The Kremlin claims it's not seizing Ukrainian cities in order to spare civilians.

[speak easy]

Source: New York Times

ISTANBUL -- Confronting a determined Ukrainian resistance and heavy losses on the battlefield, the Kremlin sought on Monday to portray its failure to capture most major cities in Ukraine as an act of restraint.

Responding directly to U.S. and European statements that Russian forces were making "slow progress" in large cities, the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, said that President Vladimir V. Putin had ordered Russian troops to "refrain from storming large cities including Kyiv" before the invasion.

The reason Russia had not seized large cities was that "armed clashes in urban areas would inevitably lead to big losses among civilians," Mr. Peskov said. But he added that Russian forces could still do so because Ukrainian cities are "already practically encircled anyway."

Russia has bombarded Ukrainian towns and cities with ferocity, increasingly targeting civilian areas. Kharkiv, a thriving metropolis only three weeks ago where tens of thousands of students attended more than a dozen universities, is a wasteland. People seeking to flee fighting on the outskirts of Kyiv have been killed by Russian shelling, and hundreds of thousands are without food or clean water in the industrial hub of Mariupol, where Russian forces have laid siege to the city from its outskirts.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/03/14/world/ukraine-russia-war?name=styln-russia-ukraine&region=hub&block=storyline_live_updates_block_recirc&action=click&pgtype=LegacyCollection#the-kremlin-claims-its-not-seizing-ukrainian-cities-in-order-to-spare

---

Kharkiv

[BlueIdaho]

1. Go to hell.

We now see very clearly that Russia will do and say anything in their murderous quest for land and power. No wonder Trump loves Putin so much. They are two peas in a pod. Russia can go to hell and Trump can go right along with them.

[musclecar6]

20. Very well put

We had a close call with our own unhinged megalomaniac ( with the completely unhinged complicit republican party) and now the poor people of Ukraine are suffering the devastation from their despicable unhinged megalomaniac and likely a similar size group of the equivalent of our republican party egging him on. Let’s hope the group that are behind Putin is a much smaller group then we experienced and the majority of the people work hard to have Putin‘s fate be like Mussolini‘s.

[BlueIdaho]

23. x1000

[speak easy]

27. And like Putin, our mad megalomaniac had nukes.

Trump Brags US Is 'Bigger' Nuclear Power Than Russia After Putin Issued Nuke Threat
https://www.ibtimes.com/trump-brags-us-bigger-nuclear-power-russia-after-putin-issued-nuke-threat-3434349

[BlueIdaho]

28. Let's hope the US

Command and Control structure would stop any sociopath from single-handedly launching a nuke. I hope the same for Putin - but who the hell knows!

[Sherman A1]

2. Sure that's the case

Perhaps it is because they don't have the troops to do it?

[ruet]

3. Riiiight...

[speak easy]

5. ...

[Jetheels]

7. If only Democrats would make use of stuff like this next to T**** speaking of how he loves Putin

“what a genius he is”, and “loving”. The messaging writes itself but it’s not being messaged.

[CrispyQ]

14. Our side doesn't believe in marketing & we're 40 years behind the eight-ball on messaging.

Our lack of messaging is one of my greatest frustrations with our party. Now, I wonder if it's too late, if any message would get drown out by the huge right wing media machine. We'd basically just be preaching to the choir. ???

[Jetheels]

18. Yes lack of messaging...truly confounding. Except for the Lincoln Project.

Also lack of strategy. I don’t know if it would help. They could try and see what happens.
The news is inherently designed to accent anything negative. So nothing democrats do that is helpful will reach ever reach airwaves. They need to message the good things and message the other sides bad things. Which there are piles to step through every day.

[Wuddles440]

30. Unfortunately...

that ship has sailed after Reagan abolished the Fairness Doctrine and the Dem establishment failed to react. However recognizing the importance of the controlling the media to influence public opinion, the right wingers capitalized on it by essentially taking over the AM radio dial and eventually cable TV. They have exhibited an insatiable appetite in consuming all forms of the media market and continue to do so to this day. The conservative media is now so dominant that its messaging influences and, at times, even dictates the reporting of events by the so called MSM. Meanwhile there's really no progressive counter-programming nor any efforts to do such. Beyond frustrating!

[brer cat]

4. Total BS.

[Ford_Prefect]

8. I know what I mean when I say "Oops"!

Same lies and false premises were offered in Syria when the ground attack there failed too.

[zuul]

9. Sure, Jan, I believe you. Nyet.

[dalton99a]

10. "We're just bombing the shit out of them"

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216473706

[Ray Bruns]

11. "refrain from storming large cities including Kyiv"

That didn't stop them from bombing a maternity hospital.

[ffr]

12. *Sigh* WHAT-EVER!!!!

Don't even care.

I hope you go down and when you do, you go down in flames. GO FUCK YOURSELVES!

[ancianita]

13. True. Putin's wealth war is on the West. His goal was to take the best and smash the rest.

Putin's "Kremlin" is going down because of Western sanctions; but because of trade with China it won't be out. Russians continue to live the "trickle down" life.

[lefthandedskyhook]

15. Born liars telling lies

IMPOSSIBLE!

[TygrBright]

16. Okay. If this narrative gives them cover for starting to disengage, fine.

Otherwise, "Kremlin spokesperson, go ride a dick."

skeptically,
Bright

[Mr. Ected]

17. Whenever I read "The Kremlin says" I substitute the words "Trump says"

And my bullshit detector goes on high alert.

[ffr]

25. THIS

Me too. Then I basically move onto the next story.

At this point the Republicans can say whatever they want and I'm not going to give it any relevance. I mean, Russians.

[nycbos]

19. War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength.

[COL Mustard]

21. Russia has to

Destroy the villages in order to save them.

[Oneironaut]

22. I mean, they could destroy Ukraine in mere hours.

By that, I mean carpet bombing everything with tactical nukes and missiles until almost everyone is dead and there’s nothing left in Ukraine’s major cities. They could have done this with 0 Russian casualties.

However, the reason they didn’t isn’t out of the goodness of their heart. If you want to take over a country and set up a puppet government, it’s counter intuitive to completely destroy all infrastructure there to the point that it would take years to rebuild and set up a stable puppet government. That would be totally stupid and yield no positive outcome for Russia.

If Ukraine’s government falls, Russia has to set up a new government quickly. There’s a very short window until everything goes to shit and a country eats itself alive, thus making the invasion pointless.

[musclecar6]

24. The Kremlin

What a fucking joke. It’s no different than When the commies were in charge. It’s just another totalitarian dictatorship run by a bunch of assholes that lie cheat & steal. Kinda exactly like that orange asshole we had to contend with that fortunately got thrown out on his ass.

[WestMichRad]

26. Translation: "We're not gonna seize cities because...

“… we know we can’t win trying to do that. So instead, we’re gonna bomb and shell them to reduce them to rubble, or lay siege and starve the people out. If civilians die, it’s their fault for not leaving.”

FU, Putin.

[llashram]

29. they are only

trying to fool their citizens who probably are getting very tired of the war. And Comrade KKKarlson and that Fox news crew are helping him spread these lies after calling Florida and asking First Traitor how to proceed. After trump has asked his master in Russia.

[dlk]

31. Lie, lie, then lie some more

Seriously, do the Russians ever speak the truth?

[greenjar_01]

32. As evidence, the Kremlin points to its wife

Morgan Fairchild...yeah...that's it.