Russia

The Druzhba pipeline, Putin's "cash machine." And, it is not a single pipeline but rather a series of pipelines all tied back to one large pipeline servicing all of European Russia, that is, all of Russia in Europe, west of the Ural Mountains. The Druzhba has one major pipeline but also has 6 other large, long pipelines, and another 15 minor pipelines that direct oil to refineries, storage sites, and ports for loading onto ships (Putin's Shadow fleet). There are 27 large pumping/switching stations, and 100+ minor stations that serve as boosters to help move the oil through the pipes. Over the years (decades) Russia has grown more and more dependent on the Druzhba pipeline system, and in their arrogance, have thought it untouchable, not even prone to industrial failures or accidents. Thus, there is little in the way of backup systems, no large-scale redundant systems, and so! destroy the pipeline anywhere along the thousands of miles of it and Bam! interrupt the flow of oil, pending repairs.

Needless to say, in a war, the Druzhba pipeline system becomes a vulnerable target, one impossible to defend given its length and complexity. Yesterday, Ukraine struck and destroyed another critical link in the system, a large pumping station servicing the pipeline into Belarus. This oil was serving a specific purpose; it was being sent to a Belarussian refinery producing gasoline and diesel for Russia's military use. Of course, Belarus protested but the attack was in Russia, not in Belarus, and is a legit military target.

And, commenting on the attack on Ukrainian government buildings in Kyiv, President Z said "the gloves are off." Ukraine is considering retaliation. I say, strike the Kremlin in Moscow.

The world's #1 terrorist strikes again. Putin ordered the attack on Danish engineers clearing landmines in Kharkiv, way away from the front. The Danes are wearing bright blue body armor, white helmets, and are working out of white SUVs. Denmark notified Russia that these engineers, professional, trained in dealing with mines, would be working to clear mines on farms left by both Russia and Ukraine when the war was still being fought in Kharkiv. It is a peaceful, humanitarian mission to rid the region of mines for the sake of farmers and civilians. Russia never officially responded, only acknowledged receipt of the message, which Denmark took as an "okay." Wrong! For days Russian recon drones were spotted hovering over the area where these Danes were working. Then, yesterday, Russian ballistic missiles struck. Early reports are two dead Danish engineers, seven injured. Both numbers expected to rise as the work was being done in a remote, rural area. This was no accident. Those Russian ballistic missiles are accurate enough to hit intended targets. There is no military reason for Russia to stop the removal of the mines in this region. This was just cold-blooded murder, born from such evil beyond understanding. Putin is pure evil, in league with Satan.

Yet, Trump calls Putin his bosom buddy, his BFF! :icon_roll:

Click bait! a YouTube channel "US Marines Military" is claiming the US Army 3rd Division has entered Ukraine as a show of force against Putin. The division, the YouTuber says, was moved from their base in Germany into Ukraine. I don't believe this is true. As always, I will wait for confirmation from reliable sources. No way would Trump et al order such a movement of US troops, especially not into Ukraine.

Besides, Ukraine does not need US troops to whip Putin. All they need is weapons, ammo, supplies.

Putin blatantly violated Polish airspace sending a large swarm of drones, bound for Ukraine. All of those drones were shot down by Polish jets and various other ground weapons. Several of the drones crashed into towns destroying several houses, no reports of injuries. And so far, all Europe/NATO can do is announce outrage at the incident calling on Putin "to cease his hostile actions against Ukraine" which endangers neighboring countries. Wow! that'll sway Putin :icon_roll:

Maybe NATO nations need to change the title of their defense departments to that of WAR! That'll show ole Putin they mean business.

Funny video released. I say it's funny...

Russia has grown so desperate for troops to feed into the meat grinder that some recent "recruits" have had less than 2 weeks of basic training. Case in point. A Ukrainian recon drone hovers over some newly arrived Russian soldiers in a trench. The recon drone operator has called for an FPV drone strike as these Russians were waiting to ambush advancing Ukrainian tanks. One of the Russians is holding an anti-tank rocket launcher, his buddies, four others, are all hunkered down waiting to attack. The Russian rises up, shoulders the rocket launcher and pulls the trigger...kaboom! No more Russkis! He was holding the launcher the wrong way and blew himself and his buddies to pieces, LOL! What is even funnier is the released video of the Ukrainian drone operators watching the whole thing from the recon drone. They explode into laughter, high-fiving each other. This incident occurred on September 4, the video just released for laughs.

