Omnibus Russia Ukraine crisis
- Thread starter B00Mer
- Start date
Its 18+
Ill post all here. Some are childish but I dont think we have many children viewing the forum.
The reality of war.
The one linked showed the artist work of the Foreign Legion on Wagner PMC Katsaps. The above was their work too.
Or maybe he looks like he's holding it up for the camera, while Vlod gestures to it for the camera.
Joe is thinking "cha ching". NATO is using derelict junk against derelict junk.
When does the new shit developed this century hit the front lines? Are they saving it for the Chinamen?
Putin pledges unlimited spending to ensure victory in Ukraine
Author of the article:Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Published Dec 21, 2022 • 2 minute read
(Bloomberg) — President Vladimir Putin said Russia has “no limitations” on military spending for the war in Ukraine, as he urged the army to deliver on his declared goals with the invasion approaching its 11th month.
“The country and government is giving everything that the army asks for — everything,” Putin told top military officials at the Defense Ministry’s annual meeting in Moscow on Wednesday. “I trust that there will be an appropriate response and the results will be achieved.”
Russia should expand its armed forces to 1.5 million troops from the current 1.15 million to ensure its security, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Putin. The total should include 695,000 professional contract soldiers, he said, without explaining where the additional recruits would be found.
The commitment to spare no expense on the war will be a strain on government finances as the proceeds from energy exports come under pressure from price restrictions imposed by the U.S. and its allies. While Russia is running a record current-account surplus this year, the flow of money is expected to weaken in 2023 as sales of gas to Europe plunge and Group of Seven sanctions curb Russia’s oil revenue.
The budget is expected to run a deficit of 2% of gross domestic product by the end of this year, despite recording a wider surplus in recent months thanks largely to dividends and a windfall tax paid by Gazprom PJSC.
The Kremlin leader addressed his military chiefs as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy prepared to meet US counterpart Joe Biden in Washington on his first trip outside Ukraine since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion began. Biden will unveil almost $2 billion more in assistance and announce moves to deliver a Patriot missile battery to help Ukraine build up its air defenses against a campaign of Russian strikes aimed at knocking out heat, power and water supplies during the winter.
In a largely low-key address devoid of forecasts of imminent success, Putin sought to deflect blame for what he called the “shared tragedy” of the war that he began, repeating claims that the conflict was unavoidable even as Ukraine and its US and European allies had repeatedly made clear before the invasion that there was no threat to Russia’s security.
Putin spoke a day after he conceded in a message to Russia’s spy agencies that the situation in four partly-occupied regions of southeastern Ukraine was “extremely difficult.” A successful Ukrainian counteroffensive is wresting back control of an increasing amount of the territory including the city of Kherson, the only regional capital Russia seized during the war.
He said Russia needed more drones to support military operations. U.S. intelligence alleges Russia has turned to Iran for supplies of drones and is seeking munitions from North Korea to cover equipment shortages, something the Kremlin denies.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Published Dec 21, 2022 • 2 minute read
(Bloomberg) — President Vladimir Putin said Russia has “no limitations” on military spending for the war in Ukraine, as he urged the army to deliver on his declared goals with the invasion approaching its 11th month.
“The country and government is giving everything that the army asks for — everything,” Putin told top military officials at the Defense Ministry’s annual meeting in Moscow on Wednesday. “I trust that there will be an appropriate response and the results will be achieved.”
Russia should expand its armed forces to 1.5 million troops from the current 1.15 million to ensure its security, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Putin. The total should include 695,000 professional contract soldiers, he said, without explaining where the additional recruits would be found.
The commitment to spare no expense on the war will be a strain on government finances as the proceeds from energy exports come under pressure from price restrictions imposed by the U.S. and its allies. While Russia is running a record current-account surplus this year, the flow of money is expected to weaken in 2023 as sales of gas to Europe plunge and Group of Seven sanctions curb Russia’s oil revenue.
The budget is expected to run a deficit of 2% of gross domestic product by the end of this year, despite recording a wider surplus in recent months thanks largely to dividends and a windfall tax paid by Gazprom PJSC.
The Kremlin leader addressed his military chiefs as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy prepared to meet US counterpart Joe Biden in Washington on his first trip outside Ukraine since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion began. Biden will unveil almost $2 billion more in assistance and announce moves to deliver a Patriot missile battery to help Ukraine build up its air defenses against a campaign of Russian strikes aimed at knocking out heat, power and water supplies during the winter.
