highlights-of-the-lowlife

[highlights-of-the-lowlife]

so between the EU push for artillery led by the czechs and the US just passing a huge aid bill, it looks like the ammo shortage will be over sometime soon. one of the biggest things russia was banking on was donor fatigue long term cutting aid and in the short term why they were pushing so hard for marginal gains.

the storm z mechanised* assaults have been a gory spectacle but the real trick will be whether they change their tactics once ukraine is better supplied. it could have been an attempt to apply pressure while ukraine couldn't efficiently fight back but there is another option.

my guess is the meat wagons will continue. not because they are effective. but because russia has fully settled into a fascist death cult. anyone who dies is worthless. anyone who lives is a hero. they've become so entrenched in their ways that there is no alternative for the oligarchs than to churn through the undesireable to get their way.

maybe i'm wrong and russia will in some small way show compassion for the lives of their citizens by changing tactics but i really doubt it. the meat waves will continue until morale improves.

*yes cope caged cargo trucks, chinese golf carts and dirt bikes technically count as mechanised troops

#ukraine

[highlights-of-the-lowlife]

okay a couple of things: maram susli is an assad bootlicker who left syria before the civil war kicked off. she's not a refugee of anything. she has links to the assad govt and its propaganda wing and is known for posting completely unhinged nonsense ranging from it was the rebels who used chemical weapons to the illuminati left hints of their control in kony 2012.

this is also Far Worse than some rando screaming jew at a tragedy. she has a huge following and this is a call for stochastic terrorism. the lawsuit isn't cashing in either. that poor guy is gonna need money to pick up his entire life and move until this leaves the public consciousness. the far right weirdos might scream freedom of speech but this also might finally shut this awful fucking person up.

[highlights-of-the-lowlife]

bringing this back because now all the news is aflutter about the impending russian offensive. the thing is it already started. it started months ago.

the russian forces have been sending unsupported columns of men to their near certain deaths in the hopes that ukraine runs out of resources before the west pulls finger and sends more needed aid.

every day there's new footage of hundreds of russians dying horribly to push back the ukrainians barely an inch. wave after wave after wave of tired conscripts in rattling tin cans getting atomised by artillery. by some estimates the russian forces have lost more men taking avdiivka than the soviets lost in the entire soviet-afghan war which lasted a decade. avdiivka had a pre war population of 34 000 people. everyone reading this knows a village that big. imagine losing more than 15 000 men to take it.

the problem is everyone is too focused on criticising ukrainian command every time a western vehicle is destroyed while saying massive losses on the russian side don't matter. ukraine has functionally stopped the black sea fleet's ability to fight but that doesn't matter and its too late and blah blah blah. just send the fucking ammo

a few thoughts on the summer offensive.

many Experts are saying the ukrainian effort has been a failure simply for not gaining land and tend to put the blame squarely on the ukrainian people. nevermind that the first stages began so late because pledged western aid like fighting vehicles and ammunition arrived late. nevermind that many of the mine clearing vehicles pledged never arrived at all. nevermind the tactics and plans we pushed on them are based on 30 year old tactical thinking that ignores drones and demands air superiority.

its got to be the ukrainians because it certainly couldn't be us.

ukraine tried the speed and noise high mobility tactics that were the standard plan for dealing with a russian invasion of europe. thats what led to the columns of bradleys being destroyed early on. the russians are dug in, watching everywhere they can with drones and laying more landmines than possibly anywhere in the world. ukraine adjusted their plans to smaller groups aiming for smaller goals through cautious movement.

in doing so they have still taken ground, penetrated two lines of defense and importantly managed between a 1 in 4 to 1 in 20 friendly to enemy casualty rate. thats unheard of. especially for a smaller force without the technological edge. frankly i'm incredibly proud of them.

the russian forces are in for a harsh winter. ukraine has done an amazing job demolishing enemy logistics. just recently they cut the major rail artery between russia and china 4000km from the ukrainian border. russian troops are going to be freezing, starved and lacking in ammunition to throw back.

you know its bad when putin is bringing back the mother heroine award to encourage bigger families.

slava ukraini

[highlights-of-the-lowlife]

bro, my beautiful clown shoes bro, what on god's green earth gives the faith your favourite pet political system is immune from one bad faith governance turning it to shit?

