I dunno. So much of this linguistic nationalism seems like it’s been a justification for making history seem less messy.
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Eh? I’m not sure what you mean.
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Ukraine will defend its eastern front from higher ground in the city of Lysychansk after withdrawing from a Russian onslaught in its sister city and Kyiv will try to stabilise the situation, Ukraine’s military spy chief said on Saturday.
Reuters reports:
Russia has been replenishing forces with reservists as part of a covert mobilisation and it is pointless to hope Moscow will simply run out of troops in this war, Kyrylo Budanov told Reuters.
The 36-year-old head of the Defence Ministry’s shadowy Main Directorate of Intelligence spoke in a rare interview in Kyiv hours before Russia claimed full control of the city of Sievierodonetsk where Ukrainian forces had been bombarded for weeks.
Russia used the tactic “it used in Mariupol: wiping the city from the face of the earth. Given the conditions, holding the defence in the ruins and open fields is no longer possible. So the Ukrainian forces are leaving for higher ground to continue the defence operations,” he said.
The only way path to victory for Ukraine, he said, was through sheer military force in order to retake all its territory.
“The strategy is very simple. Stabilise the situation. Receive the required amount of equipment and prepare the required amount of forces and means to start the counter-offensive to return all our territory,” he said.
He said he was calm about the possibility of Russia eventually openly announcing a mobilisation as it would mean Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin facing awkward questions at home.
“They really fear this - this is the main reason why the mobilisation is happening in a hidden way, particular by using,” reservists, he said.
“The military units that took part on Feb. 24 and those same military units now are in most cases on their second and in some cases even their third group of personnel,” he said.
Moscow has so far stopped short of calling a general military mobilization in what it calls a special military operation in Ukraine.
Budanov said any counteroffensive would hinge on various factors including having a well-equipped concentration of forces, which would depend on Ukraine getting help from foreign partners.
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Consider a hypothetical country in Europe. You try to make a map of the preferred languages. Instead of a neat demarcation, you end up with enclaves aplenty.
Why? Well this section was once part of this country. This section is filled with refugees from this other country. This section had a dispute with the administrator sent from the capital, so they code switched to another language that the administrator didn’t speak. This section is in a border area, and the border area is somewhat fluid due to trade. This section has a lot of religious dissenters. And on and on.
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Yes. That I understand. I don’t understand your claim/point that:
So much of this linguistic nationalism seems like it’s been a justification for making history seem less messy.
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The current population of Kaliningrad aren’t especially Lithuanian, or Polish or German. The original german residents were forcibly deported to various other states, including Kazakhstan. After their descendants were were allowed freedom of movement, they emigrated to Germany proper-- instead of going back to east Prussia-- which by then had been remade into a state emblematic of Brezhnev’s charisma. All the familiar architecture was bombed and then destroyed, the language and culture replaced with something more Soviet, etc.
So restoring Konigsberg and unwinding history would require a new round of mass deportations, etc etc. It would be messy.
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“'Cause you had a bad day
You’re taking one down
You launch a missile, just to see it turn 'round”
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Russia wants it for a port. It is sorta like how the US keeps a hold of Guantanamo Bay, though they don’t really have a legit claim to it.
They made treaties with Lithuania for freedom of movement of goods via rail from Russia to Kaliningrad, and just recently Lithuania blocked that rail access - at least for some goods.
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Molòn labé?
The same reason Gibraltar belongs to the UK?
There it is
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I’ve seen insides of 9M33M3 missile and dissasembled parts of it, and I’m still not sure what could make it behave this way. Maybe faulty gyroscope?
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Bad gyro would be my assumption. The launch motor pushes it out of the tube fine, then when the main motor kicks in and guidance starts it goes wrong. A stuck fin would cause corkscrewing and a fin that is operating incorrectly would cause fish-tailing.
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Applying more pressure as G7 meets
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“Russia ‘pressures’ G7 members by proving that war is a political act and demonstrating that unity and support for Ukraine are still needed.”
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See also: Russia reminding the West that they are the bad guys by actively trying to worsen the global food crisis their invasion caused.
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The strike on Starychi district in Lviv was just 30km (19 miles) from the border with Nato member Poland.
Can they get any closer to the border without risking the missile landing on the other side?
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I’m not one to body shame but holy cow I didn’t think they made combat fatigues in that size.
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