Русский корабль - иди нахуй

Brisketexan · March 15, 2022

4 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

Very touchy subject. Shes full blown gf, her words - I’m claiming ownership of you !

Sounds like she's gonna put it in your Donbas.

tx 3 putt · March 15, 2022

2 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Sounds like she's gonna put it in your Donbas.

hahaha

Ag with kids · March 15, 2022

3 hours ago, TXSG8R said:

No, I think it’s still a fair question. An Army division might have 3 GOs depending on when promotions hit, but usually it’s 2 at most. I thought Russia only pushed like 5 divisions into Ukraine, and lots of detached brigades, which would be run by colonels. I think the bigger oddity is the number of Russian GOs that are in the shit. GOs aren’t there to execute, they are there to plan. They live in TOCs, not TACs, and are usually detached from any fighting. There’s always a magic bullet that can catch one, but 4 GOs in a couple of weeks is pretty bizarre. I don’t know that we lost 4 GOs in a decade in Afghanistan or Iraq.

I think we lost only 1...Maj Gen Greene...

1 hour ago, BabaYaga said:

Joshing with you. I don't see "countries" in the aggregate, I see people, leaders, and intentions. Russia has a leadership problem. I think you have to separate the two. With better leadership at the top, you have a completely different scenario as most people are so busy with their d2d lives, trying to just make ends meet.

That's why Russia needs a way back. We need a stabilized Russia to help stabilize the region.

You realize much of the world views us in the same light. Invading countries under false pretenses. Sticking our noses all over the place. Does that make you and I "bad"?

Brisketexan · March 15, 2022

29 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

We also realized that Versailles was a poignant reminder that a stable, democratic Germany was necessary for the stability of the region. So we stayed and helped facilitate what we have today. I know I sound like a broken record, but Russia needs the same. They are not going anywhere, and a destabilized, fragmented Russia is dangerous. I don't know the answer, but a democratic, stable Russia supports the entire region.

So "what" seems easy. The "how", not so much.

At present, I don't see a path to that without total military defeat of Russia and bloody regime change. But perhaps I lack imagination. Perhaps a people who have been repeatedly drawn to sucking on the authoritarian tit for centuries will suddenly change their ways, through some sort of transformative experience.

The problem IS the Russian people. Putin, or someone like him, is what they want. It is what they are born and made for, decade after decade, century after century. Until you break THAT cycle, everything done to the contrary is temporary. They'll be back to what they are before you know it.

Sure, we have to try to break that cycle. But I don't see us having much luck.

MillerEP · March 15, 2022

https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-is-seizing-hundreds-of-lessor-planes-poses-risk-passengers-2022-3

Russia is seizing Western-built airliners while sanctions block parts, maintenance, and support
Taylor Rains 17 hours ago

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law authorizing the seizure of hundreds of Western-built aircraft operated by Russian airlines.
The planes are owned by aircraft lessors, which have canceled contracts following sanctions against Russia.
The seize could pose a risk to passengers because the planes may not receive proper maintenance repairs due to sanctions.

https://www.foxnews.com/media/woman-led-battalion-ukraine-russian-invasion-horrors

Woman-led 'Dattalion' in Ukraine documents Russian invasion with citizen videos: 'Show the world the horrors'
Ukrainian leader of 'Data Battalion' group: 'You cannot right now only think about yourself'

RPM · March 15, 2022

Just now, MillerEP said:

https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-is-seizing-hundreds-of-lessor-planes-poses-risk-passengers-2022-3

Russia is seizing Western-built airliners while sanctions block parts, maintenance, and support
Taylor Rains 17 hours ago

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law authorizing the seizure of hundreds of Western-built aircraft operated by Russian airlines.
The planes are owned by aircraft lessors, which have canceled contracts following sanctions against Russia.
The seize could pose a risk to passengers because the planes may not receive proper maintenance repairs due to sanctions.

https://www.foxnews.com/media/woman-led-battalion-ukraine-russian-invasion-horrors

Woman-led 'Dattalion' in Ukraine documents Russian invasion with citizen videos: 'Show the world the horrors'
Ukrainian leader of 'Data Battalion' group: 'You cannot right now only think about yourself'

Yeah, about that. You start cannibalizing aircraft for spare parts and doing undocumented/certified repairs both aircraft become virtually worthless. It's a lose/lose.

