zmachinaz 19 hours ago | next |

Just zooming into the tail section photo one can find on main stream media shows very suspicious signs of possible shrapnel hit ...

mrtksn 19 hours ago | root | parent | next |

The shrapnel damage is pretty much established as there are multiple videos from inside the plane during this flight prior to the crash and you can see shrapnel damage on the fuselage. The survivors are also confirming it, and report that there was a bang(which might be confused for bird strike).

The question is, who shot the plane? This part is pure speculation at this point.

mlyle 18 hours ago | root | parent | next |

> The question is, who shot the plane? This part is pure speculation at this point.

It doesn't seem to be too difficult to put together what is likely. Grozny was under active drone attack at the time with air defenses working. And Russian air defense crews are pretty infamous for the jumpy trigger fingers at this point.

ummonk 18 hours ago | root | parent | next |

And notably, the "drones" were civilian propeller aircraft fitted out to fly an unmanned suicide trajectory. I'm not sure they would even look all that distinguishable on a SAM operator's screen from a small jet like this.

neurotech1 14 hours ago | root | parent | next |

The Airliner has a transponder and a radio. Pretty sure the drone does not.

The transponder code, assigned by various ATC would identify that aircraft as a civilian airliner when it checks in, and on the screens of the SAM operators.

Also, the speed and altitude of the airliner, even approaching Grozny would not be the same as a drone. Airliners, even on approach, are somewhat faster, probably 200-250mph, or faster, and much higher in altitude, at least 5000ft, probably more like 10,000ft until close to the airport.

noprocrasted 14 hours ago | root | parent |

Out of curiosity, why wouldn't a hostile power also put a transponder on their drone (maybe one even replaying a nearby plane's code)? Surely that could help it blend in and avoid defenses

neurotech1 11 hours ago | root | parent | next |

As indicated below, it would be a war crime.

More importantly, it's not uncommon when crossing Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCC) regions (eg. from Washington Center, to NY Center) for controllers to instruct pilots to change Squawk codes. Same applies when crossing from one country's airspace to another.

One of these drones, without a bunch of extra avionics would be unable to change transponder codes in flight, and talk with controllers via relay, that would probably double the cost of the drone, or at least significantly increase it.

So even doing something creative, like spoofing the transponder Squawk code, from another aircraft, probably wouldn't help.

Also, with Mode-C, and Mode-S transponders, the later used with ADS-B, which feeds all the flight tracking websites, the transponder transmits altitude.

A SAM operator will figure out somewhat quickly if an airliner is supposed to be at 10,000ft and 250mph but isn't according to primary radar tracking, but much lower and slower, that it's spoofing it's transponder.

stefan_ 15 hours ago | root | parent | prev | next |

Except.. they are not jets, terribly slow, and fly at much lower altitude.

mlyle 15 hours ago | root | parent |

A regional jet on approach and a prop aircraft in cruise don't necessarily look that different in ground speeds, altitudes, or even radar cross section to most radars.

dralley 14 hours ago | root | parent | next |

The regional jet is sqwalking on ADS-B, though.

ummonk 14 hours ago | root | parent |

Yeah but the ADS-B transponder didn't know its own location because GPS was being jammed by the Russians to try to force the drones off course.

prmph 2 hours ago | root | parent |

Why is the jet even flying in an active war zone?

This is the Russia war coming home to roost. They better admit that they are engaged in an actual war, and stop allowing civilian aircraft in areas that are attacked frequently.

neurotech1 10 hours ago | root | parent | prev |

These "drones" are more like enclosed ultralights, heavily loaded, 50-80mph, which an airliner would have already stalled at and be dropping out of the sky.

mlyle an hour ago | root | parent |

Ukraine is modifying a large variety of smaller aircraft to be suicide drones. Yes, A-22s/A-33s are used which cruise at like 100-120MPH or so (though there's been some talk of turboprop conversions of the same, too). But other small civilian aircraft which cruise at more like 160MPH have been employed, versus a late approach speed of the Embraer of 180-190MPH or so.

And remember, radars vary groundspeed, which can easily vary by +/- 25MPH from actual (and will be reading the Embraer's speed on the low side).

wat10000 18 hours ago | root | parent | prev |

Is there anyone besides Russia who would have even been capable of shooting it down?

eastbound 18 hours ago | root | parent | next |

Yes, who shoots down entire civilian aircrafts?

