December 26th's update is here on the site and here in the comments.
December 27th's update is here on the site and here in the comments.
December 28th's update is here on the site and here in the comments.
December 30th's update is here on the site and here in the comments.
Going out with friends today and tomorrow! Next week and onwards things should return to normal and we can continue drudging through in the second year of this war.
Links and Stuff
Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Add to the above list if you can, thank you.
Resources For Understanding The War Beyond The Bulletins
Defense Politics Asia's youtube channel and their map. I recommend their map more than the channel at this point, as an increasing subscriber count has greatly diminished their quality.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have good analysis (though also a couple bad takes here and there)
Understanding War and the Saker: neo-conservative sources but their reporting of the war (so far) seems to line up with reality better than most liberal sources. Beware of chuddery.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are fairly brainworm-free and good if you don't want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. The Duran, of which he co-hosts, is where the chuddery really begins to spill out.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent journalist reporting in the Ukrainian warzones.
Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.
Telegram Channels
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
Pro-Russian
https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR's former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR's forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ Gleb Bazov, banned from Twitter, referenced pretty heavily in what remains of pro-Russian Twitter.
https://t.me/asbmil ~ Now rebranded as Battlefield Insights, they do infrequent posts on the conflict.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday Patrick Lancaster's telegram channel.
https://t.me/riafan_everywhere ~ Think it's a government news org or Federal News Agency? Russian language.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ Front news coverage. Russian langauge.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of the really big pro-Russian (except when they're being pessismistic, which is often) telegram channels focussing on the war. Russian language.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a 'propaganda tax', if you don't believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.
Pro-Ukraine
Any Western media outlet that is even vaguely liberal (and quite a few conservative ones too).
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.
Last week's discussion post.
Bolsonaro appears to be fleeing Brazil before the handoff of power to Lula. Bolsonaro has allegedly booked a one way ticket to Florida along with several generals. Additionally, he is going through a divorce.
Only a matter of time before he catches covid again too lol
This is funny af but I feel bad for cool Floridians that their state is about to get even more gusano somehow
Florida is the backbone of the American Failing Upwards industry
Florida being a haven for Latin American fascists is probably why the state itself is turning increasingly into a fascist state.
My 2024 Presidential platform is centered around sawing off Florida from the continental US Looney Tunes style.
Forget frying pans, mfs in wider hexbear are having a struggle session if bidets are reactionary
Moon of Alabama showcasing the incredible and profound advances in mathematics that Ukraine is making this year. Zelensky deserves both the Nobel Peace Prize and the Fields Medal. Emphasis mine:
After having run out of missiles, the Russian military today fired another round of them at Ukrainian energy facilities.
Russia fires 120 missiles from air and sea - Ukraine - BBC
An air raid alert has been issued across Ukraine, as a fresh wave of Russian missiles targets major cities.
Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said more than 120 missiles had been launched at the population and civilian infrastructure.
54 of the 69 missiles were shot down.
Commander: Ukraine shoots down 54 out of 69 missiles fired by Russia - Kyiv Independent
According to Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the chief commander of Ukraine's Armed Forces, the Air Force shot down 54 out of 69 missiles Russia had fired against Ukraine during its eighth mass strike targeting energy infrastructure on Dec. 29.
All missiles targeting Kiev were destroyed.
AFP News Agency @AFP - 10:10 UTC · Dec 29, 2022
#UPDATE Kyiv authorities said Thursday that air defences downed all 16 missiles that targeted the Ukrainian capital as part of a new wave of Russian strikes on the pro-Western country.
Those which came through seriously damaged Kiev's energy facilities.
Energy Minister: Russia’s Dec. 29 mass strike causes damage to Ukraine’s power generation facilities, grid - Kyiv Independent
Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko reported on Dec. 29 that “some damage” was inflicted on Ukraine’s power generation facilities and energy grid during Russia’s mass strike despite the “excellent work” of the air defense.
The minister said that the energy situation is particularly “difficult” in Kyiv Oblast and the southern Odesa Oblast, as well as western Ukraine.
...
About 40% of Kyiv residents and 90% of Lviv residents in western Ukraine were cut off from electricity as of the morning, city mayors said.
Due to the attack some houses were damaged.
Arthur Morgan @ArthurM40330824 - 10:19 UTC · Dec 29, 2022
#Ukrainian air defense again hit civilian targets: now in Ivano-Frankivsk, a S-300 missile hit a residential building. There were no victims or injured.
While the fact that Russia has run out of missiles showcases their inability to manufacture more in the wake of sanctions, the fact that they can continue producing them is indicative of how sanctions need to be further strengthened. And while the fact that all Russian missiles that targeted Kiev were shot down highlights the effectiveness of Ukrainian anti-air, the fact that some of them hit Kiev shows how more anti-air systems need to be given to Ukraine.
