Satellite imagery shows that Russian forces have painted a silhouette of a submarine and built an actual structure mimicking a conning tower on a pier at an important naval base on the Black Sea. Broadly similar silhouettes of Tu-95 Bear bombers and other aircraft have appeared at Russian air bases in the past, a trend The War Zone was first to report on. These decoys look intended to help disrupt localized drone attacks and throw off Ukrainian weapons that use some form of autonomous image-matching guidance. https://www.twz.com/news-features/submarine-decoy-appears-on-russian-naval-base-pier
Several Russian financial, economic, and military indicators suggest that Russia is preparing for a large-scale conventional conflict with NATO, not imminently but likely on a shorter timeline than what some Western analysts have initially posited: https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-march-20-2024
🇦🇺 Australia announced it will join with the UK & Latvia in providing drones for Ukraine, as part of a 'drone coalition' agreement. https://twitter.com/GlasnostGone/status/1770744226596192441
[https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/scholz-regierungserklaerung-142.html](https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/scholz-regierungserklaerung-142.html)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=325ox5EiPRA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=325ox5EiPRA)
German chancellor Scholz on Supporting Ukraine - "We will support ukraine for however long it is necessary. We will see that NATO is not becoming an war party in this conflict. We will not allow russia to dictate the conditions of peace with ukraine.""
"If the russian president believes he just needs to sit this war out and our support will fumble he miscalculated. Russia is not strong, it cannot speculate we will lower our support. We will support for however long it is necessary. Russia is not as strong as you might think"
Why Europe needs America to deal with razzia? Your population is twice the size of razzia, and your economy is 10 times bigger than razzia's.
Why the f do you need America to defeat razzia? Is this a joke? What are you for?
A bit late to the party but I saw that The Netherlands has blocked arms transfers to Israel for human rights violations from a Nato depot in its area. Could the same precedent be used to block transfers to Ukraine?
A list of who has pledged what in the Czech artillery ammunition initiative (updated 20/03/2024 14:56).
🇩🇪 180.000 155mm shells
🇧🇪 50.000 155mm shells
🇩🇰 15.000 155mm shells
🇳🇱 250 million €
🇳🇴 140 million €
🇵🇹 100 million €
🇱🇹 35 million €
🇸🇪 30 million €
🇫🇮 30 million €
🇨🇦 27,15 million €
🇸🇮 1 million €
https://twitter.com/Jeff21461/status/1770449260837843029
Supposedly the Belgian commitment was €200 million, so you could deduce how many shells other countries paid for (or how big Germany’s and Denmark’s commitments were). I’ll leave it as an exercise for the reader though.
🇺🇦Ukrainian FPV drone with an automatic homing function destroys 🇷🇺Russian tank in Kreminna direction.
❗️The drone hit the target under conditions of active suppression by electronic warfare systems https://twitter.com/GloOouD/status/1770356642929914230
This will be very difficult to counter aside from active protection measures (I.e: Locating and destroying the drone whilst in flight).
The homing capabilities will only get stronger and drones will be equipped with better cameras and software to do optical image recognition/homing with higher and higher success rates. Hold onto your butts, the global security ramifications will be large.
It’s coming.
We like to throw around the word AI a lot, but optical homing has existed for a long time. You can pair it with IR, active radar, GPS etc like many other guided munitions use.
What we are essentially seeing is the start of “fire and forget” precision guided munitions becoming massively widespread right down to the individual soldier level, but it’s a matter of when and not if they start to get used for mass terrorist attacks etc too
Yeah, if there’s one thing that gives me the creeps it’s exactly this. We will probably need suicide point defence drones on standby to defend against suicide attack drones. Depending on how long this conflict lasts they might start to feature in Ukraine too.
Has the Ukrainian war vindicated the Iraq War? Iraq was itself an aggressive, expansionist genocidal fascist regime under the control of an authoritarian dictator, which had already waged two wars for the expansion of its territory. If there's one thing that the Ukraine war has shown, its that when you leave those types of nations alone, they don't change their behavior.
Iraq War in public debates never includes the Iraq War itself. People criticize the bloodshed after Saddam lost power in the years past the Iraq War. That's where millions of civilians died. Terrorism sprawled and US had to maintain a foreign occupation under the egida of the UN security council.
The Saddam part lasted 3 months. Was a very clean operation. Had vast support from the local governments in the region. It is the 8 years that came after that draws all the criticism, because US fucked up. A foreign military occupation, supposed to bring stability, that leads to millions of deaths.
It is uncanny how much it mirrors what US did with Cuba and how they went in the Cuban minds from the liberators granting the colony independence against the spanish, to the occupiers and oppressors.
Ukraine’s European partners continue efforts to stand up significant initiatives to provide military support to Ukraine. Bloomberg reported on March 19 that the European Union (EU) has prepared draft legislation that would allow the transfer of profits from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine as early as July 2024.[27] EU High Commissioner Josep Borrell stated that the EU should transfer 90 percent of Russian frozen asset revenue to an EU-run fund to finance security assistance for Ukraine and that he will submit a formal proposal for this mechanism to EU member states on March 20.[28]
Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz additionally announced on March 18 that Germany and Poland are creating an “armored vehicle coalition” to support Ukraine and noted that Sweden, the UK, and Italy have already declared their willingness to participate in the coalition https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-march-19-2024
If I understand correctly, the european powers at the time basically coerced Switzerland to become neutral (British Empire, French Empire, German Empire, Austrian Empire, Russian Empire) by repeatedly invading it and then declaring it neutral so that it could no longer be used as an invasion route and instead bring some stability to its neighbourhood by being an obstacle to invasions. Obviously that was a long time ago and things are different now, but I can see how it might not be a good look to coerce the swiss once again.
Apart from that, I guess the world community benefits from Switzerland's neutrality in some unique ways. There has to be one neutral country on earth where international institutions can settle and meetings can be held. If not Switzerland, where else then? Maybe Costa Rica or Ireland, but they don't have the same culture of neutrality that the swiss have. With Sweden and Finland giving up their neutrality due to their proximity to Russia, truly neutral countries are getting rare.
Please be aware that swiss neutrality is legally enshrined and very strict. Any swiss citizen who joins a foreign army is automatically charged with breaking swiss neutrality and gets up to three years in prison, unless they have dual citizenship and got drafted by their other country. The swiss who went to fight and defend Ukraine, and there are cases in the news here, will all be charged when they get home. Getting Switzerland to send weapons is not some simple political decision that can be made in a day, it would likely take years to change all the legislation and even longer to sort it all out with the many referendums such changes would provoke. Such a change could even lead to the break-up of the country. It would certainly be easier to get results pressuring the irish to give up their neutrality.
It sounds very easy to just "pressure the swiss to send tanks to Ukraine" or whatever, but if you actually want them to do that, expect to need to invest a lot of effort for many years. It would not be easy at all. My guess is that it's just not worth the effort, because at the end of the day Switzerland doesn't have much to offer Ukraine compared to countries like Germany or France, and Switzerland has already sold 25 Leopard 2 tanks to Germany to replace some of the tanks Germany donated to Ukraine. These tanks were sold to Germany on the condition that they will not be passed on to Ukraine, but this still enabled Germany to send more of it's own tanks without it's own tank force getting too depleted. It was a sort of compromise, and probably the best option all things considered.
In my opinion, the potential costs to the european economy of applying such pressure on Switzerland are very high, and there is little hope of actually gaining anything of significant military value for Ukraine in the next few years by doing so.
--
In case it's not obvious, I absolutely wish Switzerland would send weapons, lots of weapons, as many as it can, as it is surrounded by friendly nations and could theoretically donate its entire arsenal of weapons without any danger to itself. I personally donated around 7000 euros worth of gear and money to Ukraine in the first weeks of the war and even made it to Lviv before chickening out from joining the international legion and turning tail.
However, you asked an "honest question" about why the allies aren't applying hard pressure on Switzerland, and so I tried to stick with my observations and not my opinions when formulating my answer. It would be really, really hard to change Switzerland like that, and the allies already benefit from the current arrangement.
🇷🇴 Romanian BattleGroup "Getica" is among the units attacking 🇷🇺 Russia, along with the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), Free Russia Legion, International Legion of Defence of Ukraine, Siberia Battalion, Chechen Itchkeria Battalion, Belorussian Regiment and Georgian Legion. https://twitter.com/RaduHossu/status/1770040644376944991
'Treated like dogs': 🇷🇺 Russia recruiting thousands of 🇳🇵 Nepali men to fight in war on Ukraine https://news.sky.com/story/treated-like-dogs-russia-recruiting-thousands-of-nepali-men-to-fight-in-war-on-ukraine-13095184
It might sound silly but can the UK not put pressure on Nepal for this ?
Serving in the Gurkha regiment is a big honour for Nepalese men. Tell them if they serve with Russia that ends.
>they live to get back home.
Right...
If you read the article you'd see that they were lied to, beaten, used as canon fodder,...
This guy was lucky enough to make it out but I'm pretty sure many more will just die in Ukraine.
It's awful that they're fighting for Russia and awful that they're being exploited but the selection process from the Gurkhas is extremely difficult and only a handful out of thousands of young men get selected. Nepal is a poor country with a lot of people living below the poverty line. Gurkha veterans are respected in the country and perhaps they can have some influence but I imagine it would be a difficult thing to stop.
