War Invasion of Ukraine News Megathread - Thread is only for articles and discussion of articles, general discussion thread is still in Happenings.

Snekposter · Jan 20, 2023

Thomas Talus said:
Hey now, the HRE wasn't Roman, in addition to being neither holy nor an empire.

Look man, the guy in charge was crowned King of the Romans by the head of the Roman See, so close enough for government work.

Ghostse · Jan 21, 2023

AgendaPoster said:
View attachment 4306315
What if I told you that most people in the West have a seething hatred for their own homeland, are guilt-ridden from progressive propaganda about colonialism and capitalism, and are completely oblivious at how similar Russia is as a ruthless hegemonic power for the East EU/Caucasus/Asia areas compared to those evil mayolands.

What did Jamie Lee Henry and Dr. Anna Gabrielian do? Army major and wife charged over conspiracy to provide medical records to Russia

On Thursday, the Justice Department revealed that Jamie Lee Henry, a US Army major, and her wife have been charged over an alleged attempt to steal and send sensitive medical records of American milit

www.sportskeeda.com

On Thursday, the Justice Department revealed that Jamie Lee Henry, a US Army major, and her wife have been charged over an alleged attempt to steal and send sensitive medical records of American military patients to Russia.

According to an unsealed indictment, Jamie Lee Henry, 39, and her wife, Dr. Anna Gabrielian, 36, were allegedly part of an intricate plot to pass on highly sensitive medical information to an undercover FBI agent who they believed to be working for the Russian embassy.

Both Henry and Gabrielian have been charged with conspiracy and wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information. The conspiracy is believed to be an attempt at aiding Russia in its ongoing war against Ukraine.

The indictment stated that the US Major and the anesthesiologist began to devise the plot after the Ukrainian invasion by President Vladimir Putin in February 2022. It further stated that they contacted the Russian embassy via email as well as phone to offer assistance.

The Department of Justice further explained that the couple used their security clearance at Fort Bragg in North Carolina to steal records from the military base hospital. In a press release, they said:

"According to the eight-count indictment, Gabrielian and Henry conspired to cause harm to the United States by providing confidential health information of Americans associated with the United States government and military to Russia."
It further stated:

"Specifically, the indictment alleges that beginning on August 17, 2022, Gabrielian and Henry conspired to provide IIHI related to patients at Medical Institution 1 and at Fort Bragg to an individual they believed to be working for the Russian government in order to demonstrate the level of Gabrielian’s and Henry’s access to IIHI of Americans; their willingness to provide IIHI to the Russian government; and the potential for the Russian government to gain insights into the medical conditions of individuals associated with the United States government and military in order to exploit this information."

Jamie Lee Henry and Anna Gabrielian were due to appear in court in Baltimore on September 29, charged with eight counts, including conspiracy.

If convicted, they face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for the conspiracy, and a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for each count of disclosing individually identifiable health information (IIHI).

Who are Jamie Lee Henry and Anna Gabrielian? Justice Department reveals motive behind assistance offer
In 2015, US Army Major Jamie Lee Henry made headlines for being the first openly transgender army officer. Seven years later, she is once again attracting national interest, but this time for allegedly hatching a conspiracy plot with her wife, Dr. Anna Gabrielian, to aid the Kremlin with classified information.

According to the Justice Department's indictment, while Henry initially had reservations over violating HIPAA, Gabrielian had passed along information on both current and former military officials and their family members to an undercover FBI agent posing as a Russian embassy employee.

Jamie Lee Henry, a Major in the United States Army, holds a secret-level security clearance. At the time of the hatching of the plot, she worked as a staff internist and was stationed at Fort Bragg. According to Gabrielian, the army officer had knowledge about:

"...how the United States military establishes an army hospital in war conditions and information about previous training provided by the United States military to Ukrainian military personnel."
As for the motive behind their actions, the couple revealed to the undercover agent that their allegiance lay with Russia. While Anna Gabrielian said she was motivated by her "patriotism" towards Russia, Jamie Lee Henry went as far as to say that she wanted to join the Russian army.

"During that meeting, Gabrielian told the UC she was motivated by patriotism toward Russia to provide any assistance she could to Russia, even if it meant being fired or going to jail...Henry explained to the UC he was committed to assisting Russia and had looked into volunteering to join the Russian Army after the conflict in Ukraine began, but Russia wanted people with “combat experience” and he did not have any."
Jamie Lee Henry's attorney said that she was released on home detention.

