Russia

The Russians (Orcs) have seized an eastern section of Pokrovsk. They first entered it July 17th but were driven out by elements of the Ukrainian 68th and 155th brigades. But, this morning, with greater numbers the Orcs are back, and heavy fighting is ongoing. The Russians launched a major campaign last August aimed at taking Pokrovsk. They have suffered 100,000+ casualties in this battle and will lose even more over the next several weeks trying to seize all of it. All depends on how hard Ukraine decides to resist. The Ukrans have been building extensive defensive works about 10 miles west of Pokrovsk where they intend to make their stand against losing all of the Donetsk Oblast. Much like Bakhmut and Avdriivka, Pokrovsk represents more than just a city Putin wants, it is psychologically important too...for both sides. All three of these campaigns have lasted at least 10 months and the Russians lost well over 100K+ in each battle.

Russia and China are working together developing nukes to be used in space to knock out satellites. Yes, there are such weapons in existence today and both sides have them. But those are smaller weapons designed to target individual satellites. But Russia/China are developing nukes that will explode in orbit and send out electromagnetic pulses disabling scores and scores of satellites. Well, won't Russia and China also lose some satellites in that event? Yes, but since the US/West/Japan enjoys such a huge advantage in quantity and quality in satellites Russia/China are saying this would level the playing field in a war.

Pundits are investigating this project, and some are sounding alarm bells that the threat is real and imminent, while others are saying Russia/China are still 10+ years away from perfecting such a weapon. On paper and via Russian/Chicom propaganda they look ready to attack tomorrow! But cooler heads say nah. Bears watching and monitoring though.

Look for Ukraine to attack Russia's huge drone manufacturing facility in Alabuga. This site is HUGE! It has three production buildings, barracks to eventually house up to 40,000 workers, and will have research labs, engineering facilities, as well as the massive production facilities. Right now, about 14,000 workers are employed there and it is presently just an assembly facility building Shahed drones with components sent by Iran and China mostly. Recently 2,000 workers from India arrived to bolster the quantity and quality of the workforce. Putin thinks "the west" will shy away from supporting attacks by Ukraine since that would endanger those Indians. Also, Putin's regime is making a big case out of Russian high school students being schooled and employed there, again, preemptive propaganda to discourage attacks. Yet, in the same press release Russia is hailing this as an important factor of training their future drone engineers for future drone development to further Russia's military capacity.

Reports are 25,000 North Korean workers are being sent to work at the facility. Some have already arrived. The main drone being built now is the Geran-2 Shahed drone, which is a jet engine drone, rather than the prop drones mostly in use today. Russia has already used the Geran-2 drones in attacks on Ukraine, and they are much faster and harder to track and shoot down.

Ukraine needs to strike this facility and hit it hard! Yes, Ukraine will try to avoid/minimize civilian casualties, but this is a key Russian military facility and a legitimate target. Alabuga is just 800 miles from Ukraine and can be easily reached by Ukraine's long-range drones. It is heavily defended, but that never seems to deter the Ukrans.

Based on comments here, anyone that doesn't support sending unlimited amounts of our national treasure to unilaterally fund a war that doesn't impact us, and wanting a full audit of what we have sent to Ukraine to make sure certain parties are not skimming off of the top (remember, Ukraine is/was a very corrupt country) and making themselves rich makes me an ardent Putinite.

Being such a Putinite, I now have to contemplate my pleasure of seeing that Europe has FINALLY agreed to put serious skin into a game that impacts them infinitely more than it impacts us, and maybe they can run some deficits now doing what they should have been doing all along while watching the US go bankrupt bailing them out. Who knows, maybe they'll stop with the stupid windmills and Chinese solar panels and adopt a reasonable energy policy that doesn't include funding Russia's war effort while waiting for us to counterbalance that with wiping out OUR weapons stockpile and increasing our national debt with a 4-5% interest rate that significantly offsets our ridiculously large tax and fee revenues at the federal level.

My hope is that Ukraine will be provided enough offensive firepower by the European nations that they are able to relentlessly bombard Crimea and perhaps even drive the Russians out of it. That would probably bring Putin to the table.

Hard to be a Putinite, but I will keep working on it.

For any truly decent person it is IMPOSSIBLE to be a Putinite.

But there are those who struggle with being a truly decent person, so...

Past 48 hours have been very good for Ukraine. They ejected all Russian troops from Pokrovsk, gained ground in Sumy region, and shot down another Russian jet. Russians still losing 1,000+ troops daily, along with dozens of pieces of equipment. Yes, Ukraine suffers losses too, but this is war.

Ukraine attacked a large Russian oil refinery/storage facility in Sochi. Closed down all major airports again for over 24 hours and destroyed more of Russia's railroad infrastructure. Meanwhile the good ole Putinites (who some want to "keep working on it") murdered more civilians. The latest attack struck an apartment building where 4 young children were killed, and also included one adult killed, and 14 injured.

