Azov Troops Outside Kharkov, or Kharkiv, ‘Gun Down 100 Ukrainian Servicemen Who Fled’, Sputnik News Reports
No mention in Legacy Media in 'the West' ensues--is it true? I don't know, but it's helpful to check out both (or more) sides of any argument, eh?
I’m preparing a somewhat longer piece on the current mania in Austro-Covidistan, so for today—which is also a heavy teaching day—this will have to do.
Sputnik News, a Russia-based outlet, has reported the following last week (my emphases):
‘Kraken’ Nationalists Gun Down 100 Ukrainian Servicemen Who Fled Amid Russian Forces’ Advance’, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
A commander of the ‘Kraken’ regiment has previously admitted to seizing homes in a private sector, after the Russian Defense Ministry stated that the nationalists set up firing positions in residential buildings, thus endangering civilians.
Nationalists from Ukraine’s ‘Kraken’ regiment have gunned down 100 Ukrainian servicemen, who fled their positions amid the Russian Armed Forces’ advance in the Kharkov region, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday [19 Aug. 2022].
The said servicemen were part of the 58th Motorized Infantry Brigade, whose divisions were eliminated by the Russian forces. The remaining servicemen fled their positions, the ministry added.
As a result of the offensive actions of the allied forces in the Kharkov region, on August 14, 2022, units of the 58th Motorized Infantry Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the area of the settlement of Udy were defeated. Amid the onslaught of Russian troops, the remnants of the unit fled from their positions and left the settlement. In order to suppress panic and intimidate personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the nationalists of the armed group ‘Kraken’ demonstratively gunned down 100 servicemen of the 58th Motorized Infantry Brigade, who left their positions’, the Russian MoD elaborated.
During the Friday briefing, the ministry added that the Russian forces had destroyed more than 100 Ukrainian servicemen of the 14th Mechanized Brigade in the area of Stary Saltov in the Kharkov region.
In addition, the Russian forces conducted a precision strike targeting a warehouse storing weapons and military equipment of the 65th Mechanized Brigade, destroying more than 15 units of armored and motorized vehicles.
The ministry then added that the Russian forces had destroyed the positions of Azov* and Aidar Battalions in Nikolaev and the Donetsk People's Republic, killing over 50 nationalists.
As for the Kherson region, the Russian air defense systems have intercepted 12 HIMARS MLRS shells over the past day, the Russian Defense Ministry stated.
‘A Tochka-U ballistic missile was intercepted near the village of Yubileinoye, 12 shells of the HIMARS multiple rocket launcher system were repelled in the area of Novaya Kakhovka in the Kherson region, two shells of the multiple launch rocket system were destroyed near the settlements of Topolskoye and Suligovka in the Kharkov region, as well as two anti-radar missiles manufactured by the United States were intercepted in the area of the settlements of Alchevsk and Stakhanov of the Lugansk People’s Republic.’
In addition, Russian air defenses shot down 13 Ukrainian drones in Kharkov and Nikolaev regions over the past day.
A total of 1,770 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as 267 warplanes, 148 helicopters, 366 anti-aircraft missile systems, 4,347 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 807 MLRS, 3,315 field artillery guns and mortars, and 4,958 units of special military vehicles have been destroyed since the launch of the special military operation in February.
*The Azov Battalion is a terrorist organization banned in Russia.
Bottom Lines
Couple of things: no, I don’t take anything either side says at face-value, and neither should anyone.
Yet, while we’re at this: did you see any report of this in the Western media?
Here’s, e.g., what Reuters has been pushing on 19 Aug.: nuthin’ on this:
Now, I realise that the Russian MoD’s claim may be wrong, and I also understand that truth and wartime are hard to separate from each other.
Yet, I’d argue that it would be of utmost importance to check out as much information as possible to even begin understanding the ‘true’ story.
If you’d click on that Reuters-supplied link, it will take you to Guano Island, specifically the UK MoD’s ‘Daily Intelligence Briefing’, i.e., this:
To my understanding, neither side provides more in terms of ‘evidence’ than ‘MoD says’. So, let’s call a spade a spade, shall we, and call out both sides for pushing something, which may or may not be true.
As a parable, imagine two kids fighting as you enter their room: of course, both will claim ‘the other guy did this or that’, and there’s typically no way you’re going to be able to discern what really happened easily. But—I’d argue that a measured distance and hearing out both sides may be helpful, and this is also the case here.
By the way, if you’d like to learn ‘more’ about the Azov outfit ‘Kraken’, please see what (self-identifying as left-liberal) Austrian daily Der Standard published about them as recently as four weeks ago:
Last words here: if your country censors this piece by Sputnik News, why not try the following work-around: venture over to the Internet Archive, of Wayback Machine, and copy the blocked URL.
#medialiteracy #freespeech
Azov actually got a mention in swedish state media the other day. As "asoff militia", mentioned in passing as one group opposing the russians.
Of course, here the focus is our election on 9/11, and everyone and their mother are acting like the worst ambulance-chasing schyster out of a Hollywood 'comedy'.
Oh, and even state media has started to allow questioning of the "Putin causes high prices and infaltion"-narrative. Something seems to be up...