Milopotamus

World power politics. Economic interests and technological developments are the root cause of change.

[Milopotamus @Xifidion]

Check out INFORMM's video! #TikTok https://t.co/slrQcACBhq

[Milopotamus @Xifidion]

Check out globalranker's video! #TikTok https://t.co/4ND6a2f6vH

[Milopotamus @Xifidion]

Τι είναι Ουκρανία;

[Milopotamus @Xifidion]

◾An Israeli occupation soldier made a romantic video to wish Happy birthday to his wife. His present? He's blowing up civilian homes in Gaza to celebrate it.

[Milopotamus @Xifidion]

Lancet with thermal Camara destroy FH-70 in South Donetsk directio

[Milopotamus @Xifidion]

🏹 Russian hunters of 58 obSpN continue to destroy Ukrainian infantry in Bakhmut directio

[Milopotamus @Xifidion]

Kh-101 deploying flares on its way to Lvov.

[Milopotamus @Xifidion]

Lancet of the 40th Separate Guards destroy a Ukrainian BM-21 Grad in South Donetsk direction.

[nguyen van tuan @Vantuan118]

Ukraine is a perfect excuse. 1. NATO needs a strategic combatant to survive and this war creates Russia and fear of Russia. 2- NATO and the US need to liquidate obsolete weapons warehouses to promote their defense industry (Arms aid to Ukraine is not free). 3- America has always been rich thanks to war, so America always needs war.

[Armchair Warlord @ArmchairW]

So a large part of the stated justification for NATO supporting Ukraine is the supposed belief that "the West is next" - that Ukraine is merely the first domino to fall in a new Russian march to Berlin.

It's very odd then that the actual members of NATO aren't acting like it.

Over the last two years, Western nations - in particular European nations - have done little to nothing to actually prepare for war with Russia. By and large they have all happily handed over their existing, modest stocks of military equipment and ammunition to Ukraine with no serious replacement plans, let alone genuine rearmament plans. Just to provide an example: with the sole exception of Poland, I don't think any member of NATO - including the United States - has actually taken delivery of a single new tank on account of the war in the last two years.

* Hungary received a few Leopard 2A7s from a prewar order earlier this month.

Military innovation in NATO has stagnated, with professional Western soldiers seeming to take little interest in battlefield developments. Ukrainian soldiers trained in Europe have complained that Western tactical methods are old-fashioned and unrealistic on the modern battlefield, even to the point of mockery. The "just go around the minefield" remark of a Bundeswehr instructor comes to mind.

On the personnel side of the house, only known military titans (sarcasm) Denmark, Lithuania and Latvia have bolstered conscription efforts. The British military has shrunk significantly, mirroring a similar decline in American force strength. None of this is treated as the dire emergency that it would be if NATO actually intended to be ready for war with the Russian Federation in 2025.

So what are we to make of this? It's possible that NATO's brain trust is absolutely marinating in hubris ("the Russians suck, we can take them easily"), but in light of articles coming out that the Bundeswehr has no ammunition at all it's difficult to see Western arrogance stretching that far. I think it's far more likely that Western leaders - contrary to their public statements - do not believe Putin has any designs at all on NATO territory.

And it's important to underline this last point. This isn't, "Putin has been deterred" because they're not deterring anyone. Once Ukraine falls over Europe is going to be a military basket case protected almost entirely by the dubious prospect of American nuclear attacks. It's "Putin isn't going to move regardless of the balance of forces."

Which then begs the question of why the hell, exactly, the collective leaders of the West have gone all in on a Russian-killing project in Ukraine when they seem to have a bone-deep confidence that Putin isn't actually a threat to them.

[Milopotamus @Xifidion]

Israeli soldiers shot dead pregnant women carrying white flags. They were on their way to Al-Awda Hospital to give birth. After killing them, Israeli forces ran over their bodies with bulldozers.

[Milopotamus @Xifidion]

@anthonyfarrell0 @MyLordBebo Would you rather piss on your couch?

[Milopotamus @Xifidion]

Lancet with thermal Camera by 336th separate marine brigade destroy a Ukrainian tank.

[Ryan Dawson @RyLiberty]

Perfect

[Jackson Hinkle 🇺🇸 @jacksonhinkle]

🚨🇮🇱 Imagine if ISRAEL MURDERED your 5 month old baby, then their online propagandists posted videos of the corpse claiming it’s a doll.

[Armchair Warlord @ArmchairW]

Significant developments in Ukraine today suggesting the Ukrainian position in front of Donetsk City - the single most stubbornly held line in the entire war - is crumbling.

Specifically, the Russians finally took Maryinka and Avdeevka is looking increasingly untenable.⬇️

These two towns served as the southern and northern anchors (respectively) of the Ukrainian front line west of Donetsk and were built into fortresses in the years since 2014. Tunnel networks, reinforced concrete bunkers, etc. These were the jumping-off points by which the Ukrainians planned to storm Donetsk had Putin blinked in February 2022. As things turned out he did not, and the would-be AFU assault troops dug in to defend instead. And defend they did - these positions have held out for close to two years of combat.

First the news out of Maryinka, southwest of Donetsk. This town has been fought over since the start of the war in February 2022, with the Russians grinding forward in fits and starts and the Ukrainians flooding in troops to hold them back. As of the start of the Hundred Days Counteroffensive last spring, the front line had stabilized with about 80% of the town owned by Russia, and it stayed there for months.

Yesterday, the Russians launched an attack and evicted the Ukrainians from the remainder of the town so quickly and anticlimactically that some sources reported the AFU had actually conducted a wildly out-of-character withdrawal - and others were skeptical they'd made such a dramatic advance despite a Russian flag raised at the western edge of town. This opens the way for further advances west and will help to finally end Ukrainian shelling of western Donetsk City.

At the same time, Russian forces pushed forward in Avdeevka. Most significantly, they pushed their front-line positions west of town level with the village of Severne. This in turn places them only a few hundred meters from positions in which they will be able to place close-range direct fire on the only remaining Ukrainian supply route and cut off the garrison.

They did this despite the commitment of yet another new Ukrainian brigade to the battle in the last week, which managed to slow Russian gains in what had previously been the most threatening sector to the north. At this point the Ukrainian position in Avdeevka has gone from dire to untenable, as a single committed Russian attack could simply encircle the town altogether and it's unclear what the Ukrainians have left to stop them with. The garrison may begin withdrawing soon - with or without orders.

[Military Summary @MilitarySummary]

#UkraineRussiaWar️️️️
In two days of fighting, the Russians took control of three settlements: Marinka, Timkovka and Khromove. The Ukrainian Armed Forces cannot withstand the pressure and begin to retreat along the entire line of combat contact.

PREMIERE: 11:30 PM GMT +3

YT: https://t.co/a1SktkLlXJ

RUMBLE: https://t.co/szpJMmeyGY

ODYSEE: https://t.co/MlbBY69bV1