Posted on 04/17/2022 1:54:19 PM PDT by Mariner
The dawn deadline Russia gave determined Ukrainian soldiers to surrender and lay down their weapons in Mariupol passed without incident on Sunday morning, as Vladimir Putin’s increasingly sloppy troops closed in on the strategic port city.
Russia’s defense ministry, still reeling from the loss of 8th Army Major General Vladimir Frolov in combat on Saturday, was just as determined, threatening to “eliminate” any Ukrainian and foreign troops trying to hold on to the battered city.
Russia has made considerable gains on the city after spending weeks trying to wipe it off the map. Western intelligence officials said it could fall to Russia soon, providing a key land bridge between Crimea and the eastern separatist regions it so desperately wants to take.
President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that his fighters had only a small part of the city under their control. “The situation is very difficult in Mariupol,” he said overnight Sunday, according to CNN. “Our soldiers are blocked, the wounded are blocked. There is a humanitarian crisis ... Nevertheless, the guys are defending themselves.”
Russia warned in a statement Sunday that there were “up to 400 foreign mercenaries who joined the Ukrainian forces” huddling inside a steel plant, including many Europeans and Canadians who had come to support Ukrainian troops. “In case of further resistance, all of them will be eliminated,” the statement said.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
Poor bastards.
[If I had $1mil cash, I’d bet it all that there are US and NATO Special Forces among the 400 “mercenaries”. ]
These Russian Generals sound like they have the life span of a 2nd Lieutenant in Vietnam.
Give them enough room to turn around and leave. Call it their peace initiative. Just do it already.
Western intelligence officials said it could fall to Russia soon,...
Zelensky says: “Our soldiers are blocked, the wounded are blocked."
“up to 400 foreign mercenaries who joined the Ukrainian forces” huddling inside a steel plant, including many Europeans and Canadians"
"...all of them will be eliminated,”
Gee, the poor Nazis...
Putin doing a lot of “vowing” lately...
“If it floats, sink it. If it flies, knock it down. If it rolls on the ground, blow it up. “
Who do you propose do that?
[Who do you propose do that?]
The handful of Azov troops (maybe a dozen or so) were combined into the others like the 502nd and the 36th.
As for Nazis, there are thousands of Neo-Nazis in the Russian troops surrounding them like the Russians that sent them. And whether the Azovs are or aren’t Nazis is beside the point.
“With the rest of the Russian junk (fighter jets, choppers, tanks, SP artillery, Grads, S-300’s, et al) lurking around the former Warsaw Pact states currently in NATO, they could probably knock the Russians back to the pre-war boundaries.”
You’re not dumb enough to believe that.
Could someone help me with this this question. Do Russian generals and senior colonels need to lead from the front?
I don’t have a warm fuzzy as to my understanding of how far forward Russian command needs to be. I Know the Russian military officer style is hands-on leadership with little NCO support so officers have to be “there” directing the battle. So if they need to be very close to ensure their orders are followed how close does a general need to be?
The VDV general was killed in the out skirts of Kyiv so I assume a hell of a lot closer than the JOC fighters I’m used to. If so, they do have a lot more cajones than many of the one I knew. That last American general I heard who was close to this of was a 3 star (?) who was the last solder off the runway in Kabul. I don’t know if that was a ballsy photo op for a Hal Moore move or it was is style all along (don’t know the person) but it seems rare of a western senior leader to want to get into the line of fire even if they do have a protection team when in a combat zone.
Sounds like they’d better hurry.
[You’re not dumb enough to believe that.]
The GDP of Russia is roughly that of the state of Texas. They can't sustain an expense of that magnitude no matter how long Joe keeps buying his oil or launders money to him thru Iran.
Drain his war making machine dry.
Get back to me in 2-4 weeks.
We’ll level set then.
How many foreign mercenaries does Russia have ?
thousands
“there are US and NATO Special Forces among the 400 “mercenaries”.
Oh for sure there are and I’m wondering if they’ll surrender or get bombed out by the Russians. If they were to surrender Russia would parade them around as proof NATO was already deeply involved in this war. I guess we’ll find out soon what happens, they’ll probably all be killed.
LOL!
Or paraded before being tried and executed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.