Russian Invasion of Ukraine

[The Sisko]

Someone trolling Prigozhin memorial
🤣🤣🤣

Edited August 30, 2023 by The Sisko

[MrSilverMaC]

Ukraine pierces main russian defensive line
 

Wall Street Journal
 

 

Ukrainian forces have penetrated the main Russian defensive line in their country’s southeast, raising hopes of a breakthrough that would reinvigorate the slow-moving counteroffensive.

Ukrainian paratroopers are fighting through entrenched Russian positions on the edge of the village of Verbove, a Ukrainian officer in the area said. Ukrainian forces have also reached the main defensive line to the south of nearby Robotyne village, he said. Ukraine’s military confirmed advances toward Verbove and south of Robotyne, without giving details.

Describing the advance, the Ukrainian officer held up three fingers representing lines of attack through entrenched Russian positions on the western flank of Verbove, an agricultural village of some 1,000 residents before the war. The significance of the advance is that it marks the first time Ukraine has penetrated the main Russian defensive line, an extensive system of minefields, trenches and antitank obstacles covered by artillery.

 

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[China]

Russia and Turkey gear up for showdown over control of Black Sea as tensions mount

 

Russia and Turkey are preparing for a showdown over control of the strategically crucial Black Sea, with President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan set for tense talks.

 

Ankara has confirmed Erdogan - narrowly re-elected as his country’s leader earlier this year - will travel to Moscow “soon” for discussions aimed at reviving the UN-negotiated Black Sea grain deal, which Russia pulled out of in July.

 

Turkey controls access to the waterway from the Mediterranean via the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits - a point Mr Erdogan is likely to make strongly when he speaks to Putin face to face.

 

Speaking to Politico, Dimitar Bechev, a Turkey expert at the University of Oxford’s School of Global and Area Studies, explained: “The word on the street is that Erdogan really wants to reach an agreement, and the Russians simply aren’t interested.

 

“The grain deal was a major win for Turkey, and when that was lost Turkey became less relevant as well.”

 

Click on the link for the full article

[FootballZombie]

Russia is at the forefront of innovation

 

 

[China]

 

Have another shot of vodka, Vlad.

[China]

Putin and Erdogan discuss grain deal; Kyiv replaces defense minister

 

Ukraine’s defense minister was dismissed over the weekend, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Sunday, saying the defense ministry “needs new approaches.”

 

“I have decided to replace the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. Oleksiy Reznikov has gone through more than 550 days of full-scale war. I believe that the Ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society at large,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address of Sunday.

 

Rustem Umerov, who previously led Ukraine’s State Property Fund, has been named as the new defense minister.

 

The appointment comes as Kyiv appears to be making headway in its counteroffensive in southern Ukraine, with reports that the country’s forces have broken through a first line of Russian defenses in the Zaporizhzhia region.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Ukraine war: Kim Jong Un 'to visit Putin for weapons talks'

 

North Korea's Kim Jong Un plans to travel to Russia this month to meet President Vladimir Putin, a US official has told the BBC's US partner CBS.

 

The two leaders will discuss the possibility of North Korea providing Moscow with weapons to support its war in Ukraine, the official said.

 

The exact location of the planned meeting is not clear.

 

There was no immediate comment on the report, also carried by other US media, from North Korea or Russia.

 

Sources told the New York Times that Mr Kim was most likely to travel by armoured train.

 

The possible meeting comes after the White House said it had new information that arms negotiations between the two countries were "actively advancing".

 

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Russia's Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu, had tried to "convince Pyongyang to sell artillery ammunition" to Russia during a recent visit to North Korea.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

What kind of equipment does NK have, and is it any good?  How bad off is Russia if they can't even produce artillery shells?

 

 

[CousinsCowgirl84]

I believe Russia will give North Korea the technical capabilities to manufacture the weapons and north Korean labor will build them. In exchange NK gets weapons tech and $$$….

[Renegade7]

Thing that bothers most about this is we've scared off most anyone from helping via sanctions so it felt inevitable one would step up that I can't even think of how to sanction any further then we already have.

 

NK could end up getting food and nuclear subs out of this deal, and this has mostly been a stalemate with Russia NOT getting much if any help from anyone yet. 

 

NK has a pretty decent military, if they sent the kinda help that tilted the Syrian civil war when Russia showed up, what do we do if that happens?

[spjunkies]

This smells like a big fat hail Mary to me. First you kill off your top military dude and 2 weeks later you're begging Kim Jong-Fat for assistance? Yeah, OK buddy. 

[China]

1 hour ago, Renegade7 said:

 

NK has a pretty decent military, if they sent the kinda help that tilted the Syrian civil war when Russia showed up, what do we do if that happens?

 

At the start of this war people thought Russia had a decent military.  I don't think we really know how good NK's military is.  Reportedly, NK has the following:

 

Quote

According to a 2021 report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a United Kingdom–based think tank, the North Korean military has approximately 550 combat-capable aircraft, 290 helicopters, 400 combatant vessels, 280 amphibious vessels, 70 submarines, 4,000 tanks, 2,500 armored vehicles, and 5,500 multiple-rocket launchers.

