Ukraine 3

[Hoodat]

Russian forces under orders to complete Donbas mission next week, MoD says

20h ago  |  01:36

In the last few moments, the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has released its latest intelligence report on the crisis in Ukraine.

The ministry says that Russia's main effort is "almost certainly" its eastern Donbas offensive operation.

While they have had the most success in this region, the Kremlin's forces have still only been advancing around 1km per week towards Bakhmut and have "highly likely" repeatedly missed deadlines to achieve their "liberation" of the Donbas.

The Ukrainian authorities have now claimed that Russian forces are under orders to complete this mission by 15 September, the report goes on to say.

However, the ministry says Russian forces are "highly unlikely to achieve this" and this will "further complicate Russia's plans to run referendums on the occupied areas joining the Russian Federation".

https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-war-latest-updates-putin-ally-says-west-is-playing-chess-game-with-death-as-eu-says-gas-deliveries-used-as-a-weapon-12541713?postid=4408500#liveblog-body

[Elderberry]

Damaged from Shelling, Ukraine Nuclear Plant's Last Working Reactor Disconnected

https://www.news18.com/news/world/damaged-from-shelling-ukraine-nuclear-plants-last-working-reactor-disconnected-5896609.html

Ukraine’s embattled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant’s last working reactor has been switched off from the grid, the Ukrainian power plants operator said on Monday.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant (ZNPP) — Europe’s largest atomic facility — has been shelled in recent weeks, with Kyiv and Moscow blaming each other for the attacks, raising concerns of a possible incident.

“Power unit (reactor) No. 6 was unloaded and disconnected from the grid" because of a fire that was “triggered because of shelling", state-run company Energoatom said in a statement on Monday.

“The world is once again on the brink of a nuclear disaster. The de-occupation of the ZNPP and the creation of a demilitarised zone around it is the only way to ensure nuclear safety," Ukraine’s Energy Minister German Galushchenko said following the news on Monday.

This was the last working reactor out of six, after shelling disconnected reactor number 5 on Saturday, according to a statement from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

“After the ZNPP connection to its last remaining operational 750 kilovolt (kV) line was lost late on Friday, the 330 kV reserve line had been used to deliver electricity from the ZNPP to the grid," the UN nuclear agency said on Monday.

“Ukraine informed IAEA that this back-up line will be re-connected once the fire has been extinguished.

“A secure off-site power supply from the grid and back-up power supply systems are essential for ensuring nuclear safety," it added.

More at link.

[Hoodat]

Chechen leader stepping down

https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1566055547597643781

[Hoodat]

Ukraine liberates Vysokopillya

https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1566385652920360960

[Elderberry]

Putin Underestimated Collective Memory in Ukraine

https://intpolicydigest.org/putin-underestimated-collective-memory-in-ukraine/

Leaders commonly exploit narratives drawn from history to further an agenda. Memories are malleable, and it is fascinating to see which memories are forgotten and which become ingrained in cultural identities and shape both the present and the future of a particular society. To varying degrees, every society faces this reality as leaders actively emphasize specific stories to shape the collective. The war in Ukraine has laid bare the limits of collective memory as a political tool. Russia’s self-serving manipulation of collective memory failed in Ukraine because of the strength of Ukraine’s national identity.

Collective memory binds groups together because it helps make sense of the world in a more palatable way to the members of the group. Leaders can use collective memory narratives as “formidable instruments of politics,” but they are constrained by what the public will accept. Leaders and institutions working to change the established narratives devolve into a different debate about memory politics. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 5,000-word essay titled “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians” exemplifies this idea, creating a false narrative of victimization and injustice as a pretext for war.

In his piece, Putin presents a shared historical identity that he believes connects Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians over 1,000 years ago through Kievan Rus. By Putin’s logic, this shared origin buoys an argument against the legitimacy and sovereignty of modern Ukraine. Tensions between Ukraine and Russia devolved in 2014 with the Russian annexation of Crimea and have remained tenuous over the past eight years. Putin’s essay used a cynical and inaccurate portrayal of history to influence the popular Russian narrative against Ukraine’s right to statehood.

