Ukraine 3

[Timber Rattler]

@Widget Jr is the best!

 

[sneakypete]

Seems eventually ordinary Russians would rise up and say “enough!”

@ScottinVA

Other than for that VERY brief period when Yeltsin was the President of Russia,nobody born in Russia has EVER been born free. It was either the Czars or the Communists that were the rulers,and rule with a heavy hammer is what they did.

Normal citizens got promotions at work or permission to buy a new tv if they reported one of their neighbors or relatives for "Anti-Soviet Activity/thinking." If your info lead to an arrest,you could even get a nicer apartment closer to work.

THIS is why there hasn't been a revolution in the USSR since the Soviets took over. They either jailed,sent people to labor camps for expressing "Anti-Soviet Ideas", or executed anyone that stood in their way.

All this tended to repress opposition to the leadership.

[Kamaji]

Pro-Putin mercenary who waved the 'skull of a dead Ukrainian' in front of crowd and called for the killing of civilians is shot in the head and 'in grave condition' following possible 'warning hit' to Wagner group

By STEWART CARR and ADAM SOLOMONS
5 February 2023

A Russian propogandist turned fighter-for-hire has been shot in the head in an attack which analysts have hinted may be a warning to the leader of Russia’s mercenary Wagner group – which is growing in power.

Igor Mangushev, 36, was famed as one of Russia’s most recognisable TV spin doctors before going into the army using the call name of Bereg.

In the early hours of Saturday, Mangushev was taken to hospital in Stakhanov in Russia’s eastern Donetsk region with a gunshot wound to the head, The Telegraph reports.

*  *  *

Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11715259/Pro-Putin-mercenary-waved-skull-dead-Ukrainian-shot-possible-warning-hit.html

[Kamaji]

Youth football coach 'is unmasked as Putin spy who passed Germany's secrets to Moscow that could help them win Ukraine war'

By JAMES CALLERY FOR MAILONLINE
4 February 2023

A volunteer youth football coach has been unmasked as the Putin spy who passed German's secrets to Moscow that could help them win the war in Ukraine, according to a report.

The Telegraph revealed that Carsten Linke, 52, is the alleged double agent in Germany's foreign intelligence service (BND) arrested for treason last December, the largest European intelligence scandal in decades.

The father of two had gained respect within the BND, where he oversaw units for spying on foreign communications and internal security.

*  *  *

Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11712829/Youth-football-coach-unmasked-Putin-spy-passed-Germanys-secrets-Moscow.html

[Kamaji]

Russia ‘eradicating’ towns in Donbas as battle for eastern Ukraine heats up

By Snejana Farberov
February 6, 2023

Russian forces bolstered by fresh troops are said to be “eradicating” towns and villages in Ukraine’s hotly contested Donbas region ahead of an anticipated offensive, according to Ukrainian officials.

Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said in televised remarks Monday the fight for the eastern province is “heating up,” with Moscow “throwing new units into the battle.”

Intense fighting that has been raging for weeks continued around the key city of Bakhmut and the nearby towns of Soledar and Vuhledar, Ukraine’s presidential office said.

Ukrainian forces are bracing for a Russian onslaught in the coming weeks, which would coincide with the first anniversary of the war.

In his nightly address Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged that the Kremlin’s forces could carry out “something symbolic to try to avenge their last year’s defeats.”

*  *  *

Source:  https://nypost.com/2023/02/06/russian-troops-destroy-towns-in-plan-to-take-over-donbas-region/

[Hoodat]

Russia ‘eradicating’ towns in Donbas as battle for eastern Ukraine heats up

Russian forces bolstered by fresh troops are said to be “eradicating” towns and villages in Ukraine’s hotly contested Donbas region ahead of an anticipated offensive, according to Ukrainian officials.

Impossible.  According to one poster here, the Russians are "protectors" and "liberators" of Donbas.

[Kamaji]

Another Russian general is killed in Ukraine in latest blow to Putin: Elite paratrooper commander who came out of retirement to aid the invasion is killed by Kyiv sabotage team

By WILL STEWART
7 February 2023

Vladimir Putin has lost yet another general in the war in Ukraine, according to reports.

Major-General Dmitry Ulyanov, 44, had returned to active service after retirement as a commander in Russia's illegal Ukrainian invasion.

