“Housekeeping” note: I’m sorry to those who were unable to view comments (including possibly their own) for some hours yesterday. This has been resolved. Your comments are there, I read every one.
The raw facts and numbers
The last remnants of the Ukraine’s Mariupol garrison are in the process of surrendering.
It’s been portrayed by Kiev and the “Ukraine says” Western MSM as an “evacuation”, a victory of sorts.
LOL.
Sure, it’s an “evacuation” on Russian buses, straight to the POW camps (or to a Donetsk hospital, for the wounded.)
The seriously wounded have all been taken to a hospital in Novoazovsk, 15 or 17 miles to the east, which is being guarded by Donetsk soldiers in full kit—not taking any chances.
Putin has promised, if they like their doctor, they can keep their doctor.
Once all these supermen (and a few women) are collected, the total number of Ukrainian servicemembers in Russian, Donetsk, or Lugansk custody will be approximately 7000 to 7500.
According to a very reliable Russian war correspondent, who has covered Mariupol and surrounding areas almost exclusively since March, the breakdown of surrendering forces is as follows:
- Over 2500 living personnel in total
- Of whom, 404 wounded, of whom 55 non-ambulatory / seriously wounded
- Approx. 200 refrigerated corpses
- 3 Russian and/or Donetsk prisoners (one officer, two soldiers)
- Unit breakdown as follows:
- 804 members of the Azov
- The rest are mostly from remnants of the 53rd Brigade, 54th Brigade, 56th Brigade, 36th Brigade, as well as non-Azov personnel of the 12th Brigade of the Interior Ministry’s National Guard (military unit 3057, formal home of the Azov)
Those wounded not seriously or not at all, are being transferred to prisons in the Donetsk republic…..
…..where Russian investigators intend to hold nice chats with the Azov’s…..
…..against some of whom, criminal cases (e.g., for abuse/torture or killing of civilians, or of rebel captives) have been open in Russia, in some cases, for years.
Instead of a rescue on Macron’s limo or the Pope-Mobile, some of these gents will be breaking rocks north of the Arctic Circle until 2040 or 2050.
“Karma’s a bitch.”
At 0:58 to 2:00 of the below video, a group of Ukrainians walking out of the steel plant, prior to being bused out to captivity, are being searched for candy, cigarettes, girly mags, knives, nukes, and so forth.
Then, they are bused out. This is but one convoy of reportedly 300 captives. The whole show will probably last several days.
The impact
I just checked in with the once-great paper (now a USA Today-style joke) known as the Wall Street Journal.
They say, the Mariupol surrender won’t affect anything, because the city was already well behind Russian lines.
“Journalists”, LOL.
I won’t even get into the full brigade’s worth (at a minimum) of Russian and Donetsk forces that can now be redeployed to other fronts.
There’s a lot more to it.
The Mariupol surrender is a HUGE psychological break against the Ukraine.
Many Ukrainians—the Mariupol garrison and its family members throughout the country, and nationalist public opinion generally—lived in la-la-land for two whole months…..
…..thinking the garrison could/would be de-blockaded…..
…..then that the Pope, or Macron, or Lloyd Austin, or the ChiComs, or even Eurovision fans, would convince Russia to let the Mariupol forces simply… go.
LOL.
Now, everyone understands, if you are surrounded by Russia, you have two options:
Surrender. Or death.
That’s it.
There will be no de-blockade, the Pope won’t ride to the rescue, and Russia doesn’t care what its NATO enemies think.
This is a huge psychological shift, comparable to what happened to the Germans after Stalingrad.
After Stalingrad, the Germans, if faced with an imminent risk of encirclement, with very few exceptions, ran the hell away (or tried to.)
And, the Ukrainian army, despite all the “Iron Cross” emblems on its hardware, is no Wehrmacht.
This bodes ill for the Ukraine’s attempt to hold and defend the Severodonetsk-Lisichansk agglomeration in northern Lugansk—a hard-core Russian loyalist area, and likely the next big “cauldron.”
