Russian Invasion of Ukraine Megathread

[The Last Boyscout]

according to the russian side, the entire kiev part of the operation was only ever intended to be a distraction, to pin down lots of ukrainian forces in the northwest in order to prevent them from being deployed in the southeast, which is where the russians real war effort is happening

how much of this is real and how much is cope we can't say for sure

my own sentiment is that it was meant to be regime change as Plan A, but now that that's off the table thanks to their logistics fuckups the silver lining of Plan B is if they can occupy any of their forces and keep them there as opposed to reinforcing the east. it makes sense, if that's what they're going for now...but there's some doubt in my mind if they can actually pull it off and if the Ukrainians won't instead send reinforcements east, where they're much more needed, instead of doing a variation of the Aleppo standoff.

 

[mr.moon1488]

@Lord Edge of Leetworth holy shit you're taking that joke too seriously

View attachment 3137899

 

[UVB-76]

In @mr.moon1488's defense some Russian guys look as effete as a young Björn Andrésen

So we have Ukrainian shemales and now Russian femboys.
Are wars always this gay?

 

[Übertroon]

There's also the 40 mile convoy that got stuck on the way. What was the point of the mega pileup if the entire front was a feint? There was also the riot police that got slaughtered trying to get to Kiev. Why send riot police into occupied territory you're not planning to hold?

 

[A_Callow_Youth]

I have actually and am rather curious as to why you think this is something particularly hard to do.

>fleeing troops have done throughout history
It's really not. This is one of the reasons why war deserters are considered to be so dangerous.

Desertion and routing are not the same thing, commissar. Go ask the Afghan National Army about how much care they took to make sure they maintained control of their weapons.

 

[Suburban Bastard]

@Lord Edge of Leetworth holy shit you're taking that joke too seriously

Great, now film yourself doing that exact throw

 

[Narcotics]

Ukrainian negotiator claims advances in talks with Russia, possibility of 'direct consultations' between Zelensky, Putin in future.​

Warning: it's cnn, take it with a mine of salt.

Spoiler: text

David Arakhamia, a member of the Ukrainian negotiating team in talks with Russia, said the Russian side has responded positively to Ukrainian positions on several issues and there is a possibility of "direct consultations" between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, something he said had been facilitated in part by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"We announced our Ukrainian position in Istanbul," Arakhamia said in nationally televised remarks. "And the Russian Federation has given an official answer to all these positions, which is that they accept this position, except for the issue of Crimea."
Ukrainian officials have outlined their vision of a roadmap to a potential truce, which would include possible neutral status for Ukraine backed by a broad alliance of security guarantors.

The status of Crimea -- annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014 -- has been a sticking point in potential negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine and most of the international community consider the peninsula to be illegally occupied. The Kremlin consistently says the status of Crimea is settled.

The Ukrainian side said there had been agreement to suspend negotiations on the status of Crimea for 15 years, but the Russian side has not confirmed, and the Kremlin has publicly reiterated its position Crimea is part of Russia.

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said there was no official confirmation of those positions in writing, according to Arakhamia.

However, Arakhamia added: "Orally, as of yesterday, in a video conference, we heard that the Russian side does not object to such [Ukrainian] positions."

Arakhamia held out the possibility of a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, saying, "The drafts of the documents were sufficiently developed to hold direct consultations between the two leaders, the presidents of Ukraine and the Russian Federation. Therefore, our task now is to quickly prepare the final stage not of the document itself, but of the issues we have already touched upon, and to prepare for a possible meeting of the presidents."
Arakhamia added: "Yesterday, Mr. Erdogan called both us and Vladimir Putin. He also allegedly confirmed for his part they are ready to organize a meeting in the near future. Neither the date nor the place is known. But we believe that with a high probability it will be in Istanbul or Ankara, that is, in Turkey."

The possibility of a role for China as a potential security guarantor for Ukraine appears to be credible, according to Arakhamia.

