Russia

Ukranian sea drones attacked and knocked out one of Putin's largest oil transfer ports, this one at Tapusa (sp?) on the Black Sea. And the Ukrans did it in broad daylight, just to show they could, I guess. They usually attack at night. Two sea drones were sent with two aerial recon drones providing guidance. One of the recon drones was shot down but it revealed the presence of an oil tanker being filled at the port. It, as it turned out, is an Indonesian registered tanker and the Ukrans did not want to strike it. So, the sea drones were diverted to strike the long dock that holds the pipeline and pumps. This gave the Russians a chance to attack the drones. A Russian gunboat successfully blew up one of the drones, but the other continued on and kaboom! no more oil loading dock! This will shut down oil transfer at that port for several weeks at least. Of course, Ukraine can attack it again as needed.

Then, in what looked like a video game or a movie. Ukrainian drones soared low through the streets of a suburb of Moscow, flying no more than 30-40 feet up. The streets were lined with high-rise apartment buildings. A Russian vehicle mounting a machinegun (think Rat Patrol, for those of you who remember that show) chased the drones firing indiscriminately and shooting up the apartment buildings, shooting out windows and bullets passing through the thin walls. It is a miracle no Russian civilians were killed although 6 were injured by flying glass and one woman struck in the leg by a bullet fragment. One fellow recorded the whole affair with his phone, his video going viral as he cursed Putin, "you are killing your own people" he was heard yelling. A Ukran recon drone recorded it all from above. It is comical! All the Ukran drones made it safely through the gauntlet and struck their intended targets.

Russia is a joke.

More fun video viewing!!! Putin has grown so desperate for weapons he's ordered old Soviet stockpiles to be retrieved from warehouses and rusting relics deployed. The YouTuber calling himself "The Engineer" always has funny videos of goofy Orcs blowing themselves up when old (some 60-70 years old) ammo/weapons are used again without proper "looksee." Among those released recently is an anti-aircraft missile battery, circa 1970's, using heat-seeking technology. This old tracked-vehicle, with radar and a missile launcher, comes to a stop along a woods line, somewhere in eastern Ukraine, and fires off in rapid succession 4 missiles aimed at Ukrainian F-16s and SU-27s operating in the area. All 4 successfully launch leaving a white vapor trail and leaving the video view of a fixed-in-place video camera about 1/4 mile away from the launch. The camera obviously mounted on an APC or IFV vehicle. Everything is okay, right? Wrong! all 4 missiles reappear seeking the nearest HEAT source...that of the Russian vehicles. One by one 4 Russian tracked vehicles get blown to smithereens. It should be some solace to the Orcs that 50+ year old warheads were still good, hah!

Great news! Moldova voted to join the EU in a nationwide election referendum. Now the very western pro-European, anti-commie, anti-Putin political party, the PAS, has total control of the Moldavian federal government. Much like the GOP has control of our federal government, Congress and the White House. In Moldova they have a parliament, a president, and a prime minister. The PAS now has 54% of the parliament with the pro-Putin faction with 27%. The remaining 19% is split among three other parties. One of these is very commie but not so keen on being allied with Putin's Russia. The other two are split between embracing socialism/communism but somehow being part of "Europe" and distancing themselves from Russia.

Bottom line is the PAS has complete control and will have the support of some of those other parties on anti-Russian matters. This is a HUGE win for the people of Moldova.

Now, the rub. The eastern-most province of Moldova, Transnistria, is currently being held hostage, occupied by pro-Russian factions and Russian troops. Russia has only 1,500 troops there, but they do have support from some of the police departments controlled by pro-Putin leaders. Would seem simple for Moldova to evict the Russians and retake Transnistria, but the Moldovan government fears they will get ZERO support when Putin sends in more troops to defend it.

Anyway, congrats to Moldova for the very positive vote.

