@18 yes the gliding precision bombs do seem to be working well as a precise standoff weapon.
The ground strike aircraft are getting hammered though. Su25 get downed pretty easy.
Russia better be stock piling lots of stuff, ukraine will be shooting them soon whatever the us equivalent is.

Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Apr 8 2023 2:01 utc | 104

@ outraged 90
Mr ( Abdul ) Gaffur will know about the DP leaks that were plants by Pegasus equipped Israel. The documents may be genuine but we are being prepared for something. The documents apparently show that Zelensky’s claims about a counteroffensive are genuine. Could be Preparation for a false flag where he is the hero and Russia the villain.
I have swallowed too much blag in my life to believe anything.

Posted by: Giyane | Apr 8 2023 2:06 utc | 106

Came back to post the link to Simplicius, but I see I was beaten to the punch.
So yeah, not fake. Let’s see what the fallout is, if anything…

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 8 2023 2:21 utc | 108

Here’s the paywalled article linked to by Simplicius regarding *other* non-Russia/Ukraine related docs also having been leaked, which could help establish the authenticity of the ones we’re talking about here. Also, as he states, could still be a psyop.
https://archive.ph/XdUD1 h/t to Outraged for the new handy site.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 8 2023 2:26 utc | 110

@ Neofeudalfuture | Apr 8 2023 2:01 utc | 105
Essentially no ADS, so with what, slingshots ? Further, to intercept the glide bombs the AFU ADS must be designed/capable/programmed to do so against a unique maneuvering target (Guidance!) profile at ~500-1180Km/h. AFU ? No ability to update/reprogram pre ’91 ex-Soviet ADS & critically short of missiles. No. The donated western ADS short of missiles in same Situ ? No.

Posted by: Outraged | Apr 8 2023 2:48 utc | 112

I live in China and Chinese social media are very open about the war in Ukraine. Lots of videos showing grenades dropped on Wagners in trenches. Latest is 3 groups of Wagners entered a building and got blown up when the Nazis detonated the building.
Of course these Chinese social media also show the Nazis getting slaughtered. But on the whole the reporting is quite balanced.

Posted by: Surferket | Apr 8 2023 2:54 utc | 114

West of England Andy | Apr 7 2023 19:26 utc | 23
German payback?
I’m inclined to yep.
The first time the docs appeared on the internet was on 4chan /pol
[politically incorrect] message board during an argument on casualties.
An “anon” posted the docs to win the argument.
About 2hours later a “revised” set appeared in multiple threads.
I understand this is called “well poisoning”.
And then 4chan, Reddit, twitter, telegram were flooded with (one can surmise) Langley and Brigade 77 (UK) “shills” screeching the docs were “fake”, , “obviously photoshops” etc.
And the muddying of the waters has worked because there’s “confusion” as to which set is “real”, if any.
Q: Why would a second set of docs appear so soon after the first?
A: To obfuscate the Ukrainian losses, of course.
And we know it’s Langley with the obfuscation because:
§ Russia is shelling its own troops at the ZapNPP &
§ Russia blew up its own NS2 pipeline &
& Taaahdaah:
§ Russia has leaked the USNATO Grand Spring Offensive Plan to… confuse Russia……

Posted by: Melaleuca | Apr 8 2023 3:06 utc | 116

@unimperator | Apr 7 2023 21:19 utc | 55
“What would you do?”
Ukraine’s only path to avoiding total defeat, baring direct negotiations, is to get NATO troops actively and openly involved. At this point, a nuclear, biological, or chemical false flag might be the only way of doing that.

Posted by: barstool | Apr 8 2023 3:08 utc | 118

Latest vid on Chinese social media showed Nazis using airburst artillery rounds that send a rain of ball bearings dropping large numbers of Wagners at once.
Months back I wrote in a comment that Russia should use treetop airburst rounds but obviously the Russians are too humane to do this as there is no report on them doing this. Just regular HE rounds.

Posted by: Surferket | Apr 8 2023 3:12 utc | 120

Posted by: Aaron Lee | Apr 8 2023 3:10 utc | 120
Nope. China is pushing on infrastructure buildup, high tech buildup, consumer spending. This is to offset decrease global exports. This was already stated in state planning since last year’s Big 2 meetings.
China has for decades turned to internal growth and rely less on exports.
Re arms, you’re joking of course. You think China will throw away decades of hard earned self reliance on arms? Did you know last year I saw a video on China’s state military channel CCTV7 on PLA soldiers training with 3D printed DIY FPV suicide srones? And FPV is only a catch word now in this SMO because the Nazis are using it.
And similarly last year on same channel was a vid of PLA using EM railguns that’s the saize of their previous assault rifles.
The Chinese are pioneering weapon systems before the west has gone beyong drawing boards.

