Russia

[dawg80]

Wow! Turkey's president Erdogan was meeting with Putin discussing the end of attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea region, Russian Shahed drones struck three Turkish ships anchored in Odesa. These ships were carrying portable generators bound for Ukrainian cities, other non-military supplies, and sunflower seed oil. Yes, the ever-dangerous sunflower seed oil! There is clear, unmistakable video evidence these attacks were deliberate as the drones passed over other ships, including a Ukrainian cargo ship, and steered toward the three Turkish ships. These Shahed drones are very sophisticated and can strike intended targets 1,000 miles away with absolute precision. And, Putin was speaking to Erdogan saying, "you will soon have my answer."

This was a deliberate attack and message by Putin to Erdogan and the rest of the world. Not that Trump's team will even understand this message...

[dawg80]

Waiting on confirmation but there is a report that 1,000+ Russian "elite" paratroopers were killed in a drone attack. The 76th Air Assault Brigade is (or was) one of Russia's premier units. It was the 76th Brigade that jumped into Crimea in 2014, expecting Russian marines to reinforce them, but the 76th had already secured Crimea themselves in less than 48 hours. The 76th was also prominent in subduing revolutions in Armenia, Georgia, and Chechnya over the years. This brigade has been active in Ukraine for the past 4 years, usually enjoying successes. But, it has also suffered losses, especially in its officer corps and some of their veteran troopers have been killed or wounded reducing the quality of the brigade over the past 4 years.

It was reported that the 76th Brigade had mustered three battalions, numbering close to 3,000 troopers at a base in Russia, preparing to be deployed to Ukraine. The Ukrainian 414th Strike Brigade, which is all drones, was given the assignment of attacking this mustering. The 414th Brigade is the best drone operating unit in the world, and there is really no close second place. Probably the closest would be the Russian Rubicon Drone Brigade, but it has been struck so many times that is has been degraded too.

The 414th carried out this attack in an operation over a 3-day period. The first two days were ferrying attack drones in, in small groups, and gathering them in a wooded area near the base. When the Russians detected these flights of the drones, that group was deliberately diverted to attacks elsewhere such that the Russians would not discover the gathering of the drones to be used in the attack. When they had enough drones, located within a couple of miles of the base, the attack was launched. Over the next several days the details will come out.

[dawg80]

Wow! Turkey's president Erdogan was meeting with Putin discussing the end of attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea region, Russian Shahed drones struck three Turkish ships anchored in Odesa. These ships were carrying portable generators bound for Ukrainian cities, other non-military supplies, and sunflower seed oil. Yes, the ever-dangerous sunflower seed oil! There is clear, unmistakable video evidence these attacks were deliberate as the drones passed over other ships, including a Ukrainian cargo ship, and steered toward the three Turkish ships. These Shahed drones are very sophisticated and can strike intended targets 1,000 miles away with absolute precision. And, Putin was speaking to Erdogan saying, "you will soon have my answer."

This was a deliberate attack and message by Putin to Erdogan and the rest of the world. Not that Trump's team will even understand this message...

Putin attacked another Turkish commercial ship, making 4 in 48 hours. Apparently, Putin thinks, and blames, Turkey for not protecting his ghost tankers as they travel near Turkish waters in the Black Sea. One of Putin's ministers went as far as accusing Turkey of either attacking their tankers or at least willingly cooperating with Ukraine in those attacks. Total count stands at 5 of Putin's ghost fleet struck by Ukranian drones.

Also, being reported that Poland shot down a Russian fighter jet that entered Polish air space over the Baltic Sea. It was a SU-27 fighter, the pilot ejected and was picked up by the Polish coast guard.

Incidents involving NATO countries are escalating. A wider war is getting closer by the day.

[dawg80]

Bingo! the Ukrainians strike again.