He died in a firefight when he was attacked by a Ukrainian sabotage group this week, say reports.

Previously Ulyanov was a top paratrooper, commander of the elite 98th Guards Airborne Division.

He went to the current war commanding a regiment of mobilised motorised infantrymen from Tatarstan.

The death means Putin has lost at least ten such senior commanders.

*  *  *

Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11721601/Russian-general-Dmitry-Ulyanov-killed-Ukraine-latest-blow-Putin.html

[Elderberry]

Follow-Up on Ukraine’s Kamikaze Drones

https://www.battleswarmblog.com/?p=54044

Given that the original video generated doubts as to its veracity, I thought I would post this followup that goes into more detail about Ukraine’s low-cost suicide drone/loitering munition.

•  These look considerably less jury-rigged than the previous drones.

•  “These are publicly funded…Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense made a public appeal for donations to buy 1,000 of these.”

•  There seem to be different types with different warhead sizes. “The technical details are a bit vague. I’ve seen mentioned ranges of just two kilometers to over 10 kilometers.”

•  We see the successful attacks, but not the failures.

•  “These cost around 200 to manufacture, so they’re also extremely cost effective.” Indeed, even more cost-effective than my original estimates.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VmfjBrwEow

[bilo]

Follow-Up on Ukraine’s Kamikaze Drones

https://www.battleswarmblog.com/?p=54044

Given that the original video generated doubts as to its veracity, I thought I would post this followup that goes into more detail about Ukraine’s low-cost suicide drone/loitering munition.

•  These look considerably less jury-rigged than the previous drones.

•  “These are publicly funded…Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense made a public appeal for donations to buy 1,000 of these.”

•  There seem to be different types with different warhead sizes. “The technical details are a bit vague. I’ve seen mentioned ranges of just two kilometers to over 10 kilometers.”

•  We see the successful attacks, but not the failures.

•  “These cost around 200 to manufacture, so they’re also extremely cost effective.” Indeed, even more cost-effective than my original estimates.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VmfjBrwEow

Nothing like necessity being the mother of invention.

The Ukrainians have been so effective in using low cost weapons systems to destroy high cost weapons systems it should generate a rethinking of how our military expenditures are used.

[sneakypete]

Another Russian general is killed in Ukraine in latest blow to Putin: Elite paratrooper commander who came out of retirement to aid the invasion is killed by Kyiv sabotage team

By WILL STEWART
7 February 2023

Vladimir Putin has lost yet another general in the war in Ukraine, according to reports.

Major-General Dmitry Ulyanov, 44, had returned to active service after retirement as a commander in Russia's illegal Ukrainian invasion.

He died in a firefight when he was attacked by a Ukrainian sabotage group this week, say reports.

Previously Ulyanov was a top paratrooper, commander of the elite 98th Guards Airborne Division.

He went to the current war commanding a regiment of mobilised motorised infantrymen from Tatarstan.

The death means Putin has lost at least ten such senior commanders.

*  *  *

Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11721601/Russian-general-Dmitry-Ulyanov-killed-Ukraine-latest-blow-Putin.html

@Kamaji    "RETIRED" Major General being ALLOWED to retire at 44 BEFORE being brought back on regular duty to go to war?

Is Pooty Poot starting to hear "Doan wanna go" from the senior Generals in the Neo Soviet Army?

Something VERY odd is going on in the Neo-Soviet military!

[Kamaji]

Putin mercenary who 'waved the skull of a dead Ukrainian' and called for civilians to be murdered DIES after he was shot in the head in mystery attack

By WILL STEWART
8 February 2023

A pro-Putin spin doctor who notoriously waved the skull of a 'dead Ukrainian' fighter on stage in a sickening stunt died today after he was shot in the head.

Igor Mangushev, 36, had been gravely wounded in hospital for several days after what his wife alleged was an act of 'attempted murder' on Russian-held territory.

He died around 6am from wounds sustained in the so-far unexplained shooting on 4 February.

*  *  *

Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11726479/Putin-mercenary-waved-skull-dead-Ukrainian-dies-shot-head.html

[Kamaji]

Switzerland may ABANDON centuries of neutrality over Ukraine war – after accusations that sitting on the fence was effectively siding with Russia

By CHLOE LOUISE
7 February 2023

Switzerland is close to breaking a centuries old tradition as a neutral state after they are accused of sitting on the fence with the war on Ukraine and in turn siding with Russia.