Posted by: Surferket | Apr 8 2023 3:23 utc | 122

Here’s a report on the non lethal police version of the Chinese EM gun. They already have the military lethal version.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202304/1288501.shtml

Posted by: Surferket | Apr 8 2023 3:26 utc | 124

⚡️🇷🇺🇺🇦⚔️ #Chronicle of the Special Military Operation for 7 Apr 2023⚡️
🔹#Russia’s Border Areas:
▪️ In the #Kursk region, air defence assets intercepted a Ukrainian drone that was collecting information on Russian troop locations.
▪️ In the #Belgorod region, the AFU terrorists fired a mortar on the village of #Rzhavets. Civilian buildings have been damaged without casualties.
🔹#Starobelsk (#Svatovo) Direction:
▪️ In the #Kupyansk sector there are no significant changes. Both sides are engaged in artillery duels and mutual reconnaissance.
➖ Ukrainian formations are strengthening their positions on the right bank of the #Oskol River.
▪️ In the #Liman sector the positional battles continue in the #Serebryanskoye forestry and near Balka Zhuravka.
🔹#Soledar (#Bakhmut) Direction (MAP):
▪️ Russian troops, supported by artillery, continue to storm enemy positions in Orekhovo-Vasilyevka.
▪️ In the northern outskirts of #Bakhmut, units of the Wagner PMC liberated several buildings on Zelenaya Street near Roses Alley.
➖ To the south, Russian servicemen entrenched themselves north of Kovalskaya Street along the railway.
➖ In the centre, the “Wagnerians” have taken control of the Metallurg stadium and have also advanced significantly towards the police station.
▪️ Southwest of the city, fighting continues near the highway to #Konstantinovka and on the outskirts of #Krasnoye.
🔹#Donetsk Direction:
▪️ In the #Avdeyevka sector, units of the RF Armed Forces continue the operation to encircle the enemy grouping from the north and south.
➖ The Ukrainian command is moving additional forces to the frontline in preparation for an counterattack attempt.
▪️ In #Maryinka, Russian servicemen, supported by tanks and aircraft, storm enemy positions on Druzhba Avenue.
▪️ Ukrainian terror formations fired barrel and rocket artillery at populated areas of the Donetsk agglomeration.
➖ In the capital of the DPR, a local market and civilian facilities in Voroshilovsky district have been hit, among others. One woman was killed and 16 people wounded.
🔹#Zaporozhye Direction:
▪️ The situation in this section of the front has not changed. Both sides are conducting reconnaissance activities and exchanging artillery strikes.
▪️ In preparation for a new counterattack attempt, the enemy is moving reserves to the #Orekhov sector.
▪️ in #Zaporozhye region, Ukrainian terrorist formations shelled civilian infrastructure in the town of #Pologi with artillery (south of #Gulyaypole).
➖ The strikes damaged a sports school, a cultural centre, an outpatient clinic and a baby home. According to preliminary information, there were no casualties.
🔹#Kherson Direction on #SouthFront:
▪️ Artillery duels continue along the entire line of contact. Russian forces hit AFU concentrations in #Kherson, #Berislav and #Ochakov.
➖ In turn, the enemy terrorists shelled civilian infrastructure on the left bank of #Kherson region. Novaya Kakhovka, #Tavriysk and #Sagi have been hit, among others.
🔸Political Events:
▪️ The first service of the PCU was held in the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. At the same time, the Verkhovna Rada is preparing a resolution to terminate the UOC MP’s lease of the Pochayevskaya Lavra.
▪️ Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has issued a decree on the creation of 19 military administrations in #Zaporozhye region, 12 of which are located on the territory controlled by the RF Armed Forces.

https://t.me/sitreports/6877

Posted by: Down South | Apr 8 2023 3:33 utc | 126

Posted by: Jerr | Apr 8 2023 3:20 utc | 122
The Chinese social media don’t do analysing on total figures, just show vids from both sides. On these western boards we don’t see the Nazi vids showing the Wagners getting slaughtered. There was one showing a Wagner putting his rifle to his head and killing himself. His fellow soldiers in the sane trench are already dead from grenades dropped from Nazi drone.
The analysing is on military channel CCTV7 talking heads talk shows but usually talk about weapon sysyems and effectiveness.
BTW, Chinese state tv had for past 4 years running many tv series and movie shows on the Korean War against US. For decades this was forbiddened due to “friendliness” with US. But no more. The Chinese people are being prepared to have a Sino US war coming. Same for real reports on US society. Once upon a time China don’t show the real shitty situation in US of poverty, drugs, killings of blacks. Now it’s all out there on the screen.

Posted by: Surferket | Apr 8 2023 3:35 utc | 128

👉👉👉 Ukrainian Post
Bakhmut. There is no good news.
The enemy is pressing in three directions, including the center of the city, which is almost lost.
We can no longer withdraw forces with cohesion, all access roads are in danger.

https://t.me/sitreports/6882

👉👉👉 Ukrainian post
Bakhmut. Briefly.
Difficult fighting in the city center, near the railroad. East of it, there are almost no our positions left, but the fight for them is still ongoing.
The Defense Forces are repelling attacks in the area of Korsunska Street. The enemy is making minor progress.
Fighting continues in other sectors in the southwestern parts of the city. Unfortunately, the enemy is making progress.
In the area of Ivanivske-Khromove, the occupants are trying to resume massive assaults. So far, we have managed to repel them.
The Defense Forces are facing another hellish night in Bakhmut.
The city is now the hottest spot on the planet. It is the tenth month of Bakhmut’s defense and it is holding!

