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March 3, 2024
Ukraine Open Thread 2024-067
Comments
“On August 23, I dared to state the simple fact that, as of that date, there have been daily drone attacks on Moscow for six days straight. Gruff’s reaction? He wrote that it’s “100% guaranteed” that I am a “presstitute whore for the Empire of Lies & Delusions,” a “faggot presstitute for Empire” and a “whore for empire.” In reality, I am a Russian living in Moscow, I support my country, and I support Putin’s decision to start the SMO. But Gruff, a math teacher from the U.S., knows best! He feels that I am a “whore for empire” (despite the six years of my anti-empire comments here), therefore, it must be true! No evidence, no logic is needed. It’s all about Gruff’s feefies.”
Posted by: S | Mar 4 2024 18:18 utc | 266
Yes, Mr. Gruff is educated, talented and a good prose writer.
Unfortunately, his ‘inferiority complex’ (from whatever unknown cause) , inflames his prose caused by this unconscious doubt of his own self which is virulently projected unto his rhetorical opponents in ridiculous ad hominens: which , at best, clouds his often cogent arguments; at worse, injures his credibility.
Don’t take it personally I, and many others have felt the lash of Mr. Gruff’s inappropriate ad hominens.
@Tom Pfotzer #230:
If possible, would you provide some background on the Kurier, and maybe your assessment of how widespread this emergent sentiment is within the German public?
Sorry, I don’t know anything about Deutschland Kurier. I’ve found this article via RIA Novosti.
Posted by: S | Mar 4 2024 22:06 utc | 302
https://twitter.com/MedvedevRussiaE/status/1764724685516759190
Ambassadors of the EU states to Russia declined a meeting with the Russian minister of foreign affairs. Allegedly, following some advice from Brussels. This goes totally against the very idea of existence of diplomatic missions and assignments of ambassadors.
In reality, all these ambassadors should be kicked out of Russia, and the level of diplomatic relations should be demoted.
These are not ambassadors, but political imbeciles who do not comprehend their real tasks.
Europa mortua est.
Gloria magistratus.
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 4 2024 22:09 utc | 303
The brits have been running a major sabotage/terrorist operation for the lead up to the Russian presidential elections which will occur in about a week and a half. Best to expect more, perhaps much larger strikes over the next week or so.
Perhaps the Brits will burn all their assets in this operation. Will be interesting to see if the strikes deep behind the lines drop off dramatically after the election.
Also worth keeping in mind that western propaganda still says Putin and FSB were responsible for the CIA/wahhabi terrorist events in 1999 in Russia.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 4 2024 22:21 utc | 304
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 4 2024 14:48 utc | 226
—-
Lol. I was thinking of what you might say re Medvedev’s presentation!
>>> And this is totally baffling. Seriously, WTF? What are the options here?
1) He didn’t have another one and was too lazy to have his staff draw him a new one so he went with this? How well does that speak about the attention to detail and the level of preparation of the Russian state for anything? <<<
This is about the 4th iteration of such a map. He's not such an idiot to just present such a thing without a purpose.
>>>2) He is trolling and playing mind games?<<<
Yes, maybe an exagerated negotiation gambit-- "The more you resist, the more we will take", which echoes Putin's many statements.
>>>3) This is the actual plan?<<<
I don't see that as an impossibility. If push comes to shove, and RF eventually captures east Ukraine to the Dneiper by gradual attrition of the AFU; plus then surrounds Kiev to force total capitulation; Moscow can then demand ANYTHING they want. They can even trade away the west of Ukraine how ever they want in return for long term borderlands peace.
>>> and Poland with that much gains? And that moves NATO to Kiev, and surround Belarus entirely which is still completely unacceptable strategically, plus the proxy remains present to launch strikes against Russia…<<<
No no no. You ignore the victor's privilege of demand. Kiev would be constitionally made neutral, and maybe, Poland and Romania bargained into a new security pact of non-Russo-threat. You've not accounted for Putin's BIG dream of a "whole new Eastern European Security Arrangement". Ritter wrote a whole book on it. No reason why Poland wouldn't want that ... once Kiev is neutered.
The wild card is the US. But I see a tipping point where, after the AFU is fully collapsed and the west militarily humiliated, EU countries will become sensible again and act with true soverignty for a positive relationship with Russia. Deep down, that's what Putin wants -- a normal trading life with the EU.
As many have said, "if NATO loses the SMO (and it will), NATO is a dead duck", hence the EU and RF will have to restructure east European security WITHOUT US puppetry.
In short, I do think that's the plan, as bold and aghast as it seems.
Posted by: Jake Blanchard | Mar 4 2024 22:32 utc | 305
If the Crimea bridge were destroyed Russia won’t investigate. Too bad for Germany, specifically Ramstein AFB and neo-Nazi Berlin itself. The crime has already been confessed to.
Posted by: Elmagnostic | Mar 4 2024 22:32 utc | 306
Ambassadors of the EU states to Russia declined a meeting with the Russian minister of foreign affairs.
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 4 2024 22:09 utc | 303
Lavrov and Putin:
“Well, if you won’t talk, we’ll just fight harder and longer. Have it your way”.
Sb, rather than kick them out, don’t you see the wiser play of offering them talks, maybe preludes to de-escalation, maybe threats of strikes against them if they keep up their missile support, and then — RF having a clear conscience to continue — “well, we did offer talks, and intend to warn you, but you didn’t turn up”.
Posted by: Jake Blanchard | Mar 4 2024 22:45 utc | 307
The corn law rebellions
The general strike of 1926
The Jarrow marches
I think that the reality is that the British parliament system was sensitive to the public mood and reacted before rebellions got going.
Posted by: watcher | Mar 4 2024 22:48 utc | 308
Simplicious had some info on new Navel Drones, can handle 2′ waves, has a range of 950k, can carry up to 890kg war head, and some types are reusable. Makes most surface vessels ducks.
Wonder how many of those would be needed to remove some bridge weirs? A Storm Shadow packs no where near that punch.
Cheers M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Mar 4 2024 22:52 utc | 309
john brewster | Mar 4 2024 21:40 utc | 294
*** IMHO, the English Civil War had some characteristics of peasant revolts, even if the rebels were talky instead of shooty. ***
An official Presbyterian army from Scotland which advanced into England at the very beginning of the Wars had a notably “radical” ideological content as well, though that subsequently seems to have faded away.
Posted by: Cynic | Mar 4 2024 23:21 utc | 310
I have an inkling that the explosives on the crimea bridge may well have been planted some time ago. Thats what happened with the Nord Stream attack. It enabled Biden to say “We will stop the flow of gas, believe me”.
Also remember Nuland’s remark a week or so ago about a “surprise”.
Posted by: HERMIUS | Mar 4 2024 23:22 utc | 311
It’d be worth Russia conducting a major underwater survey of all the bridge supports to find any explosives that have been planted.
Posted by: HERMIUS | Mar 4 2024 23:25 utc | 312
william gruff, Canucks, Sean the leapercon, Mario
Football is the game of the proletariat.
