Yep, there have been a number of journalists injured and killed so far.

Brent Renaud, a journalist from Arkansas who was working for Time on a piece about Ukrainian refugees, was the first American journalist killed in Ukraine. He was shot in the head by Russian soldiers at a checkpoint in Irpin on March 13th, while he and several other journalists were driving to filming footage of civilians evacuating the area.

My on-line Russian IT colleague/friend says Russian media are reporting Russia has left the U.N.

Seems highly unlikely, to me, but he says this is "actually an official statement by Russian ministry of intl. affairs" as of the evening of Apr. 7 (yesterday).

Says it's all over the place, there, incl. in surrounding countries such as ".tr, .az, .tv, .lv, etc." (Turkey, Azerbaijan, Tuvalu [of which I'd never heard of before], Latvia.)

None of my news sites are reporting it, nor did I get any hits on a Brave search, so I strongly suspect Russian propaganda.

UN General Assembly voted Russia of the Human Rights Council, and that might be "telephone gamed" down to the street as "Russia left the UN", and/or propaganda.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
Says it's all over the place, there, incl. in surrounding countries such as ".tr, .az, .tv, .lv, etc." (Turkey, Azerbaijan, Tuvalu [of which I'd never heard of before], Latvia.)

Tuvalu isn't a surrounding country... It's a tiny island nation in the South Pacific, sorta near Fiji or Samoa.

Perhaps they meant .tm for Turkmenistan, or .tj for Tajikistan?

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
Says it's all over the place, there, incl. in surrounding countries such as ".tr, .az, .tv, .lv, etc." (Turkey, Azerbaijan, Tuvalu [of which I'd never heard of before], Latvia.)

Tuvalu isn't a surrounding country... It's a tiny island nation in the South Pacific, sorta near Fiji or Samoa.

Perhaps they meant .tm for Turkmenistan?

Yeah, he probably typo'd it.

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
UN General Assembly voted Russia of the Human Rights Council, and that might be "telephone gamed" down to the street as "Russia left the UN", and/or propaganda.

More than that. Russia pulled the "you can't fire me, I quit" routine.

From https://www.reuters.com/world/...-ukraine-2022-04-07/

quote:

The U.S.-led push garnered 93 votes in favor, while 24 countries voted no and 58 countries abstained. A two-thirds majority of voting members in the 193-member General Assembly in New York - abstentions do not count - was needed to suspend Russia from the 47-member Geneva-based Human Rights Council.

Speaking after the vote, Russia's deputy U.N. Ambassador Gennady Kuzmin described the move as an "illegitimate and politically motivated step" and then announced that Russia had decided to quit the Human Rights Council altogether.

"You do not submit your resignation after you are fired," Ukraine's U.N. Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told reporters.

So "Russia Quits UN Human Rights Council" morphs into "Russia Quits UN Human Rights Council

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
So "Russia Quits UN Human Rights Council" morphs into "Russia Quits UN Human Rights Council

That was what I suspected to be the case--whether on-purpose (propaganda) or through incompetence.

Quit! Get out, nobody is asking you to stay.
Take your damn flag with ya! OUT!

You’ve been thieving and we’ve been kissing you ass too long!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Yep, there have been a number of journalists injured and killed so far.



Is Geraldo available?

Would love to see Jim Acosta, Don Lemon, Brian Williams... volunteer for service in the Ukraine.

quote:

Originally posted by RichardC:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Yep, there have been a number of journalists injured and killed so far.



Is Geraldo available?

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
The Russians have been targeting journalists to try to control the flow of information.

War correspondents being killed or injured in combat zones is hardly a new thing, but what struck me was just how many have died or been injured in Russia's war on Ukraine.

A few war correspondents killed or injured by indiscriminate rocket/ missile/ shelling, even by the stray round or ricochet, sure, I could see that. Or even by mis-identification or accidents in the combat zone... but 18 dead and 13 injured, with several more missing and some reported kidnapped in such a relatively short war??? (and I've heard one report that places the number even higher)

I ran a super cursory internet search and haven't found nearly as many war correspondents killed/ injured in other wars, in such a short period of time.

Maybe these journalists are taking unnecessarily foolish risks while covering this particular war, or maybe there is just a run of seriously bad statistical luck...but this certainly looks like they are being targeted.

Looks like Russia figures in for a penny, in for a pound. If we're going to be accused of war crimes we might as well go all in.

===============

18 journalists killed so far during Russia's war on Ukraine


Ruslan Rehimov and Jeyhun Aliyev
05.04.2022

KYIV, Ukraine/ANKARA

Local journalists and press members who flooded into Ukraine from around the world are risking their lives at every turn to report on the latest developments on the ground in the war-torn country.

Since Feb. 24, the beginning of Russia's war on Ukraine, 18 journalists have been killed and 13 injured, Ukraine's Ministry of Culture and Information Policy said on Tuesday. During the war, it added, three journalists went missing, and eight journalists, including four women, were kidnapped.

