Russia

[dawg80]

On number 2 above, Ukraine sent 225 drones, but it took only 6 to utterly destroy the radar unit and 4 more (2 each) to take out the two support vehicles. Not a single drone was shot down as the surprise was complete.

Ukran infantry has entered Tyotkino and house to house fighting is on-going there. Ukraine lost two armored vehicles approaching the town, both German-made APCs, but everyone inside, 10 soldiers in each, survived. That is the main difference between Western-made equipment and Putin's junk. His crap explodes like a giant firecracker, while western vehicles can take hits and survive allowing soldiers to get out safely. Both APCs were damaged, one losing a track, the other took a hit in the engine, so they had to be abandoned. Later Russia sent drones to strike the vehicles again destroying them.

In other sectors of this recent Kursk incursion, there have been mixed results. At one place the Ukrainian "clearing" machine, which is an armored bulldozer used to push the concrete dragon teeth out of the way, was struck by Russian drones and destroyed. The two-man crew was killed, according to reports. Another such machine was struck and destroyed but the crew was able to get out safely. And, on the good side, a Russian convoy of a tank, two IFVs and several trucks carrying troops, was hit, all vehicles destroyed. Estimated that half of the Russians were KIA. They were on their way into the Kursk region of the recent incursions.

And, Ukraine is continuing to send greetings via drone attacks on Moscow. All four Moscow airports remain completely shut down, with thousands of stranded, and highly aggravated, passengers forced to sit and wait. Too bad.

[dawg80]

Lots of kabooms in Crimea. Putin moved 280 of his aerial defense systems into Moscow to protect his propaganda parade and had to take them from somewhere. No way was he going to put his precious Kerch Bridge at risk, so he took them from other places in Crimea and from Kherson. Of course, there are other locations now absent defense systems and Ukraine will identify those and strike targets elsewhere. They will have until the 10th to take advantage of this opportunity.

A dozen targets were struck in Crimea and four in Kherson, all military targets of course. Meanwhile, Putin has stepped up his attacks on little old ladies and kindergartners...after all those two groups represent a threat to Putin's almighty military.

[dawg80]

Just before the start of Putin's 72-hour ceasefire the Ukrans launched numerous attacks in Kharkiv and into Kursk. All very successful. Three more incursions into Kursk, one of those the place where the Ukrainian barrier-remover (bulldozer), was destroyed. But the goofy Russians did nothing afterwards, they did not replace the barriers, and even worse they withdrew their troops leaving that highway wide opened and unguarded. So, after scouting the border crossing with a recon drone, the Ukrainians literally just drove into Russia uncontested. They advanced about 4 miles into a village and have dug in there expecting a counterattack. The attacks in Kharkiv gobbled up huge chunks of ground.

Chicom leader Xi, is in Moscow, as are about 6 other leaders.

[dawg80]

More than 20 nations sent their leaders or some representative to Moscow and 13 nations sent small contingents of troops to participate in Putin's parade. Brazil was one of those. Will post the whole list later. Putin had the entire Internet, which he referred to as the "internyet" nice play on words there Vladimir, which shut down all those towers so that Ukran drones would be unable to ping off the towers to aid in navigation. Pretty clever idea by Putin. It worked, although it is apparent Ukraine really had no intention of attacking Putin's parade. Instead, they have used this opportunity to attack more vulnerable military and infrastructure targets.

All of European Russia, west of the Ural Mountains, and about half of Russia's landmass, had the Internet shut down for 24-36 hours according to Kremlin sources. This will give Putin the idea of keeping the Net turned off to deny Ukraine using the towers to aid in guidance which has allowed them to send drones deep into Russia. Putin doesn't care about the average Russian citizen; they are all just pawns for him to use in his evil game. I can see him keeping the Net turned off indefinitely.

But, the ever-clever Ukrans will, no doubt, engineer a go-around to alleviate this problem. Stay tuned.

[dawg80]

The Abrams Tank..

Found this interesting, a video released by a Ukrainian YouTuber with interviews with Ukran tankers. Most of the video was with the 47th Armored Brigade, that uses a variety of tanks: Soviet-built T-72 (updated), German-built Leopard I and IIs, and the US-built Abrams. One battalion commander, a colonel, said "there is no doubt about it, tank for tank, the US Abrams is the best in the world." The Leopard II is a close second, he added. He went on to say, we only received 31 Abrams, 25 of which are still operational, we have 15 in our brigade. They were not armored properly, no explosive armor, when we got them, but we have fixed that problem. Only two are out of operation due to Russian hits. The others have mechanical issues.

The video then shows an Abrams in operation attacking Russian targets in Donbas. Two Russian tanks and four IFVs are shown destroyed, as are various Russian positions in a village. According to the YouTuber, who offers his own narration, this lone Abrams was accompanied by a Bradley and two Ukrainian T-72s, but those vehicles never saw action as they were not needed, the Abrams took care of all Russian targets by itself.

I post this because anti-American, anti-Ukrainian, pro-Putin propagandists have been filling the Net, including YouTube, with BS stories that all Abrams are out of action, destroyed by "superior Russian equipment!" LOL.