Jamie Lee Henry & Anna Gabrielian: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Anna Gabrielian is a Johns Hopkins anesthesiologist accused along with her U.S. Army doctor spouse, Major Jamie Lee Henry, in a plot to provide soldiers' medical info to Russia.

heavy.com

Dr. Anna Gabrielian is a Johns Hopkins Hospital anesthesiologist accused along with her U.S. Army doctor spouse, Major Jamie Lee Henry, in a plot to provide soldiers’ medical info to Russia, federal authorities say. Gabrielian and Henry were indicted on September 28, 2022, in Maryland federal court on charges of conspiracy and wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information (IIHI), according to court documents obtained by Heavy.

According to the indictment, Henry worked as a staff internist at Fort Bragg in North Carolina and had secret security clearance. Gabrielian works in anestheiology and critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and has also specialized in obstretic anesthesiology, according to her biography on the hospital’s website, which notes she speaks Russian and English. They live in Rockville, Maryland, according to prosecutors. Both Henry and Gabrielian, who have been married since 2015, are in custody, authorities said.

Gabrielian, 36, believed she was providing medical information on U.S. service members to a person working at the Russian embassy, prosecutors said in the indictment. But that person was really an undercover FBI agent who met with her in August and asked Gabrielian about assistance she had offered to the Russian embassy earlier in the year, according to the indictment.

Henry, 39, previously made headlines in 2015 by becoming the first active U.S. Army officer to come out as transgender. The indictment refers to Henry as Gabrielian’s husband and uses he/him pronouns, but in a 2015 article by BuzzFeed News, Henry used she/her pronouns and identified as a woman. It was not immediately known if Henry and Gabrielian have hired attorneys who could comment on their behalf.

According to a press release from the Department of Justice, Gabrielian was scheduled to make her first appearance in court in Baltimore on September 29, while Henry’s first court appearance hasn’t been set. “The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron and Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office,” the DOJ said.

“If convicted, the defendants face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for the conspiracy, and a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for each count of disclosing IIHI. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors,” the DOJ said its press release.

Here’s what you need to know about Anna Gabrielian and Jamie Lee Henry:

1. Gabrielian Told the FBI Agent She Would ‘Provide Any Assistance She Could to Russia, Even If It Meant Being Fired or Going to Jail,’ the Indictment Says
According to the indictment, an undercover FBI agent approached Gabrielian on August 17, 2022, and told her “she was asked to contact” her “about the assistance she offered a couple months ago.” Gabrelian then asked the undercover agent if she was from the Russian embassy and the agent said she was, prosecutors said. Gabrielian told the agent she had reached out to the embassy by phone and email “offering Russia” her and her spouse’s assistance, according to the indictment. Gabrelian told the agent she was reaching out on behalf of her and Henry, but never mentioned Henry’s name in interactions with the Russian Embassy so Henry could pretend to be unaware of her actions if needed, according to the indictment.

Gabrelian and Henry conspired to provide private health information of Fort Bragg and Johns Hopkins patients to the Russian government to demonstrate their access to that information on U.S. military and government personnel, their willingness to provide that information to Russia and the “potential for the Russian government to gain insights into the medical conditions of individuals associated with the U.S. government and military, to exploit this information,” according to the indictment.

According to prosecutors, Gabrielian and Henry met with the undercover FBI agent, who they believed to be working for the Russian government, together, “to discuss ways in which they could help” Russia. The couple suggested they could obtain patient records for U.S. military members and family members to pass to the Russian government, prosecutors said.

Gabrielian told the agent during an August 17 meeting she was “motivated by patriotism toward Russian” and would “provide any assistance she could to Russia, even if it meant being fired or going to jail.” During the meeting, Gabrielian told the undercover agent “Henry, a military officer, was currently a more important source for Russia than she was, since Henry had more helpful information, including on how the U.S. military establishes an army hospital in war conditions and about previous training the U.S. military had provided to Ukrainian military personnel.”