The game of the Neocon is baseball. Its George Will’s (the Neocons Neocon) favorite game and the one he still considers America’s pastime and best illustrates the American character. His reason for this is so long as there is an inning left in the game you have the opportunity to win the game. And if you have a tie in the last inning you go into extra innings. I’m not going to comment on the correctness of his conclusions on the game as the America’s pastime and character (never say die while the ball is still in play). However, I do think his opinion on this illustrates how Neocons think about policy and war – no matter the score you can win so long as you at bat and if your tied the game goes on until there is a winner.
Posted by: Jerr | Mar 4 2024 23:29 utc | 313
How can you prove that?
They were able to print endlessly in the past.
What is different now?
Posted by: vargas | Mar 4 2024 13:02 utc | 205
Easy! Who buys them?
The Elites, domestic and foreign compradores, you can only cheat them as much before they dump them to banks and stupid investors and demand a prime.
Posted by: Newbie | Mar 4 2024 23:38 utc | 314
Polish parliament spokesman said if Nato troops are killed in Ukraine’s territory, they will consider that to be an attack on the alliance.
The end of Nato, or the entire world is nearing fast. There can be only one.
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 4 2024 14:41 utc | 225
That would be almost perfect, an open channel to Germany and a land bridge to kalingrad…
Not shadowbanning, just pointing a legalistic point (Putin usually loves them)
Posted by: Newbie | Mar 4 2024 23:41 utc | 315
Jerr@313….I like that but I still say, “for effect” the ball must be a grenade…..and for the shear fun of it, the pin stays in….. it’ll add to the element of surprise. Like Russian Rules Baseball.
Cheers M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Mar 4 2024 23:42 utc | 316
Ambassadors of the EU states to Russia declined a meeting with the Russian minister of foreign affairs.
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 4 2024 22:09 utc | 303
A one line, laconic reply by the MFA to all this has already been expressed some time ago:
“If you won’t talk to Lavrov, then you’ll talk to Shoigu.”
Posted by: N Hanrahan | Mar 4 2024 23:42 utc | 317
“If you won’t talk to Lavrov, then you’ll talk to Shoigu.”
Posted by: N Hanrahan | Mar 4 2024 23:42 utc | 317
🙂 always worth remembering.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 4 2024 23:54 utc | 318
sean the leprechaun @ 316
Did you play that game with Gennadiy Chastiakov??
Posted by: Jerr | Mar 4 2024 23:58 utc | 319
Below is a quote from the latest posting from karlof1 quoting Lavrov about the EU FMs not showing up
I will now say something that we have not yet made public. We have accumulated a lot of materials about how the EU embassies in Moscow are preparing for our presidential elections. Mechanisms of interference, the creation of some “support projects” for our non-systemic oppositionists – in general, things that embassies have no right to deal with. Having collected this information, a week and a half ago we invited all the ambassadors of the European Union. As Foreign Minister, I would like to tell the heads of diplomatic missions that we advise them not to do this with the best of intentions. What do you think? Two days before the scheduled event, we were sent a note saying that they had decided not to come. Can you imagine relations with states at the diplomatic level, whose ambassadors are afraid to come to a meeting with the minister of the country to which they are accredited? Where has it been seen? This is what the mannerisms of these sworn “partners” go to.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 5 2024 0:00 utc | 320
@ Posted by: JamesBond | Mar 4 2024 15:15 utc | 236
I think Jacques Baud provides interesting clues in a recent conversation with Martyanov, Bernhard posted the link in his last weekly review.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QirQ0LLM4IQ
Consider that Russia has already defeated three successive Ukrainian armies, each one better equipped than the prior one but each one more poorly staffed than the one that was just destroyed.
During the same period Russia has learned a lot. The ones who feel panicked right now are in the West it seems.
You make good points of course but Russia is not playing by Western rules.
Posted by: Richard L | Mar 5 2024 0:26 utc | 321
Polish parliament spokesman said if Nato troops are killed in Ukraine’s territory, they will consider that to be an attack on the alliance.
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 4 2024 14:41 utc | 225
Pfffff…. That is not true. Nato people were already killed in Ukraine. Nothing happened. It is the reason why every country does not want to send troops to Ukraine, except France which is saying now that it will send non-combattant troops, and place those troops close to strategic targets so that Russia will not risk killing them. Go figure! It is all words of powerless leaders who do not know how to avoid the collapse of Ukraine sooner or later. They are shitting in their pants.
Posted by: Naive | Mar 5 2024 0:30 utc | 322
To all you people that foolishly think the USA can print unlimited money. El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele sums up things well. America’s slow motion hard crash landing is in full progress.
Nayib Bukele: Not even those high taxes, higher than a lot of places in the world, not even those taxes are really funding the government. So, who’s financing the government? Government is financed by Treasury Bonds, paper. And who buys the treasury bonds? Mostly the Fed. And how does the Fed buy them? By printing money. But what backing does the Fed have for that money being printed? The treasury bonds themselves. So basically, you finance the government by printing money out of thin air. Paper backed with paper. A bubble that will inevitably burst. The situation is even worse than it seems because if most Americans and the rest of the world were to become aware of this farce, confidence in your currency would be lost.
Posted by: golddigger | Mar 4 2024 16:24 utc | 252
So much talk about the U.S. ability to print U.S. dollars without limit. It is not simply that in the past Foreigners accepting U.S. dollars could spend them nearly anywhere on the planet, but up until a few decades ago, U.S. Apparatchiks had the sense not to print to far ahead of the growth of the economy. That has ended and now the Magic Printer is supposed to solve every stupid American whim.
As Greenspan once testified to the U.S. Congress, “I (the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank) can guarantee that you will never run out of money. What I cannot guarantee is whether there will be anything you can buy with it.”
Just as surely as Video killed the Radio Star, hyperinflation incinerates excess currency.
Posted by: kupkee | Mar 5 2024 0:37 utc | 323
Posted by: kupkee | Mar 5 2024 0:37 utc | 323
https://www.usdebtclock.org/
Once other countries stop buying $, the $ is doomed. And the last countries which will still buy $ will fall at the same time as the yankeeland. Tic-tac, tic-tac.
It is many years I do not own even 1 $.
Posted by: Naive | Mar 5 2024 0:43 utc | 324
Tom Pfotzer | Mar 4 2024 14:58 utc | 230
>I couldn’t find any English-language explanation of the role, political slant, credibility or circulation of Deutschland Kurier in order to evaluate the impact of this article on German politics.<
Deutschland-Kurier is basically an AFD-publication, so its impact will be limited.
Posted by: noonewhomatters | Mar 5 2024 0:44 utc | 325
Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 5 2024 0:00 utc | 320
Does that mean that there is a collusion between the EU countries to interfere in Russian elections. If it is the case, then Russia could do to the EU embassies what Obama did to the personnel of the Russian embassy in Washington and give them 24 hours to leave Russia.
Posted by: Richard L | Mar 5 2024 0:53 utc | 326
Ray McGovern:
The Azov brigade has been obliterated before it was able to start its fighting.
Posted by: WMG | Mar 5 2024 0:53 utc | 327
Ray McGovern:
The Azov brigade has been obliterated before it was able to start its fighting in Aideevka.
Posted by: WMG | Mar 5 2024 0:53 utc | 327
Posted by: WMG | Mar 5 2024 1:03 utc | 328
Ray McGovern:
The Azov brigade has been obliterated before it was able to start its fighting.
