Russia's Invasion of Ukraine - Consolidated Thread

[schwartzie]

Kremlin Threatens to use Nuclear Weapons if Ukraine Retakes ‘Russian Land’ in Counteroffensive

KURT ZINDULKA
31 Jul 2023

Moscow will not hesitate to use nuclear weapons if Ukraine’s counteroffensive efforts are successful and recapture “Russian land”, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned on Sunday.



The war of words once again escalated in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine on Sunday, with Zelensky declaring that it is “absolutely fair” for targets within Russia to be attacked and top-Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev explicitly threatening to resort to a nuclear strike to win the war.



Taking to his personal Telegram channel to mark the Russian military holiday of Navy Day, the former president said: “Our Armed Forces, repelling the counteroffensive of the collective enemy, protect the citizens of Russia and our land. This is obvious to all decent people.



“But beyond that, they prevent world conflict. After all, if we imagine that the offensive of the [Ukrainian Nazis] with the support of NATO was successful and they seized part of our land, then we would have to, by virtue of the rules of the decree of the President of Russia dated 06/02/2020, go for the use of nuclear weapons.”



“There is simply no other way out. Therefore, our enemies must pray to our warriors. They do not allow the global nuclear fire to flare up,” Medvedev concluded.



Medvedev has become one of the most belligerent voices in Moscow, even going so far as to threaten to send the UK into the “abyss” with nuclear weapons in light of London’s staunch support of Ukraine’s fight against Russia.



In his post on Sunday, he specifically referenced an executive order signed by Vladimir Putin in June of 2020 that laid out the Kremlin’s position on “nuclear deterrence”.



“The Russian Federation reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in response to the use of nuclear and other types of weapons of mass destruction against it and/or its allies, as well as in the event of aggression against the Russian Federation with the use of conventional weapons when the very existence of the state is in jeopardy,” the document states.

Currently, Kyiv is embarking upon an effort to recapture land illegally annexed by Russia in the Donetsk region and the Crimean Peninsula. While progress has been limited, President Zelensky claimed last week that his forces have recaptured some land in Zaporizhzhia province, which borders the Donetsk region.



Russia considers both Crimea and Donetsk, which are both home to large populations of ethnic Russians, as their own territory now and integral to its national security. Despite Medvedev’s threat of deploying nuclear weapons to protect “Russian land”, it seems possible the threat would apply if Ukraine reclaimed their own internationally recognised territory from Russian occupation.



Last year, President Joe Biden warned of a potential “armageddon” scenario of Russia using nukes and his National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that the White House has “communicated directly, privately and at very high levels to the Kremlin that any use of nuclear weapons will be met with catastrophic consequences for Russia.”



This weekend, following a summit with African leaders in St Petersburg, President Vladimir Putin said that Russia hopes to avoid a direct conflict with the Western NATO alliance, but added: “If someone wants it – and that’s not us – then we’re ready.”



The territories of Crimea and Donetsk may not be the only Russian lands in question for the nuclear option, with Ukraine apparently stepping up attacks on the Russian mainland itself as drone strikes hit a building in Moscow over the weekend. Following the attack, President Zelensky said that “war is returning to the territory of Russia” and that it is “inevitable, natural and absolutely fair” for Ukraine to hit targets within Russia.

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[shalom]

Russian drone attacks 40,000 tons of Ukrainian grain destined for Israel

Buildings and silos alike went up in flames following alleged Russian drone attacks.

By REUTERS Published: AUGUST 2, 2023 15:09

Updated: AUGUST 2, 2023 17:09




Russian drone attacks early on Wednesday damaged almost 40,000 tons of grains which were expected by countries in Africa and also in China and Israel, Ukrainian deputy prime minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said.



Russian state news agency RIA said overnight Russian strikes on the Ukrainian port of Izmail had hit port and grain infrastructure housing foreign mercenaries and military hardware, as well as a naval ship repair yard.



Attacking the ports

RIA cited Sergei Lebedev, a man it described as a coordinator of an underground group in the Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv and who it said had sources in Izmail, Ukraine's main inland port across the Danube River from Romania.



It quoted Lebedev as saying that there had been eight separate Russian strikes on Izmail and that an oil terminal had been hit, a repair yard for Ukrainian naval cutters, a port building thought to house foreign forces, and a grain storage unit and elevator where it said foreign military hardware was stored.


Reuters was not able to verify Lebedev's assertions. A video released by the Ukrainian authorities showed firefighters on ladders battling a huge blaze in a multi-story building. Several other large buildings were in ruins, and grain spilled out of at least two wrecked silos.


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[shalom]

Zelensky says Ukrainian strength dominates, top officers report progress

Zelensky said Russian drone attacks this week, including an assault on shipping infrastructure in the Danube port of Izmail, underscored the need for improved anti-aircraft defenses.

By REUTERS Published: AUGUST 4, 2023 00:11

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that Ukraine's military faced difficulties on front lines in the east and south of the country, but were dominant in their campaign.



Senior military officials reported Ukrainian gains in the east -- long the focal point of the 17-month-old conflict - around the shattered Russian-held city of Bakhmut.



Ukraine in June launched a counter-offensive in the east and in the south, where it hopes to advance to the Sea of Azov and sever a Russian land bridge between occupied parts of the east and the Crimean Peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014.



Russian accounts said Moscow's forces had repelled Ukrainian attacks near Bakhmut, farther north where fierce fighting has also flared and on the southern front.



In his nightly video address, Zelensky said Ukrainian forces faced fierce Russian resistance in all frontline sectors.


"There is heavy fighting. They are trying to stop our boys with all their strength. Very fierce attacks," Zelensky said, referring to Bakhmut and other centers in the east.



"In the south, everything is difficult. But whatever the enemy does, it is Ukrainian strength that dominates."



Russian drones pummel Ukrainian infrastructure

Zelensky said Russian drone attacks this week, including an assault on shipping infrastructure in the Danube port of Izmail, underscored the need for improved anti-aircraft defenses.



"In all, the terrorists have deployed against Ukraine at least 1,961 (Iranian-made) shahed drones and we managed to down a significant number of them," he said.



"Unfortunately, not all of them. We are working on downing more of them -- downing a maximum. We are working so that there will be more anti-aircraft systems."



General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukrainian land forces, said he was meeting officers in the east to speed up Ukraine's advances -- which Zelensky and other officials ackowledge have been slower than they wished.



"In the Bakhmut sector, my work is devoted to current problems of accelerating the pace of the advance, the prospects for greater activity and resolution of issues that interfere with the implementation of tasks," Syrskyi wrote on Telegram.



Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesman for the eastern group of Ukrainian forces, said Kyiv's troops were advancing "consistently and relentlessly" on the fringes of Bakhmut, captured by Russian troops in May after months of battles.



"Every day we are talking about hundreds of meters and over the week about kilometers," Cherevatyi said in comments reported by Ukrainian media.



Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces had thwarted eight Ukrainian attempts to advance near Bakhmut and nearby areas. Two Ukrainian attacks were countered near Lyman and Svatove farther north and attempted advances in the south were also stopped.

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[schwartzie]

Russian Tanker Hit By Ukrainian Sea Drones, Likely With Help From US Intelligence

BY TYLER DURDEN

SATURDAY, AUG 05, 2023 - 12:00 PM


Overnight saw a major escalation on the Black Sea in the wake of the grain deal collapse, and as Russia is waging war on Ukrainian ports and its ability to export foodstuffs to international markets.



Ukrainian drones reportedly scored a direct hit on a Russian tanker in the Kerch Strait, resulting in damage, however there have been no reports of casualties among the 11 civilian crew members on board. The attack happened at about 11:20 pm Friday (local) just south of the Kerch Strait, according to a statement by Russia's Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport.


Ukraine intelligence released drone footage of the attack.

The Russian tanker has since been identified in various international reports as the chemical tanker SIG. The Russian maritime agency described damage "presumably as a result of an attack by a marine drone," in a Telegram statement. "The ship is afloat," it added.



The statement detailed that there is a hole "near the waterline on the starboard side, presumably as a result of a sea drone attack" and confirmed there were no casualties.



SIG has previously come under Washington sanctions for transporting jet fuel to Russian forces in Syria. This strongly suggests US intelligence assisted the Ukrainians with targeting information. Again, this is given that this specific tanker happened to be a sanctioned vessel, connected with Russian logistics in Syria.



"The detonation due to the explosion on the ship was visible from the peninsula, which the local residents thought was an explosion in the vicinity of Yakovenkovo settlement not far from the Crimean bridge," a Russia-installed official in Zaporizhzhia region said additionally.

Ukraine's military and intelligence appeared to own up to the attack, which in recent weeks has been a new trend, considering through most of the conflict Ukraine has remained silent in terms of taking responsibility for operations in Russian territory. NBC details of Ukrainian officials' words:



The tanker was “transporting fuel for the Russian troops,” the source said, adding that it was well loaded and “the ‘fireworks’ could be seen from afar.” They said that a surface drone and TNT had been used to carry out the attack. NBC News could not verify their claims.



Video broadcast on Ukrainian television and shared by several officials on social media showed a sea drone moving towards the tanker before striking it. The footage cuts out before an explosion is visible. NBC News was not able to independently verify the footage.



SBU chief Vasyl Malyuk responded to the attack in a Telegram post. “Any explosions that happen with the ships of the Russian Federation or the Crimean bridge is an absolutely logical and effective step in relation to the enemy,” he said.



"If the Russians want the explosions to stop, they should use the only option for this — to leave the territorial waters of Ukraine," the SBU chief added. As for the Crimean bridge, traffic had been briefly halted as a result of the late night attack, but later resumed normally.



Within hours prior to the tanker attack, a Ukrainian sea drone had severely damaged a Russian naval vessel -the Olenogorsky Gornyak - off the port of Novorossiysk, a major hub for Russian exports. These fresh and growing tit-for-tat attacks in and around the Black Sea suggest the prospect for "unlimited war" is growing.