MillerEP · March 15, 2022

Not to mention, nobody will lease to you in the future because they can't trust you to honor it. So when those planes fail or age out and assuming we have the balls to keep the sanctions on, it's going to be a rough time.

AUS-97HORN · March 15, 2022

4 hours ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

just in case anyone is curious. I looked it up.

In all of WW2, the US lost no more than 24 flag officers (25 if you count Col. Darby) to either direct action or friendly fire.

2 were friendly fire incidents

5 admirals were killed by hostile action (1 was also a FF death)

9 of those were killed in a shot down (or missing) plane.

which means in all of WW2, the US only lost 8 Generals on the ground to enemy action (9 if you count Darby who was already on the general list but hadnt been made official) and one of those was General McBride who was captured in the Phillipeans and later died from being starved on purpose by the Japanese.

in addition to the 24 combat deaths, we lost 16 Flag officers to plane accidents.

in short, it was exceedingly rare for the US to lose a flag officer to actual combat, especially considering that we had over 2,000 Flag officers on active duty in WW2.

BabaYaga · March 15, 2022

4 minutes ago, RPM said:

Yeah, about that. You start cannibalizing aircraft for spare parts and doing undocumented/certified repairs both aircraft become virtually worthless. It's a lose/lose.

Troop transports? Anyone feeling lucky?

crash_davis · March 15, 2022

siap. video of inside UA BTR-4 http://www.military-today.com/apc/btr_4.htm

NSFL.

there's the thread on reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/tdx5cu/incredible_footage_from_inside_an_armored_vehicle/

BayouBill · March 15, 2022

Just now, crash_davis said:

siap. video of inside UA BTR-4 http://www.military-today.com/apc/btr_4.htm

NSFL.

there's the thread on reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/tdx5cu/incredible_footage_from_inside_an_armored_vehicle/

Love the last shot as they're pulling away. A little extra fuck you

BabaYaga · March 15, 2022

18 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

At present, I don't see a path to that without total military defeat of Russia and bloody regime change. But perhaps I lack imagination. Perhaps a people who have been repeatedly drawn to sucking on the authoritarian tit for centuries will suddenly change their ways, through some sort of transformative experience.

The problem IS the Russian people. Putin, or someone like him, is what they want. It is what they are born and made for, decade after decade, century after century. Until you break THAT cycle, everything done to the contrary is temporary. They'll be back to what they are before you know it.

Sure, we have to try to break that cycle. But I don't see us having much luck.

Total defeat seems unlikely. You have think Putin "might" consider an armistice if/when Mariupol falls, giving him a port/steel city...giving him Crimea, Donbas and the other region. Doubt Zolensky goes for that, so this drags on indefinitely?

Brisketexan · March 15, 2022

Just now, BabaYaga said:

Total defeat seems unlikely. You have think Putin "might" consider an armistice if/when Mariupol falls, giving him a port/steel city...giving him Crimea, Donbas and the other region. Doubt Zolensky goes for that, so this drags on indefinitely?

Correct.

There's no good ending here. Just more horror, another decade or more of Putin rule, more war in more places, etc.

Scheiss Meister · March 15, 2022

I see some people wanting to Leroy Jenkins us to the nuclear deaths of my children, and it's pissing me the fuck off. If and when Russia directly attacks NATO or US territory, full military attack on Russia. Until then, we need to keep our heads and pressure Russia in every way short of open military action that we can. Jesus, people, think instead of emote.

Brisketexan · March 15, 2022

Just now, Scheiss Meister said:

I see some people wanting to Leroy Jenkins us to the nuclear deaths of my children, and it's pissing me the fuck off. If and when Russia directly attacks NATO or US territory, full military attack on Russia. Until then, we need to keep our heads and pressure Russia in every way short of open military action that we can. Jesus, people, think instead of emote.

To be clear, I don't want that AT ALL.

I just see it as inevitable. Putin wants to engage with NATO. His psychotic ego demands it. Thus, he will find a way to do so.

I don't want ANY of this shit to happen. But there's a narcissist psychopath in charge of a military and nation with a deep psychosis. He's going to do his best to get us all killed. He may well succeed.

RPM · March 15, 2022

3 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

siap. video of inside UA BTR-4 http://www.military-today.com/apc/btr_4.htm

NSFL.

there's the thread on reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/tdx5cu/incredible_footage_from_inside_an_armored_vehicle/

I posted that 2 days ago.