 

How much of that do you think they're willing to give/sell to Russia?  Do you think they'll give their best or keep that for themselves and give Russia the older and/or less well maintained equipment (and we don't know how well maintained all of NK's equipment is).  NATO countries are going to continue supporting Ukraine. 

 

Just as a note Ukraine currently has around 1,400 active tanks compared to Russia’s 1,300.  Whereas, at the start of the war, Ukraine had 987 tanks and Russia had 3,400. Link

[Cooked Crack]

 

[China]

Turkey accidentally ‘declares war’ on Russia in huge translation blunder in front of stunned Vladimir Putin

 

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appeared to accidentally declare war on Russia due to a translation blunder during a meeting with Vladimir Putin.

 

‘There is war between Russia and Turkey,’ the Turkish-Russian translator announced during a meeting between the two leaders at a summit in Sochi.

 

Turkey is a Nato state, and if true the declaration would plunge the entire world into war.

 

But Putin, who was there to discuss the Black Sea Grain deal, appeared nonplussed by the apparent blunder.

 

It was unclear if the male interpreter was Russian or Turkish, but the official record of the meeting showed it was the translator who made the mistake- not Erdoğan.

 

‘The current situation between Ukraine and Russia….This is the backdrop of this visit,’ the Turkish president told Putin during his opening remarks.

 

‘And your invitation – we are glad to have received this invitation. My delegation is glad to have received this invitation.’

 

The summit had been called in order to broker a deal over the Black Sea grain initiative, which would supply food to the world’s poorest nations.

 

Putin told Erdoğan that Russia is ready to supply up to one million tons of grain at a preferential price through Turkey, who it views as an intermediary between themselves and the west.

 

The meeting marked a rare visit for a foreign leader to Russia as Putin finds himself increasingly isolated over his bloody war with Ukraine.

 

In March, the dictator was issued an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over war crimes committed in Ukraine, which makes it difficult for him to travel abroad.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[ixcuincle]

 

[China]

Russia Announces ‘Tactical’ Withdrawal From Ukraine’s Robotyne

 

A Kremlin-installed official in southern Ukraine admitted Tuesday that Russian forces have withdrawn from the village of Robotyne more than a week after Kyiv announced its recapture.

 

“The Russian army abandoned — tactically abandoned this settlement,” said Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russian-appointed governor of Ukraine’s occupied Zaporizhzhia region.

 

Ukraine, which launched a grinding counteroffensive in June, announced Robotyne’s recapture on Aug. 28.

 

Balitsky maintained that abandoning Robotyne would benefit Russian forces and claimed that the village “ceased to exist” after lengthy battles.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Larry]

 

 

[China]

Russia asks Armenia to explain Rome Statute move

 

Russia has asked Armenia to explain its intention to ratify the Rome Statute after the government sent the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC) to parliament for ratification.

 

“We’ve already asked explanations from the Armenian side over this issue, and we will decide our next steps based on the content of Yerevan’s response,” Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing on September 5.

 

The Armenian government on September 1 sent the Rome Statute to parliament for ratification.

 

In 2022, the Pashinyan Administration explained that it seeks to join the Rome Statute because it would allow to hold the government of Azerbaijan to account for its aggressions against Armenia.

 

On 17 March 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, after an investigation of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Ukraine.

 

The ICC arrest warrant for Putin accuses the Russian leader of unlawfully deporting thousands of Ukrainian children, a war crime. This has been denied by the Russian government.

 

Countries that are signatories to the Rome Statute would have to enforce the arrest warrant once Putin travels into their territory.

[Gurgeh]

On 9/5/2023 at 5:19 AM, China said:

 

At the start of this war people thought Russia had a decent military.  I don't think we really know how good NK's military is.  Reportedly, NK has the following:

 

...How much of that do you think they're willing to give/sell to Russia?  Do you think they'll give their best or keep that for themselves and give Russia the older and/or less well maintained equipment (and we don't know how well maintained all of NK's equipment is).  NATO countries are going to continue supporting Ukraine. 

 

It's more likely that NK will provide ammunition rather than equipment, and who knows what the quality of NK ammunition (or equipment) is like. In return I'm sure NK will get  some technology know-how, probably rocket engines and AA systems, two things the Russians are still good at.

 

On 9/7/2023 at 9:48 PM, China said:

Russia Announces ‘Tactical’ Withdrawal From Ukraine’s Robotyne

 

...Balitsky maintained that abandoning Robotyne would benefit Russian forces and claimed that the village “ceased to exist” after lengthy battles.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

Well he's right about the village ceasing to exist, but that's because the Russian strategy is to level any settlement that they withdraw from, to deny cover for the advancing Ukrainian troops. Videos from frontline villages that have been retaken just show roads surrounded by bare rectangular patches of ground where houses once stood.

