Here we go again-Ukraine once again pt2

[Skybird]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68337794


It also gets reported that Russia has killed the Ukrainian prisoners they took in Avdijivka, including the wounded the Ukrainians had to leave behind. Since this was done without any military necessity, it is to be rated as another cold-blooded murder and so another of so many war crime Russians committed and commit.

[Jimbuna]

Russia accused of executing prisoners of war after Ukraine withdraws

Last week, Ukrainian forces surrendered the eastern city of Avdiivka, which they had for months been desperately defending against a brutal Russian onslaught.

The conquest of Avdiivka represents a strategic and symbolic victory for Russia, strengthening its defence of the regional capital, Donetsk, and potentially opening up avenues for further offensives against Ukrainian-held territory.

Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi says he ordered a retreat from the city in order to save soldiers' lives.

Now evidence of possible war crimes has emerged, as relatives of six soldiers found dead following the takeover of the city say they were executed after surrendering. Ukrainian authorities are investigating. Moscow has not yet commented.

The BBC has spoken to Ukrainian soldiers who withdrew from Avdiivka. Their testimony paints a picture of unresponsive commanders who refused their troops' desperate pleas to retreat as they were encircled by Russian troops.

When the order finally came, they say, it was too late and and they were completely surrounded.

A video posted by Russian military bloggers following the capture of Avdiivka appears to show the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers believed to have surrendered after Russian troops captured their position.

Ivan Zhytnyk, Andriy Dubnytsky and Georgiy Pavlov have been identified by relatives as the dead soldiers in the video.

The BBC has spoken to them and to other soldiers who were at the base - named "Zenith", on the south-eastern outskirts of Avdiivka - in order to reconstruct the chaotic events which led to their deaths.

For weeks, the fighters at the position had been waging an increasingly desperate battle to hold their position.

They had repeatedly asked their commanders to pull them out, fearing a full encirclement was imminent. But their requests were denied and they were told to wait.

On 13 February, the defenders of Zenith were finally ordered to withdraw to another position in Avdiivka but by then it was too late.

When the order to leave came, Ivan Zhyntyk, a paramedic, messaged his brother-in-law Dmitriy. "We were told to retreat and fight our way back. But behind us are [Russians]. I don't know what to do," he wrote.

Ivan and nine other men were tasked with attacking Russian positions and opening up a safe passage for the others. "They were the bravest ones," says Viktor Bilyak, a soldier from the 110th brigade who was in Zenith.

But the group was confronted by Russian artillery and forced to turn back. Only three managed to return to base.

Ivan was among them, but he was badly injured and collapsed in a field before reaching the base. Hours later, his comrades from the Zenith base tried to rescue him.

Viktor Bilyak and three others put him on a stretcher and started carrying him out, under relentless Russian mortar fire. One of the shells landed nearby. Viktor, wounded, was forced to return to the base. Georgiy Pavlov came out to replace him.

Viktor says the group was then attacked by two kamikaze drones. "Instead of one wounded, we got five more."

The soldiers eventually made it back to Zenith. Viktor and the soldiers' relatives say they were promised evacuation by their superiors, but it never arrived.

Later, Ivan called his commander to learn about evacuation. The voice on the radio told him to get out of Zenith on their own, as sending a rescue team was too risky.

"What about the wounded?" he asked. "Leave them behind," the voice instructed him.

"Everyone heard this conversation on radio and froze," Viktor recalls.

Those who could walk, including Viktor, left the base at night without their wounded brothers-in-arms.

"Under relentless fire, carrying the wounded in the darkness was not possible," he says.

They retreated in small groups. "The enemy opened fire with mortars, tanks, artillery, night kamikaze drones - all at once," said Viktor. A group walking behind him was hit by an artillery shell. None of them survived.

While Viktor and others were trying to reach their main position in Avdiivka, six people were left behind at Zenith.

Five were wounded and couldn't walk, including paramedic Ivan Zhytnyk, sniper Georgiy Pavlov and anti-tank fighter Andriy Dubnytsky. These men's bodies were later identified in the video posted by Russian bloggers.

One, Mykola Savosik, was not wounded but decided to stay with his comrades. He believed he would be taken as a prisoner of war, Viktor said.

