First, Moscow signals distress over Trump not being worshiped, also offering incentives to prisoners to join army, but stakes overall unchanged
This first one is delusional on the part of the Russians. At the most, Trump would be in jail . No one I have talked to, and that is a lot of people have EVER mentioned execution. In so many words, this is a content free pity party on the part of Moscow, and gigantic projection. It does mean though that Ukraine will have an increasing chance of freedom. This sort of GARBAGE gets people all whipped up over a NON issue. This is not the 1950s. All espionage executions do is to make martyrs. If you do not believe me, go back to the Rosenberg case. The two are revered to this day as martyrs. What a DUMB thing to do. DUMBER than DUMB
quote
Having recovered from their initial shock over the?FBI’s search of Donald Trump’s Florida estate, Russian experts and pundits started to dismiss it as much ado about nothing, albeit a convenient tale they could use to smear American democracy. Now they’re singing a different tune. In the most recent broadcast of the state TV show?Sunday Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, host Vladimir Solovyov remarked, “I’m very worried for our agent Trump. They found everything at Mar-a-Lago, they got packages of documents. In all seriousness, they say he should be executed as a person that was ready to hand off nuclear secrets to Russia.”
end of quote
This is someone talking out their ***. At the very most, Donald Trump goes to JAIL. Stupid Kremlin projection. Absolutely STUPID.
Next, Here is some reality
quote,
Joe Biden, in my view, has done a masterful job of helping Ukraine stay in the fight. We should continue to do so, with more and better weapons as fast as we can deliver them.
The long term favors the Ukrainians, 40 million people who are fighting for their existence as a nation. The Russians are heedlessly throwing bodies and weapons into the fight, making it “a foot race between Western patience on the Ukrainian side versus Putin’s terrible burn rate of killed-in-action and equipment,” < SNIP>
In the near future, however, the Russians can still bring crushing amounts of power to bear on Ukraine: They want to claim Ukrainian territory, even if they have to reduce cities to piles of rubble and corpses before they plant their boots on them.
end of quote
Whereas back in the real world
quote
The attacks in Crimea may mark the opening of a new front that would represent a significant escalation in the war and could further stretch Russia’s resources.
“Russian commanders will highly likely be increasingly concerned with the apparent deterioration in security across Crimea, which functions as rear base area for the occupation,” Britain’s Defense Ministry wrote on Twitter.
As a result of the airfield attacks, Russia is moving dozens of warplanes and helicopters to deeper positions in Crimea and to Russian bases elsewhere, Ukrainian military intelligence reported.
end of quote
And that great patriotic war upscaling of recruitment, NOT
Whereas, quote
He estimated that around 1,500 prisoners have signed up for the war, per the AP.
Osechkin told the outlet that this information had come from inmates themselves and their relatives, including many volunteers who later contacted him and said they no longer wanted to be deployed.?
<SNIP>
The Pentagon?estimated on Tuesday?that Russia has suffered around 80,000 casualties in Ukraine, compared to the 160,000 troops it had amassed around Ukraine's borders before the invasion began.
end of quote
Severe battlefield depletion for the Russian Federation, while in the USA people moon over Donald TRUMP. GO FIGURE, with Russia projecting its own tactics upon Americas. Dumber than dumb
quote
Putin World Declares ‘Our Agent Trump’ Is Irreversibly Screwed
‘THEY FOUND EVERYTHING’
Russians are being treated to a TV pity party marking the fall of “Teflon Don,” a nickname bestowed upon Donald Trump by Moscow’s most prominent mouthpieces.
Updated?Aug. 16, 2022?6:38PM ET?/?Published?Aug. 16, 2022?5:12PM ET?
Concerns are swirling within the Kremlin and splashing onto the screens of?Russia’s tightly controlled state media. Moscow’s grueling invasion of Ukraine and Washington’s potential designation of Russia as a?state sponsor of terrorism?are at the top of the list—but the upcoming U.S. elections are likewise causing some heart palpitations.
Having recovered from their initial shock over the?FBI’s search of Donald Trump’s Florida estate, Russian experts and pundits started to dismiss it as much ado about nothing, albeit a convenient tale they could use to smear American democracy. Now they’re singing a different tune. In the most recent broadcast of the state TV show?Sunday Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, host Vladimir Solovyov remarked, “I’m very worried for our agent Trump. They found everything at Mar-a-Lago, they got packages of documents. In all seriousness, they say he should be executed as a person that was ready to hand off nuclear secrets to Russia.”