The British media outlet, the Daily Mail, does a great job of covering the news in an accurate, honest manner. Much like Australia's Sky News does. One of the Daily Mail's programs is called "Frontline," and it has focused on the war in Ukraine the past several years. They put out long reports, usually 2 hours+ which can be viewed on YouTube.

Just watched another installment of their reports from Ukraine, in this case, they focused on two of Ukraine's units, the 13th National Guard Brigade and the 37th Marine Brigade. Both are fighting in the Pokrovsk region presently. One particularly disturbing report is on Russia's standing orders to attack Ukrainian MASH units, field hospitals, ambulances, etc. Reported that Russian commanders are giving a bonus equal to $300 USD for each successful attack on a Ukran medical facility. SICK! and violation of the Geneva Convention, a war crime.

In the field both of these units are fighting nearly impossible odds, but are holding their ground. A Ukran battalion commander in the 37th Marines was interviewed, rank of major. He recounted their history, saying the brigade was 5,000+ strong in 2022 and are now down to 3,500 effectives. He said Kyiv has not been able to send us much in the way of replacements. He said, nodding toward the Russians several miles away, they have 3 full brigades facing us. That's over 12,000 Orcs with replacements as needed. Then he sighs, we are here and will stay to the last man.

The Daily Mail reporter went into the trenches speaking with the average marine. One is a sergeant who had two fingers on his left hand shot off last year. He held up it for the camera, saying, we have all been wounded in one way or another. In fact, no one in my squad (20 marines) has not been wounded in some way. Only the seriously wounded get rotated home to real hospitals, for the slightly wounded, we get patched up and sent back to the frontline. Another company was the focus, and they said they had it good. Seems the wives of several NCOs were hunkered down in a house basement about 1/2 mile behind the line providing home cooking to the troops. One marine pulled out a biscuit and offered it to the reporter, "homemade biscuit" he said.

What strikes me most about the Ukrainians is their spirit, their determination. Never complain about anything. Yeah, they express desire for more support, especially from the US, but they shrug it off saying they will make out with what they have. History will remember these heroes with reverence. They are holding the line against pure evil, the new Axis of Evil: Russia, China, Iran, North Korea.

Breaking News

Russia has launched a major attack about 5 miles east of the former "rabbit ears" salient. Overnight the Russians took the farming village of Polktava, which was being held by a "picket post" of about 6 Ukrainian soldiers. They radioed the attack and beat a hasty retreat. The Orcs are attacking with 8,000 troops, supported by two tanks, confirmed, and several IFVs and APCs and of course drones. Early reports are they have advanced about 3 miles, throwing a pontoon bridge over a small river. Today they will attempt to reach a major road which Ukraine uses as a supply route for units fighting in the "rabbit ears" area.

The Ukran 93rd Mechanized Infantry Brigade is in the immediate vicinity of this advance. And not too far away are units of the 1st Azov Corps. These elite Ukrainian units will deal with this Orc attack, sending them to their graves, and survivors packing.

In more news...Putin has ordered the conscription of another 135,000 soldiers. Young men, age of 17, can be drafted. These newbies will be given maybe 3 weeks of basic training, some more training if in a special unit, and all sent to Ukraine to die in meat grinder attacks. Putin propaganda TV showed about 50 of these newbies, all neatly dressed in new uniforms, carrying duffle bags...and "smiling." They were ordered to smile for the cameras.

Ukraine is attacking Putin's O&G infrastructure day and night, no let up. Latest reports show Russia's oil refining capacity is down 40%. Over 30% of domestic oil pipelines are presently out of service due to Ukran attacks. Putin has stopped exporting most of his O&G having to reserve as much as possible to service his military and critical services such as medical and firefighting. Absent action by "the West" to halt Putin's main source of revenue, Ukraine is applying their own sanctions.

Putin is using some of his ghost fleet tankers to launch drones to harass European cities, in particular commercial airports. Recently unidentified drones caused several airports in Denmark, Germany, and Norway to shut down for several hours until the drones were cleared from the skies. No incidents or injuries, just flight delays. But it is clear Putin is sending Europe a message.

