(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Ukraine Invasion Day 321: finding a tie when the empire must die [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']
Date: 2023-01-09
It’s hard to see a Russian invasion as a rebuke against the moderate, classical liberal, capitalist western world led by the US, as if Putin is supposed to be the bulwark against liberalism. Some members of the GOP frame it that way.
By the way, is it me or did President Zelensky roll into Congress looking like he was bringing our Uber eats order? US taxpayers give you like $50 billion and counting, and you can’t find a tie?
The latest amendment, first introduced in December, was added after lawmakers noted that some maps dispute what Russia calls the "territorial affiliation" of Crimea and the Kuril Islands, according to Reuters.
In recent years Russia's anti-extremism law has been continually expanded to assert increasing control over political opponents.
An amendment to anti-extremism legislation would include as extremist "cartographic and other documents and images that dispute the territorial integrity of Russia," according to Reuters .
About 50 Ukrainian soldiers who were released from Russian detention on Sunday as part of a prisoner swap posed for a photo on their release.
The Russian government extended support to a legislative amendment that would classify maps that dispute the country’s official “territorial integrity” as punishable extremist materials , Reuters reported the state-owned Tass news agency as saying on Sunday.
Demands for a special tribunal to investigate Russia for a “crime of aggression” against Ukraine have been backed by senior UK politicians from across the political divide in a move to show Vladimir Putin and his generals that they will be held to account.
One person was killed from the attack on the Starobesheve power plant in Novyi Svit, Russia’s state news agency Tass said on Sunday. The thermal power plant was one of two – in part of Ukraine’s Donetsk region controlled by Russian forces – damaged in a rocket attack by the Ukrainian army, Moscow-installed officials said.
Russia and Belarus have expanded their joint military training exercises in Belarus , the country’s defence TV channel said on Sunday, as concern grows that Moscow is pressuring its closest ally to join the war in Ukraine . The two countries added weapons, soldiers and specialised equipment to the exercises, Reuters reported.
At least two people were killed during fighting in eastern Ukraine , officials said. Donetsk’s governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said one person was killed in strikes on Bakhmut and eight others in the region were wounded, Associated Press reported. Kyrylenko also said rocket attacks on Kramatorsk and Konstantynivka.
Zelenskiy denounced what he said was Russia’s failure to observe a 36-hour ceasefire it had declared for Orthodox Christmas by launching attacks on Ukrainian cities.
Russia has claimed to have killed more than 600 Ukrainian troops in a “retaliatory strike” in the eastern town of Kramatorsk, but Ukraine’s armed forces rejected the claim. The mayor of the town, near the frontline city of Bakhmut, said there had been no deaths from strikes over the weekend, while a witness told Reuters on Sunday that buildings had been damaged but not destroyed and there were no obvious signs of casualties. The Russian claim seems suspicious for several reasons .
Ukrainian forces are repelling constant attacks on Bakhmut in the eastern Donbas region and holding their positions in nearby Soledar in arduous conditions, Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said. The Ukrainian president said in his Sunday night video address: “Bakhmut is holding on despite everything. And even though most of the town has been destroyed by Russian strikes, our soldiers are repelling constant Russian attempts to advance. Soledar is holding on, even though there is even greater destruction and things are very difficult.”
Details: In the course of the past 24 hours, Russian occupiers launched seven missile attacks and 31 airstrikes. They have also performed 73 strikes using multiple-launch rocket systems.
Quote: "The enemy is conducting offensive operations on the Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Lyman fronts, and are trying to improve their tactical position on the Kupiansk front."
Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook , information as of 06:00 on 8 January
Defence forces of Ukraine performed 24 ground and air strikes, hitting clusters of Russians and three positions of anti-aircraft missile systems over the course of the past 24 hours.