BabaYaga · March 15, 2022

2 minutes ago, Scheiss Meister said:

I see some people wanting to Leroy Jenkins us to the nuclear deaths of my children, and it's pissing me the fuck off. If and when Russia directly attacks NATO or US territory, full military attack on Russia. Until then, we need to keep our heads and pressure Russia in every way short of open military action that we can. Jesus, people, think instead of emote.

#noflyzone

Francisco 2.0 · March 15, 2022

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Sbbruin · March 15, 2022

57 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Sent him a hundo they other day, will probably do it again.

Same. The humanitarian crisis is only beginning to manifest itself.

Hefeweizen · March 15, 2022

Darth Putin always good for some black humor.

BachelorTrek · March 15, 2022

Pato del Muerto · March 15, 2022

48 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

Very touchy subject. Shes full blown gf, her words - I’m claiming ownership of you !

You dumbfuck

Hagbard Celine · March 15, 2022

1 hour ago, BabaYaga said:

Another tracked vehicle off the board

<br />

that's a land mine and 500lb bomb buried in a trench

BabaYaga · March 15, 2022

Just now, Hagbard Celine said:

that's a land mine and 500lb bomb buried in a trench

Good call out, hadn't thought of that. You can't seen anything incoming.

Scary Stranger · March 15, 2022

1 hour ago, MillerEP said:

So now their salaries are worth like three fiddy?

Ghost of LL · March 15, 2022

4 hours ago, Goredho said:

Does 20 generals directly involved in the Ukraine invasion seem like a lot? I realize there are different ranks of general, but how many do you really need? How many did the allies have on the western front in WWII? I know Patton, Montgomery, Bradley, but were there dozens of other lesser generals involved? Or is “general” a broader rank in the Russian military?

Hell--we have more than that stationed here at Army Futures Command in Austin.

3 hours ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/wild-kremlin-tv-hosts-threaten-the-us-with-nuclear-strikes-unless-sanctions-end-and-reparations-are-paid

Hide contents

Multiple state TV shows emphasized the reluctance on the part of the United States and NATO to intervene against Russia’s bloody invasion of its neighbor, presenting it as the proof that the Kremlin can go to any lengths to emerge victorious. Olga Skabeeva, the host of a state TV show 60 Minutes, intentionally distorted the statements of White House press secretary Jen Psaki. On Friday, Skabeeva claimed: “Jennifer Psaki’s statement said that no matter what Putin does in Ukraine—whether he uses biological weapons or drops a nuclear bomb—the United States won’t get involved.”

On Monday, disregarding strong bipartisan support of Ukraine in the United States, Skabeeva claimed that Americans don’t care about Ukraine and are concerned only with rising gas prices. She alleged: “To the dismay of the State Department, it turned out that Americans are indifferent towards saving Ukrainian Banderites.” Russian state media and government officials have taken to describing any opponents of the Kremlin in Ukraine as or “Banderites,” the followers of Stepan Bandera, the ultranationalist political figure who fought for Ukrainian independence before being assassinated by the KGB in 1959. This expression is being used as indiscriminately as branding all opponents the “Nazis.”

The show proceeded to broadcast a clip of former U.S. President Donald J. Trump, blaming Biden for his alleged inability to communicate with Putin. Hinting at the upcoming presidential elections, Skabeeva sniped: “Fun times for them are only starting. We’re waiting.” In the meantime, state media is replete with baseless promises of wide-ranging concessions from the West that Moscow anticipates receiving in the future.

Appearing on Sunday Evening With Vladimir Soloviev, Russian parliament member Oleg Matveychev, known as the Kremlin’s spin doctor, watched a clip of Fox News’ Tucker Carlson—an everyday occurrence in Moscow’s tightly-controlled media environment. Matveychev noted: “There isn’t a single country in the world that is as easily manipulated as America.” He argued: “Here’s what will be on the table after our victory... After Ukraine’s demilitarization is completed... we’re going to raise the stakes... For example, the lifting of all sanctions... The dissolution of NATO, because the presence of NATO in some countries is getting in our way. Extradition of all war criminals... like [Anton] Herashchenko [former deputy minister at the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs], Zelensky, [former President of Ukraine Petro] Poroshenko. Extradition of various oligarchs, like [Mikhail] Khodorkovsky.”