"A new phase"...

Since the Feb.2022 invasion it's been clear that in many ways the Russians have "held back", also given they had pulled back forces from the capital of Kiev. But increasingly, in the past week locations and infrastructure which had largely been spared from attacks have now been obliterated.


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[J.J.Gibbs]

Ukrainians Begin To Despair As Bloody Counteroffensive Yields Small Gains

SUNDAY, AUG 13, 2023 - 08:45 AM

Authored by Kyle Anzalone via The Libertarian Institute,



According to the Washington Post, many citizens of Ukraine are adopting a darker mood about the war with Russia, and national unity is beginning to fray. The change in sentiment comes as Kiev’s spring counteroffensive fails to retake significant territory despite surging casualties.



"Ukrainians, much in need of good news, are simply not getting any," the Washington Post reported Thursday. One Ukrainian, Alla Blyzniuk, interviewed by the outlet, said, "[before] people were united." Now, she described, a sense of collective "disappointment."



The sense of despair is driven by massive casualties in Kiev’s counteroffensive. Blyzniuk said that most soldiers sent to the front die in just two to three days.



Last week, Politico reported that Kiev had committed 150,000 troops to fight along three fronts. Nevertheless, the Pentagon admits that Ukrainian forces have failed to make any significant gains.



Washington publicly claims it has provided Kiev with everything Ukraine needs to wage a successful counteroffensive. However, Western officials admitted to the Wall Street Journal that Ukrainian forces lacked critical equipment.



"When Ukraine launched its big counteroffensive this spring, Western military officials knew Kyiv didn’t have all the training or weapons—from shells to warplanes—that it needed to dislodge Russian forces." The report continued, "But they hoped Ukrainian courage and resourcefulness would carry the day. They Haven’t."



Anna Oliinyk, a Ukrainian soldier, told the Post that she hoped the losses would be worth the price...



"We’ve got all these guys coming back from the front line without limbs," she said. "I want the price they paid to be reasonable. Otherwise it’s just useless, what they went through."



You know things are going bad for Ukraine as even CNN has to admit that the armed forces of Ukraine are failing their counter-offensive. pic.twitter.com/v7pjFyMeH5



— Dean O'Brien (@deanobeano1) August 11, 2023

Anna’s husband, a Ukrainian soldier who lost a leg, told the Post he would not enlist if he could make the choice again, adding that Kiev is sending untrained soldiers to the front lines.



"They are taking everyone and sending them to the front line without proper preparation," he said. "I don’t want to be in the company of unmotivated people."


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[ExquisiteGerbil]

Total Ukraine War Troop Deaths, Injuries Approaching 500,000: US Officials

BY TYLER DURDEN

FRIDAY, AUG 18, 2023 - 09:20 PM


A surprisingly blunt and revealing Friday report in The New York Times cites US officials who estimate that total war casualties in Ukraine among both sides are at nearly 500,000 dead and wounded.



"The number includes as many as 120,000 deaths and 170,000 to 180,000 injured troops," the Times wrote based on the unnamed officials. "The Russian numbers dwarf the Ukrainian figures, which the officials put at close to 70,000 killed and 100,000 to 120,000 wounded."



To put these grim and tragic figures in perspective, the United States military involvement in Vietnam over the course of a nearly two-decade period resulted in about 58,000 Americans killed.


Given Kiev doesn't release official casualty numbers, the US officials cited in the Times report are estimating, but it generally lines up with the immense numbers of Ukrainian losses the Kremlin has presented in evaluating the counteroffensive. But Western sources have consistently said that Russian losses are more staggering.



The NY Times has characterized the now largely stalemated conflict as a war of attrition, with Russia having the manpower and supply lines keep the upper-hand and to far outlast:



Ukraine has around 500,000 troops, including active-duty, reserve and paramilitary troops, according to analysts. By contrast, Russia has almost triple that number, with 1,330,000 active-duty, reserve and paramilitary troops — most of the latter from the Wagner Group.



As for Russia, the West has accused it of habitually undercounting its own casualty rates. Last January, US Chief of the Joint Staff Mark Milley asserted that Russian forces had suffered losses at "significantly well over 100,000".



Likely many of the recent casualties on each side were from the months-long battle for the city of Bakhmut. President Zelensky has come under recent criticism for pouring so many resources and manpower into what was a losing battle. That's when many reports emerged of large amounts of completely untrained and underequipped Ukrainians being shipped to the frontlines.



The military analysis source 19fortyfive.com has assessed that the defense of Bakhmut was an incredible risk and gamble which didn't pay off, and led to a very poor start to the now faltering counteroffensive:



However, Zelensky chose to press the fight anyway. For months, senior U.S. leaders warned the Ukrainian president the battle was unwinnable and to move to other defensive positions. Not only did he refuse to withdraw to a superior fighting position, he ordered his men not to give up so much as a single building, forcing them to fight to the death. Month after month, Zelensky sent brigade after brigade to reinforce Bakhmut in an effort to reverse the tide.



Not only was it painfully obvious that military fundamentals made clear there was little rational hope of stopping Wagner’s drive to capture Bakhmut, but many of those brigades Zelensky sent in futile aid to help Bakhmut were also urgently needed in the upcoming spring and summer offensive. Two days after Bakhmut’s fall, Zelensky was still defiant, claiming the city had not fallen. In 2022, Zelensky’s tenacity and unwillingness to compromise resulted in blunting Russia’s invasion and then inflicting two major operational defeats.

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While Ukrainian forces held out for longer than most predicted, it was a very costly loss, and at the same time it's anything but clear that it put a significant dent in Russian force strength.



19FortyFive concludes that it's certainly not Washington's fault (despite the persistent complaint to this end of Zelensky officials)... "No one can claim the United States didn’t give Ukraine every chance to find out if it could succeed on the battlefield, as we provided literally thousands of armored vehicles, millions of shells, missiles, and bombs, and training and intelligence support – along with scores of billions in other aid." And the publication emphasizes, "But that help did not produce a Ukrainian victory."

[OmegaMan]

U.S. proxy war: Kyiv’s counteroffensive kills or wounds 800 Ukrainians per day, Russia reports

08/24/2023 // Belle Carter 

Tags: big government, casualties, chaos, conspiracy, counteroffensive, Dangerous, deception, military tech, national security, Russia, Russia-Ukraine war, spring offensive, troops, Ukraine, US proxy war, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky, War, weapons technology, World War III



Earlier in August, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that Ukraine had suffered 43,000 casualties in the first two months of the Ukrainian counter-offensive and since then has lost about 10,000 additional men or about 800 casualties per day as of Saturday.


Russia claimed that on the weekend of Aug. 5-6, Ukraine lost 2,040 men. Since then, losses have been 8,570, including 4,215 in the last five days alone as of August 19: 845 on Aug. 14, 735 on Aug. 15, 890 on Aug. 16, 810 on Aug. 17, and 935 on Aug 19. Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that there are 10 times as many Ukrainians dying as Russians.



President Volodymyr Zelensky's Ministry of Defense does not release casualty reports but as per a media portal, "there is mounting evidence that Ukraine has been taking heavy casualties in its counteroffensive," which began June 4. "ABC News spoke with two former U.S. soldiers who are contracted in a special forces division of the Ukrainian military and who were both injured during an operation in eastern Ukraine two weeks ago," the news outlet reported. "Both soldiers are currently in a hospital in Kyiv but said they hope to be transferred to Germany for surgery this week in order to remove shrapnel from their bodies."



One of the men, a former U.S. soldier from Texas, who goes by the callsign "Tango," said his unit took "85 percent casualties" and that 40 percent of the unit was so badly injured they were rendered combat ineffective. Another private military company (PMC) told the news outlet that Ukrainian offensive operations were "disorganized." "We lost three (German-made) Leopards in one day because they were just told to drive forward into a minefield," the anonymous PMC said.



"It was definitely a very professional force that we were fighting against," Tango said adding that newly mobilized Ukrainian soldiers often appeared to lack the necessary training for complicated offensive operations on the battlefield. "It seems like they [Ukrainian soldiers] have been taught to use them [western military equipment] but not to employ them effectively in a tactical sense [on the battlefield]," he said.



Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry insisted that Russia has lost 256,510 men since the beginning of the war. Other estimates put the figure at 50,000. Combined, nearly 500,000 Ukrainian and Russian soldiers have been wounded or killed in the war, the New York Times reported, citing "unnamed officials."

Furthermore, observers like Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have estimations of 350,000 casualties before the start of the much-vaunted "Spring Offensive." According to RFK Jr., people are being lied to about the Ukraine war and that Zelensky has his people killed on the front lines and he has been hiding this fact. "The neocons in the White House have been provoking this war for ten years," he said of the real proponents of the war.

U.S. and Western allies continue to send war artillery to support Kyiv's desperate war with Russia



Officials in Washington D.C. and Europe revealed on Friday that the United States had given its approval for the Netherlands and Denmark to deliver F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine to further boost its artillery in its desperate war with Russia. This latest move is just a tacit admission that Kyiv's "counteroffensive" has been a disaster with no air superiority, the Gateway Pundit wrote. (Related: The next major war is reportedly about to begin, and "D-day" has already been chosen.)



This is in line with the recent display of captured Western equipment by Russia at their Army's 2023 convention outside Moscow. The weapons included a U.S. Humvee, a U.S.-manufactured M113 APC, a Swedish-manufactured CV90-40 IFV, and a French-manufactured AMX-10RCR wheeled tank.



Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has advised Ukrainian soldiers to surrender. "We strongly recommend Ukrainian servicemen who are convinced of the criminal nature of the bandit junta that has seized their country to either turn their weapons against it or surrender to our forces," she said.



British Admiral Tony Radakin seemed to agree when he said: "I think some of the comments that he's (Putin) not well or that actually surely somebody's going to assassinate him or take him out, I think they're wishful thinking."