Itavia 870 comes to mind: In the 80ies, a fighter jet was being smuggled to Gaddafi by hiding under a civilian aircraft, and the speculation is that France shot the convoy, killing 81. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itavia_Flight_870

londons_explore 18 hours ago | root | parent | prev |

Well considering the incident happened in Kazakhstan, one might imagine Kazakhstan has air defences too...

mlyle 18 hours ago | root | parent | next |

The aircraft was sent away / prohibited from landing after reporting the explosion over Grozny, and had to divert to Kazakhstan to land without real pitch control.

Some view the denying of emergency landing clearance as an effort to destroy/obscure evidence: https://x.com/DailyTurkic/status/1872008574878298418

wat10000 18 hours ago | root | parent | next |

The pilots probably should have ignored that. There’s no such thing as “denying landing clearance” to an aircraft experiencing an emergency. There’s only “get out of the way of the incoming emergency.” But I can’t blame them for not wanting to take their chances when they were just shot by local air defense.

mlyle 15 hours ago | root | parent | prev |

"Yah, ATC is saying to leave-- but instead let's say 'unable' and shoot an approach at same airport where we just got shot at."

ummonk 18 hours ago | root | parent | prev |

The more obvious explanation would be that air controllers surmised that it was at risk of being shot at again if it continued attempting a landing in Grozny and the safest thing to do was to divert it out of Russia.

selimthegrim 14 hours ago | root | parent |

Regional air traffic control is in Rostov (on-Don) - you’d think they’d at least be able to get the military controllers at Rostov (Southern military district HQ) on the horn?

ummonk 14 hours ago | root | parent |

Assuming they have an established channel of communication, yes they would have, but imagine trying to communicate to them which blip on the radar screen is an actual civilian aircraft, and hoping they're able to track it and make sure they only fire on other targets.

wat10000 18 hours ago | root | parent | prev |

The plane crashed in Kazakhstan. It was shot over Russia. It was still sufficiently airworthy to make quite a distance before crashing.

EA-3167 15 hours ago | root | parent | prev |

In particular some of the damage has a "linear" quality that could plausibly come from a continuous rod warhead, which would be typical for a system like Pantsir. If as the Russians claim, it was a bird-strike, you wouldn't expect debris from the failure of the engine to make a pattern like that on the tail, unless the entire engine body broke apart.

Likewise, it didn't look like it was on a glide path, but rather that as discussed the hydraulics failed and they has to use thrust vectoring to fly. Obviously for very fine correction on final approach that becomes difficult, and the result was what we saw. All of that is consistent with a missile.

rodary 18 hours ago | prev | next |

This is odd.

I'm from the area, near Grozny. If Grozny were under fog, there are at least 10 airports nearby (Makhachkala, Vladikavkaz, Nalchik, Minvody, Rostov, Krasnodar etc) in the North Caucasus. Why would you fly east, across the Caspian Sea, toward Kazakhstan?

appreciatorBus 17 hours ago | root | parent | next |

Obviously just speculation but if one was just fired upon, yet still in one piece and at least somewhat in control, a pilot might decide braving a longer diversion over a body of water to get away from the area, might be the safest course of action.

dralley 14 hours ago | root | parent |

Also if you have control issues and a forced depressurization it might be best to avoid obstructions (like the Caucasus mountains) and significant course adjustments.

But from what I'm seeing the actual answer is that they were denied landing clearance, which is a bit suspicious.

phire 16 hours ago | root | parent | prev | next |

They reported a dual GPS failure.

My guess, they picked an airport they knew well, that they could probably navigate to with nothing more than a compass and landmarks. And if they suspected GPS jamming (personally, a dual GPS failure over Russia would be my first guess) they would be biased towards an airport far away from an active war zone.

I am curious why they didn't divert back to their departure airport at Baku. It's roughly the same distance and surely they knew that airport even better, and could just follow the coastline back. Maybe by the time they had the plane under control they were already much closer to Aktau.

quink 17 hours ago | root | parent | prev | next |

If I was a pilot flying into an at-war country I’d want my alternate to point in a different direction, the exact opposite course of the war zone ideally. Which this pretty much is.

And, to further that point, multiple airports you listed here are currently closed because of that war.

selimthegrim 14 hours ago | root | parent | next |

Makhachkala has been taking international flights.

quink 12 hours ago | root | parent |

I just checked the transcript I've seen floating out there, the first alternate was Baku, i.e. their departure airport. Then Mineralnye Vody (which is some way to the west), then Makhachkala, then they seemed to go far to the east, so while I think the first option was Baku - matching what I said, the list of options pretty quickly became 'anywhere'. What a harrowing flight.