The tumblr experience is having politics that make the most left leaning progressive you know irl blush and then logging on here and getting called a bootlicker fascist because you said that you dont think we should make the reign of terror happen again

[highlights-of-the-lowlife]

op of the tweet is from new york so they probably can't tell the difference between russian and ukrainian. they also believe ukraine is both very homosexual and very nazi so they're not the brightest crayon in the toolshed

fun fact: the russians can't do it either because of how divorced the languages and cultures have become leading to multiple reports of polish mercenaries on the front. ukrainian being somewhere in the middle between polish and russian.

also another fun fact: most ukrainian soldiers on the frontline speak russian purely so they can hurl insults at the dickhead invaders

Русский военный корабль иди на хуй

Gleefully posting a video of terrified Ukrainian children to own the khokhols

[highlights-of-the-lowlife]

"its too late to matter" fuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyou

this does matter especially in the long term. the crimean bridge gets shut to traffic quite often due to ukrainian strikes in the area. that means the landing ships *were* the most efficient way to resupply the southern front for periods in this war and now they are basically extinct in the black sea.

this is a shaping operation. its cutting one avenue of resupply because shuttling cargo on smaller vessels is going to take longer than the consumption rate on the frontlines. with the seas cut off, now all ukraine has to do is finish off that fucking bridge and then the southern front can only be resupplied from the north.

yes, rail lines are harder to interdict but with the shipping and hopefully soon the bridge gone, ukraine could then focus the majority of its assets on fucking up the northern rail line. i think they'd have an effect.

also its just plain funny watching the black sea fleet being converted into artificial reefs by a country with no navy. every sunken russian ship further safeguards the grain corridor that feeds the world.

once again fuck you

#ukraine

[highlights-of-the-lowlife]

this also speaks to a greater trend i've seen in activism lately. an ever increasing list of tags like free congo, free sudan, free palestine etc to the point where i've seen free aotearoa on there. we aren't at war tho.

it really seems like none of the people using this long list even know about the conflicts they Activism about and on some level its discouraged to learn. could any of them name all the factions involved in sudan? or that the RSF is backed by wagner pmc and is funnelling gold to russia to further their invasion of ukraine? or that the houthis have child soldiers and slave markets. or even where myanmar is on the map.

my best guess is this is rapidly becoming a list of countries who have links to the USA no matter how benign and that the US is the cause of every conflict. no need to look deeper just repeat the mantra. twisting everything into imperialism while defending actual imperialism like in the case of the invasion of ukraine. does the US buy your exports? clearly thats plundering natural resources etc etc

also OP called hamas freedom fighters so its clear they're a lost cause

if you call yourself an activist blog blah fucking blah but you're not screaming about Palestine when the news is constantly updating, imma assume you're pro genocide. we're in this together where the fuck are you???????

[highlights-of-the-lowlife]

with the two year anniversary of the fullscale invasion of ukraine, here's your reminder that you can a strongly worded message directly to the invaders for a simple donation.

spice up a birthday gift, maybe a belated christmas present.

they even do proposals so you can have an artillery engagement

everything from drone drop grenades to the almighty wrecker of shit the M142 HIMARS you can let these dickhead invaders know your true feelings on the situation. they'll even do paintings if you pay extra. send your furry OC riding a rocket in a strangelove way for a change as it goes careening right onto an invader's forehead

it must be said the ancient greeks got a little funny with it

[highlights-of-the-lowlife]

oh good lord medvedev is in the schnapps again.

this won't happen. firstly because of mutually assured destruction but also because medvedev is known for saying absolute bullshit claims. his one claim to relevance is he used to be the president of russia which sounds impressive but it was purely a hand off until putin could change the russian voting laws to make himself totally legitimately elected president for life aka the dictator.

medvedev was a useful puppet who is now desperate to be a puppet again.

right now he's been stuck in a deputy position in the security council where he has no real power, ways to climb the ranks again or any prestige. which is why he's been known to hit the bottle and start ranting on twitter in the hopes that putin will notice him being a good stooge.

this isn't even the first time medvedev has taken it upon himself to threaten everyone who looks at russia funny with the portable instant sun. by wikipedia alone he's already done it half a dozen times. also threatened to blow up the ICC tribunal in the hague. also claimed that russia was fighting the lord of darkness Satan in ukraine.

tldr he's not credible and likely drunk whenever his statements make it to western news

#ukraine #russia

[highlights-of-the-lowlife]

remember that time he announced he was still alive by retweeting a cougar fetish post? good times

Why was Zaluzhny replaced? Is he popular in Ukraine? Thank you so much if you take the time to answer this.

I very much doubt I can give you a helpful insight, except for hypothesizing.

Zelensky has a track of surrendering himself with people loyal to him, rather than particularly suited for the job.

Zaluzhny is respected by both the military and civilians. The ratings show that he has more trust than the president, and Zelensky's rating has dropped after Zaluzhny's dismissal.

I see no point in speculating re: possible conflict between Ze and Zaluzhny, because, unlike the journalists, I do not find gossip published in telegram chats to be a reliable source of information. We simply do not have the full picture to draw any plausible conclusions.