https://t.me/sitreports/6883

Posted by: Down South | Apr 8 2023 3:36 utc | 130

Boris Rozhin:
1. Those who are waiting for night sensations from Artemovsk can safely go to sleep. They won’t take it until morning. 😀
2. There is still enough work in the city, even if the enemy has begun to withdraw. As in the case of Soledar, with a hypothetical collapse of the defense, not everyone will be able to retreat.
3. The clearing of Artemovsk alone will take several days.
4. It is worth waiting for Prigozhin’s statements about the capture of the city. “Wagner” liberated Artemovsk, and he should announce it. Well, Prigozhin himself said more than once that it’s not worth driving horses – as soon as they take it, they will immediately report it.
5. On the day of the official liberation of the city, Bakhmut de jure and de facto will again become Artemovsk. At least until the end of the war, and there the locals themselves will decide what to call it.

https://t.me/Slavyangrad/40843

Posted by: Down South | Apr 8 2023 3:39 utc | 132

Posted by: Surferket | Apr 8 2023 3:23 utc | 123
This is that kind of low end analysis that just repeats what other people have said without knowing the facts. To quote the Russian MOD, I ‘eliminated’ your argument. It’s ‘destroyed.’
China is dead meat. You think the Japanese lost decades were bad (actually you probably know nothing about them), you haven’t seen anything yet.

Posted by: Aaron Lee | Apr 8 2023 3:42 utc | 134

So they have brought the good news from Artyomovsk to Donetsk.
It was a long ride but won well and by all the team.
I guess when the rain ceases in a few weeks and the fine black soil dries in a few weeks more, the nazis will talk about a spring offensive for some time next summer or autumn or later.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Apr 8 2023 3:48 utc | 136

Posted by: Surferket | Apr 8 2023 3:47 utc | 136
Aron Lee, been residing on fringes of lunacy for quite a while

Posted by: Grishka | Apr 8 2023 4:12 utc | 138

Here’s another good news.
💥🇷🇺Elon Musk took down the ban on Russian accounts of government agencies and media outlets on Twitter
The social network is once again searching for the accounts of Russian government agencies, including the pages of the Kremlin, the Russian Foreign Ministry, and Russian embassies abroad.
https://t.me/infodefENGLAND/5590

Posted by: Surferket | Apr 8 2023 4:15 utc | 140

One more, before I check out. “Conquistador”, Procol Harem. Live with the Edmonton philharmonic orchestra.

Posted by: Immaculate deception | Apr 8 2023 4:57 utc | 142

Bakhmut continues getting squeezed into smaller portions, meaning higher density of ukronato troops per m2. That in itself makes the casualty curve from artillery go up. They can no longer leave in cohesion, unless in most western part of city.

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 8 2023 5:35 utc | 144

Johnnycomelately:
You are confusing two different types of bomb, both developed in Germany in WW2, and since then much refined. They are the glide bomb (Fritz), an air-launched, unpowered but radio-guided bomb generally used against naval targets; and the V-1 flying bomb, a ground-launched, unguided, pulse-jet powered missile widely used against English civilian targets in the last year of the war. The former has morphed into what are now called smart bombs, and the latter into cruise missiles. Both types have improved greatly in range, accuracy and lethality mainly due to improvements in electronic guidance systems. It is true that the Russians have not made much use of smart bombs until now, but that is because (in Syria for example) their approach has been to achieve the same result with “dumb bombs” by precise vectoring of the delivery aircraft onto the target. Obviously that approach works best where there is a lack of air defences, which is not the case in the Ukraine. Putting a pulse jet motor and wings on an ordinary bomb would merely be re-creating the V-1, which even in 1944-45 was fairly easily shot down. Adding a guidance system to it only turns it into a basic cruise missile, of which the Russians already have several very advanced types that are being used to devastate Ukrainian infrastructure targets. The glide bomb is therefore essentially a short-range, powerful and cheap weapon whose cost-effectiveness would hardly be enhanced by adding a motor to it.

Posted by: Bernard Davis | Apr 8 2023 6:14 utc | 146

Posted by: Aaron Lee | Apr 8 2023 3:10 utc | 120
In your article, you claim that:
“Does it matter that Russia graduates more scientists and engineers when America has eight times the Russian technical workforce? Extrapolating out from our last good year of data (2015) (https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=PERS_SCIENCE) Russia probably has 870k scientists & engineers. ”
That is false:
According to the statistical data for the average annual number of employees by type of economic activity, there were 2,731,700 employees in scientific and technical activities in 2021, of which, 789,400 dedicated exclusively to research and development.
https://rosstat-gov-ru.translate.goog/labour_force?_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=es&_x_tr_pto=wapp (See ‘Workforce Balance’, it’s a ‘xls file’, cells A21:A22, and the corresponding data)
If the premise is false (evidence of poor research), the rest does not deserve any consideration: it is only baseless speculation.
A salute

Posted by: Lalita | Apr 8 2023 6:44 utc | 148

Posted by: Aaron Lee | Apr 8 2023 3:10 utc | 120
In your article, you claim that:
“Does it matter that Russia graduates more scientists and engineers when America has eight times the Russian technical workforce? Extrapolating out from our last good year of data (2015) (https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=PERS_SCIENCE) Russia probably has 870k scientists & engineers. ”
That’s is false:
According to the statistical data for the average annual number of employees by type of economic activity, there were 2,731,700 employees in scientific and technical activities in 2021, of which, 789,400 dedicated exclusively to research and development.
https://rosstat-gov-ru.translate.goog/labour_force?_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=es&_x_tr_pto=wapp (See ‘Workforce Balance’, it’s a ‘xls file’, cells A21:A22, and the corresponding data)
If the premise is false (evidence of poor research), the rest does not deserve any consideration: it is only baseless speculation.
A salute