Those two cities combined, are roughly half the size of Mariupol.
Russian and Lugansk/Donetsk forces moving in on them, will be more numerous, and (by now) much more experienced than the forces that took Mariupol.
Now, today, the Ukrainians in this area, know that if (when) they are cut off, further resistance is pointless.
Will some resist, for some time? Of course.
But it won’t be a two-month affair, as with Mariupol.
Again, it’s a shift in thinking.
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I would be very surprised if there were not “exotic” prisoners among those surrendering. However, Russian Army intelligence probably does not want to disclose who they have right now which gives them several other options at the negotiating table at the end of this SMO.
Also, it seems the damage is done for Finland and Sweden, that Russia doesnt trust them anymore, regardless of whether they get into NATO or not.
Hi Jacob, you are a bright light in analysis along with the people at the duran. Alexander Mercouris is somewhat concerned that Russia, see recent video titled Kremlin Hardliners, could be running into trouble if they dont start to push harder now for a more comprehensive victory ie to carry on to central Ukraine. He worries what will happen if Ukraine is re-armed and if more and more western soldiers come in, especially given the US desire to prolong the war. Mercouris further thinks that there are many in the Kremlin pushing for a much harder approach. Any thoughts are appreciated.
Please give us the true and full story of Ilovaisk.
I was getting your emails and now I’m not! Tried to resign up, but of course said my email is active. Must be Comcast shutting you out. Did the same with U.S. Russian Embassy about a year ago. Not in Spam either!
Great coverage, as always, Jacob! No questions here … you probably need some rest by now. 😉
Pasa: Loved the analogy: “Let the Wookie win!” LOL
Hello
As already mentionned, i did not see any emblems (at all) on their jackets … not usual. It seems not issue on food, did they left to leave more reserves (food / amunitions ..) for those who are staying ? Regular solders surrenders, and bad guies & nato still in the plant ?
Meanwhile https://www.politico.eu/article/europes-leaders-fall-out-of-key-on-ukraine/ drums up Ukraine victory on the horizon and it’s potential fallout.
“I suggest a new strategy, R2: let the Wookiee win.”
The Politico article is great entertainment! Guess it is part of preparing the ground for Ukraine defeat being spun as victory and any Russian gains as magnanimity by the winner. Also fun that it assumes that Zelensky has decision making rights independent of the UK.
Sorry I mean US. UK has zero decision making rights of the US. My bad.
Why does Zelenski refuse to retreat from the cauldrons against the advice of his generals? Has he done too much war powder and thinks he can actually hold them? Is he hoping nato will save him? or is it all about the money? If this same tragic decision-making continues do you see the military stepping in to end this? As they say history rhymes. Great observations as usual .
It’s all about buying time. And waiting for some miracle. NATO intervention, whatever.
The Ruskies had best be on high alert at those hospitals. If I wanted to “spring” a high value person I would have them included with the wounded. Anybody remember “24”?
The high value have not come out yet, they are still negotiating so they don’t get the death penalty. I believe that the Russians did ship 89 down to Rostov-on-Don on Monday night/Tuesday morning. There were five prison paddy wagons filmed going through Taganrog early on Tuesday morning. A large contingent of GRU were brought in on Saturday as they were aware there was to be a surrender either on Sunday or Monday. Alexander Sladkov, the Russian reporter talked about it today as he had been told in advance, but had to keep it quite till given permission to talk about it. I also saw one report where rockets were launched at Olenivka (the town the non-injured were taken to) on Monday night, but did not see that reported again. There now appears to be a power struggle in Ukraine with the Azov threatening to kill Zelensky for letting Azovstal down, and it is suspected that Zelensky is going to flee the country and has been in discussion with Poland to bring in Polish Peace Keepers. All rumors at this point, together with a report that the US wants to take command of the Ukraine forces. The next few days./weeks will be interesting.
Rumors, rumors. You’ll have to wait quite a bit longer for Z-Dog to flee the country.
