Crimean War 1853-1856 - a đź§µ: Tzar claims jurisdiction over Christians (Ukrainians) in the Holy Land & Crimea (Lugansk, Donetsk & Crimea). Austro-Hungary (Russian empire's "allies"), Turkey, France & England unite against the Tsar. How did things go? 1/
"This unexpected weakness of Russia in military matters arises from four concurring causes, of which three are inherent in her system, and,
if nof absolutely incurable, are at best little likely to be cured. First,..." 2/
"...the first place, the nature of the country and the want of roads. Her resources may be vast, but they are scattered and remote. Her forces may be immense, but they are necessarily in great measure distant from the scene of action..." 3/
"Secondly. The Russian armies are often armies on paper only.
Not only are their numbers far fewer than are stated in official
returns & paid for out of the official purse, but they are noto-
riously ill-provided w everything necessary to the effective
action of a soldier..." 4/
"..,The colonels of regiments & officers of the commissariat have a direct interest in having as large a number on the books and as small a number in the field as possible, inasmuch as they pocket the pay and rations of the
difference between these figures..." 5/
"... This will explain why the vast armies ... which were announced as on their march to the Danube
nearly a year ago, never reached that river at all; why of the
150k or 200k men who, we are told, occupied the Principalities, more than 70,000 ever could be got together;..." 6/
"... and why we only find 50,000 troops in the Crimea, though nine months since it was proclaimed
that reinforcements to the number of 70,000 had been ordered thither. The fuct is, that thousande die or fall sick on the road; thousands more lag behind or desert..." 7/
"...every pair of shoes or great coat intercepted from the wretched soldier is a bottle
of champagne for the ensign
or major; every ammunition
waggon which is paid for by Government, but not provided, is a handsome addition to the salary of the captain or the contractor..." 8/
"...This horrible and fatal system originates in ... Russian autocracy...Then the power of
the Autocrat, absolute as it is and vigorously as it is exercised,
is utterly insuflicient to meet the evil. What can a despot do who
has no instruments that can be trusted?..." 9/
"...Thirdly, the common soldier, brave and hardy as they are, devoted to their Czar, and careless of privation have no love of their their profession, and no interest in the object of the war.
except the household regiments, who are near the person of the
Emperor..." 10/
"...How can such troops be expected to make head- against... well-fed Turks fighting for their country, and their faith and officered by competent commanders? ... We read that ... Russians had to be driven
on to the assault with menaces and blows; ..." 11/
"...Lastly. There is another source of weakness in the Russian
Empire. That vast State is in a great mensure composed of the
spoils which she has torn from
surrounding nations. She is a
patchwork of filched and unamalgamated materials..." 12/
"Her frontier provinces are filled w injured, discontented, hostile populations, whom, being unable to reconcile to her rule, she has, endeavoured ... to crush; & many of whom wait, ... the blessed day of emancipation & revenge..." In 1856 Russia lost the Crimean War 13/13
"till a free Press be permitted in Russia & encouraged to unveil and denounce abuses; till the rights & feelings of annexed territories be habitually respected, we do not think that Russia need henceforth be considered as formidable for aggression. She has been unmasked." 14/13
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“Dehumanizing Ukrainians (Russia’s key propaganda goal), denying them the right to an unique identity different from a Russian one, after justifying atrocities ("the punishment must be harsh") and glorifying repression, re-education and Ukrainian suffering…”
"the Catholic regions," western Ukraine, "will remain hostile to Russia, but it will be neutral and demilitarized, and Nazism will be banned there. The haters of Russia will go there."
And what would "guarantee" the quietist subjugation of rump Ukraine…” 2/
“and its compliance with Russian diktats? The "threat of an immediate continuation of the military operation," says Sergeitsev…Ukraine must (in language somewhat reminiscent of the Iranian Revolution’s ideologists) "free itself from the intoxication, temptation,…” 3/
Wimbledon's a bit like Bucha - parks, nice houses, prosperous people. What Russians did to Bucha 🎥👇🏽It's what Russians will do to @Wimbledon, its brand, & given a chance, its wombles, village & villagers. Russia had lists of Bucha residents to kill - they killed them. 1/14
⚡️If Russia hadn't murdered Ukrainian athlete Dariia Kurdel while she was training for the Olympics, Dariia would have enjoyed seeing Russia lose the #Olympics sport of threatening genocide. No other country was competing. Threatening genocide breaches international law. 2/14
@Wimbledon's 2022 stance was correct: NO way of enabling Russian or Belarussian athletes to participate, without the Russian state using such participation as a means of promoting its "Z" brand. UN Commission has now established👇🏽Russia as liable for the Crime of Aggression. 3/14
Let's decode @Olympics troll that participation in sport is a human right. Ukrainian international lawyer Hersch Lauterpacht's vision for human rights as UNIVERSAL as a matter of LAW was accepted as LAW by 1949. 1/
Human Rights as a matter of law were accepted as LAW after the holocaust & Nazi/Soviet occupation of Ukraine killed MILLIONS of Ukrainians 1941-1945. Only States have a duty to protect human rights, not @Olympics. ALL human rights are subject to derogation,... 2/
Even the Right to Life is subject to derogations delineated by law, such as the Right to Self Defence. Most Human Rights in Euro Convention of HR (which no longer binds Russia, though Russia IS bound by the customary intl law of human rights) can be derogated from on...3/
"Ruble is down over 20% since November against the dollar. The labor force has shrunk... Uncertainty has curbed business investment... Russia’s economy is entering a long-term regression... ballooning military expenditures with the subsidies and social spending..." 1/
"Oleg Deripaska warned this month that Russia is
running out of cash. “There will be no money next year..."... Moscow is becoming ever more reliant on China, threatening to realize long-simmering fears in Moscow of
becoming an economic colony of China..." 2/
""...long-term picture
is bleak: Moscow will be much more inward-looking and overly dependent on China." ...energy revenue fell by nearly half in the first two months of this year compared with last year, while budget deficit deepened. Fiscal gap hit $34b..." 3/
"Early Saturday, Ukrainian assault brigades went on the attack. Over the weekend, hundreds of troops joined the counteroffensive, mounting assaults from the ground and pounding Russian positions with artillery from the surrounding hills..." 1/
"Even before Ukraine stepped up its attack on Russians in Bakhmut on the weekend, its forces had moved to beat Russian troops back from the last main highway into the city. That preserved both a supply line and an exit route for them should they decide to retreat..." 2/
“I’m confident Bakhmut will hold,” said commander of a combined tactical group fighting in Bakhmut. “We have enough forces to throw the enemy back from this city, but it depends on the tasks the command has, be it holding the city, or inflicting max losses on enemy.” 3/
"When Tatiana Vlaiko’s 11-year-old daughter Lilya came home from school last September saying her class was going to a two-week summer camp, alarm bells immediately rang..."
"“I was afraid,” Vlaiko, 36, said. “It’s a war and I told her it might not be so easy to get you back. But her friends were going and she really wanted to go.”
Nor did there seem to be a choice. Consent forms sent by the school instructed parents..." 2/
"to bring birth certificates and other documents and be at the river port at 6am next morning for the trip by steamboat across the Black Sea.
Vlaiko, a single mother, kissed Lilya goodbye & left her with the headmaster, then hurried to her job in a butter-processing factory." 3/