Posted by: Lulita | Apr 8 2023 6:52 utc | 150

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1r_Hb6gmsY
Macgregor interview on the current situation in Ukraine. Ritter has a couple of new interviews up too. encouraging news.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Apr 8 2023 7:21 utc | 152

“No one needs Ukraine, so it will disappear, and it will not be on the planet.” — Deputy chairman of the Russian security Council and Former president of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev

https://t.me/Slavyangrad/40871

Dmitry Medvedev explains why Ukraine will disappear: 
1. Europe doesn’t need Ukraine. The massive support for the Nazi regime at the behest of an American mentor has already given Europeans a real financial and political hell. Flows of brazen beggars—Ukrainian migrants and their accommodation at the expense of their own citizens, skyrocketing inflation, huge heating and electricity bills, rotting European businesses, unprofitable Russian sanctions—all this has already led to explosions of discontent in both Western and Eastern Europe. And for what? for the sake of Banderites’ destroyed-Ukraine, which even the most arrogant Poles do not perceive as a normal country and periodically throw in the theme of the annexation of the western regions. Ahead of them looms the prospect of finally putting the young Ukrainian blood-sucking parasites on the arthritis-ridden neck of the withering European Union. This will be the final sunset of a formerly regal but impoverished Europe. 
2. Ukraine is not needed by the United States. Yes, the military and sanctions campaigns are the PR motivation for the political babblers, who signed their own impotence and feeble-mindedness long ago. Real senile people like Biden, whose place is not at the head of a huge power but on the grass, surrounded by their relatives with their mouths open with dementia, Ordinary Americans have no idea at all what “Ukraine” is or where it is located. Most of them can’t even show this “country” on a map. Why should they suffer such inconvenience for the sake of some obscure part of Russia?
3. Africa and Latin America don’t need Ukraine. After all, the hundreds of billions that the U.S. spends on pointless fights somewhere in Ukraine would be enough for many programs aimed at the social development of Latin American and African states.
4. Asia doesn’t need Ukraine. On the Russian example, they see how the color technologies for the elimination of the largest competing powers are practiced. They understand what scenario the collective West, led by America, has prepared for them in the event of disobedience. “Help us deal with Russia, and then we’ll come to you soon,” say the pissed-off Western leaders. Giant countries like India, China, and other APAC nations have enough problems with economic recovery after the pandemic without the drug clowns and their whining for help.
5. Russia does not need Ukraine. After all, Ukraine is not a country at all, but a cloud in its pants. a tattered, shabby, greasy, and totally rotten patchwork quilt. The new Malorossia of the 1991 model—artificially sliced territories, many of which are originally Russian and were accidentally seized in the XX century. Millions of our compatriots live here; they have been bullied for years by the Nazi Kiev regime. It is them that we defend in a special military operation, ruthlessly destroying the enemy. But the pieces of Russia called Ukraine within its 1991 borders are simply a misunderstanding, spawned by the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. And that’s why we don’t need a collapsed and destroyed Ukraine. We need Greater Great Russia. 
6. Finally, a Ukraine led by Nazi leadership doesn’t need its citizens. That is why, out of 45 million, there are a little more than 20 million left. That’s why the rest want to go anywhere—to hateful Poland, to the EU, to NATO—and they want to become the 52nd state of America. If only to join Antarctica with penguins. The only thing they want is to be quiet and well fed. Because of the criminal ambitions of the group in power, Ukrainians are forced to live in constant anxiety and fear. forced to live in poverty, abandoning their homes and households. forced to wander in search of a better life across countries and continents. all for a murky European perspective. Or, more precisely, so that the harlequin in green tights and his band of thieving fascist clowns would save stolen Western money in their offshore accounts. Why do (https://t.me/Slavyangrad/40871) ordinary (https://t.me/dimsmirnov175/46406) Ukrainians need this? 
No one on the planet needs such a Ukraine. 
That’s exactly why it won’t exist.

https://t.me/Slavyangrad/40873

Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 8 2023 7:47 utc | 154

#MoldavianCase
The resident insider says that the visit of the head of British intelligence to Chisinau-Odessa is connected with the upcoming offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to our information, in Chisinau, the British discussed the issue of suppressing / discrediting / blocking protest moods, which partially prevent Maia Sandu from starting the “Transnistrian case”, in simple words, unfreezing the military conflict.
They also discussed the issue of preparing for a military/political/social provocation, which would help unfreeze the Transnistrian case. The head of MI6 Moore will discuss this issue in Ukraine.
On March 12, we found out that Zelensky was trying to convince Maya to start the Transnistrian case in sync with the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. By the way, colleagues confirmed this insider, pointing out that Sandu’s recent trip to Bucha was only a pretext, and the issue of provocation with the PMR was discussed there.

https://t.me/legitimniy/15117

Posted by: Down South | Apr 8 2023 8:06 utc | 156

Posted by: Surferket | Apr 8 2023 3:47 utc | 136
Great posts, thank you for contributing your perspective.