According to the indictment, Gabrielian and Henry met with the undercover agent at the agent’s hotel room. Gabrielian told the agent, “If you have a useful long-term weapon, that can be used for years. If you use it for something that’s not tactically advantageous, you’ve lost it for nothing. So if (Henry) can’t practice medicine, can’t be in the National Guard, you’ve lost an Army doctor. If I have to look somebody up, and I do look somebody up, you’ve lost a link to (Johns Hopkins) to establish those medical connections. It has to be something massively important, not just check if this person has polyps.”

Gabrielian met with the undercover agent again on August 24, according to the indictment. Gabrielian told the agent that “though Henry was a ‘coward’ and concerned about violating HIPAA by providing records” to the agent, “Gabrielian had no such concerns and violated HIPAA ‘all the time.’ Gabrielian further told the UC she would check with Henry about providing medical records from Fort Bragg patients and get back in touch.”

Gabrielian texted the undercover agent using coded language on August 25, according to the indictment, saying, “Jamie might have samples of his poetry laying around. He says he will look for them and decide if he has the bandwidth for another project over the weekend. I think it would be good for him to at least show you examples of his past work.”

Henry and Gabrielian met with the undercover agent on August 31 at a hotel in Gaithersburg, Maryland, according to the indictment. They gave the agent records related to the spouse of a current Office of Naval Intelligence employee and information related to a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. According to the indictment, Gabrielian “highlighted to the UC a medical issue reflected in the records of” the spouse of the ONI employee, “that Russia could exploit.”

The couple also accessed records for five people, including a retired Army officer, a current Department of Defense employee, the spouse of a U.S. Army veteran, and two spouses of deceased U.S. Army veterans, and gave that info to the undercover agent, according to the indictment.

2. Gabrielian Planned to Send the Couple’s Children to Turkey if They Were At Risk of Getting Caught & Henry Considered Volunteering to Join the Russian Army to Help With the War Effort in Ukraine, Prosecutors Say
According to the indictment, Henry was “committed to assisting Russia” and “had looked into volunteering to join the Russian Army after the conflict in Ukraine began, but Russia wanted people with ‘combat experience,'” which Henry does not have. Henry told the FBI agent, “the way I view what is going on in Ukraine now, is that the United States is using Uksrainians as a proxy for their own hatred toward Russia.”

Henry told the agent, “My point of view is until the United States actually declares war against Russia, I’m able to help as much as I want. At that point, I’ll have some ethical issues I have to work through,” according to the indictment. Gabrielian said in reply to Henry, “You’ll work through those ethical issues,” the indictment states.

According to the indictment, Gabrielian told the undercover agent if she undertook an action that put her at “significant risk of arrest,” she wanted her and Henry’s children to “have a nice flight to Turkey to go on vacation because I don’t want to end in jail here with my kids being hostages over my head.”

Henry told the agent they had to take precautions so Henry could continue passing background checks for security clearance. Henry told the agent, according to the indictment, “I don’t want to know your name…because I want plausible deniability. In a security clearance situation, they want to know names and people and all this stuff.”

3. Gabrielian Received a Grant in 2020 for a Project Titled ‘Investigation & Optimization of Current Obstetric Anesthesiology Practice in Ukraine,’ Johns Hopkins Says
According to a July 21, 2020, tweet from Johns Hopkins, Gabrielian, “was awarded the Center for Global Health’s Paul S. Lietman Global Health Travel Grant for her project titled ‘Investigation and Optimization of Current Obstetric Anesthesiology Practice in Ukraine.'”

Gabrielian proposed during a meeting with the undercover agent that they concoct a cover story where the agent, whom she thought was a Russian government agent, would be a “delightful medical translator who has reached out to met … and you want to talk with me about programs and how they can be expanded,” the indictment states.

According to the indictment, Henry told the agent that Gabrielian recommended reading the book “Inside the Aquarium: The Making of a Top Soviet Spy.” The 1986 book by Victor Suvorov “describes the recruitment and training of a Russian spy inside the headquarters of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the then-Soviet Union (nicknamed ‘The Aquarium’),” the indictment said. Gabrielian told the agent she told Henry to read the book, “Because it’s the mentality of sacrificing everything…and loyalty in you from day one. That’s not something you walked away from.”

On July 26, Henry tweeted a link to an article from CNN titled, “US approves treatment of wounded Ukrainian soldiers at US military hospital in Germany,” but did not add any commentary. In June, Henry tweeted a link to an article about Russian President Vladimir Putin.