In recent days, Russian state television regressed from Orwellian lies to Kafkaesque nightmares, as pundits started to promote the idea of executing Ukrainians resisting Putin’s war of aggression by hanging. They noted that the so-called “constitution” of the rogue “republics” created in Ukraine by Russian forces conveniently allows for the death penalty. Last Thursday on The Evening With Vladimir Soloviev, after listening to other pundits and experts endorse the idea of executing Ukrainian citizens by hanging, doctor of political sciences Elena G. Ponomareva argued: "Never let morality prevent you from undertaking correct actions. I understand the importance of a humanitarian component... but morality shouldn't get in the way."

Sunday’s Vesti Nedeli hosted by Dmitry Kiselyov continued the theme of public hangings, broadcasting the scenes from the public execution of German Nazi soldiers on Kyiv’s Independence Square in 1946. The segment was entitled “Denazification of Ukraine—the new opportunities for growth” and appeared to serve as a tool to desensitize the Russian population for the grotesque war trials and executions the Kremlin is reportedly planning to conduct in Ukraine, perhaps in the same public square captured in the historical video.

Bloomberg previously reported that, according to an unnamed European intelligence official, Russia's intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service, has drafted plans for public executions in Ukraine after cities are captured. Russian state media appears to be laying the groundwork to normalize such an idea, in order to make it seem acceptable to average Russians.

Reciting the list of Russia’s future demands during Soloviev’s show, Matveychev became even more brazen: “We should be thinking about reparations from the damage that was caused by the sanctions and the war itself, because that too costs money and we should get it back. The return of all Russian properties, those of the Russian empire, the Soviet Union and current Russia, which has been seized in the United States, and so on.”

The host chimed in to ask: “Are you including Alaska and Fort Ross?”

Matveychev nodded: “That was my next point. As well as the Antarctic... We discovered it, so it belongs to us... Also, the return of all medals that have been unlawfully taken from our sportsmen during all Olympic games, as well as the extradition of [Grigory] Rodchenkov, along with the extradition of multiple other criminals we’ll want. I think we should start voicing all of that, so they understand what will be on the table. You didn’t want to talk to us about something small, like Ukraine’s neutrality, here’s what you get. And that’s not even all of it.”

Soloviev asked: “Does your list include a tactical nuclear strike, or are we going straight for the strategic one?”

Matveychev pompously scoffed, “What for? We can take them down without it.”

On Monday, Soloviev revisited the topic of nuclear blackmail, perhaps blinded by rage after the recent seizure of his two Italian villas. He said: “I still think that those who took our money should be told, you have 24 hours to unfreeze our funds, or else we’ll send you what you know we’ve got. Your choice. Tactical or strategic, take a pick. You took our money, you’re the thieves, our talk is short with you: a bullet to the head.”

Go home, Russia--you're drunk.

1 hour ago, BabaYaga said:

A stalemate favors the Russians, as they have new territory and access to the port, and the UA has little means to take it back. That means essentially a civil-war type level of destruction that guts the nation. This is not Afghanistan, so Russian supply lines are much more favorable....even though they are still problematic.

This is why the Battle of Mariupol is so critical. So long as Mariupol stands, the Russians don't have a secure supply line to the Crimea. And if the Ukrainians can break through and lift the siege, then the Russian forces coming out of the Crimea are cut off from the Russian forces coming from the Donbas.

The Crimea can't support an army for very long. It is short on water and food. And the Russians probably don't have the wherewithal to sea- or airlift all of the supplies and materiel needed to keep that army advancing. So that means that they'd be solely reliant on the Kerch Bridge to keep that army in the field. And that's a tough place to be--reliant on a single bridge.

MissingInAction · March 15, 2022

33 minutes ago, RPM said:

Yeah, about that. You start cannibalizing aircraft for spare parts and doing undocumented/certified repairs both aircraft become virtually worthless. It's a lose/lose.

I guess they will enslave the mechanics to keep them operational as well. Stupid ruskies.

Hagbard Celine · March 15, 2022

1 hour ago, BabaYaga said:

This seems pretty accurate to me

cnn just said ukraine took out a communication tower that russia was using for encrypted comms......

..... and i've got beachfront property in the crimea to sell you.