IAmGraydon 15 hours ago | root | parent |

Anyone else notice an influx of these new accounts in the last couple of years that start rapidly spamming inflammatory replies that seem to be trying to incite arguments (look at this ^ account's comments in the last hour)? HN is a bastion of mostly western, intelligent discourse. I'm really starting to wonder - is it under attack?

refulgentis 15 hours ago | root | parent |

I see this everywhere. IMHO that is because we've all found vice signaling is lower cost than expected

IAmGraydon 15 hours ago | root | parent |

Vice signalizing? Intentionally displaying one's flaws/vices? I really don't think that's what this is. I think this is someone or a bot that is trying to get people to react with anger, in hopes that it catches on and causes wider arguments in the thread/social platform. It's very similar to what foreign influence/disinformation campaigns are doing in western societies, but targeted at online societies.

ivan_gammel 2 hours ago | root | parent | prev | next |

The entire region was the zone of active air defence and Vladikavkaz was surely not an option given the drone strike that damaged a shopping mall there. My only question here is why there were any civilian flights at the moment. They should have been diverted.

ArturZhdanN 19 hours ago | prev | next |

russia is a terrorist state

belter 18 hours ago | root | parent | next |

Half of the future US Administration seems to have weekly calls with Putin.

whamlastxmas 16 hours ago | root | parent | prev | next |

This is really boring, tiresome hyperbole

darthrupert 10 hours ago | root | parent | prev |

Please explain, as this is not obvious at all.

whamlastxmas 9 hours ago | root | parent |

They literally aren’t. And Russia being a boogeyman that both sides claim the other is in cahoots with is exhausting. And the premise that communicating with someone means you endorse their actions. It’s all just lazy

oceanplexian 16 hours ago | root | parent | prev |

Thank god. I remember the outgoing administration bragging about the fact that they haven’t held talks with Putin since the start of the war.

Maybe now diplomacy can happen and thousands of lives can be saved.

llamaimperative 16 hours ago | root | parent | next |

Alright Neville, let’s get you to bed

trhazljk 15 hours ago | root | parent |

Even the super pro-Ukrainian historian Stephen Kotkin has criticized the overuse of the Munich analogy.

There have been hundreds of relatively small land grabs in European history. Most of them have not resulted in further expansion.

Ironically, before WW1 Tsar Nicholas could have appeased Austria/Germany. Instead he mobilized and the German emperor decided to launch a preemptive strike. If he had not mobilized, perhaps WW1 and WW2 could have been averted.

It is extremely concerning that thoughtless one liners like yours, most definitely posted from some comfortable location rather than the trenches of Donetsk, are steadfastly upvoted here. Presumably by people who are also not in the trenches.

llamaimperative 15 hours ago | root | parent | next |

Are you writing this message from 2014 or 2024? Hard to tell.

I don’t believe I (or you) from a position of comfort have the answers. I believe that western democracies should trust their partners on the frontlines to decide when and how to find peace with an invader, as they know more than we do.

realusername 15 hours ago | root | parent | prev | next |

The Russian state TV: We will come back to Berlin and nuke everybody who gets in the way!

Some westeners: We never know, maybe they will stop if we give them a few more villages this time.

yakshaving_jgt 15 hours ago | root | parent | prev |

How close to war does one need to be for their opinion on this to be valid?

A Shaheed drone flew over my head just less than two months ago. Does that qualify?

In case it does — don’t be so naïve. Of course the russians want more. They’ve made that clear enough. Their heads of state have made that clear enough. Repeatedly. For years.

realusername 15 hours ago | root | parent | prev | next |

> Maybe now diplomacy can happen and thousands of lives can be saved.

Diplomacy, like the time Macron came to Russia to stop the war and Putin told him the war would never happen. This kind of diplomacy?

severino 8 hours ago | root | parent | next |

Usually, the war can not be stopped just by taking a flight to the side that's initiating it and telling them to stop. We need more than that.

realusername 8 hours ago | root | parent | prev |

There's been dozens and dozens (if not more) of diplomatic talks which Putin all sabotaged.

Putin lying that there would not be any wars was just one talk among others, probably the most memorable and iconic of the war.

