Russia

Senators Graham and Blumenthal are setting the pace for how to handle this. Trump should let them represent the US in this. It is my understand Trump gave his blessing to the senators to meet with EU leaders and agree on sanctions and other actions to be taken. And now Trump should answer reporters' questions by simply saying, I have authorized Graham and Blumenthal to deal with this, and I have nothing to add at this time.

It's a damn shame when CNN, yes frickin' CNN, does not have to create fake news to hammer Trump on this matter. Trump has done it to himself and continues to. He did it again today. Someone in the WH needs to tell him, President Trump....STFU!

As for Europe, give me a break! I have hammered those bozos as well. Yeah, they have supplied Ukraine with some weapons and some financial support, but it is not nearly enough. Here's a fact to derail any Europeans' whiny-ass attacks on Trump/US: Europe has aided Ukraine to the tune of about $75 billion while in the same time period (3 years) have bought $225 billion worth of Putin O&G. That's 3X the support for Putin as for Ukraine. There are other facts, but this one is enough to quiet the EU critics.

FOX News is just as stupid on this as Trump is. Just this morning they made a big deal, a report with a panel, during which they said: "it's beginning to look like Putin doesn't want a ceasefire or to end the war." REALLY??????????????????? Wow! Such penetrating reporting!

Putin has REPEATEDLY declared he wants ALL of eastern Europe, starting with Ukraine, that is his aim, his goal, and he has repeatedly said he will NOT stop until he secures his goals. Period. Putin's spokesmen, his propaganda machines, the Kremlin, have all repeated the same mantra.

Then to add to the stupid report, one FOX guest stated, as if this was news, "look! there are North Koreans actually fighting with Russia against Ukraine." Another REALLY?????? Gee, the whole world has known about that for at least a year now, but it comes as a shock to the clowns on FOX.

How can a network who is so right on so many issues totally miss the truth in the Ukraine war?

Russians achieve a major breakthrough. No way to sugarcoat it. Not good news.

About 10 miles northeast of the critical city of Pokrovsk the Russians exploited a weak link in the Ukrainian defenses and have, in a matter of just over 24 hours, penetrated close to 7 miles on a 6-mile front, that's 42 square miles of ground. This is the single largest land-grab by the Russians since the initial invasion back in the spring of 2022. They also paid a relatively small price for this success as it was mostly advanced "suicide" squads who were killed. Best estimates say the Russians lost about 20 KIA and some wounded. The Ukrans suffered practically no losses, maybe a few wounded, but the thin Ukrainian units did beat a hasty retreat. Now the rush is on by both sides to get reinforcements into the area. Whoever wins that race will ultimately prevail in this sector of the front.

The Russians continue to use "meat waves" of stupid infantry attacks across open ground, but they have gotten a little smarter in their tactics as now they at least use recon drones to locate weak spots in the Ukrainian defenses. This was the case here. The Russians have also gotten more sophisticated in their strategy, as they now view the whole 600+-mile front as one theater of operation and plan better and use decoy movements to deceive the Ukrainians causing them to relocate units or spread their troops thinner along the front.

Putin propagandists are having a field day with this breakthrough, touting it as an end of the war, Ukraine is toast, baby! Hah, hardly. But, it does represent a change in Russian doctrine, so times are going to get even tougher for Ukraine. The war will go on, and on, and on, even as Trump expresses SURPRISE that Putin does not appear to want peace. :icon_roll:

Graham and Blumenthal...I feel safe now.

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Originally Posted by PawDawg

Graham and Blumenthal...I feel safe now.

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Hah! I understand your concern. But at least they, and 80 other senators, are trying to put some teeth into US policy re: Putin. Really tough and enforceable sanctions is the best way to hammer Putin, and those nations supporting him militarily and financially. The problem is getting the EU to agree to and actually conduct the sanctions. Heretofore Europe has pretty much paid lip service to sanctions, such as continuing to buy Putin's O&G.

Nothing but good news this morning.

Ukran drones attacked three Russian airbases and reports are 40 of Putin's planes have been destroyed/severely damaged.