Posted by: anon2020 | Apr 8 2023 8:29 utc | 158

Medvedev is wrong as usual.
1 – EU needs Ukr for many things. For example electricity exports from Ukr to EU are working again. Didn’t you know? Read the news then. If even less people live in Ukr, a lot more electricity and food and gas can be taken for free by EU while Ukr can work as slaves in EU. They don’t need it to be very populated, but they need it to exist.
2 – Sure it is needed, it’s basically a US state. Both D and R used it even before 2014. Biolabs are a different hobby, as well as weapon testing.
4 – Xi accepted only security guarantees for Russia, he wants Ukr as much as Biden, with no change in its borders. It’s good market and feeds Xi’s imagination that he’s a world leader, one who decides things on the planet. Let’s ignore he can’t and won’t keep Taiwan, he already fights to protect Ukr territorial integrity. Even puppet Lula, BRICS “partner”, said yesterday that Russia should give back Donbass: “Neither Ukraine nor Russia can achieve every goal they have set in their conflict. Crimea, perhaps, is not even worth discussing, but the issue with other territories should be rethought.”

Posted by: rk | Apr 8 2023 9:04 utc | 160

@ Posted by: Aaron Lee | Apr 8 2023 3:10 utc | 120
It is a huge article to absorb, along with all those links in it. It is worth the time. Very educational indeed. However, taking a title as a summary, there is a void in the article in relation to trade imbalances. Regardless the fact that Russia was running a trade surplus – it was loosing it’s own wealth through those trade imbalances. Running a trade surplus can be as deadly as running a trade deficit, yet through other means. What Russia could gain through the use of all those tokens, that were exchanged in return to its real goods and commodities, while being sanctioned out of the market ? I do believe this is the major wake up call and final closure to Chimarika. Other ways your article is very persuading. Will China print to oblivion ? Who knows ? Will China start all over again and learn from mistakes ? More likely. The same applies to Russia

Posted by: Alex Vadim | Apr 8 2023 9:36 utc | 162

Posted by: rk | Apr 8 2023 9:04 utc | 160
You really do have singular opinions……..do you ever let reality encroach ?
https://www.energy.gov/articles/ukraine-launches-electricity-exports-european-union-support-us-department-energy
https://civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/news-stories/news/standing-ukrainian-people-eu-delivers-further-energy-support-winter-2022-12-13_en
https://ceenergynews.com/ukraines-energy-future/ukraine-halts-electricity-exports-to-europe-due-to-russian-missile-strikes/
Ukraine is not even a reliable transit state for gas piped into Europe and never has been since collapse of USSR………..
This is simply US Propaganda that US taxpayers will build an electric grid to ship Ukrainian energy supplies to Romania as the EU sends mobile generators to Ukraine !
https://www.dw.com/en/how-ukraine-has-maintained-its-energy-supply-despite-the-war/a-65071162
and burying transformers hundreds of metres deep will protect them from Kinshal ?
Do let NATO know where these safe bunkers are so they can hide there

Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Apr 8 2023 10:00 utc | 164

Posted by: Boo | Apr 8 2023 9:46 utc | 163
The deployment map shows one mech brigade in Sumy and one mech battalion in Chernigov. There’s simply nothing there that could attack toward Moscow or St. Petersburg, logistical nightmare too. Some kind of provocation toward Belgorod and border villages is possible, perhaps.
Obviously the kitchen sink is located around Dnipro and Nikolaev, with 13 mech brigades shown on the map.

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 8 2023 10:22 utc | 166

Enlightening, brief aerial view of only a short section of the Muddy Track of Death (MToD), the fragile tenuous MSR for the trapped AFU remnants in Bahkmut, under RF Fire Control. Those AFU that manage to attempt to retreat from Bahkmut, will have to do so on foot, over muddy open fields & the MToD. TG, videoclip, 34s.
& Translated, Interception (Z), TG, (Map), dry run for further attempted terror attacks within RF territory:

On the attempt of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to strike at Feodosia in the Crimea from the Grom-2 OTRK
Today, at about 11.05, Ukrainian formations tried to strike another blow at the Crimean peninsula from the Grom-2 operational-tactical missile system from the positional area at the Alibai/Tuzla training ground..
The missile flew at an altitude of more than 15 kilometers and was shot down by the S-300 air defense system in the vicinity of Feodosia. Smoke in the photo is caused by the fall of fragments after its defeat in the air. According to the head of the Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, there were no victims as a result of the attack.
🔻Now the Armed Forces of Ukraine are intensifying preparations for the offensive, which may begin within the next two weeks. Against this background, the number of launches of missiles and UAVs at Russian facilities in kherson, Zaporozhye regions and the Republic of Crimea from THE HIMARS MLRS and the Grom-2 OTRK has been increased.
The newest OTRK is still being tested in the Tuzla area south of Odessa. Today’s attempt, as on March 29 in Gvardeyskoye, is a targeting of the missile system’s capabilities to attack deep into Russia at a long range. The distance from Tuzla to Feodosia in a straight trajectory is 415 km.
And the closer the date of the probable activation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the front, the more intensive will be the attempts to hit important objects of the military and civilian infrastructure of the Russian Federation.

Expect launch/deployment sites will soon receive some visitors of their own, SRBMs, cruise missiles & drones.

