On Tuesday and Wednesday, this year's NATO summit will take place in Vilnius, Lithuania, in a grand meeting of some of the most awful ghouls currently populating the planet

Despite strong efforts and words from Ukraine, membership is still very unlikely to be forthcoming and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Sweden might not get membership for a while either, as Erdogan continues to play both sides off each other, but who can truly say.

All of this is in the wake of Biden announcing the delivery of cluster bombs to Ukraine, as he admits that they are running out of other munitions to send, ensuring that Ukraine, its people, and its children - the ones that remain, anyway - will continue to suffer for many, many generations to come. Cluster bombs have, I believe, already been used in the conflict, but now will presumably be used at a higher rate. The leader of Cambodia, a country that is a major victim of US cluster bombing, has said:

"It will be the worst danger for the Ukrainians for decades or even centuries if those cluster bombs are used," Hun Sen said.

"I know for sure that Cambodia is small and weak, and our voice is weightless, but with our pity towards the people of Ukraine, I call on the U.S. president, the provider, and the Ukrainian president, the recipient, not to use cluster bombs in this war because the real victims will be civilians, especially the Ukrainian ones," he said.

What a perfect exemplification of the conflict as a whole. Millions of Ukrainians will be thrown into the inferno, entirely disposable in the eyes of the West, so long as we burn some Russians in the fire.

The suffering is the point.

Here is the map of the Ukraine conflict, courtesy of Wikipedia.

Here is the archive of important pieces of analysis from throughout the war that we've collected.

This week's first update is here in the comments.

This week's second update is here in the comments.

This week's third update is here in the comments.

Links and Stuff

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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 decent analysis. Avoid the comment section.

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 relatively brainworm-free and good if you don't want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it's just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.

On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent journalist reporting in the warzone.

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 ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist (but still quite reactionary in terms of gender and sexuality and race, so beware). If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.

https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.

https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster's telegram channel.

https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ Another big Russian commentator.

https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia's army.

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

Almost every Western media outlet.

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.

  • FALGSConaut [comrade/them]M
    ·
    1 year ago

    Found an article from last year about some foreign mercs in Ukraine with some fantastic bits in it

    Zabielski belonged to a squad of western volunteers, attached to the Ukrainian army, called the Wolverines, according to Tristan Nettles, a Marine Corps veteran who was with Zabielski the night he died. They were a group of thirteen English-speaking men: one Pole, one Canadian, two Brits, and eight Americans, all of whom had military experience. “Every single one,” says Nettles, who previously did a tour in Iraq.

    soypoint-1 Le epic wolverino squad! Just like that movie!!! soypoint-2

    Against the backdrop of the battle of Severodonetsk, where brutal fighting remains ongoing, the Wolverines were sent on a mission to clear enemy mines near the village of Dorozhnyanka. Their objective was to create a safe path for their unit’s vehicles in advance of a Ukrainian assault planned for the following morning.

    Foreign volunteers being used for more dangerous jobs, nothing new here

    Two of the fighters made their way to the observation post to relay the order and resupply Zabielski and Gary with water and fresh batteries for their equipment. When they learned that they would have to stay out another twenty-four hours, Zabielski and Gary decided to move to a position they considered more suitable.

    Nettles blames the thickness of the vegetation, the heaviness of the fog, and a failure to maintain proper distance between personnel for what happened next. “Stephen apparently triggered a trip wire, which detonated a mine that killed him and severely injured Gary,” Nettles says.

    The bad news went out over the radio, and a Canadian fighter named JT drove a vehicle in the direction of the explosion to evacuate the casualties. But JT had trouble crossing some train tracks, and in an effort to get over, he made a serious mistake. He maneuvered the vehicle over a portion of the tracks that had not yet been cleared of mines. “Which resulted in his vehicle exploding with him still inside,” Nettles says.