Jacob,
Tomorrow I am attending a lecture entitled: “After Russia’s War on Ukraine” given by former US Ambassador William Taylor. I expect an exhibition of unparalleled projection.
Might I ask you for a question to pose to the Ambassador?
Rob
Not worth your time, IMHO.
Jacob,
You were right of course. Ambassador Taylor made the usual claims (including UKI giving up their NUCS) that you get from a lifetime spent in the swamp. In the end I posted the following:
“I suggest Ambassador Taylor come back in 4 months to address the realities that will be beyond evident at the time”.
Rob
Stalingrad. Yes. I read an OP ed were the Ukies (with real Nazis were being pushed in the role of the Russians in Stalingrad WW2. And today were the Russians as the Germans. No matter how hard they sold this it was nonsense. Its such a dumb narrative it sound like the whitehouse. Anyways yes Jacob….this is more than a fish slap to the hopes of the baddies……its like if you lost everything you had in cryptos………plus all your teams cryptos because you had convinced them it was easy money……
LOL.
I do think that the question that is really lost in all this razzle-dazzle of war is the fundamental cause or reason underlying this war. I personally argue that this war was prepared, conditioned and supported by the US for the reasons that have nothing to do with Russia or Ukraine but everything to do with EUROPE (!). The US wanted to scare Europe into the old format of obedience and compliance with its geopolitical agenda because without it can’t rely on Europe in its Cold War II project against China. My views are laid out here https://dr-world.blogspot.com/2022/05/goal-of-russian-ukrainian-war-for-us-it.html
But I would like to kindly ask Jacob Dreizin what his view is on the fundamental causes underlying this war.
Many thanks in advance to Jacob for his views and perspective on this.
Yes.
Great article Jacob. Agree 100%, the surrender of Azovstal is a huge psychological shift for UKR and their supporters. Quoting Andrei Martyanov (great guy like you), those POWs should work for the rebuilding of UKR (unless they go to meet their ancestors). From the article at https://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2022/04/andrei-raevsky-with-broadside.html: “Hence second political objective of the Special Military Operation–denazification. That will require more than just demolishing Nazi infrastructure in Ukraine, it requires a complete rethinking and even reconstituting of Ukraine before long term treatment could be applied. Overwhelming majority of the Ukrainian youth NOT from Donbass has been brought up as radical fanatics and sympathizers of Nazi ideas. Regular POW grunts of VSU are already treated under Geneva convention, they are well fed, provided with medical help, have places to sleep and are working already on clearing Donbass and Southern Ukraine’s liberated towns and cities”.
Thanks. Other than two or three guys on one camera in one instance back in March (probably just a propaganda set-up), no, those POW’s are not being used for any rubble clearing chores. They are cooped up in Donetsk jails. Martyanov is a bloviator.
Thanks. Take care.
Some of the “first wave” prisoners are used as funeral crews to collect the corpses of their Ukrainian army comrades.
could you explain why you label matraynov as bloviator ? if i recall larry johnson think highly of him as ex soviet naval guy who wrote several books
I don’t know what books he might have written, or how well they sold. Mostly, he yaps and yaps about the Motherland, and how stupid Americans don’t understand. It’s not my preferred approach.
Hope for the boys that the Russians dont tell the Azov-wives about those girly mags.
Jackob, what do you think about the last Scott Ritter analysis/fears for the next months?
About the training in foreign countries and the possible 1M Ukr army joining the battle as soon they are trained end equipped…Scott’s analysis was pretty close to yours, lately he started doubting about Russian progress etc.
Btw, thank you so much for your report.
Cheers from Italy.
Hey Jacob, do you know about or are aware of Jacques Baud? He is a former Swiss Intelligence Officer that worked at the UN to de-escalate conflicts around the world. He doesn’t hold the UAF as a very good force at all. Attrition rates and reliance on foreign fighters were enormously high.