Putin's brilliant strategy designed to create a buffer zone between his righteous nation and the meanies in NATO has backfired again. Now, after 70 years of declared neutrality, like Switzerland, Austria has announced the opening of talks to join NATO. The president of Austria said neutrality does not guarantee safety from Russian aggression. Good job Putin, driving yet another nation into the NATO camp.

Trump has undermined his own 50-day timetable of secondary tariffs against those nations (namely China, India, Brazil, and some others) buying cheap Russian oil. He just stupidly agreed to pausing all new tariffs against China for 90 days. Maybe Trump doesn't know that 90 > 50, or more likely, simply doesn't care. Further, the EU has proposed lowering the oil cap to $45/barrel from the current $60/barrel affecting Putin's revenue stream. But the US has balked at that, they claim "for now."

Shots exchanged between Russian and Azerbaijani troops as tensions rise. Azerbaijani chief defense minister said in a press release that they will not be bullied by Putin/Russia, and that the invaders will meet their deserved fate.

And Ukranian special ops have been identified being in Georgia as that nation is also standing up to the big bully. No further information on exactly what the Ukran special op unit is doing there, but it is speculated that it involves the use (training) in drone technology.

Tensions also are rising in Moldavia as that small country is getting ready to expel Russian troops stationed there. The Kremlin is threatening Moldavia with "severe repercussions" but a spokesman for that country said it was past time for them to regain total control of their own nation.

Serbia, a longtime friend of Putin/Russia at first announced it would not support economic sanctions against Russia. But then quickly made a U-turn after US officials held a meeting there, and now Serbia is saying they could/would support sanctions in exchange for admission into the EU. But, Serbia is not a democracy and will have to clean up its act before the EU would consider them for membership. Still, this is just another example of the movement away from the influence of Russia.

Putin knows how to "win friends and influence people." NOT!

A combined group of Ukrainians and Belarussians, a private organization of hackers, unrelated to either of those governments, hacked into Aeroflot's system (Russia's largest domestic airline) and took over! Literally, took over the entire computer network system. This hacker group OWNS the system now! They have effectively shut down Aeroflot! No flights, no nothing. The hackers released a video showing how antiquated Aeroflot's system was, last major update to their software was done in 2003. It was easy to pierce the firewall and take over.

Then, last night, Russian drones struck a building in a small town in Belarus; was that retaliation for the hacking? Belarus is PISSED at Putin/Russia for this blatant attack. Injuries are reported.

Russian drones struck civilian targets in Ukraine, including another apartment complex. This time there were serious losses. First reports are 24 killed 50 injured and both numbers are expected to rise. And more children were killed/injured too. This was an apartment of mostly middle-class working families. Yeah...keep on cheering for good ole Putin, all you Putinites.

Russia continues to lose about 1,000 soldiers per day. That number has been remarkably consistent for over a year. But, they are still gaining ground on both flanks of Pokrosvk. Pretty soon, if the situation doesn't change, Ukraine will have to abandon this city. Much like Bakhmut and Avdriivka Russia has sacrificed 100,000+ soldiers taking this place. But, Putin doesn't care about the losses, he just celebrates the seizing of ground.

Elsewhere along the 600+ mile front, Ukraine is enjoying successes. Small gains, including the retaking of three villages in the Sumy Oblast.

"Even Earth is mad at Putin," so says a YouTuber commenting on the earthquake which sent damaging tsunamis into Kamchatka. Russia's nuke submarine base sustained heavy damage and apparently two of the subs have been compromised due to hull damage. The sub base itself was inside a bay inside of a bay*** along the Pacific coast, but the tsunami still managed to slam into the docks, repair facilities and warehouses that service the subs.

*** yes, there is a protected bay inside of the larger bay which opens to the ocean.

Meanwhile, the Ukrans have utterly destroyed more of Putin's oil infrastructure, taking out two oil refineries and storage tanks overnight. One YouTuber says that is the real sanctions against Putin's oil industry, simply destroy it all.

Back in the summer of 2023 Ukraine had crossed the Dnipro River and retaken the town of Krinky, this in the Kherson region. The Russians thought they had air superiority, but they forgot that Ukraine had some pretty good anti-aircraft weapons, like the US-made Stinger. In just one day Russia lost 5 SU-25 fighter-bombers attacking the Ukrans at Krinky. They were trying to drop "dumb" bombs which required the jets to get really close to the target. It didn't work very well. So, the Russians decided that these "dumb" bombs had to be released prior to getting in range of the hand-held Stingers. Thus, they fitted the bombs with wings creating....nope! RECREATING...the "glide bombs." The world thought this was ingenius of the Russians, what an idea! Yep, but it wasn't their idea nor was it new. Just brought back from many decades ago.

March 1945 and the Germans were reeling. The allies had achieved true air superiority over Europe. The P-51 Mustang had the range to fly from bases in England and reach Germany, and now allied planes based in France, like the P-47 Thunderbolt, could also reach German airspace. The Germans identified a large, key supply/fuel depot in France that was servicing Patton's 3rd Army rampaging across France. They wanted to destroy it. Their Heinkel bombers could deliver bombs to destroy the depot, provided they could actually reach it. But that was doubtful given the allied fighter cover in the air over France. So! the Germans invented the "glide bomb." Putting wings on their standard 500-lb bombs, six Heinkel bombers took off from a base deep inside of Germany, never leaving German air space, and delivered their payload, it worked. Suddenly, no warning, bombs came gliding into the depot, virtually destroying it. Patton was furious, and soon, like within a few days, P-47 Thunderbolts attacked and destroyed what was left of Germany's bomber fleet. But, the "glide" bomb had successfully made its debut.

