Russia may shift war aims; 300 reported dead in Ukraine theater

Imagine if there were foreign troops outside of Washington D.C.

Wouldn't all available military personnel be sent immediately into battle?

Not if there were simultaneous attacks on LA, Chicago, and Houston.

Russian Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev has earned the nickname “Butcher of Mariupol” for masterminding the harrowing attack on the Ukrainian city that has reduced it to rubble.

Ukrainian military officials claim that Mizintsev orchestrated a similar attack in Syria, leaving the city of Aleppo bomb-shattered. The attack in Mariupol included the bombing of a theater that had marked itself as a shelter with children – an attack that killed roughly 300 people seeking refuge at the time.

I hope the Ukrainians get him now or later - whatever it takes.

https://1010wcsi.com/fox-world/who-is-the-butcher-of-mariupol-who-allegedly-ordered-hospital-bombing/

Bronco - BBC has a pretty decent tracker as well. As you can see from the maps, the Ukrainian forces are concentrating on three separate area - Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Kherson right now.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60506682

Also Bronco - if you are interested in the composition of the Ukrainian military, here is a pretty good place to start your research: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armed_Forces_of_Ukraine

The mass murderer Putin signed a new law in Russia yesterday, that everyone who gives false information about Russia's military actions overseas will be punished with 15 years in prison.

Haha...in that case, Putin and all his mass murderer Mob and all his brainwashed and censored media as...holes must be the first who has to go to prison.

Nothing else than lies comes out of their mouth.

Bye the way, the Ukranian army kicked the Russian army out of Cherson.

Kiev, the capital city, has been surrounded by what is estimated to be less than 30,000 Russian forces.

Ukraine has 400,000 men in uniform.

Where are they ????

Bravely protecting their land and people.

Sending the fascist invaders home where they belong.

Ukraine's defense has been brilliant. They are winning.

Bronco - not sure I would call Kyiv surrounded:

https://liveuamap.com/

Putin's strategy is either starting to shift to face-saving mode or it's in tatters.

Kiev, the capital city, has been surrounded by what is estimated to be less than 30,000 Russian forces.

The Russian Army never managed to surround Kiev. Now their forces are being pushed back.

The Ukrainians are counter attacking at Kherson and attempting to break the siege of Mariupol.

REF: Russian Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev has earned the nickname Butcher of Mariupol

Don’t worry, they’ll get him like they got Ceausescu

Ukraine is going to become known as the graveyard of Russian Generals. A 6th Russian general has been killed, Yakov Ryezantsev, commander of 49th Combined Arms Army. He died in fighting north of Kherson.

Understanding this, I am not unsympathetic to Russian claims to Kiev and parts of Ukrainian territory, but the Slav union of Russians and Ukrainians could only be possible in peaceful concord

This is an historical distortion. Ukraine was not a single territorial entity until after WWI. Before that parts of what is now Ukraine were part of the Ottoman Empire which extended around the entire coast of the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Poland (and before that a Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that conquered and governed all of Russia for a period of time before their corruption allowed them to be defeated). They had Swedish invaders sweep through their land on their way to the Black Sea. The native population of the Crimea are the Tarters, who are ethnically related to the Turks. Russia controlled some lands to the east of the Dnieper River. The rest was Ottoman, Poland and Austo-Hungarian territory. Only after the Ottomans and Austro-Hungarians were defeated in WWI did Ukraine gain territorial wholeness, and their independence in 1918. Independence lasted one year before Soviet forces conquered them. However the desire to be an independent country never died. When Hitler and Stalin divvied up Poland the chunk of Ukrainian speaking Poland was transferred to Ukraine SSR. When the Nazis swept into Ukraine they thought this was their chance for independence, but it was not to be. Still in western Ukraine in the Carpathian Mountains an insurgency raged into the early 1950s, Ukrainians fighting for independence from the Russians. Now they have to fight them again.

Ukrainian authorities said Friday in what would make it the war's deadliest known attack on civilians yet.

Madmale Putin's Stormtrooperzz (aka Zazis) have established themselves as the ugliest force since WW2, and thereby further tainted the images of all Russians, and their extreme right supporters, especially those who claim Putin is 'savvy. Russians, leave Ukraine, go crawl back into your ratholes. Extreme rightists remain the scourge of the planet.