Appearing on Solovyov’s show, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova likewise raged against the alleged persecution of Moscow’s favorite former U.S. president. In a bizarre tirade, she attempted to tie the search of Mar-a-Lago with Trump’s earlier statement that there are only two genders, male and female. “In the West, you’re not allowed to call a man a man. You can’t call a woman a woman. You’re not allowed to call a child male or female until it reaches the age of 2-3 years old,” she fumed. “In the run-up to the upcoming electoral battles, one of the contenders for a political role—the most important political role in the United States—Donald Trump steps up and says, ‘We’ve gone too far. There are only two genders: male and female.’”
Zakharova then implied that the search of Trump’s property was somehow related to his stance on gender identity. “Immediately, practically momentarily, dozens of cars of U.S. intelligence agencies, dozens—approaching hundreds—of special agents, FBI and so on, searched his home, seized boxes of some papers... and started to say that he broke the law—attention—on espionage! Five minutes from now, this man could be declared an American spy.”
Solovyov chimed in: “[He could be declared] a Russian spy... Will we try to exchange him to bring Trump to Russia? Will they include Trump on the prisoner exchange list?” On his radio show one day before, the host had bemoaned “repressions” against Trump and complained about what a terrible mess the U.S. had become. Nonetheless, the decorated Russian propagandist boasted about not being sanctioned by the United States, even though his visa recently expired. Waiting for a better political climate, Solovyov decided not to renew it just yet.
Having initially believed that better times are ahead and that Trump’s return to the White House was imminent, prominent Russian propagandists dubbed him “the Teflon Don” and predicted that he would overcome the FBI’s investigation as merely the latest speed bump in his alleged “persecution by the deep state.” Now that more details have emerged, their views have become pessimistic. Appearing on the program?Solovyov Live?on Monday, Yevgeny Satanovsky, president of the Institute of the Middle East, grimly noted that—in light of the baggage carried by Trump—the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, known in Russia as “Number Two,” may be a better bet for the Republicans. At this point, Russian talking heads aren’t quite certain whether DeSantis would be as likely as Trump to befriend Russia and dump Ukraine—but that’s where their propaganda aimed at U.S. voters would supposedly come in.
More than ever, Russian state media is stressing the need to influence Americans in the run-up to the midterms and the future presidential election. Kremlin-controlled talking heads are hoping out loud that Americans will see things their way, opting to concentrate on internal issues, abandoning Ukraine and letting go of the sanctions against Russia.
In addition to their convenient?talking points, furthered by the likes of Fox News’ Tucker Carlson and former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Russian state media has also announced that it would like to pipe news from Russia straight into the U.S. During Monday’s broadcast of?The Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, Americanist Dmitry Drobnitsky said, “The main point of polarization is fast approaching. In November, people in the West have to hear the Russian news, especially in light of the growing interest... We need to break through those barriers, why isn’t anyone doing that? That will be one of the most important components of our future success.”
end of quote
Oh, poor baby Trump. Mama is calling. Go to mommy, Baby Trump
end of quote, but in the real world
quote
The Stakes in Ukraine Have Not Changed
The war is still about freedom.
By?Tom Nichols
AUGUST 16, 2022, 5:57 PM ET
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This is an edition of?The Atlantic?Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture.?Sign up for it here.
As we’re fire-hosed by news of Donald Trump’s antics and stories of the GOP’s slide into antidemocratic madness, Americans must remember what’s at stake in an actual military confrontation between freedom and dictatorship in Europe.
The Long Haul
The war against democracy,?as I’ve said?many times, is being fought on multiple fronts around the world, and nowhere with more ferocity than in Ukraine. The former National Security Council staffer Alex Vindman is in Ukraine today, and as the conflict there drags on, he said this morning that he’s worried about the world developing Ukraine fatigue. Although I understand his concern, I don’t think that’s happening—at least?not yet. But it’s time to remind ourselves what the stakes are in Ukraine for the United States and its allies.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine isn’t merely a “war” in which two sides have something in dispute and are using military force to get their way. The Prussian high priest of military thought, Carl von Clausewitz,?described war?as “an act of force to compel our enemy to do our will,” but the Russian attack isn’t one of Clausewitz’s 19th-century conflicts. The attempt to destroy Ukraine is more like the Nazi campaigns of conquest in World War II—or, if you’d like a more futuristic analogy, it is like the war waged against Earth by aliens in the classic 1996 movie?Independence Day. When the American president tries to surrender to the invaders and asks them what they want humans to do to secure a truce, they answer with one word: “Die.”
It’s not a perfect analogy. Vladimir Putin, in the first weeks of the war, would have accepted?a tidy and rapid surrender. Indeed, his?initial goals?did not include obliterating Ukrainian cities and civilians, because he long ago?convinced himself?that Ukrainians are indistinguishable from Russians. He may have imagined that after a quick strike against Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would flee—or be killed by his own military—and that Ukrainian children would carpet the streets with flowers to welcome the conquering Russians.
