Ukraine

[Tom Hunter]

Depleted uranium can be cleaned up.

When Putin steals your child that can never be cleaned up. Especially if he has killed you first.

Spring, and Bradlys, Leopards and Challengers are coming. I cannot say that the next few months will be like Operation Compass but I hope so.

[ERGR]

For the record, the Swedish parliament just voted in favour of the laws that give the government the mandate to join NATO. Two parties opposed, the Greens and the Left party, both representing the left side of the parliament. All other parties, representing about 85% of the population, voted in favour. I would call the opposition by the Greens and the Left luke warm and they might have reconsidered if their votes had mattered.

We're now waiting for Hungary and Turkey to ratify the alliance with Sweden. The Finnish parliament has already approved the necessary laws and is expected to be approved by Turkey and Hungary before Sweden. My take is that Erdogan needs a conflict with Sweden until the election in Turkey is over.

It would have been better if Sweden and Finland could have joined at the same time, but Finland joining NATO is better for both our countries than Finland also being blocked. We're already planning as if we were NATO members, so Turkey and Hungary blocking Sweden for yet a while is annoying but not a catastrophe. If you take a look at a map you realise that Sweden is the key for reinforcing the Baltic states (and Finland) in case of a conflict with Russia. NATO and Sweden share a common interest in doing that, regardless of the status of our membership, so we'll find a way. It's still annoying that the two NATO countries Turkey and Hungary can act in a way that obstructs the defence of other NATO members.

[johnw]

If you really mean what you wrote here I can only say that you not just painted yourself into a corner but also nailed your feet to the floor in the corner with five inch nails straight through.......

Does Russian translation software have trouble distinguishing between 'Social Democrat' and 'Swedish Democrat?'

[Tom Hunter]

@ERGR I am still amazed and upset that it is necessary for anyone in Sweden to be thinking about re-inforcements to the Baltics if Russia invades them. Clearly it is, but what a terrible mess.

[johnw]

Depleted uranium can be cleaned up.

When Putin steals your child that can never be cleaned up. Especially if he has killed you first.

Spring, and Bradlys, Leopards and Challengers are coming. I cannot say that the next few months will be like Operation Compass but I hope so.

Depleted uranium is very toxic if you ingest it in any way. However, we use it in the armor of the latest model Abrams tanks, so being surrounded by a layer of it is considered an acceptable risk for American tank crews. I haven't found any reputable studies that show a link between the use of depleted uranium and birth defects, although there are certainly plenty of people willing to make the argument for such a link.

Russia has been manufacturing depleted uranium tank rounds since 1978, so it's likely that if Ukraine starts using these rounds, the Russians will use them as well. I think what worries the Russians is the range and accuracy of the rounds likely to be fired at their tanks compared to the range and accuracy of their depleted uranium tank rounds if fired against Western tanks.

Personally, I'd rather no one used depleted uranium rounds. Tungsten rounds should be sufficient, and the health worry about them is getting hit by them.

[Nicholas Carey]

Depleted uranium is very toxic if you ingest it in any way. However, we use it in the armor of the latest model Abrams tanks, so being surrounded by a layer of it is considered an acceptable risk for American tank crews. I haven't found any reputable studies that show a link between the use of depleted uranium and birth defects, although there are certainly plenty of people willing to make the argument for such a link.

Russia has been manufacturing depleted uranium tank rounds since 1978, so it's likely that if Ukraine starts using these rounds, the Russians will use them as well. I think what worries the Russians is the range and accuracy of the rounds likely to be fired at their tanks compared to the range and accuracy of their depleted uranium tank rounds if fired against Western tanks.

Personally, I'd rather no one used depleted uranium rounds. Tungsten rounds should be sufficient, and the health worry about them is getting hit by them.

