If it’s meant as a threat the details don’t matter.
After Nebenzya spoke, Albania, the US and France have voiced alarm that the allegations may be an advance cover story for Russian plans to unleash chemical or biological weapons.
10 Likes
While that’s a pretty classic take. It’s a little bit rooted in modern western/NATO structures where Junior officers through NCOs have significant independence for the sake of speed and flexibility.
The Russians seem to be pretty bad at that. And apparently their ranks aren’t quite structured that way. @anon87143080 seems to have some specifics.
But from what I can tell the Russian Major General rank sits at the bottom of general staff, and act a bit more like an American Lt. Colonel.
Which is what my dad did, way more recently than the cold war. I think it was maybe 10 years back he retired.
So very much the top of that middle tier structure. In charge of whole units/groups. Coordinating the execution thing. Deployed in theater, but not to combat. Mostly concerned with logistics, and the “how” part.
Those kind of officers having to head to the front to do their job is a ril bad sign. And them getting killed basically neuters whole actions and big chunks of troops.
The officer who was killed waving his arms at the head of the Kyev convoy was purportedly there to try and get the front of the column fueled and moving.
7 Likes
So glad I just watched the fantastic movie Russian Ark again, before it too gets noticed and retracted.
These reflexive retractions of anything “Russian” are as stupid as Freedom Fries.
25 Likes
True, it’s often projection. That detail just struck me as as so ridiculous as to undermine the entire claim about Ukraine.
10 Likes
Good info and takes.
Thinking back on that professor, he was also the one who claimed the most effective officers in a military are the ones in the sweet spot of having the most responsibility, while ALSO being in the most danger of being killed in combat. His example was army Majors during Desert Storm.
3 Likes
It is ridiculous.
Russia has, for a long time, done this shotgun of bullshit and propaganda and it becomes super hard to counter all of it, and then those lies stick. Basically weaponized gishgallop.
Though, truth being stranger than fiction, Saint Olga of Kiev was said to have burned down a whole city by having the citizens pay tribute with a sparrow or pigeon from their house. She then released them back with smouldering sulfur tied with cloth. They went back to their nests and set all these houses on fire and burned the city down 
8 Likes
Yeeeaaah. What little interest in that stuff I have. That’s a common super butch American military “lead from the front” thing.
Actual people I know who’ve actually been to war, along with historians and real experts it’s all logistics logistics logistics. Seem to be more concerned with those high-mid tier officers who get you food. And then the NCOs who are actually controlling things on the ground.
But for the US structure. Major is one step behind Lt. Colonel. And for every Major you’d have on the ground in a combat role. You probably had 12 finding bullets. Hell my Aunt was a Major through much of Iraq II Electric Boogaloo, her job was payroll.
Dad’s biggest war story from deployment in Iraq was about an emergency lunch meeting with David Petraeus to find spare engines for a couple of tanker aircraft. Just some guy from an Air Guard search and rescue group was important enough that the General in charge of that whole war met with him over sourcing parts. Because some major thing hinged on having their mid air refueling capacity flying over Bagdad.
I think it’s telling that dad was in command of the maintenance wing of the group, but whenever they deployed it was always some one from that maintenance wing who was in command of the full group.
I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. I think it speaks to exactly how the Russians have fucked up so bad here.
11 Likes
I wonder if this wouldn’t be effective on the mercenaries Russia appears to be hiring. Once it’s known you’re in it for the money, the only thing left is haggling over the price.
12 Likes
8 Likes
I think a lot of those mercenaries are fairly ideological.
I don’t see the Wagner group switching sides for a bit more money.
4 Likes
10 Likes
And then I read this.
Like I need more nightmare fuel. Although, I’m not sure this is any worse than the threat to blow up Chernobyl, so I guess there is that?
18 Likes
So load up the incinerator?
5 Likes
I am prepared to wager that Lukashenko was told about this in advance (I hesitate to say ‘consulted’) and ‘agreed’, so it would give him an excuse to get stuck in (he didn’t need one, personally, and would be a dead man walking if he disagreed, but he needed to be able to tell the West to go fuck themselves, because ‘Ukraine is attacking me’)
I guess we may be about to discover if the Belarussian army is any less corrupt/incompetent than the Russians. Let’s hope not.
10 Likes
There have been claims that Belarusian soldiers are deserting in large numbers to avoid fighting in Ukraine.
11 Likes
A poignant (and uplifting) message from a Ukrainian author (highly recommend his books)
And in other worrying news
11 Likes
“and was in Bucharest shortly afterwards when Romanian President Nicolae Ceaușescu was deposed.”
Wow, that’s an interesting way to put it.
14 Likes
13 Likes
8 Likes
3 Likes
