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“Violence is not my weapon,” he said.
So shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February and Ukraine prohibited men of military age from leaving the country, Klever sneaked out to London.
Klever’s mistake, which would bring devastating consequences, was writing to a friend about being smuggled out and making it to London.
The friend betrayed his trust and posted their conversation on social media. It went viral, and Ukrainians all over the internet exploded with anger and resentment.
“You are a walking dead person,” one Twitter message said. “I’m going to find you in any corner in the world.”
The notion of people — especially men — leaving war-torn Ukraine for safe and comfortable lives abroad has provoked a moral dilemma among Ukrainians that turns on one of the most elemental decisions humans can make: fight or flee.
Thousands of Ukrainian men of military age have left the country to avoid participating in the war, according to records from regional law enforcement officials and interviews with people inside and outside Ukraine. Smuggling rings in Moldova, and possibly other European countries, have been doing a brisk business. Some people have paid up to $15,000 for a secret nighttime ride out of Ukraine, Moldovan officials said.
The draft dodgers are the vast exception. That makes it all the more complicated for them — morally, socially and practically. Ukrainian society has been mobilised for war against a much bigger enemy, and countless Ukrainians without military experience have volunteered for the fight. To maximise its forces, the Ukrainian government has taken the extreme step of prohibiting men aged 18 to 60 from leaving, with few exceptions.
According to recent reports, Ukraine has recently begun experiencing some military recruitment issues, a problem that has plagued Russia since the start of its war in Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) announced it had blocked 26 Telegram channels that were allegedly helping people of military age avoid mobilization. The news came following a February 26 report The Economist that said, "Ukraine has visibly stepped up mobilization activities in the first two months of this year."
The Economist further detailed that mobilization in Ukraine has become increasingly aggressive with reports of draft notices being issued at military funerals and officials patrolling ski resorts for people avoiding enlistment summons.
In a country like Ukraine there are inevitably less-than-legal ways to escape the call-up, too. “It’s a dialectic of nature,” says Colonel Kevlyuk, who worked in the army’s general staff until 2021. “Wherever there is demand, you’ll always find someone to supply it.” Some arrange fictitious marriages with mothers of three or more children. Others get corrupt military doctors to issue a medical exemption For a few thousand dollars one can pay to be smuggled across the border. But the appetite for risk is falling after a series of well-publicised draft-dodging prosecutions.
Government officials say that any excesses are being tackled as they come to light. But with the army set on achieving a breakthrough on the battlefield before the summer, the recruitment of less-motivated Ukrainians will surely be stepped up and scandals will probably persist. The armed forces may respond to legal challenges by sharpening up their bureaucracy, but there are other ways to deal with them. Informed sources say that at least two lawyers disputing draft orders have abruptly been called up themselves. As the army well knows, mobilised lawyers are automatically barred from practising.
Meanwhile, the Russians executed a substantial mobilization which has added upwards of 400,000 thousand effectives to their forces. Contrary to almost-universal predictions that Russian armaments would have long-since been exhausted, and their economy crumbled under the weight of western sanctions, neither has occurred.
cisTits says
Meanwhile, the Russians executed a substantial mobilization which has added upwards of 400,000 thousand effectives to their forces. Contrary to almost-universal predictions that Russian armaments would have long-since been exhausted, and their economy crumbled under the weight of western sanctions, neither has occurred.
The problem with the initial invasion is that the pro segment of the army was material rich but infantry poor, though well trained, but had no follow on forces to keep the areas they swept through clear and stop defeated elements of the AFU from regrouping. Then, because it was kept secret, there was no logistical prep to resupply the Russian advance AND the swept through areas were reoccupied by AFU elements since there was nothing to "Hold" the roads open.
As usual, after a year or two the Russians will get their shit together, in pret...
Is this a peaceful move, or, will this edge us closer to WW III?
NATO Looking to Send 300,000 Troops to the Russian Border
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2023/03/19/nato-looking-to-send-300000-troops-to-the-russian-border-n1679663
US Secretary Of State Rebuffs China - No Diplomatic Solution Without Total Russian Pullback (which is never going to happen)
Wunderwaffen being position for the WWIII: https://twitter.com/Seveerity/status/1638556341022121985?ref_src=patrick.net
AND THEY HAVE NOT EVEN STARTED USING T-34/85's!!!!
Hesitant to believe Russia will pull back. They want the land bridge to Crimea. Frankly they're idiots. Ukraine is no saint either. Negotiate a land deal.
RayAmerica says
US Secretary Of State Rebuffs China - No Diplomatic Solution Without Total Russian Pullback (which is never going to happen)
Hesitant to believe Russia will pull back. They want the land bridge to Crimea. Frankly they're idiots. Ukraine is no saint either. Negotiate a land deal. Give them their god damn road/rail and negotiate a resource deal for crops or whatever.
Ukraine is more corrupt, but Russia is just looking like a massive moron at this point. Negotiate. Give them money for the land you want with negotiations over resources. It's not complicated. They're going to piss away an entire generation of men and have demographic issues for decades. Russian women will flee to the west and Russia is fucked as usual for a century.
How would you sell to your constituence the idea of just giving up half of your country and turning it into a land-locked rump of its former self?
A strike Thursday by a suspected Iranian-made drone killed a U.S. contractor and wounded five American troops and another contractor in northeast Syria, the Pentagon said.
A little of topic here, but why would anyone use nukes when massive EMP's that rock us back to the stone age might be just as effective?
A little of topic here, but why would anyone use nukes when massive EMP's that rock us back to the stone age might be just as effective?
RedStar says
A little of topic here, but why would anyone use nukes when massive EMP's that rock us back to the stone age might be just as effective?
Isn't a nuke the method to make a massive EMP?
Yes. From what I understand of it, it's a nuclear bomb set off above the atmosphere. The atmosphere is charged, moving it suddenly creates a magnetic and electrical surge, this hits all circuits with eddy currents, and it blows everything out.
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"President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday suspended Russian participation in the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty with the United States, warning Washington that Russia had put new ground-based strategic nuclear weapons on combat duty," Reuters reports of the new declaration.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/putin-suspends-new-start-nuclear-treaty-puts-new-missiles-combat-readiness