Russia committed at least 148 crimes against journalists and media in Ukraine in the first month of the war along, according to the Institute of Mass Information (IMI), an independent NGO backing the interests of civil society of Ukraine and, in particular, responsible journalists.

At least 10 TV towers were targeted by Russian forces, causing complete or temporary disruption of TV and radio broadcasting in eight regions of Ukraine, it said.

In addition, some 70 regional media outlets were forced to shut down across the country due to war-related threats, the institute said.

Last month, Russian troops attacked a team of Sky News reporters in their car. Several team members sustained bullet injuries but survived thanks to bulletproof vests.

Maksim Levin

On April 2, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry announced on Twitter that photojournalist and documentary filmmaker Maksim Levin was found dead near the capital Kyiv where he was documenting "Russian war crimes." It said that unarmed Max, according to investigators, was killed by Russian troops with "two shots from firearms."

"He is survived by his wife and four children," the ministry added.

Levin, 40, who went missing on March 13 while working on the frontlines near the capital city, was found dead near the village of Huta-Mezhyhirska on April 1, according to Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser and former deputy interior minister, also confirmed on Telegram that the Ukrainian journalist went missing over two weeks ago when reporting in the Vishgorod district, an area of intense fighting.

Levin, accompanied by Oleksiy Chernyshov, a serviceman and former photographer, went to Huta-Mezhyhirska on March 13 "to document the consequences of the Russian aggression," said LB.ua, a Ukrainian media outlet Levin worked with for over a decade.

"They left the car and went in the direction of the village of Moshchun. Since then, there has been no contact with either man. Later, it became known that intense combat started in the area where Maksim Levin was going to work. The location and fate of Oleksiy Chernyshov are currently unknown," it added.

Levin was also working with the international media, with most of his documentaries concerning the war in Ukraine.

Oksana Baulina

Russian journalist Oksana Baulina of investigative website The Insider was killed in Russian shelling of Kyiv on March 23 in the line of duty.

The outlet said in a statement that Baulina was reporting from Kyiv and the western city of Lviv, and she was killed when Russian troops shelled a residential area of Kyiv called Podil while she was filming the destruction.

She died "during a bombardment while carrying out an editorial assignment," it added.

The Insider, whose editorial offices are based in the Baltic nation of Latvia, said that another civilian also died in the shelling, while two others who were with Baulina were wounded and admitted to hospital.

Baulina was known for previously working for Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation.

She left Russia last year after authorities added Navalny's foundation to a list of extremist groups.

Oleksandra Kuvshinova and Pierre Zakrzewski

Oleksandra "Sasha" Kuvshinova, 24, a Ukrainian filmmaker and journalist, died on March 14 together with Irish journalist Pierre Zakrzewski, 55, a cameraman for Fox News, when their car was struck by gunfire from Russian troops in the village of Horenka in the northwestern outskirts of the Kyiv region.

British correspondent Benjamin Hall, 39, was also injured in the attack.

Zakrzewski, a veteran cameraman, covered conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria for Fox News.

Kuvshynova had served as an on-the-ground consultant for Fox News.

Brent Renaud

Another foreign journalist who was killed while covering the Russian war in Ukraine was Brent Renaud, an award-winning filmmaker and journalist.

The American journalist, 50, was killed near the Russian checkpoint in the town of Irpinin in the Kyiv region on March 13, according to police.

Renaud, a former New York Times contributor, was shot dead when, along with a colleague, he went to report the situation of refugees fleeing the region.

Brent was in the region to work for a TIME Studios project on the global refugee crisis.

Kyiv police chief Andriy Nebytov said the journalist was targeted by Russian soldiers, while his two colleagues were injured and taken to hospital by Ukrainian rescuers.

One of the injured journalists was identified as Colombian-American reporter Juan Arredondo.

Viktor Dudar

Viktor Dudar, a 44-year-old journalist from the Lviv region, was shot dead in Mykolaiv, Ukraine's southern strategic port city on the Black Sea, on March 4.

He was a crime correspondent for Express, Ukraine's weekly newspaper, until he volunteered for the 2014-2015 war in the eastern Donbas region.

After becoming a reservist and returning from the war, the Ukrainian journalist took the paper's defense correspondent position.

Dudar, who in peacetime was a journalist, again joined the army to fight the advancing Russian forces with the start of Moscow's war.

Yevhenii Sakun

Ukrainian cameraman Yevhenii Sakun, 49, who was working for LIVE TV, was killed on March 1 during a Russian rocket attack on the TV tower in Kyiv's Babyn Yar area.

When the missile hit the building, Sakun was working with his colleagues there.

His body was identified by his press card only.

Besides Sakun, four more people were killed and five others injured in a strike on a TV tower in Kyiv's Shevchenkivskyi district.

Dilerbek Shakiro

Shakirov Dilerbek Shukurovych, a journalist for the information weekly Navkolo Tebe (Around You), was killed on Feb. 26, just two days after the war began.

