14 votes

Weekly megathread for news/updates/discussion of Russian invasion of Ukraine - September 22

This thread is posted weekly on Thursday - please try to post relevant content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Especially significant updates may warrant a separate topic, but most should be posted here.

If you'd like to help support Ukraine, please visit the official site at https://help.gov.ua/ - an official portal for those who want to provide humanitarian or financial assistance to people of Ukraine, businesses or the government at the times of resistance against the Russian aggression.

12 comments

  1. mycketforvirrad
    Link
    ‘It’s a 100% mobilisation’: Day one of Russia’s drive to build its army The Guardian – Andrew Roth – 22nd September 2022

    ‘It’s a 100% mobilisation’: Day one of Russia’s drive to build its army

    Summons delivered to eligible men at midnight. Schoolteachers pressed into handing out draft notices. Men given an hour to pack their things and appear at draft centres. Women sobbing as they send their husbands and sons off to fight in Russia’s war in Ukraine.

    “It’s not a partial mobilisation, it’s a 100% mobilisation,” said Alexandra Garmazhapova, president of the Free Buryatia Foundation, an activist group that has reported on the draft in the region.

    Despite assurances that Russia would be seeking men who had recently served in the army and had combat experience, activists pointed to a number of cases of men in their 50s receiving draft notices.

    The Guardian – Andrew Roth – 22nd September 2022

    12 votes
  2. [2]
    skybrian
    Link
    Inside the Ukrainian Counterstrike That Turned the Tide of the War (Time) This is a profile of Valeriy Zaluzhny, who has been commander in chief of the Ukrainian armed forces. Time magazine put...

    Inside the Ukrainian Counterstrike That Turned the Tide of the War (Time)

    This is a profile of Valeriy Zaluzhny, who has been commander in chief of the Ukrainian armed forces. Time magazine put him on the cover.

    Unlike Zelensky, who was skeptical of intelligence reports that a mass-scale Russian invasion was imminent, Zaluzhny was part of a corps of Ukrainian officers who viewed it as a matter of time. Within weeks of taking up his post, he began to implement key changes. Officers would be free to return fire “with any available weapons” if they came under attack, with no need for permission from senior commanders. “We needed to knock down their desire to attack,” Zaluzhny says. “We also needed to show our teeth.”

    By early February, the pressure of his new role was starting to show. The launch of an ambitious set of military exercises involving thousands of Ukrainian troops had been a disappointment, with basic maneuvers meant to simulate a Russian attack exposing cracks in Ukraine’s defenses. In Zaluzhny’s view, the drills were a centerpiece of Ukraine’s defensive strategy, its best chance of survival, and the commanders were not taking them seriously enough. “I spent an hour yelling,” he recalls. “I lost it.” The men seated around the table were mostly older and more experienced than Zaluzhny, who did not have a reputation for losing his cool. “I explained to them that if they can’t pull this off, the consequences will not only cost us our lives, but also our country.”

    After the outburst, the generals picked up their preparations. They relocated and camouflaged military hardware, moving troops and weapons out of their bases and sending them on tours around the country. This included aircraft, tanks, and armored vehicles, as well as the antiaircraft batteries Ukraine would soon need to maintain control of its skies. “There’s no mistaking the smell of war,” Zaluzhny says, “and it was already in the air.” But when it came to the details of his strategy, Zaluzhny held them close. “I was afraid that we would lose the element of surprise,” he says. “We needed the adversary to think that we are all deployed in our usual bases, smoking grass, watching TV, and posting on Facebook.”

    9 votes
    1. cmccabe
      Link Parent
      Zaluzhny is getting a lot of attention also for his quips. I can’t find the original, so I’m paraphrasing his response to Russia’s recent mobilization: “We’ve already defeated Russia’s...

      Zaluzhny is getting a lot of attention also for his quips. I can’t find the original, so I’m paraphrasing his response to Russia’s recent mobilization: “We’ve already defeated Russia’s professional army and now it’s time to defeat their unprofessional army.”

      7 votes
  3. cfabbro
    Link
    US Embassy warns Americans to leave Russia (CNN)

    US Embassy warns Americans to leave Russia (CNN)

    The US Embassy in Moscow issued a security alert overnight that again urged US citizens to leave Russia immediately while there are still options for departing the country.

    The alert comes in the wake of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order for partial mobilization of Russian men to fight in his war in Ukraine.

    “Russia may refuse to acknowledge dual nationals’ US citizenship, deny their access to US consular assistance, prevent their departure from Russia, and conscript dual nationals for military service,” the alert said.

    The embassy has consistently warned Americans not to travel to Russia and to depart the country immediately if there.

    The embassy alert urged US citizens to “avoid all political or social protests and do not photograph security personnel at these events,” noting that “the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression are not guaranteed in Russia.”

    The alert added, “Russian authorities have arrested US citizens who have participated in demonstrations.”

    Later on Wednesday a State Department official clarified that the alert referred to arrests in previous demonstrations and “we are not aware of any arrests of US citizens participating in demonstrations since the mobilization.”

    The security alert said the embassy “has severe limitations on its ability to assist US citizens, and conditions, including transportation options, may suddenly become even more limited.”

    “If you wish to depart Russia, you should make independent arrangements as soon as possible,” it said.

    6 votes
  4. skybrian
    Link
    Over 194,000 Russians flee call-up to neighboring countries (AP) [...] [...] [...]

