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Moon of Alabama – July 31, 2023

Yesterday I linked to a fresh NY Times piece about the horrors of the war in Ukraine.

It has a somewhat uplifting headline and the first few paragraphs describe an Ukrainian ‘success’.

Amid the Counterattack’s Deadly Slog, a Glimmer of Success for Ukraine
Recapturing the village of Staromaiorske was such welcome news for the country that President Volodymyr Zelensky announced it himself. But formidable Russian defenses have stymied progress elsewhere.

The piece is accompanied by this staged photo which shows some trashed uniform on a dirt road with two boots put next to it.

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The line below the picture, which I strongly believe is false, says:

The body of a Russian soldier outside a village in the Zaporizhzhia region of southern Ukraine this month.
Credit… Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

I wonder what the editors thought when they came up with it.

Now onto the first paragraphs of the report:

For 10 days, Ukrainian marines fought street by street and house by house to recapture the southeastern village of Staromaiorske, navigating artillery fire, airstrikes and hundreds of Russian troops.

The Russians put up a ferocious defense but that ended on Thursday when they folded and the Ukrainians claimed victory. “Some ran away, some were left behind,” said an assault commander from Ukraine’s 35th Marine Brigade, who uses the call sign Dikyi, which means Wild. “We were taking captives,” he added.

The recapture of Staromaiorske, a small village that is nonetheless critical to Ukraine’s southern strategy, was such a welcome development for Ukraine that President Volodymyr Zelensky announced it himself.

I have bad news for the NY Times readers. The village Staromaiorske (Staromayorskoye in Russian writing) is no longer in Ukrainian hands but in the gray-zone:

Cont. reading: Ukrainian Soldiers Tell Of High Losses For Little Gains