Using a Sub Sea Baby Drone, that is an underwater, unmanned drone, they struck and have sunk a Russian guided-missile submarine. It is, or was, a Kilo-class attack sub. Conflicting reports on the damage, casualties, and whether the sub has actually sunk or is just severely damaged, but what is not in dispute is the attack. Fortunately, for the Russian crew, the sub was on the surface making evacuation possible. This marks the second Russian sub attacked and knocked out of action in this war. The first was tied to the dock at the main Russian Navy base on Crimea, back in 2023. Ukrainian aerial drones destroyed that one.

More good news from the battle front. Will post later.

[dawg80]

Ukrainian people, in a comprehensive national poll, soundly rejected Trump's "peace proposal," which is NOT a peace anything, but a sorry-ass capitulation by Ukraine. Trump doesn't care and has only been paying lip service to this war all along. Time for him and his CLUELESS crew to fold their tent and go home.

SOS Rubio has a clue and is the smartest one in Trump's otherwise clueless bunch. But Trump won't allow Rubio...just the fricking SECRETARY OF STATE! to handle the negotiations. But, truthfully, no one can really "negotiate" an end to this war. Both sides have dug in in their demand for Donbas, and only a "last one standing" war will settle this issue.

[dawg80]

Russians have renewed their push for Huliapole and made some progress south of that town. It is all open farmland which allows easier movement of tracked vehicles, but it is ALL OPEN FARMLAND which allows the other side to easily detect and attack said tracked vehicles. Russia gained some acres of ground and the price was two tanks, five other armored vehicles (IFVs and APCs), and about 40 soldiers KIA. But Putin will gladly trade moronic peasants for ground.

Russia attacked another Turkish ship in Odesa. This one carrying tomatoes. Yes...tomatoes. Tens of thousands of tons of tomatoes smashed by Russian drone strike. A pro-Russian blogger laughed saying it is no longer a tomato ship, it is now a Ketchup ship! Two Turkish merchant seaman were killed, and 11 more injured. These are Turkish citizens...not a peep out of Ankara. Not a peep from NATO. Turkey is a member of NATO...so???

Of course it was quickly pointed out that Trump/US/NATO did absolutely nothing when Putin deliberately attacked and destroyed an American company's plant in western Ukraine this year. This plant made toasters, blenders, you know, household appliances which obviously represented a military threat to Russia and was therefore a justifiable target. Trump doesn't want to upset his BFF Putin so he said nothing...nothing! Americans under attack...nothing.

You are correct when you say, hey, don't just blame Trump as Europe/NATO is equally guilty of "looking the other way" when attacked. Yep, that is true.

In better news, Ukraine struck a HUGE oil drilling platform in the Caspian Sea. This is, or hopefully, WAS! Putin's third largest oil drilling facility. Produced 120,000 barrels of oil per day (I think that was the amount). Putin thought his facilities were safe waaaaaaaaaay over there in the Caspian Sea. Nope! This is just one of over a dozen oil infrastructure facilities hit by Ukrainian drones in the past 24 hours.

[dawg80]

A very pro-Ukrainian YouTuber showed some humanity when he lamented a released recon drone video of scores of dead Russians piled in a trench. The drone flew along a trench near Pokrovsk where the Russians deposit their KIA and....wounded, left to die. Yeppers! There is a video of two Russians helping a wounded comrade along, you would think they were seeking a medic or something. Nope! they deposited the wounded fellow in that trench, among dead bodies, took his weapon, ammo, and a backpack, and left him to die. A Ukrainian recon drone returned the next day and focused in on that soldier, now dead, either bled to death or froze to death overnight in the freezing temps. WTF! From a HUMAN point of view, someone explain this to me.

It is appropriate to refer to the Russians as "Orcs." If you saw the Lord of the Rings movies you may remember the king of Rohan saying of the Orcs, "how can you defeat an army of soldiers of such blind rage and hatred?" In this case, how can Ukraine prevail against an army that literally does not care for its own soldiers and certainly thinks nothing of murdering everyone they can...including women and children, and the elderly? To that end, Putin blew up another neighborhood grocery store in some small Ukrainian town. There were 14 people injured, including several kids. But, who cares?

