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Sanctions against Russia


Bruce Tuncks

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I've often wondered why the older Russian women look so weatherbeaten. Is it their rotten climate, poor food, peasant living conditions? - or simply because all their men are drunks?

Drunkenness is so widespread amongst Russian males, it's a wonder they ever get anything done - and 20% of Russian male deaths are alcohol-related (not only diseases, but accidents as well).

 

Russian road crashes are nearly always the result of drunkenness. I guess if I lived there, with their lousy climate, and an even lousier leader, I'd be drunk all the time, too.

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1 hour ago, onetrack said:

I've often wondered why the older Russian women look so weatherbeaten. Is it their rotten climate, poor food, peasant living conditions? - or simply because all their men are drunks?

Probably all of the above, plus the peasant women aren't likely to have a history of using make up and skin care products like moisturisers. Cooking over the smoke of an open hearth all their life would turn them into smoked babushka.

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I'll wager there's been a few Russian officers shot, or had grenades lobbed in their quarters, that we have never heard about. It was known to happen during the Vietnam War, especially amongst the Americans - and we had one Aussie soldier who should have never been in the Army, thanks to his poor mental state - and he shot up the Sgts Mess at Nui Dat on Christmas Day 1970, killing 2 Sgts. and badly wounding a third Sgt.

 

http://home.iprimus.com.au/buckomp/FerridayMurdersWebdoc.htm

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Over time here's been quite a few unconfirmed reports of officer liquidation occurring, mainly reported on Russian telegram channels. There's also been reports of ex prisoner Wagnerites finishing their contracts and being released back to Russia as free men, but somehow managing to take weapons back with them. Recently in a far east township, local authorities wanted to hold a ceremony to honour a returning ex crim. A lot of locals were protesting against it, as it was only two years since he committed murder in the town and got locked away. They weren't too impressed with the pardon deal, or the fact that authorities wanted to treat him like a returning hero.

 

There might not be many more crims left to return to Russia. One recent estimate put the death rate at about 90% of the 30,000 recruited prisoners. Wagners have been using them in WW1 style human wave attacks, often with no tank or artillery support. If the crims survive to take and hold some ground, Wagners then send in their regular forces. Of course if the crims get wiped out, Wagners see it as no big loss.

 

It all seems to be unraveling for Wagner boss Prickozhin. A Ukrainian military source has claimed that out of 45,000 Wagnerites at the front, only 7,000 are left. It could be somewhere near the truth as the Russians have been losing 800 to 1,000 per day in the fighting at Bakhmut and other areas. Adding to that Prickhozin is now on the outer with the Russian top brass and is struggling to get supplies of ammunition. He would be better off cutting his losses to concentrate on their operations in Africa. That's where he gets the money to fund things; African gold and diamonds.

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Russian Telegram channels have also been reporting that field commanders have been refusing to follow orders around Vuhledar where they lost an entire brigade of 140 vehicles including 36 tanks a few weeks ago. Basically it is a mutiny because after the loss, the high command decided to send soldiers to the front line in vehicles, drop them there and leave. They would be left in groups of 10-15 men as infantry and were cut down easily by the Ukrainian defenders.

 

The 155th Naval Infantry brigade and regular Army Cossacks refused to follow orders when the moron Shoigu instructed the Eastern commander to take Vuhledar at any cost. After seeing what happened to their mates it was obey and certain death or mutiny and maybe survive. Shoigu went to the area and organised new troops to the front so Ukraine sent a few Himars in to Berdiansk, Yakymivka & Melitopol where they were assembling as a "welcome to the front" present.

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One problem with Shoigu is that he's not a military man. Even though he gets to wear a General's uniform, it's just a result of Russia's practice of militarising government departments. He started out as a civil engineer, then ended up heading emergency services where they gave him a General rank and a nice shiny uniform. From there he went on to be governor of Moscow until his mate Putin made him minister of defence and he got to wear a uniform again. He's a civilian who plays soldier by dressing up.

 

At least Gerasimov is a career professional soldier. He graduated through a number of military academies and went on to command in mechanised units, including commanding an army in the second Chechen war. Shoigu is just a show pony politician.

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It seems to be a guessing game as to when the expected Ukrainian offensive will begin. Russian press is reporting that Ukrainian command has said two months time. So it might be in one month possibly. One of the Wagner Telegram channels has said the Ukrainians are building up along the entire front and that they might attack everywhere at once. For sure the Ukrainians would be trying to keep the orcs guessing as to where the main thrust would be.

 

The Leopard tank and Bradley IFV crew training is almost finished, and a lot of new brigades are being formed from freshly trained troops. The Ukrainians will need all their ducks in a row, but it looks like they are putting a lot of sensible planning into it. Taking back Kherson Oblast and cutting off Crimea would do a lot of damage to the Russians. There's a lot of layered Russian trench defences to get through, but they are only useful for holding that line. If the Ukrainians break through, those trenches are past history behind them and the Russians probably wouldn't get time to dig new ones. Fingers crossed, I hope it all works when it does happen.

 

Meanwhile, the housing market in Crimea has crashed. The government has set minimum prices to try to stabilise it, but a lot of Russians who can't get a buyer for their house are just leaving them and moving back to Russia.

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Read in an ABC article that the reporter witnessed Ukrainians lined up around the block to join the army.  They didn't even leave when the air raid sirens sounded, in case they lost their spot in the queue. 

Compare that to Russia's recruitment efforts.  I hear Wagner is looking at psychiatric hospitals next, they'll be great on the front lines. 

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10 hours ago, Marty_d said:

Read in an ABC article that the reporter witnessed Ukrainians lined up around the block to join the army.  They didn't even leave when the air raid sirens sounded, in case they lost their spot in the queue. 

Compare that to Russia's recruitment efforts.  I hear Wagner is looking at psychiatric hospitals next, they'll be great on the front lines. 

I read the same

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After Wagners stopped recruiting prisoners, they started a nation wide campaign to recruit from sporting and boxing clubs, martial arts clubs and gyms etc.. I don't know whether they stopped prisoner recruiting because it wasn't cost effective, or whether through a lack of volunteers coming forward once news of the extremely high death toll filtered back to prisons.

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Initially the prisoners would have thought it was a good deal. They probably thought the survival chances were no worse than prison, plus they get a full pardon and get paid for it. Once news of the death toll reached prisons, their survival instinct probably saw prison as the better option. Those on life sentences without parole probably saw themselves as having nothing to lose by fighting, and possibly everything to gain, but any doing lighter sentences would be better off staying in jail.

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I've been reading a book about the pioneer airman PG  Taylor. He learned to fly under an instructor " who had broken down under the stress of flying inferior machines against the German Albatross. He had been sent home and made an instructor but he shouldn't have been allowed to fly anything".

Well this partly explained something I've wondered about....  in WW2, there was a tiger-moth school at Port Pirie where they killed 5% of their trainees.... gosh, our gliding club never killed anybody at Gawler and we would have been in great trouble if we had. And we operated with a tiger moth aero-tow plane before 1969 when I joined.

What an amazing difference!

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