Eastwood · March 15, 2022

I see some people wanting to Leroy Jenkins us to the nuclear deaths of my children, and it's pissing me the fuck off. If and when Russia directly attacks NATO or US territory, full military attack on Russia. Until then, we need to keep our heads and pressure Russia in every way short of open military action that we can. Jesus, people, think instead of emote.

Putin is way more scared of us than we are of him. So, just like a snake, we need to give him an avenue to slither away, if he so chooses. But make no mistake about it, Putin is definitely mulling over the idea that he can set off a tactical nuke in a less consequential part of the world (meaning non-NATO) and the rest of the world will hesitate to fire back. We've done a good job of making him second guess that, though, and we need to continue to do so.

The real danger in MAD has always been one side becoming so fearful of the other that they see a first strike as the only way to protect themselves. They'll go for the decapitation strike in the hopes that they prevent an extended retaliatory strike and they can be king of the ashes after. We cannot make Putin that fearful, but we also cannot let him set off chemical or biological attacks that will drift over NATO. We're in a real tightrope situation here and I am seriously curious as to what out defense condition is, right now. After seeing what Ukraine has done to Russia and what we did against the Wagner Group a couple of years back, Russia stands absolutely no chance against NATO without the use of nukes. Our best hope is removal of Putin from within. Otherwise, we are looking at a world held hostage to Putin's designs, no matter how sloppily executed they are.

Eastwood · March 15, 2022

This is why the Battle of Mariupol is so critical. So long as Mariupol stands, the Russians don't have a secure supply line to the Crimea. And if the Ukrainians can break through and lift the siege, then the Russian forces coming out of the Crimea are cut off from the Russian forces coming from the Donbas.
The Crimea can't support an army for very long. It is short on water and food. And the Russians probably don't have the wherewithal to sea- or airlift all of the supplies and materiel needed to keep that army advancing. So that means that they'd be solely reliant on the Kerch Bridge to keep that army in the field. And that's a tough place to be--reliant on a single bridge.

I believe the Russians blew the dam that Ukraine built to keep the bulk of fresh water out of Crimea. So, the water situation is not as dire, but the food issue still remains. To be honest, the food situation has been dire country-wide after the first week.

tx 3 putt · March 15, 2022

Just now, Eastwood said:

I believe the Russians blew the dam that Ukraine built to keep the bulk of fresh water out of Crimea. So, the water situation is not as dire, but the food issue still remains. To be honest, the food situation has been dire country-wide after the first week.

communism always fails because they can't feed the masses

BabaYaga · March 15, 2022

11 minutes ago, Eastwood said:

The real danger in MAD has always been one side becoming so fearful of the other that they see a first strike as the only way to protect themselves. They'll go for the decapitation strike in the hopes that they prevent an extended retaliatory strike and they can be king of the ashes after. We cannot make Putin that fearful,

This. Discussed earlier, but MAD only works with two foes are perceived as being on equal ground with one another. If the balance shifts, one side becomes with emboldened or fearful and the whole things crumbles.

MissingInAction · March 15, 2022

Going by recent observations of Russian military acumen, I bet they've got one dirty bomb strapped to someone's drunk uncle.

BabaYaga · March 15, 2022

This seems, unwise on the Russians part. So party on Ivan. Please invade a heavily mined port with supposed anti-ship missiles.

TexasEd · March 15, 2022

1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

At present, I don't see a path to that without total military defeat of Russia and bloody regime change. But perhaps I lack imagination. Perhaps a people who have been repeatedly drawn to sucking on the authoritarian tit for centuries will suddenly change their ways, through some sort of transformative experience.

The problem IS the Russian people. Putin, or someone like him, is what they want. It is what they are born and made for, decade after decade, century after century. Until you break THAT cycle, everything done to the contrary is temporary. They'll be back to what they are before you know it.

Sure, we have to try to break that cycle. But I don't see us having much luck.

Here is the hope:

Until recently Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, and others were all in that same mindset. Putin recognized the mindset change in those countries as a risk and tried to reel Georgia and Ukraine back into the fold before it was too late. This conflict shows that Ukraine was farther removed from that mindset than Putin expected and the protests in Russia even by the 90 year old survivor of St Petersburg show that the cracks are forming domestically. Crack the window to freedoms again and see what happens.

The Royal We · March 15, 2022

1 hour ago, RPM said:

Send Chef Jose Andres a few dollars. I can't think of a more worthy cause.

I just sent him a contribution. Thank you for sharing.