The fall of Stalingrad in WWII was the begin of the declaration of total war by Goebbels, his speech in feb. 1943 is a masterpiece of P+R. In case of the ukraine, the national guards will start a total war too, that means, like in 43′ in nazi-germany, everyone, civilian or military, will be shot down in the case of any doubt of ukraine victory. This method prolongs the war in 1943 and now in 2022. Our allmighty leaders in the west even believe, that a long war can win this war by weakening russia. My impression is, that they have fonded some kind of church, where they are peying to their own wishfull thinking. “Our daily illusion give us today”
Too long to post here, but on Moon of Alabama’s “Ukraine for Laughs” post, there’s a great comment at the top by Sushi, sourced from Defence Politics Asia, and transcribing DPA’s breakdown of the screening procedure the Azovstal “heroes” are being subjected to about now. Rather comprehensive, and allaying fears about anyone slipping through the net.
Put it this way, if there are any “recently-retired” & “higher-up-the-pecking-order” foreign mercenaries captured in the mix, who might, with their recent past association, perchance cause a tad of embarrassment in certain geopolitical quarters? They won’t be going anywhere except the building formerly at No.2 Dzerzhinsky Square, Moscow (Felix got himself cancelled in 1990). Right up until The Putin Popcorn Time Show, that is, hopefully compered by Sergei Lavrov.
Thanks for the update. Still wish what are they hidden in the plant?From this Canuck
I am also deeply concerned about the possible arrival of these US/NATO weapons on the battlefield. I hope they are few and they will be taken out ASAP..
I am interested Scott Ritter’s ‘conversion’ and your views. How does he ‘know’ that there are 90 howitzers at the contact line?
Given Russian air supremacy and rail demoiition how did all this stuff get to the front? I am genuinely puzzled.
On the whole I have always accepted that any Ukrainian rump next to Poland will be a gift to NATO/US trouble makers.
On other hand the idea of a million man army fighting on is a bit adrift. For a start soldiers from Russian occupied territories may likely decide to just go home.
Is there any truth in the suggestion that Russia is sending in another 50’000 soldiers?
Excellent blog!
I too am puzzled by Scott Ritters analysis so to speak . Was watching iEarlGrey on Tube with video from Telegram of a new type ( Russian)drone taking out a howitzer position Quietly I might add. I don’t think the Russians don’t care where the weapons end up at -they are taken out
Watch this talk with judge: https://youtu.be/eBnGdCCIRFc Scott elaborates his points on very well framed questions. He’s certainly right that his first analysis needs adjustment, as it was considering Ukraine’s resources, and now it got extended by some 60B and more coming.
And of course if we assume infinite additional supply, then fininte supply from Russia could not match it. And that warrants upping the game indeed.
However, that’s a pretty big “if” in the pool, both the extent of the additional help in theory, and more in practice. As the world starts learning, central banks can print $ and EUR, but can’t print stuff. Even at home. And the hardware can’t be just teleported.
If Russia can destroy 40B of equipment for 40M and has its steady supply, then it can keep up alright. I have no idea of the ratio, but sure it’s far from 1:1 currently. And elensy can talk about summoning 1M troops, it won’t be easy to even enlist them, let alone train and deploy in proper pace. The training that goes on il Poland and Germany, how many can they produce? 1k? 10k? Hard to believe more.
I don’t worry too much yet from the new input, till we see any tip in the balance — the troops and stuff entrenched and sitting there is the problem.
Less coffee
Jacob, Much appreciated–still many mysteries, not least that the Western armaments (e.g., U.S. howitzers) were not interdicted but got through to Ukrainian front lines and are said to be in use. I shared Mr. Ritter’s take that expected shipments to be blown to flinders like Slovakia’s star-crossed S-300 . . .
Really enjoy your analysis Jacob. What are your thoughts on this retired Russian generals take on the war? Aside from the fact he seems terrified of their future do you find any validity to his fears?
https://v.redd.it/h9sk19l1zwz81
Interesting remarks from the old general (I made the mistake of reading some comments and it’s aggravating how one dimensional they are… everything from Russia is a lie and there is no merits whatsoever to the Russian geopolitical perspective?!?).