    Wandering around the mine filled bush at night sets off a mine, killing one of them. Another drives his vehicle right into the minefield and blows it up

    They squad carried Gary out on a makeshift stretcher. Extraction of Zabielski’s body would have to wait for the following day. Already it was light out. “There was no security,” Nettles says. “We should have all been slaughtered, because no one had guns on the wood-line, and most everyone was being extremely loud, and we were very close to the burning vehicle right next to the Russian position. If the Russians had any tactical competence or courage at all, they would have sent a forward observation team, who would have seen our group with no weapons up, carrying a stretcher, and killed us all.”

    Blaming his survival on Russian incompetence sounds like a weird take to me but what do I know

    The Wolverines, the squad that Zabielski belonged to, is in disarray, Nettles says. “Only three of us remain now from the original thirteen,” he says. “The deaths and injuries have been in vain because it is an absolute shit-show out here,” he continues. “We had a two-hour firefight that later turned out to be against Ukrainian special forces. It is unbelievable what goes on here.”

    Nettles, whose tour in Iraq was near Baqubah, with the 2nd Marine Division, says that his motivation for volunteering to fight in Ukraine is to bring attention to the plight of a South African woman, Ashley Oosthuizen, who is unjustly imprisoned for life in Thailand for drug crimes that she did not commit. “If it was not for Ashley,” he says, “I would not be anywhere near this ridiculous mess.”

    “The media only tells one side,” he goes on. “I am here. I see the reality. Bridges blown up while friendly forces are still on the other side, no communication between units, friendly fire all the time.”

    For example, Nettles says, “They tell us we have support, and then fire off three mortars and call it a day. They give a guy who has never used an automatic grenade launcher and then tell us he will be our indirect support at night from 1.2 kilometers away. I didn’t make this shit up. It is a fucking shit show. The Ukrainians are brave — I’ll say that. As for the rest, I can only shake my head as good men die for no reason at all.”

    And this is all the juiciest bits right at the end. First of all, two hour firefights with their allies and comrades-in-arms. His motivation for fighting being some South African in Thai jail. The stories of incompetence

    • mkultrawide [any]
      ·
      1 year ago

      Drug kingpin linked with South African woman’s drug conviction ‘fighting for love’ in Ukraine

      The former boyfriend of a South African woman given the death sentence in Thailand for drug trafficking is fighting for Ukrainian forces in the International Legion while simultaneously campaigning against what he terms a ‘monstrous injustice’ in Thailand which he helped engineer due to his double life on the party island of Ko Samui as an international school science teacher while also acting as a drug kingpin supplying foreigners and elite customers with an array of illegal narcotics.

      34-year-old Tristan Nettles says he is ‘Fighting for Love in Ukraine’ while admitting his past life as an ‘international dark web drug dealer’ when working as an international school teacher on the holiday island of Ko Samui in Surat Thani province for several years

      Mr Nettles admits that his dual life led to a ‘monstrous injustice’ when his girlfriend, who he met on Ko Samui in 2019, was handed down the death penalty by a Thai court which was later commuted to a full term of life imprisonment after signing for a drugs package and minutes later being arrested by police at a restaurant formerly owned by Nettles in the Bophut area of Ko Samui on October 8th 2020.

      This is just evil hot couch guy behavior.

      Nettles, the man ultimately responsible for the drugs that Ashley signed for that day, is unapologetic about his undercover role as a drug player on the island while he worked there as a highly regarded teacher.

      ‘I have done nothing evil. I imported party drugs to a party island which consenting adults came to me to purchase, including teachers, villa and business owners, and even a politician,’ he recently claimed and boasted of his character references from the international school where, according to him, his pupils achieved extraordinary results in his second year in the role.

      He said that, in a reference to future employers, the international school had termed him a ‘model professional’ during his time as a science teacher in the expensive fee-paying institution.

      This is despite Nettles having a long criminal history since he was eleven years old in the United States, having been expelled from five middle schools and seven high schools before going on to an adult life of criminal exploits involving convictions for assault and drug dealing.