Posted by: Outraged | Apr 8 2023 10:31 utc | 168

Paul Greenwood | Apr 8 2023 10:00 utc | 164
I forgot to add that my view isn’t so weird anymore.
In a post called “SITREP 4/4/23: Huge Tuesday Update Bonanza”, simplicius76 said: “U.S. likely believes the only chance the West has of winning, is by slow-boiling the frog (…) continue slowly eroding Putin’s public standing, political power and trust (…) keeping Russia in a perpetual lower-intensity slow-boil situation, particularly given that this is the only thing which would allow the West’s arms industries to ‘catch up’ and stand a chance of supplying Ukraine with a commensurate volume of arms.”
Look at that, my “troll” ideas of what nato wants, from a year ago, coming from someone who, at least apparently, isn’t an amateur like me.

Posted by: rk | Apr 8 2023 10:44 utc | 170

Slavyangrad reports Russian MOD reporting UAF planning chemical weapon false flag in Chasov Yar, dropping mustard gas on “evacuating civilians”. Yet another scheme to bring Poles into west Ukraine or beyond.

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 8 2023 11:26 utc | 172

Minimum, incomplete, low-ball KIA(only)(FEBA only) 595+ … Translated:

Summary of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on the progress of a special military operation (08.04.2023)
◽️ On the Kupyan direction, strikes by operational and tactical aircraft and army aviation and artillery fire of the “Western” grouping of troops hit the Ukrainian armed forces units in the areas of Hryhorivka, Sinkovka, Peschanoye of Kharkiv region and Stelmakhovka of Luhansk People’s Republic.
💥 Over 30 Ukrainian servicemen, two vehicles, and a D-20 howitzer were destroyed.
◽️ On the Krasno-Limansky direction, air strikes, artillery fire and heavy flamethrower systems of the Group of Forces (Forces) “Center” defeated enemy units in the areas of Nevskoye of the Luhansk People’s Republic and Yampolovka of the Donetsk People’s Republic.
💥 Up to 80 Ukrainian servicemen, an armored fighting vehicle, a Gvozdika self-propelled artillery unit, and a D-20 howitzer were destroyed in this direction during the day.
◽️ In the Donetsk direction as a result of active actions of the units of the “Southern” group of troops, air strikes and artillery fire over the past day up to 370 Ukrainian servicemen and mercenaries, three infantry fighting vehicles, six armored combat vehicles, three vehicles, as well as the Gvozdika self-propelled artillery unit were destroyed.
◽️ On the South Donetsk and Zaporizhzhya directions, strikes by operational and tactical aircraft and army aviation, and artillery fire of the Vostok Group of Forces hit AFU units in the areas of Ugledar, Kamyshevakha of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Yurkovka and Scherbaki of the Zaporizhzhya region.
💥 The enemy losses in these directions were up to 55 Ukrainian servicemen, an armored fighting vehicle, as well as D-20 and D-30 howitzers.
◽️ In the Kherson direction as a result of the enemy fire up to 60 Ukrainian servicemen, three vehicles, as well as a self-propelled artillery unit Akatsiya were destroyed during the day.
💥 Operational-tactical aviation, missile forces and artillery of the groups of troops (forces) of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation during the day hit 92 artillery units of the AFU at firing positions, manpower and equipment in 114 areas.
💥 In addition, three ammunition depots and rocket and artillery weapons of the AFU were destroyed in the areas of Konstantinovka (Donetsk People’s Republic), Berislav (Kherson Region), and Orekhov (Zaporizhzhia Region),
◽️ The air defense forces intercepted seven HIMARS rockets during the day.
💥 Seven Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were also destroyed near the settlements of Stelmakhivka, Lisichansk of the Luhansk People’s Republic, Yehorovka of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Mykhailivka of the Mykolaiv region and Zavetne of the Kherson region.
📊 In total, since the beginning of the special military operation destroyed (losses over previous 24hrs(+?)):
406 aircraft, (Daily avg 1.0)
228 helicopters, (Daily avg 0.6)
3,702(+7) unmanned aerial vehicles, (Daily avg 9.1)
415 surface-to-air missile systems, (Daily avg 1.0)
8,574(+11) tanks and other armored combat vehicles, (Daily avg 21.1)
1,078 multiple rocket launchers, (Daily avg 2.7)
4,532(+7) field artillery and mortars, (Daily avg 11.2) and
9,342(+8) special military vehicles. (Daily avg 23.1)

Posted by: Outraged | Apr 8 2023 11:27 utc | 174

Posted by: Outraged | Apr 8 2023 11:06 utc | 171
The problem with the amateur commentariat, rushing in to fill the void, is that the element of monetisation has a tendency to taint their product, the way that political considerations have historically affected the intel community.

Posted by: Milites | Apr 8 2023 11:53 utc | 176

Voenkor Yevgeny Poddubny reports:
At night, the RF Armed Forces struck at the enemy’s reserves concentrated in Konstantinovka.
Reports are coming in about the destruction of a warehouse with a full fighting loadout (боекомплект) of ammunition and the communication center of the Ukrainian group.
https://t.me/DonbassDevushka/53494

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 8 2023 12:03 utc | 178

@karlof1: thanks for that link. Lavrov is always required reading.

Posted by: Kaiama | Apr 8 2023 12:09 utc | 180

Aaron Lee | Apr 8 2023 3:10 utc | 120
‘Almost all commodities are cheaper now compared to 12 months ago’
Well lucky ole USA. Cushioned as ever by its isolation in culture and morality.
‘Europe is also prepared to do anything to keep electricity prices low.’
In UK Internet and energy are all set to go up by at least 17% this month and government subsidies have ended. Many food prices are now 60% higher than a year ago. The scene is set for violence and chaos. People in UK starving for USA foreign ‘policy’. Cheers for nout.