The general makes a good point on the conventional wisdom regarding “professional armies”. The Taliban wasn’t a “professional” army either but they were certainly effective. However, I’m not sure there are 1 million Ukrainians willing to die defending the current Kiev regime though? Seems like most Ukrainians who didn’t high tail it for the West prior to February 2022 are likely to do so now.
It would be great to get Jacobs thoughts on the generals comments.
Reserve Colonel according to wikipedia
“Instead of a rescue on Macron’s limo or the Pope-Mobile, some of these gents will be breaking rocks north of the Arctic Circle until 2040 or 2050” FEEL SO GOOD TO READ THIS
If your analysis is correct, MSM will have to pivot from Ukraine fast. Of course Mr Zelensky could replace Stephen Colbert to keep it going a bit longer.
Glanced at the newspapers in the supermarket.
No Ukraine headlines on the front page of three:
NY Post, NY Daily News; and I think Boston Globe.
I wonder if at least a few of these people are thinking ‘WTF was I fighting for? The right to abuse the people of Mariupol?’ Surely there was plenty of time for reflection while they were deep underground, the bombs shaking their bunks.
They are treated tooo nicely, they travel vacation style; no handcuffs, blind folds, unlike the other side- that shot your knees, or head if you are an officer or duck tape you to the light poles, or like US in Abu-grade or Guantanamo torture you to death, and if you dare to report this like J.Assange you root in prison. Empire’ Democracy I guess,
Thanks Jacob,
You are confirming much of what I have learned from other sources plus you have added some extra details I was not aware of.
Love your blog posts. The layout is good and I really like the way you incorporate the colored info boxes. Looks really well and makes it a nice read.
Regards
Jimmy
we have not heard the last of this…..just a guess but i would bet there are still some hold-outs left in that factory and…in the coming days we will see the extent that these ukraine soldiers….have/are being assisted by nato with the exposure of many high ranking military officers…
Thanks so much for your reporting, it gives a total different perspective than the MSM and is very informativ
Thank you Jacob Dreizin.
JD.
The $64,000 question: WHO or WHAT was in Azovstal that precipitated the (failed) attempts by helicopter, marine vessels, etc., along with apparent phone calls from Macron, etc., to remove them???
We’re about to find out!
The present ‘representatives’ of neo-naziism are rather pathetic and incompetent compared to their ‘forbearers’. Thank goodness, it makes it much easier to defeat them in battle. The only thing the neo-nazis seem good at is massacering civilians and torturing POWs. I don’t understand America’s ruling class. Practically everything is falling apart on the home front. They lost the war in Afganistan, lost to Russia and Assad in Syria, and now they think they cant destroy Russia with a puerile propaganda campaign, a financial embargo and a weak proxy army. Russia lost a tremendous amount of people during WW1, the revolution and ensuing civil war and WW2, and Russia still didn’t go under. These.idiots thought they could blot out Russia with a pathetic cancel culture campaign.
You know, our great Russian writer Gogol N. said that “even if the Russians have only one farm, then Russia will rejoice.” and he was born on the territory of present-day Ukraine, then Little Russia. Meanwhile, the State Duma of Russia is preparing a decree banning the exchange of persons who are Nazis, including Azov, who are going to be equated with them.
They look much better than Davy Crockett after the Alamo fell.
Santa Anna didn’t send Davy Crockett to Mexico City as a P.O.W.
But Davy Crockett killed a bear when he was only 3, normal rules don’t apply to demigods.
I take no joy in death and suffering, even if it happens to people who have done horrendous things.
Therefore, capitalist,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy,
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.
These guys don’t look like they were starving .
They don’t look like or have the demeanour of grim circumstance of war or defeat?
Yes… so strange. These are people that were holed-up in the Azovstal catacombs for weeks after a month of urban combat?!? I look worse than many of these folks after a weekend of camping.
