Russia & Ukraine

Russian Soldiers Ban Mobile Phones, Shoot Ukrainians Who Use Phone 'Too Much'

By Dane Enerio
07/08/22 AT 7:30 AM
KEY POINTS
  • Russian forces in the city of Kreminna have banned people from using phones
  • They allegedly shoot people who talk on their phones "too much"
  • They blamed locals for the explosions at warehouses and ammunition depots
Russian forces in Ukraine's partially occupied Luhansk region have been shooting people for using phones, Ukrainian officials said.

People in the eastern city of Kreminna have been banned from using phones, and those who talk on their devices "too much" are shot by Russian forces, according to Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai.

The occupiers are blaming residents for the recent explosions at Russian warehouses and ammunition depots, Haidai, who also serves the head of the region's military administration, said in an interview.

"[Russian soldiers] are looking for those who could have informed Ukrainian Armed Forces about the coordinates or simply have photographed the location of the targets," the official was quoted as saying by Pravda.

Ukrainian forces supposedly hit or destroyed nearly 20 Russian ammunition depots in the occupied areas of the Donbas region and the southern part of the country over the last four weeks.

https://www.ibtimes.com/russian-sol...oot-ukrainians-who-use-phone-too-much-3566846
 
120,000 Wounded: Does Putin Wish He Never Invaded Ukraine? You Bet
https://www.19fortyfive.com/2022/07/120000-wounded-does-putin-wish-he-never-invaded-ukraine-you-bet/

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Kremlin advisers are probably wishing that they had never started the war in Ukraine.

But now that it is underway, they have had to invest their political (and indeed literal in Putin’s case) survival in the war’s success. To everyone in the West, the failures of the Russian military are apparent. But to the everyday Russian, they are not. And all because of the Kremlin and its disinformation.

Ukraine: A Failing War

It is undeniable that the Russian campaign in Ukraine has thus far failed miserably. Based on the Ukrainian casualties figures, which have been corroborated to a certain extent by independent reporting and Western intelligence, Moscow has lost almost 40,000 men killed and potentially up to 120,000 wounded in action.

The Russian military, moreover, has lost thousands of tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, aircraft, helicopters, and miscellaneous vehicles. For a “special military operation” that was supposed to last anywhere between 72 hours and a couple of weeks, that is very bad.

So, naturally, one of the questions is how Putin and his regime have managed to “sell” the Ukraine war to the Russian people. To be sure, Russia is an autocracy (if not a dictatorship) in everything but name. But the popular sentiment is still important (the failed war in Afghanistan, after all, that ended in 1989, was one of the reasons the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s). Putin and the Kremlin understand that, and they have been relying on outright lies and disinformation to hide the complete truth of what is going on the ground in Ukraine and the looming economic disaster caused by Western sanctions from the broad Russian public.

Reading Between the Lines on Ukraine

In a neat Twitter post, the British juxtaposed reality as we know it in the West with what the Kremlin has been selling to its people.

For example, the war in Ukraine contributes to higher food prices that are affecting Russian families too, as well as the rest of the world. But the Kremlin tries to counter that by stating that its actions don’t and cannot influence the food insecurity that is plaguing many parts of the world because of the war.

On the economic front, the Russian Ministry of Economic Development has forecasted that gross domestic product will drop by almost 8 percent, while business leaders are leaving Russia, including approximately 15,000 Russian millionaires who are likely to try to leave the country. But to counter that bleak economic situation, the Kremlin is stating that the economic situation is under control.

“Russian entrepreneurs and authorities have acted in a collected and professional manner [and] step by step, we will normalize the economic situation,” Putin had said on June 18.

On the human cost front, Ukraine and the West know that the Russian forces are suffering devastating casualties (the British government stated that at least 20,000 Russian soldiers have been killed, which is more than twice the number the Soviets lost in ten years of war in Afghanistan), while their leadership is failing them at every turn with a subsequent drop in morale. Indeed, there have been cases where whole units have refused to fight and even instances of armed stand-offs between officers and troops.

