Here we go again-Ukraine once again pt2

[Dargo]

Honestly get the impression that Russia just doesn't want to have a military after this war. These are losses of one day this happens for days, this is a lot more than Russia can refurbish/repair/produce in a month. Visual confirmed losses 2024/04/10 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...11w/edit#gid=0 Russia 74 : Ukraine 9 vehicles lost and remember Ukraine is on the handbrake stocking their tools/ammo for the coming Russian summer offensive.

[Jimbuna]

Two former Royal Navy minehunters handed over to Ukraine arrive in port

Two former Royal Navy minehunter ships which have been handed over to the Ukrainian navy have arrived in Portsmouth as the crews undergo training to prepare them for missions in the Black Sea.

The Sandown-class warships, HMS Grimsby and HMS Shoreham, were decommissioned from the Royal Navy to be transferred to the Ukrainian military where they will operate under the names Chernihiv and Cherkasy.

The ships, which each served more than 20 years in the Royal Navy, arrived at Portsmouth Naval Base having sailed from Scotland.

They will remain based in Portsmouth while crew members undergo training to prepare them to hunt for mines in the Black Sea.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “The ships are currently not able to enter the Black Sea due to the terms of the Montreux Convention, which restricts passage of military vessels through the Bosporus Strait at times of war.
“However, they will form a critical capability for Ukraine in its future defence of its coastlines as the UK looks to support the longer-term capabilities of the Ukrainian navy, while they look to protect commercial shipping by detecting and disabling sea mines.”

Charge d’affaires of Ukraine Eduard Fesko told the PA news agency that the minehunters would be essential in reopening trade routes once the war is over.

He said: “They will continue the training here, from this base, and given that the minesweepers will be very, very important in the post-war period in cleaning up the Black Sea, I think it’s very important that we have these ships here.

“Once the war is over and the Black Sea will start to be cleaned up, it will be not only the undertaking of Ukraine, I’m sure other countries will also participate in these efforts but there will be none that will be more interested in making sure that the trade routes are safe as Ukraine because trade is the bloodline for our economy at the moment.”

Mr Fesko added that Ukraine’s current priority is increasing its anti-missile capability and said the international community is not providing enough support.

He said: “At the moment, the first, the second and the third priority is ensuring that Ukraine has sufficient anti-missile capabilities to protect from the incoming barrages of missiles, rockets and drones that are attacking our civilian infrastructure all over the country, including in Odessa, our main seaport.

“I don’t think we can say that we are happy with the level of support, with the level of deliveries that we have, but it is no secret that we have not been delivered what we have been promised.”

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said: “The UK is leading the way in helping Ukraine to modernise its Navy. The transfer of these ships and the excellent training provided by the Royal Navy will have a real long-term impact on Ukraine’s ability to defend its waters.

“We continue to support Ukraine as they deliver major blows to Putin’s Black Sea fleet.

“In doing so, they are securing vital corridors to export grain and other materials, supporting their economy in the face of Russia’s barbaric bombardment.”

The transfer of the vessels to Ukraine’s navy was announced to coincide with the launch of the Maritime Capability Coalition, which the UK jointly leads with Norway, to provide assistance to Ukraine’s navy – including training, equipment and infrastructure – and to increase security in the Black Sea region.

The MoD spokesman said that Ukraine has sunk or disabled around a third of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet since the start of the conflict through “precision-guided missile strikes and innovative use of maritime one-way attack drones”.

The spokesman explained that the transfer of the two minehunters was made possible by a “buyer credit facility guarantee” provided by the UK Government’s export credit agency, UK Export Finance.

The transfer began last year with both ships taking part in major sea exercises Joint Warrior 23 and Exercise Sea Breeze 23, with similar plans this year.

The spokesman added that the UK was one of the largest military donors to Ukraine with £7 billion worth of support so far.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...37363bee&ei=16

[Dargo]

Russians are in deep shyte now!

Ukrainian Hackers Launch Cyberattacks on Moscow Sewage System The Ukrainian intelligence-affiliated hacker group said they managed to shut off 87,000 sensors and prevent the utility company from responding to accidents and emergency events. Blackjack, a Ukrainian hacker group affiliated with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), said it had launched a cyberattack on Moskollector, a company that operates the communication system for Moscow’s sewage network.