    Over 194,000 Russians flee call-up to neighboring countries (AP)

    The Interior Ministry of Georgia said over 53,000 Russians have entered the country since last week, while Interior Ministry officials in Kazakhstan said 98,000 crossed into that nation. The Finnish Border Guard agency said over 43,000 arrived in the same period. Media reports also said another 3,000 Russians entered Mongolia, which also shares a border with the country.

    [...]

    Georgia, whose support for Ukraine is visible by the yellow and blue flags adorning buildings as well as graffiti against Putin and Russia, has been somewhat apprehensive about the influx of Russians, especially after the country fought a brief war with Moscow in 2008.

    Opposition politicians have demanded the government take drastic actions against the arriving Russians, from introducing visas to banning them completely. No such action has been taken yet.

    [...]

    Kazakhstan seems more welcoming. Since the beginning of the war, the Central Asian nation of 19 million has taken a course increasingly independent from its ally, Moscow, especially on the war in Ukraine.

    [...]

    In Uralsk, volunteers helped those entering the city of 236,000. Some of them told AP that they were serving free hot meals and helping the arrivals to find accommodations, which were quickly filling up. Those who can’t find apartments or hotel rooms could spend the night in gyms, one volunteer said.

    5 votes
  5. skybrian
    Link
    Here's a Twitter thread (unrolled) about the Nord Stream leaks.

    Here's a Twitter thread (unrolled) about the Nord Stream leaks.

    If that’s true [that Russia is responsible], it’s pretty concerning. At the very least it means Russia is burning the bridges: it is sending the clearest possible signal it won’t deliver gas any time soon.

    More concerning even, it could be a signal that our energy infrastructure is vulnerable. Yes, these are Gazprom-owned pipelines in international waters that were out of operation. But a similar attack on a pipeline from Norway to the UK, Germany or Poland would have huge impacts of European gas supply. Or a gas field.

    4 votes
  6. [3]
    skybrian
    Link
    EU debates whether to take in those fleeing Russia [...]

    EU debates whether to take in those fleeing Russia

    SCHMITZ: Yeah, the dividing lines on this issue are, for the most part, geographical and historical. Countries that border Russia or its ally Belarus and/or countries that were once part of the Soviet Union have limited the entry of Russians into their countries. And that includes the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Poland and, in the most recent case, Finland, which essentially shut its border to Russians last Friday. Meanwhile, the big economies of the EU, like Germany and France, are more open to giving either political asylum or some form of humanitarian status to Russians who have fled for the same reasons they gave Syrians and Iraqis refuge several years ago for humanitarian reasons.

    [...]

    SUMMERS: So the European Union held meetings yesterday to try and iron out some of these internal divisions on this issue. Rob, did they get anywhere?

    SCHMITZ: No. They're sort of at an impasse over this. EU leadership, including European Council President Charles Michel, seem open to giving asylum to Russians fleeing their country. But there is fierce opposition from the EU's eastern flank, and there does not seem to be room for compromise. And whenever the EU is not able to make a unified decision on something like this, it's usually kicked down to the member state level to take their own actions, and that's what we've already seen. You've got most of the member states bordering Russia closing their borders and a smattering of larger western EU states preparing to open them. And just to be clear, there are no direct flights from Russia to the EU thanks to the EU sanction, so for any Russian to get to these larger EU states requires flights to at least a third country, which for most of them is not an easy task.

    4 votes
    1. [2]
      MimicSquid
      Link Parent
      Given the degree to which Russia has used the existence of Russian minorities in adjacent countries as casus belli, I don't blame the countries near it for their resistance to accepting anyone...

      Given the degree to which Russia has used the existence of Russian minorities in adjacent countries as casus belli, I don't blame the countries near it for their resistance to accepting anyone from Russia.

      7 votes
      1. cmccabe
        Link Parent
        My 11 year old (in the US) is practically best friends with a Russian girl who is one of the sweetest, gentlest, most conscientious kids I’ve ever met — and who, I think, is pretty heavily...

        My 11 year old (in the US) is practically best friends with a Russian girl who is one of the sweetest, gentlest, most conscientious kids I’ve ever met — and who, I think, is pretty heavily shielded from dialogue about the war. While I agree that the prudent immigration policy is to fall on the restrictive side, it is heartbreaking to see that there are so many innocent victims on all sides because of this geopolitical power game.

        5 votes
  7. [2]
    riQQ
    Link
    Ukraine fears 'massive' Russian cyberattacks on power, infrastructure

    Ukraine fears 'massive' Russian cyberattacks on power, infrastructure

    "The occupiers are preparing massive cyber attacks on critical infrastructure facilities of Ukraine and its allies," according to a statement from Ukraine's Defense Ministry issued on Monday.

    "The Kremlin plans to carry out massive cyberattacks on critical infrastructure facilities of Ukrainian enterprises and critical infrastructure institutions of Ukraine's allies. First of all, the blow will be aimed at enterprises of the energy sector. The experience of cyberattacks on Ukraine's energy systems in 2015 and 2016 will be used when conducting operations."

    3 votes
    1. FishFingus
      Link Parent
      They've already done that, and I don't see how repeating themselves would do anything besides result in their own government and public services eventually being hacked to near-standstill. It...

      They've already done that, and I don't see how repeating themselves would do anything besides result in their own government and public services eventually being hacked to near-standstill. It would be open season on Russia's cyber infrastructure. Really not a smart thing for a hated state experiencing brain drain to do...so they probably will (again), and it will backfire (again) and the memes will be hilarious (again).

      5 votes