Here are today's control-of-terrain maps of #Russia 's invasion of #Ukraine from @TheStudyofWar and @criticalthreats . Click here to see our interactive map:
https://t.co/8RN8PxU2LC pic.twitter.com/iKMGRerdDI
On this front the rashists shelled Avdiyivka, Nevel's'ke, Heorhiyivka, Mar'yinka and Novomykhaylivka. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine operational information as of 06:00 on 9 January 2023 regarding the Russian invasion 2/2 pic.twitter.com/amuysn8BxQ
x Once one of the best-looking cities of the industrial part of Donbas, the famous manufacturer of salt and sparkling wine, Bakhmut is dead now.
https://t.co/DuzeBa8btj — Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) January 9, 2023 x 2/2
Klishchiivka, Vodyane, Pervomaiske, Krasnohorivka, Marinka, Pobieda, Novomykhailivka (Donetsk O.) — MilitaryLand.net (@Militarylandnet) January 9, 2023 For Putin, defeat is not an option. He cannot cede to Ukraine the four eastern provinces he has declared part of Russia. If he cannot be militarily successful this year, he must retain control of positions in eastern and southern Ukraine that provide future jumping-off points for renewed offensives to take the rest of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, control the entire Donbas region and then move west. Eight years separated Russia’s seizure of Crimea and its invasion nearly a year ago. Count on Putin to be patient to achieve his destiny.
Meanwhile, although Ukraine’s response to the invasion has been heroic and its military has performed brilliantly, the country’s economy is in a shambles, millions of its people have fled, its infrastructure is being destroyed, and much of its mineral wealth, industrial capacity and considerable agricultural land are under Russian control. Ukraine’s military capability and economy are now dependent almost entirely on lifelines from the West — primarily, the United States. Absent another major Ukrainian breakthrough and success against Russian forces, Western pressures on Ukraine to negotiate a cease-fire will grow as months of military stalemate pass. Under current circumstances, any negotiated cease-fire would leave Russian forces in a strong position to resume their invasion whenever they are ready. That is unacceptable. The latest: All eyes are on the unilateral cease-fire ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin for Orthodox Christmas, which got underway on Friday, a temporary truce that was dismissed by Ukraine, the United States and Germany as a possible ploy for Russia to regroup and move more troops and equipment to the battlefield. Putin this week ordered his forces to observe a 36-hour truce for the holiday, the Kremlin said. Read the latest updates here.
Russia’s Gamble: The Post examined the road to war in Ukraine, and Western efforts to unite to thwart the Kremlin’s plans…
www.washingtonpost.com/...
x "Belarus continues to strengthen its border with us, as they noted, as if we pose a threat to them. We see incitement from Belarus and Russia through their joint exercises," — said Demchenko.
👉Follow@Flash_news_ua — FLASH (@Flash_news_ua) January 9, 2023
In Belarus Russian Su-25 attack aircraft as well as Mi-8 & Mi-24 helicopters arrived recently. This according to Belarusian authorities are for Russian & Belarusian Air Force joint training from 16th Jan. to 1st Feb.
x Ukraine's General Staff reported Sunday that ruZZia has used a national guard unit to shoot soldiers who plan on deserting or surrendering to Ukrainian forces.
https://t.co/aMSkHfs5Tz — Mavka Slavka 🧜♀️🌻 (@MavkaSlavka) January 9, 2023
Foreign soldiers were also gaining valuable experience, he added: “The experience of the modern war here, the war of technologies, drone war and electronic warfare. So I think it’s a win-win exchange.”
But the volunteers from former Soviet republics are, in many ways, even more useful. They have a linguistic advantage because most speak Russian, which is widely spoken in Ukraine, and sometimes Ukrainian, making coordination with the Ukrainian military easier. And some, like a group of Georgians in the Kavkaz Legion, have battlefield experience, having served with the NATO-led force in Afghanistan. Their knowledge of Russia and Russians, and their hatred of Moscow, has made the volunteers good undercover operators for Kyiv. Some Ukrainian officials and lawmakers have even expressed support for their causes. In October, for example, the Ukrainian Parliament passed a motion recognizing the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria as a territory occupied by Russia. But they also face substantial risks, given the nature of their work behind enemy lines. Not just Russian citizens, but virtually any undercover soldiers captured by Russian forces would be dealt with harshly. www.nytimes.com/... x Another thoughtful piece by @TimothyDSnyder, this time about racial policies in Russia.
