From the standpoint of civilians attempting to simply survive there may not be much difference on the ground. Or in the basement. Or wherever they attempt to hide.
I wouldn’t bet on that. Some would say deadly apartment bombings are right in Putin’s wheelhouse. Wiki article, in particular, this section.
They would come under the category of anti-Putin dissidents.
Here’s something I posted over a month ago:
I’ve read of other cases too.
Yes, that’s possible.
The first drone appeared to hit its target - the top of the dome near the flag - and partially set alight the roof.
Why wouldn’t a confederate of whomever was controlling the drone be ready to film it?
Re the drone shoot-down, Russian news coverage on day two is less intense than I expected – it is no longer the top story. But it is still being milked. This is from a popular news channel web site, google-translated:
The West called the drone attack on the Kremlin “strange” and "mysterious
Pravda is highlighting a supposed prediction’s of Zelensky demise:
Here is the lead sentence of an Investia article:
Relations between Russia and the United States are on the verge of an open armed conflict.
This reminds me of the Communism-era quip that there’s no Pravda (in English, Truth) in Investia (News), and no Investia in Pravda.
I took it as a renewed Russian missile/shelling assault against Kherson, rather than a ground attack.
That said, if the Russians had any smarts (and capacity) they ought to be launching spoiling attacks before the main Ukrainian attack goes in, wherever that may be.
Prigozhin announces a date of May 10th for Wagner forces to withdraw from Bakhmut. He cites ammunition shortage as the reason.
That’s certainly possible as well. I’m just saying that the answer to “what are the odds a by-stander happened to see this happen?!” is “probably as close to 100% as possible”. It being filmed just is not evidence for or against it being a false flag, an enemy attack, a Russian dissident group, a teenager with easy access to fireworks, or any other scenario.
I have to admit they’re endured incredible losses. Forcing troops to charge into enemy fire is rare these days. The cost in lives is unimaginable.
Strong words from Yevgeny Prigozhin. He better avoid standing near any windows.
Link Wagner chief rages at Russia’s generals and threatens Bakhmut pullout | Russia | The Guardian
Hey, I just found some footage of Wagner soldiers on the front lines just now!
Ukraine has been making a concerted effort to inflict disproportionate losses on Russia’s most capable forces. Around Bakhmut that was Wagner PMC. Looks like they’ve succeeded. Prigozhin is whining about how the MoD has been depriving them of ammunition, but it looks like Ukraine has been doing its darndest to help things along
My guess is he’s saying it for propaganda purposes as a way of hedging. If the Ukrainian offensive goes towards Zaporazhia or some other place, he can claim that they got the ammo they needed so they aren’t going to withdraw / retreat after all. On the other hand if the offensive is towards Bakhmut, he can claim he wasn’t retreating due to cowardice in the face of a superior opponent, but rather being forced to withdraw due to lack of support.
I would beleive nothing that comes out of Russia at this point. I would suspect it is all misinformation designed to hopefully confuse the upcoming Ukrainian offensive. The Wagnor group could just as easily be repositioning themselves for an offensive somewhere else while regular army troops come in to fill there place and hold the line.
You can tell that they are lying because their lips are moving.
Concerning the recent Kremlin drone attack, I thought Anders Nielsen’s recent 5-minute video ‘How to spot a Russian false flag operation’ made good arguments against it being a false flag operation.
How to spot a Russian false flag operation - YouTube
In brief, the video quality of the attack is too good, and what you see is too ambiguous. Also, when Russians have pulled false flag attacks before they’ve supported it with lots of reporting and analysis from multiple state controlled media outlets, whereas, the state media in this case seems to have simply acknowledged the event and is quickly moving on. They’re treating the event the way they typically treat bad news.
Weird that the Elite Russian troops are mercs.
Putin planned the invasion for a long time. He didn’t just become irrational and act impulsively
Link We knew in 2011 Putin would attack Ukraine, says Bill Clinton | Vladimir Putin | The Guardian
He said ‘capable’, not ‘elite’.
In this theater, any Russian formation showing the slightest hint of competence is hugely elite, relatively speaking.
I’m not even sure I’d classify the Wagner formations as competent. The success they have achieved, and they have been more successful than most regular army formations, has been at the expense of extreme indifference to casualties in their prisoner recruits, to the point of shooting people who retreat, etc. Is that competence? It has achieved some slight forward progress, at horrific costs, but requires stupid levels of artillery to get even those results, which is of course the source of Prigozhin’s recent ranting. If you can make forward progress at ruinous cost, that makes you capable in a certain sense, but if the cost is greater than the gains made then it’s not really competent.
“Another such victory over the Romans and we shall be utterly ruined.” - Pyrrhus of Epirus, 279BC
Stalinesque competence. “Quantity has a quality all its own.”
AKA Brute force and stupidity.