Russia & Ukraine War

[tampa24]

Yahoo News


HuffPost

Trouble In Kremlin Gulag: Spy Boss Reportedly Arrested As Putin Fumes Over Ukraine Invasion


Mary Papenfuss
Sun, March 20, 2022, 12:10 AM


A top commander of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) intelligence agency has been placed under house arrest amid upheaval and infighting among officials as President Vladimir Putin fumes over the botched Ukraine invasion, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

Russian commander Col. Gen. Sergei Beseda was in charge of the FSB’s Ukraine operation, according to the Journal, citing a U.S. official.

The unidentified American official also told the newspaper that “bickering had broken out” between the FSB and the Russian Ministry of Defense, which were the key government agencies planning the invasion.

Citing Russian news sources, The New York Times reported that a second FSB official was also under house arrest.

Russia’s military operation has not gone nearly as well as planned. CIA Director William Burns told Congress earlier this month that Putin had planned to seize the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv within two days. Yet the city continues to fend off Russian forces nearly a month after the invasion began. As many as five Russian generals have been killed in the fighting, according to Ukraine.

That’s bad news for officials surrounding Putin, observers warn.

“When it comes to this guy, it’s clear that the culture of ‘someone is at fault and is going to pay’ is clearly still operative,” former CIA and National Security Council official Jeffrey Edmonds told the Journal.

But the finger-pointing and rising fear and discontent in the Kremlin could also be bad news for Putin.

Russian history scholar Stephen Kotkin said in a recent New Yorker interview that Putin is only getting the information that “he wants to hear. In any case, he believes that he’s superior and smarter. This is the problem of despotism,” he added. “It’s why despotism, or even just authoritarianism, is all-powerful and brittle at the same time.”


This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

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Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/trouble-kremlin-gulag-spy-boss-041049268.html

 

[br6205]

Tampa that is why I have said all along his time is nearing its end, sadly not before there will be many more deaths.

 

[kgmets]

Yahoo News


HuffPost

Trouble In Kremlin Gulag: Spy Boss Reportedly Arrested As Putin Fumes Over Ukraine Invasion


Mary Papenfuss
Sun, March 20, 2022, 12:10 AM


A top commander of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) intelligence agency has been placed under house arrest amid upheaval and infighting among officials as President Vladimir Putin fumes over the botched Ukraine invasion, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

Russian commander Col. Gen. Sergei Beseda was in charge of the FSB’s Ukraine operation, according to the Journal, citing a U.S. official.

The unidentified American official also told the newspaper that “bickering had broken out” between the FSB and the Russian Ministry of Defense, which were the key government agencies planning the invasion.

Citing Russian news sources, The New York Times reported that a second FSB official was also under house arrest.

Russia’s military operation has not gone nearly as well as planned. CIA Director William Burns told Congress earlier this month that Putin had planned to seize the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv within two days. Yet the city continues to fend off Russian forces nearly a month after the invasion began. As many as five Russian generals have been killed in the fighting, according to Ukraine.

That’s bad news for officials surrounding Putin, observers warn.

“When it comes to this guy, it’s clear that the culture of ‘someone is at fault and is going to pay’ is clearly still operative,” former CIA and National Security Council official Jeffrey Edmonds told the Journal.

But the finger-pointing and rising fear and discontent in the Kremlin could also be bad news for Putin.

Russian history scholar Stephen Kotkin said in a recent New Yorker interview that Putin is only getting the information that “he wants to hear. In any case, he believes that he’s superior and smarter. This is the problem of despotism,” he added. “It’s why despotism, or even just authoritarianism, is all-powerful and brittle at the same time.”


This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

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Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/trouble-kremlin-gulag-spy-boss-041049268.html

Who is his right mind would want to be Putin's intelligence advisor as you have to tell him what he wants to hear and then he locks you up after what you knew but could not tell him comes true!

 

[tampa24]

Who is his right mind would want to be Putin's intelligence advisor as you have to tell him what he wants to hear and then he locks you up after what you knew but could not tell him comes true!

Yes. Talk about a no-win situation. haha

 

[br6205]

Estimates are that Russia has lost more than 10% of their forces .

 

[tampa24]

Estimates are that Russia has lost more than 10% of their forces .

Yes. It seems that Russia's vaunted army is not very competent or well trained. That's a staggering loss. The FSB whistleblower himself claimed in his estimation that Russian losses were probably about 10,000 troops. And he said that over a week ago! If he's actually right, then Russian losses could actually be 13,000 or more by now. But you'll never get a truthful number from the Russian government.