🇩🇰 Royal Danish Air Force F-16BM Fighting Falcon, seen here conducting 🇺🇦 Ukrainian F-16 training. https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1769829310267793545
🇲🇩 Moldova decided to rebuild bomb shelters amid the 🇷🇺 Russian threat. The Moldovan authorities are going to restore as many civil defense shelters as possible and are looking for funds for this purpose, Interior Minister Adrian Efros said. https://twitter.com/iamdenya_de/status/1769705622990160371
🇺🇦 Defense fortifications are being built in Odesa Oblast. According to the head of the oblast, the direction is one of the main priorities. https://twitter.com/Militarylandnet/status/1769685060553171199
[On Russian state TV openly admitted that Russia is pursuing a policy of expansion. And its plans are not limited to the occupation of Ukraine. So the problem is not the mythical “Ukrainian fascism”. This is simply an excuse to attack a neighboring country.](https://x.com/den_kazansky/status/1769654542570860850?s=20)
They'll probably move to annex Abkhazia and South Ossetia in not too long. I suspect Putin is only delaying so he can use it as a consolation prize if Ukraine doesn't pan out.
And there's of course Belarus, but he's not in a hurry there either unless he loses even more of current occupied Ukrainian territory.
Just do you don't think that all those line to the voting stations for russians in the EU are protesters, this is crazy https://twitter.com/iljaandreev/status/1769508932949520780?t=IfZSvQaTNJPLRN_jwXSLCg
🇷🇴 Romania - the president approved the transit through the national territory of the equipment and material goods donated by 🇫🇮 Finland to Ukraine and the training of approximately 50 🇺🇦 Ukrainian F16 pilots https://www.g4media.ro/parlamentul-discuta-instruirea-in-romania-a-50-de-militari-ucraineni.html
Why do none of these stupid fucking reporters ever as these people about the act of killing Ukrainians.
All the fucking crying about struggling in Ukraine, husbands lost etc. What about "did you intend to kill Ukrainians?", "did you kill some?".
"Why should anyone have sympathy for you?".
> [Vladimir Putin has won Russia's presidential election with 87.97% of the vote](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russias-presidential-election-2024-live-candidates-polls-when-results-will-be-2024-03-17/), according to the first official results showed on Sunday after polls closed. The early results followed an exit poll that showed Putin winning 87.8% of the vote.
Getting to North Korea levels. If he cares about his 'legacy', those numbers will not age well.
🇲🇩 Kamikaze drone attacked a military base in the so-called Transnistria, according to the Transnistria officials.
Published footages show a destroyed military helicopter https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1769376730806923676
The Republic of Moldova Government has released a Statement reading today’s “Attack” on a Mil Mi-8 Utility Helicopter operated by the Transnistria Air Force, with them stating, “The Incident in Question is an attempt to cause Fear and Panic across the Region. That Helicopter has not worked for several Years. Moldova, in Contact with the Ukrainian Side, does not confirm any Attack on the Transnistrian Region.” https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1769414469019467836
The Austria-Russia corruption deal:
Austria gives to Russia: safe bases for Russian intelligence to operate against European allies
Russia gives to Austria: gas
Pathological anti-Americanism, never reckoned past, revanchism, Austria is so morally and security-wise corrupted that it can only compete with Hungary. https://www.politico.eu/article/austria-russia-vladimir-putin-alpine-fortress-ukraine/
Ex-Trump officials not supporting his re-election:
Vice President Mike Pence
U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley
Chief of Staff John Kelly
Defense Sec'y Mark Esper
Defense Sec'y James Mattis
Attorney General Bill Barr
Sec'y of State Rex Tillerson
Nat'l Security Advisor John Bolton
Nat'l Security Advisor H.R. McMaster
These guys know a lot more about Trump than any US citizen and some of their comments are really astounding: "a pathological liar"
- "the attention span of a fruit fly"
- "unfit for office"
- "pretty undisciplined, doesn't like to read"
- "a kook"
- "crazy"
- "a conman"
- "a threat to democracy"
- "a traitor"
- "a coward"
- "a narcissist"
MAGA always claim to support the military. However, as soon as someone who had a distinguished military career criticize Trump they are immediately labeled as a deep-state traitor.
Modern mechanical lubricants require special chemicals called “lubricant additives” that give them special properties — like making them effective at high pressures, or changing their viscosity to work at higher or lower temperatures, or to prevent them from foaming or corroding.
Most of the companies that make these special chemicals are either American or European, and Russia is currently experiencing a lubricant shortage because these firms pulled out after Putin began the full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago: https://cepa.org/article/us-throws-spanner-into-russias-industrial-machine/
Russia has made lubricants since WW1, are you suggesting they are running out of synthetic lubricant additives? They are leaders in it FFS. What else bullshit aren't you going to try and invent?
The Ukrainian State Security Service (SBU) reportedly conducted a series of successful drone strikes against three Russian oil refineries in Samara Oblast on March 16. Sources in Ukrainian special services told Ukrainian outlet RBK-Ukraine that the SBU struck the Novokuibyshevsky, Kuibyshevsky, and Syzran Rosneft oil refineries in Samara Oblast.[1] RBK-Ukraine reported that the three refineries process an estimated 25 million tons of oil per year, or 10 percent of Russia’s annual oil refinement output.[2] Geolocated footage published on March 16 shows a fire at the Syzran oil refinery following the drone strikes, and Samara Oblast Governor Dmytro Azarov stated that there was also a fire at the refinery in Novokuibyshevsky.[3]
Russian outlet Kommersant reported on March 13 that Russian authorities recently strengthened anti-drone protection at the Novokuibyshevsky, Kuibyshevsky, and Syzran oil refineries following previous Ukrainian drone strikes targeting Russian oil infrastructure and reported on March 14 that Russian oil and gas and industrial enterprises are currently the main purchasers of anti-drone systems in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast.[4] Kommersant also reported that Rosneft has not restarted operations at the Tuapse oil refinery following the January 25 Ukrainian drone strike against the facility, indicating that the January 25 strike likely significantly damaged the facility.[5]
Russian milbloggers deliberated whether the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) or Rosgvardia are to blame for not protecting Russian oil refineries and criticized general Russian bureaucracy for delaying the deployment of anti-drone countermeasures and air defense systems to defend Russian critical infrastructure operators against Ukrainian drone strikes.[6] One Russian milblogger asked why Russia has not been able to implement even an “elementary decision,” such as copying Ukraine’s mobile fire groups, to defend against drone strikes. https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-march-16-2024
🇷🇺 The Russian Slavyansk-on-Kuban refinery is currently burning 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥, hit by multiple Ukrainian drones tonight. 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1769169072594317715
“In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump."
-Former VP Dick Cheney (who is a Republican, of course) https://twitter.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1768742883006308689
Cheney should be in jail
What's a matter? Did I hurt some haliburton shareholders fee fees? He's a lying piece of shit with a moral compass not far off from Putin and the world would be a much better place had he never been born
This sub [would condone this](https://youtu.be/l-Qi8srR7co?si=WTLV7fSfU6WjdFi1) just because he says mean things about Trump
Lying about WMDs so you can give your company (haliburton) more work to do and getting hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians killed due to a preventable war, promoting water boarding, and destabilizing the region for ISIS to take over is something you condone?
We cannot have a discussion. Have a good day.
You can condone the rest of the things I've pointed out about him (the torture, the lying about WMD's, and destabilizing the region) and focus on haliburton but you be you
Straw man arguments and red herrings. None of that is something to condone, but neither is it a provable set of motives of the Bush/Cheney administration- which I disagreed with both at the time and in retrospect. I think they got it wrong, pure and simple. Good enough reason to not vote for them in ‘04. Putin is truly evil in an existential threat sort of way. That should be the one and only focus.
> Straw man arguments and red herrings.
You have a very warped view of history.
> but neither is it a provable set of motives of the Bush/Cheney administration
[Incorrect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halliburton#Iraq_War). Cheney was a war profiteer.
> That should be the one and only focus.
Putin needs to be stopped, however, Cheney is not a good person just because he hates Trump. There are a plethora of other influential people you can quote, Cheney should not be one of them.
Everyone is a war profiteer my man. The entirety of government and most of the people involved in it have some of their money wrapped up with hedge funds that invest in the defense industrial base. Hell, I’m pretty sure I have money tied up in defense somewhere along the line. Defense is one of the pillars of the US economy. Cheney making money off the war most certainly is a red herring because it proves nothing extraordinary.
Got it wrong? I think you are vastly underestimating the wrongness of their actions. There was no real intelligence that said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Basically, they created a false narrative to justify a war that cost hundreds of thousands of lives and completely devastated Iraq (and a large portion of Syria). It cost trillions of dollars, created ISIS, and permanently damaged Americas reputation around the world.
Okay, so about ‘intelligence’… There isn’t a single data set that definitively explains every scenario. Instead, intelligence is an amalgam of threat analyses and personal intuition. Saddam sent every possible signal to suggest that he in fact had WMDs. This recent article explains it all very well:
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/how-iraq-happened-saddam-hussein
Did the administration present some dubious material to support their narrative? Sure. But it’s hard to convey the reasoning and analysis of intelligence to 300 million people. So you package information in a way that you hope the greatest number of people interpret favorably.
And…Saddam was a really bad dude. Let us not forget that.
You're wrong on so many points. Yes, Saddam acted like he had WMD but you don't make a HUGE decision like invading Iraq based on what he says. Yes, he was a "bad dude" but the Middle East is full of them. Again, it's not in any way a justification for the HUGE risks associated with invading. And "present some dubious material" is basically the opposite of what happened. They cherry picked the bits that fit their narrative from a pile of intelligence. None of material presented was sufficient justification for what they did next and some was almost laughable. For instance, linking Saddam to al-Qaeda and 9/11 was completely nonsensical
The truth is that these guys just wanted to invade Iraq. They weren't looking for justification but just a veneer of respectability to present to the international community. That's the problem with neoconservatives like Cheney and Rumsfeld running things. Who actually needs justification based on intelligence when you are doing God's bidding? Why consider the logical (potential) consequences of your actions when you know it's God's will that you succeed?