More at link.

[Hoodat]

In his piece, Putin presents a shared historical identity that he believes connects Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians over 1,000 years ago through Kievan Rus.

If Putin really believed that, he wouldn't be committing war crimes against his Ukrainian brothers and sisters.

[Kamaji]

Putin unveils new 'Russian World' foreign policy - a notion used to justify foreign intervention such as Ukraine invasion to 'support Russian-speakers'

By RACHAEL BUNYAN FOR MAILONLINE and REUTERS
6 September 2022

President Vladimir Putin has approved a new foreign policy doctrine based around the concept of a 'Russian World', a notion that conservative ideologues have used to justify intervention abroad in support of Russian-speakers.

The 31-page 'humanitarian policy', published more than six months into the war in Ukraine, says Russia should 'protect, safeguard and advance the traditions and ideals of the Russian World'.

While presented as a kind of soft power strategy, it enshrines in official policy ideas around Russian politics and religion that some hardliners have used to justify foreign intervention - such as Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

*  *  *

Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11184287/Putin-unveils-new-Russian-World-foreign-policy-notion-used-justify-foreign-intervention.html

[Kamaji]

Putin unveils new 'Russian World' foreign policy - a notion used to justify foreign intervention such as Ukraine invasion to 'support Russian-speakers'

By RACHAEL BUNYAN FOR MAILONLINE and REUTERS
6 September 2022

President Vladimir Putin has approved a new foreign policy doctrine based around the concept of a 'Russian World', a notion that conservative ideologues have used to justify intervention abroad in support of Russian-speakers.

The 31-page 'humanitarian policy', published more than six months into the war in Ukraine, says Russia should 'protect, safeguard and advance the traditions and ideals of the Russian World'.

While presented as a kind of soft power strategy, it enshrines in official policy ideas around Russian politics and religion that some hardliners have used to justify foreign intervention - such as Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

*  *  *

Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11184287/Putin-unveils-new-Russian-World-foreign-policy-notion-used-justify-foreign-intervention.html

How does one say "lebensraum" in Orcish?

[Hoodat]

How does one say "lebensraum" in Orcish?

Жилая площадь

This is exactly what Putin is doing.  Removing all undesirables from captured Ukraine territory, and subjugating all that remain.

One bit of good news - the referendum scheduled for Kherson has been postponed due to Ukrainian advances.  Putin planned to have another sham election similar to the one in Crimea in 2014 and the subsequent ones in occupied Luhansk and Donetsk.  Elections where Russians living in Russia were allowed to participate online.  Elections where there was only one option offered - Russian rule.

[libertybele]

Ukraine war: North Korea supplying Russia with weapons, say US reports

Russia has been forced to buy military hardware from North Korea as sanctions squeeze Moscow's ability to supply its military, US media have reported.

According to declassified intelligence obtained by the New York Times, Russia has bought millions of artillery shells and rockets from Pyongyang.

A US official said Russia would be forced to buy additional North Korean weaponry as the war dragged on.

Last week, Moscow reportedly received its first order of new Iranian drones.

Iran and North Korea, both the targets of significant Western sanctions, have sought to deepen ties with Russia since President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine in February.

Kim Jong-un's regime has blamed the US for the conflict and accused the West of pursuing a "hegemonic policy" that justified Russia's use of force.

Last month, North Korea recognised the independence of Russia's two proxy statelets in eastern Ukraine - the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics - and vowed to deepen its "comradely friendship" with Moscow. Russia's Vladimir Putin said the two countries would expand their "comprehensive and constructive bilateral relations", according to Pyongyang state media.

The exact size and scale of the new weapons deliveries revealed by the report remain unclear.

But a US official told the Associated Press that turning to North Korea for support demonstrated that "the Russian military continues to suffer from severe supply shortages in Ukraine, due in part to export controls and sanctions".

Broad economic sanctions have done little to damage Russia's income from energy exports, according to Finnish think tank the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. It estimates Russia has made €158bn (£136bn) from surging fossil fuel prices during the six-month invasion, with EU imports accounting for more than half of that.