"As military professionals, we see a relatively stable regime in Russia. President Putin has been able to quash any opposition. We see a hierarchy that is invested in President Putin and so nobody at the top has got the motivation to challenge President Putin," Radakin added.


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[Midnight]

US-Ukraine Brass Write off Counteroffensive After 57,000 Casualties, Focus on Force-Drafting New Conscripts for 2024

By Richard Abelson Aug. 28, 2023 4:20 pm


NATO military chief US Gen Christopher Cavoli and British Admiral Sir Tony Radakin traveled to the Polish-Ukrainian border ten days ago for a crisis meeting with the Ukrainian chief military commander Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, for what was privately billed as “a council of war”, The Guardian reported.



The meeting was “no ordinary discussion”, The Guardian writes. “Zaluzhnyi brought his entire command team with him on the roughly 300-mile journey from Kyiv. The aim of the five-hour meeting was to help reset Ukraine’s military strategy – top of the agenda was what to do about the halting progress of Ukraine’s counteroffensive, along with battle plans for the gruelling winter ahead plus longer-term strategy as the war inevitably grinds into 2024.”



British sources are “reluctant to say much about the outcome of the meeting at the border,” The Guardian security editor in Kyiv Dan Sabbagh writes. “But the indications from the west is that the strategy has changed as a result of the discussions. “I think you can see they are focusing on the Zaporizhzhia front,” said one insider, amid reports of fresh Ukrainian attacks aimed at the city of Tokmak, an initial step towards reaching the Sea of Azov, thereby cutting the land bridge to Crimea.”


Since June 4, Ukrainian forces have been engaged in a bloody and mostly fruitless counteroffensive. Russia estimated Ukrainian losses at 43,000 early August, and has since claimed over 14,000 Ukrainian casualties in daily briefings, putting total Ukrainian losses in the counteroffensive at over 57,000 and in the whole war at over 400,000. Russian losses are estimated at around 50,000 men.



Top brass in the USA and NATO now fear the Ukrainian armed forces are “incapable of breaking through Russia’s defensive lines to reach Melitopol and the Sea of Azov,” Russia’s Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes.



As the end of the fighting season in Ukraine approaches, Western brass are “nudging their proteges in the Ukrainian armed forces toward making preparations for 2024”, Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes.



“The new strategy of the Ukrainian armed forces will prioritize the formation and deployment of new human reserves. Kiev’s new military plan for 2024 also calls for developing full-fledged combat-ready aviation units, in cooperation with the Pentagon and NATO. Ukraine has been force-conscripting young men off the street and sending them into the “Meat Grinder” of the three-tiered Russian defences with little training or leadership.



Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands have pledged to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets, but only 5 jets are so far scheduled to arrive by end of the year.



“Taking into account new commitments, Ukraine will receive at least 61 F-16 aircraft, according to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. This number is enough to create four squadrons,” Russian military expert Colonel Vladimir Popov, told Nezavisimaya Gazeta.



If Kiev claims that Ukrainian pilots will be trained on the F-16s by the spring or early summer of 2024, the armed forces of Ukraine can be expected to launch new offensives around that time, Popov said.



The longer Ukraine’s counteroffensive goes on, the more difficult it is for the US to maintain its support in political terms, Bloomberg reported. If fighting grinds to an impasse over the winter, “it’s a really big problem, there’s going to be war fatigue,” Samantha de Bendern, associate fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, told Bloomberg. “The U.S. is going to be less and less interested in what’s happening in Ukraine and it’s going to be more and more difficult for Europeans to convince the Americans that Ukraine is an American problem.”



Bloomberg noted Russia has enough ammunition for at another year of fighting, with the Kremlin deploying new troops on the front lines. “More than two months into its counteroffensive, Kiev has made only tactical advances against heavily dug-in Russian forces, despite having committed many units trained and armed by the US and Europe for the operation. The window for further significant actions is narrowing as wet and cold weather looms in the autumn,” Bloomberg wrote.

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[maybetoday]

Devastating Market Explosion That Zelenskyy Blamed on Russia Was Actually Caused by Ukraine, New Evidence Indicates



By Johnathan Jones

September 21, 2023 at 4:07pm


A missile attack that killed at least 15 civilians in Ukraine earlier this month was likely fired by Ukrainian forces and not by the Russian military, as was previously claimed, according to a report.



On Sept. 6, a peaceful scene at a market in the Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka was shattered by a devastating explosion that filled morgues and hospitals.



At the time of the attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was quick to blame Russian “terrorists.”



“At least 16 people have been killed by Russian shelling in Kostyantynivka, Donetsk region,” Zelenskyy wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Russian terrorists have attacked a regular market, shops, and a pharmacy, killing innocent people. The number of casualties could rise further.”



Zelenskyy added, “Anyone in the world who is still dealing with anything Russian simply ignores this reality. Heinous evil. Brazen wickedness. Utter inhumanity.”



Trending: Christians Beware: 'Sparkle Creed' Openly Mocks God in Most Blasphemous Way

He concluded with a message offering “condolences,” and wrote, “The Russian evil must be defeated as soon as possible.”

A child was among the dead, while 32 people were wounded in the tragic killing. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy’s comments were widely reported by outlets from CNN to the BBC.



Ukraine’s president included a video of the attack in the post.



WARNING: The following video contains images that some may find disturbing.

In the clip, the reflection of a missile can be seen on the roofs of two vehicles just moments before an explosion.



According to a new report from The New York Times, which investigated the explosion, the evidence suggests the missile was errantly fired by Ukrainian forces. The missile reflection in Zelenskyy’s clip was part of the newspaper’s review of the incident.
In an investigation conducted by six different reporters, the Times noted:



“[Evidence] collected and analyzed by The New York Times, including missile fragments, satellite imagery, witness accounts and social media posts, strongly suggests the catastrophic strike was the result of an errant Ukrainian air defense missile fired by a Buk launch system.



Related: Zelenskyy Kicks Off DC Visit by Getting Rejected by McCarthy

“The attack appears to have been a tragic mishap. Air defense experts say missiles like the one that hit the market can go off course for a variety of reasons, including an electronic malfunction or a guidance fin that is damaged or sheared off at the time of launch.”



The Times analyzed the clip shared by Zelenskyy and noted that a number of people in it looked overhead to face a northwesterly direction, which was the direction from which the missile originated.



The report concluded that territory in that direction at the time was held by Ukrainian forces.


Those who investigated the deadly explosion said they were also able to ascertain that just minutes before dozens were killed or wounded, two Ukrainian surface-to-air missiles were fired 10 miles away from the scene of the explosion and in the same direction from which the missile originated.



The Times visited the blast scene as well as the location where it is believed the missiles were fired.



After reviewing the evidence and consulting with two military experts who did not wish to have their names published, the report concluded the missile likely malfunctioned after Ukrainian ground forces fired it, which resulted in the tragedy.



Zelesnkyy has not commented on the report, nor would a spokesman for the country’s military, who told the Times such comments are prohibited by law.



The official did say the incident is still under investigation.

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[J.J.Gibbs]

Meat Grinder Tops 80,000 Casualties Against “Colossal Anti-Tank Mines and Enemy Forces”

By Richard Abelson
Sep. 24, 2023 10:40 am

Ukraine claims to have taken the village of Verbove on the Zaporizhia front and wants to keep fighting through winter, CNN reports, as Russia captured the village of Kleshcheyevka south of Bakhmut. The Washington Post reports that Ukraine has lost a large amount of equipment in its incremental advances, including German-made Marder armored vehicles and US-made Stryker armored personnel carriers.



Sputnik News claimed Russian troops destroyed a Leopard 2 tank manned by German Bundeswehr soldiers, killing them all, in what would be a major escalation if true. However, there has been no independent confirmation of this report, which pro-Russian journalist Edvard Chesnokov told Gateway Pundit was “probably a trash fake”.



Russia claimed to have hit two Ukrainian Leopard tanks in the Kupyansk area, according to spokesman Sergey Zybinsky.



On September 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that Ukraine had lost 71,500 men, 543 tanks and almost 18,000 armored vehicles of various types since June 4, claiming that the Ukrainian counteroffensive produced no results.


Last week, Sept. 17-23, Ukraine lost 4,015 casualties, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, and 4,700 the week of Sept. 9-16. That would put the total number of Ukrainian casualties at 80,215 since June 4.



The Russian Ministry of Defense released a video claiming to show the capture of the village of Kleshcheyevka south of Bakhmut, showing a large number of dead Ukrainian soldiers.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense claims that Russia has lost 275,850 casualties, 4662 tanks, 8914 APCs, 6233 artillery units and 789 multiple launch rocket systems since the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion. On June 3, before the start of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense put Russian losses at 209,470 men, 3829 tanks, 7502 APCs, 3533 artillery units and 582 MLRS. That would mean Russia has lost 66,380 men, 833 tanks, 1412 APCs, 2700 artillery units and 207 MLRS since June 4.

Ukraine has redeployed more than 10,000 troops from other sections of the front to the Robotyne and Verbovoye area in what may mark a new attempt to push through to Tokmak in the south, TASS reports. “Near Rabotino and Verbovoye, the Ukrainian army has redeployed reinforcements from the Vremevka and Vasilyevka sections of the Zaporozhye area. … They redeployed over 10,000 militants to the Orekhovo area in addition to those already there. It seems like the adversary is dispatching everyone capable of holding a weapon,” , Vladimir Rogov, leader of the We Are With Russia movement, told TASS.



The Washington Post reported that, “Ukrainian forces and their armored vehicles punched through Russia’s main defensive line,” while admitting that the advance has come at a high cost. “A lot of equipment was lost there,” the Washington Post quoted a local Ukrainian commander speaking on the condition of anonymity.



The commander told the Washington Post Ukrainian infantry passed the first line of Russian defences “two to three weeks ago,” but vehicles have only recently been able to move through. He said that “the front line has also moved further back behind the dragon’s teeth,” but this has taken place “more slowly.”