MillerEP · March 15, 2022

#Putin speaks of a special action in #Ukraine that is not aimed at civilians. However, a drone filmed a few kilometers west of Kyiv how a civilian was shot dead by apparently Russian soldiers. #ZDFfrontal exclusive, more about the war 9:15 p.m.
@ZDF

MillerEP · March 15, 2022

Georgian volunteers and Russian rag 🇬🇪🇺🇦

Bucha today.

Ukrainian farmers trophied rockets to the Hurricane MLRS. Photo location unknown.

956 Worldwide · March 15, 2022

11 minutes ago, The Royal We said:

I just sent him a contribution. Thank you for sharing.

Was just at that border crossing on Sunday. Can confirm they’re going great, great work.

Legions of Polish food service folks are volunteering.

Edited March 15, 2022 by 956 Worldwide

tx 3 putt · March 15, 2022

2 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Was just at that border crossing on Sunday. Can confirm they’re going great, great work.

Legions of Polish food service folks are volunteering.

just donated, glad to read this first hand account !

RPM · March 15, 2022

Thanks to everyone for pitiching in to https://wck.org/ They are filling a basic human need in a true humanitarian crisis. You don't have to be Surly 1% to donate $100. (But you will be if you do)

https://wck.org/news/news-1-million-meals-served-with-chefsforukraine

Edited March 15, 2022 by RPM

Chewbacca · March 15, 2022

2 hours ago, RPM said:

Send Chef Jose Andres a few dollars. I can't think of a more worthy cause.

Just did. He's a bad ass motherfucker.

InkaUtexas · March 15, 2022

Done. And yep, he is doing great things.

BabaYaga · March 15, 2022

Done

MaybeACoordinator · March 15, 2022

2 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

The bolded. And I'm not holding out much hope that we can continue to walk the tightrope. Put plainly, Russia cannot be allowed to "win" in Ukraine. Their intentions there, and their remaining ambitions, are unacceptable to civilization.

Why? He wants a neutral, demilitarized Ukraine. Is that worth the annihilation of the planet?

Even if we don't take him at his word, and we give him that, and he keeps pressing forward into NATO territory, that takes money he doesn't have and time for his government to collapse or him to be assassinated.

Pescado_Rojo · March 15, 2022

5 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

Done. And yep, he is doing great things.

Done, and I checked and my employer will match my donation.

DDD Dad · March 15, 2022

13 hours ago, Longhornlove said:

NYT is full of it. They need to learn the definition of siege. Wouldn't expect less from their dimwit "journalists".

10 hours ago, Longhornlove said:

So they use deceptive tactics to lure people into clicking on a article to make a buck, then wonder why polls show the general public doesn't trust the media. I didn't read the article because the title was a lie. I guess it works for many people, good luck to them, I didn't fall for it this time, maybe next time. If there was a picture of a hot chick with the title, I might have clicked on it. I do have my weaknesses. 🤣

6 hours ago, Hefeweizen said:

Your CR is showing here. Seriously, go tilt at media windmills somewhere else. The media has done a pretty exemplary job on Ukraine, and the Times daily podcast has been really solid.

SIAP, but today's episode is something everyone should hear.

The Daily

The photo:

Spoiler

Their story:

They Died by a Bridge in Ukraine. This Is Their Story.

Spoiler

March 9, 2022, 4:50 p.m. ETMarch 9, 2022

March 9, 2022

Andrew E. Kramer

KYIV, Ukraine — They met in high school but became a couple years later, after meeting again on a dance floor at a Ukrainian nightclub. Married in 2001, they lived in a bedroom community outside Kyiv, in an apartment with their two children and their dogs, Benz and Cake. She was an accountant and he was a computer programmer.

Serhiy and Tetiana Perebyinis owned a Chevrolet minivan. They shared a country home with friends, and Ms. Perebyinis was a dedicated gardener and an avid skier. She had just returned from a ski trip to Georgia.

And then, late last month, Russia invaded Ukraine, and the fighting quickly moved toward Kyiv. It wasn’t long before artillery shells were crashing into their neighborhood. One night, a shell hit their building, prompting Ms. Perebyinis and the children to move to the basement. Finally, with her husband away in eastern Ukraine tending to his ailing mother, Ms. Perebyinis decided it was time to take her children and run.