4. Gabrielian, Graduated From the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 2012 & Previously Worked at Allegheny General Hospital & Danbury HospitalAccording to her biography on the Johns Hopkins website, Gabrielian graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 2012. She had a residency in surgery at Danbury Hospital in Connecticut starting in 2014 and a residency in anesthesiology at Allegheny General Hospital in Pennsylvania in 2019, according to the hospital’s website.

She began a fellowship in anesthesia obstetrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 2021 and was an instructor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine there, the hospital’s website says. Few other details about Gabrielian’s life and career were immediately available.

On September 9, 2022, Gabrielian gave a presentation on ophthalmic surgery and anesthesia in pregnancy and lactation at the Ophthalmic Anesthesia Society’s annual meeting, according to a program for the event. Gabrielian talked about understanding optimal surgery timing in pregnancy, identifying possible complications and understanding the implications of anesthetics on fetus and lactation, according to the program.

5. Henry Talked in an Interview About Being Outed as Trans by Medical Information
The Department of Justice said in its press release, “During the time of the alleged conspiracy, Henry worked as a staff internist stationed at Fort Bragg, the home of the Army’s XVIII Airborne Corps, headquarters of the United States Army Special Operations Command, and the Womack Army Medical Center.”

Henry was previously married before Gabrielian, according to a 2015 interview with Brightest Young Things. Gabrielian was also previously married and divorced, records show. Henry joined the Army at 17, according to the interview.

“After I became very ill as a result of a bicycle crash in 2008, I felt very vulnerable while being treated as a patient in the same hospital I worked as a physician. What made it worse was that, as a soldier, my medical records were not private, and when the question of mental illness came up, I felt stark naked,” Henry told Brightest Young Things. “When my then wife outed me to a military psychiatrist, I felt violated. Things kind of blew up from there. I experienced very intense gender dysphoria from 2008 until 2014, leading to the breakdown of a number of relationships, leading my entire social network with a few exceptions to shun me for being ‘sexually immoral’. From 2012 to 2014, I underwent depositions and public trials, because I wanted to continue having a meaningful relationship with my son.”

According to BuzzFeed News, Henry joined the ROTC at 17. Henry’s first rotation as a military doctor was in the psych ward at Walter Reed hospital, according to BuzzFeed. Henry came out amid a divorce and child custody battle, according to BuzzFeed. Henry told BuzzFeed, “I find my trans experience has allowed me to relate to people, because all of us suffer, and I could relate to people’s suffering. I’m able to comfort people that feel isolated and lost and alone and broken. I can sit down with them and look them in the eyes, and say, ‘I can walk with you through this. I care about you, and I mean it.'”

Henry said in the interview with Brightest Young Things, “My passion is service member health, which is a big reason I have stayed on with the military despite being given a number of opportunities to separate. The biggest part in supporting the health of service members is listening to them. Trauma has to be handled on an individual’s timeline and in a way that is unique to that individual.”

Calling specific attention to

Henry, 39, previously made headlines in 2015 by becoming the first active U.S. Army officer to come out as transgender. The indictment refers to Henry as Gabrielian’s husband and uses he/him pronouns,

Looks like there is an outbreak of BASED at the prosecutor's office.

tl;dr Tranny gets turned from mentally ill fetishist to useful idiot mentally ill fetishist by his slav wife. Wanted to provide Russia with the Army's medical data and then go join the Russia army (I'm assuming he saw the battle field blowjob video and couldn't wait to get on board).

Never trust a tranny. gas the shemales gender war now.

LurkTrawl · Jan 21, 2023

Thomas Talus said:
Hey now, the HRE wasn't Roman, in addition to being neither holy nor an empire.

Wasn't that just a bunch of germanic barbarians LARPing as romans?

MG-34 · Jan 21, 2023

Kendall Motor Oil said:
Are their air defense systems being destroyed by artillery or HARMs?

Not sure. It could have been HARM or an Artillery strike. Those missle tubes seem really volatile.

