Russian invasion of Ukraine

[Yunru]

So, Russia is finally sending in Mercs.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-donbas-region

Apparently without heavy weapons or armoured vehicles though...

From what i hear, the mercs they already used were afking at frontlines :P

[Iphie]

From what i hear, the mercs they already used were afking at frontlines :P

Hmm...sign up to be a Merc, go to Ukraine, surrender to the first Ukrainian you see, brilliant way to get out of the hellhole that is Syria...

[PhaelixWW]

It would fit the "bulkheads were not sealed" if half the crew were burned to death by the fire the bulkheads were supposed to contain.

Well.

You may be right, and I may have been too optimistic about their ability to survive.

Business Insider: Families of crew aboard Russia's sunken warship Moskva have begun questioning the official line that it was fully evacuated

Relatives of crew members aboard the sunken Russian warship Moskva say they haven't been able to locate their loved ones in the days since it went down.

The Moskva, a missile cruiser that was the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet, sank on Thursday. Russian state media blamed an on-board explosion but Ukraine said it struck the ship with missiles, something the Pentagon later confirmed.

The Moskva is thought to have had around 500 crew on board. Russia said the ship was completely evacuated but the families of some crew members have begun questioning that claim.

Yulia Tsyvova, whose son Andrei was on board, told The Guardian she didn't receive an update about his whereabouts until Monday, when she received a call from Russia's defence ministry to say he was dead.

"He was only 19, he was a conscript," Tsyvova said. "They didn't tell me anything else, no information on when the funeral would be."

She added: "I am sure he isn't the only one who died."

Dmitry Shkrebets told The Guardian about his son Yegor, a cook on the Moskva, who was said to be listed as missing in action.

"A conscript who isn't supposed to see active fighting is among those missing in action," Shkrebets said. "Guys, how can you be missing in action in the middle of the high seas?"

Shkrebets said other families had contacted him to say their sons were missing after the Moskva sank.

Irina Shkrebets, mother of Yegor, said she went to a hospital to look for her son and discovered about 200 burnt bodies.

She told independent Russian news outlet The Insider: "We looked at every burnt kid. I can't tell you how hard it was, but I couldn't find mine."

She added: "There were only 200 people, and there were more than 500 onboard the cruiser. Where were the others?"

Russia has been accused of covering up the scale of its military deaths since it invaded Ukraine on February 24. Reports suggest Russia has transported thousands of dead soldiers to Belarus from Ukraine, and Ukrainian officials have said there are thousands of unclaimed Russian corpses in its morgues.

Some families of Moskva crew members have learned that their loved ones are alive – not by seeing them in person, but from video shared by the Russian military, The Guardian reported.

Some parents were afraid of reprisals from Russia if they were seen to be questioning what happened to their sons, the newspaper said.

200 burned bodies? And more missing beyond that?

Oof.

[Iphie]

Well.

You may be right, and I may have been too optimistic about their ability to survive.

Business Insider: Families of crew aboard Russia's sunken warship Moskva have begun questioning the official line that it was fully evacuated

200 burned bodies? And more missing beyond that?

Oof.

This bit:

"A conscript who isn't supposed to see active fighting is among those missing in action," Shkrebets said. "Guys, how can you be missing in action in the middle of the high seas?"

It's remarkably easy to go MIA on the high seas when your ship is hit and sinks, but why are there conscripts on an active duty naval vessel? I thought those would be professionals?

[zorkuus]

200 burned bodies? And more missing beyond that?

Oof.

It's okay. They're on a permanent Special Harp Playing Operation.

[Poopymonster]

So, Russia is finally sending in Mercs.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-donbas-region

Apparently without heavy weapons or armoured vehicles though...

At a glance, this was the first thing that popped into my head.

Middle eastern mercs sent to Ukraine. I've seen how the Miami Dolphins play the Buffalo Bills. In Buffalo. This ought to be interesting.

Then I thought: How are they going to pay them? Probably let them loot. We won't even get into Russian after this ends "Oh, the torture, genocide, and rape? That was them. 22nd Dancing Q-Tip brigade. Mercs, what can do you, amirite?"

[Santti]

It's remarkably easy to go MIA on the high seas when your ship is hit and sinks, but why are there conscripts on an active duty naval vessel? I thought those would be professionals?

Don't question Russian naval tradition.

[Mihalik]

At a glance, this was the first thing that popped into my head.

Middle eastern mercs sent to Ukraine. I've seen how the Miami Dolphins play the Buffalo Bills. In Buffalo. This ought to be interesting.

Then I thought: How are they going to pay them? Probably let them loot. We won't even get into Russian after this ends "Oh, the torture, genocide, and rape? That was them. 22nd Dancing Q-Tip brigade. Mercs, what can do you, amirite?"

They are probably using them in counter-insurgency roles. You don't need heavy weapons or armor to murder, rape and torture civilians.

Also, considering the basic communications issues the Russians have been having between their own units who all speak Russian...do you really want some random ass Libyan or Syrian who might not even speak Russian driving around a tank?

[XDurionX]

They are probably using them in counter-insurgency roles. You don't need heavy weapons or armor to murder, rape and torture civilians.

I'd rather call it "counter-humanity asshat barbarian" roles.

