A couple of things:
On Sunday I saw about 7 men being led to the bus with a man in military camos in the back. Asking about this, I learned that Ukraine rounds up men (between 20-40yo) at random and impresses them into the military.
Because of this, the man we are staying with refuses to drive into town for fear of being impressed.
@JohnT are you hearing a lot of Air Raid sirens at night? News of large scale air attacks is reported every day.
Russia is still pressing their offense hard. The number of casualties must be extreme.
Guardian blog July 16
No, we are about 3 hours west of Kiev. Kharkiv is 450 miles away to the east.
must be a tough spot to be in for a man 20-40 and not in army …
how are those men “read” by their environment? … as cowards? … is there any social pressure / reproach? …
IOW - i’d be interested more in the soft aspects of the news and current situation in UKR, stuff that normally doesn’t make it into the news …
Not speaking the language, I genuinely do not know what is being said. The imagery of the recruiting commercials is typical - brave men and women fighting, old people waving Ukrainian flags, martial music being played, and most of them have some bit from Zelenskyy.
I do not know about social pressure, sorry. And the man I’m staying with is 46yo, not in the 20-40 range mentioned earlier… but I don’t think the Army is going to care too much about the extra 6 years, honestly.
There’s an area of Ukraine named “New York”?
And with the impressed men… How is that handled? I mean, that guy was doing something else before that… Does his previous boss just find out when he doesn’t show up for work that day? Is there any attempt at coordination by the government to replace those workers in an orderly way?
Indeed:
Are these “business as usual”, or a new offensive?
I asked around and found out the process is that you are given a slip of paper with a date and time to report to the processing center. You are responsible for making all arrangements needed, and when you show up, you are given your health and fitness tests, other boxes are checked (age, children, marital status (for example, if you have kids and no wife you get deferred), stuff like that. If you get selected, you get a few more days to spend with loved ones, and then you’re off.
Went to Kiev and, frankly, not much to report. No air raids while we were there, and the place was quite lively as far as the economic scene goes - lots of people in restaurants, bunch of theater-going opportunities, etc. Our hosts said that it was very bad for the first year, but now that Russia isn’t threatening Kiev (except for missle attacks), and it’s 2 years later, people are living their lives again.
… on a personal note I liked Kiev more than I liked Prague…
Anyway, some pictures:
Recruiting station:
War memorial for casualties:
Maripoul (sp) defenders memorial:
(That curved building is the Ukrainian State department. We saw a number of embassies near there (missed the American one, though)).
(That’s St Michael’s Orthodox cathedral in the background.)
One last thing: Inna and I went to a number of historical sites and Ukrainian history appears to be a thousand-year war with Russia, so this (the war) is literally just another chapter in a very bloody book.
Oh… Inna heard a lot of Russian being spoken openly and without reservation, we went to a few bookstores where she confirmed that Russian literature is still being displayed and sold, so rumors of ‘Russian cultural oppression’ are… well, I don’t want to say they’re 100% false, but they are definitely overblown.
And that’s it for my travels in Ukraine. Will be glad to answer any questions, and if something comes to mind, I’ll report it here.
RE: The drone attack on the Tuapse oil refinery:
This is the third significant drone attack that’s been reported in the last few days; two other attacks hit the Morozovsk air base and the Millerovo air base, both in the Rostov region.
Tuapse is about 120 miles southeast of the Kerch bridge. The Morozovsk air base is about 180 miles due east of Donetsk, while the Millerovo air base is about 130 miles northeast of Donetsk.
According to Russia, each of the attacks were repelled successfully, but debris from the destroyed drones caused fires and damage. Unconfirmed reports and satellite imagery from the air base attacks seem to indicate damage to hangars and fuel storage areas. The Morozovsk air base has been hit at least twice before, in April and June.
Without any trace of irony, Russia says the attack on the Tuapse oil refinery is a terroristic act.
Piece in the Guardian today about their using prisoners to fight:
Maintenance is an important consideration for a war that may continue for several years. Repair facilities inside Ukraine would be targeted.
Link UK Government and defence industry stepping up support for Ukraine - GOV.UK
Similar article with more details.
Interesting piece in the Guardian today
While I’d like more details, this:
Shows a substantial demand for new troops in Russia. Although from what I recall from prior reporting in this thread, some of those offers (and the offers for payment for deaths and injuries) have been late in arriving, if at all.
A large mechanized assault was soundly defeated. Russia gambled big and lost.
How much armor did they lose?
Not going to watch it again, but ISTR about half. Plus most of the infantry.
ETA: 6 tanks, 7 APCs and all 12 motorcycles. Still hunting for surviving grunts.
Thank you