DU is [relatively] low-level radioactive. It's an alpha- and beta-emitter, and a low-level gamma emitter. Alpha and beta particles are easily stopped, alpha particles by a sheet of paper, beta particles by aluminum foil. Neither gets through human skin. Gamma particles need serious shielding, though: lead, lots of concrete or the like. The main problem is uranium's chemical toxicity (not as toxic as Pu, but not many things are), and ingestion and aspiration is a real issue: when DU penetrators go through armor, they burn and they become aerosolized. Not so much a problem for the vehicle's crew — they've got more immediate issues than the potential toxicity of the metal — but the stuff hangs in the air and it's in the soil, so as dust gets kicked up, people can ingest it or breathe it. It can also get into the body through cuts and other injuries.

Not much connection between DU and birth defects and the like, though.

White Phosphorus, exposure though... does seem to be tied to birth defects — and we did use WP munitions [illegally] in Fallujah.

https://www.mecaforpeace.org/new-stu...re-of-parents/

According to a new scientific study there is "a strong correlation of birth defects newborns and parent's exposure to attacks with white phosphorus": at the registation at birth 27% of parents with birth defect children declared exposure to white phosphorus while only 1.7% of parents with normal children made the same declaration.

The report entitled "Birth Defects in Gaza: Prevalence, Types, Familiarity and Correlation with Environmental Factors", published today by International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, was carried out by a team of Palestinian and Italian researchers at the Al Shifa hospital, where 28% of total births in Gaza Strip occur.This is the first report of registration at birth, and of incidence of major structural birth defects obtained in Gaza. Doctors registered in five months 4,027 deliveries, with a protocol comprehensive of clinical, demographic, kin and environmental questions: 55 birth defects, 94 late miscarriages, and 30 still born deliveries have been recorded in a five month period (May-September 2011). None of the pregnancies here registered occurred during the major war events when the WP and bombs were used.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3386584/

Birth Defects in Gaza: Prevalence, Types, Familiarity and Correlation with Environmental Factors

Awny Naim,1 Hedaya Al Dalies,2 Mohammed El Balawi,2 Eman Salem,2 Kholud Al Meziny,2 Raneem Al Shawwa,3 Roberto Minutolo,4 and Paola Manduca2,5,*

Abstract

This is the first report of registration at birth, and of incidence of major structural birth defects (BD) obtained in Gaza at Al Shifa Hospital, where 28% of total births in Gaza Strip occur. Doctors registered 4,027 deliveries, with a protocol comprehensive of clinical, demographic, kin and environmental questions. Prevalence of BD is 14/1,000, without association with intermarriage or gender of the child. Prevalence of late miscarriages and still births are respectively 23.3/1,000 and 7.4/1,000, and of premature births 19.6/1,000. Couples with a BD child have about 10 times higher frequency of recurrence of a BD in their progeny than those with normal children, but none of their 694 siblings and only 10/1,000 of their 1,423 progeny had BD, similar to the frequency in general population. These data suggest occurrence of novel genetic and epigenetic events in determination of BD. Children with BD were born with higher frequency (p < 0 001) in families where one or both parents were under “white phosphorus” attack, that in the general population. Bombing of the family home and removal of the rubble were also frequently reported by couples with BD occurrence. These data suggests a causative/favoring role of acute exposure of parents to the weapons-associated contaminants, and/or of their chronic exposure from their persistence in the environment on the embryonic development of their children.

[johnw]

DU is [relatively] low-level radioactive. It's an alpha- and beta-emitter, and a low-level gamma emitter. Alpha and beta particles are easily stopped, alpha particles by a sheet of paper, beta particles by aluminum foil. Neither gets through human skin. Gamma particles need serious shielding, though: lead, lots of concrete or the like. The main problem is uranium's chemical toxicity (not as toxic as Pu, but not many things are), and ingestion and aspiration is a real issue: when DU penetrators go through armor, they burn and they become aerosolized. Not so much a problem for the vehicle's crew — they've got more immediate issues than the potential toxicity of the metal — but the stuff hangs in the air and it's in the soil, so as dust gets kicked up, people can ingest it or breathe it. It can also get into the body through cuts and other injuries.