Russian Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev has earned the nickname “Butcher of Mariupol”

I hope the Ukrainians get him now or later - whatever it takes.

@the avenger

Don't worry.

Such a person, (it is impossible for me to describe such an inhuman creature), will get what he deserves.

Bronco, the answer to your question is they are busy killing Orcs, blowing up their tanks (the ones not abandoned by their crews or handed over to the Ukrainian army) and shooting down their aircraft. While the Russian army murders women and children.

Poo tin’s war aims are the same, they have just failed spectacularly in achieving them, so now they are trying a different approach with the built in get out for when they fail, “well we were only trying to conquer a little area, not decapitate the government and eradicate Ukraine as a country, culture and people, honest gov!”

Meanwhile on Russian TV their talking heads are saying, and I could not make up something this outrageous, while discussing Mr. Biden's comment that Mr. Putin is a war criminal that Mr. Zelenskyy is the war criminal for not immediately surrendering to the Russians. Yes, it is true. They say it is Mr. Zelenskyy's fault their forces have to attack Ukrainian theaters, hospitals and apartment blocks, causing so much human misery.

Sad, sad, sad, 

Be patient, not all of us are so steeped in knowledge of military affairs as to appreciate the brilliance of Russian strategy in this war as you are.

Who said they were trying to capture Kyiv? Did I?

The destroyed key assets (do I need to include the meaning again?)

They denied the use of the airport, etc...

So if I understand correctly your theory is that the Russians didn’t amass the bulk of their forces for an advance on Kyiv for the purpose of capturing Kyiv, but rather for the purpose of denying the Ukrainians the use of Kyiv’s airport? A goal they could easily have accomplished by just cratering the runway with cruise missiles? And an airport located hundreds of miles away from their actual objective? In a war where pretty much all logistics on both sides is land based due to the high cost, limited capacity and vulnerability to anti aircraft systems associated with air transport?

I must admit, it sounds so stupid that it could plausibly have been the Russian plan all along. Thank you for correcting my ignorance on the subject.

the main objective of the first stage of the operation — reducing Ukraine's fighting capacity

I would say it’s reduced Russia’s fighting capacity

Where are they ????

Russia’s military is so pathetic, Kiev doesn’t need that many soldiers to defend it. Russia will just resort to its tried & tested WW2 tactics of bombing & destroying

REF: Russian Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev has earned the nickname Butcher of Mariupol

Don’t worry, they’ll get him like they got Ceausescu

Russia’s military is so pathetic, Kiev doesn’t need that many soldiers to defend it. Russia will just resort to its tried & tested WW2 tactics of bombing & destroying

Ukrainian forces have pushed Russian troops back far enough that their artillery can't reach Kyiv now. The Russians do not have an unlimited supply of missiles to shoot at Ukrainian cities from inside Russia where it is safe for their air force to operate and their air force doesn't much want to try and use iron bombs over Ukraine as all those MANPADS the US and other NATO nations have supplied have shot down too many of their aircraft.

Russian troops reportedly attacked their own commanding officer by running him over with a tank after many in their brigade were killed amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

https://news.yahoo.com/russian-troops-attack-own-commanding-192031366.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

Well I wouldn't expect Nazi apologists

you do know that one of Putin’s best buddies, the leader of the Wagner terrorist group, has a nazi ‘ss’ tattoo, right ?

As far as I could see Russia never really said it was planning on capturing Kyiv.

I pointed out in previous comments (most deleted by now) that The entire aimed by Russia was to open a corridor to the Crimea and take the Eastern side and that bombing Kyiv, etc... Was purely to soften up Ukraine so it will sign a deal giving away those regions and agreeing that the rump Ukraine would be demilitarized neutral zone and the kremlins or more precisely Putin peace demands have been exactly that.

If they weren’t really trying to capture Kyiv, why were the first assaults of the war airborne landings aimed at capturing Kyiv’s airport? Why were the biggest Russian formations arrayed against Kyiv? What was that 40 mile long convoy all about?

Sure seemed like they were trying to capture Kyiv to me.

On the contrary Kyiv was to remain part of the Rump Ukraine

Just tell Putin "the Rump" can keep Kiev and you would be fired from your job as a traitor and locked up in an asylum for the insane. You have no idea what Kiev means to Russian nationalists as the founding city of the Russian state when Moscow was a mere collection of huts by a river.