This entire Ukraine situation is a house of mirrors… so difficult to discern what is really happening.
I look worse, just staying up till 5am on a weekday, writing this blog. Yes, it is very strange.
The day before, the Russians launched an incendiary attack on the plant. Maybe it sucked out all their oxygen?
German virtue signaling: “German prosecutors are seeking a five-year prison sentence for a 101-year-old man, who went on trial Tuesday for his alleged role as a Nazi SS guard at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp during World War II. The defendant is charged with 3,518 counts of being an accessory to murder. The defendant has told the court that he didn’t know the Sachsenhausen camp. A verdict is expected on 2 June.” And at the same time, the Germans are ready to destroy their own economy and sacrifice their country in order to keep the Nazi successors in Ukraine armed and fighting those who liberated the world from the Nazis. Huh? Cognitive dissonance.
This seems to be quite a royal “Evacuation”
Western media seems to have deleted the word “Surrender” from their vocabularies ?
Just saw that another 962 Azovstalers have surrendered.
I love what you do, thankyou for opening my eyes and ears.
Fascinating that Ukrainian authorities keep referring to an “agreement” made with Russia over these Azov prisoners, yet no one knows any details at all of this imaginary agreement and no word on who, in Russia, agreed to anything. When will MSM simply admit the Azov gang surrendered and are now POWs?
The woman with the black top with the word ‘Police’ on her left sleeve at 0:47 in the 2:31 minute video…she seems very intent on not showing her face. Is she embarassed or guilty of something, perhaps? Something for the interrogators to sort out.
It seems the vast majority of mainstream media are still calling this thing an ‘evacuation’, and the surrendered a bunch of heroes. More like HEHEHEroes in all honesty. Additionally, as I write this with the TV on, the MSM are saying the surrender is face-saving for Putin whose ‘Special Military Operation’ has been a ‘disaster’ for Russia.
As if that is not enough, a local council in my neck of the woods is pushing a motion to change the street name where the Russian consulate is based to ‘Ukraine Street’. Apparently this kind of thing has been done in cities around the world. One would think councils have more urgent local matters to attend to than engage in this kind of silliness!
any chance there’s more down there and the suspense will continue ?
I’m from Maine and am a little surprised to say that National Public Radio in my area seems to be playing a huge percentage of Russian composer’s works including biographical sketches. They must not have gotten the memo.
are there more fighters trapped in inside
Hi Jacob, I became aware of you through ‘The Duran’ and enjoyed your cut through the BS analysis. I was wondering, given the reported poor performance of the West’s transferred weapons, is it really possible that the equipment is that bad or is it being tampered with by groups unknown? In Hitler’s last days, the Generals use to let him move imaginary armies around imaginary fronts, and I wonder if the same sort of approach is happening here? NATO thinks it’s doing one thing, partly real, partly illusion, but other elements are sabotaging their plans – not necessarily Russian assets either. Probably an impossible question to answer! Cheers.
Ukraine’s unconditional surrender seems to be the only viable option left to the Ukrainian government. The Russians already distrust them for any further negotiations to resume. The Ukrainian armed forces and infrastructure are already severely weakened and depleted that no amount of western arms and money will be able to resuscitate these. If the Ukrainians stop fighting now, many lives and property will be saved and then maybe they will be able to get some Russian leniency to allow them to salvage a meaningful country. If the Ukrainians continue to fight, there will be massive loss of lives and property resulting in the disintegration of Ukraine, bringing a disastrous economic depression to Europe and other parts of the globe. Many people of what will be left of the former Ukraine will have to live in an area of unending conflict with a flourishing black market for arms and a breeding ground for extremism and terrorism.
….”Many people of what will be left of the former Ukraine will have to live in an area of unending conflict with a flourishing black market for arms and a breeding ground for extremism and terrorism”….
You mean it would look like evey other country in recent memory that the US “liberated”?