[dawg80]

Bingo! the Ukrainians strike again.

Using a Sub Sea Baby Drone, that is an underwater, unmanned drone, they struck and have sunk a Russian guided-missile submarine. It is, or was, a Kilo-class attack sub. Conflicting reports on the damage, casualties, and whether the sub has actually sunk or is just severely damaged, but what is not in dispute is the attack. Fortunately, for the Russian crew, the sub was on the surface making evacuation possible. This marks the second Russian sub attacked and knocked out of action in this war. The first was tied to the dock at the main Russian Navy base on Crimea, back in 2023. Ukrainian aerial drones destroyed that one.

Being reported that another Russian sub has been struck by Ukrainian sea drones as it departed the Port of Novo, which is the site of a Russian submarine base. One YouTube Channel is showing a sub and then a huge explosion, lots of smoke, and as the smoke clears, no sub to be seen. They claim this is actual video of the attack this morning. This video, and even the news, has not been independently verified so stay tuned.

But, I would not be surprised if it's true. The sub that was struck by a Sub Sea Baby Drone was one of two docked at the Port of Novo. Makes sense the Russians would attempt to move the remaining sub to a "safer" place. I say "safer" because the Russians are learning there is no safe place to hide from the Ukrainians.

Putin had three Kilo-class, guided missile attack subs in the Black Sea back in 2022. These were his last two, and now perhaps, he has none left.

[dawg80]

In more BAD news for Putin. He lost two of his AN-25 "cargo" planes, which are really spy planes. One had landed at an airbase on Crimea, was there less than an hour being refueled, and as it taxied to the runway to takeoff, Kaboom! It was struck by Ukrainian drones, plane exploded, all 5 crewmen confirmed dead. Then later, another of his AN-25 planes was on a test flight after receiving maintenance when the plane literally just broke apart on its own. Video footage shows the plane coming down in pieces, no fire or smoke visible, just chunks of the plane falling from the sky. Both pilots confirmed dead. Apparently, the plane just broke! into pieces. The AN-25 is a twin engine prop plane, vintage 1960's but they have been operating safely in other countries all these decades.

The beat goes on for poor ole Vladimir.

[DallasDog]

I can't imagine what it's like for Russian to get into a sub, a plane, a Soyuz rocket, or pretty much anything they build knowing you could die just by turning on the ignition. If you turn on the ignition and use the vehicle in combat you are probably going to die by the enemy's superior equipment, but if you refuse to turn on the ignition your own people my just kill you.

[DallasDog]

I will say the one thing about the Soyuz is that with something like that I have always felt the simpler the design, the less to fail. Same with our early rockets and capsules, compared to the shuttles etc. of later design. They all have risks, but some are easier to fix than others.

[dawg80]

Being reported that another Russian sub has been struck by Ukrainian sea drones as it departed the Port of Novo, which is the site of a Russian submarine base. One YouTube Channel is showing a sub and then a huge explosion, lots of smoke, and as the smoke clears, no sub to be seen. They claim this is actual video of the attack this morning. This video, and even the news, has not been independently verified so stay tuned.

But, I would not be surprised if it's true. The sub that was struck by a Sub Sea Baby Drone was one of two docked at the Port of Novo. Makes sense the Russians would attempt to move the remaining sub to a "safer" place. I say "safer" because the Russians are learning there is no safe place to hide from the Ukrainians.

Putin had three Kilo-class, guided missile attack subs in the Black Sea back in 2022. These were his last two, and now perhaps, he has none left.

Confirmation on reported second sub attack. It was damaged but is still afloat. Russia, of course, is claiming it was never hit at all. One Russian blogger says the second sub was damaged, but it was minor damage because the Sub Sea Baby Drone impacted on a floating raft or a floating dock which was lashed to the sub. That raft/dock was completely blown to bits, and that is why drone video footage shows a large kaboom! but it also shielded the sub from receiving a direct hit. This is why one has to wait a day or more before accepting news as accurate.

