Russia resumes pulverizing Mariupol steel mill after first civilians leave

Once civilians are removed Russia will obliterate the entire Azov battalion; they have no escape or hope of rescue.

Russia is refusing to allow any Ukrainian military to leave, including the severely wounded.

Now, that's just wrong.

For humanitarian reasons Russia ought to allow those almost dead soldiers to evacuated.

It's not like they're going to come back and fight again any time soon.

“There is no Mariupol whatsoever,'' he said. “Someone needs to rebuild it, and it will take millions of tons of gold.” He said they lived just across the railroad tracks from the steel plant. “Ruined,” he said. “The factory is gone completely.”

In this war of oligarchs , no matter the aggressor, the people pay for it with their blood and sweat.

Why don't the Western oligarchs, to show solidarity with the Ukrainian people, announce they will stop using the financial instruments to hide away their wealth that the Russian oligarchs also use; which funds Putin's war effort?

Radical transparency. And maybe an end to this cycle of violence and the best way to get at Putin.

Russia has no choice, it must pulverise the area because it’s troops are incapable of capturing any objective unless all human resistance military or civilian are liquidated beforehand. When you accept your limitations go big on bombing.

“At the start of the conflict, Russia committed over 120 battalion tactical groups, approximately 65 percent of its entire ground combat strength,” the U.K. Ministry of Defence said in a tweet. “It is likely that more than a quarter of these units have now been rendered combat ineffective.”

https://twitter.com/DefenceHQ/status/1520987841702080512/photo/1

The Avenger

Russia's standing army is around 1 million men (although it's been here (erroneously) reported to be 900,000.

For this conflict, Russia mobilised 190,000 men (only).

Clearly, someone at the UK's MoD doesn't know his numbers very well.

Japan needs to stop all talks with Russia. Any agreement with Russia is a waste of paper. Second, this war will make it impossible to get other countries to give up their weapons of mass destruction. Two examples Libya and Ukraine. Russia signed an agreement with nations to respect Ukraine and never invade it.

Russian TV warns Britain will be 'drowned in radioactive tsunami' missile strike

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/russian-tv-warns-britain-will-be-drowned-in-radioactive-tsunami-missile-strike/ar-AAWPmtZ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4eJvwtQJu4

1 million, 900,000 what’s the % of conscripts and it takes 5 or more men to support the actual combat troops so do the math. Blanket numbers are just that, they are not talking about actual trained combat troops but as a mass. And Russia has troops based in other regions that can’t be mobilised for a “Special Military operation”. It’s more complicated than just a blanket number.

That 1 million figure also includes Air Force and Navy, I believe. Also, Russia is a big country and their forces are spread out among a lot of time zones. They probably don’t want to leave the Far East undefended :)

Russia's standing army is around 1 million men (although it's been here (erroneously) reported to be 900,000.

For this conflict, Russia mobilised 190,000 men (only).

Clearly, someone at the UK's MoD doesn't know his numbers very well.

Clearly you don’t know things very well either.

Yes, the Russian military (not “army”) has about a million personnel. Its ground forces component (“army”) however is only 280,000 strong. So it has already committed the majority of its ground forces to the conflict and could only send more by basically stripping its borders of everything it has left, something it doesn’t want to do because that would leave it with undefended borders if the war expands. Also it needs to maintain a lot of support troops in Russia for logistics support.

Most of the rest of those military personnel are in the navy (mostly out of the Black Sea and unable to participate), strategic rocket forces, or air force which can’t be used as ground troops.

For this conflict, Russia mobilised 190,000 men (only).

That is actually the bulk of their trained and combat ready maneuver forces. And about a quarter of that force is no longer combat ready due to high personnel and equipment losses. The Russian Army only has around 4,000 - 5,000 trained drilling reservists comparable to the US National Guard or the reserve forces of NATO armies. That small force is not going to replace the 20,000 or more soldiers they have lost at this point. The vast bulk of Russia's "reserve" force are former conscripts who have been out of the Army in civilian life for years, even decades. They haven't trained since the end of their conscription and many are married, have families and the spare tires and physical ailments that come with age.