The 110th brigade posted a message on their Facebook page saying that because of the full encirclement of Zenith, Ukraine had "contacted organisations that hold talks on prisoner exchanges" to assist their soldiers.

The Russian side reportedly agreed to evacuate the Ukrainian wounded and later exchange them.

This message was passed on to Ivan and others at Zenith a few hours before Russians arrived. They were instructed not to show any resistance and save their lives.

But Ivan told his brother-in-law on the phone that he didn't believe that Russians would "keep the wounded alive".

Around 11:15 on 15 February, Inna Pavlova received a message from her son Georgiy. "The Russians know that we are here alone," he wrote. She hasn't heard from him since.

Around that time, Ivan video-called his brother-in-law Dmitriy. In the middle of the conversation, a Russian soldier entered the building. "Put the gun away," a voice could be heard in the video, recorded by Dmitriy.

"Are they there?" Dmitriy asked Ivan. "Yes," Ivan quietly replied. At this point, Dmitriy stopped recording video, but the call continued for a couple of minutes longer.

"I saw a bearded man," Dmitriy recalls. "I asked Ivan to give him the phone. I wanted to ask them not to kill them. But I heard the voice say: 'Switch off the phone'."

Ivan's relatives were sure that he and other soldiers had been taken prisoner. "They didn't resist," says Ivan's sister.

On 17 February, Col Gen Syrskyi ordered a full withdrawal from Avdiivka in order to "preserve the lives … of servicemen". But it was too late for many soldiers, including the six who surrendered.

The following day, a video appearing to show their bodies was posted by Russian sources to social media.

Relatives of Ivan, Andriy and Georgiy say they have no doubt that they are the men who appear in the video.

"They were killed by the Russians," says Georgiy's mother, Inna Pavlova. "But our military leadership allowed it to happen."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68338550

[Jimbuna]

Putin loses another general in Ukraine as Russian troops swarm key city

One of Vladimir Putin's commanders in the war in Ukraine has died in hospital in occupied Crimea.

Colonel Magomedali Magomedzhanov was wounded in Ukrainian strikes in February having commanded the 61st Separate Kirkenes Red Banner Marine Brigade of the Northern Fleet.

He is originally from the Dagestan region Russia. Sergei Melikov, head of the region, said: "He died while performing his military duty in the Special Military Operation zone.

"This military operation was the fourth and, unfortunately, the last for the colonel."

Ukraine's military has claimed that Russia lost 17,000 men taking the area.

Dmitry Likhovy, Ukrainian military spokesman, said: "The losses of Russians around Avdiivka are colossal. My colleagues and I did the calculations and pulled up our archival records from the beginning of the year."

Russian Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu, confirmed on Sunday that the Russians had taken Avdiivka.

Russian media reported: "The minister of defence and the Chief of the General Staff are reporting to the president that our units are developing an offensive and are not allowing the enemy to gain a foothold on new lines."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has blamed Kyiv's lack of ammunition for the setback.

He also used his speech to invite Donald Trump to the frontlines and see the realities of the war.

Zelesnky said: "If Trump (comes) to Ukraine, I am ready to go with him to the front line."

Republican Party lawmakers have tried to block further military support to Ukraine.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...bf8b06a8&ei=43

[mapuc]

Says no-well does this make him a Russian spy ?



Markus

[Skybird]

As one comment put it: if he is not a Russian agent then at least he is a Russian asset.

[mapuc]

Originally Posted by Skybird

As one comment put it: if he is not a Russian agent then at least he is a Russian asset.

He could also be in support of the Russian war in Ukraine.

If he should be a spy after all he must be prosecuted and even so if he is a Russian asset.

If he only support Russia then he should step down.

Markus

[Jimbuna]

U.S. to announce ‘major sanctions package’ on Friday over Navalny’s death

White House national security communications adviser John Kirby said Tuesday that the U.S. plans to announce a “major sanctions package” on Friday, seeking to hold Russia responsible for the death of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

No further details about the measures were available at the time of writing.

U.S. President Joe Biden said Friday that “Putin is responsible” for Navalny’s death.

The Kremlin has rejected such allegations, with the Russian foreign ministry calling the reaction from some world leaders “self-exposing,” given that no forensic medical examination has yet been made available.