      While serving in the Marine Corps, Nettles served 56 days in the brig for similar offences in 2009.

      ‘Thai weed, Canadian chronic, Dutch MDMA crystals & XTC pills, S-Type ketamine, LSD from the UK, 2-CB, Cocaine from Bolivia – Tristan supplied it all,’ a website created by Mr Nettles after the conviction of Ashley Oosthuizen explained in an attempt to show her innocence.

      American soldiers stop trafficking drugs challenge (IMPOSSIBLE).

      Mr Nettles claims that his 22-year-old South African girlfriend knew nothing about his drug dealing on the island which he claims was his major source of income with his work at the international school being just a front.

      He has even revealed that the young South African woman’s innocence was a major turn-on for him while they dated on Ko Samui.

      ‘The rest is all my fault and the fault of others who continue to try and bury the truth. I became infatuated with Ashley for a while and developed quite a fondness towards her. It was intoxicating being around someone so inexperienced and green behind the gills,’ he claimed.

      ‘At no point did Ashley ever know that I was having drugs sent to her little biscuit shop. At no point did she ever know I was an international dark web drug dealer,’ he said this year as he continues to campaign for Ashley online from Ukraine while taking leave from the front.

      If only those Russian soldiers had been a bit more competent.

    • AbbysMuscles [she/her]
      ·
      1 year ago

      We had a two-hour firefight that later turned out to be against Ukrainian special forces.

      michael-laugh

      "Those Ruskies are such fucking cowards" I think to myself while driving haphazardly through an active minefield

    • TreadOnMe [none/use name]
      ·
      1 year ago

      Why do they need a forward observation post that far away from their first line of defense? Especially in an era where you have satellites that can track large enemy movements and artillery to bombard them. You can't even get through their minefields without completely blowing your position, why should they risk having anybody within range or mistakenly wandering in a minefield. People are like, "Stupid Russia doesn't even know where their own minefields are." and I'm like, if you aren't looking to do an offensive in the area, there is literally no better opsec than not knowing where the fuck you put shit, If you don't know, the enemy can't know, and will inevitably kill themselves trying to play minesweeper in front of your lines. It fucking sucks for who ever has to clean up the mess, but it's tactically sound.

      • SeventyTwoTrillion [he/him]
        ·
        1 year ago

        It's always very funny when the same people who laugh at Russia's incompetence or the cowardice of the average Russian soldier then end up doing absolutely dumbass shit like driving into minefields while you or your fellow soldiers are poorly trained for this situation, or going out onto random islands in Kherson for either no reason or to lay supplies for future offensive pushes with zero cover, or thinking you're some supersoldier simply because you were born in America and not Ukraine.

        a real "fuck around and find out" kinda thing when you suddenly realize why Russian soldiers aren't trampling out over minefields to get to your vulnerable position, 5 seconds before the artillery shell or mine or helicopter kills you. the damage that war movies and state propaganda in general have done to the psyche of the more deranged Western soldiers - thinking that you're this unique, invincible, brave, soon-to-be war hero who goes out and does badass things like going out into minefields under cover of darkness to rescue your fallen comrades, or getting to a dangerous position to call an airstrike on the enemy forces - is both tragic and, in this case, great for Russia and eventually China.

        if the US armed forces ever go out to face Russia or China, there's gonna be a few weeks of "WE'LL PUT A BOOT IN YOUR ASS IT'S THE AMERICAN WAY" and then a month later, after a thousand clones of the guys in this article die stupidly while thinking this is just gonna be another Iraq or Afghanistan where they can eat Burger King while murdering innocent children and being revered by people back home for it, there's gonna be a mixture of mass shock and copium about how those coward, timid soldiers on the other side wouldn't even come out and give them a warrior's death in a 1v1 duel and instead bombarded them with missiles and artillery and planes.