Russia

[dawg80]

Putin is giving Krooked Killary Klinton a run for the money as he has topped 40 confirmed kills now. Still a long way to go to catch the queen of murder with 80+ but give him time. The latest two are (were) the VP of Transeth Pipeline Company who "fell" from a window. When will these Putin stooges learn to stay away from windows? The other was minister of transportation who committed "suicide" by shooting himself in the back and back of the head while seated in his car. What is funny, and I mean hilarious! is the video showing Putin appointing the successor to the transportation position. The new guy sat there with a look of horror on his face as Putin praised his service and expressed confidence he will do a good job. Never mind that the guy you are replacing was just "suicided."

[DallasDog]

Looks like we are rerouting the rerouted weapons back to the Ukraine from the middle east. Also, Russia is now drone swarming its targets.

[dawg80]

Looks like we are rerouting the rerouted weapons back to the Ukraine from the middle east. Also, Russia is now drone swarming its targets.

Yep, $300 million worth of weapons. According to a very reliable source, this brings to the total of US aid to Ukraine to $75 billion, since 2022. I have seen that number at $89 billion. Whatever, but what is clear the total of US aid to Ukraine is nowhere near the $350 billion Trump/Vance/Hegseth have railed about.

Russia has partnered with China and Iran in manufacturing drones and are looking to reach numbers so they can attack with 1,000 drones nightly. The past 6 weeks have been brutal enough, with Putin sending 500+ drones and some 40 cruise and ballistic missiles nightly.

[dawg80]

The heaviest fighting the past 72+ hours is occurring northeast of the key target city of Pokrosvk. Russia has been sending in thousands of ground troops, supported as best they can with some armor, but mostly drones and long-range artillery. Russia is losing 1,000+ soldiers daily, KIA/wounded/captured but Putin doesn't care as he just sends in more. Russia is gaining ground almost daily, but this all in farmlands and their bulge is approaching a line of hills that have a river in front, a natural moat. The Ukrans have fortified the high ground and are ready to hold there. In the meantime, using small units and of course drones and artillery, Ukraine is making Russia pay heavily for every acre they seize.

[DallasDog]

Russia has only ever had two military tactics and that was to overwhelm the enemy with numbers, and or starve them during the winter. The first either in massive offensives or in smaller conflicts where they just sacrifice lives in a battle of attrition until the other side runs out of men and materials. The second they always used as a defensive tactic, which doesn't apply as much here to the Russians as Ukraine using the winter are a chance to regroup some.

One thing that is different for Russia since the last time they were in a real war is their economy and people became accustomed to the free market and not as insular as it was behind the iron curtain. The pending economic collapse in Russia could actually have significant consequences for their leaders this time. A revolt where Putin puts his own people down forces all of the West's hands to an extent that they have tried to avoid so far.

[dawg80]

Tension is rising between Russia and Azerbaijan. Russia just can't seem to get along with its neighbors.

[dawg80]

Germany is reasserting itself into the leadership role in Europe. At this present moment France has the most powerful military in Europe and is second to Poland in size. Third behind Poland and Turkey in size in NATO. Germany is sitting fourth, but not for long. Before the end of 2025 Germany will be the most powerful European military and probably also #1 in sheer size. How ironic that Putin's stupidity, his ridiculous attempt to destroy NATO has led to NATO being waaaaaaaaay more powerful, and Germany, one of the named reasons for the formation of NATO in the first place..i.e. to provide security for Europe while at the same time preventing Germany (the starters of World Wars I and II) from regaining military might, is happening. We have come full circle.

Germany will be purchasing between 3 - 10 Patriot missile systems from the US, paying cash, and then donating them to Ukraine. The exact number is being negotiated this weekend. And, more importantly, Germany has announced a joint venture directly with Ukraine to manufacture Taurus cruise missiles, a plant in Ukraine, that will eventually build 300 Taurus missiles per month. To jump start Ukraine in the short term, Germany is sending Taurus cruise missiles now, authorizing their use however Ukraine wants to.