What is Putin bringing to the table this time to guarantee that it won't end up like the other times?

roenxi 16 hours ago | root | parent | prev |

We can only hope. Unfortunately there are some disturbing parallels to WWI - there is a sizeable contingent in the US who won't admit they made a mistake on this one. It'll be like the Germans all over again, a big well armed population who don't understand that they'll lose even more if they stir up a big conflict. Even if Trump manages to put a lid on the current conflict I'm not hopeful it'll be enough to pacify the warmongers even in the medium term. There is a lot of work to be done. It has been unreal to watch the US muck up European security so badly. They are now also in a really bad position vs. China, they've secured it a well resourced ally to the north for no reason at all.

It is no mystery how Trump outmanoeuvres these people, they have the strategic acumen of a stunned fish.

tiahura 17 hours ago | root | parent | prev | next |

Didn’t the US Navy just shoot one of its own down yesterday? Bleep happens.

Mawr 15 hours ago | root | parent | next |

Military incidents are very different. While all civilian planes carry transponders that identify them as such [1], military planes usually don't for obvious reasons, so they're much easier to misidentify as hostile.

[1]: https://www.flightradar24.com/

speakfreely 16 hours ago | root | parent | prev |

What a meaningless statement. So many specific critiques of Russia to be made and all you've done is demonstrate that you can't contribute in any meaningful way to the conversation.

echelon 20 hours ago | prev | next |

There are videos of the crashed tail section that show shrapnel damage.

https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1hm0ijm/another_a...

There are videos filmed from within the cabin by the passengers showing shrapnel piercing clothing, limbs, seats, and more before the plane crashes.

https://x.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1871952188383309872 (Holes in life vests)

https://www.reddit.com/r/world24x7hr/comments/1hm6prb/seats_... (Shrapnel damage)

https://www.reddit.com/r/TerrifyingAsFuck/comments/1hm4mf0/f... (Survivor before the plane crashes.)

(There are better videos, but I can't seem to find them again.)

There are reports that the plane was forced to divert course and fly over water after being hit. They were close to landing but were forced to reroute in the middle of their emergency.

More videos:

https://www.reddit.com/r/TerrifyingAsFuck/comments/1hlx7tc/c... (Crash. Other videos from other angles exist elsewhere online.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/world24x7hr/comments/1hm2ynv/shocki... (Tail section after crash)

https://www.reddit.com/r/ThatsInsane/comments/1hlxm7i/surviv... (Survivors exiting the tail section)

https://www.reddit.com/r/world24x7hr/comments/1hm7poq/miracl... (Survivor who filmed prior to the crash.)

I'll edit my comment with sources shortly.

jiggawatts 20 hours ago | root | parent | prev |

A turbine blade or a few coming off can have the same effect as a bomb going off near the plane.

The pieces would tear through the plane like shrapnel from a weapon.

Military anti air missiles tend to use continuous rods to slice planes in half instead of fragmentation warheads that leave small holes. The aim is to sever control lines, not merely to puncture.

jemmyw 19 hours ago | root | parent | prev | next |

They did in the past but they are designed now to disintegrate without taking the rest of the plane with them. Not that something unusual couldn't happen, but the engines are tested on this very thoroughly, based on previous accidents. Even when it has gone wrong in recent times it hasn't been catastrophic.

talldayo 18 hours ago | root | parent | prev | next |

> A turbine blade or a few coming off can have the same effect as a bomb going off near the plane.

Not in any passenger jet Embraer would get caught dead making. To my knowledge, most jet engines that are parallel to passenger sections require cowling that is reinforced to withstand a blade going loose.

ahmedfromtunis 18 hours ago | prev | next |

In a weird coincidence, this morning I watched an old video about the Iranian airliner downed by a US missile in the Persian gulf. These accidents are just horrible.

closewith 6 hours ago | root | parent | prev |

Hard to call 655 an accident. The missiles were deliberately fired at that aircraft.

It was either murder or manslaughter by negligence.

The same is true for this incident.

cynicalsecurity 18 hours ago | prev | next |

> There is a possibility that the Azerbaijani passenger plane flying from Baku to Grozny was shot down by Russian air defense.

> At least, the holes in the tail section look like traces of the striking elements of an anti-aircraft missile.

> Surviving passenger of the plane Subhonkul Rakhimov said that the pilots tried to land the plane in Grozny three times: "The third time, something exploded. There was an explosion - I seemed to me that it was not inside the plane."