The Mariupol theatre had 'children' written in Russian in huge, unmissable letters either side of it.

Those supporting the Russians, hang your heads in shame.

60% of fired Russian missiles have failed. Putin is winning the battles but not the war. He thought it would be over in a few days. 15 dead Russian generals and colonels.

Russian forces couldn't stand up to Ukrainian farmers much less to the Ukrainian army!

First the Russians spent 2 weeks casually parked on the Highway to Kiev without taking any shelling

Parts of those columns were torn up with anti-tank weapons and artillery. Ukrainian attacks is part of the reason the column was bogged down. Vehicles further back could not turn around due to muddy fields and they could not get fuel to them as well in that big traffic jam. A lot of the equipment was simply abandoned by Russian soldiers who walked away in disgust. The Ukrainian military took some good serviceable hardware from that convoy.

As far as I could see Russia never really said it was planning on capturing Kyiv.

I predicted this war 8 years ago, (no, I'm not from the CIA), and I have always known how important the beautiful city of Kiev is to the Russian ruling class as the symbol of ancient Rus that has always had a powerful emotional pull in the minds of many Russians. Understanding this, I am not unsympathetic to Russian claims to Kiev and parts of Ukrainian territory, but the Slav union of Russians and Ukrainians could only be possible in peaceful concord and would have happened if "Big Brother" Russia had had a democracy and a standard of living that Ukrainians aspired to. Since Russia has nothing to offer them but subjugation to a dictatorship, the Ukrainians will go their own way. Putin's barbaric invasion has given even Russian-speaking Ukrainians turning away in disgust and horror a new national identity The chance of reuniting the two states has been lost for another hundred years or more, but through contrition and forgiveness these fraternal Slavs will learn to live again as neighbors in peace.

Did we not just last week have the comment section arguing about Putin's offer to end the war if Ukraine gave up all claims to Crimea and the eastern regions and disarm remaining neutral.

I wasn’t party to that particular discussion, but let me fill you in on a little secret:

Sometimes Putin isn’t entirely honest about what his intentions are, so we have to take his words with a teensy little grain of salt.

Shocking, I know.

Because of this, we have to look at what he actually does rather than just taking his words at face value. For months he was telling us he had no intention of invading Ukraine. Actually come to think of it, he is still sticking with that even a month after he clearly invaded Ukraine….out of curiosity do you still believe he has not invaded Ukraine too?

Anyway, when a guy says “I’m not trying to capture Kyiv” at the same time he is sending a huge army directly at Kyiv, you can either choose to continue believing the words, or you can actually look at what he is doing to figure out what he is trying to do.

Seriously you are asking a question that silly.

If you cannot understand that simple thing does it make a difference if I explain it!

I will try I will use simple explanation so people don't get lost.

Kyiv is the capital, it is where the government is, it is where the leadership is, the airport is how they get supplies, get in and out quickly, where they could also station jet fighters.

Any military action is to first take out valuable assets ( asset something that is of importance to the other side) of the enemy, Kyiv airport is on the top of the list along with fuel depose and military bases!

If you need an even simpler explanation let me know I will try!

Right, so in other words they were trying to capture Kyiv because it was important?

But they weren’t trying to capture Kyiv?

Maybe you’ve simplified things too much there.

Those supporting the Russians, hang your heads in shame.

unfortunately, there are a few here.

the worst thing is, they are denying it, or making excuses for it

Lots of death and destruction on both sides so Russia can take out a 900-man group of Ukrainian Nazis.

This is not helpful and just trash talk.

Not trash talk. You literally copy-pasted 3 paragraphs of an article written by an RT "journalist," and failed to attribute it as such.

For the Russian public a loss would constitute the Azov Battalion rolling into Crimea and the Donbass and replacing the Russian flag with a Swastika.

Putin would have some serious explaining to do if that happened.

Any outcome whereby ethnic Russians in Crimea and the Donbass are no longer subject to daily shelling would evoke huge cheers and massive pro Putin rallies all across Russia.

It doesn't seem to me that Russia will lose either Crimea or the Donbass, quite the opposite, those areas are already connected by a land bridge and that will probably stay that way.

If you say your plan all along was to let them beat you, they can’t say you lost the war (taps head).

