Ukrainian women on the battlefield…

I think Mogwi could do better!

Latest update from the Austrian Military

It offers a glimpse of the real situation on the front lines, mangled people and overtaxed medics using makeshift ambulances and limited medical resources.
This war is a horror show for the front line soldiers, not much better than the Civil War, where the wounded were brought back on oxcarts.

Thank you, étudiant. My grandfather was an army doctor in the trenches during the Great War. My mother’s young memories of him in the 1920s and 30s involved him waking up screaming during the night.

I don't think so. He talks about the attacks on Mariuopol and Odesa intensifying, so several weeks old ( although that could still be the latest Austrian update )

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Sorry about that, i'm not a subscriber and it opened without any paywall

Apparently it was difficult to buy furniture after the American Civil War as a lot of it had been requisitioned or donated so that the legs could be removed and turned into prothesis :(

First step to war economy for russia

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...my-2022-07-05/

That's an interesting article, thanks for the link.
It's also a bit of grim news, in terms of how long this war may last.

Russia will need to build an industrial base, reorient its economy and change its education system.

https://eng.lsm.lv/article/society/d...rvice.a464196/

Latvia Reintroduces National Service

….Pabriks also announced plans to reintroduce national military service for males from 2023, first on a voluntary basis and then in compulsory form at a later date. This comes despite reservations about national service being expressed by Latvia's defense chief in February this year.

The information provided to the media by the Ministry of Defense shows that the defense service will be gradually introduced over the course of five years. From January 1, 2023, the first phase of implementation will take place, for which it will be possible to apply voluntarily.

It is expected that recruitment to the service will take place twice a year - on January 1 and July 1.

It is planned that after a five-year transition period, the service will be compulsory for men aged 18 to 27. However, if a person at the age of 18 is still studying, they will be able to defer their service until after graduation.

National service will last for 12 months, but one month of that will be holiday, and people can expect to be paid 400 euros plus travel expenses per month, slightly less than the national minimum wage of 500 euros.

Women will be able to apply to the National Defense Service voluntarily, the Ministry of Defense plans.
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Only citizens of Latvia will be admitted to the service and individuals will also have to meet health requirements, which are analogous to those of the National Guard.

Latvia abolished mandatory military service in January 2007, fully switching to a professional military service backed up by a National Guard militia.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...rs-2022-07-05/

Russian separatists seize two foreign ships in Mariupol

LONDON, July 5 (Reuters) - Russian-backed separatists have seized two foreign-flagged ships in the eastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, saying they are now "state property", in the first such moves against commercial shipping, letters seen by Reuters showed.….

The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, via its foreign ministry, informed two shipping companies that their vessels were the subject of "forcible appropriation of movable property with forced conversion into state property”, without any compensation to the owners, according to two separate letters.

Donetsk officials did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment, while others could not be reached by phone.

Liberia registered Smarta Shipping, the owner of the Liberia-flagged Smarta bulk vessel, one of the two vessels taken, said it was informed of the seizure by email on June 30, calling it unlawful and "against all norms of international law".

"Such forced appropriation is in breach of fundamental human rights in so far as property rights are concerned," the company said in a statement. "Such action is a serious threat to shipping and to maritime safety."

The other vessel seized was the Panama-flagged Blue Star I, according to the letter. An official with the vessel's Odesa-based manager Fetida Maritime declined to comment, adding that Ukraine's security service had all the information.

A Ukrainian foreign ministry official said it was aware of an announcement by "the Russian occupation authority in Donetsk to create a ’national’ fleet comprised of ships they had stolen in Mariupol”, adding they were checking on the vessels seized…..

Russia reportedly preparing mobilization in occupied Berdiansk.

According to the National Resistance Center, a Ukrainian government website, Russia started preparing to forcibly conscript men into the Russian Armed Forces in occupied Berdiansk, Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

The center added that the pace of illegal mobilization is increasing in occupied Luhansk, where recently all men working at a local meat processing plant and a culture academy have been conscripted.

A good write up as to the state of play etc I won't copy it over as it is huge.

https://www.understandingwar.org/bac...essment-july-5

Russia blocks Kazakhstan's oil transit to Europe.

According to the Russian news agency Interfax, a Russian court has closed the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal for 30 days under alleged technical issues. The terminal is Kazakhstan's main exit point for Kazakh oil.

The World should see this and wake up to what is happening.

I am well aware that this is happening. What the world needs to wake up to is that the good times are over. Our governments are cowards and inept. It's time the west confronts Putin's Russia head to head whatever the consequences. Not doing so will make those consequences inevitable in the end anyway!