Elite French Special Forces obliterated Russian infantry in Kharkiv, near the border city of Vovchansk. French??? Yep, about 40 volunteer French special forces, there on their own accord, not officially representing the French government, but well-armed, well-equipped and obviously well-trained crushed an amateur Russian battalion. Early reports say the Russians lost 250 KIA, 150 wounded/captured, and the French suffered one wounded guy, not seriously injured. The fight took place in a forest right on the border northwest of Vovchansk. Apparently, it was an ambush, the French elite soldiers, camouflaged and sitting in the perfect position, with inter-locking fire, allowed the Russians to stumble their way into the trap. Then after the Russians identified the opposition as elite French commandoes, they sent in a squad of their own special forces, the Stepansk Guards, perhaps 20 of them to rally the whipped Russians in that area. The Stepansk Guards also stumbled into an ambush since the French had the sense to MOVE and set up somewhere else. No details on losses among those Russkis.

Vovchansk is the site of 2+ years of brutal combat. The city sits exactly on the Ukrainian-Russian border and has been fought over since the invasion began. It is here where those 120 Russians soldiers literally starved to death held up in the basement of a factory. For some 6-8 months they were trapped inside the reinforced concrete facility and after the Ukrans retook all of the city they surrounded the plant, at first ordering the Russians to surrender, then asking/begging them to. The Ukrans then tried blasting their way in but found it impossible to get through the thick walls. Finally, they left word with the trapped Russians, it's your call... One Russian, barely alive, staggered out of the plant, later died from malnutrition and reported he was the lone survivor...before he wasn't.

So, with Putin's big summer offensive underway in the Kharkiv Oblast, Vovchansk is again at the center of the battle.

Sometimes there are no words to express how clever the Ukrans can be. Their attack on the Russian airbases, while not as successful as one would have hoped, was, nonetheless, remarkable. There is no confirmation of 40 destroyed Russian planes, not yet anyway. But, what has been confirmed is the destruction of 7 of their strategic bombers. These being the "Backfire" and "Bear" bombers. Also, confirmed, was the destruction of a long-range aerial tanker. That is a huge loss for Russia as they have only 5, well, now 4, of those tankers.

Going to post a short YouTube video that best describes the operation, when I can find one short enough. Meantime, know this, in case you haven't been following the story, the Ukrans sent trucks with specially designed/built trailers that served as remote drone launchers. They targeted 5 Russian airbases scattered across the vast Russian territory. Four of the bases were struck but apparently there was a malfunction with one of the truck/trailers and drones failed to launch. Also local, loyal Russian citizens attacked the trailers when they noticed them launching drones. One of those trailers exploded killing 3 Russians and injuring several more.

Stay tuned...

Still no confirmation on the actual number of planes destroyed. Ukraine claiming 41 were destroyed/severely damaged and Russia saying none were. Well, until one rogue Kremlin official openly complained about the loss of some of their bombers due to lax security.

Ukrans used helicopters to bring in special forces behind the Russians just across the border from Kharkiv...surprise! Helicopters are so vulnerable to hand-held rockets and drones that both sides have stopped using them in the combat zone. Which is why this operation worked perfectly. Coming in at tree top level to avoid radar about 10 Black Hawk 'copters got in and then out again, with all Ukrainian troops and the Russians were unable to respond. The troops destroyed supply depots, two battalion HQs, killed about 25-30 Russians and took prisoners, officers and engineers back with them. As always, the Ukrans stay one step ahead of the daffy Russkis.

Now the world is making fun of Trump and Vance replaying that embarrassing display in the Oval Office back in February and mocking Trump/Vance saying to President Z, "you have no cards to play." Well...while the world is making too much of the attack on those airbases, and now this successful helicopter mission, it is true Ukraine is certainly throwing down aces!

Russia threatened Serbia after they announced support for Ukraine. Then today an ammo plant in Serbia exploded. Doesn't appear to have been an accident. Seven workers reported injured.

The Ukrans struck the Kerch Bridge with underwater mines. No reports yet on the damage.

Confirmed: Putin lost 11 strategic bombers, a combination of "Backfire" and "Bear" bombers, 2 AWACS planes, 1 aerial tanker, 4 large transport planes, 2 cargo planes, and 3 smaller planes that look like private jets. All of these are utterly destroyed, gone, kaput! But other planes were damaged by the drones, the extent of which won't be known for some time as satellite images will track movements/activity. Some of the "damaged" planes are Backfire and Bear bombers.

