Speaking of all the drama over cluster munitions for Ukraine.
Let's resume this conversation when all those critics sitting in their comfortable air-conditioned offices somewhere in the West find themselves in a situation:
- when their nations have to fight an existential war against an adversary enjoying overwhelming supremacy in artillery and air power, with a far larger economy and population, with a totalitarian political regime that knows no bounds and is ready to spend any amount of cannon fodder, including suicidal convicts and mercenaries.
- when they see their own hometowns wiped off the earth along with their population and proudly proclaimed as "liberated"
- when their nations have to mobilize way over 1 million men and women to the military and to try and keep their shattered economy at least somewhat afloat while trying to stay as free and democratic as possible
- when they have to wake up in the dead of night due to missile and drone attacks and hope it's not about their neighborhood and their house right here and now, and when they realize this is not going to end until the war is over
- when they realize the ongoing war has inflicted major damage to their country's critical infrastructure and that it continues throwing the nation decades back in time
- when their military & political leadership has to spend endless months begging for weapons and assistance for their war effort, paying with the lives of their soldiers for every day in deliberations and risk management. Just to get at least something and go on saving the country.
- when their militaries have to break through one of the hardest systems of ground fortification in modern history, having to use as little as they managed to get, losing soldiers and vehicles due to a dire lack of air support and endless minefields the enemy had so much time to prepare
- when they all realize that their military has come so far against all the odds, but if it ultimately fails, their nations are absolutely done, they will all highly likely find themselves in pits with bullets in the back of their heads.
Now THEN I'd be very interested if they think their militaries need cluster munitions to go on fighting.
And speaking of civilian safety -- the Ukrainian military in this war has repeatedly proven to be generally careful and discriminate when it comes to the use of weapons -- well, to the extent possible in such a high-intensity war.
Especially in contrast with the bloodbath that Russia commits in this country on a daily basis.
So, dear ladies and gentlemen, I am very curious about why certain organizations overtly accuse Ukraine of putting civilians in war zones in jeopardy with cluster munitions before Ukraine even gets these munitions.
This is Dmytro Skobel. He was only 18 when Russian terrorists killed him in a ballistic missile strike on the Kyiv region on July 24. He was a student and had his entire life ahead of him...🕯
In Wrocław, Poles brutally beat a Ukrainian couple because of their accent. A group of three men attacked the guy and his girlfriend. They struck the girl several times as she tried to stop the fight. Nearby passersby offered no help and simply watched the violence. Eventually, after committing the crime, the scoundrels scattered or calmly drove away in their cars.
PAC-2 and PAC-3 are not offensive missiles. We found money in Europe to purchase them from the United States, but still we don’t have enough of these missiles. This is a problem, as there have not been enough sanctions on Russia’s military production, and they can ramp up the production of ballistic missiles. That’s why we need air defense as quickly as possible. There is a deficit because of the situation in the Middle East. I try to manage this with the Europeans, the Americans, and some other countries.
Ukraine’s domestic production allows us to down drones and many other things, but we can’t shoot down ballistic missiles. Of course, we are on the way to making a European anti-ballistic air defense system. But this requires time. President Trump approved granting Ukraine licenses for Patriot missile production. But it’s not that we made a decision and filled our storage facilities with hundreds of these interceptors. It doesn’t work that way.
We in Ukraine can work very quickly. From the first years of this war, I was reaching out to the Americans and the Europeans asking for licenses. Not in perpetuity, only for the duration of this war. We will increase the production, and we will share it. We will not sell it to anyone else – only for Ukraine’s needs and for our partners if they need it. Like, who knew about the Middle East? This is like an example.
From an interview with Sky News (2/3).
Putin is not ready to stop this war. Our intelligence reports that he is preparing for mobilization. He wants to do it after his elections to the Duma on September 21. He wants to increase mobilization. Not openly, because he is afraid of his society, but he will do it at the beginning of October, if we don’t cause him problems with logistics, weapons, petrol, diesel, and if our partners don’t impose total sanctions for his aggression.
