Nobody interested in the Russia-Ukraine conflict?

Post Reply New Topic

Otherwise, like all other weapon, it's designed to kill and wound. War is awful and, by this logic, it should be banned but who would enforce such a ban and how?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that he had replaced his top general, a dramatic shake-up of the country’s military at a crucial moment in its war against Russia.

Zelenskyy’s decision to replace Army Cmdr. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi follows days of speculation and months of reported tension between the two over strategy, as Ukraine’s counteroffensive has faltered and Kyiv’s allies have displayed growing weariness about backing its cause.

“We openly discussed today what changes are needed in the army. Urgent changes,” Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post. “I proposed to General Zaluzhny to continue together in the team of the Ukrainian state. I will be grateful for his consent.”

He added that he had appointed Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, to lead the army.

It was unclear whether Zaluzhnyi was fired or he resigned, but in a statement on his Facebook page, he said he’d had “an important and serious conversation” with Zelenskyy, and “a decision has been made about the need to change approaches and strategy.”

A popular figure who came to embody Ukraine’s fighting spirit, Zaluzhnyi is widely respected both at home and abroad. In dispensing with him, Zelenskyy may sharpen the focus on his own leadership as Ukraine battles a new offensive from the Kremlin’s forces and doubts over the continued supply of military assistance from the United States and other governments.

Zaluzhnyi has been in charge of Ukraine’s army since before Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, and is credited by many in Ukraine and the West with playing a crucial role in the country’s surprise defensive stand, holding the Russians in check for nearly two years.

But rumors about Zaluzhnyi’s future have long been circulating, fueled by widespread speculation of a falling-out with Zelenskyy over Ukraine’s battlefield prospects and the need for a mass mobilization of civilians to bolster the military ranks.

In an editorial in The Economist last November, the general said the war had reached a stalemate and only a remarkable leap in military technology could get Ukraine out of the attritional quagmire.

Zelenskyy appeared to have been caught off guard by Zaluzhnyi’s comments and denied that the war was, in fact, at a stalemate. Even after last summer’s vaunted counteroffensive failed to yield any major breakthroughs, the Ukrainian president has insisted that Kyiv can retake all of its occupied territories militarily, without entering any peace negotiations with Russia.

Zaluzhnyi’s assessment appeared to pour cold water on Zelenskyy’s optimism.

His firing could raise questions from Ukraine’s Western partners at a time when Zelenskyy is trying to keep his country’s fight at the top of the international agenda, amid increasing resistance in the West to fund Kyiv’s fight for much longer and a major conflict in the Middle East brewing. But it could also fuel backlash at home, where Zelenskyy has been accused by some officials of authoritarianism and has labeled any talk of elections, which were meant to take place this year, as irresponsible.

A poll in December by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that 72% of Ukrainians would have a “negative attitude” to Zaluzhnyi’s resignation

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev delivered a sweeping speech Monday claiming “Ukraine is definitely Russia” and spouting anti-Ukraine rhetoric aimed at erasing the country from the map.

“Our geostrategic space has been indivisible since the time of the ancient Russian state,” the former Russian president said, presenting a map showing the vast majority of Ukraine’s territory gobbled up by Russia. “This concept must disappear forever. Ukraine is definitely Russia.”

Medvedev’s map shows the borders of other countries, including Poland and Romania, changed as well.

The speech echoes previous comments from Medvedev, who has repeatedly said he doesn’t think Ukraine should exist, accusing it of being simply a “misconception” following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and an unnecessary part of the world.

Russia will not stop its war until Ukraine surrenders, he said in the speech, adding that peace talks with Kyiv were off the table.

“Historic parts of the country need to come home. All our adversaries need to understand once and for all a simple fact: that the territories on both banks of the Dnipro River [which bisects Ukraine] are an integral part of Russia's strategic and historical borders.”

The aggressive speech comes weeks after Medvedev threatened to use nuclear weapons against the United States and other western allies, and just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to use nuclear weapons if NATO countries contribute troops to help defend Ukraine. The remarks came after French President Emmanuel Macron suggested allies could deploy forces to Ukraine.

“They must understand that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory,” Putin said. “All this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilization. Don’t they get that?”