[DallasDog]

That is unfortunate, subs are a dangerous weapon if used correctly. It would have been really nice for Ukraine to have destroyed all of a particular class that Russia had.

[dawg80]

Orcs are gobbling up acre after acre, moving to the southwest in the Zaporizihna(spelling???) Oblast. I just call it "Zapor" for ease. Anyway, the Russians are rolling across vacant lands, farmlands, most of that abandoned land, with only two tiny farming villages on the map for many miles, both villages were evacuated months ago, a forced evacuation of about 20 families by the Ukrainian army. The Ukrainians are hitting exposed Russian units and equipment with FPV drones, but that is all. This looks bad when spun by pro-Putin propagandists as they show the daily advance on animated maps. This was a strategic decision made by Kyiv to not waste resources trying to defend open, abandoned ground.

Verified new totals released, the confirmed dead for Russia is approaching 1.3 million. About half of those are KIA and the other half "mortally wounded," those wounded in combat and die later from their wounds. The number of WIA is just a guess because Russia does not care for its wounded thus there is no official record maintained by Russian sources. But the IFSW estimates that total to be 1.5 million over the 4 years of this war. The vast majority of those WIA are forced back to the frontlines after maybe receiving some kind of "first aid." Desertions are steadily rising but the only official number is 170,000. Many of those returned home to Russia and tried to resume civilian life. A good portion have been hunted down by Putin's Gestapo and arrested. In some cases, the deserter was offered the opportunity to return to active service. Others have been jailed, and some executed on the spot. Just depends on whether it was "civilian" police or military police making the arrest.

[dawg80]

Putin addressed his inner circle, his "cabinet" and leaders of the Russian parliament who are also hand-picked into Putin's inner circle, and announced Russia will be at war from now on, taking on all comers. Putin said NATO is gearing up to attack Mother Russia and will do so by 2030, if not sooner, and therefore we (Russia) must be ready. We can best be prepared, Putin said, by securing all of Ukraine and the Baltic States, such that we can establish a buffer between ourselves and these aggressors. Putin blames NATO for this inevitable war to come.

A Putin propagandist then went on, on his Blog, to say only the Americans understand our situation which is why Trump has distanced the US from Europe and those warmongers. And he added other inflammatory rhetoric about so-called promises made by Trump to Putin at their Alaska meeting, and what Witkoff and Kusher have been saying in subsequent meetings.

This is, unfortunately, too close to the truth albeit enhanced with Russian BS propaganda. And now, YouTubers all over the world are grasping this as proof that Trump is a "traitor." One said impeaching Trump is not enough, he needs to be executed as a traitor. Well, of course, the Putinites are purposely putting this BS out there to precisely sow discontent amongst western allies. On these blogs immediately posters comment, "Trump can't be trusted. The US can't be trusted."

Then Ms. Wiles is being quoted in libtard media, like Vanity Fair, that Trump has known all along Putin wants war, Putin wants eastern Europe. And the lefty media is claiming that Wiles said that J.D. Vance is a joke, a clown, a clueless moron.

Now, some of what is being reported by the Putinites and by the lefty media is true, or can be said to be a result of the way Trump has handled Putin, the way Trump has demonized President Z and Ukraine. He has. I always say Trump's biggest enemy is his own (sometimes) stupid-ass mouth (or comments on Truth Social). YES!! most of this is being spun to make Trump, and the US, look bad. But Trump has brought this on himself.

Anyway, here's the bottom line...I have been posting for years exactly what Putin wants. He wants all of eastern Europe, not just eastern Ukraine. That is why I entitled this thread "Russia" and not "Ukraine" because this war has never been about Ukraine per se, it's all about what Russia/Putin wants and what that evil lunatic is willing to do.