In a largely low-key address devoid of forecasts of imminent success, Putin sought to deflect blame for what he called the “shared tragedy” of the war that he began, repeating claims that the conflict was unavoidable even as Ukraine and its US and European allies had repeatedly made clear before the invasion that there was no threat to Russia’s security.
Putin spoke a day after he conceded in a message to Russia’s spy agencies that the situation in four partly-occupied regions of southeastern Ukraine was “extremely difficult.” A successful Ukrainian counteroffensive is wresting back control of an increasing amount of the territory including the city of Kherson, the only regional capital Russia seized during the war.
He said Russia needed more drones to support military operations. U.S. intelligence alleges Russia has turned to Iran for supplies of drones and is seeking munitions from North Korea to cover equipment shortages, something the Kremlin denies.
Putin pledges unlimited spending to ensure victory in Ukraine
President Vladimir Putin said Russia has “no limitations” on military spending for the war in Ukraine.
So the U.S. is providing LNG that Canada should be exporting. Atta go Trudeau!!! It goes to show that he was entirely correct (for a change) that he has no interest in monetary issues likely because he doesn't understand basic economics which is why he told Germany there was no "business reason" (sic) to provide LNG to Germany!
What an ass!
But Greta would give Justin two thumbs up on this one….as would Australia and Qatar and I guess the USA now too.
Saudis, Israelis, UAE, Egyptian, Lebanonese, Turks, Iraqis, Kuwaiti and so on and so on are going to finance the end of the Soviets once and for all with Ukrainian blood all in the name if Climate Change.
Ukraine was a massive electrical energy exporter to EU. Only thermal coal powerplants were hit. Nukes and hydro dams are intact but distribution is fucked. With Russia out if Crimea the EU is warm for a few centuries with gas.
A Christmas season without its traditional glow in Ukraine
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Hanna Arhirova
Published Dec 24, 2022 • 3 minute read
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Just a year ago, Sophia Square in Kyiv was all about the big Christmas tree and thousands of lights spreading over the plaza.
These final days of 2022, in the middle of a war that has ravaged the country for 10 months, a more modest tree stands there, its blue and yellow lights barely breaking the gloom of the square that is otherwise dark apart from the headlights of cars.
In recent months, Russia has been targeting the energy infrastructure, aiming to cut electricity and heating to Ukrainians, as the freezing winter advances. And although the Ukraine government tries to move as fast as it can, it’s been practically impossible to restore power for every single person in the country, including the more than 3 million residents of the capital.
There are days when streets in Kyiv’s downtown have light, but the authorities have imposed some restrictions and scheduled power cuts, meaning that there’s no traditional gleaming city during the Christmas season.
But even in these gloomy moments, some people have decided to show their determination and rescue whatever they can these holidays — like the Christmas tree, still standing proud even if it doesn’t have the brightness of recent years.
Kyiv’s Mayor, Vitali Klitschko, announced the installation of the Christmas tree, saying it was going to be named the “Tree of Invincibility.”
“We decided that we wouldn’t let Russia steal the celebration of Christmas and New Year from our children,” he said. The name, he added, was “because we Ukrainians cannot be broken.”
The “Tree of Invincibility” was inaugurated on Dec. 19, the same day that Russia launched a drone attack against Kyiv, but damaged only a power plant that didn’t caused a massive blackout in the city.
Unlike previous years, when along with the tens of thousands of bulbs, Sophia Square was full of music and cheerful people, now the only noise on the plaza is the sound of a generator powering the lights of the 12-meter (40 foot) tree. On top of it, there is no star of Bethlehem’s but instead a trident, Ukraine’s symbol.
In stark contrast, in the Russian-occupied city of Luhansk, a large Christmas tree has been erected and on Friday evening people came out to admire its bright lights and watch entertainment, including dancers dressed in the colors of the Russian flag.
Before Kyiv’s government decided to install its tree, there was some debate about whether it was appropriate in a year that brought so many tragedies and horrors. Similar discussions happened all across the country, and some regions decided not have trees.
But now, some people do like the initiative.
“We are grateful that we can see at least something in such times,” said Oleh Skakun, 56, during the unveiling of the tree on Monday.
He said that every Dec. 19, his wife’s birthday, they used to go to see the Christmas tree in the southern city of Kherson, not far from their home. Not this year, because their house, on the left bank of the Dnieper river, is occupied by Russian forces, and they had to flee in August to Kyiv.