Bingo! Ukraine completed the clean sweep of the top row of the scorecard striking the Putin refinery at Karikova. All five of Russia's largest refineries have been struck. This latest was not hit by drones or missiles but rather a ground's operation of sabotage. Three of the previous four are offline, one partially offline (reduced production). Waiting on reports about the status of this one.

It's gotten so bad for Putin that he is having to purchase refined fuels (gas, diesel, kerosene) from other countries. The #1 beneficiary of this is China. China is buying Putin's oil, via the Siberian pipeline, at below market prices, = to less than $60/barrel, and selling fuel back to Russia at premium prices. Whoa! Double whammy for poor ole Putin from his "friend" Xi.

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Originally Posted by dawg80

Breaking News

Russia has launched a major attack about 5 miles east of the former "rabbit ears" salient. Overnight the Russians took the farming village of Polktava, which was being held by a "picket post" of about 6 Ukrainian soldiers. They radioed the attack and beat a hasty retreat. The Orcs are attacking with 8,000 troops, supported by two tanks, confirmed, and several IFVs and APCs and of course drones. Early reports are they have advanced about 3 miles, throwing a pontoon bridge over a small river. Today they will attempt to reach a major road which Ukraine uses as a supply route for units fighting in the "rabbit ears" area.

The Ukran 93rd Mechanized Infantry Brigade is in the immediate vicinity of this advance. And not too far away are units of the 1st Azov Corps. These elite Ukrainian units will deal with this Orc attack, sending them to their graves, and survivors packing.

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So, when this first happened Ukraine had no units in the area to man the prepared trenches. The only unit even close was not a frontline, regular army unit. It was the 11th Battalion of Home Guard. Responding to pleas for someone, anyone, to get to those trenches, the 11th Battalion dispatched two companies, about 200 soldiers. They rushed into position with their mostly antiquated weapons, including some World War I vintage Maxim machineguns (reworked, improved) and 60mm mortars. The attacking Russians had to cross a river right in front of the trenches. The small show of force from the 200 "home guards" was enough to halt the Russians. Incredible! The elite 1st Corps Azov was able to send a recon team from the 24th Armored Brigade, two Bradleys, four APCs with 24 troops. They "reinforced" the 11th two companies. Remarkably the massive Russian force (8,000 troops estimated) just halted and began to dig in.

There are three levels of quality in the Ukrainian army. The regular army units, the National Guard, which receive the same training as regular army soldiers, and are viable fighting units, and then there's the Home Guard. These fellows are mostly old men, many former soldiers but past their prime. Some volunteers, civilians who joined after the 2022 invasion and have had only minimum training. They are also equipped with makeshift weapons and equipment. Their vehicles are mostly pickup trucks and other trucks and busses (including former school busses, painted green and gray now). The Home Guard was given the refitted World War I Maxim machineguns. Make no mistake about it though, they work and they kill, as some unfortunate Orcs have learned the hard way.

The report about the gallant "old men" of the 11th Battalion halting the Russian advance has been quite the story in Ukrainian media. By now the stupid Russians have learned who was occupying those trenches. Hmmm...bet heads will roll among those commanders. Too late now, as regular Ukran army units have reached the area.

Baron Global is a YouTube Channel, plus other social media platforms, that claims to be neutral, unbiased. And they appear to really try too. So, when they report something, I always take notice. BG is reporting that Putin is sending a brand-new army of fresh troops, 90,000 strong, including the refitted 11th Tank Brigade, considered to be elite. Or, at least it was 3 years ago prior to getting its ass kicked by the Ukrainians. They say this new army is being deployed to Kherson, the southern front, which has been mostly quiet for a year+ as the bulk of the fighting has been on the eastern front. And, other sources have noted the movement of Russian troops toward Kherson this week. But, 90,000 troops? We'll see.