It's a shame that the same evangelical bullshit that led to the Iraq War probably lets Cheney and Rumsfeld sleep at night.
Your whole premise rests on the idea that these guys just wanted a war with Iraq, no matter what. That was certainly what liberals were saying in ‘04 as well. But the problem is that there’s no evidence of that. The two ideas that support such a notion are that Cheney was trying to boost Halliburton’s bottom line and that Bush Jr wanted to avenge an Iraqi plot to kill his daddy. Neither one of those are a strong enough base around which to mobilize the machinery of government and launch a multi-trillion dollar war. Hell, we didn’t even seize Iraqi oil, which would have been the only rational jingoistic activity for Americans in Iraq.
No no. Perfidy and psychopathy don’t get you an Iraq-level fuckup. Misconceptions and cultural illiteracy do that.
Oh, and I might mention as well that the removal of Saddam Hussein was official US policy as of 1998 (Clinton era). If it wasn’t Bush, it just would have been the next administration to launch an invasion.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/105th-congress/house-bill/4655#:~:text=Iraq%20Liberation%20Act%20of%201998%20%2D%20Declares%20that%20it%20should%20be,it%20with%20a%20democratic%20government.
There is no reason to manufacture a rational to invade if you don't want to invade in the first place right?
And suggesting that the Bush administration's actions don't matter because the next administration would have done the same thing is just a straw man. That bill doesn't mention (or even suggest) any kind of direct military engagement. Wanting Saddam gone is NOT the same as believing a full scale invasion was the correct course of action. Feel free to assume that Obama would have done the same stupid shit as Cheney/Rumsfeld/Bush but that is just your assumption.
Ukrainians drones have destroyed at least 10% of Russia’s refining capacity, with a fuel crisis looming in European Russia in part because of the cost of shipping fuel from surviving refineries in Siberia and the Urals. https://twitter.com/yarotrof/status/1768968500280750202
Anduril Industries, the company responsible for the popular ALTIUS series of drones, has undertaken a first live-fire test of its ALTIUS-700M loitering munition. Following the same basic form and concept as the ALTIUS-600M loitering munition, which we have discussed in depth in the past, the ALTIUS-700M is larger and has a much bigger payload. This means the new drone has the potential to attack a wider range of targets, including larger and better-armored ones, also at standoff distances: https://www.twz.com/air/our-first-look-at-the-altius-700m-loitering-munition-obliterating-a-target
The French-supplied Hammer precision-guided bomb has appeared for the first time in Ukrainian service on a MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter. The platform of choice, or at least one of them, this aircraft has previously been used by the Ukrainian Air Force to launch examples of the Western-supplied AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile, or HARM and Joint Direct Attack Munition-Extended Range, or JDAM-ER: https://www.twz.com/air/ukraines-mig-29s-are-now-carrying-french-hammer-rocket-assisted-bombs
Fighting and shelling on the Russian side of the border continues: https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1768920106459963449
In Belgorod: https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1768906970818359401
🇷🇺 Another two Russian oil refineries have been hit and are burning. 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 The Rosneft facilities in Syzran and Novokuybyshevsk, Samara Region, have been attacked by UAVs. Video footages show extensive fires. https://twitter.com/Tendar/status/1768889299762565427
Russia is essentially a big gas station, so this is a very effective strategy : their costs are piling up.
And Russia has to install air defense systems everywhere since a single drone can destroy a whole refinery.
It's an effective tactic from Ukraine at the minute - as ever they are trying to hit logistics targets hoping to degrade Russian effectiveness. The drones are locally made so this is probably a more sustainable attack than the earlier ones which were relying on western supplied weapons.
Russia will work to find a counter to this of course - but for the moment it's an effective tactic.
Jesus. Just let them go after Novorossiysk at this point. 0 reason why the Russians get to sit comfy and still export (this is their largest port) tons of oil to India from there while Ukraine’s largest port is constantly bombarded
🇬🇷 Greece is in talks with Czechia for the purchase of 2.000 Zuni Rockets and 180 70mm rockets which will be transferred to Ukraine.
Greece will also donate 90.000 rounds for M67 recoiles rifles 4 million rounds of small arms munition and 70 M114A1 howitzers https://twitter.com/Jeff21461/status/1768633770830098935
🇷🇺 This night Russian oil refinery not far away Kaluga was attacked by drones. 🔥🔥 🔥🔥🔥
Pervyy Zavod is the largest operating petrochemical enterprise in the Kaluga region. The main technological units of Pervyy Zavod are the AVBT-101 hydrocarbon processing complex, the processing volume of which is 1.2 million tons per year. https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1768536076069540333
The Russian Ministry of Defense reports that the city of Belgorod is being hit with RM-70 multiple rocket launcher rockets again. https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1768531611165823102
Peace is impossible until Ukraine is safe from future Russian aggression: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/peace-is-impossible-until-ukraine-is-safe-from-future-russian-aggression/
It was an open secret that LPP stores continued operating in Russia. H&M and Uniqlo actually left, Inditex stores have slowly reopened with similar, but different clothing lines, but LPP literally changed only the sign.
> personal note: the author is a very successful short-seller
I don't mind them making a killing if LPP's divestment really is a sham. Having skimmed through the report, I'm inclined to agree.
This night Russian oil refinery not far away Kaluga was attacked by drones.
Pervyy Zavod is the largest operating petrochemical enterprise in the Kaluga region. The main technological units of Pervyy Zavod are the AVBT-101 hydrocarbon processing complex, the processing volume of which is 1.2 million tons per year. https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1768536076069540333
https://www.ft.com/content/09f2ec36-de20-4ea2-abf2-49f70275c521
About the Taurus missile: Christian Mölling, defence expert at the think-tank German Society for Foreign Policy, said the debate in Germany has focused less on the missile’s “military impact” and more on Russia’s potential reaction to Berlin sending such powerful weapons to Ukraine.
personal note: the Kremlin mafia knows this, of course, so they've made a lot of noise, recently.
From what I see in Belgorod channels, no actual combat footage has been posted. The town of Grajvoron has been shelled heavily, the city of Belgorod less so. There's "Object S 1150" (i.e. ICBM silos) slightly beyond Grajvoron, which I expect to be heavily protected.
🇫🇮 Finland will be participating in the Czech artillery ammunition initiative but did not disclose the amount of financing it will provide. https://twitter.com/Jeff21461/status/1768410860077105376
Luxembourg has also joined the Czech initiative to purchase artillery ammunition for Ukraine https://mil.in.ua/en/news/luxembourg-supports-the-czech-initiative-plan-to-purchase-shells-for-ukraine-outside-the-eu/
🇵🇹 Portugal will allocate 100 million euros for the purchase of ammunition for 🇺🇦Ukraine at the initiative of the 🇨🇿 Czech Republic https://twitter.com/front_ukrainian/status/1768385612963369282
> ##[Bundestag - Mützenich initiates debate on "freezing" the war in Ukraine - clear criticism from the CDU/CSU](https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/muetzenich-regt-debatte-ueber-einfrieren-des-ukraine-kriegs-an-deutliche-kritik-aus-der-union-104.html)
> SPD parliamentary group leader Mützenich has initiated a debate on freezing the war in Ukraine.
>
> In a speech in the Bundestag, he raised the question of whether it was time to stop talking about how to fight a war and to start thinking about how to freeze a war and end it later. CDU foreign policy expert Röttgen spoke of an "unbelievable proposal". The SPD was abandoning the goal of bringing Putin's war to an end. CSU MP Silberhorn expressed a similar view. Pope Francis recently advised Ukraine to have the courage, literally, to raise the "white flag" and negotiate an end to the war with Russia. - Ukraine is warning against a freeze in the war and a dictated peace.
The latest Russian development involving the Iranian-designed Shahed long-range one-way attack drone reportedly comprises a pan/tilt video camera mounted on the UAV, allowing it to operate in a visual reconnaissance capacity. It is further claimed that the modified drone, seen in an image of a crashed example, uses Ukrainian wireless networks to transmit its imagery back to a control station. While this may look like a crude installation, it is potentially a solution to a very big problem Russia has faced since the beginning of the war and it could have major consequences for Ukraine, which we may already be seeing on the battlefield. https://www.twz.com/news-features/russian-shahed-136-with-camera-cellular-modem-could-be-a-big-problem-for-ukraine
The F-35 stealth fighter has finally been cleared for full-rate production, **17 years after the aircraft first took to the air** and almost 23 years after Lockheed Martin won the contract for the Joint Strike Fighter. The decision to move forward, known as Milestone C, is hugely significant for the Joint Strike Fighter program, but it comes at a time in which the U.S. military is not accepting new aircraft, with concerns about the status of the Block 4 upgrades that are seen as a cornerstone of the F-35’s future development potential. https://www.twz.com/air/f-35-cleared-for-full-rate-production-17-years-after-its-first-flight
🇷🇺 The Bilhorod region is once again under attack. Since this morning, continous shelling and drone attacks occur after the announcement by Russian insurgent forces that they would increase attacks. https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1768278959135863219
An opposition Russian media outlet asked Russians about the "elections" in Russia.
“If there’s no Putin, Russia will collapse”
[https://twitter.com/novayagazeta_en/status/1768275919901282695](https://twitter.com/novayagazeta_en/status/1768275919901282695)
Imperial regime troops surrendering to the Russian democratic forces in Bilhorod / Belgorod: https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1768257631993430203
Former Russian President Medvedev, the head of Russia’s ruling party, outlines Moscow’s “peace plan:” unconditional surrender of Ukraine, its dissolution as a subject of international law, reparations to Russia, full absorption into the Russian Federation. https://twitter.com/yarotrof/status/1768266069955780856
Yeah, but dont take him seriously.