The bellicose rhetoric coincides with a Russian information operation aimed at diluting Western support to Ukraine and hasten a Russian victory, according to Germany’s defense minister. Russian state media reported on leaked audio allegedly showing German officers discussing support for Ukraine and the possible provision of Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Kyiv.

“It is a hybrid attack aimed at disinformation. It is about division. It is about undermining our resolve,” the defense minister, Boris Pistorius, said.

Over two years into the war, Ukraine is still heavily dependent on Western support to maintain its defense against Russia. But delays on Capitol Hill in approving more military aid are hampering Ukraine’s defenses, according to Kyiv.

In its first major loss since losing Bakhmut last year, Ukraine withdrew from Avdiivka in February, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky citing a gap in artillery and long range weapons supplies and urging western allies to step up support.

“Our actions are limited only by ... our strength,” Zelensky said. “Dear friends, unfortunately keeping Ukraine in the artificial deficit of weapons, particularly in deficit of artillery and long-range capabilities, allows Putin to adapt to the current intensity of the war.”

Just over the weekend, Zelensky again blamed delays from allies in supplying air defenses for the deaths of 12 people in an attack in Odesa early this month.

“Delaying the supply of weapons to Ukraine, missile defense systems to protect our people, leads, unfortunately, to such losses,” Zelensky said. “When lives are lost, and partners are simply playing internal political games or disputes that limit our defense, it’s impossible to understand. It’s unacceptable.”

Russia was hit by a wave of attacks Tuesday, with Ukrainian drones striking targets deep inside the country from the air while anti-Kremlin armed groups said they had staged a cross-border incursion on the ground.

The attacks were the latest sign of Kyiv's growing ability and determination to take the fight to its neighbor's territory, and came just days ahead of a presidential election that will see Vladimir Putin re-assert his rule.

The Kremlin, which has worked hard to burnish an image of domestic calm despite the war in Ukraine, said it had successfully fought off the attempted incursions. But it was impossible to verify either side's claims, and attacks like this could unnerve the Russian public ahead of the election.

The Russian defense ministry reported early Tuesday that 25 drones had been intercepted over at least seven regions, in one of Ukraine's most wide-ranging aerial attacks in recent months.

The ministry did not report on any damage or casualties, only saying the drones had been destroyed. But some local governors reported that fuel and energy facilities had been hit, including an oil refinery that was ablaze in the Nizhny Novgorod region, some 480 miles from the Ukraine border.

The ministry separately reported that it destroyed eight rockets and one Tochka-U missile over Belgorod region, which has been routinely shelled by Ukraine since the early months of the war.

Ukraine normally does not take responsibility for attacks on Russian soil, but has increasingly targeted energy facilities in recent months with drones that can strike deep behind Russian lines.

Incursions into Russia?
Meanwhile, a trio of Ukraine-based armed groups purporting to be Russian volunteers opposed to the Kremlin said they had staged overnight raids across the border.

The groups released videos on the Telegram messaging app claiming to show their fighters inside Russia, with some moving on what appear to be tanks. NBC News could not verify those videos.

Ukraine pounded targets in Russia on Tuesday with dozens of drones and rockets in an attack that inflicted serious damage on a major oil refinery and sought to pierce the land borders of the world's biggest nuclear power with armed proxies.

In one of the biggest Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia to date, Moscow said it downed 25 Ukrainian drones over regions including Moscow, Leningrad, Belgorod, Kursk, Bryansk, Tula and Oryol. Waves of drone attacks continued through the day, the defence ministry said.

Russian officials reported attacks on energy facilities, including a fire at Lukoil's (LKOH.MM), opens new tab NORSI refinery and a drone destroyed on the outskirts of the town of Kirishi, home to Russia's second-largest oil refinery.

Gleb Nikitin, governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region, said emergency services were working to put out a blaze at the NORSI refinery.

Industry sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the main crude distillation unit (AVT-6) at NORSI was damaged in the attack, which means that at least half of the refinery's production is halted. Lukoil declined to comment.

^I wonder how RT is spinning that.. probably as Russia taking over more land and permanently stationing soldiers there or something like that.

the brave Ukrainian army



Making their forbearers from the 1940s proud, they do a mean goose step too...