Now, some 80 years later, the world marvels at these "new" variations of dumb bombs.

Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.

Well...Trump has deployed two nuke subs to "take up stations near Russia" and today US troops join British troops deploying to the Poland-Ukraine border.

An advanced detachment of US Marines and the US 2nd Cavalry (US Army) are in Poland. A video just released from a city in Poland as the US convoy passed through. Local people turned out to welcome and cheer the US troops. Locals interviewed had tears of joy as they expressed their appreciation of the US troops arriving. Putin has said Poland is on his list to annex, ah, but that'll never happen as he can't get past eastern Ukraine. But the Poles are understandably concerned anyway. Anyway, most importantly, the US is demonstrating a commitment to our NATO pledge.

And this lil tidbit...

A YouTuber calculated how long it would take Russia to conquer all of Ukraine using their pace from the past 2 years as the guide. It would take 104 years and cost close to 38 million lives.

Back to Bakhmut! It has been close to 30 months since Russia seized Bakhmut. Since then, they have used it as a supply base and HQ for various units. For the past 26 months, using Bakhmut as a base of operations, the Russians have launched a campaign to take Chasvi Yar, which they still haven't done. Chasvi Yar is only 7 miles west of Bakhmut. That's right, 26 months of hard fighting and Russia still hasn't moved a mere 7 miles. Yeah, there is fighting in Chasiv Yar, so the Orcs have penetrated into the city, but Ukraine is still stubbornly holding on there. Yesterday a Ukrainian Mig-29 dropped two glide bombs that bullseyed an Orc HQ building. And today, it has been reported by two sources, that Ukrainian special ops are operating near Bakhmut. The Russian forces have become so depleted in that area that large gaps have opened in their lines and the Ukrans are slipping small units through to attack communications, leadership, supplies, etc. One of the special ops who was rotated out shared a short video he shot with his phone of Bakhmut. The YouTuber narrating it remarked, who would have thought Ukrainian troops would ever see Bakhmut again close up.

Four of Putin's oil storage sites have been struck the past 24 hours with Ukranian drones. Ukraine has resumed attacking Putin's O&G industry, even though the US/NATO has urged them not to. Ukraine should never have ceased the attacks.

Ukraine obliterated a key Russian natural gas site, a junction of two gas pipelines; site was just across the border about 10 miles inside of Russia. The site is gone, and the two pipelines have since been shut off pending repairs. That will take some time too.

A YouTuber used AI animation to recreate the attack. It's a comprehensive, detailed summary of the attack and results. The Ukrans used US-made HIMARS missiles, called GLRMS, two of them. The site was heavily defended by the Russians given its importance to the natural gas industry. Fascinating study of how these attacks are planned, engineered, and executed. Ukraine sent recon drones for weeks to scout the site, and its defenses, and to monitor activity. And, and this critical, for the first time the Ukrans planned the attack to strike when the facility was fully staffed. In the past Ukraine would have attacked such a site in the middle of the night when only a skeleton crew was present, that to minimize civilian losses. Not anymore. Putin's blatant terrorist attacks directly on Ukrainian civilians has changed the game.

Anyway, to get to the point, the Ukrans plotted two different approach vectors to confuse the Russian anti-missile defenses, and it worked to perfection. A Russian S-400 missile battery was present at the site, and it is very capable. But the S-400's own capability to track and target incoming missiles is what the Ukrans counted on. Sure enough, the two HIMARS missiles came in on different vectors, actually launched 45 seconds apart, and the S-400 did not lock onto to either one, as the plotted zigzag pattern of the HIMARS caused the S-400 to continually switch between the two. It also takes some 60 seconds for the S-400 anti-missile missiles to gain speed and altitude and to lock onto a target after they are launched. The Ukran HIMARS were less than 45 seconds from the target when the S-400 missiles finally locked on. Too late.

Now, get this. The final blow to the gas facility was delivered by...the Russian S-400 missiles! The ever-clever Ukrans sucked the S-400 missiles in such that they would follow the HIMARS in...into the target. The HIMARS penetrated the concrete structures housing the gas pipeline switching/pumping equipment, striking the gas pipeline releasing gas into the air. About 15 seconds later the S-400 missiles struck igniting the gas. The resultant explosion utterly destroyed the facility killing all 45 workers at the site. The expanding gas explosion traveled at 26,000 feet/second generating power equal to 50 tons of TNT. The explosion struck and wiped out two other buildings where the bulk of the workers were. Actual video footage shot by a hovering Ukraine recon drone is incredible. The drone was miles away and was nearly knocked down by the shockwave.

Kaboom! and bye bye more of Putin's O&G infrastructure.