[Breccia]

"Some parents were afraid of reprisals from Russia if they were seen to be questioning what happened to their sons, the newspaper said."

Can you even imagine?

[Corvus]

So, Russia is finally sending in Mercs.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-donbas-region

Apparently without heavy weapons or armoured vehicles though...

If there were that many Mercs floating around it wouldn't take long for some sort of proof to show up - photos or bodies or POWs.

That many would be 20-25% of the forces in the Donbas region.

[Mihalik]

If there were that many Mercs floating around it wouldn't take long for some sort of proof to show up - photos or bodies or POWs.

That many would be 20-25% of the forces in the Donbas region.

Not necessarily. Again, I think they'd be stuck in rear-echelon roles as putting them on the front lines might be too much of a security risk. It's a bit like what we've been seeing with the Chechens.

They are using the idiots from separatist areas as cannon fodder and likely keeping the odd mercenary away from their own troops.

Also, how do you think Dumbfuck Ivan from Middle of Nowheretown, Siberia feels about being conscripted and sent into Ukraine with 30 year old MREs, meanwhile some dipshit buffoon from Syria is getting 3k USD to be there?

Conscripts are paid 30 bucks a month....Professional soldiers about 900...so yeah.

[Breccia]

Conscripts are paid 30 bucks a month

Conscripts are paid 30 bucks a month plus they don't shoot you. No, that doesn't help the situation.

[Gabriel]

Conscripts are paid 30 bucks a month plus they don't shoot you. No, that doesn't help the situation.

Bold of you to assume the conscripts get to keep both the integrity of their anus and that 30 bucks.

[Breccia]

Bold of you to assume the conscripts get to keep both the integrity of their anus and that 30 bucks.

The money, yes. I'm relatively confident the conscripts don't rape each other when they're too busy raping innocent civilians. Whose husbands they just murdered.

[Finlandia WOAT]

Not necessarily. Again, I think they'd be stuck in rear-echelon roles as putting them on the front lines might be too much of a security risk. It's a bit like what we've been seeing with the Chechens.

They are using the idiots from separatist areas as cannon fodder .

I've read they're impressing all the fighting age men in the Separatist areas and using them as cannon fodder/probes to find weaknesses in the line.

They putatively plan to do the same in Kherson once the referendum passes (with 99% of the vote I'm sure).

Makes me wish I could reach through my phone and smack the trolls and useful idiots who claim Russia is just saving Separatists from the Ukrainians...as if Russia gives two shits about those people

[Kaleredar]

I've read they're impressing all the fighting age men in the Separatist areas and using them as cannon fodder/probes to find weaknesses in the line.

They putatively plan to do the same in Kherson once the referendum passes (with 99% of the vote I'm sure).

Makes me wish I could reach through my phone and smack the trolls and useful idiots who claim Russia is just saving Separatists from the Ukrainians...as if Russia gives two shits about those people

I remember when a certain poster claimed that Ukrainians were being well taken care of by Russian occupiers and were being supplied with aid.

[Breccia]

So here's another casualty. Kind of.

A $325 million yacht, name spelled Amadea but pronounced Throatwobbler Mangrove, owned by a sanctioned Russian, has spent 18 days holding down the gas pedal going from Mexico to Fiji to escape Americans/American-allied officers from seizing it. No doubt low on fuel and supplies, they docked in Fiji...without their papers.

Whoops.

The yacht, which apparently was heading for the world headquarters of banking corruption Cayman Islands, is prohibited from leaving local waters until the US shows up with their legal and honored warrant. While Suleiman Kerimov has been sanctioned by...

(checks news)

Let's say "everyone" at this point, he wasn't until recently stupid enough to put assets where his enemies could grab them. Supposedly the ship was full of lawyers contesting the claim that Kerimov owns the yacht, which (a) yeah nobody's buying that from a yacht heading for the Cayman Islands filled with lawyers, and (b) saying "the boat isn't Kerimov's" should immediately lead to "well then it's stolen and you're under arrest" because you can't have a boat wandering around from port to port without an actual owner, so we all know whose boat it is.

I suppose the lawyers could be there defending whoever Kerimov "parked" the boat with. I don't think that'll work, by the way. US, EU, and Canadian international law force authorities are many things, but none of them are fooled by "I'll sell you, my most trusted employee, this boat for $1".

[Azadina]

So here's another casualty. Kind of.

A $325 million yacht, name spelled Amadea but pronounced Throatwobbler Mangrove, owned by a sanctioned Russian, has spent 18 days holding down the gas pedal going from Mexico to Fiji to escape Americans/American-allied officers from seizing it. No doubt low on fuel and supplies, they docked in Fiji...without their papers.

Whoops.

The yacht, which apparently was heading for the world headquarters of banking corruption Cayman Islands, is prohibited from leaving local waters until the US shows up with their legal and honored warrant.

Here's an idea for the oligarch yaches: take them where their beloved Moskva lies, and sink them there right next to it. And rename that area of the sea to "RUSKI STRONK" for history books.

[Gabriel]

The money, yes. I'm relatively confident the conscripts don't rape each other when they're too busy raping innocent civilians. Whose husbands they just murdered.

No no, I mean the conscripts get raped and prostituted by their superiors. I've seen my fair share of pics and webms on this subject thanks to my days in the chans of the internet.