But despite their sadness, Skakun said that they wanted to keep the tradition of visiting a Christmas tree.
“Twenty Russians live in my house now; they tortured people, they tortured my son,” said Larysa Skakun, 57. “But we came here to cheer up a bit, to see the people, the celebration”, she added in tears.
Among other cities that also decided to install a Christmas tree is Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city that for months was on the edges of the front line and constantly attacked by Russian missiles. There, instead of placing it on a square, it has been erected inside the main subway station.
But for some Ukrainians, it’s hard to celebrate anything this Christmas.
Anna Holovina, 27, came to Sophia Square to see the tree, but said that she keeps thinking of her hometown in the Luhansk region, occupied by Russian forces since 2014.
“I feel sadness. I feel pain. I don’t feel the holiday at all,” she said. “My family is in Kyiv, but my hometown has been occupied for the eighth year now.”
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Hanna Arhirova
Published Dec 24, 2022 • 3 minute read
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Just a year ago, Sophia Square in Kyiv was all about the big Christmas tree and thousands of lights spreading over the plaza.
These final days of 2022, in the middle of a war that has ravaged the country for 10 months, a more modest tree stands there, its blue and yellow lights barely breaking the gloom of the square that is otherwise dark apart from the headlights of cars.
In recent months, Russia has been targeting the energy infrastructure, aiming to cut electricity and heating to Ukrainians, as the freezing winter advances. And although the Ukraine government tries to move as fast as it can, it’s been practically impossible to restore power for every single person in the country, including the more than 3 million residents of the capital.
There are days when streets in Kyiv’s downtown have light, but the authorities have imposed some restrictions and scheduled power cuts, meaning that there’s no traditional gleaming city during the Christmas season.
But even in these gloomy moments, some people have decided to show their determination and rescue whatever they can these holidays — like the Christmas tree, still standing proud even if it doesn’t have the brightness of recent years.
Kyiv’s Mayor, Vitali Klitschko, announced the installation of the Christmas tree, saying it was going to be named the “Tree of Invincibility.”
“We decided that we wouldn’t let Russia steal the celebration of Christmas and New Year from our children,” he said. The name, he added, was “because we Ukrainians cannot be broken.”
The “Tree of Invincibility” was inaugurated on Dec. 19, the same day that Russia launched a drone attack against Kyiv, but damaged only a power plant that didn’t caused a massive blackout in the city.
Unlike previous years, when along with the tens of thousands of bulbs, Sophia Square was full of music and cheerful people, now the only noise on the plaza is the sound of a generator powering the lights of the 12-meter (40 foot) tree. On top of it, there is no star of Bethlehem’s but instead a trident, Ukraine’s symbol.
In stark contrast, in the Russian-occupied city of Luhansk, a large Christmas tree has been erected and on Friday evening people came out to admire its bright lights and watch entertainment, including dancers dressed in the colors of the Russian flag.
Before Kyiv’s government decided to install its tree, there was some debate about whether it was appropriate in a year that brought so many tragedies and horrors. Similar discussions happened all across the country, and some regions decided not have trees.
But now, some people do like the initiative.
“We are grateful that we can see at least something in such times,” said Oleh Skakun, 56, during the unveiling of the tree on Monday.
He said that every Dec. 19, his wife’s birthday, they used to go to see the Christmas tree in the southern city of Kherson, not far from their home. Not this year, because their house, on the left bank of the Dnieper river, is occupied by Russian forces, and they had to flee in August to Kyiv.
But despite their sadness, Skakun said that they wanted to keep the tradition of visiting a Christmas tree.
“Twenty Russians live in my house now; they tortured people, they tortured my son,” said Larysa Skakun, 57. “But we came here to cheer up a bit, to see the people, the celebration”, she added in tears.
Among other cities that also decided to install a Christmas tree is Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city that for months was on the edges of the front line and constantly attacked by Russian missiles. There, instead of placing it on a square, it has been erected inside the main subway station.
But for some Ukrainians, it’s hard to celebrate anything this Christmas.
Anna Holovina, 27, came to Sophia Square to see the tree, but said that she keeps thinking of her hometown in the Luhansk region, occupied by Russian forces since 2014.
“I feel sadness. I feel pain. I don’t feel the holiday at all,” she said. “My family is in Kyiv, but my hometown has been occupied for the eighth year now.”