Posted by: olaf22 | Apr 8 2023 12:20 utc | 182

What does the bar think of the likelyhood of Esch scenario, assumed the Ukraine will launch a Major offensive.
A) big arrow moves towards Crimea and Donetsk encirclement accompagnied by diverting operations into Russia proper (Briansk, Kursk) with airsupport (officially Ukrainian, whoever actually sits in those planes from wherever). If this is going to happen, as something along these lines is definitely being planned by hundreds if not thousands of NATO officers and planners for at least the last halve a year, I am suspecting that those planners and the political leadership are not too ambitious to not try support this effort by freeing up Ukrainian forces through “EU” peace keepers in the West of Ukraine. I think of Polish, Romanian, French and German troops perhaps up until the Dnipr, maybe some maritime landing in Odessa (must be too tempting). Support of Anglosaxons might actually be rather constrained. They have to save their capacities for the Pacific, plus their restraint at least on the surface could help contain the fallout. The reasoning for Germany (and to lesser extent France) is to yield the opportunity to wind the Ukraine out of the hands of the Anglo-Saxons again after they lost the initiative right in the middle of the 2013/14 coup and to open the perspective to regaining control over much of Central Europe again from either Russia or Albion. For the Anglo-Saxons it would be the perfect scenario to ensure, Germany and France being to dependent on NATO infrastructure to not support whatever US/UK chooses to do in the pacific, effectively not becoming an alternative western pole and preventing German/European rapprochement with Russia which would immediately kill all US geopolitical schemes.
If it wants to remain credible, Russia’s government in turn would have to declare war – not on Ukraine, but on all non-nuclear and non security council permanent members involved and consequently start attacking the communications and NATO facilities in Romania, Poland and Germany. Moreover, short of full mobilisation, Russia would certainly would have to start mobilisation and militarisation of economy and society.
NATO will certainly not want to wait until this prepared Ukraine strike fist exhausteditself and Russia activated major reserves in a counter strike.
B) Europe cuts ties with US at least to a certain extend, safeguards business ties with China, seeks pacification of its societies and at least detente with Russia via a China brokered armistice if not peace over Ukraine -effectively becoming an alternative western, Christian reference point in the multipolar sphere. Civil industries would certainly welcome this, alas, I see billionaire dynasties very much in charge and their and their top brass(financial, industrial, academic, political, media) financialized interests are to integrated with Wall Street, Silicon Valley etc. to make this a realistic option bar outright revolutions which are not in the cards until total collapse (which I see not coming before military defeats in a serious war).
C) none of this happens, as Ukrainian spring campaign is going to be a non starter (which I very much doubt).
These are my wild guesses, I am courious about your thoughts!

Posted by: Arminius | Apr 8 2023 12:52 utc | 184

Posted by: rk | Apr 8 2023 10:33 utc | 169
http://euanmearns.com/primary-energy-in-the-european-union-and-usa-compared/
https://www.technology.org/2023/02/04/eu-will-export-2-gigawatts-of-electricity-to-ukraine-to-reduce-its-power-outages/
At the present time, Ukraine has a deficit of electrical power at about 4 gigawatts.

Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Apr 8 2023 13:07 utc | 186

I think of Polish, Romanian, French and German troops
Fortunately the Bundeswehr soldiers speak Russian
https://www.reddit.com/r/bundeswehr/comments/raer9y/es_gibt_das_klischee_dass_russlanddeutsche_gerne/

Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Apr 8 2023 13:15 utc | 188

Posted by: Eighthman | Apr 8 2023 13:26 utc | 189
US forcing EU to give away German weapons is directly linked to US hegemony losing Middle East and commodity trade globally. Therefore, they want to compensate by selling stuff to EU at exorbitant prices astronomical prices. Also an added benefit – no chance of negative press for US MIC products, only bad press for German and Swedish products.

Posted by: unimperator | Apr 8 2023 13:39 utc | 190

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202304/1288707.shtml
Again, what is this? Securing the flanks for more direct engagement in the Ukraine (maintaining EU China business ties and preventing open China support for Russia in that event)?
Or preparation of the European off ramp?
I strongly feel that EU may preparing both options as events further unfold. Higher likelihood of option A still. 2023 will already give at least preliminary answer

Posted by: Arminius | Apr 8 2023 13:55 utc | 192

Facing critical ammunition shortage, Ukrainian troops ration shells WAPO, Apr8’23, archive.today