Instead, Ukraine, with Western help, fought back and handed the Russian military one humiliating defeat after another. The Russian version of?shock and awe?turned into shock and dismay in Moscow, and Putin—whose vanity and ego are now deeply invested in this war—changed Russian war aims from quick conquest to a campaign of death and destruction as punishment for Ukrainian insolence.
So where do things on the battlefield stand now?
There are three things to bear in mind as you read the news from Ukraine:
The first point, that the Russians are not interested in a settlement, is key to understanding why the U.S. and its Western partners have to commit to the war with money and material support for the long haul. Putin is about to turn 70, which is not young, especially by Russian standards, but this war will last as long as he draws breath. His aims, no matter what he says in public, will always remain the maximum goal of subjugating all of Ukraine.
Second, Putin thought he could pull off a quick victory while Russians, especially in big cities such as Moscow and Leningrad St. Petersburg, went about their lives. But the Russian military has proved to be far more fragile than Western experts predicted. (Among those getting it wrong: me.) After losing some of his best forces, Putin is now fighting the war with more kids from the?glubinka, the Russian boondocks,?many of them ethnic non-Russians.
There are even reports that Putin is trying to?recruit in jails?by offering Russian prisoners a commutation in exchange for fighting in Ukraine. The?heinous acts–and likely war crimes–we’ve already seen in Ukraine will seem like a warm-up if the Russian high command lets a bunch of convicted criminals in army uniforms loose on the battlefield with rifles and grenades. But this, in a country that once prided itself on the might of its armed forces, is a sign of desperation.
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Finally, the war is now a slog and will remain one. America and other nations have, for months, been?carefully threading a needle, providing aid to Ukraine but resisting moves (such as?no-fly zones) that could provoke a direct confrontation between Moscow and the West. This is a wise policy, and Joe Biden, in my view, has done a masterful job of helping Ukraine stay in the fight. We should continue to do so, with more and better weapons as fast as we can deliver them.
The long term favors the Ukrainians, 40 million people who are fighting for their existence as a nation. The Russians are heedlessly throwing bodies and weapons into the fight, making it “a foot race between Western patience on the Ukrainian side versus Putin’s terrible burn rate of killed-in-action and equipment,” as Admiral James Stavridis told me in an email earlier today. Stavridis, the former supreme allied commander of NATO, thinks time is on Kyiv’s side: “I would rather have Zelensky’s hand of cards than Putin’s.”
In the near future, however, the Russians can still bring crushing amounts of power to bear on Ukraine: They want to claim Ukrainian territory, even if they have to reduce cities to piles of rubble and corpses before they plant their boots on them.
This war is about freedom and democracy. Americans may become weary of the news and the depressing images, but we will never be as weary as the Ukrainians, who will need the West’s support for a long time to come.
end of quote
and this means the war is spilling over into Crimea
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-crimea-government-and-politics-7b83639e106a1100b05ef52fd730e153
quote
Click to copy
Blasts in Crimea underscore Russian forces’ vulnerability
By PAUL BYRNE
an hour ago
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A spate of explosions and fires has turned Russian-occupied Crimea from a secure rear base into a new battleground in the war, demonstrating both the Russians’ vulnerability and the Ukrainians’ capacity to strike deep behind enemy lines.
Nine Russian warplanes were reported destroyed at an air base in Crimea last week, and an ammunition depot on the peninsula blew up on Tuesday.
Ukrainian authorities have stopped short of publicly claiming responsibility, preferring to keep the world guessing, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alluded to Ukrainian attacks behind enemy lines after the latest blasts, which Russia blamed on “sabotage.”
Russia seized the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and has used it as a staging ground for attacks on the country in the war that began Feb. 24. Ukrainian authorities have vowed to recapture Crimea and other occupied territories.
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“The invaders will die like dew in the sun,” Zelenskyy, in his nightly video address Wednesday, said of the effort to retake Crimea and other areas.
The explosions represent the latest setback for Moscow, which began its invasion with hopes of taking Kyiv in a lightning offensive but soon became bogged down in the face of fierce resistance. As the war nears the six-month mark, the two sides are engaged in a grinding war of attrition, fighting village to village, largely in the country’s east.
The attacks in Crimea may mark the opening of a new front that would represent a significant escalation in the war and could further stretch Russia’s resources.
“Russian commanders will highly likely be increasingly concerned with the apparent deterioration in security across Crimea, which functions as rear base area for the occupation,” Britain’s Defense Ministry wrote on Twitter.
As a result of the airfield attacks, Russia is moving dozens of warplanes and helicopters to deeper positions in Crimea and to Russian bases elsewhere, Ukrainian military intelligence reported.