Targeting and murdering women and children like that…those poor, poor people. And to think that a month ago the Ukrainians were living peaceful and happy lives.

I don't have the memory of an elephant, but the 300 dead in Putin's attack on the theater in Mariupol almost matches the "collateral damage" of the " bunker-buster" bomb that incinerated women and children sheltering from air attacks below ground in Baghdad (btw, not deemed a war crime and nobody held accountable). War is truly the scourge of humankind. I'll never accept the obscenity that the perpetrators at the top of the totem pole almost always get away with murder as society looks away.

Care to research the information about the alleged Russian bombing of the Turkish mosque in Mariupol 3 days earlier that Turkey said never happened?

What does RT say happened?

Swiss freeze more than $6 billion worth of sanctioned Russian assets

https://news.yahoo.com/swiss-freeze-more-6-billion-114025502.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

Just tell Putin "the Rump" can keep Kiev and you would be fired from your job as a traitor and locked up in an asylum for the insane. You have no idea what Kiev means to Russian nationalists as the founding city of the Russian state when Moscow was a mere collection of huts by a river.

That's like justifying an invasion of America by England, simply because America used to be a colony.

Entirely ridiculous logic.

Russia invaded a sovereign nation, and is murdering its citizens. This cannot be allowed to stand.

Wow, that’s nice. Care to research the information about the alleged Russian bombing of the Turkish mosque in Mariupol 3 days earlier that Turkey said never happened?

The neighborhood around the mosque was under intense attack but the mosque itself was not hit. There was in fact an evacuation attempt underway by the Turkish government to rescue about 80 Turks who had taken refuge there. The Turks were trying to coordinate this with Russian forces and were eventually allowed to remove their people to safety.

AS - not sweeping anything under the rug about "Nazi issues". You are going to keep bringing them up, so there is no danger that anyone here forgets about them.

It may shock you to find out, but we also have a Nazi problem in the US. Most Americans, myself included, abhor the Nazi ideology and those who practice it. That being said, if we were being invaded by China (or Russia, or Canada), I would stand side by side with them in order to expel the invaders, as I would stand side-by-side with Communist Americans, Gangbanger Americans, and whatever other unsavory Americans I needed to in order to extinguish the primary threat (the invaders).

You have already mentioned that you would not fight if your country were being invaded, so we may just have a different thought process on things.

Russian forces couldn't stand up to Ukrainian farmers much less to the Ukrainian army!

Thanks to the Russians deserting their equipment, Ukrainian farmers now have the 5th biggest military in Europe

Since Putin had his ball serve to him in Ukraine, a castrated Russia will be easy pickings for the vultures

@Bronco,

Ukraine is extremely large. 400k soldiers spread over such a huge territory is not easy. Especially if the war is fought at several fronts. Because Russia has the advance in sea and air, the most logical tactic to use is to not have everyone gather in one place. Instead spread the forces all over the region and lure the enemies deeper into the territory while waging guerilla warfare.

Best tactic they could use is have them hide all over certain places waiting to ambush the supply lines and harass the enemy every step of the way. They may take the cities but don't expect to keep them. If they dare to use the ports or airfields, all that is waiting for them is getting sabotage and hit by Ukraine fighters.

Right now is a war of attrition. Make them bleed every step of the way. To make it so costly that Russia has to negotiate a ceasefire and end this quickly before their economy collapse.

posted on The Grayzone. Not RT, you’re being dishonest. But no matter, it’s been rabbit holed.

That still doesn't change the fact that Max Blumenthal is a Russian toad. Nor does it deflect from the fact that you, not I, failed to site the paragraphs you copy-pasted.

Blumenthal has broadcast on RT (formerly known as Russia Today) on many occasions.[10] In December 2015, during a trip to Moscow presumed by multiple sources to have been paid for by the Kremlin,[15][18] Blumenthal was a guest at RT's 10 Years On Air anniversary party attended by President Vladimir Putin, then-Lieutenant General Michael Flynn of the United States and English politician Ken Livingstone.[15][10][19] In an interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox News in November 2017, Blumenthal defended RT against "the charge that it’s Kremlin propaganda."[10][20] He has also contributed on multiple occasions to Sputnik radio,[18][21] as well as to Iran's Press TV[22][23] and China's CGTN.[24] Blumenthal founded The Grayzone website a month after his visit to Moscow.[3] In an October 2019 article for New Politics magazine, Gilbert Achcar wrote that Blumenthal's Grayzone, along with the World Socialist Web Site, has "the habit of demonizing all left-wing critics of Putin and the likes of Assad by describing them as 'agents of imperialism' or some equivalent".[25]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Blumenthal

