Quote (kusotarre1 @ Sep 12 2022 01:33pm)

Russia's forces in Ukraine are entirely contract soldiers and mercenaries. There are also the militias of the breakaway republics, but they aren't Russian nationals. Russia hasn't mobilized any reserve forces, that is simply a fact.


This is so obviously false. Ukrainians have had running water, sewage and electricity for the entire 6.5 months of this conflict, despite Russia having the ability to hit anything they want, anytime they want, anywhere in Ukraine. Can you answer: Why is this the case if Russia is targeting civilians?

Months ago, when they wanted to knock out rail lines, they didn't even bomb the power plants that provide them electricity, they hit the substations that direct power to the rail lines. That's what makes the previous days' striking of power plants an escalation - they've never done it before.

The reason this matters is because I do think that people as ignorant as you seem perfectly capable of rising up through the ranks of Western society, getting into powerful executive, legislative and media institutions, where your delusional beliefs actually affect policy. If you believe these things, then you fundamentally misunderstand the room Russia has to escalate the situation into what an actual war looks like. Just look at what America did to Iraq, for example. In the first days, all water and electricity was knocked out, starting a series of events that killed hundreds of thousands of civilians. Blockading cities, letting women and children under 15 leave, then "turning them into dust" as you say. That's what a brutal war that targets civilians looks like, not whatever this Ukraine situation is.

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As thousands of Russian troops pulled back, leaving behind ammunition and equipment, Russia fired missiles at power stations on Sunday causing blackouts in the Kharkiv and adjacent Poltava and Sumy regions.

Ukraine denounced the strikes as retaliation against civilian targets for Russia's military setbacks.

On Monday, Russian strikes again disrupted power and water supply in Kharkiv itself, killing at least one person, its mayor said. Moscow, which denies targeting civilians, did not comment, while the White House condemned its strikes on critical infrastructure and pledged its continued support for Kyiv.

Quote (Djunior @ Sep 12 2022 01:31pm)

Ask the UN if Ukraine is using civilian infrastructure to their advantage (positioning troops and material) and endangers it's citizens.

Quote (NetflixAdaptationWidow @ Sep 12 2022 08:42pm)

Please cite with primary sources from the UN

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Ukrainian forces have put civilians in harm’s way by establishing bases and operating weapons systems in populated residential areas, including in schools and hospitals, as they repelled the Russian invasion that began in February, Amnesty International said today.

Such tactics violate international humanitarian law and endanger civilians, as they turn civilian objects into military targets. The ensuing Russian strikes in populated areas have killed civilians and destroyed civilian infrastructure.

Quote (Santara @ Sep 12 2022 11:42am)

Quote (Djunior @ Sep 12 2022 01:54pm)

I had to look it up, it's amnesty international not UN and the report was swept under the rug almost as fast as the Hunter Biden laptop story.

But here you go: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/08/ukraine-ukrainian-fighting-tactics-endanger-civilians/

Quote (NetflixAdaptationWidow @ Sep 12 2022 08:58pm)

I'm familiar with this story. It is not credible. They didn't even consult Ukraine's branch of Amnesty International before publishing the story. It was an incredibly sloppy piece of journalism.

Quote (kusotarre1 @ Sep 12 2022 01:54pm)

Yes, they are just now, 6.5 months in, escalating to infrastructure strikes. Will you people see this as the warning it is, or retcon it into your delusional belief that Russia has always been doing this?

Probably the latter.

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Russia effectively is using the plant at Zaporizhzhia as a pre-positioned nuclear weapon to threaten and intimidate not only Ukrainians but millions of Europeans across a dozen countries.

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Russian military hackers attempted to knock out power to millions of Ukrainians last week in a long-planned attack but were foiled, Ukrainian government officials said Tuesday.

At one targeted high-voltage power station, the hackers succeeded in penetrating and disrupting part of the industrial control system, but people defending the station were able to prevent electrical outages, the Ukrainians said.

“The threat was serious, but it was prevented in a timely manner,” a top Ukrainian cybersecurity official, Victor Zhora, told reporters through an interpreter. “It looks that we were very lucky.”

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Wednesday’s attack in Chaplyne, a small village in southeastern Ukraine, was one of the deadliest in months on the country’s extensive railway system. In the nearly six months since Russia invaded Ukraine, The Associated Press and FRONTLINE have independently verified 39 attacks on civilian infrastructure that could be considered war crimes.

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The hacking incident coincided with Russian shelling this week of a DTEK-owned thermal power plant in Kryvyi Rih, in central Ukraine, according to DTEK, whose websites says it employs 56,000 people.

Quote (Djunior @ Sep 12 2022 02:03pm)

Amnesty is no longer credible when the "progressives" don't like the outcome of a report. This is gold.

Really shows what a tool you are :rofl: