Day 211 Putin announced partial military mobilization, supported the referenda in occupied territories and hinted at the possibility of using nuclear weapons. 215 Azov regiment fighters, including 124 officers, are exchanged and returned to Ukraine. 5 commanders will stay in Turkey till the end of the war. Ukrainian forces likely continued offensive operations around Lyman. Ukrainian forces conducted strikes north and east of Kherson City, attacking Russian logistics chains in Kherson Oblast. The Russian army launched 8 missiles and 16 air strikes, fired 115 anti-aircraft missiles at military and civilian objects in Ukraine, damaging the infrastructure of more than 40 settlements.
I read about big protests in Russia and people frantic to leave. Maybe Ukraine can offer asylum to Russian refugees who commit to helping rebuild.
The protests are not big but they are many. It is unlawful to protest this war in Russia and you can be arrested. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...in-military-draft-russia-partial-mobilisation
By all accounts on social media, every able bodied Russian with means is getting the hell out of that country before they can't.
Don't have an update today so just want to cover a couple things. To get people to vote in their phony referendums, registrars are taking the ballot right to people's apartments, accompanied by two armed soldiers. That's really gonna result in a fair vote, isn't it? I think that alm ost everyone has to see now that russian tactics are at least as bad as Nazis were. We have all the bodies in Izium showing signs of execution torture and several male corpses obviously castrated. Showing a photo of a released POW and will include an account of one civilian telling the extent of severity of torture. https://kyivindependent.com/nationa...UlYsRu2qxfBEjFiJgnh4bg-fCuuaNPFpWU-KV5-7YOREE
Actually I don't think russian mobilization is having many problems. Protests are very small and vandalism very little. Many videos of buses and planes loading up with "recruits". Ukraine's president encouraging them to resist, sabotage and surrender to Ukraine forces. Day 213. Russian partial mobilization efforts are suffering from serious and systemic problems in their first days. Protests, attacks against recruiting centers, and vandalism reported across Russia in the first 48 hours after the announcement of partial mobilization. Ukrainian forces continued to advance north and northwest of Lyman. Ukrainian forces continued their interdiction campaign in Kherson Oblast and maintained operational silence regarding this front. Russian forces continued to launch unsuccessful assaults near Bakhmut and northwest of Donetsk City. Iranian drones reported over the Dnipro and Odesa. In the occupied territories, pseudo-referendums are held at gunpoint. The exhumation of 447 bodies from the mass grave in Izium, Kharkiv Oblast, is completed.
It's a major escalation because it means Russia will consider these regions as part of Russia in their nuclear doctrine. Putin is setting the stage to use nukes.
Using nukes would be suicide. He's bluffing and trying to make it seem like the west is threatening to use nukes. But if nukes weren't a consideration Russia would have no chance at all.
Each move by Putin is in reqction to something that Ukraine does. The high powered and accurate weapons that Ukraine has have been devastating to his armies, so he has to come up with the sham referendum and threatening nuclear attack if they are attacked. However Ukraine has already for months attacked inside russia with their own artillery and one daring helicopter raid. Ukraine has come up with a very comprehensive program to help Ru soldiers defect so now Puten reacts with severer punitive measures. However will they care about that if they can stay in Ukraine forever or if they believe Putin will be gone relatively soon? Day 214. Russia’s nuclear doctrine will apply to “new” territories, said the Russian foreign affairs minister. Enemy kamikaze drones attack Odesa center. Ukrainian forces strike the Russian Guard base in Kherson. Putin signs law stipulating ten years behind bars for desertion and surrender. Zelenskyy has stated that Ukraine guarantees captured Russian soldiers civilized treatment, confidentiality with regard to the circumstances of their surrender, and the opportunity not to return to Russia. Russians launch a massive missile attack on Zaporizhzhia. Russian passports and mobilization notices are issued during the pseudo-referendum in the Luhansk region.
This will be the most difficult decision that Biden admin will ever have to make. Will he let Ru know, either publicly or privately, what will be the exact consequences of any kind of nuclear attack? https://english.nv.ua/nation/russia...rainian-territories-lavrov-says-50272410.html
Some clarity on what USA and allies are saying. Thought it might be worth posting cuz this is really getting down to the nitty-gritty. “We have communicated directly, privately at very high levels to the Kremlin that any use of nuclear weapons will be met with catastrophic consequences for Russia, that the United States and our allies will respond decisively, and we have been clear and specific about what that will entail,” US president Joe Biden has said that if Putin uses nuclear weapons, Washington’s response would be “consequential . . . depending on the extent of what they do will determine what response would occur”. Three of the five officials said that Nato member states have also communicated that message privately to Moscow, highlighting the scale of the response that any use of nuclear weapons would trigger. They suggested this threat of retaliation would continue to be the best deterrent. https://www.ft.com/content/e7212f93-6635-40eb-a356-c8e1bb14cea3?shareType=nongift