Asked about the status of talks with China on the matter, Arakhamia said: "We are negotiating through diplomatic channels. The state of negotiations with China is probably the least ready compared to the countries that are now actively helping us, and we keep in touch twice a day. With China, it's getting a little harder."

 

[Lord Edge of Leetworth]

@Lord Edge of Leetworth holy shit you're taking that joke too seriously

Please be patient I have boners over your big guns, swimming exercises and struggle snuggles.

So we have Ukrainian shemales and now Russian femboys.
Are wars always this gay?

Yes. They are after all a dick measuring contest.

 

[Techpriest]

we dont know how many ukr forces were actually pinned or distracted by this feint, how many casualties were inflicted vs how many losses the russians suffered in the process, how much overall value was gained from it, etc. maybe after the war is over we can look back and see clearly, but for now i think we just dont have enough information to know for sure

Judging by the amount of burnt out vehicles we've seen from both pushes, quite a fucking lot was lost for pretty much no gain.

 

[Smity Werbenjagermanjensen]

And now for a million takes on how Russia losing the battle for Kiev is actually part of the plan.

At this point if Kherson is (unlikely) retaken. I'm fully conviced someone here will unironically be convinced and say "Kherson was part of the feint attack too, Russia actually DIDN'T want any major foothold west of the Dneiper, forget about the fact we were hyping up making the 'Kherson People's Republic' for a month!"

 

[Spicey McHaggis]

according to the russian side, the entire kiev part of the operation was only ever intended to be a distraction, to pin down lots of ukrainian forces in the northwest in order to prevent them from being deployed in the southeast, which is where the russians real war effort is happening

how much of this is real and how much is cope we can't say for sure

Even if that was their goal, the ukies can play it up as defending their capitol successfully, which is useful for morale.

 

[mr.moon1488]

Desertion and routing are not the same thing, commissar. Go ask the Afghan National Army about how much care they took to make sure they maintained control of their weapons.

Lol that's not really much of a comparison seeing as how most of them just left their weapons in the arms rooms and then casually walked all of about 200 meters to their homes.

 

[A_Callow_Youth]

Even if that was their goal, the ukies can play it up as defending their capitol successfully, which is useful for morale.

The Russian government is literally, unironicaly, without a hint of sarcasm, playing the "I was only pretending to be retarded" card, and there are people in this thread that are buying it.

 

[Techpriest]

The Russian government is literally, unironicaly, without a hint of sarcasm, playing the "I was only pretending to be retarded" card, and there are people in this thread that are buying it.

It's legitimately the only defense the vatnik has remaining at this point.

 

[Borscht]

Ukrainian negotiator claims advances in talks with Russia, possibility of 'direct consultations' between Zelensky, Putin in future.​

Warning: it's cnn, take it with a mine of salt.

Spoiler: text

David Arakhamia, a member of the Ukrainian negotiating team in talks with Russia, said the Russian side has responded positively to Ukrainian positions on several issues and there is a possibility of "direct consultations" between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, something he said had been facilitated in part by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"We announced our Ukrainian position in Istanbul," Arakhamia said in nationally televised remarks. "And the Russian Federation has given an official answer to all these positions, which is that they accept this position, except for the issue of Crimea."
Ukrainian officials have outlined their vision of a roadmap to a potential truce, which would include possible neutral status for Ukraine backed by a broad alliance of security guarantors.

The status of Crimea -- annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014 -- has been a sticking point in potential negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine and most of the international community consider the peninsula to be illegally occupied. The Kremlin consistently says the status of Crimea is settled.

The Ukrainian side said there had been agreement to suspend negotiations on the status of Crimea for 15 years, but the Russian side has not confirmed, and the Kremlin has publicly reiterated its position Crimea is part of Russia.

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said there was no official confirmation of those positions in writing, according to Arakhamia.

However, Arakhamia added: "Orally, as of yesterday, in a video conference, we heard that the Russian side does not object to such [Ukrainian] positions."


The possibility of a role for China as a potential security guarantor for Ukraine appears to be credible, according to Arakhamia.