To this, the Kremlin is sticking to its line that the war is going well.

“The Russian troops are demonstrating courage, acting in a proper, professional, and effective manner, using the most advanced weapons with unique features,” Putin said back in April after the failures around Kyiv.

“Contrary to the claims of Kremlin elites, Russian families face rising prices and economic woe, while their sons in the army suffer poor leadership and high casualties. It’s time to stop the lies, and end the war,” the British government stated last week.
 
Classy bunch, the Russian military.

Let's just say that even if this is not true, I would hate to be the Colonel identified in the article. Don't think he is going to be promoted to General anytime soon. More likely he will suddenly die with a Russian bullet in the back of his head, in service to the Motherland.

The Ukrainians may have made the whole thing up just to foment unrest and chaos within the russian military. That's fine too.

Russians Fear Commanders Are Selling Their Own Troops’ Locations for Cash
https://www.thedailybeast.com/russi...e-selling-their-own-troops-locations-for-cash


A Russian colonel was accused of selling information on the whereabouts of his own men to foreign intelligence agencies by concerned Russians, according to Ukrainian authorities.

 
You cannot trust any Russian. And now it becomes even a problem for each Russian. Reminds me of the Soviet Union and their satellite states a few decades ago. People denounced even close familiy members. It becomes a real psychological war game with a sauce of paranoia. No Russian can trust any other Russian anymore. Even "the big leader" has problems with it.

We can offer free toilet pots for good information. LOL.
 
TreeFrogTrader said:
Classy bunch, the Russian military.

Let's just say that even if this is not true, I would hate to be the Colonel identified in the article. Don't think he is going to be promoted to General anytime soon. More likely he will suddenly die with a Russian bullet in the back of his head, in service to the Motherland.

The Ukrainians may have made the whole thing up just to foment unrest and chaos within the russian military. That's fine too.

Russians Fear Commanders Are Selling Their Own Troops’ Locations for Cash
https://www.thedailybeast.com/russi...e-selling-their-own-troops-locations-for-cash


A Russian colonel was accused of selling information on the whereabouts of his own men to foreign intelligence agencies by concerned Russians, according to Ukrainian authorities.
More...

Add this to it... The corruption is rampant even in combat. Officers are drastically inflating the number of soldiers they have so they can pocket the "attack" bonuses for the ghost soldiers. Also they had to overhaul the wound compensation payouts because guys were shooting themselves for a ticket home.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1546474680109989888
 
gwb-trading said:
Add this to it... The corruption is rampant even in combat. Officers are drastically inflating the number of soldiers they have so they can pocket the "attack" bonuses for the ghost soldiers. Also they had to overhaul the wound compensation payouts because guys were shooting themselves for a ticket home.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1546474680109989888
More...

That tendency for Russians to do anything corrupt for a few bucks is weak spot that the Ukrainians can exploit bigtime with American bucks. I mean- let's be clear- the Ukrainians are vulnerable to corruption too but Russia can't even pay its own soldiers and Ukrainians who are vulnerable to corruption will go for the American aid dollars where the big gravy is.

A few bottles of vodka and a few hundred dollars to a russian commander or frontline soldier in a key place and you pretty much own them. Ditto for all these civilians over in the occupied territories who thought that they were pro-russian but hate them now. Probably killing grammy and shelling their house and burning down their place of employment could be factors. As insurgencies begin to form in those oblasts and inside Russia- or at least spy rings and special ops groups- a little bit of money goes a long way in keeping them providing intel.

Refer to James Carville and the power of running through the trailer park waiving 100 dollar bills. You can snag a lot of ruskies doing that- although in secret of course.
 
What still surprises me is that people believe the Ukrainians and Russians are so different personalities and characteristically when they were essentially the same people for so long. Suddenly, one is all virtuous and the other the epitome of evil.
 
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