[dawg80]

Germany is waking up. Putin has awakened this sleeping giant.

Up till this month, May, 2025, Germany has been adhering to the mandate created by the rejoining of West and East Germany when communism collapsed in Europe. Russia demanded Germany not be allowed to build a large military. Some of the points were: 1) Germany's entire military, across all three branches, was to be limited to 370,000 people, 2) Germany NOT allowed to possess nukes, 3) Germany's air force limited to 600 total planes, with 150 being attack aircraft, 4) Navy allowed only 75 ships. And there were other stipulations, like budget, % of GDP spent on military.

But at no point has Germany even remotely approached these limited numbers. Presently their active military has a grand total of 183,000 members, they have 580 planes, but only 65 of those are attack aircraft. And the grand total of their naval fleet is just 61 ships, which includes 6 subs, 11 frigates, and 5 corvettes. As for ground vehicles, they have 285 tanks and another 82,000 armored vehicles, of various kinds.

Overall, as of May 1, 2025 Germany ranked 19th in the world in military power. But, that is all about to change. The new German government leadership has released a build-up plan to make Germany a military power, at least to the point they can affect affairs in Europe. Putin's evil intentions is the sole motivating factor for this change. And yes, to a lesser extent, Trump's reluctance to commit the US to defending Europe if they don't at least try to defend themselves.

Putin's own paranoia and stupidity is creating the exact thing he said he feared, a strong Europe/NATO to oppose him.

[dawg80]

No "news" to report because the past 2 days is just more of the same, many hundreds of dead Russians, more destroyed equipment, and no real progress to show for it, for them.

There is something of "news" though, since this was just released by Ukraine; an attack on the Kerch Bridge, which occurred on May 9th. About 80 drones and a dozen ATACMS missiles were launched against the bridge, seeking to learn if Putin might had weakened the defenses there in favor of his Moscow parade...he didn't. Most reliable sources say 15 of the drones survived the intense anti-aircraft/anti-drone defenses and hit but those drones carry small warheads. The ATACMS missiles all hit either the bridge or Russian defensive positions, destroying an S-300 missile battery and its radar unit. Damage to the bridge is minimal, but some trucks on the bridge at the time suffered total losses. The Ukran commander in charge of the brigade charged with attacking the bridge, and other targets on Crimea, said he figured it was a futile gesture to attack the bridge, but heck, ya never know.

[dawg80]

Very latest news, Russians have cut the highway between Pokrosvk and Chasis Yar, doing so in two places. This needs to be reversed soon and not allow the Russians to dig in. And this was the typical battle with the Russians seizing ground using huge overwhelming numbers, suffering heavy losses, and the small Ukrainian contingent withdrawing to "live to fight another day." Early details of this fight, according to one source, says 400 Russian infantry, supported by artillery, drones, and a couple of armored vehicles, probably IFVs, drove 35 Ukran defenders out of their defensive positions and took a village across the highway at one place, and a farm complex at the other location. Almost immediately Ukran artillery and FPV drones attacked inflicting more casualties on the Russians. But, it is critical that the Ukrainians take this ground back, securing the highway because it is a crucial supply line between Pokrosvk and Chasis Yar. The Ukrainian unit is identified as the 14th Defense Brigade, which is akin to our National Guard.

[dawg80]

No update on the above post.

In Kursk, Ukrainian forces have now surrounded the town of Tyotkino on three sides. Counterattacking Russians have been destroyed trying to cross an open field. Ukrans also advancing deeper into Kursk in another location.

Reports are Ukraine has lost another F-16 in combat, this makes three. One source reported a Ukran F-16 was operating alone after his wingman reported a mechanical issue and turned for home, the lone Falcon continued on the mission but while avoiding a Russian anti-aircraft missile ran into two Russian SU-35s who jumped him. The F-16 Falcon sustained damage and even though he was able to escape the ambush and return to Ukraine, before he reached his base, he reported the plane was "falling apart" so he pointed the jet toward a remote area and bailed out. This is all according to a single source, so waiting on confirmation.

[dawg80]

Another source reports a different version of the F-16 loss. Says the Ukrainian Falcon was shooting down Russian drones and apparently debris from one of the drones got sucked into the jet's engine causing it to stall and crash. The pilot ejected safely and has been picked up.

This makes more sense than the first version.

[dawg80]

Lots of news over the past 48 hours. Not all of it good. I'll start there...

A battalion commander of the Ukrainian elite 47th Armor Brigade has resigned, and he is stinging Ukrainian high command by "issuing stupid, useless orders that get people killed and accomplish nothing." He had more to say, but that summarizes it. The 47th was in Kursk for about 8 months and enjoyed nothing but success there. The Kursk salient began to collapse when the 47th was pulled out.

Now, for better news, but very convoluted. Pro-Ukrainian bloggers, YouTubers are going nuts high-fiving each other (virtually) and posting news of huge successes for Ukraine in Kursk and across the front in Donbas. But, there are very few details. Meanwhile, Pro-Putin YouTubers are posting nothing about the front but are commenting things like, "Putin better do something, better fire more generals..." And one posted, "I cannot believe what is happening, are we going to lose this war?"

