Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-23 and Invasion

[mongers]

That man died like a Saga hero.

Leggy, context?

All i'm seeing is a photo of a poorly equiped man standing in a 'foxhole' or maybe in his soon to be grave?

[The Larch]

That man died like a Saga hero.

Leggy, context?

All i'm seeing is a photo of a poorly equiped man standing in a 'foxhole' or maybe in his soon to be grave?

Ukraine names PoW allegedly filmed being shot dead by Russian soldiers
Volodymyr Zelenskiy vows to 'find the murderers' after video appears to show killing of unarmed combatant

Ukraine has named the unarmed prisoner of war who appeared to have been shot dead by Russian soldiers, as Volodymyr Zelenskiy delivered an overnight message resolving to "find the murderers".

In the graphic 12-second clip that first circulated on Telegram on Monday and was widely shared on Twitter, a detained combatant, named by the Ukrainian military as Tymofiy Mykolayovych Shadura, is seen standing in a shallow trench smoking a cigarette. The soldier, in uniform with a Ukrainian flag insignia on his arm, says: "Glory to Ukraine," and is then apparently shot with automatic weapons.

He slumps to the ground as bullets appear to hit his body and a voice is heard saying: "Die, bitch" in Russian.

The Ukrainian military said in a statement that Shadura was a member of the 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade and had been missing since 3 February near Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.

"Currently, the body of our serviceman is in the temporarily occupied territory. The final confirmation of the identity can be established after the return of the body and the relevant examinations.

"The command of the 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade and the brothers of the hero express their sincere condolences to his relatives and friends. Revenge for our hero will be inevitable. Glory to Ukraine! Glory to heroes!"

Zelenskiy had earlier condemned the alleged killing by posting a video message on his Instagram and Telegram account late on Monday evening.

"Today, a video has emerged of the occupiers brutally killing a warrior who bravely said to their faces: 'Glory to Ukraine!', he said. I want us all to respond to his words together, in unity: 'Glory to the hero! Glory to the heroes! Glory to Ukraine!' And we will find the murderers. Ukraine will not forget the feat of each and every one whose lives gave freedom to Ukraine for ever."

Andriy Kostin, Ukraine's prosecutor general, said on Telegram that Ukraine's security service had registered the shooting as a criminal case under part of the country's criminal code that covers violations of war laws and customs.

"Even the war has its own laws," he said, adding that prosecutors from his office would lead the case. "There are rules of international law systematically ignored by the Russian criminal regime. But sooner or later, there will be punishment."

The Guardian could not independently verify the authenticity, date or location of the video.

Ukrainian and foreign media as well as bloggers had been trying to find the identity of the Ukrainian soldier. More than six different names were claimed on various social media.

The head of Ukraine's presidential office, Andriy Yermak, said the man was a Ukrainian prisoner of war and the incident was part of a "deliberate policy of terror" by Russia.

"The murder of a captive is the latest Russian war crime," Yermak tweeted. "For every such war crime there will be retribution."

Kyiv has previously accused Moscow of torturing and killing prisoners since Russia invaded Ukraine.

In July, a video emerged that appeared to show a Russian soldier castrating and subsequently killing a Ukrainian prisoner. ��The UN human rights monitoring mission at the time said it was appalled by the footage.

Last month, Konstantin Yefremov, a senior Russian lieutenant who fled after serving in Ukraine, described to the Guardian how his country's troops tortured prisoners of war and threatened some with rape.

Throughout the war, the Kremlin has accused Ukrainian soldiers of executing Russian PoWs and the west of ignoring the incidents.

Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said the "horrific" video was more "proof this war is genocidal".

Kuleba added it was "imperative" that the international criminal court prosecutor, Karim Khan, "launches an immediate ICC investigation into this heinous war crime".

"Perpetrators must face justice," he said.

Ukraine's human rights commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets, said he had sent the video to the country's "international partners".

"Once again, they violate Geneva conventions. They will not evade responsibility for their atrocities," Lubinets wrote.

[mongers]

.snip

Thank you, it's just that I haven't seen the news today, so wasn't aware this was a major story.

[DGuller]

Yeah, let's not assume that we're all on Telegram and can get all the day's references.

[Barrister]

Yeah, let's not assume that we're all on Telegram and can get all the day's references.

It was circulated widely on pro-Ukrainian Twitter as well, but yes, not everyone is on that platform either.