Have a picture of Zaluzhny blowing soap bubbles

[highlights-of-the-lowlife]

The millions of civilians in need of humanitarian aid in Syria are bracing themselves for dwindling international help this year, after the World Food Programme (WFP) has ended its mandate for the country as of 2024.  The Syrian government last week extended its approval for cross-border United Nations humanitarian aid to be delivered through a crossing with Turkey for another six months.  The mechanism is an attempt by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad government to enhance his legitimacy in the eyes of the international community since Russia, a main backer of Assad, blocked UN Security Council resolution to use the Bab al-Hawa crossing in July, forcing international partners to work with Damascus. 

Continue Reading

[highlights-of-the-lowlife]

it was always going to be a trainwreck but the tucker carlson interview of putin was a failure on all fronts.

all tucker wanted was some soundbites that would sell to western conservatives on twitter. all he got was putin spewing longwinded political revisionist crap that couldn't be cut up into twitter promos and could only be sold to russian nationalists, the very people who are already in his camp.

western people who aren't pro ukraine and can be swayed don't give a shit about the kyivan rus in the 10th century nor do they care about blaming everything on poland like claiming poland started WW2. particularly in the US with its large polish immigrant population. this should have been the easiest layup propaganda shoot possible and they even fucked that up.

putin would have known this but he can't see past his own ego to just sell the standard nato bad line. this is why russia will lose because they can't see past their own imperial ambitions no matter the cost.

btw poland sweetie you're doing amazing with the aid to ukraine.

KRAB KRAB KRAB KRAB!

#ukraine #poland

[highlights-of-the-lowlife]

iran is bleeding russia dry for these drones. between 200k and 375k depending on the bulk order price. all for a chinese smartphone glued to a moped engine that most western analysts cost out at around 20k. a weapon who's effect so far has only been terror attacks on civilians because there's neither the precision nor payload to do anything else.

aside from taking their pound of flesh in the way only the best allies do, iran won't take rubles because those are worthless toilet paper at this point. russia is transferring billions of dollars of gold bullion to iran to pay for it

the gold matters because one of russia's main sources of income is mineral rights in central africa. wagner, now rebranding to the afrika korps, is bolstering the RSF who are commiting atrocities in sudan including massacres on civilian populations. wagner mercenaries are most likely behind the instability across central africa.

ukrainian special forces are in africa attempting to disrupt the flow of gold which has been criticised by many pundits. but the issue is its a far easier ordeal to stop the gold at the source than it is to prevent shipments between iran and russia. its also disrupting russian attempts to destabilise africa for their own game.

the takeaway from all this is there's multiple facets to war and everything is interconnected. also if you can get into the caspian sea there's some ripe opportunities for pillage and plunder anne bonny style

#ukraine #russia #iran #sudan

[highlights-of-the-lowlife]

Information for anyone who wants to make a donation in support of Ukraine:

Ukrainian charity fund "Come Back Alive"

Ukrainian charity foundation of Serhiy Pritula

United24 - the official platform for collecting charitable donations in support of Ukraine

The Hospitallers - Ukrainian volunteer medical battalion, which provides first aid and evacuates wounded Ukrainian soldiers

These are the main platforms that most Ukrainians (myself included) regularly use to donate to support our armed forces. Ukraine needs military aid, because only through victory we can achieve peace. Russia's only goal is to destroy us. If Russia is not defeated, there will be no future for Ukraine.

These funds buy vehicles for the evacuation of the wounded, thermal imagers, body armor and everything else our defenders need to survive.

Why you should NOT donate to the Red Cross

Any help, no matter how small, is greatly appreciated. Thank you ❤️

[highlights-of-the-lowlife]

to add to OP's words here's some history for people who are unaware:

nazism didn't start out as a radically right wing ideology. it was a populist blend of left wing and right wing talking points specifically designed to bring antisemites of all varieties together.

i know its a meme for right wingers now to say the nazis were socialist purely based on the name but there is an element of truth to it. in the early days of the nazi party gregor strasser brought radical anti capitalist socialist ideology into the mix. while he was earnest in his beliefs, the party was very much using his rhetoric to bring left leaning germans into the nazi party.

with the populist groundbase the nazis took power. then they executed the entire left wing faction of the party in the night of the long knives. after that the party was full right wing fascism but kept the socialist part of the name because of their for the volk propaganda.

given how antisemitism is rampant within leftist circles there is ample opportunity for leftists to align themselves with movements intent on purging jews then purging leftists when they are no longer beneficial.

this is happening again. watch what people are saying, who they are working with and call out antisemitism at every opportunity

the left & right are divided until jew-hatred begins trending; then, people with vastly different sociopolitical views join hands & say "hitler was right", "jews don't face discrimination" & other horrific things.

it's becoming practically impossible to determine whether somebody is a staunch leftist or a proud neo-nazi, because when it comes to making disparaging comments about jews, you sound alike (seriously. progressives attempt to mask leftist antisemitism with buzzwords, but we see through it; very often, it's the same rhetoric touted by the far right.)

i'm concerned because i've only seen other jews & a very small number of goyim discussing this issue. i don't believe leftist goyim will address what's happening now until it's too late, at which point they'll act self-righteous & pretend to care - when they actually watched everything unfold without saying a word. what is it going to take for you to finally listen to jews? this is terrifying. we're exhausted.