TechSquidTV 18 hours ago | prev | next |

Don't worry. I'm sure we'll do nothing about it. Again.

ralph84 18 hours ago | root | parent | next |

Why should “we” have anything to do with a flight between Azerbaijan and Russia that crashed in Kazakhstan?

brookst 18 hours ago | root | parent | next |

Isn’t there a saying about triumph of evil and good people doing nothing?

ralph84 17 hours ago | root | parent | next |

Ok, well you’ll have to help me out with your good vs. evil decoder ring because all three of those countries are allies with each other so I’m still not clear who we’re supposed to be white knighting for here.

kerland 18 hours ago | root | parent | prev |

What are the options? The war in Ukraine is a land war of attrition. They need more soldiers. Many Ukraninians evade military service and are instead refugees in the EU.

Sending NATO troops to do their work seems strange, especially considering that we are talking about a relatively small piece of land in Eastern Ukraine. And no, Putin will not go for Lisboa if he still does not manage to occupy the whole of Donetsk.

Do you blame NATO for not recapturing North Korea?

martin-t 17 hours ago | root | parent | next |

They need equipment too, lots of it. The west for example sent only token amount of tanks. It's slightly better in some categories like towed artillery but not nearly enough. People who disagree simply don't understand the scale of this war.

Night vision would be huge. If you've ever seen videos of soldiers with night vision engaging those without, it's slaughter. And that's exactly what we need, kill ratios of tens to one to make Russia really pay for their aggression.

If they wanna send flesh against steel, make them bleed out. And when they start conscripting in big cities, maybe those "poor" "innocent" Russians will finally do something about their government.

brookst 17 hours ago | root | parent | prev |

Why the obsession with military response? In my view, there is a lot of ground between “do nothing” and “put NATO boots on the ground”. Including a ton of asymmetric / deniable actions.

False dichotomies like this are very questionable.

selivanovp 12 hours ago | root | parent | prev |

Of course you won't because you can't. Keep sending Ukraine money and materials, so they'll keep cosplaying 9/11 as long as they can, sending aeroprakt planes full of explosives into Russian highrise buildings. And as long as it happens, accidents with AA missiles gonna happen also. So, you guys are getting exactly what you're paying for.

lutusp 19 hours ago | prev | next |

> " ... as the Azerbaijan Airlines aircraft was approaching to land as scheduled."

Not as scheduled. The aircraft was diverted because of unacceptable weather at its primary destination -- https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjwl1e6895qo : "The plane was en route to Grozny in Russia but it was diverted due to fog, the airline told the BBC."

Just saying, not excusing a hostile takedown, if that's what happened.

Diversion due to weather is a possibility anticipated by pilots, who normally carry extra fuel to accommodate the possibility of a diversion.

Ironically, because of the advent of drone attacks, a small aircraft like the Embraer 190 is more likely to be mistaken for hostile, compared to a full-size airliner.

brnt 19 hours ago | prev | next |

If I plot a line between Azerbaijan and Grozny, even if I go around the Caucasus over the Caspian, crashing in Kazakhstan seems way, way off.

dilyevsky 18 hours ago | root | parent | next |

It diverted to Aktau after getting hit (by birds allegedly, but really - SAM). All other flights got diverted to Aktau too on that day.

brnt 18 hours ago | root | parent |

Why that far? It's at least twice further from either beginning or destination than those are apart themselves.

appreciatorBus 17 hours ago | root | parent | next |

If the pilots were aware that they had been hit by anti-aircraft defenses, and that they were in at least partial control of the aircraft, they might have concluded they were better off getting as far away as possible, just in case the AA operators try again.

dilyevsky 18 hours ago | root | parent | prev |

If it got hit over Makhachkala it’s closer to Aktau - just over the Caspian. Maybe it’s easier to land there with busted controls too

londons_explore 18 hours ago | root | parent | prev |

There are reports of GPS jamming in the area (presumably as part of the Ukraine war). It seems plausible the pilots got lost.

Also, the time between the 'bird strike' and the crash is 20+ minutes, so they might have been trying to fly towards an airport with a larger runway or better emergency crews. Or maybe just an airport where repair crew were stationed to fix whatever was wrong with the plane.

margalabargala 18 hours ago | root | parent |

Doubtful. The Caspian Sea is a pretty unmistakeable landmark, even from high altitude, which the pilots would have seen.

I think it was more likely that that happened to be the direction the plane was pointing when it got hit by the missile and lost control surfaces, so that is where the pilots went.

llamaimperative 20 hours ago | prev | next |

Russia: "Why does the world view us as either malicious or incompetent?"

Also Russia: Consistently fails to shoot down military aircraft and missiles, consistently shoots down passenger jets, consistently lies about both

quink 19 hours ago | root | parent | next |

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Lines_Flight_007 would surely be a bit more on the nose.

