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01-20-2025, 10:43 AM
#1681
Re: Russia
In better news, the Ukrans surprised the Russians with a swift attack in the northeast portion of the Kursk salient. Using the town of Berdin as a jumping off point, the Ukrans exploited a weak point in the Russian line and pushed through more than 5 miles, creating a pocket 2 miles wide. This seizure of some 10 square miles represents the largest single-day land gap since the Ukrans first invaded Kursk last August. Not clear if the Ukrans intend to try to hold this ground or if this was just a thrust to cause the Russians to have to respond and divert troops away from another sector in the salient. The Ukrans are nothing, if not opportunistic.
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01-21-2025, 09:31 AM
#1682
Re: Russia
Two Ukranian POWS were executed (murdered) by North Koreans. In a graphic video two Ukran prisoners sit blindfolded and their hands tied, captured by Russians. Then several North Koreans walk up and there's a brief exchange, a heated argument between the Russians and the NKs. Then one of the NKs pulls a pistol and shoots the Ukran prisoners, killing both. One of the Russians screams at and physically shoves the NK soldier away. There is more shouting at each other before the NKs casually walk away. This was published on a pro-Ukrainian blogger's site. The video was captured by a Russian officer's bodycam and initially shown on a pro-Putin Patreon site. There have been atrocities committed by both sides in this war.
More attacks on Putin's infrastructure overnight. Confirmed 55 Ukran drones struck various targets, from oil storage to Russian ammo/supply depots.
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01-22-2025, 10:38 AM
#1683
Re: Russia
Ukraine sent better troops to protect Pokrovsk, apparently, as the Russians have not only been halted, but driven back on both prongs, north and south of the city. Ukraine also made several other small gains along the eastern front. So, a good past 36-48 hours for the good guys.
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01-22-2025, 02:29 PM
#1684
Re: Russia
Ukran special ops, working closely with Russian anti-Putin partisans, destroyed a Russian supply/troop train and two key communication towers. The train was sitting at Rochy Station which is located in St. Petersburg. The two towers were located about 50 miles east of Moscow.
And this tidbit...Putin "kidnapped" (effectively) Ukrainian citizens, forced them to relocate inside of Russia, this to remove them from Donbas in Ukraine. Gave them Russian passports, and government jobs and warned them to accept their new lives "or else." Well, some have chosen the "or else." Seems many of these anti-Putin partisans now operating freely inside of Russia are the former Ukrainians. Payback is hell, eh, Vladimir?
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01-23-2025, 07:00 AM
#1685
Re: Russia
Siberia is moving toward secession from the Russian Federation. Already there's a Siberian battalion fighting with Ukraine against Putin. The Kremlin went ballistic when that battalion used Russian transportation to get to Ukraine and then said, "thanks for the ride" and promptly joined with Ukraine. The Kremlin, Putin's thug regime, then issued all kinds of threats against the families of those soldiers and sent police to try to arrest family members. Those police sent are now sitting in jails in various Siberian towns, abandoned by Putin. Putin has already stripped Siberia of all available troops and useable equipment for his army and has already been deployed, and probably destroyed, in Ukraine. Chechnya is growing restless again and pondering another try at secession. So too are several other provinces in the Russian Federation, most ethnic minorities and/or Muslim regions who absolutely hate the Russians. They have nothing in common with the Slavic, Orthodox Church Russians, and remain a part of the federation due strictly to fear of military intervention.
Putin feared NATO invading Russia...what a stupid moron he is...and all he's accomplished with his evil invasion of Ukraine is to drive more nations into NATO and to weaken his hold on his own territories. When the collapse comes it will resemble the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990's. It'll happen practically overnight, and Russia will be left a small, pathetic country completely surrounded by people who hate them. Good job Vladimir. But then this is always the fate of evil dictators. Those who ignore history or doomed to repeat it. There ya go!
Which is why Putin had better lash on to his one remaining lifeline...Trump. Better for him, that is, not the world.
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01-24-2025, 08:19 AM
#1686
Re: Russia
Ukraine needs to target Putin's most vital oil facility, the storage and shipping port located on the Black Sea, just east of Crimea, the port of Krasnodar. Ukraine has struck it several times with long-range drones, but those drones cannot carry large warheads due to the distance and thus have to carry enough fuel to get there. The damage done to this critical oil facility has been somewhat severe, but it is so large, and SO IMPORTANT to Russia, that repairs were made ASAP. The Russians have moved a lot, and I mean A LOT, of defensive equipment there, such as missile batteries and many anti-aircraft/drone guns. They have also staged repair equipment nearby to deliver quick repairs to damaged facilities. There are also temporary/moveable tanks to serve as backup for oil storage when the permanent storage tanks get knocked out, which about 20 have so far.