:parenti:
Do you ever get the feeling that the members of the western permanent state are laughing at us? "Our bullshit facts and narratives we feed everybody don't even need to be remotely consistent and everybody still believes them!" Thank god the power of decaying material conditions will eventually overpower the power of modern propaganda techniques or humanity would be totally fucked.
The quoted tweet thread from AFP contains multiple statements that directly contradict each other.
How do people believe this crap? Literally how gullible do you have to be?
They're just trying to use the lathe but they can't figure out the instructions.
So the UKR press is way beyond needing a kernel of truth for their propaganda, but there is one aspect I think I might believe:
Russia might be mostly out of (conventional-tipped) Iskanders. Tactical ballistic missiles are just about the least cost-effective possible way to get HE from here to there, and the biggest reason there are any non-nuclear ones at all is left-over cold war programs--e.g. both Iskander and ATACMS were programs from the 80s. Most of the ATACMS were converted to conventional after the Soviet Union fell (and they stopped making them in 2007), and Iskander was kept alive through graft until Moscow cracked down and forced the companies involved to actually produce something in the mid-2000s.
Russia fired SO MANY of these things off in the first couple months of the war that it's not insane to conclude that they were just getting rid of them to save on maintenance costs. The US did basically the same thing with ATACMS for "shock and awe" in Iraq II. I don't think there's been a confirmed Iskander launch in months, either.
Of course the counterpoint is that Ukrainian air defense is so far degraded that Russia doesn't need expensive ballistic missiles to get payloads through anymore.
Russia says U.S. intelligence services, pharmaceutical companies involved in military bio program in Ukraine
The Russian Defense Ministry has a document with the names of key U.S. officials supervising Ukraine's military biological programs, Igor Kirillov, chief of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defense Forces of the Russian Armed Forces, said Saturday.
http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/view/2022-12/26/content_10207583.htm
ever since it came out that there were biological warfare labs in ukraine i have been lathing that they end up getting captured and the russians release undeniable proof that the US started the covid pandemic
from a dramatic storytelling perspective on reality it would be perfect
If that happens the consent manufacturing machine would either simply bury it or paint it as ridiculous Russian lies. The world has never before seen a propaganda apparatuses as formidable as the western "free press".
I don't consider Europe distancing itself from the Evil Empire and aligning with Russia. There might be internal bickering as the more perceptive European leaders realise that the yanks are ripping them off but a real breakup seems unlikely. Europe is too deeply entangled in the US imperial infrastructure for that to be a decision that is possible. European finance depends on wall street, European militaries depends on the American MIC and would be rendered unable to function if the tie was broken. On top of that Europe has strong ideological and cultural ties to the Evil Empire that would be extremely painful to sever.
what is Umbrella Corp is not a more war industry focused Amazon? Horror Vanguard pod has covered that terrible movie series extensively
The Ukrainian parliament posted a tribute to Bandera on Twitter. Send this to your liberal acquaintances and enjoy the mental gymnastics. :ukkkraine: https://twitter.com/verkhovna_rada/status/1609544721101389831?t=I0L4xtKII_VbPdpldHZoHA&s=19
The solution for NK is for Russia to tell Turkey, "Boy it would sure be a big mess if we lost some weapons in a freak boating accident in Northeast Syria".
Russia is going to have to respond somehow. If they let anything happen to Armenia, then CSTO isn't worth the paper it's written on. That would be a bad look for Russia, given that they appear to be in the process of trying to counter-encircle NATO with bilateral military cooperation treaties.
I owned myself pretty hard earlier this week. Was trying to goad this dogwhistling nazi on /r/PCM into stating what he's alluding at out loud and even got him to admit that he'd get banned if he did so. Then in another comment chain I said "down with the cumskins" and received a seven day ban for anti-white racism.
I'd be mad if it weren't so funny
Sick to death of liberal ghouls portraying opposition to Swedish NATO like the "Didn't you forget to ask someone?" meme and the third one is Putin, when really the person not being asked here(aside from the Swedish people not getting any democratic choice in the matter to start with), are Kurds asking to not be tortured and suppressed as the price gladly paid by Swedish politicans.
The way you describe it yeah it real seems pathetic to use that meme specificaly. You can have both ways claim it is not about Putin and then just do it because you are afraid of Putin. I mean holy shit that meme usualy applied in a completely different context. Literal children "haha Putin can't stop me joining NATO haha" they say while shitting their pants afraid of being the only children without nukes in the room.
we could have gotten our own nukes in the 60s
but nuclear socialist sweden was hinge point yeeted into the abyss
Did… did they not really realize embargoing Russian energy was a serious challenge?