They didn’t make it. Ms. Perebyinis, 43, and her two children, Mykyta, 18, and Alisa, 9, along with a church volunteer who was helping them, Anatoly Berezhnyi, 26, were killed on Sunday as they dashed across the concrete remnants of a damaged bridge in their town of Irpin, trying to evacuate to Kyiv.

Their luggage — a blue roller suitcase, a gray suitcase and some backpacks — was scattered near their bodies, along with a green carrying case for a small dog that was barking.

They were four people among the many who tried to cross that bridge last weekend, but their deaths resonated far beyond their Ukrainian suburb. A photograph of the family and Mr. Berezhnyi lying bloodied and motionless, taken by a New York Times photographer, Lynsey Addario, encapsulates the indiscriminate slaughter by an invading Russian army that has increasingly targeted heavily populated civilian areas.

Ukrainian soldiers trying to save a man — the only one of four at that moment who still had a pulse — moments after being hit by a mortar while trying to flee Irpin, near Kyiv, on Sunday.Credit...Lynsey Addario for The New York Times

The family’s lives and their final hours were described in an interview by Mr. Perebyinis and a godmother, Polina Nedava. Mr. Perebyinis, also 43, said he learned of the death of his family on Twitter, from posts by Ukrainians.

Breaking down in tears for the only time in the interview, Mr. Perebyinis said he told his wife the night before she died that he was sorry he wasn’t with her.

“I told her, ‘Forgive me that I couldn’t defend you,’” he said. “I tried to care for one person, and it meant I cannot protect you.”

“She said, ‘Don’t worry, I will get out.’”

After she didn’t, he said he felt it was important that their deaths had been recorded in photographs and video. “The whole world should know what is happening here,” he said.

The Perebyinis family had already been displaced once by war, in 2014, when they were living in Donetsk in the east and Russia fomented a separatist uprising. They moved to Kyiv to escape the fighting and started rebuilding their lives. When Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine last month, they could hardly believe it was happening again, Mr. Perebyinis said.

Tetiana Perebyinis, 43, and her son Mykyta, 18.

Alisa Perebyinis, 9.

Ms. Perebyinis’ employer, SE Ranking, a software company with offices in California and London, had encouraged employees to leave Ukraine immediately once the fighting started. It had even rented rooms for them in Poland, Mr. Perebyinis said. But his wife delayed her departure because of uncertainty over how to evacuate her mother, who has Alzheimer’s disease.

A colleague at work, Anastasia Avetysian, said that SE Ranking had provided emergency funds for employees to evacuate and that Ms. Perebyinis, as the chief accountant in Ukraine, had been busy in her final days disbursing them.

“We were all in touch with her,” Ms. Avetysian said in a telephone interview. “Even when she was hiding in the basement, she was optimistic and joking in our group chat that the company would now need to do a special operation to get them out, like ‘Saving Private Ryan.’”

But behind the jokes was a period of waiting and intense worrying, Mr. Perebyinis said. His son, Mykyta, started sleeping during the day and staying up all night, keeping a vigil over his mother and sister. When there were sounds of fighting, he woke them up and all three would move into a corridor, away from the windows. “My son was under a lot of stress,” Mr. Perebyinis said.

The family’s apartment building, damaged by Russian shelling earlier this month.

Mykyta and Alisa sleeping in the hallway of their home, away from the sounds of fighting.

Last Saturday, after two days in the basement, they made a first attempt at evacuating. But as they were packing up their minivan, a tank rolled by on the street outside. They decided to wait.

The next day they were up and moving by about 7 a.m. Tetiana Perebyinis had discussed the plan in minute detail with her husband. She and her two children and her mother and father, who lived nearby, would join a church group and try to evacuate toward Kyiv, and then get somewhere safe from there.

They drove as far as they could in Irpin, but then Ms. Perebyinis was forced to abandon the minivan. They set out on foot toward a damaged bridge over the Irpin River.

To escape, they were forced to cross a hundred yards or so of exposed street on one side of the bridge. As Russian forces fired into the area, many tried to seek cover behind a brick wall.

Mr. Berezhnyis, the church volunteer, who had earlier evacuated his own family but had returned to help others, was with Ms. Perebyinis and her children when they began to dash toward the other side.

Through the night, Mr. Perebyinis had tried to monitor his wife’s location using a locator app on their phones. But it showed nothing: the family was in a basement, without cell reception.