[highlights-of-the-lowlife]

thats how the kiwi armed forces operate because we don't have the personnel or the equipment to send an independent force to any conflict so we send specialist troops to join allied operations. they could be radar specialists, they could be intel specialists, they could be SAS.

we've sent approximately 120 troops to the UK joining their training efforts for the ukrainian recruits and even that is split between on the ground training, logistics for that training and getting equipment to ukraine and intel specialists and admin/liason officers because all of this takes a huge amount of organising. we slot in to a given role while the host nation provides barracks and equipment.

now as for why we're in the red sea i believe its because national wants us to appear as tough on crime on the global scale. the problem is the bombing campaign on the houthi rebels will not work. there is no means of stopping their attacks without a ground war. equipment can be hidden, supplies can be smuggled in from iran and every bombing run drives more people to join the houthis. the best option is literally to sit off the shoreline and act as air defence until iran stops paying for missiles.

lets not get it twisted tho, the houthis are not the good guys or doing this for the sake of the palestinian people. the whole point of the houthi attacks is to grind down the world economy as recompense for sanctions against iran and a free chance to attack jews, perceived or real. because so far they've launched attacks wily nily because again the goal is to stop all ships. the houthis are open slave trading, rape as terrorism, genocidal theocrats.

also until 2016 they were the enemies of hamas who backed the legitimate yemeni government

there’s so much to unpack here but also they’re sending…6 guys…

[highlights-of-the-lowlife]

no they won't. maybe i didn't go in depth enough in my first post but russia can't touch finland because they are now a full fledged nato member. if russia commits a deliberate act of war against finland that triggers article 5 mutual defence and then its all pile on russia.

from wikipedia: "The 31 NATO members are Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States."

if finland is touched then every single one of those member states is obligated not just to send aid but to put troops on the ground to defend finnish sovereignty.

the issue is that sweden is not yet a member of nato. they are in talks with nato but hungary and turkey are holding out until they get their own political favours. historically russia has invaded any country in their sphere of influence who has tried to escape it by moving to friendly ties with the west. this is what has happened twice in georgia and 3 times in ukraine.

part of the rules of nato are no country can join while being engaged in a conflict within its borders. this made it easy for russia to bully georgia by launching invasions every time georgian nato membership has come up completely halting the process. it also worked in ukraine for the better part of a decade but then russia overplayed their hand trying to take the whole country.

so now russia *could* start a war with sweden, halt the process and stymy the baltic sea becoming lake nato but it won't work on a practical level. russia is aleady overstretched with a 500km long frontline in ukraine, propping up the tyrannical assad govt and trying to bleed africa for everything it can.

they don't have the means to attack a fully modern army geared to the sole objective of stopping their progress while surrounded by allies willing to help even without article 5 and with nato buffer states in the way. they'd be mad to try

sweden has issued a warning to its citizens to be prepared for a possible war with russia. this is based on the russian playbook of invading countries attempting to join nato. sweden has applied and is only waiting for hungary and turkey to approve for full membership.

here's why i wouldn't worry. when georgia entered talks with nato, they were unfortunately a relatively poor country that hadn't put much spending into defence and didn't have much in the way of ties to the rest of europe. that made them easy pickings for russia. the plan being that no country can join nato unless they have no conflicts within their borders and full territorial control. its why georgia got invaded and why ukraine is being invaded now.

sweden on the other hand is close to europe both geographically and politically. sweden has also feared a russian invasion for a good deal of its history as they have been at war multiple times so sweden has spent its military budget near exclusively building a modern army strategically focused on stopping russia.

their gripen fighter jet has been built so that it can take off and land from nearly back road in sweden. their stridsvagn tank is designed to be low to the ground in order to be concealable for ambushes. their coastal defences have some of the best radars in the world. and touching them will get both the EU and the americans involved.

russia can't afford another front. especially not one where they have to avoid finnish territory now that finland is a nato member. especially not one against a modern army with equipment designed to stop them flat. and especially not when ukraine is bleeding them dry of every military asset they have.

as much as i love ukraine, their military was in fairly dire straights prior to the '22 invasion and yet even having to scramble to mobilise they've managed to push russia out of kyiv, kharkiv and kherson with what is essentially nato handmedowns and old soviet donations. they're beating an army 3 times their size with whatever is found in the nato parts bin. russia has no chance of beating sweden one on one let alone still trying to capture ukraine