So, since destroying the facility at Krasnodar is so daunting, the next best thing is to attack and sink Putin's oil tanker fleet which is servicing the facility. Problem here is many of the tankers coming and going are not Russian ships but rather ships sailing under the flags of other nations. The Russian tankers could be singled out and attacked, but that represents less than 33% of the oil being transported from Krasnodar Port. One pundit says under international law Ukraine could declare the Black Sea as a war zone and warn all ships to stay out, but that brings other ramifications that could impact Ukraine economically as well.
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01-25-2025, 09:23 AM
#1687
Re: Russia
Israel has seized tons and tons of Russian weapons, equipment, ammo, and other military supplies they found in Syria and Lebanon. They announced they are sending all of it to Ukraine. Putin wanted his stuff back, so the Ukrans will be delivering it to him, hah! Thank you, Israel, for this gesture.
Past 24-36 hours have been relatively quiet. There is always sparring, small engagements along the fronts as patrols run into each other. But, no major encounters the past day+. The weather is not good and both sides are drawing a breath, refitting, getting ready for the next major fights to come.
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01-26-2025, 12:29 PM
#1688
Re: Russia
An interesting, if not slanted, article in the Wall Street Journal casting doubts on the effectiveness of the F-16 Falcon in Ukraine's air force. Not because of the plane itself. While the version sent to Ukraine is not the very latest in the development/improvement of the F-16, they are still far better than anything Russia has, save maybe the SU-35 and the SU-50. The concern is the lack of qualified pilots and the time it takes...as in years!...for even experienced jet fighter pilots to master flying the Falcon in combat situations. Thus far Ukraine has used the F-16 in very limited capacity, mostly shooting down Russian cruise missiles and drones, and twice attacking Russian ground radar and missile batteries. In all these instances the Ukrans in their F-16s are batting 1.000. But, as the article says, they have yet to engage an advanced Russian fighter in an aerial dogfight. Okay...but given time Ukraine will produce pilots who can master the F-16. In the meantime, the WSJ article argues in favor of Ukraine acquiring the Swedish Grippen Fighter, which is better than most of what Russia has and is VERY simple to fly and operate. Most pundits agree with this assessment.
Speaking of Russian radar systems...on January 18, 2025 the Kremlin proudly trotted out their very latest radar systems, dubbed the Nebo-SVU. They claim it is the best radar system in the world, far superior to anything the US, or NATO, or even China has, capable of detecting and tracking anything flying and with a sophisticated AI computer control it can correctly identify anything in the air up to 300 KM (240 miles). Why, they said, it could correctly identify a flock of birds from a cruise missile from a stealth fighter bomber. Yes! the Kremlin claimed even the US's best stealth planes are no longer safe, the days of stealth aircraft avoiding radar detection are over. On January 21st with much fanfare and national TV coverage, the first of these Nebo-SVU radar systems was loaded on a train and sent to Ukraine. On January 25th it arrived in the Kherson region and was promptly set up and started operating. On January 26th said radar system is a pile of smoldering, twisted metal, utterly destroyed by simple Ukrainian kamikaze drones which came in UNDETECTED and attacked and destroyed the radar. Too bad, Vladimir...back to the drawing board, eh.
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01-26-2025, 01:39 PM
#1689
Re: Russia
Ryazan oil refinery is ablaze in Russia! Ukran drones struck the facility, 310 miles inside of Russia last night. The nearby town has caught on fire from the explosions and there is, admittedly, some disturbing video of civilians perishing in the roaring flames. Reminds us of the horrors of war and why this one, and all wars, need to be ended.
Another video released by Reuters covers the Ukrainian unit, the 14th Unmanned Aerial Weapons Regiment, known as "Casper," as in the not-so-friendly Ghost for Putin. Their location was not revealed in the video to protect their base. Video shows the large, 8-foot wingspan, drones taking off at night...looks like airplanes as they taxi out to a runway and take off one after another. One of the commanders in the unit was interviewed, wearing a mask and having his voice distorted to protect his identity. Says their drones can now strike targets 1,200 miles inside of Russia. Very accurate even at those distances.