DONETSK REGION, Ukraine — The artillery shells were stored in a shallow mud dugout, covered with a black plastic tarp to keep them safe. Just 14 rounds remained — evidence of a critical ammunition shortage that has the Ukrainians scrambling for ways to conserve supply until their Western allies can produce or procure more.
The artillery platoon, with the 59th Motorized Brigade in eastern Ukraine, used to fire more than 20 or 30 shells per day with their Soviet-era howitzer. Now, they typically shoot one or two, or none at all.
The ammunition that has pounded parts of Ukraine daily for more than a year has become a precious resource in the artillery war with Russia — and which side conserves shells and rearms faster could turn the tide on the battlefield.
In the dugout, a Ukrainian soldier reached for a round as his commander recited coordinates for their first shot of the day. “Fire,” yelled the commander, whom The Post agreed to identify by his call sign, Spider, due to the security risks. After the blast, he waited, staring at his phone for another order. He didn’t receive one, so he told his men to stand down, not knowing if the shell had hit its target or his commander just didn’t want to spend another one …
To keep up with their adversary and still conserve ammunition, the Ukrainian military is now pickier in selecting targets, often prioritizing equipment over small groups of infantry. Precision is key because misses mean wasted shells. And in underground workshops across eastern Ukraine, soldiers are using 3D printers and recycling unexploded ordinances to create alternative munitions.
Artillery rounds for Ukraine’s Soviet-era guns, which make up the majority of their arsenal, have long been in short supply. That has forced a reliance on the artillery provided by Kyiv’s Western allies because they use 155mm caliber shells, which Ukraine has more of for now but for far fewer guns.
At the pace Ukraine is firing, those stocks could soon run out, too, as Western countries struggle to ramp up production. In February, NATO Secretary General Jens
Stoltenberg warned that the “current rate of Ukraine’s ammunition expenditure is many times higher than our current rate of production.” …
“We don’t have a lot of ammunition, so that’s why we don’t work a lot,” he said …
In the meantime, the hunt for shells is occasionally perilous. In areas where Russian forces retreated, soldiers wade through mined fields and forest to look for abandoned ammunition. One such group, which was ferrying any shells to the 59th brigade, recently hit unexploded ordnance.
The 14 shells Spider’s platoon has left came from Russian stocks seized in the Kherson region in November. Spider said he didn’t know when he would get more.
The United States has searched worldwide to round up stockpiles of Soviet artillery rounds, but deliveries can take months. On Tuesday, as part of a larger security assistance package, the Pentagon said it would provide an unspecified number of artillery shells, including 122mm caliber rounds it does not produce itself. A workhorse Ukrainian artillery piece, the D-30, uses such rounds …
Shaman passed another set of coordinates down to the soldiers operating the howitzers on the ground for the next wave of fire. The Ukrainians that day could use their 155mm rounds while saving their Soviet calibers. But how long would that last?
“At the beginning of the war, we were working to contain the enemy,” Shaman said. “Those were the toughest months, we were stopping them and our Soviet cannons wouldn’t shut up. We exhausted everything we had, but we stopped the enemy. Now, to go on the offensive, contain the enemy … we need more ammunition.”

Posted by: Outraged | Apr 8 2023 14:21 utc | 194

@ rjb1.5 39
I have some personal info about Jeffry St.Clair, one of Counterpunch‘s two editors.
Shortly after the great Alexander Cockburn died and St. Clair became editor, St. Claire wrote an essay about Syria that was full of BS, both outright lies and misrepresentations. I thought St. Clair was merely misinformed, so I sent him an email explaining or debunking 5 or 6 of his errors, with links. He sent back a two word reply which said everything we needed to know about St. Clair. The reply was “F_ck you.” But properly spelled out, of course. Since he felt that way, I was surprised I got a reply. That refusal to discuss or debate his bombshell U-turn showed St. Clair was not acting in good faith, and probably never had been in good faith. I believe this SOB was planted, or planted himself, at Counterpunch, from 1996-2012, biding his time until Cockburn passed away. In hindsight, I wonder if Cockburn’s death from cancer was a natural event.
In the year after St. Clair became editor, four of my friends, some of whom were prolific writers for Counterpunch, were kicked out. Only one of them, Mike Whitney, went public with what happened. He now publishes at unz.com, where you can find his denunciation of St. Clair. My other friends preferred to take their lumps in private, afraid the average Counterpunch reader would not know or care. I couldn’t dispute their low opinion of the average readership. St. Clair betrayed their contributions, including a donation of the profits from the American publication of a popular book. Counterpunch had always had its share of stupid and dishonest essays, but with all the good essays excised, it became a cesspool. Many things made me turn away from “the left’, but this was a big one. A sh*t-head “Marxist”-Zio shill like Louis Proyect can spout hateful lies and not get challenged. Everything I despised about the American anti-war movement came to the fore after Alexander Cockburn died: The fawning for fame and courting media-manufactured “celebreties”, the refusal to call a spade a spade when it matters most, the unwillingness to put together any analysis strong enough to have traction in the real world, a tea-party atmosphere that smells bad, and a total intent to never do anything useful.
That’s the dead end of Counterpunch.

Posted by: JessDTruth | Apr 8 2023 14:32 utc | 196

Putin stating the obvious.
– Russia, China are not creating military alliance, Putin says –
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/1-putin-russia-china-not-080443596.html
China will save us !
– World Economic Forum chair Klaus Schwab declares on Chinese state TV: ‘China is a model for many nations’ –
https://www.foxnews.com/world/world-economic-forum-chair-klaus-schwab-declares-chinese-state-tv-china-model-many-nations

Posted by: Deplorable Commissar | Apr 8 2023 14:53 utc | 198

About those “leaked” documents. Most Russian channels are poohpoohing them, Readovka for example. Poorly constructed from open sources with lots of contradictions in them.
Posted by: Boo | Apr 7 2023 19:28 utc | 25
It certainly feels like the US is putting all of these plans out there in order to control the narrative. Misdirection? Not sure. Actual plans? I’m suspect.

Posted by: Slat1 | Apr 8 2023 15:20 utc | 200