A pro-Ukraine shift in the public and political mood has put pressure on the Swiss government to end the ban on exports of Swiss weapons to war zones.

Buyers of Swiss arms are legally prevented from re-exporting them, a restriction that some representing the country's large weapons industry say is now hurting trade.

*  *  *

Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11723065/Switzerland-ABANDON-centuries-neutrality-Ukraine-wa.html

[catfish1957]

Switzerland may ABANDON centuries of neutrality over Ukraine war – after accusations that sitting on the fence was effectively siding with Russia

By CHLOE LOUISE
7 February 2023

Switzerland is close to breaking a centuries old tradition as a neutral state after they are accused of sitting on the fence with the war on Ukraine and in turn siding with Russia.

A pro-Ukraine shift in the public and political mood has put pressure on the Swiss government to end the ban on exports of Swiss weapons to war zones.

Buyers of Swiss arms are legally prevented from re-exporting them, a restriction that some representing the country's large weapons industry say is now hurting trade.

*  *  *

Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11723065/Switzerland-ABANDON-centuries-neutrality-Ukraine-wa.html

Swiss nuetraility through history has mostly been because of their being a benchmark for finance and financial havens and stability.  Odd that'd change after 400-500 years.

[Kamaji]

Swiss nuetraility through history has mostly been because of their being a benchmark for finance and financial havens and stability.  Odd that'd change after 400-500 years.

A lot of the Swiss banking secrecy has been eroded of late, particularly through the U.S. FATCA regime, so perhaps it's no longer as strong a domestic selling point for neutrality.

[Hoodat]

Ukraine Has Exactly One T-80UK Command Tank. It Just Fought A Dangerous Solo Battle Near Bakhmut.

David Axe  |  Feb 8, 2023  |  07:06pm EST


The 30th Mechanized Brigade's T-80UK in action.VIA SOCIAL MEDIA

The Ukrainian army has captured exactly one Russian T-80UK command tank that independent analysts have been able to confirm.

That sole command tank, perhaps the rarest in Russia’s wider war on Ukraine, just made a dramatic reappearance.

Speeding along the E40 highway just north of Bakhmut on or around Tuesday, the tank’s three-man crew intercepted a Russian infantry force trying to make a daytime end-run around the Ukrainian garrison in Bakhmut.

But the T-80UK’s impressive-seeming mission isn’t actually good news for Ukraine. A tank shouldn’t be operating all alone on a battlefield teeming with drones, attack helicopters and precision artillery.  .  .  .

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2023/02/08/ukraine-has-exactly-one-t-80uk-command-tank-it-just-fought-a-dangerous-solo-battle-near-bakhmut

[Timber Rattler]

SpaceX curbed Ukraine's use of Starlink internet for drones -company president

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/spacex-curbed-ukraines-use-starlink-internet-drones-company-president-2023-02-09/

SpaceX has taken steps to prevent Ukraine's military from using the company's Starlink satellite internet service for controlling drones in the region during the country's war with Russia, SpaceX's president said Wednesday.

SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service, which has provided Ukraine's military with broadband communications in its defense against Russia's military, was "never never meant to be weaponized," Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's president and chief operating officer, said during a conference in Washington, D.C.

"However, Ukrainians have leveraged it in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement," she said.

Speaking later with reporters, Shotwell referred to reports that the Ukrainian military had used the Starlink service to control drones.

Ukraine has made effective use of unmanned aircraft for spotting enemy positions, targeting long-range fires and dropping bombs.

"There are things that we can do to limit their ability to do that," she said, referring to Starlink's use with drones. "There are things that we can do, and have done."

(snip)

Using Starlink with drones went beyond the scope of an agreement SpaceX has with the Ukrainian government, Shotwell said, adding the contract was intended for humanitarian purposes such as providing broadband internet to hospitals, banks and families affected by Russia's invasion.

"We know the military is using them for comms, and that's ok," she said. "But our intent was never to have them use it for offensive purposes."

EXCERPT

[Fishrrman]

https://www.theepochtimes.com/the-coming-dismemberment-of-ukraine_5042872.html

The Coming Dismemberment of Ukraine
by Patricia Adams & Lawrence Solomon
February 9, 2023

The West’s wishful thinking that it could win a war against Russia using Ukraine as its proxy is coming to a close.