Tetiana Perebyinis.

Pieces of shrapnel collected from the scene of the mortar attack in Irpin.

Around dawn, he said, he saw one ping, showing them at their home address. But nothing showed them moving. Cellphone coverage had become too spotty in the town.

Looking for a way out. Talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators resumed, offering a glimmer of hope amid a worsening humanitarian catastrophe. But even the most basic progress towards diplomacy has proved elusive.

Zelensky’s appeals. President Volodymyr Zelensky sought to step up pressure on the Kremlin by appealing to Russians appalled by the war. Mr. Zelensky will virtually address Congress on Wednesday, which could increase pressure on the Biden administration to send fighter jets to Kyiv.

China’s strategy. China’s leadership, which dismissed U.S. allegations that Russia asked Beijing for military and economic aid, has calculated that they can benefit from the geopolitical shifts caused by the war by being seen as a pillar of stability in a turbulent world.

The next ping of a location on Mr. Perebyinis’ phone came around 10 Sunday morning. It was at Clinical Hospital No. 7 in Kyiv. Something had gone wrong.

He called his wife’s number. It was ringing, but nobody answered. He called his children’s phone numbers, with the same result.

A half-hour or so later, he saw a post on Twitter saying a family had been killed in a mortar strike on the evacuation route out of Irpin. A short time later, another Twitter post appeared, with a picture. “I recognized the luggage and that is how I knew,” he said.

When the mortar shell hit, the family and Mr. Berezhnyi were about 12 yards away from the crater left by the mortar. They had no chance. The explosion sent out a spray of hundreds of jagged, metallic shrapnel shards. Their bodies slumped onto the muddy street beside a monument to World War II dead from Irpin. A plaque on the monument read: “Eternal memory to those who fell for the fatherland in the Great Patriotic War.”

Ms. Perebyinis’s parents were behind the mother and children and were unharmed. They are now staying with Ms. Nedava, the godmother. The following day, a snowstorm blew over Kyiv. The suitcases, one of which had been knocked open by the explosion or later opened by passers-by, lay covered in snow on the street beside blood stains. It held only clothes: a pink child’s tank top, sweatpants, yellow and blue child-size socks, apparently for Alisa.

When asked to describe his wife, Mr. Perebyinis slumped in his chair. Ms. Nedava offered that she had a “light” spirit, was often joking and cheered up a room.

Over their long marriage, Mr. Perebyinis added, “We refurbished three apartments and never argued once.”

Mr. Berezhnyi had moved his wife to western Ukraine but had returned to Irpin to help with the evacuation organized by his church, the Irpin Bible Church, the pastor, Mykola Romaniuk, said in a telephone interview.

When the mortar strike began, with shells landing first a few hundred yards away, Mr. Romaniuk said other church volunteers saw Mr. Berezhnyi run to help Ms. Perebyinis. “He took her suitcase and they started running,” he said.

Mr. Perebyinis with the bloodied and torn clothes of his wife, recovered from the scene where she and their children died.

Mr. Berezhnyi, Pastor Romaniuk said, was quiet and generous. “He was the kind of friend who is ready to help with no words needed,” he said. “I do not know how God can forgive such crimes.”

In mid-February, before the war started, Mr. Perebyinis had traveled to his hometown, Donetsk, in rebel-held eastern Ukraine, to care for his mother, who was sick with Covid-19. After hostilities began, the crossing point closed and Mr. Perebyinis was trapped in the East.

To return to Kyiv from separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine after the death of his family, Mr. Perebyinis traveled into Russia and flew to the city of Kaliningrad, to cross a land border into Poland. At the Russia-Poland border, he said, Russian guards questioned him, took his fingerprints and seemed ready to arrest him for unclear reasons, though he was eventually allowed to travel on.

He said he told them: “My whole family died in what you call a special operation and we call a war. You can do what you want with me. I have nothing left to lose.’’

Edited March 15, 2022 by DDD Dad

ShaggyBevo RIP · March 15, 2022

2 hours ago, RPM said:

Send Chef Jose Andres a few dollars. I can't think of a more worthy cause.

Donation sent.

Blotto · March 15, 2022

Donated to WCK just now, but didnt check if my employer would match. Wonder if that is something you can do after the fact? I'll have to look into that.

RPM · March 15, 2022

23 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Legions of Polish food service folks are volunteering.

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