Posted by: WMG | Mar 5 2024 0:53 utc | 327
Sure, but the collapse of the front has been nevertheless once again staved off, with other units.
Back to the grind it is…
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 1:14 utc | 329
Posted by reference: shаdοwbanned | Mar 4 2024 22:09 utc | 303
Ambassadors of the EU states to Russia declined a meeting with the Russian minister of foreign affairs. Allegedly, following some advice from Brussels …
Please note:
Diplomatic missions are stopped at all and forever over now – please keep that in your future mind – thanks.
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 4 2024 14:41 utc | 225
Polish parliament spokesman said if Nato troops are killed in Ukraine’s territory, they will consider that to be an attack on the alliance …
The same is valid on possible attacks on Crimea bridge and newly stationed French or UK troops in UKR, either north on Belarus border or south to block Odesa/Moldava access.
So, all of today’s back and forth regarding “German MIL-Officers leaked Internet phone talks on planning Crimea rocket attacks” is a farce – a paper tiger – to distract from the future and the real current NATO plannings – and to influence the media interpretation of it.
However, it seems to be already known here ..
Thanks for this forum.
Posted by: spare_truth_01 | Mar 5 2024 1:31 utc | 330
The frontline past Avdeevka has been slowed by the amount of meat being thrown in the gap. The idiot Ukrainians who choose to be that meat….group think at its most lethal.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 5 2024 1:51 utc | 331
Some videos for today.
Russian FPV drones destroyed a second US-supplied M1A1 “Abrams” tank near the DPR’s Avdeyevka:
https://rutube.ru/video/af95313a7e97e9f6390cfbfaa8dc9b1c/
Footage of the burning “Abrams” tank after the drone strikes:
https://rutube.ru/video/02ab3b4ccba7c8a12cb79ecff011c6c4/
Russian T-80 tank destroys enemy stronghold on the Zaporozhye front:
https://rutube.ru/video/542aa6087de0454c916e73696f3c8f52/
Russian Su-34 conducts airstrike near Krasny Liman with FAB-500 bombs:
https://rutube.ru/video/dfc97a7e1a87f002299c08955706192f/
Russian Grad launchers strike enemy position near Avdeyevka at night:
https://rutube.ru/video/2f2bd9946b9eba4771b1a89a7a70771f/
Russian Uragan MLRS pounds enemy position on the southern DPR front near the border of Zaporozhye oblast:
https://rutube.ru/video/fe6162d0a54624b9f358f3c9f4ca159c/
Posted by: Nate | Mar 5 2024 2:10 utc | 332
The frontline past Avdeevka has been slowed by the amount of meat being thrown in the gap. The idiot Ukrainians who choose to be that meat….group think at its most lethal.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 5 2024 1:51 utc | 331
Maybe, but that still means more Russians dying. On both sides.
I see rumors that the West is very unhappy with the Ukrainians stalling on mobilization. Meanwhile the Ukrainians are probably stalling because they expect NATO to come on the white horse of its air force and rescue them.
But the fact is, there is indeed plenty of meet to throw into the grinder on the Ukrainian side that is doing who knows what in the rear. And in Europe.
Remember that even at 10:1 casualties ratios in favor of the Russians, if you have 5-10 million disposable (from your perspective) Ukrainians to throw at them, you are going to kill 500K to 1M Russians and leave another such number permanently disabled, and that will be a lot of quality Russian soldiers too. Which is a big win. Again, Ukrainians are seen as disposable. They are Russians after all — nobody in the West can tell them apart. They themselves can’t tell each other apart, which is why you see all these stories about Ukrainians attacking each other in Europe because they thing the others are Russians.
The way out of this trap is flip the table and refuse to play the game. Stop killing pressganged Ukrainian grunts, and start killing some Westerners instead, preferably the ones pulling the strings of these devilish schemes.
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 2:10 utc | 333
Sure, but the collapse of the front has been nevertheless once again staved off, with other units.
Back to the grind it is…
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 1:14 utc | 329
——————-
TBH “Collapse” is hyperbole, they might’ve pushed further & quicker.
Still the AFU having to sacrifice it’s best remaining units like this, in quick succession. Isn’t great for the medium-term, or the rest of the front line.
Posted by: Urban Fox | Mar 5 2024 2:15 utc | 334
shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 2:10 utc | 333
Russians will die anyway. It is the mathematics of war. This is a great power war, not yank rambos on safari killing goat herders and sand niggers for trophys.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 5 2024 2:43 utc | 335
Posted by: Down South | Mar 4 2024 20:21 utc | 280
#Zaporozhye Direction:
🟡In the #Orekhov Section, at #Rabotino, our army is attacking the AFU positions with the support of armored vehicles. One important stronghold was hit by tank crews. The AFU are actively snapping back. There are swarms of drones in the sky, and they have a lot of reserves. According to field reports, the enemy manages to hold back the advance of our army.
“they have a lot of reserves” shows that Ukraine is not running out of men. This war is going to last until 2028 I estimate.
Posted by: MiniMO | Mar 5 2024 2:48 utc | 336
“they have a lot of reserves” shows that Ukraine is not running out of men. This war is going to last until 2028 I estimate.
Posted by: MiniMO | Mar 5 2024 2:48 utc | 336
I guess that is why women have been in the frontline trenches the last months.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 5 2024 3:05 utc | 337
https://twitter.com/clashreport/status/1764763888506060927
The first official Ukrainian video of a strike with a French guided aerial bomb AASM Hammer on Russian positions in Kherson region, with the bomb itself shown at the end of the video.
How is that even possible? This thing has a 70-km range, but that is if dropped from a significant height, which means the plane that launched it should have been on a one-way trip to meet Bandera, courtesy of some S-300/400 system on the other side.
And yet…
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 3:11 utc | 338
To canuck and others:
I’m appalled at your lack of knowledge of English history. Have you all forgotten Cromwell, and the English Civil War of the 1640s? And the Glorious Revolution of 1688? You don’t have to go back to the War of the Roses.
Posted by: FrankDrakman | Mar 5 2024 3:45 utc | 339
Posted by: FrankDrakman | Mar 5 2024 3:45 utc | 339
I’m appalled at your lack of knowledge of English history. Have you all forgotten Cromwell, and the English Civil War of the 1640s? And the Glorious Revolution of 1688? You don’t have to go back to the War of the Roses.
—
I already mentioned the ECW at 241 and 294. Others commented on that. As far as the GR, I’m with shadowbanned. The GR was about noble factions arguing over religious issues. There was no radical peasant ur-socialist compnent to it at all. It was just Catholics versus various Protestant factions.
Posted by: john brewster | Mar 5 2024 4:03 utc | 340
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 3:11 utc | 338
I’m not making excuses for poor ISR or AD, but do you know that an enemy plane, or heli, or FVP, or APC, or tank is NOT ALWAYS killed on the way >to< its mission. Sometimes Russia follows its quarry back to base and hits it there, where there may be more of those vehicles, weapons, ammo stored, a command and control centre, a bunch of troops. So, in the end a far better kill. The launch plane may be tracked to an airfield in or out of Ukraine. In which case, Russia will take a fix on it and catch the next trip outwards -- much to the embarrasment of Poland or Romania.