Unnamed government sources told Ukrainian news outlet LIGA.net that Blackjack managed to shut off 87,000 alarm sensors throughout Moscow and the surrounding suburbs, preventing the company from responding to emergency events. The source also claimed that Blackjack destroyed 70 servers and at least 90 terabytes of company data, including emails, backup copies and contracts. “Now the operation of the object of critical infrastructure of Moscow is completely blocked, the company cannot respond to accidents and emergency events. It will take 15 to 30 days to restore its functioning,” the source told LIGA.net. “We wish Moscow various man-made disasters these days,” the source added. https://www.kyivpost.com/post/30890

[Jimbuna]

Must have scared the 'crap' out of Putin

[mapuc]

Markus

[em2nought]

Originally Posted by Dargo

Russians are in deep shyte now!

Ukrainian Hackers Launch Cyberattacks on Moscow Sewage System

Two birds, one stone! Crap, now we know what happens if we don't keep letting the democrat cartel send them all our taxpayer dollars.

[mapuc]

Markus

[Jimbuna]

House Speaker Mike Johnson negotiating with White House to advance Ukraine aid

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson is negotiating with the White House as he prepares for the treacherous task of advancing wartime funding for Ukraine and Israel through the House, a top House Republican said Thursday.

House Republican Leader Steve Scalise told reporters that Johnson had been talking with White House officials about a package that would deviate from the Senate's $95 billion foreign security package and include several Republican demands. It comes after Johnson has delayed for months on advancing aid that would provide desperately needed ammunition and weaponry for Kyiv, trying to find the right time to advance a package that will be a painful political lift.

“There's been no agreement reached,” Scalise said. “Obviously there would have to an agreement reached not just with the White House, but with our own members.”
Johnson, R-La., is being stretched between a Republican conference deeply divided in its support for Ukraine, as well as two presidential contenders at odds over the U.S.'s posture towards the rest of the world. President Joe Biden has repeatedly chastised Republicans for not helping Ukraine, saying they are doing the bidding of Russian President Vladimir Putin and hurting U.S. security. Meanwhile, Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate, has said he would negotiate an end to the conflict as he tries to push the U.S. to a more isolationist stance.

The Republican speaker is set to travel to the former president’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida on Friday to meet with Trump and has been consulting him in recent weeks on the Ukraine funding to gain his support — or at least prevent him from openly opposing the package.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican who often works closely with House lawmakers, said this week he and Trump have spoken with Johnson “in depth” about how to advance Ukraine aid. It is not clear whether Trump would lend any political support, but Mullin said he was hoping to get the former president behind the package, especially now that Johnson’s job is at stake.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, has threatened to try to oust Johnson as speaker and warned that advancing funding for Ukraine would help build her case that GOP lawmakers should select a new speaker.

Meanwhile, Johnson has been in conversations with the White House about legislation that would structure some of the funding for Kyiv as loans, pave the way for the U.S. to tap frozen Russian central bank assets and include other policy changes.

Johnson has also been pushing for the Biden administration to lift a pause on approvals for Liquefied Natural Gas exports. At times, he has also demanded policy changes at the U.S. border with Mexico.

“This becomes a more dangerous world with Russia in Kyiv,” said Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican who supports aiding Ukraine. “So we’re just got to find a the smart way to get a bill passed that we can get out and back to the Senate.”

Still, Johnson is facing a practically open rebellion from a group of hardline House conservatives who are dissatisfied with the way he has led the House. With a narrow and divided majority, Johnson has been forced to work with Democrats to advance practically any major legislation.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Thursday that the “only path forward” for the House was a vote on the Senate's national security package. He also suggested that Democrats would help Johnson hold onto the speaker's gavel if he did so.

While Democrats have pressured Johnson to put the Senate package to a vote, they also may be divided on a vote as a growing number oppose sending Israel offensive weaponry while it engages in a campaign in Gaza that has killed thousands of civilians.

The Biden administration, which would administer any military funding, has issued stern warnings to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that future U.S. support depends on the swift implementation of new steps to protect civilians and aid workers.

“If we want to prevent handing Putin a victory in Europe, the House should do the right thing for democracy and pass the Senate’s aid package now,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a floor speech Thursday.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/polit...b9d0de1b&ei=29

[Jimbuna]

Ukraine war: Key power plant near Kyiv destroyed by Russian strikes

A major power plant near Kyiv was completely destroyed by Russian strikes early on Thursday, energy company Centrenergo said.