Meanwhile, Putin struck a Russian village in Kursk with 10 glide bombs. One older woman was killed, dozens injured as their houses were smashed into ruin. The Russians got...or were fed...bad information that this village was occupied by Ukrainian troops. It was not. Ukrainian troops had passed through the village several days ago but did not remain. One local openly cussed Putin and the Kremlin for this "mistake." He said the Ukrainians came through here and gave us food and fresh water...our own government bombs us!
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01-28-2025, 07:47 AM
#1690
Re: Russia
Reports that the overall commander for the North Koreans in Kursk, a brigadier general, has been captured by Ukrainian troops. He was found "hiding in a hole," which is probably a trench where most troops hunker down.
"a mud trap" Ukrainian units retreating to a new defensive line in the northwestern portion of the Kursk salient set a trap for advancing Russian armor...a mud hole. Temps have risen and the ground is no longer frozen, covered in snow. Rather the ground and most of the roads are muddy messes. When withdrawing along the only passable road the Ukran encountered a mud hole, so bad, it required special tracked-vehicles to pull their tanks and vehicles through it. No way could any vehicle, even a tank, negotiate the mud hole on its own. So! knowing the Russians would use this same road in their advance, the Ukrans had a change of plans. Instead of retiring another 5 miles as was planned, the Ukrans established a defensive line overseeing this mud hole. Two other roads that traversed this general area, were just as bad, but to entice the Russians to use the "mud trap" road, the Ukrans placed dragon teeth and mines on the other roads and left the "mud trap" road open...seemingly. You would think the Russians would suspect a trap, but apparently they didn't. Mines were placed in the open fields flanking the road, and the Ukrans hunkered down and waited. You already know what happened. The lead Russian tank tried to go through the hole, got about 2/3 way through and then got stuck. Right behind it were another tank and an APC, all got stuck, blocking the road. The rest of the Russian convoy just kept coming piling up on the road, all out in the open. The Ukrans destroyed the vehicle they could see on the opposite side of the field, blocking the road in the rear, and proceeded to destroy every Russian vehicle stacked up on the road. Russian crews quickly abandoned their vehicles, some trying to run across the muddy field, and they were either killed by mines, are taken out by Ukranian machineguns and mortars. Final report: 4 Russian tanks, 7 APCs, 4 trucks, several "civilian" vehicles, like a farm tractor, all were destroyed, Russians lost 26 KIA, 40 wounded, 10 captured. The rest last seen running for their lives.
Good thing Russian commanders are just plain stupid.
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01-29-2025, 08:10 AM
#1691
Re: Russia
Another Putin oil refinery was struck last night, at Kostovo, which is about 300 miles east of Moscow. This oil facility is owned/operated by a private Russian company called Lukoil, but all of its directors are close buddies with Putin. This is (or was!!!) the second largest oil refinery in Russia. Huge fires are raging at the facility, too early to report on casualties and more importantly on the extent of the damage to the facility. Last night marked the 11th straight day of attacks on Russia's oil industry.
Ukraine is using their long-range drones known as "Fury" to attack such targets. They say they have a range up to 1,200 miles, which is awesome. Don't think they have tried to strike a target that far away yet. But, I have no doubt the clever Ukrans could pull it off. Ukraine is systematically destroying Putin's economy, all designed to hamper his ability to wage war. Russia has 8 oil refineries east of the Ural Mountains, in what is Asian Russia, out of reach of Ukraine...at least for the time being. But, those might be threatened by other forces, the anti-Putin/anti-Moscow remote oblasts who simply do not like being "ruled" by Moscow.
The smaller of the two civilian airports in St. Petersburg, also used by the Russian military, has been closed indefinitely due to repeated Ukrainian drone attacks. Wow! another example of how Ukraine is attacking Russia's infrastructure. The main train station in St. Petersburg was severely damaged in an attack, a Russian military supply train destroyed while stopped there. The explosions from the ammo damaged the station and also took out three sets of tracks. The station is operating at about 33% capacity, for civilian travel, pending repairs.
The premier Russian blogger, who uses the handle of "Force" has begun to turn on Putin. He had been the rah-rah, hooray for Putin fellow, but now has begun questioning how the war is going. Last night (curtesy of a Ukrainian blogger who monitors such media) "Force" spent 30 minutes blasting the war..."are we actually winning this war? Sure doesn't appear that way." He had better be careful. Last month a very popular female media personality, on Russia's largest TV network, was run down and killed while crossing the street in front of her apartment. She had turned to being very anti-war and even anti-Putin in her comments on TV. She ignored warnings from Putin's government thugs to "tone it down." Then, boom! run over by a truck. She was murdered.
