Russia Ukraine Update Thread - part 2

* - Russia pulls back from battered Kyiv region in major shift of war to east

Five weeks after Russian troops hurtled into the country in the hope of swiftly seizing the capital, installing a friendly government and subjugating Ukraine, the Russian military appears to be shrinking its goals to prioritize the east, redeploying forces that had been destined for the Kyiv region and attempting to organize reinforcements to compensate for the thousands of troops that have been killed.

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* - Who has Putin’s ear? Inside the president’s inner circle

Even for a leader as cloistered as Vladimir Putin, the torrent of bad news from Ukraine should be impossible to ignore.

The Russian army’s rapid retreat from Kyiv last week has made clear the scale of its failure, leaving behind the bodies of Russian soldiers and the burnt-out carcasses of hundreds of tanks and other military vehicles. The goal of a knockout blow against Kyiv has been abandoned and Russia is facing the toughest sanctions ever enacted against a superpower.

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* - Ukraine Assesses Damage After Russian Pullback Near Kyiv

LVIV, Ukraine—Ukrainian forces were clearing mines and counting the dead around Kyiv on Saturday following Russian troop withdrawals in recent days, as Moscow shifted military operations to the country’s east.

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* - Retired Army major general: The Russian military invasion has peaked

Vladimir Putin's five-week long invasion of Ukraine has peaked, with Russian forces no longer possessing enough combat power to continue to advance, according to one close observer of the military situation.

In interviews Thursday and Friday, the former commander of the US Special Operations Command in Europe, retired US Army Major General Mike Repass, gave his well-informed view of the war in Ukraine. For the past six years, he has advised the Ukrainian military on a US government contract.

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* - Ex-UN prosecutor urges global arrest warrant for Putin

GENEVA (AP) — The former chief prosecutor of United Nations (U.N.) war crimes tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda has called for an international arrest warrant to be issued for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Putin is a war criminal,” Carla Del Ponte told the Swiss newspaper Le Temps in an interview published Saturday.

In interviews given to Swiss media to mark the release of her latest book, the Swiss lawyer who oversaw U.N. investigations in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia said there were clear war crimes being committed in Ukraine.

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* - Russia vows to target British weapons as UK missile downs helicopter

Russia’s ambassador to the UK has warned that British weapons supplied to Ukraine are “legitimate targets” for the Russian army.

Andrey Kelin made the warning on Saturday as Vladimir Putin’s forces struggled to make gains in the country.

Defence secretary Ben Wallace last week vowed to send further military aid to Ukraine in the form of long-range artillery weapons and Starstreak missiles. The UK has already supplied President Volodomyr Zelensky’s forces with thousands of Javelin and NLAW anti-tank missiles, which have been used to deadly effect.

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* - Ukraine Has Retaken Control Of Greater Kyiv Area, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Says

krainian soldiers have taken full control of the Kyiv region, Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said on social media on Saturday, hours after a top Ukrainian official said Ukraine had reclaimed more than 30 towns north of the capital.

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originally posted by: PatriotGames4u
a reply to: Xcathdra


Ukraine getting 1000 t72s in a few days is an absolute game changer!

This means they can go directly to the eastern front to meet the invading russians without pulling too much out of Kiev as russia retreats.


Poland getting M1s goes a long way to slamming the Poland door on putin.

They might want to hold some back. I am seeing reports that Russian units in Transnistria (Moldova) are going to enter the war. The can either come from behind and sack Odessa or they can come up behind Ukraine units advancing towards Kherson.

* - reports coming out of Moscow that the CEO of JSC Sukhoi Company has resigned in protest over the Russian invasion of Ukraine and he is also not happy his aircraft are being used in Ukraine.

There are videos of amn absolutly massive amount of armour conveying and the posts saying they are moving to Donbas.

Then there is one stating that

🇬🇧The Russian army will ensure the maintenance of peace on the territory of the DPR and LPR

This is stated in the decree of President Putin.

In addition, decrees on diplomatic relations will be signed with the republics.

The first units of the Russian army have already moved into the Donbass.

t.me...

I only bother to translate posts that look important or if I need context for a video.

a reply to: Xcathdra


They will certainly hold back much of the forces near Kiev, which can act as reserves for future fronts, but 1000 fresh tanks on the eastern front would likely put an immediate end to any russian advances, and 'might' even be enough to push them back towards the russian border.

I also suspect russia is planning something unexpected.

a reply to: PatriotGames4u

Russia is not going to be Pushed back to its border

Also can you Quote me One just One comment from Putin..
That Russian intentions were to seize Kyiv...