Especially since rt.com's only above-the-fold mention is "Russia-bound airliner crashes in ex-_Soviet_ state (VIDEO)". Nope, they don't need to use the word 'Kazakhstan', the 50% longer, much less descriptive but much more telling 'ex-Soviet state' is the one they're chosen.

quink 16 hours ago | root | parent |

There's a second mention above the fold on rt.com now.

"Putin extends condolences over plane crash in ex-Soviet state".

They're literally a parody of themselves. Like, what's the implication here: Shame about the accident, none of this would have happened if we were all still together in a single nation led by us?

NotYourLawyer 19 hours ago | prev | next |

[flagged]

paganel 19 hours ago | root | parent |

The "orcs" being who?

05 19 hours ago | root | parent | next |

> Orc (Cyrillic: орк, romanised: ork), plural orcs (Russian and Ukrainian: орки), is a pejorative commonly used by many Ukrainians to refer to a Russian soldier participating in the Russian-Ukrainian War and Russian citizens who support the aggression of Russia against Ukraine.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orc_(slang)

tetromino_ 18 hours ago | root | parent |

Let's call a spade a spade. "Orc" is a dehumanizing term that the Ukrainian military propaganda invented and popularized to make it psychologically easier for their soldiers to shoot at Russians. Because they are not dropping a grenade from a drone on a human, they are just dropping a grenade on an orc, on a monster from a video game.

For Americans in the audience, "Orc" belongs to the same category as "Jap", "Gook", "Sandn**r", and all similar dehumanizing terms that American soldiers have used to make it psychologically easier to shoot and bomb their enemies.

NotYourLawyer 17 hours ago | root | parent |

Orc isn’t racial though. And anyway it’s ok to dehumanize people who are behaving monstrously.

AnimalMuppet 16 hours ago | root | parent |

No. No, it's not.

Dehumanizing others costs you part of your humanity. It puts you on the path toward becoming a monster. Yeah, it's only one step on that path, but the better answer is, don't start down that path.

Some people behave like monsters. You may have to kill them. But they're still people, and you still have to not dehumanize them, lest you dehumanize yourself.

NotYourLawyer 16 hours ago | root | parent | next |

It’s ok to kill them, but calling them names is too far?

gruez 14 hours ago | root | parent | next |

Killing them is required for self-defense. What's the point of dehumanizing them? Boosting soldier morale? Would it be okay to call Japanese and Germans slurs in WW2 for the same reason? Do the ends justify the means?

NotYourLawyer 10 hours ago | root | parent |

The racial slurs are a slightly different kettle of fish. But I’ll shed no tears for the Nazis who were called mean names.

gruez 3 hours ago | root | parent |

>The racial slurs are a slightly different kettle of fish.

So "racial slurs" are fine but country slurs are fine? What's the basis of that?

>But I’ll shed no tears for the Nazis who were called mean names.

Not every Russian is a "Nazi", especially when there's mandatory conscription there and there's little room for political dissent.

Dalewyn 16 hours ago | root | parent | prev |

For those who need actual moments from history to understand this, here's some reading material:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_mutilation_of_Japanes...

In particular:

>We learned about savagery from the Japanese ... But those sixteen-to-nineteen-year old kids we had on the Canal were fast learners ... At daybreak, a couple of our kids, bearded, dirty, skinny from hunger, slightly wounded by bayonets, clothes worn and torn, wack off three Jap heads and jam them on poles facing the "Jap side" of the river ... The colonel sees Jap heads on the poles and says, "Jesus men, what are you doing? You're acting like animals." A dirty, stinking young kid says, "That's right Colonel, we are animals. We live like animals, we eat and are treated like animals—what the fuck do you expect?"

yakshaving_jgt 15 hours ago | root | parent |

I’ve seen videos of russian soldiers invading Ukraine, killing soldiers and civilians, taking prisoners, and sometimes beheading or castrating prisoners while they’re still alive.

Where is the human part of taking a knife to a man’s genitalia after you decide to invade his country?

If russians don’t want to die, they can just go home.

neom 18 hours ago | prev |

I'm not sure if i'm reading this correctly or not, but the telegraph seems to report that the oxygen tank exploded? https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/12/25/azerbaijan...

inamberclad 18 hours ago | root | parent |

I can't read through the paywall, but the numerous pictures of the skin with the metal folded in are a pretty dead giveaway that there was an explosion nearby that crippled the aircraft