Along the eastern front in Donbas, activity has greatly slowed as the roads and fields have turned to muddy messes after the recent thaw. But, using infantry, the Russians are continuing to make small gains. Two days ago another village fell to the Russians, this near the town of Turest, which Ukraine is struggling to hold.
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01-30-2025, 07:10 AM
#1692
Re: Russia
Canada is donating 80,000 CRV-7 "dumb" rockets, along with 1,300 warheads, which include anti-personnel (iron flechettes (darts)) and armor-piercing anti-tank versions. Only 1,300 warheads because all of this stuff is decades old, been sitting in a warehouse. After close inspection only 1,300 warheads were considered functional and safe. But, the Ukrans have already stated they can fit new warheads on the other 78,000+ rockets, which can carry 10-pound warheads. These will be utilized on aircraft, especially attack-helicopters, and be used on ground-based weapons as well. Canada is also sending 970 medium machineguns, which can be used on a tripod by infantry or mounted on vehicles. Also sending 10,700 machine-pistols. These are meant as personal protection weapons and will come in handy in close-up combat in trenches and in the house-to-house fighting. Canada is also sending 60 armored vehicles, mostly their version of the APC.
The Putinites are battling mutiny, desertions, AWOL among their disgruntled troops, so much so, they have resorted to chaining up their soldiers going to the front and only releasing them when they reach active combat zones. Putin ordered the suspension of any pre-payment to newly recruited soldiers as many were accepting a payment then immediately deserting. Putin's regime is collapsing. Now is the time to turn up the heat.
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01-30-2025, 08:55 AM
#1693
Re: Russia
Another night, another attack on Putin's oil facilities, and also an attack on a missile storage warehouse, both in the Tver region east of Moscow. At the oil storage facility, the civilian workers were warned not to report to work for the daily shift, which begins about 6am local time. Most of the workers heeded the warning and shortly after 6:00 Ukrainian drones struck setting off huge explosions and completely destroying the facility. Now Putin's police are investigating, or will be, who gave that warning since it appears that person was privy to the attack.
North Korea has placed missile launchers in civilian trucks. One is, or was, a white bobtail truck disguised as a food service delivery truck but was actually a military weapon. Doing this does not really protect these vehicles because the Russians have been using civilian vehicles for months, due to the absence of military vehicles, and the Ukrans have been attacking them when it is known Russian soldiers are driving them, using them.
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02-01-2025, 09:57 AM
#1694
Re: Russia
North Korea has recalled, from the front lines, all their troops. Due to enormous casualties and the demise of their command structure (recently a high commander
(brigadier general) was captured by the Ukrans), NK says they need to rethink this whole thing. Ah, yeah, they're getting their asses kicked. Best estimates are of the 12,000 NK troops actually in the combat zone in Kursk, 1,000 KIA and 2,700 wounded. And there are hundreds more, best guess is 600, who have either deserted to Ukraine or have been captured by the Ukrans. So, if we accept these estimates as accurate, NK has suffered 4,300 losses out of 12,000, casualty rate of 36%. Other sources/pundits place the NK losses higher, like over 50%. Regardless of the real numbers, Fat Boy, Putin, North Korea have gotten a bloody nose messing with the feisty Ukrainians.
Rumors, "fake news" continue to swirl, mostly spread by the ever-hopeful pro-Putin factions, that Trump will pull the rug out from under Ukraine by cutting off aid. So far, that remains just wishful thinking by the commie bastards, and Tucker Carlson, and the other pro-Putin advocates. If Trump, the US, bails on Ukraine that will spell doom for that democracy. But, nothing official has been announced, so I hope Trump/US don't abandon Ukraine.
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02-01-2025, 10:04 AM
#1695
Re: Russia
On Ukrainian corruption. One of the arguments against funding Ukraine has been the stories of corruption. First, yes it was horrific before President Z took office and it has continued, but has been greatly curtailed. Recently two now-former defense ministers have been arrested and charged with stealing funds meant for the Ukran military. One of them took $650K USD and bought a condo for himself and his family in Turkey. He tried to defend his actions saying in case Ukraine collapses, i.e. Putin wins the war, he wanted a place for him and his family to escape to. Ah, no, sorry. The truth is President Z has made a genuine, sincere effort to root out corruption in his government. And, as these two arrests show, it is an on-going effort.
Before someone tries to poo-pooh President Z's efforts, bear in mind the enormous corruption in our government, local, state, and federal. People in glass houses...
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