However, the US and EU believe that Moscow's ability to resupply its military has been impaired. ..........

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62804825

[Hoodat]

Ukraine war: North Korea supplying Russia with weapons, say US reports

Russia has been experiencing ordinance failures, some of which have caused explosions in depots.  They have been using artillery shells that predate the fall of the Soviet Union.  I'm thinking that the shells North Korea passes off to Russia will be just as old.  Artillery shells do not have a 30-year shelf life.

[Kamaji]

Ukraine war: North Korea supplying Russia with weapons, say US reports

Russia has been forced to buy military hardware from North Korea as sanctions squeeze Moscow's ability to supply its military, US media have reported.

According to declassified intelligence obtained by the New York Times, Russia has bought millions of artillery shells and rockets from Pyongyang.

A US official said Russia would be forced to buy additional North Korean weaponry as the war dragged on.

Last week, Moscow reportedly received its first order of new Iranian drones.

Iran and North Korea, both the targets of significant Western sanctions, have sought to deepen ties with Russia since President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine in February.

Kim Jong-un's regime has blamed the US for the conflict and accused the West of pursuing a "hegemonic policy" that justified Russia's use of force.

Last month, North Korea recognised the independence of Russia's two proxy statelets in eastern Ukraine - the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics - and vowed to deepen its "comradely friendship" with Moscow. Russia's Vladimir Putin said the two countries would expand their "comprehensive and constructive bilateral relations", according to Pyongyang state media.

The exact size and scale of the new weapons deliveries revealed by the report remain unclear.

But a US official told the Associated Press that turning to North Korea for support demonstrated that "the Russian military continues to suffer from severe supply shortages in Ukraine, due in part to export controls and sanctions".

Broad economic sanctions have done little to damage Russia's income from energy exports, according to Finnish think tank the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. It estimates Russia has made €158bn (£136bn) from surging fossil fuel prices during the six-month invasion, with EU imports accounting for more than half of that.

However, the US and EU believe that Moscow's ability to resupply its military has been impaired. ..........

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62804825

If this drags on long enough, then perhaps NK will be out of supplies, too, and the South Koreans might want to consider some moves.

[Hoodat]

These look like Ukrainian Su-25s.

[Kamaji]

Russian commanders in Kherson face mutiny as entire regiment refuses to fight due to lack of supplies and no pay while Ukraine continues a series of counterattacks

By DAVID AVERRE FOR MAILONLINE
6 September 2022

Russian commanders in occupied southern Ukraine are facing mass mutinies as regiments refuse to fight due to a lack of basic supplies and no pay, it has been claimed.

The Russian 127th regiment of the 1st army corps reportedly ignored orders to join a battle near the southern city of Kherson, according to intelligence cited by Ukraine's southern operational command.

Soldiers who led the mutiny told superiors they could not fight because they had endured weeks of water shortages and scarce rations, all while not receiving their paychecks.

Russia's GRU and FSB intelligence agencies 'investigated' the individuals responsible for leading the revolt and 'removed' them from their positions, according to Ukraine's military.

The mutineers are likely to face a harrowing fate - many so-called 'refuseniks' are shipped off to detention centres in Russian-occupied territory where they are bullied into returning to the front lines or held in awful conditions and tortured.

It comes as Kremlin-installed local government officials in Kherson said they were forced to suspend a 'referendum' on whether the city should join the Russian Federation due to safety concerns amid Ukrainian counter-offensives in the region.

*  *  *

Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11187351/Russian-commanders-Kherson-face-mutiny-entire-regiment-refuses-fight.html

[libertybele]

Zaporizhzhia: Ukraine suggests UN peacekeepers for nuclear plant

Ukraine's nuclear chief has suggested that United Nations peacekeepers could secure the Zaporizhzhia power station.

The plant has been occupied by Russia since the early days of the war and come under repeated attack, with both sides blaming each other.

UN inspectors observed damage at the power station during a visit last week.

The inspectors recommended that a security zone be set up immediately to shield the facility, which is Europe's largest, from the fighting.