A Christmas season without its traditional glow in Ukraine
Just a year ago, Sophia Square in Kyiv was all about the big Christmas tree and thousands of lights spreading over the plaza.
Using conscripts and prison inmates, Russia doubles its forces in Ukraine
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Mary Ilyushina and Francesca Ebel, The Washington Post
Published Dec 24, 2022 • 5 minute read
RIGA, Latvia — Despite heavy combat losses over ten months of brutal war, Russia now has more than double the number of troops poised to fight in Ukraine as it did when it invaded in February, including thousands of convicts released from prison and conscripts from a controversial mobilization drive this fall.
According to a new U.S. assessment, the Wagner mercenary group, which fights alongside regular Russian troops in Ukraine, in recent months recruited 40,000 prisoners from all over the country into its ranks. Together, with 300,000 new conscripts and 20,000 volunteers, Russia’s force is now more than double the 150,000 initially allocated to what President Vladimir Putin termed a “special military operation.”
The larger Russian force, even after losing an estimated more than 25,000 killed in action and tens of thousands more wounded, backs up Putin’s oft-repeated pledge to press forward until his military objectives in Ukraine are met, even as military experts widely question the level of preparedness and morale among recent recruits.
The new numbers, laid out by U.S. national security spokesman John Kirby at a briefing on Thursday, generally match assessments by rights groups, including Russia Behind Bars, which has said that an unofficial recruitment of Russian prison inmates was conducted separately from “partial mobilization” ordered by Putin late September.
In remarks this week, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that 300,000 men were mobilized in September and October, and that an additional 20,000 had joined as volunteers.
At the briefing on Thursday, Kirby said that 40,000 of the Wagoner group’s estimated 50,000 members were convicts. Kirby added that Washington believes at least 900 prisoners have been killed in recent fighting in East Ukraine. He said that Wagner, led by businessman Yevgeniy Prigozhin, appeared to blocked in a power struggle with other structures of the Russian army.
“In certain instances, Russian military officials are actually subordinate to Wagner’s command,” Kirby said. “It’s pretty apparent to us that Wagner is emerging as a rival power center to the Russian military and other Russian ministries.”
Prigozhin, nicknamed Putin’s chef because he made a fortune from Russian government catering contracts, was recorded on video in September personally going to prisons to help recruit convicts to join Wagner, with a preference for those accused of violent crimes.
The press service of Prigozhin’s catering company, Concord, at the time commented coyly on the video, saying that it “can confirm that the person in the video bears an enormous resemblance to Yevgeniy Viktorovich.”
In recent weeks, Wagner has focused on trying to capture the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, a push that has set off some of the bloodiest fighting of the war, but so far has not yielded a long-sought victory. This week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Bakhmut and awarded medals to some of the soldiers involved in the city’s defense, highlighting Wagner’s failure so far to capture it.
“It seems as though Mr. Prigozhin is willing to just throw Russian bodies into the meat grinder in Bakhmut,” Kirby said. “In fact, about 1,000 Wagner fighters have been killed in the fighting in just recent weeks, and we believe that 90 percent of those 1,000 fighters were, in fact, convicts.”
Prigozhin prison recruitment effort, which began in late spring or early summer, was a response to an urgent need for reinforcements at a time when Putin was still resisting a mobilization, hoping to shield the Russian population from direct involvement in the war.
Throughout the war, Wagner grew in prominence after early successes in the Luhansk region that stood in contrast to multiple setbacks suffered by Russia’s regular forces, prompting state media for the first time to openly praise and lionize the mercenary group. Wagner had long operated in the shadows with the Moscow denying any connection to it.
The U.K. government, meanwhile, believes that Wagner fighters in Ukraine have ballooned from an estimated 1,000 in March 2022 to nearly 20,000, which the U.K. said it assesses to represent 10 percent of Russia’s forces on the ground.
Prigozhin and Wagner-linked recruiters have offered prisoners a pardon and freedom, in exchange for six months of fighting. They also receive a monthly salary of about $1,400 sent to the prisoner’s relatives, But they are also warned that those who attempt to flee the front line without fighting risk being shot.
Olga Romanova, the director of Russia Behind Bars, said families typically do get paid, albeit irregularly, but there is no legal basis or any guarantees that the fighters will receive what was promised to them. Even their freedom may be legally uncertain, Romanova said.