Ukrainian government is “managed” by some people in US establishment . They (US puppeteers) don’t care at all for Ukraine , or Ukrainian state/country , nor it’s people (far right elements in Ukrainian government don’t care either – they have received their UK passports and they have their properties and money in various places outside of Ukraine) . Further more , they don’t care for any ordinary people , or laws or anything else , except their own ideological (almost religious) goals (because they think that they are above it all – rightly so , because , so far , everything they have done , went with impunity) . Globalists puppets in EU are the same way (there are some exceptions) , detached from real life and circumstances , so they will keep to accelerate runaway EU train downhill , right over the cliff (some train cars , might be saved , if they jump of the rails early enough). Ukraine is just a chosen field of battle . EU already have problems with displaced Ukrainian people (in terms of their proper accommodation , money for basic necessities and their ideological influence and actions) , on top of suicidal economic sanctions that backfired horribly. Ukraine is done , at least for a long time to come , whatever script is played out. Russians are very aware what is going on (decade’s long experience) and that they will not talk with Ukrainian government (proxy) , but with US political figures. Since those powerful people have no reverse gear (they don’t know how to back down , even a little , concerning their projections and ideas) , there will be few options for Ukraine , none of which is even remotely good. Make no mistake , this is global war , not just for various interests and resources and power , but ideological one too (master class made their move against lower classes) and we are just seeing warm up. If the world manage to avoid open war of nuclear powers , we have the last chance to change things , before we self destruct ourselves.
I think what it will look like when maybe month and a half or two months from now Zelensky will hold a speech to the collective west and western elite that ukraine surrenders unconditionally. What will that do to not only Zelenskys superhero like fame in the west, will anyone even mention Zelensky couple of years from now. And way more interesting is, what will be the physical impact of that speech to collective west. And i mean even down to the normie Jack plumber with his cool new ukraine tattoo on his, arm. That as it is evident that the supreme evil crazy man putin won after all and yet still life seems to be returning normal in ukraine. While life in europe continues the race to the bottom. Well, we wont have to wait much longer, we will soon know.
I suspect there won’t be any surrender until certain people get their hands on some of that 40 odd Billion worth of US ‘aid’…
yeah i suspect they will never officially surrender. Remember the west is quite happy to “fight to the last Ukrainian”. Even if/when Russia achieves its objectives in terms of territories liberated/captured they will still say Russia lost because they failed to capture the entire country and use the withdrawal from Kiev as an example. They will also probably setup an insurgency in western Ukraine to keep the conflict going on a smaller scale
Don’t forget the 10% for the Big Guy.
Those Azov guys should count themselves lucky. If they were surrendering to the US or Brit forces they would expect to be carted off to some obscure black ops detention centre to be water boarded and other tried and tested forms of info extraction.
Worse yet, they will be forced to endure grueling hours of diversity training to rid them of their white privilege.
Jacob , what are your views on M777 / Brimstone as potential game-changers ?
Thanks
No impact.
Thanks.
Good morning everyone. I have a query. Is the liveamap.com site reliable concerning what is happening in the Ukraine special military operation?
liveuamap.com you mean? Only an opinion, but the only thing you can rely on without too many pinches of salt is the contact line (probably 24hrs adrift).
Everything else? The action indicated by icons? Buy a bucket of salt, because everywhere the Ukrainians get their asses handed to them? Doesn’t feature on that map, and if it does, it is underplayed. Recent events in Zaporizhia Oblast are a case in point. Unless, that is, like the Zatoka bridge strike, the outcome is unconcealable (social media is a bitch).
The hilarity, well-documented everywhere, of the totally trustworthy MSM en masse calling it an “evacuation” co-ordinated by the Ukies? Priceless comedy. Special award (even including your Pope-Mobile!) has to go to Larry Johnson:
“And what is Ukraine’s response? Pretend this is not happening. Nope, they are pushing the nonsense that this is an orderly withdrawal and a great victory. Looks like Ukraine has taken Baghdad Bob’s course on how to polish a turd.”