It was my understanding he had been forced to dig his own shallow grave, before being given a last cigarette and then executed.

[viper37]

Intelligence suggests a pro-Ukrainian group has sabotage the Nordstream pipeline last fall.  No link has been established with the Ukrainian government so far, but nothing is conclusive:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/07/us/politics/nord-stream-pipeline-sabotage-ukraine.html

[Crazy_Ivan80]

Intelligence suggests a pro-Ukrainian group has sabotage the Nordstream pipeline last fall.  No link has been established with the Ukrainian government so far, but nothing is conclusive:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/07/us/politics/nord-stream-pipeline-sabotage-ukraine.html

On the news here they mentioned that it might have been pro-ukrainian Russians.
Anyways, not sure to what extent it is smart to reveal this now. It's only ammo for the tankies and genocide lovers.

[Tamas]

Intelligence suggests a pro-Ukrainian group has sabotage the Nordstream pipeline last fall.  No link has been established with the Ukrainian government so far, but nothing is conclusive:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/07/us/politics/nord-stream-pipeline-sabotage-ukraine.html

On the news here they mentioned that it might have been pro-ukrainian Russians.
Anyways, not sure to what extent it is smart to reveal this now. It's only ammo for the tankies and genocide lovers.

Those have already been accusing the US of doing it though.

[The Larch]

Latvia donates drunk drivers' cars to Ukraine's war effort

Latvia began seizing cars from heavily drunk drivers this year, and as hundreds of vehicles began overfilling impound lots, decided to send them to Ukrainian military and hospitals.

Seven cars were driven in a snowstorm onto a trailer and out of a state impound lot on Wednesday, destined for Ukraine.

Two hundred cars were taken from drivers found with blood alcohol levels over 0.15% in two months in the Baltic nation of 1.9 million people.

"It's actually very scary when you realise how many cars are driving around with drunk drivers," said Reinis Poznaks, founder of the NGO known as Twitter Convoy which has been tasked by the government to deliver the vehicles to Ukraine.

The two-dozen confiscated cars the state has promised to hand him each week to send to Ukraine will test the limits of his largely volunteer operation, Poznaks said.

"No-one expected that people are drunk-driving so many vehicles, they can't sell them as fast as people are drinking. So that's why I came with the idea – send them to Ukraine," Poznaks said.

He laughed as he found a Russian flag pinned in one of the confiscated vehicles, left there by its owner.

Twitter Convoy has already dispatched about 1,200 vehicles, after announcing a plea for donations on Twitter days after the Russia's invasion started on Feb. 24 last year. It raised 2 million euros ($2.1 million) for vehicle purchases, renovations, and logistics in 2022.

Latvian Finance Minister Arvils Aseradens said the government was inspired by the success of the NGO to drop attempts to auction the vehicles: "We said, well, you can take those cars ... and (Poznak) says, 'Oh, that's very good!'"

"We are ready to do practically anything to support Ukrainians."

At a police raid on Wednesday, where four officers closed a Riga road for half an hour to check every driver for alcohol, none was found drunk.

But 4,300 drivers were found over-the-limit on Latvia's roads last year, police said, and were involved in almost thousand accidents in 2022.

[jimmy olsen]

Intelligence suggests a pro-Ukrainian group has sabotage the Nordstream pipeline last fall.  No link has been established with the Ukrainian government so far, but nothing is conclusive:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/07/us/politics/nord-stream-pipeline-sabotage-ukraine.html

The boat was owned by a Ukrainian and rented out to the suspected saboteurs. Hardly rock solid evidence.

[Jacob]

Yeah... if you were Russians wanting to throw suspicion on Ukraine, renting a boat from a Ukrainian owner wouldn't be a bad move.

[Josquius]

Always the possibility of dumb Ukrainians but it does make a lot more sense for it to be Russia given they were trying to use disrupted gas supplies to black mail Germany into silence.

[Threviel]

Isn't it easiest to check who benefits?

Gazprom can get out of several insanely expensive contracts (that would otherwise lead to legal battles if they just stopped delivering gas) by claiming force majeure.

Unclear what Ukraine can gain.

[Sheilbh]

The problem with that is that by the time the line was cut Gazprom had already sopped piping gas.

[Threviel]

Yes, by choice or by Russian government regulations which opens up a lot of legal shenanigans.

A blown up pipe line is unequivocally a force majeure.

But I'm no lawyer, I'm just parroting what I've heard on war on the rocks podcast.