Not much connection between DU and birth defects and the like, though.

White Phosphorus, exposure though... does seem to be tied to birth defects — and we did use WP munitions [illegally] in Fallujah.

https://www.mecaforpeace.org/new-stu...re-of-parents/



https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3386584/

Yeah, Russian disinformation claims depleted uranium is linked to birth defects. The Russians did use white phosphorus in Ukraine.

[heimlaga]

Does Russian translation software have trouble distinguishing between 'Social Democrat' and 'Swedish Democrat?'

Probably. It also seems the Russians haven't been told that the Putinists are only a small anti-democratic fringe group partly within the Swedish Democrats and partly in some even more extreme right wing parties which haven't managed to secure any seats in riksdagen (the parlament) and partly among in far left fringe of the Left party. Those few on the left fringe are always ready to cheer for anything that reminds them of Stalin.
According to recent oppinion polls the pro-putinists are somewhere around 5% of eligible voters in Sweden.

[gypsie]

Yeah, Russian disinformation claims depleted uranium is linked to birth defects. The Russians did use white phosphorus in Ukraine.

And have blown up at least two maternity hospitals - while they were in use.

[heimlaga]

For the record, the Swedish parliament just voted in favour of the laws that give the government the mandate to join NATO. Two parties opposed, the Greens and the Left party, both representing the left side of the parliament. All other parties, representing about 85% of the population, voted in favour. I would call the opposition by the Greens and the Left luke warm and they might have reconsidered if their votes had mattered.

We're now waiting for Hungary and Turkey to ratify the alliance with Sweden. The Finnish parliament has already approved the necessary laws and is expected to be approved by Turkey and Hungary before Sweden. My take is that Erdogan needs a conflict with Sweden until the election in Turkey is over.

It would have been better if Sweden and Finland could have joined at the same time, but Finland joining NATO is better for both our countries than Finland also being blocked. We're already planning as if we were NATO members, so Turkey and Hungary blocking Sweden for yet a while is annoying but not a catastrophe. If you take a look at a map you realise that Sweden is the key for reinforcing the Baltic states (and Finland) in case of a conflict with Russia. NATO and Sweden share a common interest in doing that, regardless of the status of our membership, so we'll find a way. It's still annoying that the two NATO countries Turkey and Hungary can act in a way that obstructs the defence of other NATO members.

The main issue being that since this war started Finland has been an island logistically speaking. Everything comes and goes by sea. We are stuck with our old Russian rail gauge so we have no means of direct transports by rail. Roads across the borders to Sweden and Norway are rather few and mostly narrow. If we both are Nato members if or when the invasion attempt comes it will be much easier to secure our supply routes by sea.

[gypsie]

Fixed it for you.
Vadim-Johan is not in Sweden and has probably never been there. He is in all likelyhood an employee at a propaganda office in Russia.

The official name of the propaganda office in Russia is; The Internet Research Agency. It's based in the district of Lahkta in St. Petersburgh. The members/employees are known in Russia as the 'Trolls of Lahkta'.

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/internatio...6020232_4.html

In Russia, there exists a corporate organization where mercenary war criminals, lawyers, heavily-armed thugs, experienced computer scientists and political scientists work together hand-in-hand. Tens of thousands of these people are working for Yevgeny Prigozhin – a former criminal turned "Putin's cook," before becoming an unofficial general in the war in Ukraine at the head of the Wagner Group.

This mysterious corporation has been turned inside out by Dossier Center, a group of investigators funded by Russian businessman and dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky. On March 18, Dossier Center published "Prigozhin's Cyber Army," a study based on more than a million internal documents unearthed by an anonymous hacker group. Information was apparently copied from servers at Prigozhin's facilities in the early fall of 2022.

Its main activities have been affected. The documents come from the "troll factory" in St. Petersburg – the Internet Research Agency. They also come from its parent group, the Concord Group, as well as from the Wagner Group and a slew of 400 companies, real and fictitious, belonging to the multimillionaire. Seen from the inside, the business structure reveals a quasi-Russian state-owned organization, which is also a monstrous criminal enterprise of its own kind.