Mate, nothing in this war is ever as simplistic as it seems.
Posted by: Jake Blanchard | Mar 5 2024 4:04 utc | 341
It’s.
Not.
About.
Territory.
>why the fuck is this so hard to understand?
Correct. Right now Russia is figuring where to set up the next meat grinder. And Ukraine will get suckered in again. Probably the last one as they are running out of men and the Russian AF has freer room to operate and deploy FABs.
Posted by: JackG | Mar 5 2024 4:29 utc | 342
Singapore’s defence minister has given up information that usa is directly involved in Ukraine, by using its f35 to scan and identify Russian air defence sites. Interesting info
“The US used the F-35s to locate and identify surface to air missile sites of Russian units in Ukraine and this information was shared with NATO countries”
— Singapore’s Defense Minister, Ng Eng Hen
So basically, Lockheed Martin revealed that information to Singapore to sell more F35s. Singapore’s defense minister forgot that it’s confidential and used it as a justification to buy more F35s.
Posted by: Hankster | Mar 5 2024 4:50 utc | 343
Another secret exposed!
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240305/pentagon-says-us-doesnt-operate-f-35s-in-ukraine-contrary-to-claims-from-singapore-1117136992.html
Posted by: Surferket | Mar 5 2024 4:50 utc | 344
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 3:11 utc | 338
I’m not making excuses for poor ISR or AD, but do you know that an enemy plane, or heli, or FVP, or APC, or tank is NOT ALWAYS killed on the way >to< its mission. Sometimes Russia follows its quarry back to base and hits it there, where there may be more of those vehicles, weapons, ammo stored, a command and control centre, a bunch of troops. So, in the end a far better kill. The launch plane may be tracked to an airfield in or out of Ukraine. In which case, Russia will take a fix on it and catch the next trip outwards -- much to the embarrasment of Poland or Romania. Mate, nothing in this war is ever as simplistic as it seems. Posted by: Jake Blanchard | Mar 5 2024 4:04 utc | 341
Yeah, sure. There is one tiny problem with this though, even if it is true — while some people are playing such games (likely only in your head in this case), other actual people were in those buildings that got hit.
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 5:46 utc | 345
Another ship sunk, but this time it is a missile carrier:
https://t.me/belarusian_silovik/30996
According to the Belarusian security forces, the Project 22160 ship “Sergey Kotov” was sunk by the forces of the Ukrainian Navy as a result of a complex attack in the Crimea . Project 22160 is a modern combat ship that can carry Caliber missiles.
Sergei Kotov was launched on January 29, 2021 .
From the very beginning of its release, this project was criticized by both civilian and military experts; it was even called a “suitcase without a handle.”
The cost of the ship is approximately 6 billion rubles.
It is interesting that the commander of the Black Sea Fleet was fired not so long ago, but, as many analysts, including me, said: it is necessary to change the management system itself, and not just the people. If you put a commander in any position who understands not only the command of the entrusted unit, but even management, but you do not allow him to use modern management tools, and also refuse to use those that do not work, if you force him to lie rather than tell the truth, then the ships will continue to sink, the tanks will burn, and the drones will not fly.
And only commanders with political weight can set up an order in their units that allows them to effectively carry out tasks with minimal losses, although they have to overcome the constant resistance of those who cannot manage in a new way.
We can console ourselves in the thought that there will be more turning the other cheek and more ships (and crew) lost…
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 6:03 utc | 346
And note that this time it is a missile carrier.
Not a random boat.
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 6:05 utc | 347
When do the S-300 and S-400 crews in Crimea decide to take matters in their own hands and to start repelling these attacks despite the orders from the Kremlin to let them happen?
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 6:14 utc | 348
@ shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 6:14 utc | 348 and others
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks”
Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 5 2024 6:17 utc | 349
We can console ourselves in the thought that there will be more turning the other cheek and more ships (and crew) lost…
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 6:03 utc | 346
No, no. We console ourselves knowing at the end Maerican power is forever broken, or the world has ended. A few fucking ships aren’t really what I’m worried about when Maerica is outright sponsoring a full blown genocide, complete with the starvation siege of millions of civilians, while on the losing end of a war with a nuclear power and an escalators debt spiral.
But do go on and celebrate your tactical victories. Russia isn’t going to bend. So I guess we can all die for the scumbags in DC. There is no scenario where these idiots stop, regardless of how hard you push ack, so WW3 they will get. I don’t know if you think that benefits you or if you actually love anyone, but it certainly fucks the world for all the children to come. All for fucking currency. We’re pathetic.
Posted by: Doctor Eleven | Mar 5 2024 6:29 utc | 350
No, no. We console ourselves knowing at the end Maerican power is forever broken
Posted by: Doctor Eleven | Mar 5 2024 6:29 utc | 350
The US is sinking Russian ships with total impunity while the Kremlin is too afraid to even acknowledge it is happening, let alone do something kinetically to stop it, and fools are talking about how “Maerican power is forever broken”…
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 6:43 utc | 351
Victoria Nuland:
“About 100% of the ukrainian budget goes towards funding the war.”
No wonder the EU came up with $ 50 billion for the Ukraine in 4 (5 ??) year.
Posted by: WMG | Mar 5 2024 6:46 utc | 352
other actual people were in those buildings that got hit.
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 5:46 utc | 345
You may not agree, and I don’t like it either, but that’s wartime “collateral damage” where a military strategy SADLY may take prevalence over imperfect air defences. We are not wrong, but none of us can expect perfection in civilian defences.
Posted by: Jake Blanchard | Mar 5 2024 6:48 utc | 353
Posted by: Elmagnostic | Mar 4 2024 22:32 utc | 306
If the Crimea bridge were destroyed Russia won’t investigate. Too bad for Germany, specifically Ramstein AFB and neo-Nazi Berlin itself. The crime has already been confessed to.
Is this wish or prediction?
Posted by: robin | Mar 5 2024 6:55 utc | 354
The F35 is escorting F16 airplanes because the F16 has a shit radar.
Posted by: too scents | Mar 5 2024 6:55 utc | 355
The knives are officially out
The issue of Zaluzhny’s resignation will be the main one in the political discourse of Ukraine, and the opposition will use this case against the President.
The mayor of Kyiv, Klitschko, considers Zelensky’s big mistake to remove Zaluzhny from the post of commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In an interview with La Repubblica, he said that after Zaluzhny’s removal, Zelensky “had to explain the reason for the decision, which shocked every Ukrainian,” and “many felt confusion and despair.”
“The expulsion of General Zaluzhny was a very serious mistake. Now we need a government of national unity” to regroup, Klitschko said.
“No peace plan will work if the front line does not hold. We can only realize this when we are strong and the Russians respect this,” Klitschko said.
https://t.me/rezident_ua/21899
Posted by: Down South | Mar 5 2024 7:04 utc | 356
There are very early reports that the Project 22160 Black Sea Fleet patrol ship “Sergey Kotov” was allegedly hit as a result of an attack by unmanned boats of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, writes Military Informant
The crew is alive.