You must be able to find One from what the West keep reporting......

Stay Safe

Riouz

a reply to: Riouz5


I said towards, not 'to'. I don't think Ukraine has the capability for that yet.

I also said the most likely outcome of 1000 fresh tanks would be halting any further russian advances, not pushing them back.

Nice word twisting though.




Why would anyone believe putin about anything, he also said he wouldn't invade his non threatening neighbor right before he did exactly that.

russia's tactics and deployments are how folks know with certainty that putin tried to take Kiev, not his words.

a reply to: Riouz5

actually in several places Ukraine has pushed Russia back to and across the Russian border (Ukraine troops have not entered Russia - except for the helo attack in Belgorod)

a reply to: Grimpachi


I've seen the same videos.

Had to watch carefully to make sure it wasn't a video loop.

There is an absolutely massive, frightening, amount of armor headed towards dombas by rail, I couldn't count them all but it looked like at least 2000 pieces on two trains to me.

Not sarcasm, this stuff really is only a couple days away.

It's why the Ukrainians are digging in just west of there, and why I think 1000 tanks in those defensive positions would be a game changer.

It's also why exploding the fuel depot there was so significant.

The armor is only a day or two away now, but it'll take longer than that to get them fueled after the depot burned up.

a reply to: Xcathdra

Yes, that's the two villages that got my spidey senses going 2 days before the depot blew up, but that was really just exploiting a very small weak point with overwhelming force and couldn't be duplicated along the very long front backed by so many russians.

russia didn't have many forces there because it didn't have any significant value as they were assuming (incorrectly) that Ukraine would never attempt such a bold attack on russian soil.

Other than being right on the border within range of the depot that little area didn't really have any military significance, and it wouldn't surprise me to find out that the russians took it back after finally figuring out what the Ukrainians were up to.

a reply to: PatriotGames4u

Yeah it turns out the Ukrainians used the classic "we can neither confirm nor deny" denial confirmation.

a reply to: Xcathdra

I actually tried to translate it and came up with "I have no information about any attacks on russian soil by anyone in the Ukrainian military and will make no further comment."

Enough confirmation for me.

Probably international volunteers.

Or a don't ask, don't tell thing for plausible deniability.

Either way, the depot actually did burn and that's all that really matters for now.

a reply to: PatriotGames4u

well it screws russian forces redeploying to the East as well as russian forces already in the east. Zelenskyy reiterated again that donbas and crimea are ukraine.

It's the kind of sensationalism that bugs me, after writing about all the horrors they admit,in a brief sentence in the end they have no independent verification, ie it could be BS.

If true however I wonder what the Russian response will be? more importantly, what did the Russians expect? How did they get the food and alcohol? Too many questions


Russian troops were killed after being given poisoned food and alcohol by Ukrainian civilians, officials say

www.businessinsider.in... fficials-say/articleshow/90617811.cms

Some Russian troops were killed and many more were injured after being given poisoned food and alcohol by civilians in the Kharkiv Region, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday.

The soldiers were from the 3rd Russian motor rifle division, according to a Facebook post from Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence.

The post said two Russian troops were killed and 28 were in intensive care after being given poisoned cakes in the city of Izium. Another 500 Russian troops were taken to hospitals due to heavy alcohol poisoning, according to the post.

Insider could not independently verify the poisonings.

Shouldn't it be verified before it's published?

a reply to: putnam6

Yup...

also when you invade another country you are a target.

a reply to: putnam6


They accurately reported on the statement by Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence, and said they couldn't independently verify it because russian forces currently hold Izyum, what more do you expect from a war zone?

a reply to: Xcathdra


A target, yes.

But I'm not so sure what to think about civilians poisoning soldiers.

The first story I saw of this was a neighborhood store owner poisoning all the food on his shelf as the civilians were evacuating in front of russian attacks on their homes, knowing that the russian soldiers haven't been eating much lately.

Are there stories of any other delivery methods?

a reply to: PatriotGames4u

Eastern Europe isn't called "the bloodlands" for nothing.

Quarter neither given nor asked is the war tradition there.

Cheers

a reply to: PatriotGames4u

Being rid of legacy Soviet designs would make armored force logistics simpler for Poland. They already have German Leo-2 tanks, but the M1's and the Leo-2's use the same cannon and ammunition. The old Soviet designs use a 125-mm cannon versus the 120-mm on the M1.

Cheers

Any move by Russian troops in Transnistria would be a gamble for Putin. That could easily end up with Transnistria (which has always been unrecognized as a sovereign entity) 'disappearing' from the map.

Cheers