Now, while the world celebrates this accomplishment, and it was a great success, no doubt, the truth is, in the short term, it didn't change any of the overall strategic situation. NOT for Ukraine for sure, and it didn't alter even one iota of the situation as it pertains to the United States. Here's the rub, Putin had 60 Bear Bombers, the only plane he had that could reach the US without needing aerial refueling and is nuke capable. At most he lost 8 and perhaps a few more depending on the extent of the damage to some of the others. So, all this BS about the US needing to thank Ukraine for "saving" us from a Russian nuclear attack is just silly. Putin has about 50 or so Bear Bombers operational still.

Ukran special ops also destroyed a railroad bridge that collapsed onto a major highway, blocking it for a few days as debris is cleared. The RR is a key supply route for Putin's thugs in Ukraine. But, the Russians will have the bridge replaced in a matter of a couple of weeks and the trains rolling again. One thing the Russians have gotten good at is making rapid repairs to lost infrastructure as Ukraine is giving them plenty of opportunities to hone those skills.

Update: Russia has lost 2 of their 5 AWACS, that is confirmed. And now 19 nuke bombers are toast, 7 Bears and 12 Backfires. And the one aerial tanker making the grand total 22 planes destroyed. Again, we won't the extent of the damage to some of the other planes until the Russians try to move them, etc.

Ukraine hacked into the Tupelov plant, the company that builds the TU-22 Backfire Bomber, and stole all the technical data, plans and then hacked into the company's landing page for their website and left a message....wow! Ukraine also hacked into the security cameras under the Kerch Bridge, did so about 6 months ago, and all this time have been feeding fake video to the Russians. So, when the Ukran operatives arrived with the explosives to plant on the support pillars of the bridge, the Russian security guards were staring at their monitors seeing recycled video of "nothing happening." When it was time to set off the charges, the Ukrans switched back to "live" cameras so they, and the world, could see the explosions.

Another attack on Russian infrastructure last night, this one another rail line. Actually, FOUR rail lines that come together at the city of Voronezh. This is a rail hub, a switching yard where trains come in from all over western Russia and tracks radiate out in different directions. Two of those rail lines service Moscow. One would think, given what has been going on in Russia, the Russians would have identified this as a potential target for Ukran special forces who are working in concert with anti-Putin partisans, and actually guarded this rail hub. Nope! Charges were placed and all rail lines coming in and going out are presently cut. Yes, as mentioned, the Russians have gotten good at repairing such damage and will probably have the lines repaired in a few days. But, the good guys will strike again...and again.

Ukraine continues to degrade Putin's military with various drone/missile strikes. The heaviest action was in Kursk where Putin was gathering forces, in three staging areas, for an attack against Ukrainian troops still holding ground in Kursk. The Ukrans used recon drones to follow movements of troops and equipment and were able to identify these three locations. Kaboom! a combination of HIMARS and drone strikes devastated these locations. No confirmed reports, yet, on Russian losses but local Russian citizens posting on social media report heavy losses, numbering into the hundreds. Also, local residents report a rapid departure of surviving Russians out of the areas. So, Ukraine was able to break up Putin's troop consolidations and stop his intended offensive.

Meanwhile, the evil POS Putin attacked more civilian targets in several Ukrainian cities. One reported fatality and dozens injured.

Round 1 to Ukraine and the F-16 Falcon!!

Yes! in the first head-to-head, one-on-one dogfight encounter a Ukran F-16 shot down a Russian SU-35. Bam, baby! This occurred over Kursk, so inside of Russian territory. It was a fair fight, plane vs. plane, pilot vs. pilot. The Putin propagandists were thumping their chests, like bad-ass gorillas, saying the pathetic little Falcon was no match for the SU-35. Well, here ya go.

Ukraine has lost three F-16s, two to hostile anti-aircraft fire and one to pilot-error. It was the latter where the pilot was killed. In the other two the Ukran pilots were able to successfully bail out and return to duty. The Ukrans have shot down about a dozen Russian planes in aerial combat, the previous ones were SU-24s or MIG-29s, older jets. The SU-35 is supposed to be one of Putin's best jets.

Good job!

Ukraine attacked and destroyed the fuel storage tanks at the Bryansk airport. Ten of thousands of gallons of jet fuel, poof! gone up in flames. This fuel and that airport was used by both Russian military planes as well as commercial airliners. No injuries reported as the attack occurred in the early hours of the day and very few personnel were around. But, depriving Putin of more critical supply.