This is typical of Putin's mighty army! Keep up the good work Russkis! Blow yourselves up.

Score another one for the Ukrainian "navy" over Putin's floating target armada. The Russian "salvage" vessel, the Elissa, MPSV07, really an electronics spy ship, was severely damaged by Ukran drones as it tried to sneak across the Black Sea. The ship is lightly armed with small machineguns and one anti-aircraft auto cannon and was no match for Ukraine's stealthy drones. In fact, the Russians never even fired a shot as they were completely surprised by the drones in a night attack. Two drones hit the bridge and the electronics control center, disabling it. The ship is operational as to its propulsion and the use of a secondary steering "bridge" and is making its way back to port. No reports of casualties but there had to be some given the size of the explosions on the ship. The Russians will never learn. Ukraine controls the Black Sea with their drones. Which is why one pundit refers to Putin's fleet as mere "targets."

In other maritime news...Putin has dusted off the old battlecruiser, Kirov-class, Admiral Nakhimov. It's a relic from the Cold War, vintage early 1980's. On paper, as an offensive weapon, it is scary. Packs 80 cruise missiles and an assortment of ballistic missiles, surface to surface and anti-aircraft weapons. But, in reality, as the YouTuber says, the ship is held together by duct tape and the crew by vodka. Fortunately, for it and her silly crew, it is nowhere near Ukraine's reach, so it might survive for a while. Putin has grown desperate.

One pundit trotted out this joke: Why does Russia's new navy ships have glass bottoms? So, they can see Russia's old navy ships.

Kudos to Ukraine! A biggie! They struck and utterly destroyed the loading/unloading docks and equipment of Putin's single largest oil exporting port, at Primorsk. This near St. Petersburg. Too early to tell the extent of the damage as it pertains to stopping Putin's loading his shadow fleet of tankers, but clearly this is a major blow. If it is as some surmise this will cripple Putin's oil revenue in a huge way. Stay tuned.

Mixed bag of news along the front. First, the bad news...Russian soldiers successfully pulled off a sneaky one, using a long pipeline to bypass Ukranian defenses at Kupiansk. It took them 4 days to crawl through the unused pipeline, and this time, the Russians made sure there was no methane gas lingering in it. Might remember over a year ago the Russians sent 100 soldiers to their deaths trying to use a pipeline in Kursk and none of them made it. This time about 60 Russians safely made the long crawl, emerged behind Ukrainian lines, some of them are still dug in at the edge of this key target city.

But, elsewhere the news favors Ukraine. Once again Ukran troops have entered Kursk having chased retreating Russians out of Sumy Oblast. And Ukraine has eliminated the western pocket at Pokrovsk. The eastern pocket is being eliminated now. About 3,000 Russians have been trapped for weeks and Ukraine allowed the pockets to remain to entice more Russians into the trap. But Kyiv has said it is time to end the siege so those Ukrainian units can be deployed elsewhere. The front is shifting eastward as Ukraine is gaining ground in the overall strategic picture.

Putin loses more and more of his O&G infrastructure daily/nightly.

Entire North Korean armored regiment wiped out. Fat Boy thought his tanks and troops could sweep across Ukranian defenses (in Donetsk) but found out all they could do is die. NK lost 200 tanks and IFVs, 60 APCs, and suffered over 2,500 losses in personnel...all in 45 minutes of slaughter.

For two weeks the North Koreans massed, prepared, and made known their intentions, all under the watchful eye of Ukrainian recon drones and Ukranian interceptions of NK/Russian communication. To entice the NK to do exactly what they wanted them to do, Ukraine pretended to cower in the face of this pending assault. The Ukrans pulled troops out very visibly in the eyes of Russian recon drones...setting the trap. For two weeks Ukranian engineers very cleverly planted 1,000+ mines on the roads and open fields they knew NK armor would use. These were an assortment of pressure mines and infrared triggered mines (detecting the heat of engines), and "seismic" mines which are designed to go off when multiple heavy vehicles shake the ground. The Ukrans avoided detection planting the mines by using specially altered trucks with false bottoms, allowing the engineers to plant the mines out of sight of Russian drones.