[mapuc]

Several companies are sending goods by train through Russia after shipping companies do not sail through the Red Sea. Danish transport companies are turning a blind eye

https://ekstrabladet-dk.translate.go..._x_tr_pto=wapp

Markus

[mapuc]

Tried to get this German link from the German newspaper die stern, translated without any success Hope there are some here who has better luck than me

It's a very interesting article.

https://www.stern.de/politik/deutsch...-34473170.html

Markus

[Dargo]

The Russians Got Cocky After Avdiivka, And Sent 70-Year-Old T-55 Tanks To Attack Robotyne. It Ended Badly.

After a brutal, four-month defense against a Russian force 10 times its size, the Ukrainian army’s 110th Mechanized Brigade on Friday finally quit the ruins of Avdiivka, in eastern Ukraine just northwest of Russian-occupied Donetsk.

Avdiivka, with its once thriving heavy industry and pre-war population of 30,000, is the first significant Ukrainian city to fall to the Russians in nearly a year—and it’s no secret why. Russia-aligned Republicans in the U.S. Congress began blocking further U.S. aid to Ukraine starting in October.

The 110th Brigade fought until it ran out of ammunition. Ammunition the Americans once provided.

Sensing weakness as the 110th Brigade retreated, the Russian army attacked in several sectors along the 600-mile front of Russia’s two-year wider war on Ukraine.

But not every Ukrainian brigade is as tired, outnumbered and ammo-starved as the 110th is. Ukrainian forces not only held the line this weekend, they inflicted heavy casualties on the over-confident Russian brigades and regiments, including at least one unit that tried to assault Ukrainian positions in the south in un-upgraded, 70-year-old T-55 tanks.

That unit—apparently from the 42nd Motor Rifle Division—got wrecked as it crossed, from west to east, a mile of flat terrain separating Russian lines from positions held by the Ukrainian army’s 65th Mechanized Brigade in Robotyne, one of the larger settlements the Ukrainians liberated last summer.

The 65th Brigade threw everything it had at the Russian assault group, which numbered dozens of 41-ton, four-person T-55s, 13-ton MT-LB armored tractors with room for 13 people and 13-ton BMP fighting vehicles with space for 11.

Firing cluster shells and anti-tank missiles and flinging explosive first-person-view drones, the 65th Brigade defeated the attack—and exacted some revenge for the men and women of the 110th Brigade who died defending Avdiivka.

One Ukrainian drone struck the top of a BMP as several Russian soldiers rode on top of the vehicle. Another drone hit an MT-LB right behind the driver’s head, poking from the hatch. A T-55 ate an anti-tank missile. A few Russian infantry made it into a trench, only to come under fire from cluster shells dispensing scores of grenade-size submunitions... https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidax...h=1aa0056e2b60

[Dargo]

Originally Posted by mapuc

Tried to get this German link from the German newspaper die stern, translated without any success Hope there are some here who has better luck than me

It's a very interesting article.

https://www.stern.de/politik/deutsch...-34473170.html

Markus

Maybe this helps https://www.ft.com/content/b43d62f0-...reType=nongift

[mapuc]

Originally Posted by Dargo

and it’s no secret why. Russia-aligned Republicans in the U.S. Congress began blocking further U.S. aid to Ukraine starting in October.

A harsh accusation in which there isn't 100 % proof.

As mentioned before.

If he by any chances is or was a Russian spy or an asset then he must be prosecuted..*

He could also be in support of the Russians in Ukraine-if this is the case he should step down.

* It's up to the FBI to investigate such an allegation to see if there's 100 % proof.

Markus

[mapuc]

Originally Posted by Dargo

Maybe this helps https://www.ft.com/content/b43d62f0-...reType=nongift

You have to subscribe in order to read the article.

On stern the article is free-sadly for most part here in German

Markus

[Dargo]

Originally Posted by mapuc

You have to subscribe in order to read the article.

On stern the article is free-sadly for most part here in German

Markus

This one? https://www.politico.eu/article/germ...-top-lawmaker/

[mapuc]

Originally Posted by Dargo

This one? https://www.politico.eu/article/germ...-top-lawmaker/

Thank you Dargo.

Markus