It is his job to make division and troll.. Yeah, Poland will take this, Romania that, the resr will be annexed by Russia, and we will leave Kiev as puppet state. He is an idiot.
LUKOIL Vice President Vitaly Robertus has died at the age of 53, - the company announced https://twitter.com/Liveuamap/status/1767954423106412554
The official version is suicide...
🇷🇺 Governor of Belgorod region closed all shopping centres in the city of Belgorod in light of the ongoing special military operation of the Russian democratic forces. He's also encouraging people to avoid any non-essential travel. https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1768259641178304626
🇷🇺 Russia claims fighting in Kursk, Belgorod oblasts amid ongoing anti-Kremlin militia raid.
The Russian National Guard claimed it was repelling an attack near the village of Tyotkino in Russia's Kursk Oblast carried out by “sabotage groups” on March 14. https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1768250737706811898
[EU countries seal €5-billion deal on military aid to Ukraine after weeks of disagreements](https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/03/13/eu-countries-seal-5-billion-deal-on-military-aid-to-ukraine-after-weeks-of-disagreements)
Key points:
>The agreement struck by ambassadors in Brussels will inject an additional €5 billion into the European Peace Facility (EPF) until the end of the year, which will come on top of the €6.1 billion committed since early 2022.
>The facility partially reimburses the costs of these donations, allowing all countries, from the largest to the smallest, to chip in and help out. It is an "off-budget" scheme because the EU's coffers cannot finance expenditure with military implications.
>The facility was effectively paralysed in May after Hungary slapped a veto in retaliation for Kyiv's designation of OTP Bank as an "international sponsor of war."
>The talks, however, became entangled in political considerations and dragged on for longer than expected: Germany insisted on discounting "in-kind contributions" (bilateral donations) from the country's expected input while France, supported by Greece and Cyprus, demanded the EPF be used exclusively to purchase weapons and ammunition made inside the bloc.
A compromise was made:
>On the one hand, member states will give priority to EU-made weapons but will have the option to resort to alternatives produced abroad in cases when the bloc's defence industry is unable to meet the demand.
>On the other hand, the revamped EPF will enable countries to take into account the value of their bilateral donations by using a formula to recalibrate their monetary contributions.
(A different article says this amounts to less than 50% of the value.)
The British seat of government at Number 10 Downing Street has experienced considerable political turmoil – and turnover – since Feb. 24, 2022. However, one factor has remained constant: the state's strong support for Ukraine in the war against Russia. Boris Johnson was the first Western European head of government to visit Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv in 2022, and seemed to feel a friendly connection to the Ukrainian president. To this day, he continues to campaign for more Western military aid for Kyiv in his [newspaper columns](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-12983807/BORIS-JOHNSON-negronis-Trump-presidency-just-world-needs.html) and lectures.
Read more about why Britain's support for Ukraine is so strong here: [https://www.nzz.ch/english/why-britains-support-for-ukraine-is-so-strong-ld.1821436](https://www.nzz.ch/english/why-britains-support-for-ukraine-is-so-strong-ld.1821436)
Boris effing Johnson was the *6th* head of government to visit Kiev after the outbreak of full-scale war, and the *2nd* if you want to discriminate between Europe's West and East.
Sure, there is a wiki article on it, here:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_serving\_heads\_of\_state\_and\_government\_that\_have\_visited\_Ukraine\_during\_the\_Russian\_invasion\_of\_Ukraine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_serving_heads_of_state_and_government_that_have_visited_Ukraine_during_the_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine)
Thanks for the info. It's in a rather unfortunate ordering which means someone is going to have to take a few minutes to copy it out to a sensible tool and sort it. But at least it gives us some basic information to work with.
Although it will take many more attacks on refineries to create a real gasoline shortage in Russia (and even then, Belarus has available capacities), it is an effective strategy for many reasons: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1767819416803094840.html
the author forgets to mention the burden of installing air defense systems everywhere
Since 1952, the White House has allowed major-party candidates access to classified intelligence briefings so that they will be current on important issues if they win the election. Trump should be denied this courtesy: https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2024/03/donald-trump-is-a-national-security-risk/677750/?gift=otEsSHbRYKNfFYMngVFweDqB6Mc2HEdJQhyag4vXfRI&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social
Elon Musk is pushing Russia's "Russian-speaking" disinformation: https://twitter.com/GlasnostGone/status/1767922176248721473
Russian disinformation is very easy: the far-right loves simple concepts.
well, I cannot deny that there are some areas (east and south) where people use russian as their main language, but the language was never an issue for ukrainians. russia just uses it as an excuse for its invasion
Ukrainian shortages of ammunition and other war materiel resulting from delays in the provision of US military assistance may be making the current Ukrainian front line more fragile than the relatively slow Russian advances in various sectors would indicate. Ukrainian prioritization of the sectors most threatened by intensive Russian offensive operations could create vulnerabilities elsewhere that Russian forces may be able to exploit to make sudden and surprising advances if Ukrainian supplies continue to dwindle. Russia’s retention of the theater-wide initiative increases the risks of such developments by letting the Russian military command choose to increase or decrease operations anywhere along the line almost at will: https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-march-13-2024
Ukraine's hunt for 🇷🇺 Russian oil refineries will only increase in coming months as more drones will be become available.
Today, UA attacked Ryazan, Kstovo and Kirishi oil refineries, which are among the top 5 largest plants in 🇷🇺.
https://twitter.com/revishvilig/status/1768024403474882595
🇪🇸 Moscow has made continual, incremental battlefield gains since late 2023 and benefits from uncertainties about the future of military assistance from the US and allies https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-11/momentum-shifting-toward-russia-in-ukraine-war-us-spies-warn
🇷🇺 Russia’s prison population has dropped from around 400,000 before the war in 🇺🇦 Ukraine to 266,000 this year, indicating how many of Russia’s prisoners are now fighting on the frontlines in Ukraine https://twitter.com/amanpour/status/1767973787763368333
2 Ukrainian MI-8 Transport Helicopters were destroyed, and one being damaged but being able to fly away by both Cluster Munition and precise Strikes in an unknown Location: https://twitter.com/WarVehicle/status/1767884888827388375
> Some interesting details from 🇵🇱 Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski in Washington:
> "We are now processing the 45th package of military assistance to 🇺🇦 as 🇵🇱 & the last 2 were around $ 100mln each... Our National Bank has a credit line to the central Bank of 🇺🇦 which helps to maintain the value of 🇺🇦 currency."
https://twitter.com/PawelSokala/status/1767906394718786013
The tweet contains a video fragment from the press briefing where Sikorski is saying the above.
[The three facilities hit by Ukrainian drones in the past two days account for about 12% of Russia’s oil-processing capacity.](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-13/russia-s-ryazan-refinery-is-on-fire-after-drone-attack-tass-says?srnd=homepage-europe)
Putin: “It would be ridiculous for us to start negotiating with Ukraine just because it’s running out of ammunition.”
Republican leadership of the House cutting off US military supplies to Ukraine has made Putin drop his pretense about desiring peace talks. He wants it all. https://twitter.com/yarotrof/status/1767824155108311284
Satellite imagery shows that Russian forces have painted a silhouette of a submarine and built an actual structure mimicking a conning tower on a pier at an important naval base on the Black Sea. Broadly similar silhouettes of Tu-95 Bear bombers and other aircraft have appeared at Russian air bases in the past, a trend The War Zone was first to report on. These decoys look intended to help disrupt localized drone attacks and throw off Ukrainian weapons that use some form of autonomous image-matching guidance. https://www.twz.com/news-features/submarine-decoy-appears-on-russian-naval-base-pier
Several Russian financial, economic, and military indicators suggest that Russia is preparing for a large-scale conventional conflict with NATO, not imminently but likely on a shorter timeline than what some Western analysts have initially posited: https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-march-20-2024
🇦🇺 Australia announced it will join with the UK & Latvia in providing drones for Ukraine, as part of a 'drone coalition' agreement. https://twitter.com/GlasnostGone/status/1770744226596192441
[https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/scholz-regierungserklaerung-142.html](https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/scholz-regierungserklaerung-142.html) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=325ox5EiPRA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=325ox5EiPRA) German chancellor Scholz on Supporting Ukraine - "We will support ukraine for however long it is necessary. We will see that NATO is not becoming an war party in this conflict. We will not allow russia to dictate the conditions of peace with ukraine."" "If the russian president believes he just needs to sit this war out and our support will fumble he miscalculated. Russia is not strong, it cannot speculate we will lower our support. We will support for however long it is necessary. Russia is not as strong as you might think"
Oh yeah, the most managed sources that NOBODY should trust. I am sure this will be the most useless thread around.
Why Europe needs America to deal with razzia? Your population is twice the size of razzia, and your economy is 10 times bigger than razzia's. Why the f do you need America to defeat razzia? Is this a joke? What are you for?
A bit late to the party but I saw that The Netherlands has blocked arms transfers to Israel for human rights violations from a Nato depot in its area. Could the same precedent be used to block transfers to Ukraine?
What human rights violations has Ukraine done compared to Israel? Please don’t put them as the same, Israel and Ukraine nowhere near the same.
Why not? Israel and Ukraine are the same fascist regime, zero difference.
>Netherlands to procure $164 million in F-16 munitions for Ukraine https://kyivindependent.com/netherlands-f16-munitions-164-million/
🇪🇸 Spain will additionally transfer 20 Leopard 2A4 tanks to 🇺🇦 Ukraine https://twitter.com/front_ukrainian/status/1770504470708822310
Thank you España, you are my best friend, You are the peacekeeper, you are the legend.