Ukraine also deployed artillery, drones, and elements of the 25th Armored Brigade to ambush the hapless, clueless North Koreans.

The Russians successfully used an abandoned pipeline to go under Ukrainian defenses, town of Kupiansk, those Russians now in desperate peril trying to hold on to the ground they took. And, so, thinking they could repeat that maneuver the Russians tried it again elsewhere. Only this time the Ukrainians were prepared and set a nasty trap for the poor Russian saps. On one end of the pipeline, their end, the Ukrans pushed razor wire into the pipeline, then they identified a hatch, an access into the pipeline several hundred yards from the end. Using listening devices the Ukrans detected the Russian soldiers as they passed the hatch. A robot drone with a flame thrower was lowered into the pipeline behind the Russians. Then from the open end, with the razor wire, a loudspeaker was used to warn the Russians to surrender, they were trapped with no way out. Surrender was their only option. The Ukrainians gave the Russians plenty of time to decide their fate. When the Russians, crawling/duck-walking reached the razor wire they knew there was no escape that way. Then just to show them their plight, a burst from the robot flame thrower announced its presence. Still, the Russians stalled. Finally, common sense prevailed and the Russians surrendered. The razor wire was pulled out and 45 Russian commandos were taken prisoner.

The Russians are trapped near Pokrovsk, about 3,000 soldiers now encircled on what was the "neck of the rabbit." Both ears are gone, retaken by Ukraine and all Russians trapped there eliminated. But, it's not all good news. Russia had sent reinforcements, estimated to be about 12,000 fresh troops and some armor to rescue their trapped comrades. The Russian commander on the ground has determined that it is hopeless so instead he has diverted his units to attack northward, even further away from Pokrovsk. And, by doing so, he caught the Ukrainians short in troops/equipment near the town of Guliapole. That town, which is important because it sits on a major road, a supply route for the Ukrainians in that sector, is now in danger.

This is how the war is being fought now. The active front is about 600 miles long and really, in 2025, it has shortened to about 200 miles as the Russians have concentrated their efforts in two oblasts, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia (Zapor, for short). Russian field commanders have used their own discretion to probe for weaknesses and then launch assaults where they think they can find success. Ukraine is stretched thin having to guard the whole 600-mile front, and really including the Belarus border region, it's 900 miles. This is what has happened near Guliapole. Now Ukraine needs to respond and deploy reinforcements to defend this key location.

Putin has greatly slowed his terrorist attacks the past week+ on Ukrainian civilians. Not because he's had a change of heart but for practical reasons. He has run short of Shahed drones and ballistic missiles, pending resupply, and he has changed tactics. Now he is attacking NATO countries, namely Poland, and issuing warnings to NATO to stop supplying Ukraine because you will need those weapons to defend yourselves. Obviously, this is a ploy to slow/halt NATO's support for Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Putin loses more and more of his O&G infrastructure every day to Ukrainian drone attacks.

Past 72 hours just more of the same. Russians make small advances along the 200-mile "contested front" and then lose ground somewhere else along that front and the wider 600-mile front. More Putin O&G infrastructure struck, this is occurring routinely daily (nightly). Best estimate has Russia down 27% in its oil refinery capacity.

The single biggest news on the front is happening at Kupiansk. One of Ukraine's "fortress cities" holding on in Donetsk. The Russians have poured reinforcements into this attack, and they have enjoyed success, seizing portions of the northern suburbs. The Ukrainians have tried to defeat this movement by attacking north of Kupiansk in an attempt to cut Russian supply lines, and roads being used to bring in reinforcements, but they have had very limited success so far. So! as Ukraine always does, they have turned to their "firemen," putting out fires that threaten key cities/locations. With some fanfare Ukrainian high command has deployed the 3rd Assault Brigade, supported by other units in the 1st Army (Azov) Corps to Kupiansk. In the past the mere approach of the 3rd Brigade scared the bajeebies out of the Orcs, often withdrawing without an engagement. This time made be different. One of the Russian units attacking Kupiansk is the elite Rubicon Brigade.