Vladimir Putin has said he trusted the report from the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but criticised the agency for not saying Ukraine was to blame for shelling the area.

The Russian leader described the IAEA as "a very responsible international organisation" which was under pressure. "Our servicemen are there - are we shooting at our own?" he asked, in response to claims that Russia could be responsible for shelling at the plant.

Shelling continued while the 14-strong IAEA team visited the site and its head, Rafael Grossi, warned of a very real risk of nuclear disaster. Although most of the team left the plant after two days, it said two of its officials would remain there on a permanent basis.

In an emergency session of the Security Council, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres set out steps for the creation of a demilitarised zone around the plant.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed calls by the IAEA for a safety protection zone at Zaporizhzhia.

On Wednesday Petro Kotyn, who runs Ukraine's nuclear agency Energoatom, suggested a UN peacekeeping contingent could set up a security zone at Zaporizhzhia and Russian troops withdraw.........

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62820287

[Kamaji]

Ukrainian troops shoot Su-25 fighter jet out of the sky, capture a top Russian officer and pound enemy positions with helicopters as Kyiv's counter attacks gather pace

By CHRIS JEWERS and WILL STEWART FOR MAILONLINE
7 September 2022

Video has shown Ukrainian troops shooting down a Russian fighter jet out of the sky, capturing a top army officer and pounding enemy positions with helicopters, in further blows to Vladimir Putin's on-going invasion.

The developments were reported by several sources, including a pro-Russian telegram channel, which also lamented the success of Kyiv's counter attacks that have begun to gather pace in recent days.

Britain's defence ministry said there has been heavy fighting on three fronts: in the north, near Kharkiv; in the east in the Donbas; and in the south in Kherson Oblast - where Ukraine has mounted a counteroffensive to try to retake occupied territory.

Footage emerged on Wednesday that appeared to show the moment the Russian warplane was shot down over a field in Ukraine.

The Su-25 ground attack aircraft was hit while flying low past a man-portable air defence missile (MANPAD), according to Kyiv's south operational command.

Another video showed Ukrainian helicopters soaring over a road running between parched fields, and launching rocket strikes on enemy positions in a tree line.

*  *  *

Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11189367/Ukrainian-troops-shoot-Su-25-fighter-jet-sky-Kyivs-counter-attacks-gather-pace.html

[Elderberry]

Ukrainian Counteroffensive In Kharkiv?

Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog 9/7/2022

There are indications that Ukraine, in addition to the Kherson counteroffensive, is conducting a counteroffensive in Kharkiv Oblast, and has apparently captured Volokhiv Yar, Balakliya and Yakovenkove, towns between Kharkiv and Russian-occupied Izyum.

It’s unclear whether this is a feint, a spoiling attack or a full-blown counteroffensive, but the scale of the initial success suggests it’s too large to be a mere probing attack.

Says ISW:

    Ukrainian forces conducted a counterattack in Kharkiv Oblast near Balakliya that likely drove Russian forces back to the left bank (north side) of the Severskyi Donets and Serednya Balakliika rivers on September 6. Ukrainian forces likely captured Verbivka (less than 3 km northwest of Balakliya) on September 6. Geolocated footage posted on September 6 shows Ukrainian infantry in eastern Verbivka (less than 3 km from Balakliya). Multiple Russian sources acknowledged Ukrainian gains in Verbivka and reported that Russian forces demolished unspecified bridges in Balakliya‘s eastern environs to prevent further Ukrainian advances. Images posted on September 6 also show a destroyed Russian bridge over the Serednya Balakliika River—a geographic feature behind which the Russian front line in this sector likely lies. Social media users reported that Russian forces withdrew from checkpoints six kilometers west of Balaklia on September 6.

    Russian forces likely no longer maintain their previous positions in Bairak and Nova Husarivka (just south of Balakliya on the right bank of the Seversky Donets River). Russian forces likely abandoned Bayrak and Nova Husarivka in late August. Images posted on August 30 show that Russian forces blew the bridge over the Seversky Donetsk River near Bayrak on an unspecified date. Bridge demolition activity indicates a planned Russian withdrawal. Ukraine’s General Staff reported on September 6 that Russian forces conducted air strikes against Bayrak, indicating that Ukrainian forces may have advanced in the area.