“You just have to understand that there is a saturation of antitank mines and a saturation of enemy forces, it’s just colossal,” the air assault forces commander said. “In the direction of Robotyne and Verbove, there’s a constant incoming traffic of assault troops.”



Last week, Ukraine had to withdraw its elite 82nd Airborne from the Robotyne Front ,“as a result of significant manpower losses …. in order to recover combat capability,” the Russian MoD claimed.

The NATO-aligned Institute for the Study of War reported today that “Ukrainian forces have broken through Russian field fortifications west of Verbove in western Zaporizhia Oblast. These fortifications are not the final defensive line in Russia’s defense in depth in western Zaporizhia, but rather a specific series of the best-prepared field fortifications arrayed as part of a near-contiguous belt about 1.7-3.5 km west of Verbove. Ukrainian forces have not overcome all of the prepared Russian defensive positions near Verbove, however, and Ukrainian forces’ rate of advance near their breakthrough remains unclear. Russian forces have reportedly established prepared fighting positions in almost every tree line that Ukrainian infantry are slowly and systematically fighting through.”



“Ukrainian troops overcame antitank obstacles including ditches and concrete blocks known as dragon’s teeth near the village of Verbove in the Zaporizhzhia region, allowing armored vehicles to press through,” an officer in Ukraine’s air-assault forces told the Wall Street Journal. “The Russians are hammering the area with artillery and launching counterattacks. Ukrainian units are taking heavy casualties.”



The Russian defense near Verbove is “particularly fierce,” the WSJ reported. “They are using phosphorus munitions that explode in the sky like fireworks then rain down on earth, burning whatever they land on. The Russians have used them to burn tree lines where Ukrainian troops captured trenches, forcing them to abandon the positions under artillery fire, the officer said. But the Ukrainians pressed forward. Their infantry stormed into enemy trenches and cleared them, holding them under artillery and tank fire and counterattacks by infantry, according to Ukrainian soldiers there and videos that they shared online.”



The WSJ also reported that Ukraine, “has lost many Western-donated armored vehicles, but their armor has protected troops inside, allowing them to continue fighting.”



“The advance has been hard and costly,” the Wall Street Journal writes, interviewing a female Private of the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade, Pvt. Olena Ivanenko, who had “had only just returned to the front after spending three months recovering from a leg injury and was again out of action, this time for a few days” after a tank shell “smashed into (her) position, blowing her off her feet and bruising her ribs.”



Trench combat takes place “at a distance of a few yards,” the WSJ quotes Ivanenko, and trenches can be lost again in a few hours. “It’s like an accordion,” 41-year-old Ivanenko told the WSJ. “When we push forward, the enemy pushes back.”



Speaking to CNN, Ukrainian commanding General Oleksandr Tarnavsky said his troops were, “moving slower than anticipated,” but still hopes to keep fighting in winter and reach the Russian fortress city of Tokmak, conceding that “for the counteroffensive to be a success, Ukrainian forces need to at least reach the city of Tokmak,” CNN wrote.



“Tokmak is the minimum goal,” Tarnavsky said. “The overall objective is to get to our state borders,” which means conquering all the ethnically Russian areas.



Since Ukrainian forces have taken to moving in small groups on foot, fall rains would not put an end to the offensive, Tarnavsky said. “The weather can be a serious obstacle during advance, but considering how we move forward, mostly without vehicles, I don’t think (the weather] will heavily influence the counteroffensive,” Tarnavsky told CNN’ Friedrich Pleitgen.



“I believe yes (there will be a big breakthrough),” Tarnavsky told CNN. “I think it will happen after Tokmak. At the moment (the Russians) are relying on the depth of their defensive line there.”



Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that, “We will do everything not to stop during difficult days in autumn with poor weather, and in winter.”


link

[maybetoday]

Russian Forces Destroy Depot With 3K Tons of Ammo in HUGE BLAST – And Two Ukrainian Mig-29 Fighters Destroyed in Attacks the MSM Don’t Want You to See

By Paul Serran
Sep. 26, 2023 3:20 pm

There is but one front in which the Ukrainian counteroffensive is being very successful: in the mainstream media.



There, the complete failure of the counteroffensive is but a minor inconvenience as they chronicle every minor skirmish as a triumph for Kiev, and every successful missile attack as ‘the beginning of the end’ for Moscow.



The reality is that there is a war of positional battles going on, a situation in which the Russian war of attrition will always be victorious, as they have more guns, tanks, ammo, manpower.



In the last few days, the Russians have continued depleting the Ukrainian infrastructure in ways that will turn the inter into a bitter experience, and also disrupting logistics in the troop and equipment accumulations of the rear.


While the Russian pressure is on at the northern front near Kupyansk, now there is also the expectation that things may begin to move in the south on Kherson Oblast, at the Dnieper river delta, and maybe even east towards Odessa.



On Monday (25), the Russian Defense Ministry reported that a cruise missile struck a joint weapons and ammunition warehouse of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kiselevka area of ​​the Kherson region.



Watch the MASSIVE explosion of the depot:




rumble.com/v3l1lzb-ukrainian-ammo-depot-explosion-kiselevka.html


Sputnik reported:



“The Russian forces launched a cruise missile strike at the joint ammunition depot of the Ukrainian troops destroying more than 3,000 tons of ammo, the Russian Defense Ministry stated on Tuesday.



Russia carried out a precision strike at the Ukrainian ammunition depot near the village of Kiselevka, Kherson region, the ministry reported.



‘As a result of the strike and subsequent detonation, 12 hangars were destroyed, in which more than 3,000 tonnes of ammunition of various calibers were stored’, the ministry said.”



The burning debris field was visible to extend for miles around. As a result of the strike and subsequent detonations, 12 hangars were destroyed, in which the more than 3 thousand tons of ammunition of various calibers were stored.



“Such strikes have now become more frequent because the focus is now being placed on weakening UAF ability to conduct intense warfare.” Boris Rozhin, a military expert with the Center for Military-Political Journalism.



Meanwhile, the attacks on Air fields have intensified, but you would never know that by reading the MSM.



Russian Aerospace Forces have destroyed a MiG-29 airplane of Ukrainian Air Force at the Kulbakino airfield in Nikolayev Oblast.




rumble.com/v3l1o35-ukrainian-mig-29-destroyed-kulbakino.html


Whenever Russian long-range missile strikes are prepared, the Kiev performs a timely withdrawal of aircraft from the targets, an alternative solution was found to destroy enemy aircraft.



The Ukrainian Forces are now faced with a deadly problem caused by Russian drones.



The previous destruction of the Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter at the Dolgintsevo base near Kryvoi Rog could be the first demonstration for the updated Lancet drone with a range of action of 70 kilometers.

rumble.com/v3l1onk-ukrainian-mig-239-destroyed-in-dolgintsevo-near-krivoy-rog.html

link

[Pink Rose]

Russia is hit by second huge train explosion as Ukraine 'moves to block munitions supplied by Kim Jong Un'

Kim Jong Un supplied Putin with vast supplies of artillery shells in September

By WILL STEWART



PUBLISHED: 05:55 EST, 1 December 2023 | UPDATED: 11:50 EST, 1 December 2023


A second oil train has exploded in Buryatia, deep inside Russia, in an evident Ukrainian secret services bid to block munitions from North Korea.



Yesterday it was revealed a train had exploded inside a nine-mile-long tunnel, the longest in Russia.



The line is used for munitions from North Korea to supply Vladimir Putin's invading forces in Ukraine, according to InformNapalm channel.



The channel added: 'The explosion incident allegedly occurred on the Itikit-Okushikan section of the East Siberian Railway in the Northern Railway Tunnel.



'It is located on the BAM (Baikal-Amur Mainline) and receives military supplies from the DPRK (North Korea).'

Full story with pictures and video at the link

[Midnight]

Ukraine Claims to Have Destroyed Large Russian Warship With Storm Shadow Cruise Missile
OLIVER JJ LANE
26 Dec 2023

Russia acknowledges a missile attack on warship Novocherkassk, which Ukraine claims to have destroyed in a cruise missile strike in the early hours of Boxing Day.



Ukraine appears to have come out of Christmas Day determined to make an impact, as they claim to have destroyed another Russian warship, this time with an air-launched cruise missile strike. Russia acknowledged the attack on the Ropucha-class Novocherkassk, a 1980s-vintage landing ship similar in size to the U.S.-made Freedom-class warship, saying that one person had been killed in the strike.



Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk of the Ukrainian Air Force thanks his pilots for the “fine work” and noted in a statement that the Russian fleet “is getting smaller and smaller”. Ukrainian Pravda reports remarks of the spokesman for the Ukrainian armed forces Yurii Ihnat, who gave more detail on the strike, saying fighter jets launched a barrage of Anglo-French Storm Shadow / SCALP cruise missiles at the target, hoping at least one of the group would evade Russian air defences.
He is reported to have said that the size of the blast suggested a detonation of ammunition aboard. Indeed, Ukrainian state media shared video footage they claimed was of the attack, showing an enormous explosion and a great column of fire reaching into the sky after the initial hit. Given cruise missiles are intended to deliver a powerful but highly concentrated strike to punch through armored targets, the very large and long explosion shown in the Ukrainian-shared footage suggests large quantities of ammunition carried aboard the Novocherkassk may have cooked off, greatly contributing to the blast.



Russia said only that the ship had been “damaged”, and that nearby buildings in the Crimean port of Feodosia had windows blown out by the blast. It also claimed to have shot down two Ukrainian Sukhoi SU-24 fighter jets which it said were part of the attack on the Novocherkassk.



Russian state media TASS also said locals who recorded the attack on their cell phones and posted the videos to social media — which were shared by Ukraine as evidence of the strike — have already been identified and face criminal penalties for distributing military intelligence. Ukraine has similar laws and also punishes citizens for recording the aftermaths of attacks.