ArthuriusMartyrius · Jan 21, 2023

Henry, 39, previously made headlines in 2015 by becoming the first active U.S. Army officer to come out as transgender. The indictment refers to Henry as Gabrielian’s husband and uses he/him pronouns,

Wait a minute, wasn't there some other dude that made headlines for being the first military tranny way before that? I think it was around when the Edward Snowden shit was going down. Stil though, LMAO. Army don't give a fuck.

tl;dr Tranny gets turned from mentally ill fetishist to useful idiot mentally ill fetishist by his slav wife.

Gabrielian

I think that's an Armenian not a Slav. Dick-sucking Russia makes sense now.

Kendall Motor Oil said:
Are their air defense systems being destroyed by artillery or HARMs?

Artillery most likely. I did hear they were using drones for assisting in targeting though.

CaptainAutism69 · Jan 21, 2023

So Wagner PMC released a movie which seems based on the taking of Popasna. It's an interesting war movie, and treats the 'yellows' with a decent amount of respect, unlike typical Hollywood war movies.
I think regardless of your stance on the war, it's a pretty good watch if anything to see how modern warfare is being conducted over there, epecially artillary duels.

Ghostse · Jan 21, 2023

ArthuriusMartyrius said:
Wait a minute, wasn't there some other dude that made headlines for being the first military tranny way before that? I think it was around when the Edward Snowden shit was going down. Stil though, LMAO. Army don't give a fuck.

Bradley Manning who trooned out for leniancy. Fucking Obama needs to be hung for treason.

ArthuriusMartyrius said:
I think that's an Armenian not a Slav. Dick-sucking Russia makes sense now.

Its so cute when Slavs thinks anyone else gives a fuck about their various subspecies. Its like when africans try to explain the difference with those other, bad blacks from across the river. Or Iranians gets agro about being called Arabs.
When I see a cockroach, I don't get the out the Peterson field guide.

ArthuriusMartyrius · Jan 21, 2023

CaptainAutism69 said:
So Wagner PMC released a movie which seems based on the taking of Popasna. It's an interesting war movie, and treats the 'yellows' with a decent amount of respect, unlike typical Hollywood war movies.
I think regardless of your stance on the war, it's a pretty good watch if anything to see how modern warfare is being conducted over there, epecially artillary duels.

It's interesting in that it might be the first of its kind war movie, filmed by one of the combatant parties during the actual conflict. I can't think of any other examples except for maybe some short German propaganda films during WW2.

Ghostse said:
Bradley Manning who trooned out for leniancy. Fucking Obama needs to be hung for treason.

Its so cute when Slavs thinks anyone else gives a fuck about their various subspecies. Its like when africans try to explain the difference with those other, bad blacks from across the river. Or Iranians gets agro about being called Arabs.
When I see a cockroach, I don't get the out the Peterson field guide.

1) That's the one, I remember it was a massive deal back then and the first time I came face-to-face with the general unpleasantness of the tranny brigade.

2) Fair enough but Armenians aren't actually Slavs, they are closer to Iranians IIRC.

No. 7 cat · Jan 21, 2023

German industry surely misses cheap gas, but mostly it's that Scholz is a ditherer.

The Demon Pimp of Razgriz said:
And to point their troops at each other. A lot of those post Soviet states have active border conflicts with each, a few of which have reignited since Russia pulled back their forces to fight in Ukraine. In any case, Russia is their security guarantor, not the other way around. If Russia needs their help just to fight Ukraine, why do these nations need Russia?

Armenia (whose PM developed a bit of standing near to Putin phobia at a recent meeting) found that guarantee to be a pile of shit, although invoking the mutual defence clause against a fellow CSTO member, and tooled up super Turks (by ancestry near kin to the Armenians but copying the braggart nationalism of modern Turkey), the Azerbaijanis, the EU's soon to be gas supplying new friends, probably wasn't going to work in protecting Ngorno Karabakh / Artsakh, and the agreement after the second fight say many thousand of Armenians lose their homes. I wonder if the Azeris will try push into the Lachin corridor regardless of the treadbare Russian presence (probably not). The Uzbek and Kyrgz border on hold fight probably reoccupies the two far more than Putin's travails, which probably only looks to either like an opportunity to get free / cheap stuff from both the Western Alliance and RF.

a bird ready to poo on the Ivans

Snekposter · Jan 21, 2023

LurkTrawl said:
Wasn't that just a bunch of germanic barbarians LARPing as romans?