The information needs official confirmation. This is very preliminary.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/90516
Posted by: Down South | Mar 5 2024 7:07 utc | 357
Re: Posted by: HERMIUS | Mar 3 2024 22:13 utc | 113
On the contrary, it puts the west in a dilemma. If it decides to attack Kaliningrad, it runs the risk of a nuclear exchange. It’s the wests choice…not Russias.
It doesn’t put “The West” in a dilemma at all – if The West decides to attack Kaliningrad – then Indian The West has made up its mind about what it will do – ergo – NO DILEMMA!
Posted by: Julian | Mar 5 2024 7:08 utc | 358
15 second video in link where ship gets hit
At night, the patrol ship Sergei Kotov was attacked by Ukrainian MBEC in the Feodosia area
Tonight it became known that Ukrainian Armed Forces militants, using small unmanned boats, attacked the patrol ship Sergei Kotov.
There is no official information on this incident yet. However, unofficial sources report that the patrol ship Sergei Kotov is out of action. According to unconfirmed information, the crew is alive and has been evacuated, but they are wounded.
In the video, our sailors are bravely fighting. Unfortunately, in the Black Sea, the Russian Federation fleet suffers from attacks by surface and underwater drones of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/90519
Posted by: Down South | Mar 5 2024 7:11 utc | 359
During the night battle near Feodosia, we lost the patrol ship “Sergei Kotov” attacked by a large group of naval drones.
After the damage was received, the crew took measures to maintain the survivability of the ship, but they did not yield results.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/90521
Posted by: Down South | Mar 5 2024 7:12 utc | 360
Re: Posted by: James M. | Mar 3 2024 22:32 utc | 119
They’re not going to take Kalingrad. It was in reference to this scenario: If Russia invaded the Balkans they (NATO/the West) could take Kalingrad. Or otherwise cut Russia off from it.
And there are steps to nuclear war O Acolyte of Brave Sir Shadowbanned. The loss of Kalingrad, in and of itself, does not guarantee that a nuclear exchange will occur.
Any attack on Kaliningrad should income an immediate response against Poland (and perhaps Lithuania) – no ifs or buts about it.
Perhaps Russia could spell out these consequences ahead of time – and everything should be on the table – taking account of the political situation within Poland – who actually voted this current Government in and where so they live? (I presume Warsaw and the other big Polish cities?)
Posted by: Julian | Mar 5 2024 7:17 utc | 361
During the night battle near Feodosia, we lost the patrol ship “Sergei Kotov” attacked by a large group of naval drones.
After the damage was received, the crew took measures to maintain the survivability of the ship, but they did not yield results.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/90521
Posted by: Down South | Mar 5 2024 7:12 utc | 360
Looks like Putin is a faggot without any balls. He sits there watching his fleet get sunk one by one. Laughable.
Posted by: Flash | Mar 5 2024 7:43 utc | 362
Re: Posted by: James M. | Mar 4 2024 0:29 utc | 141
That’s the issue right, for people who think NATO troops in Ukraine are inevitable. Slovakian and Hungarian leaders are opposed to the idea, and Poland has blocked the border. So that leaves only Romania, which does have elections later this year. So we’ll see.
So it won’t happen this year and if Trump is elected it won’t happen next year.
Basically it will only happen if Biden is re-elected.
Posted by: Julian | Mar 5 2024 7:46 utc | 363
A copish thought – it seems as though the West is keeping adding a lots of very valuable things to its credit tab vis-à-vis the war with Russia in Ukraine.
What assets will Russia target the moment she decides it’s time to get even? What is worth as much as naval control over the Black Sea or get one’s air defence and intelligence checked?
When would be the right moment? Or does it really slip quietly away in the end?
Posted by: js | Mar 5 2024 8:04 utc | 364
What assets will Russia target the moment she decides it’s time to get even? What is worth as much as naval control over the Black Sea or get one’s air defence and intelligence checked?
When would be the right moment? Or does it really slip quietly away in the end?
Posted by: js | Mar 5 2024 8:04 utc | 364
There are three options the way I see it:
1) The Kremlin is in its usual “Let’s hope the problem will resolve itself if we ignore it” mode. As it was on the whole Ukraine issue between 1991 and 2014, and then between 2014 and 2022-02-24, and then for quite some time after 2022-02-24 too.
2) The Kremlin is planning to surrender eventually and is negotiating the terms through backchannels, with these strikes serving as reminders who has the upper hand
3) The Kremlin has decided there will be all-out nuclear war but it is not yet as ready for it as it wants to be, so is taking the punches while the preparations are under way.
Last week there was the reportedly successful test of the S-500 system against MIRVs. Which is a remarkable technical achievement, the problem is that something else also immediately follows from that announcement — Russia is currently not ready to defend against MIRVs and hypersonic cruise missiles. The technical capability may have been demonstrated, but it’s a long way from there to having it all rolled out in numbers and deployed in the field. How long? We have no idea, but if this was the first test, it is safe to assume there will be no such readiness in the next couple years. The problem is the West is escalating on a much steeper trajectory. Quite possibly aware that the clock is running and the Russians may have genuine first strike capability in the not too distant future.
But option 3) that may just be wishful thinking.
Given that past behavior is usually the best at predicting and explaining current and future actions, option 1) seems the most likely.
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 8:21 utc | 365
Posted by: Doctor Eleven | Mar 5 2024 6:29 utc | 350
Sounds like a sane response, frustration at oligarch controlled western politicians.
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 6:43 utc | 351
Sounds like the same old shit, troll cheerleading terrorist attacks which have no bearing on the strategic, political or economic outcome.
Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Mar 5 2024 8:23 utc | 366
Britain has allocated £200 million to the Armed Forces of Ukraine for drones to destroy the Russian fleet. This was announced by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umerov.
According to the head of the defense department, he, together with the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Alexander Syrsky, exchanged information about the current operational situation with British Defense Minister Grant Shapps, and the Commander of the Armed Forces, Admiral Sir Anthony Radakin, during a telephone conversation.
Umerov noted that it is necessary to scale up the destruction of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea, and British partners can help the Ukrainian Armed Forces implement this strategy.
Earlier, The American Greatness reported that Ukraine is on the verge of defeat, and no “Western handouts” will help it:
Sanctions did not break Moscow. Russian industrial power turned out to be higher than that of the collective West.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/90527
Posted by: Down South | Mar 5 2024 8:35 utc | 367
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 8:21 utc | 365
Sounds like the fabled 5D chess. As played by a moron, who mistakenly believes that they have insight. Said moron plays his 5D chess while wearing shadow**** specs, which makes the answer to every situation “The Kremlin are doing it wrong”, “It’s all Putin’s fault”, …destroy 500,000 Ukrainian troops, steadily secure hearts and minds in Donbas and around the world, while building the Russian economy and destroying the economies and political stability of Russia’s enemies,
“You don’t wanna do it like that”, says 5D chess shadow****.
Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Mar 5 2024 8:42 utc | 368
Posted by: Richard L | Mar 5 2024 0:53 utc | 326
Lavrov revealed the Russian foreign ministry has information on all EU embassies coordinated effort to mess with the Russian elections through non-systemic opposition groups. This happened after EU ambassadors in Russia refused to come to the meeting they were invited.
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 5 2024 8:56 utc | 369
https://t.me/treugolniklpr/22812
Emergency in the Gubkinsky urban district.