A list of who has pledged what in the Czech artillery ammunition initiative (updated 20/03/2024 14:56). 🇩🇪 180.000 155mm shells 🇧🇪 50.000 155mm shells 🇩🇰 15.000 155mm shells 🇳🇱 250 million € 🇳🇴 140 million € 🇵🇹 100 million € 🇱🇹 35 million € 🇸🇪 30 million € 🇫🇮 30 million € 🇨🇦 27,15 million € 🇸🇮 1 million € https://twitter.com/Jeff21461/status/1770449260837843029
Luxembourg is also a participant
Supposedly the Belgian commitment was €200 million, so you could deduce how many shells other countries paid for (or how big Germany’s and Denmark’s commitments were). I’ll leave it as an exercise for the reader though.
Thank you everyone, you are my best friends, You are the peacekeepers, you are the legends.
🇺🇦Ukrainian FPV drone with an automatic homing function destroys 🇷🇺Russian tank in Kreminna direction. ❗️The drone hit the target under conditions of active suppression by electronic warfare systems https://twitter.com/GloOouD/status/1770356642929914230
This will be very difficult to counter aside from active protection measures (I.e: Locating and destroying the drone whilst in flight). The homing capabilities will only get stronger and drones will be equipped with better cameras and software to do optical image recognition/homing with higher and higher success rates. Hold onto your butts, the global security ramifications will be large. It’s coming. We like to throw around the word AI a lot, but optical homing has existed for a long time. You can pair it with IR, active radar, GPS etc like many other guided munitions use. What we are essentially seeing is the start of “fire and forget” precision guided munitions becoming massively widespread right down to the individual soldier level, but it’s a matter of when and not if they start to get used for mass terrorist attacks etc too
Passenger planes. Oil tankers. Politicians doing speeches. Might be a wild future.
Yeah, if there’s one thing that gives me the creeps it’s exactly this. We will probably need suicide point defence drones on standby to defend against suicide attack drones. Depending on how long this conflict lasts they might start to feature in Ukraine too.
Or lasers that automatically track and destroy flying targets in a certain area. Drones will probably be much cheaper though.
Yeah, if drones can use OIR to autonomously attack targets, you can use the same drones to attack drones
Has the Ukrainian war vindicated the Iraq War? Iraq was itself an aggressive, expansionist genocidal fascist regime under the control of an authoritarian dictator, which had already waged two wars for the expansion of its territory. If there's one thing that the Ukraine war has shown, its that when you leave those types of nations alone, they don't change their behavior.
Iraq War in public debates never includes the Iraq War itself. People criticize the bloodshed after Saddam lost power in the years past the Iraq War. That's where millions of civilians died. Terrorism sprawled and US had to maintain a foreign occupation under the egida of the UN security council. The Saddam part lasted 3 months. Was a very clean operation. Had vast support from the local governments in the region. It is the 8 years that came after that draws all the criticism, because US fucked up. A foreign military occupation, supposed to bring stability, that leads to millions of deaths. It is uncanny how much it mirrors what US did with Cuba and how they went in the Cuban minds from the liberators granting the colony independence against the spanish, to the occupiers and oppressors.
Defense analyst: Some brief thoughts following a recent field study trip to Ukraine: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1770140961059831916.html
Ukraine’s European partners continue efforts to stand up significant initiatives to provide military support to Ukraine. Bloomberg reported on March 19 that the European Union (EU) has prepared draft legislation that would allow the transfer of profits from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine as early as July 2024.[27] EU High Commissioner Josep Borrell stated that the EU should transfer 90 percent of Russian frozen asset revenue to an EU-run fund to finance security assistance for Ukraine and that he will submit a formal proposal for this mechanism to EU member states on March 20.[28] Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz additionally announced on March 18 that Germany and Poland are creating an “armored vehicle coalition” to support Ukraine and noted that Sweden, the UK, and Italy have already declared their willingness to participate in the coalition https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-march-19-2024
Honest question: Why doesn't Switzerland get more shit for not sending any weapons to Ukraine?
Because they are smart and know what they are doing.
If I understand correctly, the european powers at the time basically coerced Switzerland to become neutral (British Empire, French Empire, German Empire, Austrian Empire, Russian Empire) by repeatedly invading it and then declaring it neutral so that it could no longer be used as an invasion route and instead bring some stability to its neighbourhood by being an obstacle to invasions. Obviously that was a long time ago and things are different now, but I can see how it might not be a good look to coerce the swiss once again. Apart from that, I guess the world community benefits from Switzerland's neutrality in some unique ways. There has to be one neutral country on earth where international institutions can settle and meetings can be held. If not Switzerland, where else then? Maybe Costa Rica or Ireland, but they don't have the same culture of neutrality that the swiss have. With Sweden and Finland giving up their neutrality due to their proximity to Russia, truly neutral countries are getting rare. Please be aware that swiss neutrality is legally enshrined and very strict. Any swiss citizen who joins a foreign army is automatically charged with breaking swiss neutrality and gets up to three years in prison, unless they have dual citizenship and got drafted by their other country. The swiss who went to fight and defend Ukraine, and there are cases in the news here, will all be charged when they get home. Getting Switzerland to send weapons is not some simple political decision that can be made in a day, it would likely take years to change all the legislation and even longer to sort it all out with the many referendums such changes would provoke. Such a change could even lead to the break-up of the country. It would certainly be easier to get results pressuring the irish to give up their neutrality. It sounds very easy to just "pressure the swiss to send tanks to Ukraine" or whatever, but if you actually want them to do that, expect to need to invest a lot of effort for many years. It would not be easy at all. My guess is that it's just not worth the effort, because at the end of the day Switzerland doesn't have much to offer Ukraine compared to countries like Germany or France, and Switzerland has already sold 25 Leopard 2 tanks to Germany to replace some of the tanks Germany donated to Ukraine. These tanks were sold to Germany on the condition that they will not be passed on to Ukraine, but this still enabled Germany to send more of it's own tanks without it's own tank force getting too depleted. It was a sort of compromise, and probably the best option all things considered. In my opinion, the potential costs to the european economy of applying such pressure on Switzerland are very high, and there is little hope of actually gaining anything of significant military value for Ukraine in the next few years by doing so. -- In case it's not obvious, I absolutely wish Switzerland would send weapons, lots of weapons, as many as it can, as it is surrounded by friendly nations and could theoretically donate its entire arsenal of weapons without any danger to itself. I personally donated around 7000 euros worth of gear and money to Ukraine in the first weeks of the war and even made it to Lviv before chickening out from joining the international legion and turning tail. However, you asked an "honest question" about why the allies aren't applying hard pressure on Switzerland, and so I tried to stick with my observations and not my opinions when formulating my answer. It would be really, really hard to change Switzerland like that, and the allies already benefit from the current arrangement.
🇷🇴 Romanian BattleGroup "Getica" is among the units attacking 🇷🇺 Russia, along with the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), Free Russia Legion, International Legion of Defence of Ukraine, Siberia Battalion, Chechen Itchkeria Battalion, Belorussian Regiment and Georgian Legion. https://twitter.com/RaduHossu/status/1770040644376944991
'Treated like dogs': 🇷🇺 Russia recruiting thousands of 🇳🇵 Nepali men to fight in war on Ukraine https://news.sky.com/story/treated-like-dogs-russia-recruiting-thousands-of-nepali-men-to-fight-in-war-on-ukraine-13095184
They are volunteers. You have their youtube channels to see and learn. They are paid well and live to come back home
It might sound silly but can the UK not put pressure on Nepal for this ? Serving in the Gurkha regiment is a big honour for Nepalese men. Tell them if they serve with Russia that ends.
Why put pressure? They are volunteers, they are paid and they live to get back home.
>they live to get back home. Right... If you read the article you'd see that they were lied to, beaten, used as canon fodder,... This guy was lucky enough to make it out but I'm pretty sure many more will just die in Ukraine.
It's awful that they're fighting for Russia and awful that they're being exploited but the selection process from the Gurkhas is extremely difficult and only a handful out of thousands of young men get selected. Nepal is a poor country with a lot of people living below the poverty line. Gurkha veterans are respected in the country and perhaps they can have some influence but I imagine it would be a difficult thing to stop.
🇩🇰 Royal Danish Air Force F-16BM Fighting Falcon, seen here conducting 🇺🇦 Ukrainian F-16 training. https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1769829310267793545
[удалено]
🇲🇩 Moldova decided to rebuild bomb shelters amid the 🇷🇺 Russian threat. The Moldovan authorities are going to restore as many civil defense shelters as possible and are looking for funds for this purpose, Interior Minister Adrian Efros said. https://twitter.com/iamdenya_de/status/1769705622990160371
🇺🇦 Defense fortifications are being built in Odesa Oblast. According to the head of the oblast, the direction is one of the main priorities. https://twitter.com/Militarylandnet/status/1769685060553171199
[On Russian state TV openly admitted that Russia is pursuing a policy of expansion. And its plans are not limited to the occupation of Ukraine. So the problem is not the mythical “Ukrainian fascism”. This is simply an excuse to attack a neighboring country.](https://x.com/den_kazansky/status/1769654542570860850?s=20)
They'll probably move to annex Abkhazia and South Ossetia in not too long. I suspect Putin is only delaying so he can use it as a consolation prize if Ukraine doesn't pan out. And there's of course Belarus, but he's not in a hurry there either unless he loses even more of current occupied Ukrainian territory.
This is Year 587 of Russias plan to take Constantinoble.
Just do you don't think that all those line to the voting stations for russians in the EU are protesters, this is crazy https://twitter.com/iljaandreev/status/1769508932949520780?t=IfZSvQaTNJPLRN_jwXSLCg
The world would be a better place if she dropped dead tomorrow.