Its complicated, but the title dates back to Charlemagne (yes, that Charlemagne) where it capped off a few decades of smiting various pagans of a mostly Germanic bent in the name of God and saving the Pope from getting his eyes and tongue cut out Greek-style. He pretty much had carved out a new Roman Empire in the West on the bones of everyone who refused to convert and the Pope owed him a lot. There was also the fact the actual Roman empire at the time was ruled by a woman, Irene of Athens, and the Pope basically said women couldn't rule Rome as Empress, so to the Pope he was appointing him as the successor of Constantine VI of Constantinople, not Romulus Augustulus of Rome.

And well...

He did control Rome, and was crowned in St. Peter's Basilica.

Useful_Mistake · Jan 21, 2023

The Economist:

Some liberated Ukrainian regions have mixed loyalties

In pro-Russian areas the country will have to win back hearts and minds

Near kupiansk, an hour’s drive from the Russian border, Andrei, a Ukrainian aid worker, was distributing sweets to children when he noticed some taking photos of him with their phones. A soldier told him they were sending them to Russian social-media channels, and possibly to hit squads. On another occasion he saw villagers refusing aid from Ukrainians. “They still miss the Russians,” Andrei says.

Months since Ukraine recaptured Kupiansk, pro-Russian sentiment in the area remains high, says the town’s acting mayor, Andrii Besedin. Russian shelling has destroyed about a third of the city; only 17,000 of its 57,000 pre-war residents remain. Officials think some still send information on Ukrainian deployments to Russian troops, less than 10km (six miles) to the east. Some Ukrainian troops say they were told not to accept food from locals, for fear of poisoning. A broadcasting tower in Belgorod, a city north of the border, pumps Russian propaganda into local homes. The Ukrainians have been unable to block the signal. “A large majority of the people here were pro-Russian” before the war, says Mr Besedin, and not much has changed.

Russian forces entered Kupiansk without resistance days after the invasion began. The former mayor and most of the city council collaborated with the invaders. Over 200 of the 214 city-council employees, along with the mayor, are believed to have escaped to Russia. The Russians launched a new radio station, distributed copies of the Russian constitution and Russian tabloids, and began to publish their own newspaper, Kharkov Z, packed with stories about Russia’s heroic campaign to save Ukraine from “Nazis”. To block news from the rest of Ukraine, they cut off mobile, television and internet access.

Not everyone bought into the propaganda. The locals your correspondent encountered mostly backed Ukraine; many of those who sided with Russia have fled. One of them used copies of Kharkov Z to roll cigarettes, another as kindling for his stove. Luda Klimovets, a housewife caring for seven dogs, 25 cats and a hedgehog left behind by her neighbours, says she used them as toilet paper.

Locals who opposed the occupation were often imprisoned or tortured. Vitaliy Sayapin, one of the few officials who refused to side with the Russians, spent over 100 days in a cell so crowded the inmates had to sleep standing up. Guards forced them to sing the Russian national anthem and Soviet folk songs. Those who refused were beaten. Electrocutions and mock executions were common. In between torture sessions, the Russians would stroll the corridor proclaiming that Ukraine’s leadership had fled. On Russia’s Flag Day, Mr Sayapin remembers, they offered each inmate two cigarettes.

Many residents travelled to Russia regularly and have relatives there. But Kupiansk is an exception: in most liberated areas, returning Ukrainian forces have been greeted as heroes. The invasion has alienated even Ukrainians once friendly to Russia. A missile strike on January 14th that killed at least 40 civilians in the city of Dnipro is just the latest atrocity.

But Ukraine ultimately hopes to reconquer Crimea and Donbas, regions occupied by the Russians and their proxies since 2014 and historically more sympathetic to Russia. That would entail a battle for hearts and minds. Russian propaganda “works with horrific results”, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, told The Economist in an interview in December. Winning over Ukrainians who have spent nearly a decade exposed to it will be a challenge.

Reconstruction is crucial. “We know that Russia is darkness, and that Ukraine belongs to the civilised world,” says Mr Besedin, the Kupiansk mayor, “but people need to see it with their own eyes.” The authorities have distributed humanitarian aid and restored electricity and water to over 90% of households, but rebuilding takes longer than blowing things up. Oleh Synehubov, the head of the military administration in Kharkiv, the regional capital, says foreign donors offered books in Ukrainian for schools and libraries around Kupiansk. “I said it’s a nice idea, but we don’t have schools and libraries left.”