“The court decisions in case of these recruits are not canceled, they are still registered with the penitentiary service,” Romanova said. “Pardons are granted by presidential decree, and this is a very complex process, which has not been amended in any way. So there is neither a pardon nor an amnesty which the parliament has the power to pass.”
Romanova also said the inmates’ vulnerable position and lack of any legal protection had freed Wagner to engage in extrajudicial executions of ex-convicts who violated the mercenary group’s rules.
“They promise they’ll shoot them, and they do it, for using drugs and alcohol or for, say, sexual relations,” Romanova said. “I would say, these are mass extrajudicial executions.”
According to Romanova, the recruited convicts are thrown on the front line, used to clear mines or as infantry, despite often being in poor health and having little to no training, which leads to heavy losses. “Out of the first recruits who took part in the first battles in July, we only know of one survivor . . . that’s one in a unit of about a hundred people,” she said.
In November, a video emerged on a Wagner-linked Telegram account showing the apparent execution of Yevgeny Nuzhin, a 55-year-old convict who had been serving a 24-year prison sentence for a murder he committed in 1999.
In July, he signed a deal to join Wagner but defected to Ukraine where he gave a series of interviews. In the clip, Nuzhin was seen lying down with his head duct-taped to a brick while an unknown man in fatigues hit him with a sledgehammer.
Prigozhin did not directly take responsibility for Nuzhin’s death or acknowledge Wagner’s role in it but he called Nuzhin a traitor and said “he did not find happiness in Ukraine, but met unkind, but fair people.”
In a speech earlier this week, Putin said that 150,000 mobilized men have already been deployed into the combat zone, while the other half is “located and being trained at military training grounds and constitute a sufficient reserve.”
“This is done for rotation as you cannot send thousands of soldiers to the front and keep them there until the end of the war; you have to rotate them out periodically,” said Ruslan Leviev, an analyst with the Conflict Intelligence Team, which has been tracking Russian military activities in Ukraine since 2014. “You fight, retreat to the rear, rest, and fight again … so the 150,000 are waiting for their turn.”
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Mary Ilyushina and Francesca Ebel, The Washington Post
Published Dec 24, 2022 • 5 minute read
RIGA, Latvia — Despite heavy combat losses over ten months of brutal war, Russia now has more than double the number of troops poised to fight in Ukraine as it did when it invaded in February, including thousands of convicts released from prison and conscripts from a controversial mobilization drive this fall.
According to a new U.S. assessment, the Wagner mercenary group, which fights alongside regular Russian troops in Ukraine, in recent months recruited 40,000 prisoners from all over the country into its ranks. Together, with 300,000 new conscripts and 20,000 volunteers, Russia’s force is now more than double the 150,000 initially allocated to what President Vladimir Putin termed a “special military operation.”
The larger Russian force, even after losing an estimated more than 25,000 killed in action and tens of thousands more wounded, backs up Putin’s oft-repeated pledge to press forward until his military objectives in Ukraine are met, even as military experts widely question the level of preparedness and morale among recent recruits.
The new numbers, laid out by U.S. national security spokesman John Kirby at a briefing on Thursday, generally match assessments by rights groups, including Russia Behind Bars, which has said that an unofficial recruitment of Russian prison inmates was conducted separately from “partial mobilization” ordered by Putin late September.
In remarks this week, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that 300,000 men were mobilized in September and October, and that an additional 20,000 had joined as volunteers.
At the briefing on Thursday, Kirby said that 40,000 of the Wagoner group’s estimated 50,000 members were convicts. Kirby added that Washington believes at least 900 prisoners have been killed in recent fighting in East Ukraine. He said that Wagner, led by businessman Yevgeniy Prigozhin, appeared to blocked in a power struggle with other structures of the Russian army.
“In certain instances, Russian military officials are actually subordinate to Wagner’s command,” Kirby said. “It’s pretty apparent to us that Wagner is emerging as a rival power center to the Russian military and other Russian ministries.”
Prigozhin, nicknamed Putin’s chef because he made a fortune from Russian government catering contracts, was recorded on video in September personally going to prisons to help recruit convicts to join Wagner, with a preference for those accused of violent crimes.
The press service of Prigozhin’s catering company, Concord, at the time commented coyly on the video, saying that it “can confirm that the person in the video bears an enormous resemblance to Yevgeniy Viktorovich.”