Though to be fair to good old Bob (still kicking at 84, btw), I’d say about now, in comparison, St Zelly of Kiev makes him look a paragon of truth and sincerity.
There is a youtube channel called The Atlas. On May 17, he posted an informative video with maps on what is going on now. He is pro-Russian.
I nearly spilt my coffee over the comment about the Russians / Donetsk guys searching the Azovs for “girly mags, knives, nukes”. This is a very informative blog but also the most entertaining one amidst this whole tragic war.
Agree with your comments on Russia being a civilized power. The prisoner processing seems practical and utilitarian: not designed to be overly humiliating it seems. I would contrast that with how the US sometimes does these things with shackles and forcing people to lie spread eagled with orders being barked at them. The Russian guys simply come across as very professional.
It is smart too, I guess. Clear message that surrendering is not so bad….as long as you are not guilty of war crimes.
Whereas…if the tables had been turned I don’t think the Ukrainians would have treated the Russian prisoners in so civilized a manner.
I’m pretty sure there are plenty of Russian soldiers who would like to see a good few of these nazis shot in the legs and left to bleed out.
Your vid on the history of Azov was excellent. Been following the war 6h daily, but learned a lot. However, get a new microphone.
In that group of prisoners I was struck by their defiant and relaxed attitude. They don’t look like they’ve been in a fight. Look more like they’ve been bullying civilians when not hiding in a basement. Disgusting.
I suppose once they’re separated from each other and alone with interrogators they’ll have attitude adjustments.
Good point. They look like they know, nothing bad will happen to them now, because they are surrendering to a civilized power. To me, that explains their relaxed appearance.
Plus the “superhuman” complex – impunity for any actions of the past 14 years affects. plus an uncertain mind – many of them have little logic of development of events and calculation of consequences. Imho, but you have to be a complete idiot to be part of the ideology and cult of the world’s losers (Nazism). Look, for example, this video – it’s like some of them don’t have brains at all – “Ukraine War – Waiting and the reality of the war with Russia” – https://youtu.be/yjjyYSpYQpk
can you imagine the stress of living underground and hearing bombs being dropped on you for 2 months?
they are completely out of harms way for the moment and the body is not producing adrenaline….and is relaxing just like every other human body that reacts to stress then calms down completely after the crisis has passed
Keep in mind, the high-level commanders have not surrendered; I wouldn’t be surprised if there were bio-experiments taking place in the plant; but I do think if anything was being hidden at the plant would have been destroyed; obviously, there was someone the West wanted to rescue; I would be surprised if any of those who surrendered would devulge anything given their defiance.
Those Asov birds will sing every song they know, just to be spared from demonstrating how good they can fly at the end of a rope in the middle of Donetsk main square
So, nothing about any “exotic” prisoners?
Nope.
This would be the most interesting development. Why was Micron so desperate to get someone or thing out? Especially before his election [fake] And probably those tunnels will be booby trapped
So far. This dog and pony show has taken so many twists and turns. We’ve had multiple failed helicopter extractions, appeals for third party nation escape corridors… mysteriously by Turkish military only, nonstop videos begging to be released!… you must have too much time on your hands, and the means, to be doing that nonsense…., blackmail attempts to swap civilian hostages for supplies,…. Yada Yada yada….. To me it all looks like a scripted tragi-comedy written by a coked-up clown!
Haha! For real!
@Don McArthur
Think about those 200 refrigerated corpses. Micron didn’t want his guys turned into sandwiches
Maybe among the frozen corpses. Unconfirmed reports that some of the frozen ones was missing bits.
There may be some Western military officers/generals hiding their identities. Either in Ukrainian uniforms or civilian clothes.
Well they tell anyone later I would like to know why all the helicopter and ship were lost just for a bunch of low level Nazis. Right?
Because they have not come out yet. Still in the bowels of the factory, destroying their electronic gear so the Russians don’t get it and are trying to negotiate that they do not get the death penalty, which the DPR has.
The exotic prisoners are still hiding.
Not even that guy that kept posting on social media.