The Russian commander of the “Vostok” Battalion fighting in southern Ukraine said on Thursday that Ukraine will not be defeated and suggested that Russia freeze the war along current frontlines.

Alexander Khodakovsky made the candid concession yesterday on his Telegram channel after Russian forces, including his own troops, were devastatingly defeated by Ukrainian marines earlier this week at Urozhaine in the Zaporizhzhia-Donetsk regional border area.

“Can we bring down Ukraine militarily? Now and in the near future, no,” Khodakovsky, a former official of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, said yesterday.

“When I talk to myself about our destiny in this war, I mean that we will not crawl forward, like the [Ukrainians], turning everything into [destroyed] Bakhmuts in our path. And, I do not foresee the easy occupation of cities,” he said.

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[–] ShimmeringKoi@hexbear.net 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ah, the old myth about the perfidious, untrustworthy minority with dual loyalties who are surely plotting with The Enemy. Who, pray tell, might have an interest in propagating such narratives?

[–] barsoap@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Certainly not the vast, vast, majority of Ukrainians. Even among the Ukrainian far-right that's a tiny minority.

[–] ShimmeringKoi@hexbear.net 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

A tiny minority with military and political power who have been attempting genocide in the Donbas for eight years, yes.

[–] barsoap@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Name them. Who are you talking about? Through which party do they act? What battalions do they field? How are they operating independently of the general staff?

Because if you mean Azov the current battalion isn't the old Azov, it's been diluted by ordinary people to the point where it's an ordinary battalion. If you're talking about Right Sector they're under general staff command when it comes to military, and have literally zero political power left in the Rada.

And those genocide claims are also bullshit. Poroshenko lost an election (among other things) over being too heavy-handed, yes, but even then anything that went down was a far cry from genocide. It's not even comparable to Russia's bombing campaign which deliberately targets civilians at their most vulnerable to inflict maximum casualties, apartment complexes in the night and shopping malls during shopping hours kind of shit.