It should be noted the attack on fuel depots on Russia's territory was "neither confirmed nor denied" by Ukraine and classified as an "act of terrorism" by the Russians.

Not as a "brazen Ukrainean attack on Russian territory".

Which means they do not want to escalate.

The sides have found a tentative agreement on all points in the peace negotiations except one.

A completely organic and necessary Russian chemical attack on civilian population coming in 3... 2.. 1...

 

[Spicey McHaggis]

Ukrainian negotiator claims advances in talks with Russia, possibility of 'direct consultations' between Zelensky, Putin in future.​

Warning: it's cnn, take it with a mine of salt.

Spoiler: text

David Arakhamia, a member of the Ukrainian negotiating team in talks with Russia, said the Russian side has responded positively to Ukrainian positions on several issues and there is a possibility of "direct consultations" between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, something he said had been facilitated in part by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"We announced our Ukrainian position in Istanbul," Arakhamia said in nationally televised remarks. "And the Russian Federation has given an official answer to all these positions, which is that they accept this position, except for the issue of Crimea."
Ukrainian officials have outlined their vision of a roadmap to a potential truce, which would include possible neutral status for Ukraine backed by a broad alliance of security guarantors.

The status of Crimea -- annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014 -- has been a sticking point in potential negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine and most of the international community consider the peninsula to be illegally occupied. The Kremlin consistently says the status of Crimea is settled.

The Ukrainian side said there had been agreement to suspend negotiations on the status of Crimea for 15 years, but the Russian side has not confirmed, and the Kremlin has publicly reiterated its position Crimea is part of Russia.

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said there was no official confirmation of those positions in writing, according to Arakhamia.

However, Arakhamia added: "Orally, as of yesterday, in a video conference, we heard that the Russian side does not object to such [Ukrainian] positions."


The possibility of a role for China as a potential security guarantor for Ukraine appears to be credible, according to Arakhamia.

Isn't this like the third or fourth time they've said this though?

 

[Techpriest]

Isn't this like the third or fourth time they've said this though?

Yes. For that matter, the language the Ukrainians used about the strike was the same that Putin used when people accused him of a military takeover of Crimea.

 

[Borscht]

Isn't this like the third or fourth time they've said this though?

No. Putin was staunchly refusing to talk to Zelensky unless he is sure Zee Big Z means to talk business and not just posture to score even more good boy propaganda points. Last time they couldn't agree to the status of Donbass, so apparently there is more progress.

According to this CNN article, only the status of Crimea prevents the sides from shaking hands and going home.

 

[A_Callow_Youth]

Apparently a refinery in Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast got smacked.

Translation appreciated.

 

[Sexual Chocolate]

where are these gangs of homosexual rapists prowling the countryside

Found them

Russia being forced to retreat and abandon all attempts at taking or shelling Kiev into submitting is a large blow to the Russian war effort,

No, not really. That's not how wars work, or even how RTS computer games work.

No matter how Russia frames it. This is huge for Ukrainian morale

Yes.

This war isn't over yet, but morale as well as gaining inititive is a major part of winning a war, and Ukraine just got a big boost in both.

The Ukies never had the initiative and they don't have it now. Russia pulling some guys away from lightly harassing Kevin, so they can seriously harass the remainder of the Ukie army in Donbass, isn't bad for Russia or good for Ukraine.

Morale is very important, but not as important as air superiority, artillery superiority, and freedom to maneuver. Russia has those last things and the Ukies don't. I expect the Ukie troops trapped in Donbass to fight bravely, but winning isn't on the cards for them and no amount of morale can change that. Hopefully it's not a total bloodbath where they go out guns blazing (something that always appeals to brave young men, but just guarantees you won't live to fight another day), but it's shaping up to be one.

I'm morbidly curious to see what the next level of Ukieboo delusion looks like tho. "ACKSHUALLY, the Russians only killed or captured 60,000 hardened troops in the East and redrew the map of Ukraine but CNN said there's still a gay nightclub in Lvov so you lose Putler "

Something like that? With friends like these, hohols sure don't need enemies, I'll tell you hwhat.