It will be a big problem because he will aim to mobilize from 300,000 to 500,000 people. It's not that difficult for him to mobilize this number. He will have internal questions about it, because his society is – and I saw the polls – against mobilization. A significant percentage is also against the war, but still they support Putin. He won’t be able to train these people quickly. It means, again, that he will throw poorly trained people on the battlefield. This, in turn, means a lot of losses.
From an interview with Sky News (1/3).
💔 Ten years old.
Killed by russia in Chernihiv.
What did she do to deserve this?
What did she believe in—other than growing up?
Her only crime was being a Ukrainian child.
We will never hate russia enough.
Shocking journalistic malpractice by ABC News. Not only are they repeating unverified and dubious Russian claims as fact, they're even using a picture of the aftermath of a RUSSIAN strike on a Ukrainian civilian target to illustrate this "story".
Russia has attacked a busy supermarket in the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, killing at least two people, including a 10-year-old child.
The strike was carried out in broad daylight on a Sunday afternoon, when the store was filled with civilians.
russian forces attacked a supermarket during the day. At least 2 people were killed in the strike, including a 10-year-old child. 4 others were injured, with one person in critical condition.
russia once again deliberately targets civilians. Help protect Ukrainian lives: https://t.co/NJNUAIL9f2
A Russian drone has hit a supermarket in Chernihiv, and a 10-year-old was among those killed
The drone came down on an ATB grocery store in Chernihiv's ZAZ neighborhood, in northern Ukraine, on the afternoon of 26 July. The strike killed two people — one of them a 10-year-old child — and wounded seven others, one now in serious condition. Dmytro Bryzhynskyi, who heads the Chernihiv City Military Administration, tracked the toll as it climbed through the afternoon. Earlier the same day, a separate Russian strike set fire to the roof of a local business, though no one was hurt in that attack, Suspilne reported.
📷 Suspilne
The Russians continue claiming "victory" over ordinary civilian sites. In a deeply cynical drone strike on an ordinary supermarket in Chernihiv, they targeted people directly with no military purpose whatsoever. As of now, thirteen people have been reported injured. Tragically, two people were killed. One of them was a child. My condolences to their families and loved ones. All the necessary emergency services are at the site, helping people.
Zaporizhzhia was also struck with guided aerial bombs. One person was killed, and another was injured. My condolences to their loved ones.
This is deliberate Russian terror with absolutely no military justification. Stronger sanctions against Russia are needed, along with greater support for Ukraine, more means to protect our skies, and greater capabilities for our warriors.
Shocking footage of a Russian missile strike on ordinary houses in Kharkiv this morning‼️
The strike destroyed a home and killed a woman who was inside....
Russians are furious that warehouses are burning & daily life is getting harder.
The war they enjoyed watching on TV is arriving in real life.
There is a very simple way to stop it: leave Ukraine.
Kherson resident Kateryna showed how she has to move around the city - under trees, always watching out for drones and praying.
People in Kherson don't go outside without an urgent need.
Russia is trying to make Kherson uninhabitable.
📹: ekaterina_feniks7/Instagram
This was Danylo Romanenko.
He was 21 years old.
Killed yesterday by a russian guided bomb in the village of Lezhyne, Zaporizhzhia region.
His only crime was being Ukrainian.
💬 "Peace doesn't come when country which was invaded stops fighting. That's not peace. That's occupation," says Ukrainian Nobel laurate Oleksandra Matviichuk.
The russian hypocrisy is breathtaking.
Wildberries CEO Tatyana Kim calls Ukraine's strike on Wildberries "an act of international terrorism."
Meanwhile, since the start of its full-scale invasion, russia has attacked or damaged more than 400 Nova Poshta facilities — Ukraine's largest postal and logistics network. That's just one Ukrainian delivery company.
Dozens of Nova Poshta employees have been killed or injured in russian strikes while simply doing their jobs.
For years, russia has deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure.
The last people on Earth who get to lecture anyone about terrorism are russians.
Russian forces have again deliberately struck a residential area of Zaporizhzhia with guided aerial bombs. Early reports indicate civilian casualties.
The attack comes after June became the deadliest month for civilians since April 2022, according to the UN, underlining the continued pattern of strikes on populated areas.