 

[tampa24]

 

[tampa24]

The video below is from a former member of the Russian parliament. He's a colorful character for sure. And to say he's outspoken would be an understatement. lol

The recorded musings of Nevzorov below were made in April of 2021. Russia was just starting to send troops and equipment to the borders of Ukraine at that time. But Nevzorov saw the writing on the wall and knew that war was coming. Right now he's looking like a modern day Nostradamus. See for yourselves how accurate you think his predictions were back in early 2021.

From Wiki:

"Alexander Glebovich Nevzorov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Гле́бович Невзо́ров; born on August 3, 1958) is a Russian and Soviet television journalist, a film director and a former member of the Russian parliament. He is the founder of a horsemanship school, Nevzorov Haute École. He also engaged in criticism of religion."

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Nevzorov

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[tampa24]

Tampa that is why I have said all along his time is nearing its end, sadly not before there will be many more deaths.

I only hope it's sooner than later.

 

[tampa24]

Much is being made in the media right now about just how many Russian troops have been killed so far. Some estimates are now going as high as 15,000. In the fog of war it's hard to say. Russia has every reason to low-ball the actual number, while Ukraine has every reason to over-estimate. But if we start with an original troop total of 150,00 Russian soldiers just before the invasion, and we go with the higher number of 15,000 lives lost...it's not good. That's 10% right there. And climbing.

But that doesn't tell the whole story either. Fatalities are just one issue the Russian invasion force is contending with in their troop levels and combat readiness. There is talk of 16,000 or more Russian soldiers who are injured or maimed and off the battlefield for all military purposes. Then there are also reports of many Russian troops simply deserting their posts and leaving pristine multi-million dollar equipment behind unattended. Then there are reports that many soldiers are suffering with frostbite. In theory that original force of 150,000 men could be down to an actual fighting force of close to only 100,000. If true, that's a loss of nearly of third of their strength! There are reports that the army has also lost much more than 10% of its equipment like tanks, rocket launchers, surface to air batteries and so on. Much of their equipment has been captured also.

So while the invading army may be able to hold on to much of the territory already under its control, it does not have much offensive capability to try to take more real estate. If it tries to move on to the next town or region, it doesn't have enough troops to stay behind and occupy the towns its leaving. So the Ukrainians can come right back in behind them and liberate the ones they've left. So what's Putin to do to try to fill that manpower gap? Hire 50,000-100,000 more mercenaries? He can't feed and properly clothe the 100,000 or more of the actual Russian troops that he's already got there. So how is he going to afford and manage to pay salaries and feed, clothe and arm double that number?

Then there is the issue of calling up a national mobilization. As we've discussed previously, you can't suddenly draft around 300,000 men who are in their prime, out of the civilian workforce...for a war that you insist that you are already "winning" by the way...and not have your sanction battered economy collapse even farther, harder and much faster. As the FSB whistleblower warned, declaring martial law or calling for a mobilization would be total chaos for the military, the country's infrastructure of highways and railways, the economy, the political establishment and the social fabric of the country. Plus obviously again, if their propaganda is constantly telling them they are winning the "special military operation", then how can they justify demanding extreme sacrifice from employers, civilians and young families to fight a conflict that is definitely not a real war? And definitely not a real war that they're losing?

 

[tampa24]

After watching coverage from last night, I'm wondering about the fate of the coastal city of Mariupol. It's quite possible that the city will fully be taken by the Russians. If so, it would give them that land bridge they want that links up Crimea with Russia proper. Mariupol is the only domino they need to fall to make that happen.

But will the history of the Russia/Ukraine war of 2022 mean that Mariupol falls in a manner like The Alamo? Or will it go down in history as something akin to Stalingrad?

 

[tampa24]

After watching coverage from last night, I'm wondering about the fate of the coastal city of Mariupol. It's quite possible that the city will fully be taken by the Russians. If so, it would give them that land bridge they want that links up Crimea with Russia proper. Mariupol is the only domino they need to fall to make that happen.

But will the history of the Russia/Ukraine war of 2022 mean that Mariupol falls in a manner like The Alamo? Or will it go down in history as something akin to Stalingrad? Or even Leningrad?

 

[br6205]

Tampa don't give up hope yet, the fight is far from over & we do not have all the facts.

 

[tampa24]

Tampa don't give up hope yet, the fight is far from over & we do not have all the facts.

True. But this will be a long slog for the Ukrainians, who I hope will eventually win.

 

[tampa24]

Here's a controversial video exchange that has been mentioned in some media. They don't dare show the video on tv because there is too much profanity and its unfit for children to grasp the implications behind her "gift". The vulgar language (and the chilling intent behind the message) is dark and profane. But it's an example of some of the raw civilian defiance and resistance in cities and countrysides that are currently under Russian control and occupation. This simple and brief encounter may become the stuff of wartime legends.