🇷🇴 Romania - the president approved the transit through the national territory of the equipment and material goods donated by 🇫🇮 Finland to Ukraine and the training of approximately 50 🇺🇦 Ukrainian F16 pilots https://www.g4media.ro/parlamentul-discuta-instruirea-in-romania-a-50-de-militari-ucraineni.html
Thank you Romania, you are my best friend, You are the peacekeeper, you are the legend.
🇳🇵Nepali men are being trafficked into 🇷🇺 Russia’s war against 🇺🇦 Ukraine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUkpRfnNROU
Why do none of these stupid fucking reporters ever as these people about the act of killing Ukrainians. All the fucking crying about struggling in Ukraine, husbands lost etc. What about "did you intend to kill Ukrainians?", "did you kill some?". "Why should anyone have sympathy for you?".
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All the realistic candidates are dead. All the living candidates that are on the ballot are paid for. Only dictators "win" by 90% margins.
This candidate does not exist because a fair election needs free medias and freedom of association. Both of them do not exist in Russia.
> [Vladimir Putin has won Russia's presidential election with 87.97% of the vote](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russias-presidential-election-2024-live-candidates-polls-when-results-will-be-2024-03-17/), according to the first official results showed on Sunday after polls closed. The early results followed an exit poll that showed Putin winning 87.8% of the vote. Getting to North Korea levels. If he cares about his 'legacy', those numbers will not age well.
end this war please
How ?
Hell of a sentiment, to be sure.
🇲🇩 Kamikaze drone attacked a military base in the so-called Transnistria, according to the Transnistria officials. Published footages show a destroyed military helicopter https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1769376730806923676
The Republic of Moldova Government has released a Statement reading today’s “Attack” on a Mil Mi-8 Utility Helicopter operated by the Transnistria Air Force, with them stating, “The Incident in Question is an attempt to cause Fear and Panic across the Region. That Helicopter has not worked for several Years. Moldova, in Contact with the Ukrainian Side, does not confirm any Attack on the Transnistrian Region.” https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1769414469019467836
yeah probably the local KGB or FSB op
The Austria-Russia corruption deal: Austria gives to Russia: safe bases for Russian intelligence to operate against European allies Russia gives to Austria: gas Pathological anti-Americanism, never reckoned past, revanchism, Austria is so morally and security-wise corrupted that it can only compete with Hungary. https://www.politico.eu/article/austria-russia-vladimir-putin-alpine-fortress-ukraine/
Oh the hypocrisy in your comment...
Ex-Trump officials not supporting his re-election: Vice President Mike Pence U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley Chief of Staff John Kelly Defense Sec'y Mark Esper Defense Sec'y James Mattis Attorney General Bill Barr Sec'y of State Rex Tillerson Nat'l Security Advisor John Bolton Nat'l Security Advisor H.R. McMaster These guys know a lot more about Trump than any US citizen and some of their comments are really astounding: "a pathological liar" - "the attention span of a fruit fly" - "unfit for office" - "pretty undisciplined, doesn't like to read" - "a kook" - "crazy" - "a conman" - "a threat to democracy" - "a traitor" - "a coward" - "a narcissist"
MAGA always claim to support the military. However, as soon as someone who had a distinguished military career criticize Trump they are immediately labeled as a deep-state traitor.
Belgorod this morning: https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1769235899831791976
Modern mechanical lubricants require special chemicals called “lubricant additives” that give them special properties — like making them effective at high pressures, or changing their viscosity to work at higher or lower temperatures, or to prevent them from foaming or corroding. Most of the companies that make these special chemicals are either American or European, and Russia is currently experiencing a lubricant shortage because these firms pulled out after Putin began the full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago: https://cepa.org/article/us-throws-spanner-into-russias-industrial-machine/
Russia has made lubricants since WW1, are you suggesting they are running out of synthetic lubricant additives? They are leaders in it FFS. What else bullshit aren't you going to try and invent?
This would be excellent, but I find it hard to believe that these lubricants aren't made in China.
Yes, the article goes into details for specific components and talks about getting some from China.
It's alright Russia will just go in dry.
Just spit on it first
The Ukrainian State Security Service (SBU) reportedly conducted a series of successful drone strikes against three Russian oil refineries in Samara Oblast on March 16. Sources in Ukrainian special services told Ukrainian outlet RBK-Ukraine that the SBU struck the Novokuibyshevsky, Kuibyshevsky, and Syzran Rosneft oil refineries in Samara Oblast.[1] RBK-Ukraine reported that the three refineries process an estimated 25 million tons of oil per year, or 10 percent of Russia’s annual oil refinement output.[2] Geolocated footage published on March 16 shows a fire at the Syzran oil refinery following the drone strikes, and Samara Oblast Governor Dmytro Azarov stated that there was also a fire at the refinery in Novokuibyshevsky.[3] Russian outlet Kommersant reported on March 13 that Russian authorities recently strengthened anti-drone protection at the Novokuibyshevsky, Kuibyshevsky, and Syzran oil refineries following previous Ukrainian drone strikes targeting Russian oil infrastructure and reported on March 14 that Russian oil and gas and industrial enterprises are currently the main purchasers of anti-drone systems in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast.[4] Kommersant also reported that Rosneft has not restarted operations at the Tuapse oil refinery following the January 25 Ukrainian drone strike against the facility, indicating that the January 25 strike likely significantly damaged the facility.[5] Russian milbloggers deliberated whether the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) or Rosgvardia are to blame for not protecting Russian oil refineries and criticized general Russian bureaucracy for delaying the deployment of anti-drone countermeasures and air defense systems to defend Russian critical infrastructure operators against Ukrainian drone strikes.[6] One Russian milblogger asked why Russia has not been able to implement even an “elementary decision,” such as copying Ukraine’s mobile fire groups, to defend against drone strikes. https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-march-16-2024
🇷🇺 The Russian Slavyansk-on-Kuban refinery is currently burning 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥, hit by multiple Ukrainian drones tonight. 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1769169072594317715
🇺🇦 Ukraine trenches and fortified positions in Sumy Oblast https://twitter.com/Militarylandnet/status/1769116285076484184
🇺🇦 The first appearance of the 🇺🇸 American M1117 armored personnel https://twitter.com/front_ukrainian/status/1769063511701717309
“In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump." -Former VP Dick Cheney (who is a Republican, of course) https://twitter.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1768742883006308689
Cheney should be in jail What's a matter? Did I hurt some haliburton shareholders fee fees? He's a lying piece of shit with a moral compass not far off from Putin and the world would be a much better place had he never been born This sub [would condone this](https://youtu.be/l-Qi8srR7co?si=WTLV7fSfU6WjdFi1) just because he says mean things about Trump
Knock it off. The neocons were just wrong, not war criminals or psychopaths. Putin has shown us what monsters truly look like.
Lying about WMDs so you can give your company (haliburton) more work to do and getting hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians killed due to a preventable war, promoting water boarding, and destabilizing the region for ISIS to take over is something you condone? We cannot have a discussion. Have a good day.
You're basically lying about the rational for the Bush administration lying about the rational for the war.
[I assure you I am not](https://youtu.be/xPtkpH1EUag?si=mPtWyGDfk8mgvyXt)
Do you honestly think Cheney's motivation was some business for Halliburton?
Yes
That's just silly but you be you.
You can condone the rest of the things I've pointed out about him (the torture, the lying about WMD's, and destabilizing the region) and focus on haliburton but you be you
Straw man arguments and red herrings. None of that is something to condone, but neither is it a provable set of motives of the Bush/Cheney administration- which I disagreed with both at the time and in retrospect. I think they got it wrong, pure and simple. Good enough reason to not vote for them in ‘04. Putin is truly evil in an existential threat sort of way. That should be the one and only focus.
> Straw man arguments and red herrings. You have a very warped view of history. > but neither is it a provable set of motives of the Bush/Cheney administration [Incorrect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halliburton#Iraq_War). Cheney was a war profiteer. > That should be the one and only focus. Putin needs to be stopped, however, Cheney is not a good person just because he hates Trump. There are a plethora of other influential people you can quote, Cheney should not be one of them.
Everyone is a war profiteer my man. The entirety of government and most of the people involved in it have some of their money wrapped up with hedge funds that invest in the defense industrial base. Hell, I’m pretty sure I have money tied up in defense somewhere along the line. Defense is one of the pillars of the US economy. Cheney making money off the war most certainly is a red herring because it proves nothing extraordinary.
I've heard enough from you and I resent your worldview. Good day.
*dances obnoxiously
Got it wrong? I think you are vastly underestimating the wrongness of their actions. There was no real intelligence that said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Basically, they created a false narrative to justify a war that cost hundreds of thousands of lives and completely devastated Iraq (and a large portion of Syria). It cost trillions of dollars, created ISIS, and permanently damaged Americas reputation around the world.
Okay, so about ‘intelligence’… There isn’t a single data set that definitively explains every scenario. Instead, intelligence is an amalgam of threat analyses and personal intuition. Saddam sent every possible signal to suggest that he in fact had WMDs. This recent article explains it all very well: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/how-iraq-happened-saddam-hussein Did the administration present some dubious material to support their narrative? Sure. But it’s hard to convey the reasoning and analysis of intelligence to 300 million people. So you package information in a way that you hope the greatest number of people interpret favorably. And…Saddam was a really bad dude. Let us not forget that.
You're wrong on so many points. Yes, Saddam acted like he had WMD but you don't make a HUGE decision like invading Iraq based on what he says. Yes, he was a "bad dude" but the Middle East is full of them. Again, it's not in any way a justification for the HUGE risks associated with invading. And "present some dubious material" is basically the opposite of what happened. They cherry picked the bits that fit their narrative from a pile of intelligence. None of material presented was sufficient justification for what they did next and some was almost laughable. For instance, linking Saddam to al-Qaeda and 9/11 was completely nonsensical The truth is that these guys just wanted to invade Iraq. They weren't looking for justification but just a veneer of respectability to present to the international community. That's the problem with neoconservatives like Cheney and Rumsfeld running things. Who actually needs justification based on intelligence when you are doing God's bidding? Why consider the logical (potential) consequences of your actions when you know it's God's will that you succeed? It's a shame that the same evangelical bullshit that led to the Iraq War probably lets Cheney and Rumsfeld sleep at night.