 

The battles south of Robotyne could be decisive - if the Ukrainians do break through, they can reach Tokmak and the main rail route between Russia and Crimea. The Russians are pulling reinforcements in from other parts of the front line to prevent it, while the Ukrainians have similarly brought up fresh troops to push forward.

 

[China]

The first ten Leopard 1 tanks from the promised batch of 100 arrived in Ukraine

 

Denmark, the Netherlands, and Germany announced in February 2023 that they would provide 100 Leopard 1 tanks in the “coming months.”

 

“The first ten tanks have been sent to Ukraine. And more are on the way,” the Danish armed forces said in a statement cited by the AFP.

 

They added that Danish troops in Germany are currently training Ukrainian forces to use the tanks.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Vietnam Chases Secret Russian Arms Deal, Even as It Deepens U.S. Ties

 

When President Biden is greeted by Vietnamese officials in Hanoi on Sunday, he will be celebrating the prospect of adding another friend in Asia to a coalition that his administration hopes will side with American interests rather than China’s and Russia’s.

 

During Mr. Biden’s visit, the two nations will underscore their commitment to “increase peace, prosperity, and stability in the region,” a White House press statement said. Nguyen Phu Trong, the top Vietnamese leader, is expected to confer upon the United States an upgrade of strategic ties. The Biden administration has reciprocated early, glossing over the Communist Party of Vietnam’s intensifying human rights crackdown.

 

But even as the United States and Vietnam have nurtured their relationship over recent months, Hanoi is making clandestine plans to buy an arsenal of weapons from Russia in contravention of American sanctions, an internal Vietnamese government document shows.

 

The Ministry of Finance document, which is dated March 2023 and whose contents have been verified by former and current Vietnamese officials, lays out how Vietnam proposes to modernize its military by secretly paying for defense purchases through transfers at a joint Vietnamese and Russian oil venture in Siberia. Signed by a Vietnamese deputy finance minister, the document notes that Vietnam is negotiating a new arms deal with Russia that would “strengthen strategic trust” at a time when “Russia is being embargoed by Western countries in all aspects.”

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Larry]

Russia has weapons available to sell?  Working ones?  

[Larry]

 

[DCSaints_fan]

1 hour ago, Larry said:

Russia has weapons available to sell?  Working ones?  

Sure, the mobiks get ones that don't work, because they can't complain

[China]

Putin's top doctor who 'has inside knowledge of despot's medical secrets' is arrested by FSB after he was caught 'trying to escape Russia via Belarus'

 

Putin's top doctor, who is believed to have inside knowledge of despot's medical secrets, has been arrested by the FSB after he was caught 'seeking to flee the country'.

 

Russian vaccine and serum chief Viktor Trukhin, 59, went missing six days ago, and was simultaneously fired from his senior post at a top state institute amid 'fraud' allegations after his family reported him missing.

 

He is said to have inside knowledge of Russia's latest research and development in the field of vaccines, serums and 'bacterial preparations'.

 

Trukhin was detained by Vladimir Putin's FSB counterintelligence service seeking to escape abroad via Belarus, reported Telegram channel Cheka-OGPU.

 

He was the longtime director of the St Petersburg Research Institute of Vaccines and Serums.

 

A criminal case was opened against him when 'it became clear that Trukhin intended to leave the Russian Federation and could tell a lot of interesting things about Russian vaccines and serums,' the channel said.

 

He was found to have been in possession of a Nicaraguan passport, the report said.

 

The case suddenly opened against him centres on an alleged £4.75 million payment to a South American biotechnology institute, according to the channel.

 

Fontanka news outlet said he is being held in a pre-trial detention centre on a lesser charge of embezzling around £5,000.

 

His institute is at the forefront of drugs to tackle coronavirus, hepatitis and sexually transmitted diseases, and plays a leading role in exporting Russian vaccines, but has other mysterious contracts.

 

The biggest single client was a company owned by close Putin crony Sergei Chemezov, a former KGB colleague who is the billionaire head of ROSTEC, a state-owned hi-tech defence conglomerate.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

He's not long for this world

[MrSilverMaC]

Link to business insider

 

 

Russians opened fire on a Ukrainian flag tied to balloons, revealing their position for a counterattack, Ukraine says

• A Ukrainian flag attached to helium balloons flew into occupied territory, Kyiv's military said.
• An official said Russian soldiers tried to shoot it down but revealed their firing positions.
• Ukraine was able to use this information to launch an attack on the soldiers, the official added.
   

Russian soldiers accidentally revealed their positions after they tried to shoot down a Ukrainian flag suspended from balloons flying over occupied territory, a Ukrainian official said.

The large flag, attached to dozens of helium balloons, was released from the Ukrainian-controlled town of Avdiyivka on Sunday by the military.

The launch was to commemorate the 245th anniversary of the city's founding, Vitalii Barabash, the head of the Avdiivka city military administration, said. 

Barabash told national television the flag eventually flew over the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, where Russian soldiers attempted to shoot it down, The Kyiv Independent reported.

….

 

 

 

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