Some liberated Ukrainian regions have mixed loyalties | The Economist

archived 21 Jan 2023 06:18:45 UTC

archive.md

France24:

Ukraine should focus on preparing offensive, not Bakhmut battle: US official

Ukraine should not fixate on defending the city of Bakhmut at all costs and instead use a window of opportunity to prepare a major counter-offensive against Russian forces, a senior US official said Friday.

That industrial hub has become the epicenter of the grinding war in eastern Ukraine, involving mass artillery strikes, slow advances and high casualties for both sides.

Bakhmut has also turned into a key political and symbolic prize, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visiting the frontlines there in December, right before his dramatic trip to address the US Congress in Washington.

However, a senior official in President Joe Biden's administration said the focus on Bakhmut is hampering Ukraine in the more important task of preparing a widely expected spring offensive to make major gains against Russian occupation in the south.

According to the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity and not being quoted verbatim, time favors Russia in Bakhmut, given its greater artillery resources and sheer numbers of troops.

However, the official said Russian victory there would not result in any significant shift in the war, because Ukrainian forces would retreat to well-defended positions.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby echoed this, telling reporters at the daily White House briefing Friday that the notorious Russia private military company Wagner was "pouring, just literally throwing bodies into a meat grinder" to capture Bakhmut and another town, Soledar.

"Even if they are successful, in Bakhmut and Soledar, it's not going to strategically change the dynamics on the battlefield. It's not going to set the Ukrainians back to a degree where they're all of a sudden on the back foot and they’re losing," Kirby said.

According to the senior official who spoke on condition of anonymity, Ukraine needs to refocus.

Instead of expending so many soldiers and so much ammunition on a strategically unimportant target, the United States is advising Ukraine to take those forces out for refit and join US-led training programs aimed at forming a more sophisticated and heavily armed force able to launch an offensive in the south.

The official noted that weapons for the counter-offensive were pouring into Ukraine, including several hundred armored vehicles just this week -- the kind of equipment that will be needed for a mobile offensive force.

But time is needed to train, so the Ukrainians need to consider the trade-off of holding onto Bakhmut versus preparing that broader strategic effort, the official said, adding that the Ukrainians may not have the resources to meet both challenges.

Ukraine should focus on preparing offensive, not Bakhmut battle: US o…

archived 20 Jan 2023 22:15:31 UTC

archive.md

Astro Galactic Megalul · Jan 21, 2023

ArthuriusMartyrius said:
2) Fair enough but Armenians aren't actually Slavs, they are closer to Iranians IIRC.

Just say "Russian", sheesh. Being Russian is not synonymous with being a slav. It's an incoherent multinational group with a significant minority of mongoloids/asians, afflicted by identity crisis that makes them hurt themselves in confusion. Many Russians wouldn't even be able to tell you what it means to be one.

MG-34 · Jan 21, 2023

Russian propagandist takes bullet to the knee on livestream near Bakhmut.

Blewberry Nausea · Jan 21, 2023

MG-34 said:
View attachment 4309362
Russian propagandist takes bullet to the knee on livestream near Bakhmut.

There’s an Elder Scrolls joke in there but I am too embarrassed to make it.

Astro Galactic Megalul · Jan 21, 2023

MG-34 said:
View attachment 4309362
Russian propagandist takes bullet to the knee on livestream near Bakhmut.

Fuck, where's the sound, I need sound

Pocket Dragoon · Jan 21, 2023

Logistics/recovery drones in action:
(Warning, slavmusic)

ArthuriusMartyrius said:
It's interesting in that it might be the first of its kind war movie, filmed by one of the combatant parties during the actual conflict. I can't think of any other examples except for maybe some short German propaganda films during WW2.

Not even close: the US started cranking out war-movies about WW2 in 1942: "Why We Fight" ('42-'44), "The Battle of Midway" (1942), "Bataan" (1943), "Lifeboat" & "Memphis Belle" ( 1944), etc.

The UK did it's first WW2 films even earlier in 1939, with "The Lion has Wings", along with "Convoy" (1940), "Target for Tonight" (1941)

ArthuriusMartyrius said:
2) Fair enough but Armenians aren't actually Slavs, they are closer to Iranians IIRC.