According to the most reliable sources the situation in and around Kupiansk is as follows. Elements of the Ukrainian 55th Brigade is holding the center and southern parts of the city. Intense street to street fighting is ongoing in the northern portion of the city. Unidentified Ukrainian units are attacking the Russian supply lines (don't know why they have not been ID'd). The 3rd Brigade has easy access into the battle zone coming up from the south. We shall see how this plays out. Right now, Russia has committed 20,000 troops to this battle, currently opposed by about 4,500 Ukrainians holding defensive positions.

Now, in the bigger picture, a very weak and pathetic response continues by NATO. Only a mild protest made after Putin attacked Poland with drones, and only a "show of force" after 3 Russian MIG-31s penetrated Lativa's airspace and hung around for 12 minutes. All NATO did (could do) was dispatch F-35s (Italian Air Force) from a base in northern Italy. The Russian pilots knew the F-35s had been deployed in their direction and simply flew away back into international air space. The Italian F-35s did follow them into international air space broadcasting radio warnings to stay away. Wow! such a powerful show of force by NATO! In 2015 Turkey shot down a Russian SU-24 after it deliberately violated Turkish air space, and that after only 17 seconds. Pow! Putin has not effed with Turkey ever since. The Turks don't tolerate anything, even for a few seconds.

NATO is pathetically weak. This is why all they do is whine and complain about Trump's apparent buddy-buddy relationship with Putin. Everyday bloggers attack Trump's wishy-washy handling of the Ukranian mess. The worst is a former US Air Force officer, a whiny-ass clown named Jake Broe. On his YouTube channel he gets dangerously close to calling for Trump's "removal" from office "by whatever means" necessary. Broe has steered clear, so far, from actually articulating the call for Trump's assassination, but he's on the edge and his followers are lunatic TDS sufferers. The FBI needs to investigate this asshole.

Brazilian troops, part of the Ukrainian 2nd International Legion, have been deployed to Pokrovsk region, specifically into the thick woodlands/forests, and they are kicking butt. The hapless Russians are no match for these highly trained "jungle fighters." The Brazilians travel light and fast, carrying all they need in terms of food, water, ammo with them, and using the best camouflage. These fellows are veterans of Brazil's counterterrorism/counter drug cartel units who have years of experience eliminating thugs in the deepest jungles of Brazil. The undertrained Russians have no answer for them. Already 140 Russian soldiers have surrendered to the mere hint of the Brazilians' presence. In one incident, 15 Russians had convinced themselves the noises they heard in the thick undergrowth was the Brazilians...it was a couple of birds making noise in a bush. Under a white flag and shouting "don't shoot me" one of the Russians made his way into the woods seeking to surrender his men. The nearest Brazilians were over a 1/2 mile away, and it was regular Ukrainian troops who took those Russians prisoner. The Russians said they were just sure the noise came from "those jungle fighters."

Such is the psychological aspects of war. Fear is a powerful motivator leading to self-preservation.

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Originally Posted by dawg80

Now, in the bigger picture, a very weak and pathetic response continues by NATO. Only a mild protest made after Putin attacked Poland with drones, and only a "show of force" after 3 Russian MIG-31s penetrated Lativa's airspace and hung around for 12 minutes. All NATO did (could do) was dispatch F-35s (Italian Air Force) from a base in northern Italy. The Russian pilots knew the F-35s had been deployed in their direction and simply flew away back into international air space. The Italian F-35s did follow them into international air space broadcasting radio warnings to stay away. Wow! such a powerful show of force by NATO! In 2015 Turkey shot down a Russian SU-24 after it deliberately violated Turkish air space, and that after only 17 seconds. Pow! Putin has not effed with Turkey ever since. The Turks don't tolerate anything, even for a few seconds.

NATO is pathetically weak. .

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Actually, this was a violation of Estonian air space. Had to correct this.

Good news from the front.

Ukraine enjoying success in recent days. Russians have been driven out of Sumy Oblast, the last Orcs had to swim a lake to escape being captured.

Near Pokrosvk, the remaining Orcs have been encircled in three separate areas. Those Russians, estimated at total numbers of about 2,500, are completely surrounded. They have been contacted and urged to surrender to avoid needless bloodshed. The Ukrainian commander in charge said they have given the Russians 24 hours to respond, and after that all bets are off.