Western sanctions against Russia—initially predicted to bring the Russian economy to its knees—have backfired. Absent Russian resources, European economies are reeling while Russia’s economy, according to the IMF, has rebounded and is now growing faster than those of Germany or the UK.

The military end game is also in sight, the Rand Corporation concluded in a recent report, despite the “extent of NATO allies’ indirect involvement in the war [which] is breathtaking in scope. Support includes tens of billions of dollars’ worth of weapons and … billions of dollars monthly in direct budgetary support to Kyiv.”

Yet it may all come to naught, since Russia has “a high level of resolve,” Rand notes. Russia “rectified the manpower deficit that enabled Ukraine’s success in the Kharkiv counteroffensive” and Ukraine’s “cities have been flattened; their economy has been decimated.”

Rand concludes that the United States should prepare its departure, since the war harms U.S. interests: “Avoiding a long war is also a higher priority for the United States than facilitating significantly more Ukrainian territorial control.”

Without the West’s military aid, which the new Republican House of Representatives may soon cut back, Ukraine’s military efforts would collapse. It can provide little to its own defense but personnel, and even that is running low—so many Ukrainians have died opposing Russia’s relentless military that Ukraine is now reportedly sending men over 60 to the front.

Ukraine’s economy, which was burdened with an external pre-war debt of $135 billion and has since lost $5 billion a month, would also collapse. Ukraine would be a spent force and utterly bankrupt, with Wall Street lenders such as BlackRock and vulture capitalists circling to claim whatever assets remain. Having lost at least one-third of its GDP in 2022 and as much as one-quarter of its pre-war 40 million population, its destitute government would be unable to provide pensions and welfare, let alone employment.

More at URL above...

[Kamaji]

https://www.theepochtimes.com/the-coming-dismemberment-of-ukraine_5042872.html

The Coming Dismemberment of Ukraine
by Patricia Adams & Lawrence Solomon
February 9, 2023

The West’s wishful thinking that it could win a war against Russia using Ukraine as its proxy is coming to a close.

Western sanctions against Russia—initially predicted to bring the Russian economy to its knees—have backfired. Absent Russian resources, European economies are reeling while Russia’s economy, according to the IMF, has rebounded and is now growing faster than those of Germany or the UK.

The military end game is also in sight, the Rand Corporation concluded in a recent report, despite the “extent of NATO allies’ indirect involvement in the war [which] is breathtaking in scope. Support includes tens of billions of dollars’ worth of weapons and … billions of dollars monthly in direct budgetary support to Kyiv.”

Yet it may all come to naught, since Russia has “a high level of resolve,” Rand notes. Russia “rectified the manpower deficit that enabled Ukraine’s success in the Kharkiv counteroffensive” and Ukraine’s “cities have been flattened; their economy has been decimated.”

Rand concludes that the United States should prepare its departure, since the war harms U.S. interests: “Avoiding a long war is also a higher priority for the United States than facilitating significantly more Ukrainian territorial control.”

Without the West’s military aid, which the new Republican House of Representatives may soon cut back, Ukraine’s military efforts would collapse. It can provide little to its own defense but personnel, and even that is running low—so many Ukrainians have died opposing Russia’s relentless military that Ukraine is now reportedly sending men over 60 to the front.

Ukraine’s economy, which was burdened with an external pre-war debt of $135 billion and has since lost $5 billion a month, would also collapse. Ukraine would be a spent force and utterly bankrupt, with Wall Street lenders such as BlackRock and vulture capitalists circling to claim whatever assets remain. Having lost at least one-third of its GDP in 2022 and as much as one-quarter of its pre-war 40 million population, its destitute government would be unable to provide pensions and welfare, let alone employment.

More at URL above...

[Timber Rattler]

The authors of that appeasement piece...

Patricia Adams is an economist and the President of the Energy Probe Research Foundation and Probe International, an independent think tank in Canada and around the world. She is the publisher of internet news services Three Gorges Probe and Odious Debts Online and the author or editor of numerous books. Her books and articles have been translated into Chinese, Spanish, Bengali, Japanese, and Bahasa Indonesia. She can be reached at patriciaadams@probeinternational.org.