⠀
After the explosion, a fire was recorded at an infrastructure facility. There were no casualties.
⠀
Operational and emergency services are on site.
⠀
All circumstances of what happened are being established.
https://t.me/treugolniklpr/22811
❗️About 30 minutes ago, the Kiev regime carried out an attack on
the village of Dolgoye in the Gubkinsky urban district.
After the fall of the UAV, heavy smoke, firefighters are on the scene!
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 9:05 utc | 370
Ukraine recently transferred another lobbying transh to US. This time 70 millions US dollars were sent to help break a deadlock between Democrats and Republicans over disagreement on military financial help to Ukraine. Out of 70 millions, 20 millions went directly to Mitch McConnell… Mitch will insure correct voting on the matter, by distributing funds among his closest party comrades.
The gravy train that keeps on giving, Ukraine.
Posted by: Alex Vadim | Mar 5 2024 9:05 utc | 371
0:16
Video of the defeat of “Sergei Kotov” – again the same mistakes…
Almost all of our damaged Black Sea Fleet warships were either stationed at bases without booms, or were drifting on the open sea or in the outer roadstead of the port.
Or they were slow-moving landing ships that traveled the same route many times, and their location at a given time was easy to predict.
Since everything is fine with reconnaissance at the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (all the reconnaissance systems of NATO countries work for them online, plus a bunch of informers on the ground), it was only a matter of time and the enemy’s search for new tactics for the destruction of our combat modern patrol ship.
Moreover, I will say that all other ships that will stand like the Sergei Kotov are potential victims of future enemy attacks.
I don’t know, maybe, of course, there is some kind of military meaning in such standing in an open roadstead without booms (I don’t understand this), but it was this decision that caused the death of the ship.
And if there was no military sense in standing, then this is criminal negligence.
And the crew were great – they fulfilled their duty honestly and to the end. It was not their fault for the death of the ship. They fought, as befits Russian sailors – to the end.
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 9:08 utc | 372
unimperator | Mar 5 2024 8:56 utc | 369
“Lavrov revealed the Russian foreign ministry has information on all EU embassies coordinated effort to mess with the Russian elections through non-systemic opposition groups. This happened after EU ambassadors in Russia refused to come to the meeting they were invited.”
An ambassador that doesn’t come when summoned by the foreign ministry isn’t an ambassador but self-evidently nothing but a spy and subversive.
So when exactly is Russia going to expel these homeless vagrants, and why didn’t they do it already? (And what kind of copium will we hear next from the Yes-men here ‘splaining why Russia “can’t” do it.)
Posted by: Flying Dutchman | Mar 5 2024 9:08 utc | 373
Posted by: Jake Blanchard | Mar 5 2024 4:04 utc | 341
You are right. There have been many cases where in fact the AFU aircraft was hit on its way back home, not on its way to target.
The reason sometimes is the aircraft will fly very low, sometimes no AWACS coverage. Then it raises altitude to launch its missile or bomb. Then it will probably go down again and turn away.
At the moment the aircraft is high, an air defense missile is launched at it and will catch it on the way back.
So in many cases they don’t prevent the initial attack but they will prevent future attacks from that platform.
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 5 2024 9:08 utc | 374
And who are these “opposition groups” I thought Russia had expelled the NGOs. I guess they still allow home-grown traitor NGOs.
Posted by: Flying Dutchman | Mar 5 2024 9:10 utc | 375
https://twitter.com/vicktop55/status/1764921360701104388
Everyone writes about what I keep telling you – the escalation of the war in Ukraine is happening because Russia does not respond with escalation to the escalation of the West.
Professor Evstafiev:
“The “Great European War” is half a step away from us. The only thing keeping us from it is the cowardice of individual European politicians, chaos in the United States and lack of resources.
We are being pushed towards it by our Russian unwillingness to decisively prove that we are ready for escalation. The plans for the “great European war” are ready.
They are quite realistic: to turn the remnants of the Armed Forces of Ukraine into part of the European armies, ensuring forward deployment.
The calculation is simple: we will be afraid to escalate. They don’t believe our words. They are doing the right thing. In our world, you can only believe in deeds.
So far, we have “A C” in terms of “playing for a raise”.
“A pint of reason”:
“It is possible to avoid a major war in Europe today only through a sharp anticipatory escalation on the part of Moscow.
That is, a demonstration of determination to physically destroy the most active actors in the game against Russia. So far, this is not visible, and thus we are getting closer to the point of no return.
We are practically already standing on it. There are no good solutions anymore, only bad and very bad ones remain.
And if Russia does not conduct large-scale nuclear tests in the near future (without waiting for the United States) and does not close the Black Sea area to NATO reconnaissance aircraft flights, then it needs to prepare immediately for at least a limited nuclear war.
Only by overflowing escalation can the enemy be convinced that his actions are disastrous for himself.
The time for streamlined political statements ended yesterday. Now they are only aggravating the situation and provoking the other side.
It’s too late to express concern, it smells too much like gunpowder.”
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 9:12 utc | 376
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 9:05 utc | 370
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 9:08 utc | 372
And thanks to our thread sponsors Lord Haw Haw 5D Chess Shadow**** Spectacles, for the relentless amplification of ultimately futile Ukrainian terrorist attacks with the implicit narrative that these attacks are the responsibility of Russia, when in fact they are the responsibility of the enemies of Russia.
Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Mar 5 2024 9:20 utc | 377
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 5 2024 9:08 utc | 374
Plus I’ve seen numerous reports/videos of Ukie tanks and APCs being let exhaust their ammo, turn to home, be followed by FPV, then their headquarters get targeted just after they’ve pulled into the garage. No after-party for the Ukrops that day.
Posted by: Jake Blanchard | Mar 5 2024 9:24 utc | 378
@ Flying Dutchman | Mar 5 2024 9:10 utc | 373, 375
Keep your enemies close, perhaps? It’s easier to see what they are doing from a street corner over, so to speak. Helps find and keep track on those home-grown traitors, as you noted have to exist. Besides, US and UK spent millions on someone like Alexey Navalniy over years and years. If that’s the best they could find then, there is little immediate threat now. It might be better to sit back, watch and keep notes.
Posted by: boneless | Mar 5 2024 9:45 utc | 379
378 – Sometimes getting them on the return journey is the way to go, though they may have had an opportunity to do some harm first.
In September 1940, Czech fighter pilot Josef Frantisek liked to hang out on his own in a patch of south-east English sky on the coast, and attack German planes on their return journey to France. They might have been damaged, and the 109 fighters in particular, though formidable, were likely to be low on fuel by that time. Basically they were more vulnerable than on the journey towards England.
Posted by: Waldorf | Mar 5 2024 9:46 utc | 380
AASM Hammer on Russian positions in Kherson region, … How is that even possible? …
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 3:11 utc | 338
Here’s a better photo of the bomb / missile:
https://www.edrmagazine.eu/first-separation-tests-of-safrans-1000-kg-aasm-hammer-air-to-ground-weapon-on-rafale-a-success
It doesn’t have the lifting wing area of JDAM-ER / UMPC but it does have a booster rocket option so releasing closer but from much lower altitude is an option. Without more evidence I’d suspect they are being operated this way in order to evade Russian AD.