Now this...don't pay much attention to the nonsense from the TDS sufferers and the lamestream media on the whole Patriot missile matter. Ukraine wants and needs Patriot missiles, true, but by their own admission a bigger need is more anti-drone drones. The Patriots are great for taking out enemy bombers and large ballistic and cruise missiles. But they are worthless in defending against swarms of low-flying drones. Russia is not attacking with aircraft, and their use of larger missiles is limited to a few a night, and sometimes they go a week without sending any. What Russia is doing is ramping up drone production. Ukraine leads the world in drone technology. That is not in dispute. Necessity is the mother of invention. But Ukraine lacks the resources, the materials, the money to match the "axis of evil" (Russia, Iran, China, North Korea) in manufacturing many thousands of drones. So! ignore the stupidity you'll hear from the TDSers screaming about Trump denying Ukraine those 30 Patriot missiles...not systems, actual missiles. That is the sum total of last week's delayed shipment everyone is upset about.

[dawg80]

Russian dual oil and natural gas pipeline, two pipelines running side by side, one for gas and one for crude oil, in Siberia, went kaboom! Incident occurred about 2400 miles from Ukraine, just through a pass in the Ural Mountains. Ukraine is taking credit for the explosion. Fire raging at the site. No injuries reported as it occurred in a very rural area, not near a village. This pipeline, or pipelines, is critical for Putin's O&G supply for a group of manufacturing plants.

[dawg80]

Ukraine has abandoned their positions in Kursk and Belgorod. But, the area just vacated has not yet been occupied by the Russians. The Orcs have finally learned not to rush into vacated areas since the Ukrainians usually mine them, booby-trap them, and of course, Ukrainian artillery and drones are still menacing the region.

Russian thugs are shooting their seriously wounded on the battlefield. If a Russian is slightly wounded and can return to duty, after some treatment, then okay. But their seriously wounded are "put out of their misery" on the battlefield. Very gruesome drone video of this occurring recently in Sumy. Ukrainian recon drone documented 4 wounded Russians shot, one of them heard begging for his life. Despicable.

[dawg80]

The first of the 49 Abrams tanks are on their way to Ukraine from Australia. The USS Paulus Hook (transport vessel) is transporting them. It can only carry 5 Abrams at a time. No mention in the article if there are other ships aiding in the transporting. But then the same article says some of the Australian-donated Abrams tanks are already in Ukraine. Maybe these are 49 more, in addition to the others. The Aussies have updated these and improved their armor, and the Ukrainians will add anti-drone protection once they get them.

The Abrams and the German-built Leopard II are the best tanks in the world. The British-built Challenger is a close third. Nothing, absolutely nothing, Russia and China have can even come close to matching these three tanks. But...the modern battlefield has changed and it's not so much about tank-on-tank battles anymore. It's all about being able to survive strikes from drones. That said, recently one Ukrainian Abrams and one Leopard II took on and wiped out an entire Russian convoy in Sumy. The Russians had one T-80 and two modified T-62 tanks, and several IFVs. There was also one APC, and a half dozen converted vehicles, civilian trucks rigged with makeshift armor and machineguns and anti-tank rocket launchers. The two Ukrainian tanks waited in ambush. The fight was over in 15 minutes, every Russian vehicle in the column (all 13 of them) were burning ruins, most of the Russians were KIA. Survivors of that attack were hunted down and eliminated by Ukran drones. The Leopard II took a direct hit from a Russian anti-tank rocket fired during the melee, and the rocket just glanced off its heavy armor. The video of the battle, shot from a hovering Ukran recon drone, shows the vast superiority of the western tanks. No contest.