Russia’s class of Ropucha landing ships have become a favourite target for Ukrainian strikes since Moscow re-launched its invasion last year. At least four of them have been damaged in several strikes, and it is reported the Novocherkassk which Ukraine claims to have destroyed in the early hours of this morning was previously hit and damaged by Ukrainian forces in March 2022.

Equipped with bow doors and loading ramps front and rear, the ships are meant to rapidly deliver large amounts of men, equipment, and ammunition to landing beaches. This has made them a potent weapon in the Black Sea in the past, but as noted of late Ukraine has proven extremely adept at striking Russia’s fleet in the area and has pushed it eastwards as it seeks anchorages out of cruise missile range.



Ukraine sank Russia’s Black Sea Fleet flagship the Moskva in 2022, and this year made an audacious attack on the fleet headquarters in Crimea itself, pounding the building with two cruise missiles. Russia’s withdrawal of naval forces from the area has been called a “functional defeat” at Ukraine’s hands with British-supplied cruise missiles by the UK, with Armed Forces Minister James Heappey calling the theatre very important.



He told a defence conference this year: “the progress in Ukraine over the past few months has been slow, nobody can pretend otherwise, but anyone who thinks there was no progress at all is simply wrong… the importance of what has happened in the Black Sea over the last couple of weeks where a Russian submarine and a Russian ship have been put out of action and the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet has been put out of action too.”



“The functional defeat of the Black Sea Fleet — and I would argue that is what it is because it has been forced to disperse to ports from which it cannot have an effect on Ukraine — and every bit as important as [what was happening on land] last year.”

link

[ExquisiteGerbil]

Russia Unleashes Biggest Aerial Attack On Ukraine Since Opening Days Of War

BY TYLER DURDEN

FRIDAY, DEC 29, 2023 - 10:40 AM


Ukraine has said on Friday Russia launched the largest single day of airstrikes ever conducted throughout nearly two years of war. At least 18 people were reported killed, and over a hundred wounded after several Ukrainian cities were pummeled in drone and missile attacks.



The Ukrainian Armed Forces cited that up to 158 missiles and drones were launched, describing that this was a "record number" and the "most massive missile attack" of the conflict, excluding the very opening few days of the invasion. This was said include ballistic and supersonic missiles, launched from air and sea. Ukraine's military claimed its anti-air defenses downed and intercepted the majority of these.


President Volodymyr Zelensky also said, "Today Russia hit us with almost everything it has in its arsenal." The attacks began overnight into Friday, with large explosions rocking Kiev, Dnipro, and places like Odessa in the south and Kharkiv in the east. Inbound projectiles were also seen as far from the front lines as Lviv, in the country's far west.



"It’s been a long time since we have seen so many enemy targets on our monitors in all regions and all directions," Ukrainian air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat told a television broadcast. "Everything was being fired."



Ukrainian officials said that among places hit were shopping centers, apartment blocks, schools and a hospital.





Map showing expands of Russia's major missile and drone operation on Friday.


Widespread rescue operations continued into the day Friday:



There was a strong smell of burning plastic as firefighters wearing oxygen masks tackled the blaze and a huge column of black smoke billowed into the sky, an AFP reporter saw.



There were believed to be 10 people trapped under the rubble, said the head of the city's military administration, Sergiy Popko.



AFP journalists also saw smoke near the building of Lukyanivska metro station close to the city center. Popko said the metro station had been damaged but it reopened later in the day.



Scenes in the far Western city of Lviv, which is rarely touched by the war, were as follows based on Ukrainian officials:



In Lviv, one person was killed and 15 wounded by drones and missiles that damaged high-rise blocks of flats and two schools, the interior ministry said.



An image released by the emergency services showed window frames blown out in a nine-story block of flats.



As expected, Ukraine is referencing the large-scale aerial assault as reason for allies to urgently authorize more defense funds for 2024. Tens of billions are currently being held up in US Congress and the European Union.

Zelensky aide Andriy Yermak said the war-ravaged country needs "more support and strength to stop this terror" while US ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink immediately emphasized "Ukraine needs funding now".



EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell described Friday's assault as "yet another cowardly and indiscriminate" attack on civilians. The EU has been seeking to sidestep Hungary as it has sought to pass some €50 billion in funding, which remains blocked.


Meanwhile, Orthodox Church Christmas is around the corner, and it's as yet unclear whether there might be a hoped-for "Christmas truce" between Russia and Ukraine - as was speculated last year (but didn't really materialize). Orthodox Christians in both countries celebrate the holiday on January 7 (according to when Dec.25 appears on the ecclesiastical/or Julian calendar).

link

[ExquisiteGerbil]

Russia Launches Record Number of Drone Strikes Across Ukraine



People stand among the debris of the destroyed Shukhevych Museum after a drone attack in Bilogorshchethe, on the outskirt of Lviv on January 1, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The museum was named after UPA Corporal General Roman Shukhevych (19071950), the leader of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Andriy …YURIY DYACHYSHYN/AFP via Getty Images

BREITBART LONDON
1 Jan 2024

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Russia launched a record 90 Shahed-type drones over Ukraine during the early hours of the new year, the Ukrainian air force said Monday, while Russia also reported Ukrainian attacks.



A 15-year-old boy was killed and seven people wounded after falling debris from one of 87 downed drones hit a residential building in the city of Odesa, the head of the region’s military administration, Oleh Kiper, said. Debris also sparked a number of small fires, including at the city’s port.



In the western city of Lviv, Russian attacks severely damaged a museum dedicated to Roman Shukhevych, a controversial Ukrainian nationalist and military commander who fought for Ukrainian independence during World War II. University buildings in the town of Dubliany were also damaged, although no casualties were reported.


Writing on social media, Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovyi described the strike as “symbolic and cynical,” adding, “this is a war for our history.”


Meanwhile, four people were killed and 13 more wounded following Ukrainian shelling on Russian-occupied areas of Donetsk, according to the area’s Russian-installed leader, Denis Pushilin. Russian state media reported that a journalist was among the victims, but provided no further details.



One person was also killed and another wounded in shelling on the Russian border town of Shebekino, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.



The aerial strikes follow a series of heavy aerial bombardments that began on Friday, when Russia unleashed an 18-hour attack that one air force official described as the biggest aerial barrage of the war.



At least 49 people were killed in the bombardment, with rescuers in Kyiv reporting Monday that they had recovered at least eight more bodies from underneath the rubble.



Shelling blamed on Ukraine in the center of the Russian border city of Belgorod Saturday killed 21 people, including three children, local officials reported.

link

[Berean]

Another Russian Oil Refinery Engulfed In Fire After Drone Attack From Ukraine

BY TYLER DURDEN

THURSDAY, JAN 25, 2024 - 07:20 PM


Ukraine government sources have continued to boast of launching drone and missile strikes deep into Russian territory, targeting especially the country's energy infrastructure.



Reuters on Thursday cited an unidentified Ukrainian source to say that a successful drone attack was carried out against a Rosneft-owned oil refinery in southern Russia on the Black Sea. Local authorities acknowledged the fresh attack, describing that it set off a fire which though appeared very large, was reportedly quickly extinguished.

The export-oriented unit in the town of Tuapse was impacted in the strike, with the head of Tuapse district describing, "The vacuum unit was on fire. According to preliminary information, there were neither casualties nor injured." The attack also appeared confirmed by widely circulating social media images.



The Ukrainian source said it was the work of Ukraine's security services (SBU), which has alongside the military launched probably literally of hundreds such cross-border attacks since the war began nearly two years ago.



The Tuapse plant has an annual capacity of 12 million metric tons (or averaging 240,000 barrels per day) and supplies fuel chiefly to China, Turkey, Malaysia and Singapore, Reuters noted.







Ukraine kicked off the week with an earlier significant attack on Russia's energy infrastructure, resulting in Novatek having announced it was forced to suspend some operations at its huge Baltic Sea fuel export terminal on Sunday due to a fire started by what Ukrainian media said was a drone attack at the PJSC gas-condensate plant in the port Ust-Luga.



That had also been the result of a special operation carried out by the SBU, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency emphasized.



These spate of attacks in recent days and weeks targeting Russian energy facilities, raise questions about the quality of Russian air defense systems around key infrastructure facilities, or if they are present at all for that matter.



Russian oil exports made up about 30% of the country's budget revenues. As of 2023, Russia became China's number one oil supplier, taking the top spot long held by Saudi Arabia.

Kiev is actively seeking to impose a cost on this vital Russian industry needed to fuel its ongoing military operations in Ukraine:



A source in Ukraine's Security Service told the Kyiv Post that the successful assault on the oil terminal in Ust-Luga "not only inflicts substantial economic harm on the enemy, disrupting their revenue streams for the war in Ukraine, but also disrupts the logistical chain of fuel essential to the Russian military.



"This move strategically hampers the occupiers' ability to sustain their forces, marking a significant setback in their ongoing aggression," the source added.



However, there are little to no signs of setback along the frontlines, and in the Donbass, where Russia's military grip over territory hasn't really changed over the past six months to a year.




link

[J.J.Gibbs]

Zelensky Claims Just 31,000 Ukrainian Soldiers Have Died During Past Two Years of War With Russia


KURT ZINDULKA
25 Feb 2024
3:43

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday claimed that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died in the war with Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of the country two years ago.



In a departure from Kyiv’s tight-lipped stance on revealing casualty figures, President Zelensky for the first time has given a tally of how many soldiers have been killed by the Russians since the 2022 invasion.



Speaking at the “Ukraine. Year 2024” forum in Kyiv on Sunday, the president said per the AP: “31,000 Ukrainian military personnel have been killed in this war. Not 300,000, not 150,000, not whatever Putin and his deceitful circle have been lying about. But nevertheless, each of these losses is a great sacrifice for us.”



Zelensky said that he would not reveal how many of his soldiers have been wounded or have gone missing over the past two years. He also said that his government does not have a full accounting of how many civilians have been killed by the Russians, but suggested it is in the “tens of thousands”.



“We don’t know how many of our civilians they killed. We don’t,” he said, noting that a firm figure on civilian deaths will likely not be determined until the war is over.



