Posted on 05/17/2022 9:19:20 PM PDT by AmericaFirst101
Hundreds of Ukrainian fighters trapped for more than two months in the vast Azovstal steel works have surrendered to their Russian besiegers after their commanders finally called time on the defense of Mariupol.
A total of 264 soldiers, 53 of them badly wounded, were taken in a convoy of buses to two towns held by Russian-backed rebels in the Donetsk area, Ukrainian officials said Tuesday. It is unclear how many more are left in the steelworks, where as many as 1,000 fighters had been holed up in a network of underground tunnels and caverns in a medieval siege.
(snip)
Russia is likely to drive a hard bargain in any prisoner swap, especially for soldiers from the Azov Regiment, which was set up as a paramilitary militia unit with far-right links during the original 2014 Donbas war. President Vladimir Putin has consistently portrayed his “special operation” in Ukraine as an attempt to “denazify” the country, and Azov has been the target of his TV propagandists.
Within hours of the Azovstal surrender, the Russian Duma was reportedly debating a law that would prevent Azov Regiment prisoners being swapped for Russians. Vyacheslav Volodin, the parliamentary speaker, said “Nazi criminals” should not be exchanged. Lawmaker Leonid Slutzky went even further, demanding a moratorium on the death penalty be lifted to punish the Ukrainian prisoners.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...
I think Ze had a change when he first on words agreed with the Russian demands on the first day and some opportunity remained until the second day of Istanbul talks.
Now, Ukraine is most likely finished no matter how hard the media tries to prove otherwise.
“I’d be having my fellow soldiers shoot me before I would surrender to the Russians.”
That’s just dumb.
And, are you willing to shoot a fellow soldier?
Stay way the hell away from all civilized military personnel.
As I’ve said prior - Ukraine will never be it’s own master or be in control of their country. Too many Int. Leaders have their pockets filled via Ukraines corruption and they will make certain that revenue flow and where they have invested continues to fill their pockets. Ukraine will get the leftovers - maybe- from time to time but the bulk of revenue never reaches the publics interests.
Rather like in other countries where the revenue flows one way or another - Haiti comes to mind with all their Charity foundations which are really washing machines...and their corrupt governance.
You can surrender to the Russians, only to die in a horrible way if you want>
I choose otherwise.
It is better not to be a country. Note, there is no insurgency on liberated territories. I think it is best if Russia takes it up except Carpathia and Galicia, the former goes to Hungary, the latter to Poland. The Polish are going to ethnically cleanse the crap known as Ukrainian nationalism and nobody is going to mind that there was the country in place of all of that.
No, I think you were watching the CNN special about the GOPee.
“They’re war heroes because they were captured. I like people that weren’t captured.”
Thus quote the Donald.
Ben “20 Russians for one Azovs sounds about right”
There are 264 Ukrainians captured in Azovstahl - assuming you think that all of these are “Azovs” that means you are saying that there are 20x264 i.e. 5,280 Russian soldiers captured by Ukraine??
You think that the Ukrainians captured 5,280 Russian soldiers?
Then the number of Russians KIA and MIA must be at least 3 times that, right? so total Russian losses you think are above 20,000!?
Ganeemead on 30th April https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/4059233/posts?page=22#22
“Women and kids?? Because that’s all that’s gonna be left over there in two or three weeks after all the men of Marriageable age have been blown up.”
Three weeks later and nope.
___________________
Ganeenead on 11th April
https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/4054049/posts?page=35#35
“What are all you nato shills gonna do two weeks from non when ukraine surrenders”
Ukraine didn’t surrender on 25th April
Whatever Ukraine will look like after this ungodly mess will be exactly as the Western Countries want it to be in regards to production and resources. It's Governance will accommodate the “Laundry rooms” just as before....only this time around they'll modernize what is the most useful for the West to operate effectively. (Hide even more what they're doing there).
I also think Russia will continue to have managed conflict areas in Ukraine which will of course prevent Ukraine joining Nato - as it has done in the past.
Zelensky’s made known the Billions it will take to rebuild the country and he's depending on ‘other nations’ for the re-building of Ukraine. However he'll never get that much for re-building.....even if ear-marked for that. Leaders often say they will send $ which never materialize. Further with the worlds economic conditions now and expected to worsen they're not going to eagerly hand over funding.
