Unfortunately for the world, the most dangerous threat is not nuclear weapons but the people who control them. Who thought a senile old stumblebum and a syphilitic Cold War junkie, each brain damaged to some degree, would be those people?
This looks like the best-verified picture of the situation in Lyman, from the always credible Militaryland.net's twitter.
Contrary to some Russian bloggers (who have good sources in the Russian army) Lyman isn't encircled yet. (But almost.) The Ukrainians are attacking from both sides and its position looks unsustainable. There's still a road out through Zarichne, but that town is currently being attacked from two sides. The Ukrainians are across the Severski Donets river and have taken Yampil. If the Russians are smart (not a safe bet) they will be evacuating their soldiers from Drobysheve and Lyman as we speak. The trip out won't be pleasant since the roads will probably be under artillery fire.
There are several thousand Russian troops at risk here, and if the Russian command doesn't act quickly, they will have another huge defeat on their hands. Their choice seems to be losing the towns while saving the soldiers, or losing both. Keeping possession of the towns looks like a lost cause at this point.
Edit This just in: The Ukrainians have retaken Drobysheve.
https://twitter.com/Militarylandnet/stat...3511434240
![[Image: Fd5Gh1vWQAM00Fz?format=jpg&name=small]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fd5Gh1vWQAM00Fz?format=jpg&name=small)
And today, as expected, Putin has announced the formal Russian annexation of Ukraine's Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson oblasts. Putin also announced, as speculated, that these regions are now part of Russia and will be defended with "all weapons" in the Russian arsenal.
Of course, Russia still doesn't occupy all of Donestsk and Zaporizhia oblasts. In Donetsk, the Ukrainians still control Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. (Lyman is in Donetsk oblast.) And
Zaporizhia city, a large city of more than 700,000 people and the capital of that oblast (province), is still in Ukrainian hands and well defended by all accounts. So what are the Russians going to do about them, start insisting they are foreign occupied Russian cities? And we all know that the Ukrainians are preparing an offensive west of the Dnipro in Kherson oblast that if the whole area west of the river is recovered, would retake the currently Russian occupied city of Kherson.
![[Image: Fd58ZmMXwAYfwbn?format=jpg&name=medium]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fd58ZmMXwAYfwbn?format=jpg&name=medium)
Photo of Red Square after Putin's speech announcing the annexations.
It's actually a rock concert which is probably what drew the crowd. Features some of Russia's most popular pro-regime bands. Lead singer of the headline act declared that Kharkiv, Mykolaiv and Odessa, other cities in "Russian Ukraine", are next to be annexed.
Despite the string of defeats on the battlefield, Putin seems to want to create a sense of Victorious Russia. But the unpopular mobilization will inevitably cast a dark shadow over all the triumphalism.
![[Image: Fd6XXK0XkAIz4zO?format=jpg&name=large]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fd6XXK0XkAIz4zO?format=jpg&name=large)
Photo taken in Ukrainian forward headquarters during the recent extraordinarily successful East Kharkiv/Izium offensive, but only released now so as not to reveal any operational details.
They have laptops and seem to be using cell phones. (Hopefully carefully, since the Russians could probably intercept cell comminications.) All but one have their faces obscured to hide their identities.
Of interest is the big-screen TV in the upper left, which seems to have lots of camera feeds on it. Perhaps the tank on the smaller screen is one of those feeds.
![[Image: FdzraxAWQAActcC?format=jpg&name=large]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FdzraxAWQAActcC?format=jpg&name=large)
Instead of WWII style topographical maps, they seem to be using detailed satellite imagery (provided by the US?) on tablets.
![[Image: FdzvZTwX0AAf_Wk?format=jpg&name=large]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FdzvZTwX0AAf_Wk?format=jpg&name=large)
Update
Denys & Artur are awesome
Lyman has been encircled in theory with roughly 1 to 5 thousand Orcs inside
NOTE Orcs using civilian cars to retreat(satellite images)
NOTE Orcs attacked a Ukrainian civilian convoy killing dozens of civilians.(Video footage)
update
Orcs arresting women & babys for anti war protests
(Oct 1, 2022 09:26 PM)Yazata Wrote: [ -> ]RU will like this: Mobilized recruits well equpped with Russian chemical weapons
https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/stat...0764094464
The woman at the front of the bus, what’s her job? Nervous laughter in my estimation. What a decision for young men to make…die sober or die drunk….insane.
Don’t see a lot of women in these war vids. Grieving mothers and apprehensive wives and GF’s is about it. A good portion of women seem to be protesting, getting arrested and shoved into paddy wagons.