Tuesday’s explosions ripped through an ammunition site near the town of Dzhankoi, forcing the evacuation of about 3,000 people. Munitions continued to explode Wednesday and authorities fought the fires with a helicopter, said Crimea’s regional leader, Sergei Aksyonov. He said a search for the perpetrators was underway.
The Kommersant business paper also reported explosions Tuesday at a Crimean base in Gvardeyskoye. There was no confirmation from the Russians.
The British intelligence report said Gvardeyskoye and Dzhankoi are home to two of the most important Russian military airfields in Crimea.
Just over a week ago, explosions rocked the Russians’ Saki air base on Crimea and destroyed planes on the ground. Moscow suggested that the blasts were accidental, caused perhaps by a careless smoker, but Ukrainian authorities mocked that explanation and hinted at their involvement.
Last month, a small explosive device carried by a makeshift drone blew up in a courtyard at the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, wounding six people and prompting the cancellation of ceremonies there honoring Russia’s navy.
In other developments Wednesday, two civilians were reported killed and seven wounded by Russian shelling of several towns and villages in the Donetsk region in the east that is the current focus of the Kremlin offensive.
In the south, Russian warplanes fired cruise missiles at the Odesa region overnight, wounding four people, according to regional administration spokesman Oleh Bratchuk. In Mykolaiv, also in the south, two Russian missiles damaged a university building but injured no one.
Russian forces also shelled Kharkiv and the surrounding region in the northeast, killing at least six people, wounding at least 16 and damaging residential buildings and civilian infrastructure, authorities said.
Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv for a meeting Thursday with Zelenskyy and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said Guterres will raise the topic of food and grain shipments, nuclear power plant safety and the recent prison explosion that killed scores of captured Ukrainian fighters, and will “do what he can to essentially lower the temperature as much as possible.”
The last time the U.N. chief came to Ukraine, in April, Russia launched a missile strike on Kyiv.
end of quote
Whereas
quote
Russia is offering prisoners their freedom in exchange for fighting in Ukraine, as Moscow struggles to replenish its ranks: report
Matthew Loh?Aug 12, 2022, 5:16 AM
Russian forces are recruiting prisoners across seven regions to fight in Ukraine,?the AP reported.
Russian forces are offering prisoners amnesty if they agree to fight in Ukraine, a sign that Moscow is resorting to more desperate measures to find fresh reinforcements for its war in the Donbas, according to a Thursday report by The?Associated Press.
The outlet reported a case involving at least 11 prisoners from a St. Petersburg penal colony who were approached by men in uniform and then presented with the option of fighting in Ukraine in exchange for their freedom.
The AP cited an anonymous woman whose boyfriend was imprisoned in the colony and was approached with such a proposal.
Insider could not independently verify the accuracy of the report. However, it aligns with?British intelligence reports from July that said the Wagner Group?— which has Kremlin-tied mercenaries deployed in Ukraine — might be trying to recruit incarcerated people.
The anonymous woman told the AP that her boyfriend did not accept the offer and said to her that eight of the 11 volunteers had since died in battle in Ukraine. One of them said he regretted his decision and believed he wouldn't return alive, she told the outlet.
It's unclear if this particular case involves the Wagner Group, but Vladimir Osechkin, the founder of a prisoner rights group called Gulagu.net, told the AP that the mercenary group has been trying to recruit inmates in as many as seven regions across Russia.
He estimated that around 1,500 prisoners have signed up for the war, per the AP.
Osechkin told the outlet that this information had come from inmates themselves and their relatives, including many volunteers who later contacted him and said they no longer wanted to be deployed.?
He said the Wagner Group had initially approached prisoners with military or law enforcement backgrounds. However, recruitment efforts have since expanded beyond such requirements, per the AP.
Multiple?reports?have emerged over the last six months of Russian troops trying to quit their deployment in Ukraine, as Moscow's invasion went into repeated deadlock and morale sank.
The Pentagon?estimated on Tuesday?that Russia has suffered around 80,000 casualties in Ukraine, compared to the 160,000 troops it had amassed around Ukraine's borders before the invasion began.
In a bid to attract more personnel, Russia has offered?large signing bonuses?— worth around $5,200 — to new recruits,?The Moscow Times reported in May.
German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported last week?that an increasing number of Russian contract soldiers — men as young as 18 who sign up to fight alongside professional forces for a salary — are being jailed for saying they want to leave Ukraine.
Per?The Washington Post, 70% of Russia's army is comprised of contract soldiers who serve for around three years and are paid $1,100 per month for their service.
Citing human rights activists in Russia, Deutsche Welle reported that the contract soldiers in Ukraine looking to return home are known as "refuseniks" in the Russian army and have been held in prison or labor camps in the Donbas region.
end of quote
Andrew Beckwith, PhD