Now all of this points to success by the Ukrans on the battlefront, yet it contradicts other news of Russian advances (with tremendous losses, but that has always been true) in Donbas, especially in a couple of locations where the Russians have concentrated there better units, like the elite 9th Paratrooper Brigade, a unit that is seeing its first action in this war. They have been held in reserve. One report says the 9th Brigade punched a hole in Ukrainian defenses, lightly defended, and have penetrated about 6 miles along a highway, taking a small farming village. Russian armored units are being rushed in to support this breakthrough. Couldn't place the exact location because the map used by the Youtuber was a zoom-in and so not sure exactly where it is.

More news will filter out.

[dawg80]

Appears Putin is committing more of his elite units into the fight. Another one, called the "Novgorod Battalion," does have an official name, the 121st Special Battalion, was identified fighting in Kursk trying to really retake Kursk, which Putin propagandists declared has already happened weeks ago.

And more "news" which is not "news" because it happens nightly/daily, Putin murdered a bus load of little old ladies. A women's "old folks' home" was evacuated from a town in Sumy because Putin was attacking it indiscriminately with missiles and drones. A Russian drone struck it completely destroying the bus, 9 killed 16 seriously injured, most with life-threatening injuries and severe burns, and another 12 old women and two staffers and the bus driver all hospitalized but all are expected to survive their injuries.

Two nights ago, Putin sent 278 drones to attack random civilian targets, 221 were shot down leaving 57 to hit houses, schools, hospitals, stores...fortunately Ukrainians got lucky, and no fatalities have been reported, just 19 people injured, non-life-threatening.

Speaking of drones, the Germans have perfected the "wooden" drone concept making them virtually invisible to radar detection. The Ukrans introduced the concept two years ago and did produce some they tested. They had mixed results. So, a German engineering firm, a defense contractor, offered to work with the Ukrainians to develop a "wooden" drone. Several nights ago, 50 were deployed against Russian targets, locations that are well-defended and that have survived repeated drone attacks in the past. All 50 "wooden" drones successfully avoided detection and struck their targets. None of them carried very large warheads, but they did manage to inflict some serious damage. One Russian radar station was knocked out, as was a battalion HQ, and various anti-aircraft batteries.

The German-built "wooden" drones are not made of wood, which was the original Ukrainian design and concept. They are made of a kind of plastic composite material which actually absorbs radar signals rendering them undetectable. The material is made to look like wood, to honor the Ukrainian concept. And, of course, they do have some metal as the motor, electronics, and any warhead payload, are made of metals. But the overall radar "footprint" is so small they are virtually invisible to radar.

Italy is donating 440 US-Built M113 APCs, Vietnam-era vehicles, to Ukraine. They are all in good, operational condition. They come with a .50-caliber machinegun too. These cannot be deployed to the front in their current condition, they would be too easy a target for Russian drones. But Ukrainian sources say most of them will be used away from any heavy combat areas, to transport supplies and troops, and some will be converted with improved anti-drone armor and defenses and used closer to the front.

[dawg80]

Australia is sending 49 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. They had all been retired but are fully operational. They are an older version. The Pentagon expressed "dissatisfaction" with this donation saying these tanks are outdated and, I guess, they are afraid they won't fair well. Fear not, the Ukrainians KNOW what they are doing, a lot better than our own military leadership, and they will assure these tanks have a good chance of being effective and surviving.

Russia enjoyed some more minor successes in Donbas. The Russkis have been using recon drones effectively to spot weak points in the Ukrainian defenses, always lightly defended, and then massing troops to assault those points. And, as always, despite their advantages the Russians suffer big losses...not that Putin cares.

[dawg80]

The Pentagon has restored aerial surveillance over Crimea, the Black Sea, and Kherson with high-flying drones and are again sharing the intelligence with Ukraine. One year ago, the Biden administration had suspended this operation out of fear of provoking Putin and "escalating the war." Apparently, Trump has ordered the operation to resume. I suppose Putin pissed Trump off yesterday in their phone call.

Whatever the reason, this is good stuff. We need to be supporting Ukraine.

[dawg80]

CONFIRMED! Iranian soldiers are on the ground fighting for Russia in Ukraine. So far, they have been identified south of Pokrosvk. An exact number has not been determined but it appears to be company-strength, between 120-150 soldiers.

So, now Ukraine is fighting Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran. Actually, Iran has been sending Russia those Shahed drones, which are Putin's most effective long-range drones. Well, another actually, Iran and Russia have collaborated building a Shahed drone factory in Russia. The Ukrans have hit this facility with their own long-range drones but given the distance and how well it is protected, there has been only minimal damage done.

How long will/can Ukraine stand alone fighting the world's evil?

Let me add this, I rail against President Z's policy of not drafting any man under the age of 25. They can volunteer to serve but cannot be compelled/drafted. The reason given is the fear of wiping out "the future" of Ukraine, the next generation, if 18-24 year olds are decimated in the war. There will be no "future of Ukraine" if they lose this war.