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PaperclipPerfector  2yr ago (text post)   29499 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 23, 2023

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Russia executing own retreating soldiers, US says

Russia is executing soldiers who try to retreat from a bloody offensive in eastern Ukraine, the White House has said. According to the US, some of the casualties suffered by Russia near Avdiivka were "on the orders of their own leaders".

Russian and Ukrainian troops have been locked into a fierce battle for the frontline town since mid-October. Russia is thought to have suffered "significant" losses in this time. Ukrainian estimates put the number of Russian casualties in Avdiivka at 5,000, while the US says that Russia lost "at least" 125 armoured vehicles and more than a battalion's worth of equipment.

Do you believe the primary claim in this article (from the Pentagon)? If so, or if not, why? If you think the claim is a lie, do you think it originates with American or Ukrainian propagandists. If you think the claim is true, do you think Russia’s actions are likely to have a positive or negative effect on Russian troop morale moving forward?

I’m interested in how our prejudices and priors developed over the last year and half of this war - and more generally - affect our judgment when we hear stories reporting by one side like this. What would it take for you to believe or disbelieve the claim?

I neither believe it nor disbelieve it. If it turned out to be true, I would not be surprised in the least bit. Nor would I be surprised in the least bit if it turned out that the claim was completely made up.

Pretty much the only information that I trust a lot in this war is information about who controls what piece of land, since that is easily confirmed by the photos and videos that each side releases when they capture something. Such photos and videos could in theory be faked, but since if you tried faking them the other side could easily release their own photos and videos showing that in fact it is they who control the land, it would be largely pointless to try to fake them.

I figure that maybe some of the so-called "OSINT" blown-up-tank-counters are trying to be objective, but I also figure that their information is not as reliable as who controls what land because who controls a given piece of land is binary, whereas on the other hand it is possible for example for one side to lose 10 tanks and the other to lose 20 in a given day, yet for there to be photos of 8 of the first side's destroyed tanks available online but only photos of 4 of the second side's destroyed tanks available online.

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