Or did they expect this to blow over quickly until the Nordstream was blown up?
Why are they so fucking cocky???
The Italy GDP thing is just so, so funny to me. They forgot about material reality because Russia doesn’t do as many funny number tricks with financial capitalism to make the number go up.
:barx:
:porky-happy: "Hmmmmm, yes, I am very smart and capable. The market has rewarded me with a cushy banking job where I sell my services and products to people who super dooper need them. These are real things, and definitely not just relationships of ownership/rent seeking behavior! If it wasn't valuable, why would people pay for it? Yes, I truly am the center of economic production in the modern era.
:porky-scared-flipped: "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY DON'T NEED MY BANKING SERVICES? B-B-BUT HOW ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO MAKE THEIR FACTORIES WORK OR EXTRACT RESOURCES FROM THE EARTH WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM OUR SHAREHOLDERS AND MY FRCTIONALIZED DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL PRODUCTS THAT CRASH THE ECONOMY ONCE A DECADE? HOW DO THEY KEEP BUILDING SO MANY FUCKING MISSILES? MY WAR SUPPLIERS CHARGE 10x THAT RATE!?!"
Exactly. Who tf cares that Italy makes more sports cars or trades stupid digital pieces of paper around in a financial center somewhere? Russia supplies raw goddamn resources. The very same resources that are the fundamental building blocks of most modern material goods. These people are genuinely brain-damaged.
TFW you forget you are the most wealthy due to exploitation and not inherent superiority :brainworms:
It is a challenge but they always had options. The problem is every step of the way they choose to escalate and dismiss the reality that things are not going according to plan. They had multiple opportunities to work some energy deal with Russia while still keeping the war going, Russia literaly wouldn't care. Look at the stupid gas turbine that was stuck in Canada for months.
It was one thing to misrepresent Russia as just some third world gas station, as bad as it is this is no WW3 and neoliberalism could just go on without problems. But they keep making stupid decisions like the Russian price cap.
I think you can also look at the Merkel fiasco as an indication of how the west was always in emperor's new clothes mode. The fact that moron is so highly regarded and yet couldn't help herself but say the quiet part out loud. The liberal reaction to it is pretty much proof of what we've been saying here. Most of western leaders and a large part of the liberal population realy buy into their own bullshit, they are no better than right wingers when it comes to their own propensity for dismissing reality for their own narratives.
Russia as just some third world gas station
The second world died in the 90s. The third world was smothered in its cradle even before that. Do we really need to keep using this language? Today the way these terms are used is drained of all the pride and optimism once expressed by the builders of the second and third worlds. I'm not trying to pick a fight, it's just that every time I hear the concept of numbered worlds invoked I get triggered a little bit.
Yves here. John Helmer gives a deservedly caustic take on Angela Merkel’s admission that she deceived Putin in negotiating the Minsk accords, intended to resolve the conflict in the Donbass. The former German Chancellor has now said, in three different media venues, that the intent was to buy Ukraine time to arm and fight Russia later. Note that former French president Francois Hollande has confirmed that Minsk was a Western bad-faith exercise intended to weaken Russia. And he blames the US for it not having worked out as well as planned.
Her stupid admission was a big deal 2 weeks ago.
Love how mad Westerners are now that Chinese people are doing the same shit as them regarding covid.
whether coronavirus is "just a cold" and whether "herd immunity" is a good strategy and whether pandemic restrictions are necessary for public health or totalitarian tyranny is entirely dependent on whether the country doing it is Good or Bad, and unfortunately, god has ordained that China is Bad
And they were earlier pretending to care about how "evil" Chinese lockdowns were
I’ve noticed a complete dissonance between the propaganda arm of the west and the military officials of the west. It’s nothing new, but it’s funny to see “Ukraine is totally not getting owned” plastered on Reddit and other social media while American general staff of military are saying “Ukraine is doomed, our weapons are ineffective, we went headlong into a war we weren’t prepared for.” Of course the propaganda highly outweighs the analysis of the other, but if history tells us anything (and it always does), there is going to be a serious public reckoning in the west. I doubt that this one will bring any change, though. People will probably just memory hole it like they did for Iraq and Afghanistan.
Any articles or interviews to this effect? I’d be interested in seeing them.
News from Bolivia: Far-Right Leader Fernando Camacho Arrested :MAS:
The governor of the Bolivian department of Santa Cruz, Luis Fernando Camacho, has been arrested and taken to La Paz. Camacho faces numerous charges and had been investigated for crimes dating back to the 2019 coup.
Bolivia’s Interior Minister, Eduardo Del Castillo, confirmed the reports, saying: “We inform the Bolivian people that the Bolivian Police complied with the arrest warrant against Mr. Luis Fernando Camacho. Information is developing.”