According to the latest report from the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, there have been at least 30,457 civilian casualties since the conflict broke out into full war in February of 2022. This estimate was comprised of 10,582 killed and 19,875 injured.

Contrary to Zelensky’s claims on Sunday, a report from the New York Times in August found that some 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in action, with a further 100,000 to 120,000 suffering injuries.



The report, which cited American defence officials, was also mostly comprised of estimates prior to the Ukrainian “counteroffensive” launched in June, during which both sides reportedly suffered “high casualties“.



The same report claimed that Russia had suffered some 300,000 casualties during its so-called “special military operation”, with an estimated 120,000 soldiers killed and another 170,000 to 180,000 injured.



Moscow has also shied away from giving specific casualty figures during much of the war, with the latest figure, released in January of last year, claiming that just 6,000 soldiers were killed during the first year of the invasion.



On Saturday, independent Russian news outlet Mediazona, citing a statistical analysis of a Russian inheritance claims database, said that around 83,000 Russian soldiers are likely to have died since February of 2022.



The claim from Zelensky that 31,000 soldiers had died comes as he is seeking to assure war-fatigued Western allies that his country still can win outright against the much larger Russian army while beseeching European and American politicians to continue funding the war effort.



However, in the wake of the failure of the counteroffensive to produce any significant victories, there appears to be growing concern among Europeans about the prospect of Ukraine succeeding on the battlefield, with a survey in 12 EU nations finding that just 10 per cent of people believe Ukraine can win the war, compared to nearly four in ten who believe a negotiated settlement will be the most likely outcome.

link

[Midnight]

New Russian Offensive Is Rapidly Gaining Ground – Where Did All the Ukrainian Defensive Fortifications Go?

By Paul Serran
Mar. 5, 2024 1:20 pm



After the heavily fortified key Donbas city of Avdeevka was captured by Russia, analysts and observers all over the world were presented with a much different outlook on the frontlines of Ukraine.



The Russian forces are engaged in a very successful offensive, something that the NYT has called ‘small but rapid gains,’ that Newsweek has termed ‘a high tempo of offensive operations,’ and even CNN could not help but describe it as ‘swift Russian advances.’



As we go through each of these reports below, we notice that the justification for the sudden Russian successes is manifold, but no one can overlook the fact that the proper defensive fortifications were NOT built as projected.





Artillery superiority does not fully explain the advance.

As the Russian army continues to expand westwards from Avdeevka, they have been met with poor Ukrainian defenses in the form of ‘sparse, rudimentary trench lines.’



The New York Times reported:



“Avdeevka became the site of a fierce standoff over the last nine months, emerging as one of the bloodiest battles of the war. When Russia captured the city on Feb. 17, its first major gain since last May, the Ukrainian Army claimed it had secured defensive lines outside the city.



But Russian troops have captured three villages to the west of Avdeevka in the span of a week, and they are contesting at least one other.”



It’s clear that Ukraine did not shore up its defensive lines early (or well) enough.


In some places, a shoulder-high trench is all Kiev defenders have.

But why? Since the war started in the Donbas in 2014, Ukrainian commanders have had ample time to prepare defenses outside Avdeevka.



“But the Ukrainian defenses outside Avdeevka show rudimentary earthen fortifications, often with a connecting trench for infantry troops to reach firing positions closest to the enemy, but little else.”



MSM also can’t help but compare the frankly incompetent job by Kiev’s forces with the formidable, multilayered Russian ‘Surovkin Line’ of defense fortifications, said to be visible from space.



But why were the fortifications not built? It’s not surprising that corruption, the number one obvious suspicion, is never, ever mentioned in any MSM report.



What other possible reasons are there?



Ukrainian officials may have been too focused on offensive operations, or maybe a psychological element at play.



“If Ukrainian troops heavily mined certain areas to thwart Russian advances, it would be a tacit acknowledgement that they were unlikely to carry out offensive operations in the same area at a future date.”


Formidable Russian defense fortifications could be seen from space.

Apparently, they have begun ‘plans’ for new fortifications only three months ago.



“The absence of strong defensive lines outside of Avdeevka has been denounced in recent days by several Ukrainian journalists, in a rare show of public criticism of the military.”



Ukrainian troops are now left to reinforce their defensive lines under fire from the overpowering Russian Army.



Newsweek reported on a new update by the Institute for the Study of War:



“The U.S.-based think tank’s Tuesday update noted that following a brief respite, Moscow’s troops are now ‘attempting to exploit tactical opportunities offered by the Russian seizure of Avdeevka and appear to be maintaining a relatively high tempo of offensive operations’.”



After slowing down to ‘mop up’ and clear Avdeevka, Russians resumed their offensive in the western and northwestern directions.


Russians advance before Ukrainians can dig their fortifications.

Heavy fighting is reported in the settlements of Berdychi, Orlivka, and Tonenke.



“There, the pro-Kiev Tatarigami_UA channel wrote on X […] the ‘state of prepared fortifications’ are ‘disappointing’. ‘The defenses are not as nearly good as the ones the Russians have built’, the channel, run by a Ukrainian military officer in reserve, wrote.



‘Solid strategic fortifications require joint efforts of the General Staff, Ministry of Defense, and civilian government—it cannot be accomplished solely with the resources of exhausted brigades or individual battalions’.”



Other Ukrainian military analysts describe the fallback Ukrainian defenses now are ‘problematic’ rather than ‘prepared’.



CNN reported:



“Ukraine announced a withdrawal from Avdeevka on February 17 to a series of positions to the town’s west. Yet three tiny villages have since fallen to Russian forces, with Kiev insisting they never intended to defend them.



But the defensive line it declared it would fall back to – three villages further to the west – has since come under heavy Russian assault, with pro-Russian sources claiming Moscow has partially occupied all three settlements. Ukraine denies the claims.”


Russian conquests are multiplying.

The new Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrsky, reportedly scolded his subordinate officers twice in the past week for poor performance.



“On Thursday, Syrsky criticized ‘certain shortcomings” and ‘miscalculations’ by commanders on the Avdeevka front lines ‘which directly affected the sustainability of defence in certain areas’. On Saturday, he returned to the theme of inadequate staffing, suggesting he had replaced some officers who were ‘not aware of the situation’ and ‘directly endanger[ed] the lives and health of [their] subordinates’.”



Bad plans for the Avdeevka withdrawal now mean that they’re unable to stem Russia’s advance.



Soldiers are now expressing stark pessimism in the sector.



“One special forces soldier told CNN: ‘It’s not so much about [Russian] momentum, but more about us being badly prepared to hold them off. As long as we didn’t have good, prepared positions we keep rolling and rolling and rolling back’.”


link

[Shoshanna]

Russian Hypersonic Iskander Missile Attack in Odessa Targets Mercenary Troop Gathering


By Paul Serran Mar. 17, 2024 9:20 pm


The partial meltdown of Ukrainian defensive lines seem to have been at least temporarily solved, and while Russian forces keep making gains all over the frontline, they are only incremental.



Meanwhile, Kiev is again excelling in the only front that they were ever victorious on: the mainstream media.



So, they make border attacks and incursions that are suicide missions without any strategic or tactical importance – but hey, PR stunts is all that’s left for them.



Meanwhile, while it arises that French President and neo-warmonger in chief Emmanuel Macron has long discussed sending troops to protect the Black Sea port of Odessa, an attack lays bare the increasing presence of western fighters in the country.



According to Russian sources, a large group of Western mercenaries was destroyed in a hypersonic Iskander missile attack on the Mriya sanatorium, in Odessa.



It is estimated that about 100 mercenaries were killed in the attack, with more than 100 wounded.



Unsurprisingly, the MSM is all-too-ready to believe the version coming from Kiev, that every Russian missile always struck a kindergarten or a puppy kennel.



They only say that a Russian ballistic missile attack struck a ‘residential area’ in Ukraine’s Black Sea port city of Odessa.



Reuters reported:



“Two Iskander-M missiles fired from the Russian-occupied Crimea peninsula damaged civilian infrastructure and gas and electricity supply lines in the southern city, regional governor Oleh Kiper said on national television.



A medic and a rescuer were killed by a second missile after rushing to the scene to treat people hurt in the initial strike. Ten people had suffered serious injuries, Kiper said.



Local officials and national police said police were among the dead, including at least two senior officers. A former deputy mayor of the city was also killed.



[…] A three-storey recreational facility was destroyed in the attack as well as at least 10 private houses, the southern military command said.”



But Ukrainian Telegram channel painted a truer picture:



‘Dumskaya’ Channel writes that in the Mriya sanatorium at Kovalevsky’s dacha, where the strike took place, mass events were still held with military personnel.



“The barracks in Nikolaev, Desna and Yavorov, the arrival of the 128th in Zarechny – aren’t there enough such cases to understand once and for all: even in the deep rear it is impossible to concentrate personnel, to hold any kind of mass events with them?



There is a German proverb: Was wissen Zwei, wisst Schwein (“What two know, a pig knows”). But there are clearly not two here – probably the whole district knew that some kind of military or police had settled in the recreational facility. And the enemy quickly included the object in the list of priority targets. It was enough just to wait for the right moment, and then it came…



How many more people must lose their lives before we learn to observe basic safety measures always and everywhere? The question, as they say, is rhetorical.”



Slavyangrad also reported:



“Iskander destroyed a base in Odessa with leaders and militants of a Nazi battalion.



Ukraine tried to pass off today’s strike as an attack on a peaceful facility, but local media reported that among the dead:



Tsunami battalion commander, ex-deputy police chief and ex-deputy mayor Alexander Gostischev.



Military Sergei Tetyukhin, ex-deputy mayor, who left the mayor’s office and mobilized in November 2023.”



But why is Odessa now in such preeminent spot in the war?



Simplicius the Thinker wrote:



“NATO cannot let Russia capture Odessa for a multitude of reasons.