Posted by: anon2020 | Mar 5 2024 9:54 utc | 381
And if Russia does not conduct large-scale nuclear tests in the near future (without waiting for the United States) and does not close the Black Sea area to NATO reconnaissance aircraft flights, then it needs to prepare immediately for at least a limited nuclear war.
This is true. The West wont’ stop, they want to escalate, to put Russia to dilemma: Defeat or III world war. They are not afraid, they want war.
.
When you talk with common people (for example in The Netherlands) you see that they all like this war, they all want war if it would be possible that they personally do not participate.
The West is destroying Russian fleet, one by one ship. They pay almost no cost for this war.
Posted by: vargas | Mar 5 2024 9:55 utc | 382
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 5 2024 8:21 utc | 365
Nothing of your options.
RF will solve the problem in a more ‘definitive ‘ way, till the next war.
They will come up with some kind of protection for the ships and/or substitute/integrate actual fleet with naval drones.
Remember, in the beginning, afu had superiority in uav but now is RF that has the upper hand in uav.
Posted by: Mario | Mar 5 2024 9:58 utc | 383
The fabled 5D chess again..
Russians are reknowned chess players. Two main efforts decide that game. Learn what worked in the past and adapt to the current situation. There is only one chance to win and that is in the endgame, if and when all conditions are right. Anything that comes before is shaping and restricting the options for the other side. One of the main things is that as opposed to the West Russians still get long term thinking and don’t chase outward appearance. Call them autocratic but their politics is not a popularity contest where the most rabid screamer gets the attention and power.
Warfare is just as methodical. You don’t go and invent a new doctrine as you go. You build on what worked before and expand your options. You don’t attack unless the new situation is more favorable than the old one. Sacrifices are necessary, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Russian logistics is slow but massive, if you can’t move the next railhead you are in a bad spot.
Russia knows really well how tough things can get and that this is nothing yet. In WW2 Leningrad didn’t give up for years during the blockade even though they had to resort to cannibalism. Single ships don’t matter, to some extent these are a object lesson to future commanders.
The diplomatic approach is similiar, don’t burn bridges you may later want to use. After every war there will be peace, people will have to live with each other after. Always leave a door open, never corner a rat. Especially not a nuclear armed one that wields sociopathic influence over half the globe.
Back to chess, that opponent already overreached. 1 trillion USD of debt is added every 100 days now. With an exponential growth rate that time will halve and halve again, the point of no return has long passed. Just surviving that process guarantees future peace on solid and sustainable terms. Whatever the West loses (or invests) in Ukraine and ME is lost and can not be replaced. Don’t interrupt your enemy making mistakes.
while the West is sitting on massive stockpiles of arms, the will to renew is gone. US residents are busy surviving and can’t spend a siginificant share of resources on war or repay the 200k of national debt per person. Germans are buying winter coats and will be having a hard time buying fuel in the next few years. The US will need a major overhaul of decaying infrastructure, Germany is in a better position and will rebound a lot faster, it will take one political and one demographic generation though. As superpowers go, look at Britain for US future. For Germany, the whole Wirtschaftswunder superiority complex needs to be broken, this already happened for the precariat, the SUV driving green burgeoisie still has it coming.
Regarding Medvedev, he is the court jester: not a clown but the one who speaks truth to power. He speaks to those who want to listen and can speak forbidden and repressed thoughts. He is “vox populi”. The “trial balloons” of the West are collected in a single figure, similar things happen when third-tier chinese politicians speak up. Typically the West tries to ignore his messaging at their own peril.
Still Russians are playing chess where poker strategies might be better understood. At least in the realm of strategic communication it might be possible to be more effective. Show hands, up antes and call bluffs. Parenting and “slanted communication” are another metaphor that should work better than gentleman and business deals among respected peers.
The West is on a level of schoolyard brawl, politics as learned in US high school. The bully’s victims are maturing, associating and asserting themselves but haven’t braved their fears yewt. Im movie tropes the climactic moment isn”t there. Maybe it never happens and the bully will just be shunned, isolated and be the lone white trash loser not coming to reunion.
Posted by: SOS | Mar 5 2024 10:09 utc | 384
@ vargas | Mar 5 2024 9:55 utc | 382
Ah, good old generalizing in the absolutes. “Everyone” here, “they all” there, “The West” as a homogeneous monolith. “The common people” isn’t a party with a written agenda and public relations department to talk to anyone, let alone you specifically. The Dutch aren’t all warmongers, which is obvious to anybody capable of thought. Whatever kink floats your boat, naturally, but none of this pathetic attempt at base propaganda helps your arguments.
Posted by: boneless | Mar 5 2024 10:12 utc | 385
The West is “tired” of Ukraine—in 2023, military aid to Kyiv from allies was reduced by 40%. That is, now support for Ukraine from the West is almost at the lowest level since the very beginning of the military conflict at the end of February 2022.
The very trend towards reducing aid to Ukraine emerged exactly after the failed counter-offensive, while the reduction in support affects all areas – not only military, but also humanitarian and financial. In part, the current situation is explained by the lack of new military aid packages from the United States, which has so far supplied Ukraine with more weapons than all of the country’s other Western allies. But now, due to internal political strife in the United States, the allocation of new large aid packages to Kyiv is blocked. Europe simply “does not export” aid to Ukraine without the participation of the United States.
However, the West has come up with a new carrot for Ukraine in the form of the transfer of frozen Russian financial assets. The idea is to provoke the Ukrainians to fight to the last in the hope that help and money are about to arrive. In fact, the reduction in the volume of Western aid has become a bad trend, and statements by Westerners about a future conflict with the Russian Federation are nothing more than a justification for these cuts.
https://t.me/rezident_ua/21901
The above is why Britain is trying to escalate the conflict whilst Russia doesn’t take the bait.
Russia will get even in its own way on its own time:
Putin capitalized on the exodus of Russians during the 2022 mobilization by dispatching spies to the European Union – Wall Street Journal
▪️ In 2022, Putin left Russian borders porous, allowing hundreds of thousands of Russians to flee mobilization to Europe, Central Asia, and the Caucasus, with intelligence agents slipping in among them.
▪️In an article detailing the demise of Russian defector pilot M. Kuzminov, WSJ suggests that Russian agents might be implicated in the high-profile assassinations of Russian turncoats.
▪️Following the outbreak of war in Ukraine, a string of suspicious deaths befell businessmen, former officials, and politicians across three continents.
▪️For instance, businessmen were discovered hanged in London and drowned in Puerto Rico. A United Russia deputy plunged from the roof of an Indian hotel, and a 46-year-old deputy minister of science succumbed to an unexplained illness while en route from Cuba.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/90418
Posted by: Down South | Mar 5 2024 10:12 utc | 386
A ship is a very high profile target. Nowadays when ships are made out of 2mm sheet metal, a small drone with properly shaped charges can easily puncture it and cause a flood with uncontrollable flooding.
Reportedly the ship crew was saved.
If you think Nato can park their fleet into the Black Sea and start undisrupted supply into Odessa, you are still probably wrong. In addition to Zircons, small drones also work against Nato ships. Zircon ground launchers are already here, and Russia could park some missile corvettes in Lake Ladoga, where they are untouchable to sea drones, and they could sink any Nato fleet in the Black Sea or east-central part of the Baltic Sea from a lake inside Russia.