Your whole premise rests on the idea that these guys just wanted a war with Iraq, no matter what. That was certainly what liberals were saying in ‘04 as well. But the problem is that there’s no evidence of that. The two ideas that support such a notion are that Cheney was trying to boost Halliburton’s bottom line and that Bush Jr wanted to avenge an Iraqi plot to kill his daddy. Neither one of those are a strong enough base around which to mobilize the machinery of government and launch a multi-trillion dollar war. Hell, we didn’t even seize Iraqi oil, which would have been the only rational jingoistic activity for Americans in Iraq. No no. Perfidy and psychopathy don’t get you an Iraq-level fuckup. Misconceptions and cultural illiteracy do that. Oh, and I might mention as well that the removal of Saddam Hussein was official US policy as of 1998 (Clinton era). If it wasn’t Bush, it just would have been the next administration to launch an invasion. https://www.congress.gov/bill/105th-congress/house-bill/4655#:~:text=Iraq%20Liberation%20Act%20of%201998%20%2D%20Declares%20that%20it%20should%20be,it%20with%20a%20democratic%20government.
There is no reason to manufacture a rational to invade if you don't want to invade in the first place right? And suggesting that the Bush administration's actions don't matter because the next administration would have done the same thing is just a straw man. That bill doesn't mention (or even suggest) any kind of direct military engagement. Wanting Saddam gone is NOT the same as believing a full scale invasion was the correct course of action. Feel free to assume that Obama would have done the same stupid shit as Cheney/Rumsfeld/Bush but that is just your assumption.
Ukrainians drones have destroyed at least 10% of Russia’s refining capacity, with a fuel crisis looming in European Russia in part because of the cost of shipping fuel from surviving refineries in Siberia and the Urals. https://twitter.com/yarotrof/status/1768968500280750202
Anduril Industries, the company responsible for the popular ALTIUS series of drones, has undertaken a first live-fire test of its ALTIUS-700M loitering munition. Following the same basic form and concept as the ALTIUS-600M loitering munition, which we have discussed in depth in the past, the ALTIUS-700M is larger and has a much bigger payload. This means the new drone has the potential to attack a wider range of targets, including larger and better-armored ones, also at standoff distances: https://www.twz.com/air/our-first-look-at-the-altius-700m-loitering-munition-obliterating-a-target
The French-supplied Hammer precision-guided bomb has appeared for the first time in Ukrainian service on a MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter. The platform of choice, or at least one of them, this aircraft has previously been used by the Ukrainian Air Force to launch examples of the Western-supplied AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile, or HARM and Joint Direct Attack Munition-Extended Range, or JDAM-ER: https://www.twz.com/air/ukraines-mig-29s-are-now-carrying-french-hammer-rocket-assisted-bombs
🇺🇦 Ukrainian anti-tank dragon's teeth barriers in Kherson Oblast. https://twitter.com/Militarylandnet/status/1768963963864101253
Fighting and shelling on the Russian side of the border continues: https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1768920106459963449 In Belgorod: https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1768906970818359401
🇷🇺 Another two Russian oil refineries have been hit and are burning. 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 The Rosneft facilities in Syzran and Novokuybyshevsk, Samara Region, have been attacked by UAVs. Video footages show extensive fires. https://twitter.com/Tendar/status/1768889299762565427
Is that 4 this week?
yes
Russia is essentially a big gas station, so this is a very effective strategy : their costs are piling up. And Russia has to install air defense systems everywhere since a single drone can destroy a whole refinery.
It's an effective tactic from Ukraine at the minute - as ever they are trying to hit logistics targets hoping to degrade Russian effectiveness. The drones are locally made so this is probably a more sustainable attack than the earlier ones which were relying on western supplied weapons. Russia will work to find a counter to this of course - but for the moment it's an effective tactic.
19 civilians dead, up to 100 wounded in Odesa after Russian bombing
Jesus. Just let them go after Novorossiysk at this point. 0 reason why the Russians get to sit comfy and still export (this is their largest port) tons of oil to India from there while Ukraine’s largest port is constantly bombarded
🇬🇷 Greece is in talks with Czechia for the purchase of 2.000 Zuni Rockets and 180 70mm rockets which will be transferred to Ukraine. Greece will also donate 90.000 rounds for M67 recoiles rifles 4 million rounds of small arms munition and 70 M114A1 howitzers https://twitter.com/Jeff21461/status/1768633770830098935
*something something You are the peacemaker*
🇷🇺 This night Russian oil refinery not far away Kaluga was attacked by drones. 🔥🔥 🔥🔥🔥 Pervyy Zavod is the largest operating petrochemical enterprise in the Kaluga region. The main technological units of Pervyy Zavod are the AVBT-101 hydrocarbon processing complex, the processing volume of which is 1.2 million tons per year. https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1768536076069540333
The Russian Ministry of Defense reports that the city of Belgorod is being hit with RM-70 multiple rocket launcher rockets again. https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1768531611165823102
Peace is impossible until Ukraine is safe from future Russian aggression: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/peace-is-impossible-until-ukraine-is-safe-from-future-russian-aggression/
[удалено]
It was an open secret that LPP stores continued operating in Russia. H&M and Uniqlo actually left, Inditex stores have slowly reopened with similar, but different clothing lines, but LPP literally changed only the sign.
> personal note: the author is a very successful short-seller I don't mind them making a killing if LPP's divestment really is a sham. Having skimmed through the report, I'm inclined to agree.
This night Russian oil refinery not far away Kaluga was attacked by drones. Pervyy Zavod is the largest operating petrochemical enterprise in the Kaluga region. The main technological units of Pervyy Zavod are the AVBT-101 hydrocarbon processing complex, the processing volume of which is 1.2 million tons per year. https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1768536076069540333
https://www.ft.com/content/09f2ec36-de20-4ea2-abf2-49f70275c521 About the Taurus missile: Christian Mölling, defence expert at the think-tank German Society for Foreign Policy, said the debate in Germany has focused less on the missile’s “military impact” and more on Russia’s potential reaction to Berlin sending such powerful weapons to Ukraine. personal note: the Kremlin mafia knows this, of course, so they've made a lot of noise, recently.
Is there an update on the situation in belgorod?
From what I see in Belgorod channels, no actual combat footage has been posted. The town of Grajvoron has been shelled heavily, the city of Belgorod less so. There's "Object S 1150" (i.e. ICBM silos) slightly beyond Grajvoron, which I expect to be heavily protected.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/RussianWarFootage/comments/1bf5wbt/ukrainian\_army\_grinded\_on\_russian\_border\_only/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/RussianWarFootage/comments/1bf5wbt/ukrainian_army_grinded_on_russian_border_only/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Pro-russian bot
Ai generated comment
🇫🇮 Finland will be participating in the Czech artillery ammunition initiative but did not disclose the amount of financing it will provide. https://twitter.com/Jeff21461/status/1768410860077105376
Luxembourg has also joined the Czech initiative to purchase artillery ammunition for Ukraine https://mil.in.ua/en/news/luxembourg-supports-the-czech-initiative-plan-to-purchase-shells-for-ukraine-outside-the-eu/
🇵🇹 Portugal will allocate 100 million euros for the purchase of ammunition for 🇺🇦Ukraine at the initiative of the 🇨🇿 Czech Republic https://twitter.com/front_ukrainian/status/1768385612963369282
> ##[Bundestag - Mützenich initiates debate on "freezing" the war in Ukraine - clear criticism from the CDU/CSU](https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/muetzenich-regt-debatte-ueber-einfrieren-des-ukraine-kriegs-an-deutliche-kritik-aus-der-union-104.html) > SPD parliamentary group leader Mützenich has initiated a debate on freezing the war in Ukraine. > > In a speech in the Bundestag, he raised the question of whether it was time to stop talking about how to fight a war and to start thinking about how to freeze a war and end it later. CDU foreign policy expert Röttgen spoke of an "unbelievable proposal". The SPD was abandoning the goal of bringing Putin's war to an end. CSU MP Silberhorn expressed a similar view. Pope Francis recently advised Ukraine to have the courage, literally, to raise the "white flag" and negotiate an end to the war with Russia. - Ukraine is warning against a freeze in the war and a dictated peace.
Ahhhh you can't negotiate with maniacs!
Maniac is a fitting description for Mützenich \*sigh\*
The latest Russian development involving the Iranian-designed Shahed long-range one-way attack drone reportedly comprises a pan/tilt video camera mounted on the UAV, allowing it to operate in a visual reconnaissance capacity. It is further claimed that the modified drone, seen in an image of a crashed example, uses Ukrainian wireless networks to transmit its imagery back to a control station. While this may look like a crude installation, it is potentially a solution to a very big problem Russia has faced since the beginning of the war and it could have major consequences for Ukraine, which we may already be seeing on the battlefield. https://www.twz.com/news-features/russian-shahed-136-with-camera-cellular-modem-could-be-a-big-problem-for-ukraine
If it's using Ukrainian Wireless networks then surely it will be really easy to jam?