More: https://www.battleswarmblog.com/?p=52527

[Kamaji]

Driving the orcs back. 

[Hoodat]

[bilo]

If the numbers are only 2/3rds those posted by Ukraine the losses Russia is suffering are catastrophic. Add in the effect of the sanctions and reduced oil/gas output and Russia is facing a humanitarian and economic collapse. They won't win this war. They may gain territory if Ukraine's allies force a negotiated settlement because of their stupid "green" energy policies. However, even in this case Russia faces collapse. Western business will not return and Russia's demographic problem will only accelerate.

We should really be planning on what to do about a post Russian Federation world.

[Kamaji]

If the numbers are only 2/3rds those posted by Ukraine the losses Russia is suffering are catastrophic. Add in the effect of the sanctions and reduced oil/gas output and Russia is facing a humanitarian and economic collapse. They won't win this war. They may gain territory if Ukraine's allies force a negotiated settlement because of their stupid "green" energy policies. Even in this case Russia faces collapse. Western business will not return and Russia's demographic problem will only accelerate.

We should really be planning on what to do about a post Russian Federation world.

[Elderberry]

Ukraine Is Waging a New Kind of War

The fight to retake the city of Kherson plays to the Ukrainians’ strengths, not the Russians’.

The Atlantic By Phillips Payson O’Brien 9/8/2022

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/09/ukraine-counteroffensive-battle-of-kherson/671364/

Ukrainian officials, defending their country against Russian aggressors, began doing something in July that seemed odd, even counterintuitive: They started speaking loudly and regularly about their plans to liberate Kherson—a key southern city that Russia seized only a week after invading Ukraine on February 24. Indeed, the Ukrainians telegraphed their intentions in a way that the Russians could not mistake. This was like waving a red cape at an angry, incompetent bull. Almost immediately, rumors proliferated that the Russians were racing reinforcements to Kherson to prepare for the Ukrainian attack.

Goading the Russians into doing so seems to have been the Ukrainians’ exact goal. Fighting in Kherson plays to Ukrainian strength far more than to the Russians’. Russian occupiers in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas, where the war had been concentrated from April until July, can operate very close to the Russian border, seem to have solidly functional rail lines, and are currently trying to pressure the Ukrainians from two sides at the tip of the fighting around the town of Siversk. Fighting in Kherson, by contrast, nullifies almost all of Russia’s advantages in the Donbas. The Russians are at the edge of their supply lines, while the Ukrainians can maneuver around them. Kherson is deeper into Ukraine than the Donbas, so Russian aircraft have farther to travel to reach the front lines, and that clearly makes them nervous; they prefer to fly mostly over Russia itself or its ally Belarus. Finally, the entire Russian fighting force in Kherson depends for its supplies on just a small number of bridges that span the wide Dnipro River. In recent weeks, the Ukrainians have attacked those crossings almost nightly, severely hindering Russia from moving supplies to their hard-pressed troops in Kherson. The longer the Russians have to fight with limited supplies, the more the battle will turn in Ukraine’s favor.

Though Vladimir Putin had the reputation of a strategic genius when he started this war six months ago, the Ukrainians have exposed him as a plodding and unimaginative thinker who miscalculated enormously. Since then he has resorted to ponderous, unthinking offensives that have secured minimal gains at a very high cost. The Russian army, wildly overrated before the war by military analysts who hailed it as one of the most fast-moving, technologically sophisticated, and powerful in the world, turns out to be profoundly flawed. With ever-changing carousels of generals in charge, it has shown itself to be inflexible, uncreative, and unable to learn.

More at link.

[Elderberry]

Ukraine blows up Russian missile site in huge explosion that’s spread across the world

https://americanmilitarynews.com/2022/09/video-ukraine-blows-up-russian-missile-site-in-huge-explosion-thats-spread-across-the-world/

In a prelude to their counter-offensive against Russian-held Kharkiv, Ukrainian forces destroyed a Russian surface-to-air (SAM) missile site in a huge explosion this week. Footage of the strike has gone viral, with it being viewed hundreds of thousands of times around the world.

