I wonder how much of this gets circulated IN Russia...
Not much. Russians have to use VPNs to see news from outside Russia. The state broadcaster is a rabid spewer of lies & hate.
Countering the disinfo outside of Russia is more important - refute and disprove the lies & deliberate misinfo that seek to cast Ukraine in a bad light - and thereby cause some to question the cause. There are many examples of disinfo & propaganda, and carried out by the supporters of both sides.
"The first casualty of war is the truth"
— attributed to various sources
Disinfo can't be allowed to stand unchallenged.
Canadian example - from a former minister of the current government: "If you actually say it louder, weâve learned in the House of Commons, if you repeat it, if you say it louder, if that is your talking point, people will totally believe it!"
— Catherine McKenna May 2019
More than 120 countries have signed on to an international treaty banning the weapons, which typically scatter a large number of smaller so-called bomblets over a large area that can kill or maim unwary civilians months or years later.
Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. have all to declined to sign the treaty.
Would you care to share your point with us or are we expected to pay for this remarkable insight?
More than 120 countries have signed on to an international treaty banning the weapons, which typically scatter a large number of smaller so-called bomblets over a large area that can kill or maim unwary civilians months or years later.
Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. have all to declined to sign the treaty.
That could explain it.
Easterlies until Sunday then norwesters kick in, so yeah, you are right on that score. I still wouldn't rule it out if the Russians think they can panic the Ukrainians into evacuating their troops.
OTOH, we are not talking about a nuclear meltdown as the plant is in cold shut down, but a leak of radioactive material from cooling ponds etc. would be on the cards.
in other news, slowly the balance of power is shifting in Ukraine's favor. They seem to be concentrating on taking out Russian assets at the moment rather than gain land. Drawing out Russian artillery with small forces then destroying it with long range precision fires.
Guess this ties in with a strategy of decimating the Russian army to the point of no return so it can't pose a threat in future.
Even though this comes at enormous cost to Ukraine, it probably is their best strategy.
Exactly. And when Ukraine gets in the air with the F16s, they will quickly gain air superiority over the battle space - and hasten the eviction of Russian forces all that faster.
Good reads here in these two Twitter threads:
And:
(direct link if the embed fails to load) "In Germany @derspiegel, @welt, @ntvde and in Austria @derStandardat write that "the Ukrainian Offensive has failed"... ...
That is wild nonsense.
This nonsense happens, because all of them interviewed the same expert, who doesn't understand Ukraine's Offensive phases, of which there are at least 5, and we're barely in the middle of Phase 1 - Attrition & Interdiction."
Extremely unlikely RU is going to blow up the ZNPP nuclear power plant in Enerhodar. Prevailing winds are usually from the north from June to Sept, which would put the RU resort city of Sochi in the path of any radiation, in addition to affecting their own forces in the south of Ukraine.
"A radiation plume from the plant would most certainly affect the Russian forces in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts and possibly in Crimea and would likely impact the Russian forces to a greater degree than the Ukrainian forces given the usual direction of the wind in the area," the ISW concluded. "None of these options provide more military benefit for Russian forces than the likely consequences they would create." link
Also this:
That could explain it.
Easterlies until Sunday then norwesters kick in, so yeah, you are right on that score. I still wouldn't rule it out if the Russians think they can panic the Ukrainians into evacuating their troops.
OTOH, we are not talking about a nuclear meltdown as the plant is in cold shut down, but a leak of radioactive material from cooling ponds etc. would be on the cards.
in other news, slowly the balance of power is shifting in Ukraine's favor. They seem to be concentrating on taking out Russian assets at the moment rather than gain land. Drawing out Russian artillery with small forces then destroying it with long range precision fires.
Guess this ties in with a strategy of decimating the Russian army to the point of no return so it can't pose a threat in future.
Even though this comes at enormous cost to Ukraine, it probably is their best strategy.
just for the record when Russia does blow up the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, as currently seems likely.
Extremely unlikely RU is going to blow up the ZNPP nuclear power plant in Enerhodar. Prevailing winds are usually from the north from June to Sept, which would put the RU resort city of Sochi in the path of any radiation, in addition to affecting their own forces in the south of Ukraine.
"A radiation plume from the plant would most certainly affect the Russian forces in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts and possibly in Crimea and would likely impact the Russian forces to a greater degree than the Ukrainian forces given the usual direction of the wind in the area," the ISW concluded. "None of these options provide more military benefit for Russian forces than the likely consequences they would create." link
The successful expansion and reorganization of the Russian army is part of the reason Prigozhinâs Wagner Group is no longer needed; the regular Russian army has been quite capable of coping with the Ukrainian counter-offensive without them. (...)
Successful expansion? Successful reorganization? Isn't Putin currently in the process of purging military leadership that might have been sympathetic to the Wagner Group... isn't the cluster f*ck of this reorganization happening as we speak? Who has any idea of the ramifications of this panicked reorganization at this point and its ultimate effect on the Russian serviceman? Wagner group no longer needed? Right, who needs 20-30k soldiers who were acknowledged as being superior to the regular military fighting force and had been struggling without their help. It's like leaving the barn door open and have your horse run away and claim you didn't need the horse anyway.
At least Prigozhin was kind enough to have his men terminate some important military equipment on the way out.
Putin's days are numbered, and the clock is ticking.