In recent weeks, Wagner has focused on trying to capture the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, a push that has set off some of the bloodiest fighting of the war, but so far has not yielded a long-sought victory. This week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Bakhmut and awarded medals to some of the soldiers involved in the city’s defense, highlighting Wagner’s failure so far to capture it.
“It seems as though Mr. Prigozhin is willing to just throw Russian bodies into the meat grinder in Bakhmut,” Kirby said. “In fact, about 1,000 Wagner fighters have been killed in the fighting in just recent weeks, and we believe that 90 percent of those 1,000 fighters were, in fact, convicts.”
Prigozhin prison recruitment effort, which began in late spring or early summer, was a response to an urgent need for reinforcements at a time when Putin was still resisting a mobilization, hoping to shield the Russian population from direct involvement in the war.
Throughout the war, Wagner grew in prominence after early successes in the Luhansk region that stood in contrast to multiple setbacks suffered by Russia’s regular forces, prompting state media for the first time to openly praise and lionize the mercenary group. Wagner had long operated in the shadows with the Moscow denying any connection to it.
The U.K. government, meanwhile, believes that Wagner fighters in Ukraine have ballooned from an estimated 1,000 in March 2022 to nearly 20,000, which the U.K. said it assesses to represent 10 percent of Russia’s forces on the ground.
Prigozhin and Wagner-linked recruiters have offered prisoners a pardon and freedom, in exchange for six months of fighting. They also receive a monthly salary of about $1,400 sent to the prisoner’s relatives, But they are also warned that those who attempt to flee the front line without fighting risk being shot.
Olga Romanova, the director of Russia Behind Bars, said families typically do get paid, albeit irregularly, but there is no legal basis or any guarantees that the fighters will receive what was promised to them. Even their freedom may be legally uncertain, Romanova said.
“The court decisions in case of these recruits are not canceled, they are still registered with the penitentiary service,” Romanova said. “Pardons are granted by presidential decree, and this is a very complex process, which has not been amended in any way. So there is neither a pardon nor an amnesty which the parliament has the power to pass.”
Romanova also said the inmates’ vulnerable position and lack of any legal protection had freed Wagner to engage in extrajudicial executions of ex-convicts who violated the mercenary group’s rules.
“They promise they’ll shoot them, and they do it, for using drugs and alcohol or for, say, sexual relations,” Romanova said. “I would say, these are mass extrajudicial executions.”
According to Romanova, the recruited convicts are thrown on the front line, used to clear mines or as infantry, despite often being in poor health and having little to no training, which leads to heavy losses. “Out of the first recruits who took part in the first battles in July, we only know of one survivor . . . that’s one in a unit of about a hundred people,” she said.
In November, a video emerged on a Wagner-linked Telegram account showing the apparent execution of Yevgeny Nuzhin, a 55-year-old convict who had been serving a 24-year prison sentence for a murder he committed in 1999.
In July, he signed a deal to join Wagner but defected to Ukraine where he gave a series of interviews. In the clip, Nuzhin was seen lying down with his head duct-taped to a brick while an unknown man in fatigues hit him with a sledgehammer.
Prigozhin did not directly take responsibility for Nuzhin’s death or acknowledge Wagner’s role in it but he called Nuzhin a traitor and said “he did not find happiness in Ukraine, but met unkind, but fair people.”
In a speech earlier this week, Putin said that 150,000 mobilized men have already been deployed into the combat zone, while the other half is “located and being trained at military training grounds and constitute a sufficient reserve.”
“This is done for rotation as you cannot send thousands of soldiers to the front and keep them there until the end of the war; you have to rotate them out periodically,” said Ruslan Leviev, an analyst with the Conflict Intelligence Team, which has been tracking Russian military activities in Ukraine since 2014. “You fight, retreat to the rear, rest, and fight again … so the 150,000 are waiting for their turn.”
Using conscripts and prison inmates, Russia doubles its forces in Ukraine
Despite heavy losses, Russia now has more than double the number of troops poised to fight in Ukraine as it did when it invaded in February.
With 300,000 new conscripts and 20,000 volunteers, Russia’s force is now more than double the 150,000 initially allocated to what President Vladimir Putin termed a “special military operation.”
So this double the number has what? An 1/8? of the training (1/16th?) of the original batch of Russian Soldiers originally sent in back in February?
So this double the number has what? An 1/8? of the training (1/16th?) of the original batch of Russian Soldiers originally sent in back in February?