NATO was building important naval bases there in order to fully neutralize Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in the future


It would allow Russia to totally landlock Ukraine, thus ruining NATO’s last remaining puppet-state’s chances of being a military thorn in Russia’s side


The above alone would allow Russia to dominate global wheat markets as Ukraine would have little ways to export its grain


It would allow Russia to create an unbroken land corridor to Transnistria which would catalyze into an even greater ‘domino-effect’ collapse of NATO destabilization plans, allowing Russia to totally solve the PMR issue and create a fortress in the region


In short, it’s absolutely apocalyptic for NATO to lose Odessa.”



In the meantime, the French paper Le Monde tells us that Macron, as early as February 21, at a closed conversation at the Elysee Palace, said: “In any case, in the coming year I will have to send some guys to Odessa.”



It was just five days after this incident that Macron publicly announced the possibility of sending troops from France to Ukraine.

 

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[ExquisiteGerbil]

‘STORM FROM THE NORTH’: Russian Forces Open New Front in Northern Kharkov, Take a Dozen Villages In a Day (VIDEOS)

By Paul Serran
May. 11, 2024 8:20 pm



And so it begins: the ‘Storm from the North’. The long-awaited new front in northern Kharkov Oblast.



Group of the Russian Armed Forces ‘North’, that has been talked about for a long time, is now a reality, has advanced crossing into Ukraine and, on the first day Russian forces have already seized Zelene, Ohirtseve, Hatyshche, Pletenivka, Strilecha, Krasne, Pylna, and Borysivka.



I will try to relay a sense of what’s happening with the invaluable help of the coverage of Telegram channels, notably Sputnik, Slavyangrad, Intel Slava Z and Bellum Acta.



Russian Federation forces have penetrated the defenses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from 3 to 5 km in Kharkov region, with a control zone in the border area to 110 square kilometers.



This will have a ripple effect in all the 600-mile-long frontline. As soon as Ukrainian top General Syrsky begins to transfer units to the northern regions of Kharkov and Sumy, the front in Donetsk will fold, and Chasov Yar, Kurakhovo and Krasnoarmeysk are expected to instantly collapse.



Watch: ‘North’ group is targeting enemy equipment in the border area.

Ukrainian Armed Forces in fact have withdrawn some of the units of the 42nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade from the front near Chasov Yar and are hastily transferring troops north.





Areas with Ukrainian defensive forces targeted by artillery and air force strikes.


The sites of attacks on the locations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are gradually increasing in number and in depth. If the pace of strikes continues, most of the fortified areas of the Ukrainian Armed Forces will soon cease to exist.



Watch: In the area of ​​Stary Saltov, Russian military group ‘North’ destroys a dam across the Seversky Donets River.

Syrsky’s General Staff is reportedly more concerned by a Russian army breakthrough to Pokrovsk and Kurakhovo (in Donetsk) than of Kharkov.



They are transferring personnel and equipment, but it’s not a massive movement.



Although they ‘know’ about the Kharkov attack, they also fear that it is a ‘ruse’ to drain defenses from Donetsk. They don’t know at all where the ‘main attack’ will be delivered.





Significant number of forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were captured.


Russian troops are achieving ‘tactically significant successes’, writes the American Institute for the Study of War.



“This operation most likely ‘has limited operational goals, but is designed to achieve a strategic effect in diverting Ukrainian manpower and equipment from other critical sectors of the front.



[…] The purpose of these operations, according to the organization, is to push Ukrainian forces back from the border with the Belgorod region and advance to Kharkov within range of cannon artillery – that is, closer than 25 kilometers. Now Russian troops are located 30 kilometers from Kharkov.



It is highly likely that Russian forces have reserves ready to commit to intensifying offensive operations north of Kharkov in the coming days.



“Indirect artillery fire, combined with ongoing glide bombing and missile strikes, will most likely be aimed at creating the conditions for a larger offensive on Kharkov at a later time.”



Watch: FPV drones track Ukrainian troops for artillery and Lancet drone attacks.

During the assault operations, units of the ‘North’ Group took 42 military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as prisoners, and the number of killed Ukrainian Armed Forces militants already exceeds 150 people.



Ukrainian troops have started to retreat in the Kharkov region under pressure.



Burning tank of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, in Liptsy.

There is now, reportedly, a ‘slight panic’ in Kharkov city. There are problems with electricity and communications, but not many people are leaving the city. It may be because they not have the means to move.



It now seems that the command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has begun the transfer of units – not from eastern Donetsk, but from southern Kherson – to Kharkov.



Destruction of a bridge near the village of Volchanskie Khutora.

Russian losses have been minimal, the ‘Storm of the North’ in unleashed after Lancet kamikaze drones, FPV drone surveillance, artillery, tanks and air force are all ‘paving the way’ for them, obliterating enemy fortifications and his armored vehicles.



Russian sources say that Zelensky turned the Ukrainian brigades for ‘the new counter-offensive’, and turned them into brigades of the defense of Kiev.



Commander in Chief General Oleksandr Syrsky is dissatisfied and against it. He needs troop reserves for Chasov Yar and Krasnoarmeysk, for Kharkov and Kupyansk.



Kharkov residents have finally realized that Russian troops are rapidly advancing in the Kharkov region, so the head of the Kharkov regional administration, Oleg Sinegubov, was forced to make an official statement saying that ‘there are currently no grounds for evacuation from Kharkov’.



Do they needed people as a ‘human shield’?

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[Midnight]

Putin Floats Creation of Buffer Zone in Northeastern Ukraine, Says Conquest of Kharkov City Is Not in Russia’s CURRENT Plans

by Paul Serran 

May 17, 2024 5:40 pm

There’s no question that the 30 thousand troops involved in Russia’s Northern Kharkov Oblast offensive are not nearly enough to undertake a conquest of a major center like Kharkov city with over 1 million people.

Having said that, it is also true that Kharkov city is already within Russian artillery range, and it is also a fact that the main supply lines to it are also under Russian fire control.

So, while conquering the city is beyond present capabilities, Russian Federation forces are about to make existence there a living hell.

During his major state visit to China, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that capturing Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkov is not part of Moscow’s current plan.

CNBC reported:

“Speaking at a news conference in China, Putin said that Russian forces operating in the area may be forced to create a “sanitary zone” to shore up Russia’s own security, according to Russian state news agency Ria Novosti.”

Ukrainian forces are scrambling to hold off Russia’s latest push, assembling reinforcements that are weakening other parts of the ever expanding 2-thousand mile long front-line.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said defense forces had ‘stabilized’ the situation around Kharkov, after Russian forces advanced 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) into the northeastern region.

Russia’s Defense Ministry on Friday said it had captured 12 settlements in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkov region in the last week, before adding that it “continues to advance into the depths” of the country.

[…] Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier in the day that Russian forces operating near Ukraine’s second-largest city could be forced to create a buffer zone to shore up security. Putin added that the Kremlin’s current plan was not to capture the city of Kharkov.”

Euronews reported:

“I have said publicly that if it continues we will be forced to create a security zone, a sanitary zone,” [Putin] said, “As for Kharkov, there are no such plans (to capture the city)”.”

Putin’s comments come as Russian and Ukrainian forces engage in fierce battles in the middle of of Volchansk, a key town in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkov region, just 5 kilometers from the border.

The move has piled pressure on Ukraine’s outnumbered, outgunned and outmaneuvered forces.

“Former Russian defense minister – now the head of the National Security Council – Sergei Shoigu insisted Russian troops are pushing the offensive in many directions and that ‘it’s going quite well’.

‘I hope we will keep advancing. We have certain reserves for the purpose, in personnel, equipment and munitions’, he said in televised remarks.”

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[bloodbought]

Northern Kharkov Offensive: A Russian Ruse, or a Dangerous New Front With Multiple Attack Waves? (VIDEOS)

by Paul Serran 

May 18, 2024 4:20 pm

Some people think that the latest ground offensive by Russian Federation forces in the Northeastern Ukrainian Kharkov Oblast is nothing but a distraction.

It would be designed to drag defenders away from the vital Donetsk theater of operations, where Moscow has made steady, meaningful gains ever since the conquest of the key city of Avdeevka.

The main Russian objective in this war, it may be reminded, is the conquest of the Donbas regions, Luhansk – almost entirely conquered – and Donetsk, where the main fighting now is raging around Chasov Yar and other directions.

But other well-informed people, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, think that the Kharkov offensive is for real, and may develop in successive deadly waves of attack.

The truth may be that it is both of them, in the sense that Russian Federation forces have designed a style of fighting that is very flexible, and can exploit Ukrainian weaknesses wherever they may appear.

Because of the scandal involving the lack of defensive structures in Kharkov, and with the revelation that oligarchs stole a fortune that should have been used to build them, Zelensky went to Kharkov to ‘inspect’ them.

During the visit, he said reinforcements were flocking to the country’s north to defend this strategic city.

Europe 1 reports that this is ‘the perfect plan for Russia’ and its 35,000 to 50,000 soldiers flocking to Kharkov, a very strategic city for Kiev.

“Ultimately, the trap set by the Russians seems to be working, because Moscow’s objective is to force the Ukrainians to move troops towards the north. This maneuver could then allow the Russians to open breaches in the south and complete the conquest of the entire regions of Donbas.

At the same time, the Ukrainian army is struggling to line up 250,000 men on the front line. ‘In all the brigades, there is a 40% shortage of personnel’, underlines a French military source to Europe 1. ‘We are facing a wave of desertion among young conscripts’, confirms a Ukrainian officer. ‘In Kiev, they no longer talk to us about armaments but about recruitment problems’, continues a French soldier returning from the front after an observation mission.”

Europe 1’s sources state that ‘Western chancelleries are preparing coordinated diplomatic action to convince Volodymyr Zelensky to accept the principle of negotiations’.

WaPo writes about the fact that, while Russia’s new offensive across Ukraine’s northeastern border was expected for months but still surprised the Ukrainian defenders.