He was shot dead from a car with an automatic weapon near the village of Zelenivka, a suburb of the southern city of Kherson.

The International Federation of Journalists on Twitter condemned the killing of the Ukrainian journalist.

The Russian war against Ukraine, which started on Feb. 24, has drawn international outrage, with the EU, US, and Britain, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

At least 1,417 civilians have been killed in Ukraine and 2,038 injured, according to UN estimates, with the true figure feared to be far higher.

More than 4.17 million Ukrainians have fled to other countries, with millions more internally displaced, according to the UN refugee agency.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Modern Day Savage,

I would attribute the number of dead press is the fact they think that painting “press” or “tv” on their trucks or cars….they feel that they should be exempt from getting shot at simply because they are the news. Entitled even.

I know I’d be real skeptical of some reporters in a battlefield. I’d be worried they would give my position away.

Plus no one like reporters.

^^^
Yeah, as a general rule, I'm no fan of most reporters. I was once burned by one after contributing to their story as a witness. Lesson learned. But there are some good journalists and war correspondents serve an important role, when they do their job right.

Most uniformed military personnel know not to target civilians and the Press.

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:
Drones have been used for quite a long time. In '91 Desert Storm, US battleships were using Pioneer drones launched off the stern to do spotting for the big 16" guns ashore, the opening air phase of Desert Storm, nearly all USAF & USN drones used for air training, were used instead to expose Iraqi SAM sites. I get what you're saying, drone usage and capabilities are now down to the squad level, and the ability to communicate and bring fires is scary...and impressive.

Actually, what I find the most impressive is Russias inability to stop even commercial drones in any widespread or effective manner. Using a consumer drone in Syria or Afghanistan? Sure, I wouldn’t expect them to be able to do much about it, but Russia absolutely has electronic warfare and signal jamming capabilities, and not shitty 30-yr-old one’s either. The fact that their modern EW capabilities either can’t stop the drones, or they don’t have nearly enough to cover the battle lines is what I didn’t expect. I figured Russia would be making enough noise to shut down just about anything short of military-grade comms. Instead, Ukraine has been able to keep operating civilian hardware with communication systems that have no intentional ability to resist active jamming.

I think this conflict is going to cause drone-hunting to move way up the priority list for first-world armies, and small-unit drone usage is definitely here to stay.

- Bret

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:
...

We can parse it out any number of ways, the reality is, Russia has problems both in how it functions as a gov and how they culturally view things. The below commentary piece gives some insight into this, take a read, there's a few other nuggets I didn't include.

Ukrainians Don't Blame Just Putin For the War. They Blame Russians.

...

A long but worthwhile article, and I agree that it gives good insight into both Russian and Ukrainian mindsets. Thanks for this.

If the anecdotes and info is accurate and the opinions expressed are generally widespread, then I think that true peace between the two countries is farther off than what some are reporting, although I suppose a short-term truce or cease-fire is still possible.

Pure speculation, but I’d bet a nickel that targeting journalists, just like targeting certain civilians, is deliberate by the Russians. Why? Because that’s the Russian way. They may have specific reasons they believe justifies their actions, but not necessarily.

There’s a tendency for most civilized peoples to believe that everyone is civilized even in the face of ample evidence to the contrary. Although I didn’t expect the Russians to act as they have thus far, I’m not surprised either.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by sadlerbw:
The use of drones for situational awareness and forward observation being effective against a enemy with modern capabilities.

I was just having that discussion this morning.

Ukrainian artillery has been making widespread use of forward observation drones in this conflict. Rather than relying on human forward observers phoning in adjustments, artillery units themselves are able to get real-time birds-eye views of the enemy's current position and movements along with their rounds' impacts, in order to more accurately adjust fire and more effectively engage mobile enemy forces.

I think this is going to quicken the widespread utilization of individual observation drones at the small unit level (as opposed to large recon drones loitering overhead, or attack drones making airstrikes), as well as result in a new emphasis on developing and fielding man-portable anti-drone technology.

I recently watched a video, posted last year, on small unit avoidance tactics of drone surveillance.

What I find interesting is that neither side has established air superiority, and the resultant ground war evolution.

I'm not sure if true, but I recently heard a Green Beret Colonel comment that, when air superiority has not been established by the attackers, the defenders are 3x more likely to successfully defend territory.

After reading the last few pages here, I have a very simple question for everyone.

Do you think its a smart decision to continue to ramp up this amount of pressure on Russia without providing them 'any' offramp(s)?

Personally, what I'm seeing in the way things are being handled by the US and its European partners with Russia is utterly asinine and irresponsibly dangerous.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
Do you think its a smart decision to continue to ramp up this amount of pressure on Russia without providing them 'any' offramp(s)?

As far as anyone can tell, Putin has shown absolutely no interest in offramps. If anything, the repression of dissent in Russia and the language coming out of the Russian minister for foreign affairs and the state-controlled media suggest that Putin's already decided to double down on his efforts.