yes taking billion of dollars worth of war equipment in Ukrain and then run away and leave it for the Ukrain army is a strange tactic. Can’t see it working out. What did it get Putin ? 15,000 dead soldiers 7 dead Generals and a sheet of date roll worth more than a rupel. Great logical tactic. Can you explain how leaving more than a billion dollars of hardware and the lost of 7 generals and 15,000 dead Russian soldiers is a brilliant tactic ?

If Russian aims have genuinely become more modest, that’s got to be good news for everyone: the chances of a peace deal are now that much closer.

The problem is that the creation of such an impression would be a clever tactic to take pressure off the Russians for the moment, allowing a chance to regroup before launching a reinvigorated attack on the capital.

Hope that’s not the case….

Belarus is catching just much hell as Russia, by standing by Russian

A lot of propaganda from both sides and we the general public will not know the truth. Especially from the contested pro Russian sides within the Ukraine who could be easily using this as a cover to massacre Ukrainian civilians .

Borders, Language,Culture is a nail in the coffin of some countries

Hiro, where are you gonna hide, when Kim launch a missile near 35.7,139.7 destroying the heart of Tokyo Google 35.7,139.7

This is not helpful and just trash talk.

Not trash talk. You literally copy-pasted 3 paragraphs of an article written by an RT "journalist," and failed to attribute it as such.

posted on The Grayzone. Not RT, you’re being dishonest. But no matter, it’s been rabbit holed.

Was bombing of Mariupol theater staged by Ukrainian Azov extremists to trigger NATO intervention?

MAX BLUMENTHAL·MARCH 18, 2022

Just shut up with this BS disinformation already.

Wow, that’s nice. Care to research the information about the alleged Russian bombing of the Turkish mosque in Mariupol 3 days earlier that Turkey said never happened?

you do know that one of Putin’s best buddies, the leader of the Wagner terrorist group, has a nazi ‘ss’ tattoo, right ?

No. What's his name? I'll look it up.

Did we not just last week have the comment section arguing about Putin's offer to end the war if Ukraine gave up all claims to Crimea and the eastern regions and disarm remaining neutral.

Did we not have that exact conversation?

Was that not in several articles here and on mainstream western news!

So why all of a sudden is this a surprise?

Kremlin AKA Putin never said Kyiv was supposed to be included in the territory Russia was taking.

On the contrary Kyiv was to remain part of the Rump Ukraine after Russia took the eastern parts.

So please why are any of you acting like this is new information.?

U.S. said Russian forces appear to have halted, at least for now, their ground offensive aimed at capturing the capital, Kyiv, and are concentrating more on gaining control of the Donbas region in the country's southeast — a shift the Kremlin seemed to confirm.

What B.

As far as I could see Russia never really said it was planning on capturing Kyiv.

I pointed out in previous comments (most deleted by now) that The entire aimed by Russia was to open a corridor to the Crimea and take the Eastern side and that bombing Kyiv, etc... Was purely to soften up Ukraine so it will sign a deal giving away those regions and agreeing that the rump Ukraine would be demilitarized neutral zone and the kremlins or more precisely Putin peace demands have been exactly that.

Last week's article right here said that exact thing was said as being part of Russia's demand to stop the war.

What does RT say happened?

This is not helpful and just trash talk.

If they weren’t really trying to capture Kyiv, why were the first assaults of the war airborne landings aimed at capturing Kyiv’s airport?

Seriously you are asking a question that silly.

If you cannot understand that simple thing does it make a difference if I explain it!

I will try I will use simple explanation so people don't get lost.

Kyiv is the capital, it is where the government is, it is where the leadership is, the airport is how they get supplies, get in and out quickly, where they could also station jet fighters.

Any military action is to first take out valuable assets ( asset something that is of importance to the other side) of the enemy, Kyiv airport is on the top of the list along with fuel depose and military bases!

If you need an even simpler explanation let me know I will try!