In another paradox, the report highlights a "strange imbalance" between the maximum security culture of secrecy within the company on the one hand, and, on the other, "a total indifference towards digital data security: employees receive no training or instructions regarding encryption, something which is non-existent."
Former employees estimate that the troll factory currently has about 400 staff, more than 30 of whom are responsible solely for writing comments on media websites, and another 30 or so on YouTube.

[heimlaga]

The official name of the propaganda office in Russia is; The Internet Research Agency. It's based in the district of Lahkta in St. Petersburgh. The members/employees are known in Russia as the 'Trolls of Lahkta'.

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/internatio...6020232_4.html

Interresting. This corresponds completely with the reports published by YLE and others several months ago of a certain office block in Petersburg full of internet propagandists working full time and in all likelyhood paid by Jevgenij Prigortzin.

[Nicholas Carey]

The main issue being that since this war started Finland has been an island logistically speaking. Everything comes and goes by sea. We are stuck with our old Russian rail gauge so we have no means of direct transports by rail. Roads across the borders to Sweden and Norway are rather few and mostly narrow. If we both are Nato members if or when the invasion attempt comes it will be much easier to secure our supply routes by sea.

The one thing the Russo-Ukraine War should be teaching nations in the ex-Russian/Soviet orbit is that y'all ought to be changing rail gauge from broad (Russian) gauge @ 1520/1524mm (5 ft) to standard gauge @ 1435mm (4 ft 8-1/2 ins).

Given Russia's dependence on rail for military logistics, that would seem to be a matter of national security. If you have to change trucks when you cross the border, that's a-gonna slow things down considerable.

[skuthorp]

Better the devil you know…………………..

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

The one thing the Russo-Ukraine War should be teaching nations in the ex-Russian/Soviet orbit is that y'all ought to be changing rail gauge from broad (Russian) gauge @ 1520/1524mm (5 ft) to standard gauge @ 1435mm (4 ft 8-1/2 ins).

Given Russia's dependence on rail for military logistics, that would seem to be a matter of national security. If you have to change trucks when you cross the border, that's a-gonna slow things down considerable.

That’s a good point. If I recall correctly the Tsar chose the Russian gauge for that very reason.

Edited: I remembered a myth! Here’s the real story:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_ft_a...gauge_railways

[dutchpp]

The ISW Russian offensive campaign, March 22.
https://www.understandingwar.org/bac...-march-22-2023

Key Takeaways

• Russian forces conducted a limited drone and missile strike campaign in Ukraine overnight on March 21-22, indicating that Russian forces continue struggling with precision missile shortages.
• Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu announced that the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) intends to increase the size of Russia’s air defense forces at a Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) collegium on March 22.
• Shoigu likely signaled to Japan that it should not become more engaged in supporting Ukraine by announcing the deployment of an anti-shipping missile system on one of the Kuril Islands.
• Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu walked away and refused to answer a question about how soon to expect peace in Ukraine.
• The tempo of Russian operations around Bakhmut appears to be slowing amid Western reporting that Russian forces may be attempting to launch offensives in other directions.
• Russian forces may be deploying T-54/55 tanks from storage to Ukraine to compensate for significant armored vehicle losses.
• Russian forces conducted limited ground attacks along the Svatove-Kreminna line.
• Russian forces made marginal territorial gains within Bakhmut and continued offensive operations in and around Bakhmut and on the outskirts of Donetsk City.
• Ukrainian officials stated that Ukrainian forces continue to clear an area on the east (left) bank of the Dnipro River.
• The Kremlin continued hybrid reserve callup and crypto mobilization campaigns to recruit Russians for contract service.
• Russian officials and occupation authorities continued to advocate for legislative changes in an effort to further legitimize the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.

[WszystekPoTrochu]

• Russian forces may be deploying T-54/55 tanks from storage to Ukraine to compensate for significant armored vehicle losses.