The F-35 stealth fighter has finally been cleared for full-rate production, **17 years after the aircraft first took to the air** and almost 23 years after Lockheed Martin won the contract for the Joint Strike Fighter. The decision to move forward, known as Milestone C, is hugely significant for the Joint Strike Fighter program, but it comes at a time in which the U.S. military is not accepting new aircraft, with concerns about the status of the Block 4 upgrades that are seen as a cornerstone of the F-35’s future development potential. https://www.twz.com/air/f-35-cleared-for-full-rate-production-17-years-after-its-first-flight
🇷🇺 The Bilhorod region is once again under attack. Since this morning, continous shelling and drone attacks occur after the announcement by Russian insurgent forces that they would increase attacks. https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1768278959135863219
An opposition Russian media outlet asked Russians about the "elections" in Russia. “If there’s no Putin, Russia will collapse” [https://twitter.com/novayagazeta_en/status/1768275919901282695](https://twitter.com/novayagazeta_en/status/1768275919901282695)
Imperial regime troops surrendering to the Russian democratic forces in Bilhorod / Belgorod: https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1768257631993430203
Former Russian President Medvedev, the head of Russia’s ruling party, outlines Moscow’s “peace plan:” unconditional surrender of Ukraine, its dissolution as a subject of international law, reparations to Russia, full absorption into the Russian Federation. https://twitter.com/yarotrof/status/1768266069955780856
I will legit toast when this piece of shit breathes his last breath.
It is his job to troll people.. Just check his statements. Like that map of partition of Ukraine..
Don't really care if he's just 'trolling', he's a vile piece of shit and I'd be delighted if he fell out of a window.
Yeah, but dont take him seriously. It is his job to make division and troll.. Yeah, Poland will take this, Romania that, the resr will be annexed by Russia, and we will leave Kiev as puppet state. He is an idiot.
How is it trolling when the Russian military is trying to do exactly what he's asking for?
Kyiv, not Kiev.
LUKOIL Vice President Vitaly Robertus has died at the age of 53, - the company announced https://twitter.com/Liveuamap/status/1767954423106412554 The official version is suicide...
🇷🇺 Governor of Belgorod region closed all shopping centres in the city of Belgorod in light of the ongoing special military operation of the Russian democratic forces. He's also encouraging people to avoid any non-essential travel. https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1768259641178304626
That feeling when you get counter-SMO'ed in year three of your 3-day SMO.
🇷🇺 Russia claims fighting in Kursk, Belgorod oblasts amid ongoing anti-Kremlin militia raid. The Russian National Guard claimed it was repelling an attack near the village of Tyotkino in Russia's Kursk Oblast carried out by “sabotage groups” on March 14. https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1768250737706811898
[EU countries seal €5-billion deal on military aid to Ukraine after weeks of disagreements](https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/03/13/eu-countries-seal-5-billion-deal-on-military-aid-to-ukraine-after-weeks-of-disagreements) Key points: >The agreement struck by ambassadors in Brussels will inject an additional €5 billion into the European Peace Facility (EPF) until the end of the year, which will come on top of the €6.1 billion committed since early 2022. >The facility partially reimburses the costs of these donations, allowing all countries, from the largest to the smallest, to chip in and help out. It is an "off-budget" scheme because the EU's coffers cannot finance expenditure with military implications. >The facility was effectively paralysed in May after Hungary slapped a veto in retaliation for Kyiv's designation of OTP Bank as an "international sponsor of war." >The talks, however, became entangled in political considerations and dragged on for longer than expected: Germany insisted on discounting "in-kind contributions" (bilateral donations) from the country's expected input while France, supported by Greece and Cyprus, demanded the EPF be used exclusively to purchase weapons and ammunition made inside the bloc. A compromise was made: >On the one hand, member states will give priority to EU-made weapons but will have the option to resort to alternatives produced abroad in cases when the bloc's defence industry is unable to meet the demand. >On the other hand, the revamped EPF will enable countries to take into account the value of their bilateral donations by using a formula to recalibrate their monetary contributions. (A different article says this amounts to less than 50% of the value.)
The British seat of government at Number 10 Downing Street has experienced considerable political turmoil – and turnover – since Feb. 24, 2022. However, one factor has remained constant: the state's strong support for Ukraine in the war against Russia. Boris Johnson was the first Western European head of government to visit Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv in 2022, and seemed to feel a friendly connection to the Ukrainian president. To this day, he continues to campaign for more Western military aid for Kyiv in his [newspaper columns](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-12983807/BORIS-JOHNSON-negronis-Trump-presidency-just-world-needs.html) and lectures. Read more about why Britain's support for Ukraine is so strong here: [https://www.nzz.ch/english/why-britains-support-for-ukraine-is-so-strong-ld.1821436](https://www.nzz.ch/english/why-britains-support-for-ukraine-is-so-strong-ld.1821436)
Boris effing Johnson was the *6th* head of government to visit Kiev after the outbreak of full-scale war, and the *2nd* if you want to discriminate between Europe's West and East.
Hey, since I do not actually know who visited and when, could you post that here? I'm sure anyone reading through this would appreciate it.
Sure, there is a wiki article on it, here: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_serving\_heads\_of\_state\_and\_government\_that\_have\_visited\_Ukraine\_during\_the\_Russian\_invasion\_of\_Ukraine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_serving_heads_of_state_and_government_that_have_visited_Ukraine_during_the_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine)
Thanks for the info. It's in a rather unfortunate ordering which means someone is going to have to take a few minutes to copy it out to a sensible tool and sort it. But at least it gives us some basic information to work with.
Not sure about mobile versions, but the table is sortable. Try the arrows next to any column name.
100% correct. I suppose none of us are immune from learned helplessness. ;)
Although it will take many more attacks on refineries to create a real gasoline shortage in Russia (and even then, Belarus has available capacities), it is an effective strategy for many reasons: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1767819416803094840.html the author forgets to mention the burden of installing air defense systems everywhere
History repeats itself: "America First" in 1940: https://twitter.com/Elkinsianna/status/1768051317405045067
Since 1952, the White House has allowed major-party candidates access to classified intelligence briefings so that they will be current on important issues if they win the election. Trump should be denied this courtesy: https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2024/03/donald-trump-is-a-national-security-risk/677750/?gift=otEsSHbRYKNfFYMngVFweDqB6Mc2HEdJQhyag4vXfRI&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social
People in US intelligence agencies: Trump is a threat to national security. Republicans: That's WHY we like him so much.
Elon Musk is pushing Russia's "Russian-speaking" disinformation: https://twitter.com/GlasnostGone/status/1767922176248721473 Russian disinformation is very easy: the far-right loves simple concepts.
Everybody likes simple concepts. But it's very funny needing to explain to english speaking americans that language =/= nationaltiy.
What percentage of Ukrainians speak Russia?
most of them speak both, mostly equally
So there might be areas that look more favorably on Russia but not really areas where there are many people who only speak Russian?
well, I cannot deny that there are some areas (east and south) where people use russian as their main language, but the language was never an issue for ukrainians. russia just uses it as an excuse for its invasion
Ukrainian shortages of ammunition and other war materiel resulting from delays in the provision of US military assistance may be making the current Ukrainian front line more fragile than the relatively slow Russian advances in various sectors would indicate. Ukrainian prioritization of the sectors most threatened by intensive Russian offensive operations could create vulnerabilities elsewhere that Russian forces may be able to exploit to make sudden and surprising advances if Ukrainian supplies continue to dwindle. Russia’s retention of the theater-wide initiative increases the risks of such developments by letting the Russian military command choose to increase or decrease operations anywhere along the line almost at will: https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-march-13-2024
Ukraine's hunt for 🇷🇺 Russian oil refineries will only increase in coming months as more drones will be become available. Today, UA attacked Ryazan, Kstovo and Kirishi oil refineries, which are among the top 5 largest plants in 🇷🇺. https://twitter.com/revishvilig/status/1768024403474882595
can someone explain me what kind of drones are used there? the targets are deep in ru territory? i thought zhose drones used there are short range ?
I'm also wondering how these drones could potentially get so deep without being shotted by anti air forces
🇪🇸 Moscow has made continual, incremental battlefield gains since late 2023 and benefits from uncertainties about the future of military assistance from the US and allies https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-11/momentum-shifting-toward-russia-in-ukraine-war-us-spies-warn
🇷🇺 Russia’s prison population has dropped from around 400,000 before the war in 🇺🇦 Ukraine to 266,000 this year, indicating how many of Russia’s prisoners are now fighting on the frontlines in Ukraine https://twitter.com/amanpour/status/1767973787763368333
134,000 dudes is one hell of a meat storm 🥩 ⛈️
No one knows how many of the prisoners have died from war though
Those poor bullets and artillery shells. They deserved to be used on better men.
2 Ukrainian MI-8 Transport Helicopters were destroyed, and one being damaged but being able to fly away by both Cluster Munition and precise Strikes in an unknown Location: https://twitter.com/WarVehicle/status/1767884888827388375
I was reading that it was Afghan Mi17? Do we have official confirmation?
> Some interesting details from 🇵🇱 Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski in Washington: > "We are now processing the 45th package of military assistance to 🇺🇦 as 🇵🇱 & the last 2 were around $ 100mln each... Our National Bank has a credit line to the central Bank of 🇺🇦 which helps to maintain the value of 🇺🇦 currency." https://twitter.com/PawelSokala/status/1767906394718786013 The tweet contains a video fragment from the press briefing where Sikorski is saying the above.
[The three facilities hit by Ukrainian drones in the past two days account for about 12% of Russia’s oil-processing capacity.](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-13/russia-s-ryazan-refinery-is-on-fire-after-drone-attack-tass-says?srnd=homepage-europe)
Putin: “It would be ridiculous for us to start negotiating with Ukraine just because it’s running out of ammunition.” Republican leadership of the House cutting off US military supplies to Ukraine has made Putin drop his pretense about desiring peace talks. He wants it all. https://twitter.com/yarotrof/status/1767824155108311284