Gas, drones and convict recruits: Ukrainian soldiers describe Russia’s deadly surge on the frontlines
The front lines where Ukraine and its allies had hoped for a summer breakthrough now epitomize the bleak, dark winter ahead — of Russian resurgence and Kyiv’s mounting losses.
“As we like to say in the army, the plan was good on paper, but we forgot about the trenches,” joked Ihor, a commander in the 15th National Guard. CNN is only using his first name to protect his identity for security reasons. Speaking with CNN deep in a command post in Orikhiv, in southern Ukraine, he is interrupted by panicked noises in the radio room.
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The Ukrainians face relentless waves of Russian convict recruits, properly trained and equipped, backed by armor, and often – they believe – given a mix of drugs to bolster their attack. Ukrainian soldiers showed CNN drone footage of an injured Russian, his legs severed, yet a ghoulish smile on his face, seemingly oblivious to the pain.
Those fighting in besieged Ukrainian trenches say they now face another threat: the use of gas as a weapon. Nine incidents have been recorded in recent weeks in this area, one Ukrainian combat medic told CNN, in which a caustic and flammable gas had been dropped by drones onto Ukrainian lines, causing one fatality. The gas is used to cause panic and followed by conventional shelling or drone attacks, soldiers impacted said.
Wars invariably take longer than expected. There’s a reason “home by Christmas” is a meme. That doesn’t change the fact that Ukraine has liberated huge swathes of their territory since the beginning of the invasion. I’m all for more weapons for them; giving up aid just sends all the despots of the world the message that all they need to do in order to take whatever they want is out wait the fickle west.
Gee, how come I never see this in response to "3 days"?
Oh right, propaganda.
Because people like to mock the obvious Russian hubris? They’re getting worked by a country with hand me down weapons from 40 years ago, of course people laugh at “Kyiv in 3 days”.
So... russians are woefully incompetent and should be made fun of for that.
When Ukrainians are losing against russians... "wars take longer than expected."
This war should really teach rational people how powerful modern propaganda is, and how ignorant its perpetrators are of its existence.
You’re trying to make an equivalence between the poorest European nation and the previously believed second most powerful army in the world. That’s not a rational stance. If anyone was told on February 25th 2022 that in two years time Ukraine would hold all territory on the right bank of the Dnipro and still contest territory in Luhansk and Donetsk it would rightfully be considered a miracle. Shit, Russia has moved a huge portion of their Black Sea fleet to Novorossiysk to avoid Ukrainian attacks against an opponent with no Navy. They can’t even use the port they stole. Do you not recognize the power imbalance is a factor? I’m not even sure what your point is other than acting like you’re smarter than the rest of the room.
Why do you guys keep calling Ukraine the poorest nation in Europe? They must be burning enough money to compare with a top 10 military expenditure. It's gone impressively well for them, but the way they are glorified like this is blatant propaganda. It's another front in the fight, but with the dishonesty, it makes it hard to judge the nobility of the cause.
Because they are according to GNI per capita? Never heard of international aid?
It's dishonest to frame this war that way. Ukraine is some kind of proxy for a global alliance against Russia. We are good at lying to ourselves. Not as good as Russia, but the more we do it, the less certain we can be of anything.
Maybe you propaganda lovers need the lies for some internal reason? I don't personally feel that if I'm justifying my decisions with lies, I should resolve the inconsistency in my value system.
Here you go goalpost moving. First it’s not true now it’s misleading? It’s not dishonest, their support is faltering and it’s obvious they can’t succeed it on their own. Stop acting like anyone you disagree with is just a victim of propaganda, it’s obnoxious at best and bad faith at worst.
I might add that “Ukraine is a puppet of the west” is a Russian propaganda talking point; physician heal thyself.
Your reasoning is very flawed on this. Dishonest and misleading are synonymous. And I never said they are a puppet of anyone. They are very far from alone and they obviously have the greatest interest. Their military assets amount to many billions with more constantly flowing in. When it comes to the means to make war, Ukraine is wealthy and applying any other measure is dishonest, a lie, misleading and propaganda.
Ukraine is worth our help but not worth lying to ourselves over.
Ukraine’s wealth is absolutely relevant to contextualizing this conflict. They have billions in arms because they were given to them by other wealthier nations. They don’t have the same domestic defense industrial base that Russia has even with Russia crippled by sanctions, nor do they have a steady stream of oil money. Without western aid continuing it’s doubtful that they will continue to have much success. I don’t have food security if I to get a meal at a soup kitchen every night, what happens if they close up shop? Same applies to Ukraine and the arms they need to fight.
I mean, just look at the list of countries by GDP/capita: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_in_Europe_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capita
Sort by rank, scroll all the way down. There it is.
Thanks for proving my point.
“Some people on Reddit, a site I’m not even on right now, were wildly overoptimistic and thus all aid to Ukraine was a waste.”
This is what you sound like.
Ok.
Cowards are using gas
Imagine not using everything at your disposal because random folks on the internet will call you 'cowards.'
Imagine being such a pussy that you use weapons that even Adolf Hitler wouldn’t use.
Straight up трус