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In the General/Chat forum, on a thread titled US/EU $50B Rus Asset Ukr Loan Plan Fails; Ukr Officers Flee Vuhledar; Rus Encircles Ukr Troops Kursk (My notes on 1 hr 30 min video), alexander_busek wrote:
Right now I’m watching clips of the Toropets ammo facility burn. 2.5+ on the Richter scale!
I'm glad to learn that the thousands of Russian civilians in nearby towns and villages were evacuated, thus minimizing the danger to innocents. Supposedly, 30 kilotons in conventional explosives have gone up in smoke. The facility, itself, has been destroyed beyond repair. This is a serious blow to the Russian war-machine.
Who but a Russian Putin operative, agent, or at least sympathizer would lament this?
Regards,
I don't care if ammo dumps burn. People like me who know that the Ukraine is losing the war anyway may at least wonder 'why bother?' I guess, Ukrainian ego? "Yes, we lost the war, but we DID blow up that ammo dump." Is it very important PR because Zelensky is going to New York to present his 'plan for victory' and he needs this photo op of a burning ammo dump?
Maybe for the soldiers, it's all the sacrifices of lives and limbs made, so many attempts thwarted, so that it feels cathartic to at least get to watch the flames?
In the article I posted as the OP, Mercouris points out that the Ukrainian soldiers trapped in a coal mine, surrounded by Russians, should be allowed to surrender - it's the humane, intelligent thing to do. They can then be traded back to Ukraine in the routine prisoner exchanges they have. Mercouris doesn't think the Ukraine will allow it - once again, people like me wonder 'why bother' refusing to let those men surrender? Why waste lives? Ukrainian pride/ego? The need for public relations? Is that what's wasting lives and limbs?
Zelensky told Syrskyi that he has to hold the line (Donbas) for Zelensky's meeting in New York - so Syrskyi pulled troops from all over to reinforce those two places in Donbas. How that must feel for the soldiers left stripped of support, again. These are all public relations moves, not military strategy. What a waste of lives and human effort.
Prayers up, may the trapped soldiers be allowed to surrender!
I shudder to think of the sacrifices being made ahead of that meeting in New York Zelensky is going to attend. What if they say 'no' to more money, after more Ukrainian lives (e.g., coal mine trap, Kursk, Donbas) are forfeited to make a good impression while asking for money?

Armaments equivalent to 30 kilotons of conventional explosives were destroyed. Armaments which had been under the command of Autocrat Putin (friend of crazy North Korean dictators, Syrian dictators, Iranian mullahs, etc.) have been taken out of circulation. Armaments which one day could have been employed against Western troops (and civilians!) have been removed from the equation - and at no cost to Ukrainian lives.

A purely military installation has been destroyed - and you are quibbling, "expressing concern," casting aspersions, as well as distracting and diverting attention to unrelated matters.

Ukraine has won a major victory today. Let us hope that many more days like this follow!

Regards,

ransomnote I don't care if ammo dumps burn.

You should care - ammunition destroyed hits the logistics for Muscowy, which have been bad since Feb 2022

ransomnote People like me who know that the Ukraine is losing the war -- as I've said from I think around August 2022, Ukraine "won" the war in the sense of being still independent of the Kremlin. That is still the case. Do you really think that that is going to change anytime soon?