Russia... has carried out an ambitious policy of racial transformation... Russian eugenics, the attempt to build a "healthier" Russian Volk.#NAFO #Ukraine
https://t.co/ViDES10jO8 — 𝔞𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔣𝔞 𝔣𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔞🌻🇺🇦✙ 👩🏻 🌊🌎✊🏾 (@AntifaFella) January 9, 2023
Discussions have been taking place "for a few weeks" about delivering a number of the British Army's Challenger 2 main battle tank to the Ukrainian armed forces, a Western source with knowledge of the conversations said.
Such a move would mark a significant step-up in Western support to Ukraine and could help prompt other NATO allies, in particular Germany, to follow suit.
[...]
One source suggested Britain might offer around 10 Challenger 2 tanks, enough to equip a squadron.
The source said this in itself would not be a "game changer" but it would still be hugely significant because the move would breach a barrier that has so far prevented allies from offering up Western tanks to Ukraine for fear of being seen as overly escalatory by Russia.
That could in turn prompt other allies to do the same, sources said.
"It will be a good precedent to demonstrate [to] others - to Germany first of all, with their Leopards… and Abrams from the United States," the Ukrainian source said.
news.sky.com/...
x 📷One of the ninety T-72EA, which are currently being restored and modernized in Czech Republic for Ukraine, was signed by Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala during a today's visit.#UkraineRussiaWar pic.twitter.com/y8DsGvx16M — MilitaryLand.net (@Militarylandnet) January 9, 2023
x Ukraine PM says Russia has created world's largest mine field in Ukraine
https://t.co/ODfcb08rwE — Albina Fella ✙ 🦝🇺🇦🇬🇧🇪🇺🇫🇷🇵🇱🇺🇸🍉 (@albafella1) January 9, 2023
www.nytimes.com/...
x Any accident on the railway in the Russian Federation will lead to a severe delay of the supply of ammunition#Ukraine #UkraineWar #UkraineWarNews #UkraineUnderAttaсk #StopPutin
https://t.co/NzLVeQ9K56 — The Odessa Journal 🖋⚓ (@Odessa_Journal) January 9, 2023
x For @newlinesmag I wrote about the attempts to condemn Soviet crimes across the former USSR @KomarHanna @skarynaukao
https://t.co/rraoyB4vb8 — Bella Saltiel (@bella_saltiel) December 20, 2022
Danielle Johnson, a consultant Ukraine researcher with the Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC), agrees. “Stalin’s legacy, in particular, needs to be reckoned with,” she said. “Putin has been able to exploit Stalin … to build support for his project. Stalin has been glorified … which is very, very dangerous.” Johnson said the international community missed an opportunity to reckon with the USSR’s crimes in the early 1990s, creating space for Putin to “rewrite the narrative of history.”
Looking at what is happening in Ukraine today, Johnson feels distressed. “It just feels like this is what happens when countries do not face the past. When they’re not allowed to or they’re not able to for whatever reason, well, this is an example of it.”
Because that history was never looked at properly, Johnson said it can be used “to justify brutality in the service of a greater political project, which in this case, frankly, is imperial expansion.”
newlinesmag.com/...
x Infamous Russian Troll Farm Appears to Be Source of Anti-Ukraine Propaganda
https://t.co/pAQdILFopw — Harvester (@thecasamarron) January 9, 2023
https://t.co/e0ldbKdQnG
x Glad we cleared this up pic.twitter.com/owAmVPhdP8 — Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) January 9, 2023
x Taken from FB
When you are told about "denazification", show him this map. Yellow are the natural gas fields verified in Ukraine - the second largest in Europe. Red is where the Russians entered in 2014 and 2022. Here is the truth why the war is going on! pic.twitter.com/UYsziUQWrW — Ksena Land (@ksena_land) January 9, 2023
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/9/2146181/-Ukraine-Invasion-Day-321-finding-a-tie-when-the-empire-must-die
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
