds, 30 of which were destroyed. This was another attack on the critical infrastructure to terrorise the civilian population by compromising the electrical grid and heating in the Winter.
Russia has also attacked residential areas and infrastructure in Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Krivij Rig, wounding and killing civilians.

🔥Russia claiming destruction of 120th HIMARS
Russian sources report the alleged destruction of another 2 HIMARS without specifying where, when or how they did it. While it’s possible in theory, so far, Russia hasn’t managed to destroy a single HIMARS in Ukraine or to find a feasible strategy to do so.

🔥Belarus
Putin visited Belarus fearing Lukashenko flirting with the West and China. It seems that Lukashenko continues resisting Putin’s demands to send the Belarusian Army to a direct confrontation with the Ukrainian Army Forces. The main discussion was around:

1. countering Belarusian collaboration with China,
2. Belarus continuing training of Russian mobilized,
3. transfer of additional equipment from the Belarusian reserves to arm the mobilized and
4. potentially using Belarusian territory to launch missiles/drones to attack Ukraine

🔥Potential expansion of UN Permanent Security Council & Russian mobilization & lack of equipment
The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has suggested that the UN might expand the list of permanent members of the Security Council. This may potentially refer to the addition of countries like Germany, Japan, and India. The next logical step after this move would be the substitution of unanimous voting (aka possibility of veto) for the majority voting.
Russia is violating the UN charter every single day – from invading Ukraine to acts of terror, to acts of genocide of Ukrainians, to threatening to use nuclear weapons in an unjust, offensive war.
The West, from the EU to NATO and now the UN, has realised that collective security cannot be compromised by individual actors. Thus, just as the EU has circumvented Orban’s sabotage, the UN might adopt a majority voting strategy to deal with the Russian menace to global security.

🔥Ukraine increases criminal responsibility for deserters and negligent commanders
Ukraine is a freedom-loving, pro-active, and highly initiative nation. This is reflected in many volunteers and recruits in the Ukrainian Army. While this is great from the motivation, sometimes it clashes with discipline and subordination in the army. On the other hand, there are some cases of negligence from the commanding officers.
To bridge the gap in the current legislation, the Ukrainian parliament (Rada) approved a law to increase legal responsibility for the desertion of soldiers and negligence of commanding officers.
War is a horrible affair because soldiers may be asked to sacrifice their lives fighting for the survival of the Nation. The paralysing fear that could compromise the military in this situation is only controlled by discipline in the Army.
The law was supported by General Zaluzhny and is meant to protect discipline in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In addition to the new legislation, Zaluzhny proposed an increase in the professional education and preparedness level of not only soldiers but also officers. Officers and commanders must train, prepare and supply the soldiers with everything necessary and the soldiers must show personal responsibility and discipline to execute the combat missions.

🔥Price cap for the Russian gas
The EU countries agreed on a price cap for Russian gas. Limiting the Kremlin’s profits from oil and gas has a direct limiting effect on the Russian regime’s capacity to buy Iranian drones and fuel their war machine.

🔥Putin will fight until the last Russian. But will the Russians?
While the number of KIA Russian invaders approaches 100k, Putin is willing to continue the mobilization and war in Ukraine. In the polls, the majority of Russians support the continuation of “the special military operation” and mobilization. Nevertheless, one-third of the interviewed Russians had a family member or a friend that died invading Ukraine. At the same time, 78% of Russians view Russia leaving Kherson as something positive. This cognitive dissonance indicates either unwillingness to accept the reality of the situation in Russia or Russians fearing retaliation from the Kremlin.

Naem
I totally agree with the long spoon - I don't like it either. It is to my mind exactly that, a pact with the devil. And I am sure if the Russians felt it was in their interests to break it, they would,

Of course they would; without a second thought.

After the amount of attention they paid to even the first clause of the Budapest Memorandum of 1994, who could doubt that the Russians' word is not worth the air that it is breathed on?

"1. The Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America reaffirm their commitment to Ukraine, in accordance with the principles of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, to respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine."

Ha, and also ha ha ha. Bitter laughter. If their behaviour towards Ukraine shows respect of any kind, I'm a banana.