Russian armored forces have lost upwards of 1,000 tanks. Russia has only been producing 35-40 new tanks per year and struggles to afford the high price of their new Armata tank. Russian forces are being ground down and at some point if their high losses continue they will no longer have enough resources to advance further. That is when the Ukrainians flush with modern western arms will turn the tide on the Russians. Vladimir Putin might be able to claim control of eastern Ukraine on 9 May (with his fingers crossed behind his back) but it is doubtful they can hang on to it in the long term.

Why don't the Western oligarchs, to show solidarity with the Ukrainian people, announce they will stop using the financial instruments 

Excellent question, recall it was Morgan Stanley that helped bankroll Putin and Rosneft in the early days of his take over, and some of the largest investors in various Russian state owned oil /gas corporations are corporations like British Petroleum, and some of the largest investors in BP and other global oil/gas corporations are US based corporations like Blackwater and Vanguard. Once again, the Russian gas station under Putin's control is too important for the global fossil barons to mess too seriously with. The global fossil barons need Putin's gas station to keep pumping and selling, so they, too can maintain their personal wealth and power, just like Putin and his oligarchs.. But as long as individuals buy shares in corporations supporting Putin and the global fossils, and maintain lifestyles in which they continue to finance those global corporations, Putin and oligarchs everywhere will just stay in control. The global fossils have got us by the fuel lines and thereby have made many hearts and minds blindly follow and obey them. In the USA the 4th branch of government along with many in both the Republican and Democratic Parties are enabling the global establishment's continued push to make living and breathing on the planet a greater challenge than necessary for all forms of life.

and so begins the de-personing of another leftist hero who dared to leave the accepted narrative.

Well he describes himself as a anarcho-syndicalist libertarian socialist.

So not a part of the Dem-Repub/lib/conservative dialectic . On this issue of the war in the Ukraine or many others.

Desert Tortoise, I saw the clip you are talking about on Russian TV. The West is already in a war with Russia, we just don’t know it yet.

They chose the Russian side

Maybe they’d like to sleep safely for one night in an area that isn’t being bombed. Not even the Russian military are incompetent enough to bomb the areas the occupy, possibly.

which makes you wonder if they were willingly "sheltering" with the Azov guys in the underground tunnel.

Makes me wonder what you’ll say when the evacuated civilian’s claims counter your imagination.

2 days of ceasefire but only 100 people evacuated ?

Why is there no explanation ?

Uchosepoorly

If we don't know about it then you wouldn't be talking about it would you.

Sorry, Kyo wa - what are you referring to?

The Russian Army only has around 4,000 - 5,000 trained drilling reservists comparable to the US National Guard or the reserve forces of NATO armies. That small force is not going to replace the 20,000 or more soldiers they have lost at this point. 

Russian armored forces have lost upwards of 1,000 tanks. 

And did Russia lose all the above to another "Ghost of Kyiv"?

I mean the Ghost shot down 40 Russian planes and their pilots, it was fact all over the internet, well that is until it wasn't!

https://nypost.com/2022/05/01/heroic-ghost-of-kyiv-fighter-doesnt-actually-exist-ukraine-admits/

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ukraine-ghost-of-kyiv-myth-1.6437895

It is very tiring to read the obviously bias news now pouring out in western media.

Rumours, hearsay, propaganda from Ukraine and the USA taken as fact.

We complain about Russian news being propaganda which it is but at this point out own western news is no better.

Remember that any reporter within Ukrainian or Russian held territory that does not tow the official line of the controling power can, have and will be "arrested" this goes for both sides now as Ukraine is also actively arresting anyone it says is opposed to it, "collaborators", etc... The same things Russia has been doing. So now more than ever news from both sides cannot be trusted.