Iranian weapons in use by Ukraine, great business when you can sell to both sides.

Attorney General Merrick Garland made an unannounced trip to Ukraine today, probably to collect the inside info on Hunter

Even Russian bloggers who support Putin have a sense of humour.
Today they are asking why the US announced today as part of their latest aid package more ammunition for the HIMARS when the Russian MOD has announced all the HIMARS were destroyed.

Seems this aid will be supplied from stores so no wait for manufacture. The package includes armoured bridge laying vehicles, can you lay such bridges over Russian dragon's teeth tank traps? I do not know.

Lavrov seems to be the new Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf.

Sounds like a revival of the good old Radio Yerewan jokes (Radio Eriwan in German).

everybody profits from this war

Good article in WSJ on Bakhmut (I could read it w/o subscription). Points out that Ukrainian losses are getting prohibitively high as Bakhmut is attacked from three sides now. Risk of losing good troops to worthless Russian cannon fodder, and therefore risking UA ability to launch offensive.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/russias...khmut-b58e726c

Raining today in Bakhmut today, next week it is forecast to get a lot warmer with a lot of rain so slowly getting muddy (Rasputitsa).

This will make it difficult for the Russians to surround Bakhmut and will also complicate Ukraine's attempts to evacuate Bakhmut; will also make it difficult for both sides to keep their front-line troops supplied.

Difficult situation for Ukraine's generals to work through.

Probably the biggest obstacle for a new Ukraine offensive is sufficient artillery ammunition which despite Western soothing words is not appearing in quantity.

Some strange rumours today in Russian social media about Wagner withdrawing from Bakhmut (Artyomovsk), are probably nonsense.

We live in interesting times
That is almost twice as many tanks per year as Russia builds.

I mentioned yesterday some strange rumours in Russian social media about Wagner withdrawing from Bakhmut

"Now today Prigozhin leader of Russia’s Wagner private army is throwing fuel on this fire by complaining of a lack of ammunition being provided by Moscow, and warned the Russian front line could collapse if they retreat from Bakhmut."

Probably just a political game, Prigozhin, and the Russian MOD seem more interested in winning points against each other rather than beating Ukraine, which is OK for me.

Warning: graphical content (execution of Ukrainian officer by Russians)

https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/03/6/7392206/
https://twitter.com/ukrpravda_news/s...375362049?s=20

Perfect example how brainwashing works. People believing in "Nazi" Ukraine become deranged themselves.

Russia is all-in, fighting a total war: cyber, propaganda, ethnic cleansing, human rights abuses, civilians and infrastructure: nothing is off-limits. End-game at any cost.

Russia's madness of obliterating the cities and towns they want to capture is not without method: it makes it easier to erase what was and build new in the Russian mould. Mariopol is a perfect example of this: a monumental 12-year reconstruction plan has already commenced. https://english.elpais.com/internati...-mariupol.html

Additionally, they are fortifying Crimea at a rapid pace, including trenches along the western coastline. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oTgeD3VEf4

It is my belief that Russia has a greater risk of politically imploding than scaling back on their war efforts anytime soon. The humiliation would just be too great.

__________________
So sayeth the 'Speed
* I do look like my avatar

It's fanaticism.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...raine-conflict

Amazing how people can convince themselves that a democratically elected Jewish president is an open Nazi regime.
On the other hand, if you live in a regime where the same people always win the democratic elections then you have a different perception.

Edit: The same Russian people were happy to go to Crimea before 2014 for holidays and so fund the Ukrainian regime therefore I suppose they can swallow anything.

https://youtu.be/0VIlQrx-MJA

Really nice and clear piece about Putin's intentions and behavior. Bill Bowder had a really good skill of explaining easily messed up games in Russian "elites".

Strange that we now know most of the elite troops parading in front of Putin in the opening scenes are now dead or too wounded to be in combat.

Is it amazing how well propaganda functions? Maybe not. It is functioning very well since Stalin and before.

What I don't get is why some Russians living abroad, where they do have access to information are still supporting the Putin regime or so it looks like. We have Ukrainian friends here that have heard their Russian colleagues saying "Ukraine shouldn't exist" etc etc

I would have expected huge protests after so many young Russians have died in this totally unnecessary war.
Even the Iranians in their darkest theocratical regime have protested every 2-3 years, more so now and in 2019. Not the Russians. Maybe because many do support this regime? I didn't want to believe last year but I do believe it now because I don't have any other reasonable explanation.
Anyways, for me this subject is closed and done on EF. Sick entire of triggering all sorts of trolls here.
But for the rest of you please keep debating, I guess it's healthy.

Don't go, greenmount, don't let the trolls win.

The fact that few Russians are protesting, even in the West, came up in a recent BBC Hardtalk interview with Olesya Khromeychuk.

A protest outside the Russian embassy in London to mark one year of the war is shown in the background in this Daily Mail video. The blurb says "Along with Browder were thousands of Russian protesters going against Putin and his murderous war". Begs the question of how the DM could tell who was Russian and who wasn't, let alone count thousands of Russians.

If you'd bothered to listen to the clip you posted you might have realised that it's not the DM's but Browder's claim.

Thank you. The war in Ukraine is too close to my home country so I can't be more detached like other people in these discussions (maybe, maybe nobody is "detached" anymore). I have explained my position many times here...frankly I think I have nothing more to add. Everybody can see for themselves what's at stake in this war.
Quarrelling with strangers is just not worth my or your time. Anonymity gives them a deceiving sense of power and control they don’t have beyond the computer or phone screen. Most people would never dare to talk to you in person the same way they talk to you online. That's a fact.
Anyway, maybe I'll post again if I really think there's something new or different here. I'll read the posts of others though.

Today's comment (Russian language) by convicted terrorist Igor Girkin on Bakhmut.