Lawrence Solomon is an Epoch Times columnist, a former National Post and Globe and Mail columnist, and the executive director of Toronto-based Energy Probe and Consumer Policy Institute. He is the author of 7 books, including “The Deniers,” a #1 environmental best-seller in both the United States and Canada.

[catfish1957]

In a manner of 2 hours you've dispared the Epoch Times and Substack.

What's next?  WSJ are communist hacks?

Not. a good look for you.

[catfish1957]

The authors of that appeasement piece...

And they have had some pretty thoughtful conservative pieces through the years too.  Make sure to add those.

[Kamaji]

In a manner of 2 hours you've dispared the Epoch Times and Substack.

What's next?  WSJ are communist hacks?

Not. a good look for you.

If they write shit that deserves disparagement, they'll get the same treatment.

For example, don't try to feed me this sort of manure:

rectified the manpower deficit that enabled Ukraine’s success

and expect me to treat it like filet mignon just because the authors have written decent stuff in the past.

Russia has rounded up a bunch of civilians, given them little or no training, and little or no eqiupment, and sent them out to be cannon fodder for their fascist mercenary group.  That is hardly "rectifying" a manpower problem.

[Timber Rattler]

Ukraine’s rocket campaign reliant on U.S. precision targeting, officials say

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ukraine-s-rocket-campaign-reliant-on-us-precision-targeting-officials-say/ar-AA17j6Ng

Ukrainian officials said they require coordinates provided or confirmed by the United States and its allies for the vast majority of strikes using its advanced U.S.-provided rocket systems, a previously undisclosed practice that reveals a deeper and more operationally active role for the Pentagon in the war.

The disclosure, confirmed by three senior Ukrainian officials and a senior U.S. official, comes after months of Kyiv’s forces pounding Russian targets — including headquarters, ammunition depots and barracks — on Ukrainian soil with the U.S.-provided High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, and other similar precision-guided weapons such as the M270 multiple-launch rocket system.

One senior Ukrainian official said Ukrainian forces almost never launch the advanced weapons without specific coordinates provided by U.S. military personnel from a base elsewhere in Europe. Ukrainian officials say this process should give Washington confidence about providing Kyiv with longer-range weapons.

A senior U.S. official — who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue — acknowledged the key American role in the campaign and said the targeting assistance served to ensure accuracy and conserve limited stores of ammunition for maximum effectiveness. The official said Ukraine does not seek approval from the United States on what to strike and routinely targets Russian forces on their own with other weapons. The United States provides coordinates and precise targeting information solely in an advisory role, the official said.

Excerpt.

[Timber Rattler]

Russian Missiles Crossed Romania On Way To Ukraine: Kyiv

https://www.barrons.com/news/kyiv-says-two-russian-missiles-crossed-romania-on-way-to-ukraine-9795312a

Ukraine's armed forces chief said Friday two Russian missiles crossed the airspace of Moldova and NATO-member Romania on their way to Ukraine.

"At 10:18 am (0818 GMT), two Russian Kalibr cruise missiles crossed the border of Ukraine with the Republic of Moldova," Valery Zaluzhny said on social media.

"At approximately 10:33, these missiles crossed the airspace of Romania. After that, they re-entered the airspace of Ukraine."

Romania's defence ministry said a report about a Russian missile flying into Romanian airspace was unconfirmed.

If confirmed, it would be the first violation of NATO member Romania's airspace since the beginning of the war.

Excerpt.

[Timber Rattler]

US, French troops in Romania hold NATO military drills

https://apnews.com/article/nato-politics-romania-government-e2d0466e727284f8b89f0d1e44eebc3d

U.S. and French troops that are part of a NATO battlegroup in Romania held a military exercise on Thursday to test the 30-nation alliance’s eastern flank defenses, as Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine nears its one-year anniversary.

The joint combat drills at the Black Sea training range in Capu Midia, dubbed Eagle Royal 23, involved some 350 multinational battlegroup troops who practiced firing live ammunition from a U.S.-made HIMARS, a mobile, truck-mounted missile system. The HIMARS have been successfully used by Ukraine’s military against Russia.

Romania’s defense ministry said that the goal of the drills — held between Feb. 2 to Feb. 10. — is to test NATO’s “interoperability of artillery systems” in a fictitious Article 5 collective defense scenario on the alliance’s southeastern territory.

Excerpt.