On Wednesday, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense tweeted a video of the strike, saying, “russian S-300s are blowing up near Balaklia, Kharkiv region. But there is no need to panic… as they say.”

Defense of Ukraine
@DefenceU
Ukraine government organization
russian S-300s are blowing up near Balaklia, Kharkiv region. But there is no need to panic… as they say.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1567617246029021184

The video footage is an aerial camera view — likely from a surveillance drone — looking down on a forested area where the purported Russian missiles were stored.

It’s not clear exactly how many Russian S-300 SAM missiles were destroyed, but the video showed an initial small explosion, followed by a much larger secondary explosion that sent a shockwave through the surrounding forest.

Ukraine Weapons Tracker, a Twitter account that has documented the weapons used throughout the fighting between Russia and Ukraine tweeted the same video, saying, “During the preparation for the offensive towards Balakliya, #Kharkiv Oblast, the AFU claimed to have found the semi-concealed storage site for 20+ missiles for the S-300 SAM system (Likely 5V55 series), which was then struck with artillery.”

More at link.

[Kamaji]

Ukraine blows up Russian missile site in huge explosion that’s spread across the world

https://americanmilitarynews.com/2022/09/video-ukraine-blows-up-russian-missile-site-in-huge-explosion-thats-spread-across-the-world/

In a prelude to their counter-offensive against Russian-held Kharkiv, Ukrainian forces destroyed a Russian surface-to-air (SAM) missile site in a huge explosion this week. Footage of the strike has gone viral, with it being viewed hundreds of thousands of times around the world.

On Wednesday, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense tweeted a video of the strike, saying, “russian S-300s are blowing up near Balaklia, Kharkiv region. But there is no need to panic… as they say.”

Defense of Ukraine
@DefenceU
Ukraine government organization
russian S-300s are blowing up near Balaklia, Kharkiv region. But there is no need to panic… as they say.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1567617246029021184

The video footage is an aerial camera view — likely from a surveillance drone — looking down on a forested area where the purported Russian missiles were stored.

It’s not clear exactly how many Russian S-300 SAM missiles were destroyed, but the video showed an initial small explosion, followed by a much larger secondary explosion that sent a shockwave through the surrounding forest.

Ukraine Weapons Tracker, a Twitter account that has documented the weapons used throughout the fighting between Russia and Ukraine tweeted the same video, saying, “During the preparation for the offensive towards Balakliya, #Kharkiv Oblast, the AFU claimed to have found the semi-concealed storage site for 20+ missiles for the S-300 SAM system (Likely 5V55 series), which was then struck with artillery.”

More at link.

That will hurt the orcs. 

[bilo]

Ukrainian counteroffensive moves east as hit squads target Russian collaborators for assassination

https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2022/09/08/ukrainian-counteroffensive-moves-east-and-hit-squads-target-russian-collaborators-for-assassination-n495201

Since Russian forces invaded in late February and began seizing Ukrainian cities and towns, close to 20 Kremlin-backed officials or their local Ukrainian collaborators have been killed or injured in a wave of assassinations and attempted killings.

They have been gunned down, blown up, hanged and poisoned — an array of methods that reflects the determination of the Ukrainian hit squads and saboteurs often operating deep inside enemy-controlled territory. The unpredictability of the attacks is meant to terrify anyone who might agree to serve in the puppet governments Russia has been creating with an eye toward staging sham referendums and ultimately annexing the occupied lands.

On Tuesday, the bloody roll continued.

Artem Bardin, the military commandant in Berdyansk, a port city on the Sea of Azov that Russia seized early in the war, was critically injured when a car exploded near the city administration building, according to Russia’s Tass news agency, which described the incident as a “terrorist act.”

Bardin’s legs were blown off and he suffered extensive blood loss…



I know some posters will get upset by this, but I completely understand the Ukrainians in this because of the atrocities committed by  the Russians.