They used to be.... but decades of Russian cocksucking & ass-fucking from their neighbors has given them a decidedly slavic bent.

MG-34 · Jan 21, 2023

Astro Galactic Megalul said:
Fuck, where's the sound, I need sound

I got you bro.

Astro Galactic Megalul · Jan 21, 2023

MG-34 said:
I got you bro.

View attachment 4310030

You should have gone for the head
Music to my ears. I hate propagandists far more than any regular soldier, these pieces of shit chose this, they perpetuate lies allowing wars to happen, justifying atrocities, fucking scum.

The Demon Pimp of Razgriz · Jan 21, 2023

Astro Galactic Megalul said:
Just say "Russian", sheesh. Being Russian is not synonymous with being a slav. It's an incoherent multinational group with a significant minority of mongoloids/asians, afflicted by identity crisis that makes them hurt themselves in confusion. Many Russians wouldn't even be able to tell you what it means to be one.

Pocket Dragoon said:
They used to be.... but decades of Russian cocksucking & ass-fucking from their neighbors has given them a decidedly slavic bent.

Armenians haven't been part of Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union, and have a long, proud, pre-Russian history. Their language isn't Slavic and they don't even follow the Orthodox Church like (non-Polish) Slavs do, but their own church, the Armenian Apostolic Church. In fact, they were the first nation to convert completely to Christianity and make it the state religion. The only reason they are close to Russia now is because they are right next door to 1) Turkey, whose predecessor committed the Armenian Genocide and who still control lands that were historically Armenian, thus the Armenians hate them with a passion, and 2) Azerbaijan, who are pro-Turkey (and also Turks, if I remember correctly), and who want territory currently occupied by Armenia.

No. 7 cat · Jan 21, 2023

Pocket Dragoon said:
Logistics/recovery drones in action:
(Warning, slavmusic)
View attachment 4309688

Not even close: the US started cranking out war-movies about WW2 in 1942: "Why We Fight" ('42-'44), "The Battle of Midway" (1942), "Bataan" (1943), "Lifeboat" & "Memphis Belle" ( 1944), etc.

The UK did it's first WW2 films even earlier in 1939, with "The Lion has Wings", along with "Convoy" (1940), "Target for Tonight" (1941)

They used to be.... but decades of Russian cocksucking & ass-fucking from their neighbors has given them a decidedly slavic bent.

Armenia's cell networks, retailers, financial services are very substantially Russian, altho Russia pushing them into an agreement with the Azeris resulting in the loss of all Armenian held territory surrounding the 'Republic Arsakh' after they were initially trounced by a mix of Bayraktar and junk planes sent to exhaust S-300s, plus the mess in Ukraine, appears to pushed PM Pashinyan to try do his best via EU and Turkish mediation and working something out as Russia is patently not the superpower or even regional power it pretends to be.

Ukrainska Pravda reports Ukraine has another Sea King from the UK

UA forces pull back from Bakhmut forest

Separate Tactical Air Reconnaissance Group "Birds of Magyar" recorded the strike on enemy manpower north of Krasna Hora near the railroad. Russians continue to put pressure on villages, disregarding their losses

Deep State Telegram

New channel I saw, seems fairly okay:

War Invasion of Ukraine News Megathread - Thread is only for articles and discussion of articles, general discussion thread is still in Happenings.

Year of the Snek

Gorilla Channel Executive Producer

Try eating cabbage. No, really.

Not really keen on the jews.

Gorilla Channel Executive Producer

protecc flower pot tabby cat

Year of the Snek

Fire Nation sympathizer

Some liberated Ukrainian regions have mixed loyalties​

In pro-Russian areas the country will have to win back hearts and minds​

Ukraine should focus on preparing offensive, not Bakhmut battle: US official​

Bigot Sandwich Connoisseur

Not really keen on the jews.

I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

Bigot Sandwich Connoisseur

Инициатива трахает инициатора

Not really keen on the jews.

Bigot Sandwich Connoisseur

Still Pimpin

protecc flower pot tabby cat

Some liberated Ukrainian regions have mixed loyalties

In pro-Russian areas the country will have to win back hearts and minds

Ukraine should focus on preparing offensive, not Bakhmut battle: US official