There is a nice museum of armament inside what used to be a supporting building of Poznań's citadel, they have a few old tanks on open display 'guarding' the main entrance. Two of these museum pieces are now in active duty in "the world's second army". I smirk every time I think of that.

Thank you again for posting these takeaways, by the way. That's what we keep this thread for, let's not get too distracted by wrestling with e-pigs in this e-mud

That’s a good point. If I recall correctly the Tsar chose the Russian gauge for that very reason.
Edited: I remembered a myth! Here’s the real story:

The real real story is that the engineers asked the tsar whether it should be normal gauge or wider, and the tsar answered "A na chuj szirsze?"
(Na chuj = for what f..ing reason, but also lit. on/by a dick; szirsze - rus. wider)
Engineers, not willing to risk asking further questions to the tsar, made the gauge half a foot wider...

[skuthorp]

There is a nice museum of armament inside what used to be a supporting building of Poznań's citadel, they have a few old tanks on open display 'guarding' the main entrance. Two of these museum pieces are now in active duty in "the world's second army". I smirk every time I think of that.

Thank you again for posting these takeaways, by the way. That's what we keep this thread for, let's not get too distracted by wrestling with e-pigs in this e-mud



The real real story is that the engineers asked the tsar whether it should be normal gauge or wider, and the tsar answered "A na chuj szirsze?"
(Na chuj = for what f..ing reason, but also lit. on/by a dick; szirsze - rus. wider)
Engineers, not willing to risk asking further questions to the tsar, made the gauge half a foot wider...

Sounds like things haven't changed in Russia at all, only the Czar's name has changed. Certainly not the attitudes.

[dutchpp]

Sounds like things haven't changed in Russia at all, only the Czar's name has changed. Certainly not the attitudes.

Sure but a few years in his new room in Scheveningen prison will change that attitude.
putins kamer.jpg

[dutchpp]

A Google translate of the daily comment in my paper www.nrc.nl

With an arrest warrant against Putin, the ICC is doing what it is for: taking on the most difficult cases
War crimes

Vladimir Putin will never be arrested anyway, the multilateralism on which the International Criminal Court depends no longer exists and, moreover, what has the International Criminal Court ever achieved? This defeatism is perhaps not a strange reaction to the surprising news last week that the ICC's first arrest warrant on Ukraine is immediately for Russia's Supreme Leader.

After all, Putin's grip on Russia is so strong that a change of power that would lead to his extradition to The Hague is not in the offing. Even the mobilization of thousands of young Russian men sent to the front as cannon fodder has not jeopardized the president's position.

Nor can miracles be expected from the international community. Political will is needed to arrest Putin outside Russia, but not all countries support the ICC. Major players, led by the United States, still refuse to join. In recent days it has once again become clear that the world cannot count on China in this respect. President Xi Jinping, on a state visit to Moscow, praised Putin for his "strong leadership" and invited him to China. That was not with the intention of nabbing him at the airport in Beijing. Xi underlined his view that the world has become multipolar and that the idea that someone should answer for war crimes before an international court is not universally shared.

Yet, in addition to this pessimistic reading of events, another analysis is also possible: twenty years after its creation, a period in which a lot has gone wrong, the ICC is doing what it exists for: calling the highest to account for the greatest crimes, at the when no one else can or will.

And yes, the question of why former US President George W. Bush and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair never received a subpoena for the invasion of Iraq will haunt the Court. But that cannot be a reason to view the arrest warrant against Putin with cynicism.

Confidence in the ICC suffered a major blow in the early years. Not only did the most powerful remain unaffected, there was also a one-sided focus on African suspects, cases came about slowly and did not stand up in court, the internal organization was not in order and, above all, it was not possible to get suspects arrested. This strengthened autocratic leaders who portray the court as an expression of Western imperiousness.

