Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-23 and Invasion

[Tamas]

On Telegram, Medvedev commended Orban for being among the "smarter leaders" of Europe who "have had enough of walking toward the edge of the cliff" with the rest of the "sterilised European herd" "led to be butchered by their American shepherd". "Let's see what the shepherd will do now, and how the rest of the herd -ready to sacrifice itself too feed the shepherd- will act".

This is in reference to Orban and others' opposition to the EU's planned oil embargo. This morning Orban likened the embargo plans to an "economic nuclear strike" on its country.

[Sheilbh]

I think there's a slight difference between Orban and the rest (including Germany) though.

Germany, Slovakia, Czechia, Austria etc don't want sanctions on energy until they can put alternatives in place. But they recognise that they need to get off Russian energy and want to and are taking measures to do that. I think that is broadlly fair enough and most of these countries cannot pivot quickly enough because of their infrastructure which will take time (that's a failure from the past).

Orban does not accept or want to do that. I think he wants to preserve his dependency.

[Tamas]

Orban does not accept or want to do that. I think he wants to preserve his dependency.

Yes, even publicly - there has been no mention by him or his government of looking for alternatives - just the determination to maintain status quo in the name of "peace".

[Zanza]

It is time to remove Hungary from the EU.

[mongers]

It is time to remove Hungary from the EU.

Last Tuesday.

[Berkut]

It is time to remove Hungary from the EU.

Last Tuesday.

Maybe Russia and Hungary can form their own team. Have a meeting somewhere to talk about it?

[Tamas]

If both of the countries I am citizen of ended up leaving the EU, I'd be mighty pissed. But Hungary's behaviour is a clear disgrace.

[Tamas]

Regarding 9th May considered by many as the likely end date - I sure hope so but I think it fits nicely into the self-delusion exercised by most people when it comes to reckless autocrats like Putin or Orban. I have a closer view of Hungary so there I could see very well how the past 12 years have been a constant string of "surely now this is the most  destructive thing he has done, and he won't go further". Another regular thing you can set your clock to is the expectation of the start of "consolidation" following the latest Fidesz election victory. For a little while, any action not directly escalating division and hate and autocracy are interpreted by many people as "see, Orban is consolidating and dialing it down". Needless to say it never happens because constant escalation and aggression is what has yielded them ever-increasing power and success, so it is going to get worse until it collapses.

I am afraid of the same with Putin and this war.

[DGuller]

It is time to remove Hungary from the EU.

Last Tuesday.

Maybe Russia and Hungary can form their own team. Have a meeting somewhere to talk about it?

I hear Chornobaivka is pretty this time of the year.

[viper37]

Testimony from Wali, a Canadian sniper, on the war abroad.

Original text (French):
« La guerre, c'est une déception terrible »

"War is a terrible disappointment"

Two months after responding to President Volodymyr Zelensky's call, sniper Wali is back in Quebec – unscathed, although he nearly lost his life there "several times". But most foreign fighters who have visited Ukraine like him have come away bitterly disappointed, mired in the fog of war without even having been to the front lines once.

I'm lucky to still be alive, it really came close," said the former soldier of the Royal 22 e  Régiment, in an interview with La Presse in his home in the greater Montreal area.

His last mission in the Donbass region, in a Ukrainian unit that supported conscripted soldiers, somewhat precipitated his return. In the early morning, when he had just taken up position near a trench exposed to fire from Russian tanks, two of the conscripts came out of their blankets to smoke a cigarette. "I told them not to expose themselves like that, but they weren't listening to me," says Wali. A "highly accurate" shell fire from a Russian tank then erupted next to them. The scene described by the maverick is blood-curdling. "It exploded solid. I saw the shrapnel go by like lasers. My body tensed up. I couldn't hear anything, I immediately had a headache. It was really violent. »

He immediately understood that there was nothing to be done for his two Ukrainian brothers in arms who had been hit hard. "It smelled of death, it's hard to describe; it's a macabre smell of charred flesh, sulfur and chemicals. It's so inhuman, that smell. »

[...]

[The Larch]

It seems that Ukraine and Germany have buried the diplomatic hatchet.

Zelensky invites Germany's Scholz and Steinmeier to Kyiv

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has invited Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to visit, the German president's office said on Thursday, three weeks after Steinmeier was snubbed by Kyiv.

Zelensky made the invitation during a telephone call with Steinmeier on Thursday, a source from the president's office told AFP, during which "past irritations were cleared up" and Steinmeier expressed his "solidarity, respect and support" for Ukraine.

A diplomatic spat had been rumbling between the two countries since Steinmeier admitted last month he had offered to visit but was "not wanted in Kyiv".

The German president, also a former foreign minister, has come under heavy criticism since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February for his years-long detente policy towards Moscow.

Ukraine's ambassador to Germany in March boycotted a solidarity concert hosted by Steinmeier, protesting that the soloists featured on the programme were all Russians.

"In the middle of a war against civilians! An affront. Sorry I'm staying away," Andrij Melnyk wrote on Twitter.

Steinmeier and Scholz are both Social Democrats (SPD), who have over the years pushed for closer ties with Russia -- including energy ties that have left Germany heavily dependent on Russian gas.

Steinmeier admitted in April that he had made a "mistake" in pushing for Nord Stream 2, the controversial pipeline built to double Russian gas imports to Germany.

'Distorted and slanderous'
Criticism has also mounted against former chancellor and fellow SPD member Gerhard Schroeder, who is a lobbyist for Russian gas and has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Scholz, meanwhile, has been criticised for his own failure to visit Kyiv, as well as his hesitancy over providing heavy weapons to help Ukraine resist Russia's invasion.

Even as German opposition leader Friedrich Merz visited Ukraine this week, Scholz said he did not want to visit himself until Kyiv's differences with Steinmeier had been ironed out.

However, Germany did say last week it would send anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine, in a clear switch in Berlin's cautious policy on military backing for Kyiv.

Scholz also expressed backing for a motion passed by the German parliament calling for the acceleration of the delivery of heavy weapons to Ukraine.

The chancellor has also hit back at criticism of the SPD, accusing his opponents of a "distorted and slanderous depiction" of its Russia policy.

In the telephone call on Thursday, Steinmeier said Germany "stands with united forces in solidarity at Ukraine's side", the source from the president's office said.

Both presidents described the talks as "very important and very good", the source said.

[Barrister]

Ukraine is reporting they have sunk the Russian frigate Admiral Makarov.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

Ukraine is reporting they have sunk the Russian frigate Admiral Makarov.

Russia seems to be expanding is submarine fleet fast lately....

[PDH]

It appears the Russians have been pushed back more to the east of Kharkiv.  While not directly threatening the supply lines of the Izium attack, it has moved the front quite a bit back from the city.  It the Russian troops here are not able to hold the counter-attacks, then it might mean more troops have to leave the south to shore up this region.

It also might be a further sign of the fatigue reports Russia has had in the last few days - units being pulled from Izium to refit (they came from the north and should not have been sent back into combat without a rest and resupply).  The Russians have been quite bad at this, and continue to be.

[FunkMonk]

I've heard the war will be over by Christmas.