Reconnaissance drones monitored Moscow’s was build-up of forces, but the morning the attack happened, all their video feeds were disrupted by Russian electronic jamming.

Starlink devices failed for the first time since the start of the war. They were completely blind.

Washington Post reported:

“Begrudgingly, Ukrainian troops admit that their enemy has gotten smarter and adapted, especially with technological advancements such as electronic warfare — a sharp contrast with the first year of the invasion, when Russia’s own blunders and overconfidence allowed the Ukrainians to hold key cities and later liberate large swaths of territory in successful counteroffensives.”

Russian troops inside Volchansk.

WaPo allows itself to wonder out loud if Russia may soon overpower Ukraine’s forces and seize more territory.

Ukrainian troops say that “every time the units stationed here tried to build fortified lines, the Russians — using their own reconnaissance drones — would monitor their activity and fire on them.”

Watch: Russian artillery pounds Ukrainian equipment trying to excavate defensive trenches.

Groups of Russian infantry attack in waves.

“The Russians also drop glide bombs, sometimes weighing half a ton, every 15 to 20 minutes, said the commander of a reconnaissance unit in Khartia whom The Post is identifying by his call sign, Navigator. Unlike missiles, the bombs themselves can’t be intercepted by air defense once they’re dropped from Russian aircraft. This is one reason Ukrainians have pleaded for F-16 fighters, which would be able to challenge the encroaching bombers.”

Ukrainian defenders must constantly change their positions, and before an attack, a Russian drone with electronic warfare capabilities will fly over the area to disrupt communications.

Watch: Ukrainian air-defense warehouse in Kharkov

Sputnik reported:

“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the advance of Russian troops in the Kharkov Region as ‘only the first step’ in a new offensive in an interview with Agence France-Presse, admitting that the Kiev regime lacks air defense systems and needs more military personnel.

The new offensive of the Russian army, which began in the Kharkov region, may consist of several waves, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky told Western media.

Zelensky said that in the Kharkov region, where the Russian Armed Forces went on the offensive in early May, ‘there was the first wave’. He called the situation there ‘controlled, but not stabilized’.

He also admitted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have problems with ‘morale’ amid a shortage of weapons and soldiers.”

Watch: Russian troops take Kotlyarovka, Kharkov region.

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[ExquisiteGerbil]

Ukraine’s Controversial Military Mobilization Law Comes Into Effect Amid Russian Advances

Breitbart London

18 May 2024

3:32

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – A divisive mobilization law in Ukraine came into force on Saturday, as Kyiv struggles to boost troop numbers after Russia launched a new offensive that some fear could close in on Ukraine’s second-largest city.

The legislation, which was watered down from its original draft, will make it easier to identify every conscript in the country. It also provides incentives to soldiers, such as cash bonuses or money toward buying a house or car, that some analysts say Ukraine cannot afford.

Lawmakers dragged their feet for months and only passed the law in mid-April, a week after Ukraine lowered the age for men who can be drafted from 27 to 25. The measures reflect the growing strain that more than two years of war with Russia has had on Ukraine´s forces, who are trying to hold the front lines in fighting that has sapped the country’s ranks and stores of weapons and ammunition.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also signed two other laws Friday, allowing prisoners to join the army and increasing fines for draft dodgers fivefold. Russia enlisted its prisoners early on in the war, and personnel shortages compelled Ukraine to adopt the new measures.

Russian troops, meanwhile, are pushing ahead with a ground offensive that opened a new front in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and put further pressure on Kyiv’s overstretched military. After weeks of probing, Moscow launched the new push knowing that Ukraine suffered personnel shortages, and that its forces have been spread thin in the northeast.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday during a visit to China that the Russian push aims to create “a buffer zone” rather than capturing Kharkiv, the local capital and Ukraine’s second-largest city.

Still, Moscow’s forces have pummeled Kharkiv with strikes in recent weeks, hitting civilian and energy infrastructure and prompting angry accusations from Zelenskyy that the Russian leadership sought to reduce the city to rubble. On Friday, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said that Russian guided bombs killed at least three residents and injured 28 others that day.

Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians, but thousands have died or suffered injuries in the more than 27 months of fighting.

The U.S. last week announced a new $400 million package of military aid for Ukraine, and President Joe Biden has promised that he would rush badly needed weaponry to the country to help it stave off Russian advances. Still, only small batches of U.S. military aid have started to trickle into the front line, according to Ukrainian military commanders, who said it will take at least two months before supplies meet Kyiv´s needs to hold the line.

Thousands of Ukrainians have fled the country to avoid the draft since Russia´s all-out invasion in February 2022, some risking their lives as they tried to swim across a river separating Ukraine from neighboring Romania and Hungary.

Late on Friday, Ukraine’s border service said that at least 30 people have died trying to cross the Tisza River since the full scale-invasion.

Romanian border guards days earlier retrieved the near-naked, disfigured body of a man that appeared to have been floating in the Tisza for days, and is the 30th known casualty, the Ukrainian agency said in an online statement. It said the man has not yet been identified.

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[J.J.Gibbs]

Ukraine Has Requested NATO Military Instructors On Its Soil, Macron Says
by Tyler Durden
Thursday, Jun 06, 2024 - 09:00 PM

French President Emmanuel Macron used the occasion of D-Day memorial events in France on Thursday to make some big announcements on Ukraine. This after President Biden focused much of his speech on 'defeating Russia' - as opposed to remembrance of WWII and those who perished on the beaches of Normandy.

For the first time Macron said that there's been a specific request from the Zelensky government to send French troops to Ukrainian soil in order to train forces there, amid a growing manpower shortage and severe lag in adequate training.

"There is a challenge in capacity. That is why the Ukrainian president and his minister of defence asked all the allies -- 48 hours ago in an official letter -- saying 'we need you to train us quicker and that you do this on our soil'," Macron said in a live interview on French television, translated by AFP.
Via AP

While stopping short of committing to sending troops (given there's been no consensus reached by NATO allies yet), Macron did indicate the French military will equip and train an entire brigade of 4,500 Ukrainian soldiers - but crucially this training is being conducted outside Ukraine.

Macron also announced readiness to transfer Mirage-2000 fighter jets to Ukraine, and to train their pilots on the aircraft, while not specifying the number of jets to be sent.

"Tomorrow we will launch a new cooperation and announce the transfer of Mirage 2000-5," Macron indicated in the interview, referencing the fighter made by French manufacturer Dassault.

The pilot training program will kick off this summer, and the details will reportedly be hashed out when Macron meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Friday.

"You need normally between five-six months. So by the end of the year there will be pilots. The pilots will be trained in France," he continued.

As for sending Western troops directly into Ukraine, Macron cautioned, "We are working with our partners and we will act on the basis of a collective decision."

But at this point in the conflict this is a losing proposition and the West knows it, even if officials don't admit it openly. There's huge risk and only downside. President Putin and top Kremlin officials have repeatedly vowed they will attack any foreign troops found on Ukraine soil.

Journalist and national security commentator Andrew Cockburn summed up the situation as follows: "As Russian forces steadily advance in the Kharkiv region, it is becoming ever more clear that the Ukraine war has been a disaster for the U.S. defense machine, and not just because our aid has failed to save Ukraine from retreat and possible defeat. More importantly, the war has pitilessly exposed our defense system’s deep, underlying, faults."

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[Berean]

Sullivan Greenlights Ukraine Cross-Border Attacks Beyond Kharkiv Region With US Arms

BY TYLER DURDEN

TUESDAY, JUN 18, 2024 - 09:30 PM

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has said that authorization for Ukrainian use of American weapons for cross-border attacks extends not just to the Kharkiv region, but into other Russian regions as well, further escalating Biden's initial greenlight for such offensive operations.



Blinken in a Monday PBS interview told NewsHour's Nick Schifrin "This is not about geography, it's about common sense" and expanded the parameters for using NATO-supplied missiles. Watch the exchange below:

The following is what was said in this opening section of the interview:



Schifrin: Does the agreement that you have made with Ukraine to allow Ukraine to fire American weapons just over the border into Russia at Russian forces that are about to attack into Ukraine, does that extend beyond the Kharkiv region, including into the Sumy region, where Russian forces have also been targeting Ukraine?



Sullivan: It extends to anywhere that Russian forces are coming across the border from the Russian side to the Ukrainian side to try to take additional Ukrainian territory.



Schifrin: So, that could include the Sumy region?



Sullivan: That's happened in Kharkiv.



We have seen initial indications that Russia has made exploratory moves across in Sumy. And so it would apply there as well. This is not about geography. It's about common sense. If Russia is attacking or about to attack from its territory into Ukraine, it only makes sense to allow Ukraine to hit back against the forces that are hitting it from across the border.



That's when the interviewer pointed out the obvious--that this policy will lead to open-ended and uncontrollable escalation given it takes away all parameters. "Of course, Russia is attacking Ukraine from all parts of Russia. Why draw the line there?" Schifrin asked.



Sullivan at this point essentially gave Kiev the greenlight to attack a much more expanded area inside Russia. "Well, first, we are permitting Ukrainian forces to attack Russian forces using Russia as a sanctuary in the areas where on the battlefield they are attacking from inside Russia with artillery, with other ground-based munitions," Biden's top security official said.



And what's more is that when asked about F-16s, Sullivan affirmed that Ukraine can use the US-made jets to attack Russia. Sullivan explained:



"...we have made clear — and we have seen over the course of the past two years Ukraine do this — that they can use air defense systems, including those supplied by the United States, to take Russian planes out of the sky, even if those Russian planes are in Russian airspace, if they're about to fire into Ukrainian airspace."





Situation in Ukraine as of late May. Source: liveuamap.


President Putin in late March had addressed this possibility. He said that Russian forces would then have to right to attack any airbase from which these F-16s are flown, including if they take off from within Western countries or NATO bases.



Commenting on the fresh and escalatory Sullivan remarks, independent journalist Michael Tracey said to "Expect the parameters of this bold new policy to continue to grow."

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