But a lot has also improved in recent years. For example, there have been important convictions. Not from presidents, but from rebel leaders, for the use of child soldiers and the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. This is great progress in international law. The question of whether these statements also improve anything in the real world is difficult to answer. How many potential criminals changed their minds in time after these convictions? That is unknown. There is no list of crimes prevented by the ICC, but they also count.

For the court, that is enough reason not only to issue the arrest warrant against Putin, but also to make it public. This may reduce the chance of arrest, but it increases the chance that children will be spared suffering. It is now up to the international community to actually carry out Putin's arrest.

[L.W. Baxter]

and here is something interesting: ron desantis has flipped from his position of indifference towards the ukraine invasion, called putin a "war criminal". that if he could "snap his fingers" he'd give all occupied territory back to ukraine, "100%".

sidebar: i have been wondering why desantis has taken so long to roll out a more national presence. but as the first glimpses of his intentions appear, i can understand the reticence. people have been fearing desantis for being like trump, only smarter. i think he is just like trump, full stop.

[UCanoe_2]

Sure but a few years in his new room in Scheveningen prison will change that attitude.
putins kamer.jpg

Is that really a prison cell? Most of the furnishings could be vandalized, or used to make weapons, or employed for self-injurious behavior. At best, Putin deserves a concrete bunk with no mattress.

[dutchpp]

Is that really a prison cell? Most of the furnishings could be vandalized, or used to make weapons, or employed for self-injurious behavior. At best, Putin deserves a concrete bunk with no mattress.

Yes, this is a cel which complies with the EU regulations for a standard prison cel, this used to be Slobodan Milosevic's cel

[dutchpp]

Challenger 2 versus T54.
Attachment 132084

[gypsie]

Great pic.

Just reading an article about the training regime for Ukrainian soldiers in the US and other NATO countries. Tank systems, mobile artillery systems, patriot missile systems, combined forces techniques and so on. The quality and quantity for Ukraine just improves, while the Russians, as pointed out, are pulling pieces out of museums.

That photo captures it beautifully.

[gypsie]

Interesting report from Al Jazeera;

Russia building defenses in Crimea.
It appears they don't feel confident they can repel a counteroffensive on mainland Ukraine.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/...unteroffensive

An assessment by the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War found that Russia had now committed all 300,000 troops it had mobilised in September and October.

“If 300,000 Russian soldiers have been unable to give Russia a decisive offensive edge in Ukraine, it is highly unlikely that the commitment of additional forces in future mobilisation waves will produce a dramatically different outcome this year,” the institute said.

“Ukraine is therefore well positioned to regain the initiative and launch counteroffensives in critical sectors of the current frontline,” it wrote in a war assessment.

Ukraine’s deputy head of military intelligence, Vadym Skibitskyi, said on Friday that Russia was preparing for combat in Crimea, suggesting that the Russian military leadership is not confident it can keep pushing forward.

“There are about 90 combat aircraft, 60 combat helicopters,” Skibitskyi said. “A defence group was created, which carries out measures for the arrangement of fortifications and defence lines. They are preparing for defensive actions on the territory of the peninsula.”

A representative of Ukraine’s military intelligence also said Russian forces had “chosen the most dangerous areas where a naval landing operation could be carried out, and now they are preparing defensive lines there.”

[JayInOz]

Interesting report from Al Jazeera;

Russia building defenses in Crimea.

I see that as a good thing. Russia won't be able to hold Crimea when Ukraine decides it's time to take it back using all the new toys at their disposal. I was concerned that Russia would suddenly pull back all their troops and citizens from Crimea and immediately follow that with something nasty like a nuke, or at least a dirty bomb.

[skuthorp]

Russia needs Crimea for it's naval requirements, and anyhow where will Vlad's mates go for summer holidays if they lose Crimea? No one else will have them, and they may risk arrest.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

This armchair general, possessing no experience or insight, assumes that Ukraine will drive to the sea through the Donbas, blow the bridge, and wait.

[dutchpp]

The ISW Russian offensive campaign assessment, march 23.
https://www.understandingwar.org/bac...-march-23-2023

[dutchpp]

Somehow I can't add the takeaways to post #10508.