[dawg80]

Another video documents a recent battle near Torestsk. Ukraine ultimately prevailed but what a fight it was. The Russians lost every vehicle they brought to that dance, including 4 tanks and 6 other armored vehicles. They also suffered a 100% casualty rate, every soldier ended up KIA/wounded/captured. The Ukrans suffered zero killed and 6 wounded, and they lost one Leopard II tank. The Leopard II was struck by a Russian drone directly on the driver's compartment. The impact did little damage to the tank, but it did severely wound/knockout the driver. The tank, now driverless, careened out of control finally coming to a stop in a deep drainage ditch. The crew safely evacuated, including the driver, but the tank had to be left abandoned as it was still a very hot combat zone. During the rest of the fight the Russians sent 16 drones to strike the Leopard II, finally penetrating the armor protections and starting a fire which exploded the tank's ammo. If you think taking 16 drone hits is something, then try this one. It took 60 drone strikes by the Ukrans to destroy a Russian "Frankenstein monster" tank. This was a standard T-80 tank layered with belts of armor, like four separate layers of thick anti-drone armor. It also had two layers of standard "explosive armor," as well as a bunch of makeshift armor of chainmail, etc. It made the tank so heavy it could barely move, and its top speed was no more than about 5mph. Its gun was fixed in place so the whole tank had to turn to change the direction of its fire. It also had to stay on roads as it would sink in the mud in a field. The Ukrans made it their goal to destroy this monstrosity which they eventually did.

This battle finally ended when the local Ukran commander unleashed two more Leopard IIs and four Bradleys. They rushed in and finished off the Russians, who had been stubbornly holding on in trenches in the woods. One of the Leopard IIs literally bulled over some of the Russians, crushing them beneath the tracks of the tank. Gruesome video footage, but this is war.

[dawg80]

The fate of Pokrosvk...

if you have been following along, or watching the news, you are familiar with the battle for Pokrosvk. The Russians launched an all-out offensive to seize this city last August, so approaching one year now. This is the last major city...pre-war population of about 61,000, in the Donetsk Oblast. It was beautiful place of spectacular flower gardens, parks, old historic buildings, a place that, by sheer luck, managed to avoid damage during World War II as the war just kind of passed it by. Now, in 2025, it is gone. The estimated remaining population is fewer than 7,000, mostly very elderly residents, hiding in their basements, who tell journalists they simply have nowhere else to go.

Just watched a video produced by Kyiv Independent News. It is an organization composed of foreigners, including some Americans, and Ukrainians, all of whom either spent a lot of time abroad and/or were educated elsewhere. The central reporter in this video is Ukrainian-born with dual Ukrainian-US citizenship. He attended the University of Virginia and spent most of his adult life living in the US. His report is heartbreaking.

First, while in the car, he shot a selfie video as a "final" message to his wife and his family just in case he didn't survive the trek into war-torn Pokrosvk. This might seem melodramatic at first, like "here we go, straight into hell," but after watching his report, nah, this is all very real. The video is about 45 minutes long and is just gut-wrenching. Yes, it is designed to create some sympathy for the Ukrainian people, sure, a little propaganda never hurt anyone, right? But it is a truthful documentation of the reality of this war...of any war. The interviews with the group of little old ladies, gathering water from a rain barrel during a lull in the drone attacks is very telling. During their dash to get out of Pokrosvk the video crew, in their car, were attacked by two Russian drones. They were able to get under some netting which covers the only drivable road in and out and the drone got hung up in the netting. The other Russian drone veered off, maybe the Russian operator spotted a better target. Whew!

There is nothing left in the city undamaged. Every building has been hit, most totally destroyed. And this tidbit...the wonderful rose garden, part of a massive public park in the center of town. Again, if you have been following along you remember that the mayor of Pokrosvk misused funds intended to build defenses around the city and instead used the money to build parks, put in swing sets for the kids, and establish fabulous gardens! He said he did not want to alarm the people by building defensive works around the city. This mayor is sitting in jail charged with "fraud." Those old women took the reporter to the site of the big rose garden. Most of the roses are blooming and doing well, even though an artillery shell burst in the middle of it and Russian drones have wiped out the swing sets and the picnic tables and pavilions built there. One of the old ladies picked a rose, handed it to the reporter, saying give this to your wife after you make it home safely.