Back on the eastern front, more good news for Ukraine. The hotly contested fight for Kupiansk has taken a turn for the better. The beleaguered Ukran 55th Brigade which has been defending Kupiansk for going on 18 months reports they are doing "okay." The vaunted 3rd Azov Brigade was dispatched last week to Kupiansk to hold that key location. Upon their arrival they found the 55th was holding on just fine. In fact, the 55th had just retaken several blocks of northern Kupiansk driving the Orcs out. With the 3rd Brigade now on the scene, the Russians withdrew 3 miles back into the hills north of Kupiansk. There are some 15,000 Russians in that vicinity, some of their better units, so this fight is not over yet. Still, the 55th Brigade has a well-deserved rest to refit and get ready for more action.

On Kupiansk, the Orcs are gone having vacated the northern suburbs too. The 3rd Azov Assault Brigade didn't do much, but they didn't have to. Their mere presence sent the Orcs scampering for the hills. Now the 15th National Guard Regiment has arrived to support the 55th Brigade and the 3rd can be dispatched elsewhere as needed.

French commandoes stopped and boarded a Putin ghost tanker as it passed through the English Channel, in international waters. This ship is suspected of launching drones over some European airports. The Kremlin cried foul saying this violated international law....like invading a neighboring country, eh. Hungary and Turkey condemned France's action, with a Hungarian spokesman saying this is not what they signed up for when they joined the EU/NATO. Good, leave!

But it wasn't all roses for the Kremlin out of Hungary. Orban said that it is good that Ukraine exists as a sovereign nation as it stands in Russia's way of invading Hungary (again). Putin can't be happy with his good buddy Orban for that statement.

Meanwhile, Putin continues his terrorist attacks. Russian drones struck a commuter train in Shostka, injuring 7, 2 in critical condition. Then when first responders showed up, they were deliberately attacked. This is not the first time Putin has pulled this despicable act of waiting to strike emergency units responding to an attack. Putin is a war criminal. Why Trump doesn't want to distance himself, and by extension, the US, from this evil monster is beyond me.

I posted back in February of this year (or about then) I understood Trump's attempts to end the war diplomatically. I also posted it wouldn't work since Putin is nothing but an evil POS. But, Trump had to try. Now, some 8 months later Putin continues to engage in terrorism and continues to thumb his nose at Trump. And yet...nothing from Trump.

Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine? Ah, no, not a good idea.

First the company that manufactures them can produce only 5 per month. It is true all of our ships have full compliments of Tomahawks, and the navy has a reserve supply. So, in the event of a conflict somewhere the US military has enough. But, what if that becomes a protracted war, like with China? Then producing only 5 per month would be a problem.

Additionally, the Tomahawk is the best cruise missile in the world. Other nations, including allies, would like to get one to reverse-engineer it. Ukraine definitely would, those ever-clever fellows.

Next, the Tomahawk is specifically designed to be launched from navy vessels, both surface ships and submarines. There is a platform that can be built to provide a land-based launcher. But, except for a prototype, none exist. So, promising Tomahawks to Ukraine would be, at best, a long-term benefit. Ukraine needs such missiles now.

Finally, the US has older cruise missiles in surplus abundance that can be carried by F-16s. They are better than anything Ukraine has now so would be an improvement. They are RAASM something-or-other cruise missiles. These can be sold to those EU nations supporting Ukraine and then transferred to Ukraine.

So, I cringed when Trump (not knowing what the hell he was talking about) kind of promised Tomahawks to Ukraine. Now, the whole world is waiting for it to happen. I don't know if Hegseth knows better, although he should as Secretary of WAR, baby! but hopefully someone with sense will notify the White House to stop promising Tomahawks to anyone.

A few moments later....... Ukraine gets a shipping container filled with actual Tomahawks, with a note from Trump "these fly too".

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Originally Posted by DallasDog

A few moments later....... Ukraine gets a shipping container filled with actual Tomahawks, with a note from Trump "these fly too".

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Gonna give "the powers that be" enough credit that that won't happen. I spelled out the reasoning above.