Here they are;
Key Takeaways

• Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin has softened his rhetoric towards the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) likely out of fear of completely losing his mercenary force in Bakhmut.
• Prigozhin denied the Kremlin’s claims that Russia is fighting NATO in Ukraine and questioned whether there are actually Nazis in Ukraine as the Kremlin constantly claims.
• Bloomberg reported that Prigozhin is preparing to scale back Wagner’s operations in Ukraine after Russian military leadership succeeded in cutting key supplies of personnel and munitions.
• Ukrainian officials supported ISW’s prior assessments that Russian forces are unable to conduct large-scale, simultaneous offensive campaigns on multiple axes.
• Russian forces may be shifting their missile strike tactics to focus on Ukrainian military facilities as overall Russian missile strikes decrease, indicating the depletion of Russia’s stocks of high-precision missiles.
• Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin outlined various measures to support Russian military personnel, the Russian defense industrial base (DIB), and Russian independence from the West in an address to the State Duma.
• The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that Rosatom may be working to restore three power lines at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) which would increase Russian control over the ZNPP.
• Russian forces conducted limited ground attacks northeast of Kupyansk and along the Svatove-Kreminna line.
• Russian forces are continuing to attack Bakhmut City and areas in its vicinity and around Avdiivka.
• Ukrainian forces continue to conduct raids over the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast.
• The Kremlin continues efforts to coerce Russian reservists, conscripts, and other personnel into contract service.
• Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced that Russia is continuing efforts to integrate newly-occupied Ukraine into Russian institutions and infrastructure.
• Russian forces in Belarus recently redeployed back to Russia ahead of Russia’s spring conscription call-up on April 1.

[CollinR]

Stefan Korshak has spoken again (I'm sorry, I can't link his page, perhaps ACB would be kind enough), reporting on Ukrainian troop concentrations near Chasiv Yar (Bakhmut area). I recall comments that Wagner troops have no effective anti tank capacity. I am afraid that we live in interesting times. I'm also glad that I, and my sons, are not Russian.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Stefan Korshak has spoken again (I'm sorry, I can't link his page, perhaps ACB would be kind enough), reporting on Ukrainian troop concentrations near Chasiv Yar (Bakhmut area). I recall comments that Wagner troops have no effective anti tank capacity. I am afraid that we live in interesting times. I'm also glad that I, and my sons, are not Russian.

Thanks Collin, well spotted - here we are:

https://medium.com/@Stefan.Korshak/m...ts-7df135cf80d

[WX]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65015289

The picture was drawn in April 2022 by then 12-year-old Masha Moskaleva. Her father Alexei, a single parent, had contacted the town councillor for advice. He told her that after seeing Masha's drawing, her school had called the police."The police started investigating Alexei's social media," Olga tells me. "And they told him that he was bringing up his daughter in a bad way."


Charges followed. For an anti-war post on social media, Alexei was fined 32,000 roubles (around $415 or £338 at the time) for discrediting the Russian armed forces. A few weeks ago, a criminal case was opened against him. Again, anti-war posts formed the basis for discreditation charges.



This time Alexei faces a possible prison sentence.


Alexei is currently under house arrest in Yefremov. His daughter Masha has - for now - been sent to a children's home. Alexei has not even been allowed to speak to her on the phone.


"No-one has seen Masha since 1 March," Olga Podolskaya tells me, "despite our attempts to get access to the children's home and to find out how she is.


"The Russian authorities want everyone to toe the line. No-one is allowed to have their own opinion. If you disagree with what someone thinks, then don't read their social media posts. But don't put that person under house arrest and their child in a children's home."

[sandtown]

"The Russian authorities want everyone to toe the line. No-one is allowed to have their own opinion. If you disagree with what someone thinks, then don't read their social media posts. But don't put that person under house arrest and their child in a children's home."

Is the BBC reporting that similar things are happening in Ukr ??