The story of the Ukrainian woman offering "sunflower seeds" to Russian soldiers:

 

[br6205]

Proves my point.

 

[kgmets]

After watching coverage from last night, I'm wondering about the fate of the coastal city of Mariupol. It's quite possible that the city will fully be taken by the Russians. If so, it would give them that land bridge they want that links up Crimea with Russia proper. Mariupol is the only domino they need to fall to make that happen.

But will the history of the Russia/Ukraine war of 2022 mean that Mariupol falls in a manner like The Alamo? Or will it go down in history as something akin to Stalingrad? Or even Leningrad?

The latest report I heard was that the Russians were stalled in three neighborhoods of Mariupol and facing heavy resistance. The city refused to surrender and may be bombed into oblivion. The other latest report has many more Russian generals killed at least one by his own troops deliberately, their army around Kyiv demoralized, half suffering frost bite, and Putin leaning towards pausing the war in northern Ukraine and moving as many of those troops to the south as he can.

 

[tampa24]

The latest report I heard was that the Russians were stalled in three neighborhoods of Mariupol and facing heavy resistance. The city refused to surrender and may be bombed into oblivion. The other latest report has many more Russian generals killed at least one by his own troops deliberately, their army around Kyiv demoralized, half suffering frost bite, and Putin leaning towards pausing the war in northern Ukraine and moving as many of those troops to the south as he can.

Yes. I've heard that too. We're still in "the fog of war". So it's hard to know for sure what "information" to fully believe. But yes. Regardless of claims of casualty numbers or just rumors online...it's still quite clear that Russian ground troops are not doing well on most of the battlefield. On the other hand unfortunately if Putin decides to turn the country into rubble and leave much of it looking like the surface of the moon, he can still do that with missiles and bombs launched from planes or from inside Russia, and even from ships off of Ukraine's southern coastline. He doesn't need any ground forces for that. And with sanctions already in place against him, he's way past caring or worrying about world opinion of his wartime actions.

 

[tampa24]

Here's some more context I dug up online to give more context to the video and the chilling point the woman was making.

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"In another such incident of sheer courage, a Ukrainian woman confronted a Russian soldier and offered him sunflower seeds. She asked him to put it in his pocket so that when he dies, sunflowers can bloom from the soil."

"A video of the incident was reportedly captured in Henychesk, Kherson region. The Hindustan Times quoted the woman saying, “You should put sunflower seeds in your pockets so that they will grow on Ukrainian land after you die.”

Source: https://www.storypick.com/ukraine-woman-sunflower-seeds-russian-soldier/

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While the English translations above do not exactly match the translation from Russian in the YT video itself, they do get much closer, more blunt and more precise as to the woman's true intent. That being that the Russian soldiers should put her seeds in their pockets now. Because after they are eventually killed and get buried in Ukrainian soil, at least some pretty sunflowers will grow up in their place. Cold...Blooded. I would not want to slow-dance with her! haha

I only looked up more info on the video because I was pretty sure it was filmed in or around the city of Kherson. The capture and occupation of Kherson was one of the faster Russian victories of the early days of the invasion. Just today though there has been talk that although Kherson had been thought to be tightly under Russian occupation, there has been some renewed armed resistance within city limits. As of today they've been saying that the city is considered to no longer be 100% under Russian control anymore.

Time will tell if it the resistance forces can hold out or if it leads to any significant shift in power.

 

[special70]

I see from most of the posts here that a lot of people believe what they are reading and seeing in the fake news.

A few months ago the New York times were writing about how corrupt and what a catastrophe Ukarine was, now they are full of praise. Ukraine have brought this on themselves by not implimenting the Minsk agreements and accepting that they will never join NATO or the EU.

Putin's mission is to destroy the Neo-Nazi Azov batallion, who have been genociding Russian speakers in Ukraine, destroy the biological weapons labs and stop the deep-state money laundering operations and corruption in Ukraine. Many senior American and European politicians have been like carpet baggers plundering Ukraine for many years. Look at how many politicians's sons are on the boards of Ukrainian energy companies, who know nothing about energy. Soon a Hunter's laptop will reveal a lot about this.

Whatever you read in the media Russia is winning this fight.

If people want balanced reporting about Ukraine I would refer them to sites like The Duran rumble.com/search/video?q=Duran and the X22 Report https://rumble.com/search/video?q=x22 report

https://rumble.com/search/video?q=x22%20report

https://rumble.com/vy9v7r-biden-nato-uk-poland-ponder-options-to-counter-russia.html