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 5 2024 10:21 utc | 387
@ Down South | Mar 5 2024 10:12 utc | 386
I am personally waiting for WSJ/the-like to find a “whistleblower” to uncover Russians as actually aliens. There is only one explanation for Russian economy withstanding “very smart sanctions from hell designed by smart people” and Russian president surviving 4 lethal brain tumors and 11 malignant cancers, after all. Oh, and the washing machine chips must be intergalactic.
“Suspicious deaths” part is interesting. I wonder how many of those were “Skripal”ed, how many were Budanov’s work.
Posted by: boneless | Mar 5 2024 10:30 utc | 388
Rumors are circulating in the General Staff of the Armed Forces of #Ukraine that several senior officers dismissed from “for connections with ex-Commander-in-Chief #Zaluzhny” have gone over to the side of the #Russian Armed Forces once their families were evacuated to #Russia
https://twitter.com/ArthurM40330824/status/1764938076567019618
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 5 2024 10:34 utc | 389
Russia is a land power historically – and at the end of the day the SMO’s outcome is going to be determined on land.
In the “war of attrition”, Egypt used a Soviet missile to sink the Israeli destroyer Eilat in 1967. One of the first sinkings of its kind. Useful for Egyptian morale but changed nothing much.
Posted by: Waldorf | Mar 5 2024 11:32 utc | 390
With Russia already fighting against Nato forces in Ukraine, Nato denies this but we all know the war against Nato has begun, it looks like Nato might be preparing its forces to go to war with Russia.
Also would China and North Korea be wise to come out fighting on the Russian side? if a full blown escalation occurs afterall both nations are in the crosshairs of Nato, after they’ve dealt with Russia.
Has Nato sent out the feelers in China to see where China stands if Nato declares war (openly this time) on Russia, surely Nato bigwigs would take into consideration how China might react to an all out attack on Russia, mind you those mad dogs at Nato and the Pentagon probably think that China or NK would dare interfere in an war against Russia.
“Russia raps strongly NATO war games launched by the US-led military alliance on the country’s doorstep.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko made the remarks on Monday, when the alliance began the Nordic Response exercises that are scheduled to take place across Finland, Sweden, and Norway.
“The military is monitoring, we have all the necessary means for this. Our political position is well known. We believe that these exercises are demonstratively provocative,” he said.
“Any exercises, especially [those] that are held geographically close to the contact line, increase the risk of military incidents. Therefore, all necessary measures have been taken in order to ensure the defense capabilities of Russia,” the diplomat added.
The 11-day drills enlist around 20,000 troops from 14 NATO countries, including the US, the UK, Canada, France, and Spain. They also deploy more than 100 warplanes, military transport planes, naval surveillance aircraft, and helicopters as well as upwards of 50 vessels, including destroyers.
The drills are part of the alliance’s Steadfast Defender 2024 exercises that began on January 22 and are slated to last until May 31, as the biggest war games to be staged by the alliance since the Cold War.”
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 5 2024 11:40 utc | 391
TG channels wrote about two weeks ago that the Black Sea guy was replaced again, but it wasn’t any official news that I could find. The new guy seems to be as smart as the previous (multiple) guys or the old one is still there.
If you think Nato can park their fleet into the Black Sea and start undisrupted supply into Odessa
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 5 2024 10:21 utc | 387
If nato planes and drones can freely fly 24/7 right at Crimea’s border or a few km away from Sochi when Putin is there, or allegedly over Odessa, I see no problem having nato ships there in 12-18 months, when the Black Sea fleet will be damaged enough. Erdo blocks the gate for nato, it’s one of his blackmails, it prevents the replacement of sunk/damaged ships.
Posted by: rk | Mar 5 2024 11:52 utc | 392
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/05/ukraine-russian-warship-occupied-crimea-sinking
how is it possile to sink navy ships so easily?
Posted by: magicmirror | Mar 5 2024 11:56 utc | 393
And another Russian ships does down. If these sea drones are so effective why doesn’t Russia copy their design and give a few to the Houthis to repay the US in kind in the Red Sea?
Posted by: bored | Mar 5 2024 11:57 utc | 394
so they sank another ship. And so what? It is not going to change the fact that Russia is grinding Ukraine to a pulp.
And the Germans seem eager to repeat their lesson from 1945. Again, again, again! World without Germans? Quite livable!
Do it, I think you will never learn in any case.
Posted by: g wiltek | Mar 5 2024 11:58 utc | 395
If these sea drones are so effective why doesn’t Russia copy their design and give a few to the Houthis to repay the US in kind in the Red Sea?
Posted by: bored | Mar 5 2024 11:57 utc | 394
It’s simple, Bibi does not allow it.
Russia, thru their UN guy, repeatedly told Yemen to stop all attacks on ships. So their own ships sink at a rate of one per month in Black Sea, but they only care about US, UK or other nato or Bibi ships far away. Absolutely hilarious.
Posted by: rk | Mar 5 2024 12:11 utc | 396
Posted by: rk | Mar 5 2024 11:52 utc | 392
From a strictly legal point of view turkey block of the black sea is in action also for Nato ships.
Posted by: Mario | Mar 5 2024 12:12 utc | 397
Posted by: bored | Mar 5 2024 11:57 utc | 394
Possibly it will go the other way around.
Houthis already have naval drones, possibly even sub ones, provided by Iran.
So, maybe we will see RF naval drones based on Iran design, just as it already happened with shaktar/geran1/2.
Posted by: Mario | Mar 5 2024 12:16 utc | 398
@ vargas | Mar 5 2024 9:55 utc | 382
Ah, good old generalizing in the absolutes. “Everyone” here, “they all” there, “The West” as a homogeneous monolith. “The common people” isn’t a party with a written agenda and public relations department to talk to anyone, let alone you specifically. The Dutch aren’t all warmongers, which is obvious to anybody capable of thought. Whatever kink floats your boat, naturally, but none of this pathetic attempt at base propaganda helps your arguments.
Posted by: boneless | Mar 5 2024 10:12 utc | 385
We see that the ruling elites in EU have no problem in pursuing their war agenda. That proves that almost everybody agrees with this war against Russia. The only real anti-ukrainian group is the Polish peasantry because they suffer from under priced Ukro products.
Posted by: vargas | Mar 5 2024 12:28 utc | 399
>Posted by: bored | Mar 5 2024 11:57 utc | 394
>And another Russian ships does down. If these sea drones are so effective why doesn’t Russia copy their design and give a few to the Houthis to repay the US in kind in the Red Sea?
It’s coming. All surface warships are increasingly vulnerable and guess who is most reliant on surface warships and also on sea transport in general? Cut the sea lanes and China-Russia-Iran are unaffected, though China will have to consume more domestically and thus have a higher living standard instead of accumulating dollars, poor things. USA will have to figure out how to replace all the imports from Asia. Japan and South Korea in deep trouble. India and SEAsia forced to be neutral. etc.
Its been alnost 80 years since USA faced a peer to peer naval war. That’s an eternity in technology terms.
Posted by: anonposter | Mar 5 2024 12:34 utc | 400