Well yes, when intending to be greeted as a liberator it really helps to actually be liberating someone.
I think you could ask people whether water is good for you, yes or no, and have a hard time getting those results.
I’m impressed with the 2% of the people who told someone with a gun ‘no, I want to stay in Ukraine’. And also somewhat impressed with the person who actually tabulated that vote.
The two to three percent ‘No’ portion is obviously baked in to make the vote look more realistic. “See: a liar would’ve put an even 100 % there.” It kinda works, too, if you are dealing with pre-schoolers or some other higher mammals.
Not at gunpoint.
There wasn’t any tabulation.
What amuses me is that the Russians think that 98% is the “correct” overwhelming majority vote to broadcast as propaganda. It’s either meant purely for internal consumption or they’re utterly clueless about western democracies, although I guess ‘both’ is also a strong possibility.
It seems a bit much to think that three different pipelines (North Stream 1 has two pipes) should develop leaks spontaneously and in the same area. Probably sabotage.
Yeah, it seems that seismic stations registered an explosion near them:
That’s what I felt when they announced a similar percentage in the Crimea referendum. I’m not sure that the Crimea vote wouldn’t have passed if there were a completely fair and well-attended election, but even given the election boycott and not wanting to be intimidated at the polls, 98% is still way too high even for Crimea which contained a lot of Russian speakers. But 98% in the more firmly Ukrainian regions is just nuts.
They’re also killing it on the propaganda side, taunting the Russians, supporting Ukrainians, and marshaling support from other countries. Russia’s ham-handed pronouncements are only taken seriously by those with a vested interest in believing Russia. With Ukraine, even if you think they might be bullshitting a little, it’s so well done you’re willing to give them a pass on the bullshit, because they’re taunting the Russians so well.
Ukraine’s audience for its propaganda is the west, Russia’s audience is internal - and I think that affects the output significantly. Although clearly the Ukrainians are quite brilliant at it.
Ukrainian counts of Russian casualties have to tread a fine line between raising their own side’s morale and sending the message to the west that Ukraine can win but needs more help. Russia just wants to make it look like they are winning to be able to justify starting the war in the first place.
Ukraine also knows that a western audience will not respond well to things that may break international law or the Geneva Convention. Russia must be aggressor here and it needs to be good vs bad. Hence things like Ukraine’s Geneva-compliant guide to Russian soldiers about how to surrender.
Russians Outflanked-On & Off the Battlefield!! Ukraine Daily Update 27 September 2022 - YouTube
A blogger I follow does a fair job explaining how Russian forces in Lyman are now ‘operationally encircled’. Basically they’re surrounded on three sides by Ukrainian forces and the remaining uncaptured road leading to Lyman that supplies can still (theoretically) get through are well within range of and covered by Ukr. artillery fire. It is a crying shame that the weather in the region looks to rain every day for at least the next week, thereby turning the ground into a quagmire, preventing Ukr from completely surrounding the Lyman pocket. High river levels may also jeopardize the pontoon bridges that Ukr is using for their lines of communication. Damn this weather. They’ve got the Russians where they want them now.
That’s some casus belli – 'Cause we would win.
Unfortunately, there are a number of small roads crossing the reservoir.
yep, def. best-in-class war propaganda ever… on a purely “technical” level, they out-propaganda even the Nazis … but with lots of wit, humor, human-interest and local colorite …(tractor brigade, russian warship…)
what I find surprising - that all started pretty much “from scratch” - or at least it gives you the sensation that a lot is genuinely grassroots (as opposed to being orchestrated by a corporate PR enterprise) … with “Russian soldier vs. glass door” and “5 russian soldiers fully armed in an elevator who gets shut down” as personal favourites 
I loved the videos of “We captured this Russian Soldier, and made him call his mother so he could tell her what a bad boy he’s been.”
if anything - they sometimes do such a fine job that I go there for “entertainment value” … which is clearly wrong - after all its a real war and 10s of 1000s of people are dead or maimed for life
especially the drone-drops-explosive-$hit stuff is really trainwreck material for me … I dont want to look but I am surely rubbernecking
Although it looks like Ukrainian forces may be attempting to do the cutting off to the west of the reservoir.
From Russian milblogger Rybar’s Telegram, via Google Translate:
“Crest” is how Google translates khokhol, Russia’s ethnic slur for Ukrainians, based on their traditional haircut.