I think the original Russian plan didn’t even involve any control beyond Donbas. Now, it is clear that NATO is seeking to use Ukraine as a proxy in an all-out war and also to release the frozen Russian assets to “rebuild” it.
Leaving Ukraine in existence is a potential of long-time instability for Russia.
I know a family of Russian Ukrainians from Donbass where the dad and eldest child are now in Zaporozhye, with the dad serving in the Ukrainian national guard and his kid working in the emergency room (that Russia has already shelled once).
What do they say about Azov Nazis? Nothing complimentary. What do they say about the Azov Battalion? Half full of Nazis, the other half are simply people who signed up to be in the NGU and ended up with Azov.
The Russian dad I know was fighting alongside Azov for a time but got abuse from some of the nazis, so he complained to the NGU,and they transferred him out to another group that’s a mix of Russian and Ukrainian guys.
He tells me that pound to a penny, half those fighters in Azovstal were family men who only picked up arms because Russia was pounding their city into dust, and they were in Azovstal with civilians because (shock horror) a nuclear bomb proof subterranean complex was a far safer place for civilians to be than any ohher shelter in the city... and certainly safer than topside where Russians were razing the city to the ground, and shooting civilians trying to flee.
What the Putin puffers also don’t like to tell people is, since 2019 the Donbass hostilities have mostly been confined to sectarian clashes between the DPR and Azov (one side is a Putin sponsored rashist paramilitary with nazis in it, the other is a paramilitary that was 50% nazi before the invasion).
And since January 2019 the civilian casualty numbers have plummeted. It isn’t just the UN, Western media, Ukrainian propaganda saying that. Donbass Russians in Ukraine say it. Donbass Russians who are refugees in Europe now, also say it. Even the DPRs published figures say it.
Imagine someone arguing that every death in the Troubles in Northern Ireland was 100% due to the actions of the Ulster Volunteer Force only; and not one death in that conflict was the IRA’s fault; and then imagine 3 years after the Good Friday Agreement was negotiated, those people then told you that every Unionist in Belfast was a UVF agent and there was such an imminent risk of genocide on the Catholic community that flattening Belfast with shock and awe, and imposing rule from Dublin, was the only solution to an existential crisis.
That would sound too stupid to even remotely be true, wouldn’t it.
And yet that’s the pretext Putinistas bought for the Russian Special Military Occupation, the razing of Mariupol, the civilian mass slaughter in Bucha, tge destabilisation of Chernobyl...
That is disrespectful of gallant soldiers. It is also remarkably petty and dishonorable and reflects very poorly on the character of those who advocate such behavior.
I recall a similar urge to mistreat a hero, that of the great defenders of Gerona during the Penninsular war. Mariano Alvarez De Castro and his men held the small city for seven months against two of Napoleons Marshals, throwing back, in desperate fighting, many assaults and inflicting massive casualties. In the end the starving garrison, only 1/3 of whom were still alive, had to surrender the city.
Alvarez De Castro and his surviving men were held in Perpignan, where they were grossly mistreated and some say starved to death, to the eternal shame of France.
I was just at Gerona. It seems a very close analogy to the defence of Mariupol.
Heroes, full stop.
You characters are simply human waste. Dishonorable horrors, every one, without an ounce of integrity. You arent worth the spit to talk to.
Awww look at that. The Daily Beast worried that their precious little Nazis might face justice for their crimes.
Yeah, they’re going to put AZOV in Siberia.
“So, by calling Putin’s unprovoked invasion of a peaceful neighboring country what it is”
Sorry, once you call a country threatening to nuke up or to be let into NATO (same thing) peaceful, you lose.
No different than if Mexico were in the process of doing the same with China or the Soviet Union.
“You sound like an information operative or spokesman for Russia.”
Yes, the people who understand the history there and don’t want WW3 and don’t want the West to destroy their economies do sound like Russian agents.
Needless to say, those supporting the Ukraine War sound like DNC Operatives, WEF types, Soros supporters - since ALL of them want the war in Ukraine, and the suicidal sanctions, to continue.
So, that’s how we line up now.
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.