Trypillya power plant was the largest electricity provider for three regions, including Kyiv, officials said.

"The scale of destruction is terrifying," said Centrenergo chairman Andriy Hota.

Russia has long been deliberately and systematically targeting Ukraine's energy system.

Mr Hota told the BBC that Thursday morning's strikes destroyed "the transformer, the turbines, the generators. They destroyed 100%".

A fire broke out in the turbine workshop of the Trypillya plant - located 50km (31 miles) to the south of Kyiv - following Thursday's large-scale airborne attack.

The Centrenergo boss said the plant was targeted by multiple missiles. Staff on shift were able to escape, he said, because they ran for cover as soon as the first drone hit.

Residents were urged to shut their windows, charge all their devices and stock up on water.

More than 80 missiles and drones targeted sites across Ukraine in the early hours of Thursday. Many targeted energy infrastructure and almost a third made it through Ukraine's air defences.

Hours later, Centrenergo confirmed its Trypillya plant had been put out of use. Mr Hota said his company's entire generative capacity in Ukraine was now destroyed.

It was one of Ukraine's largest providers of electricity and heat. It operated two other power plants - one in the Kharkiv region which was destroyed in late March, and one in an area of the Donetsk region that was taken over by Russia in 2022.

The Kharkiv and the Trypillya plants used to generate some 8% of the country's electricity, according to Mr Hota. The Trypillya thermal plant provided power to the three central regions of Zhytomyr, Cherkasy and Kyiv.

The destruction of the Trypillya plant would not be a critical issue for Ukraine in the summer, he believed, although by winter it would become a "giant problem".

While the plant can be rebuilt with help from spare parts from Europe, he says it will remain vulnerable to attack without Ukraine's allies providing powerful air defences.

"We can repair. We can do the impossible. But we need protection."

At least two more thermal power plants suffered "significant damage" overnight in the west of Ukraine, placing even more strain on electricity supply nationwide.

The DTEK power company was already down to 20% capacity after repeat attacks in March.

The company told the BBC that the latest missile and drone strike on these "purely civilian power stations" would make the task of providing critical power to the grid harder.

"Attack by attack, Russia is trying to strangle Ukraine's energy system and with it our hard-won freedom," DTEK said.

The Kharkiv region in the north-east has been hard hit again after its power plants suffered major damage in late March.

The mayor there described the situation as "very difficult" and announced more blackouts for households and businesses.

For a time on Thursday, the Kharkiv metro stopped running to save power. It has since resumed, but the power supply is dipping and surging so the trains are only working very intermittently.

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia had been "obliged to respond" to the strikes on Ukrainian energy sites following Kyiv's attacks on Russian targets, although this is a war he launched without cause two years ago.

"Unfortunately, we observed a series of strikes on our energy sites recently and were obliged to respond," he said.

"I want to emphasise that, even for humanitarian reasons, we did not carry out any strikes in winter. What I mean is that we didn't want to leave social institutions without power - hospitals and the like. But after a series of attacks on our power facilities, we had to respond."

"Strikes on energy", he added, were part of Russia's aim of "demilitarising" Ukraine - one of his stated goals when the invasion began in February 2022.

In a separate development, four people died and several more were injured in the southern city of Mykolaiv in a rare series of daytime strikes on Thursday.

The Ukrainian Southern Military Command said on Telegram that private houses, cars and industrial facilities were damaged in the "insidious" attack.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68788110

[Dargo]

Ukraine is ravaged daily by Russian aggression. This week saw widespread attacks on power plants. Civilians were also killed again in attacks on the city of Kharkiv. Ukraine needs more to protect itself.

That is why @DefensieMin Ollongren, @HankeBruinsSlot, @leeuwengew, @Minister_Fin Van Weyenberg and I just announced in a conversation with @ZelenskyyUA that the Netherlands will release € an extra 1 billion for military support this year. That is on top of the € 2 billion that had already been agreed. It has also been decided that we will make 3 billion € available for military support for next year. We are also releasing € 400 million to keep the Ukrainian economy afloat and for critical energy infrastructure repairs.

In addition, we continue to do everything possible to deliver more ammunition and anti-aircraft defenses faster, together with international partners. Here we work closely with Denmark and the Czech Republic, among others. https://twitter.com/MinPres/status/1778770784653123834

Ukraine must win this battle. For their and our safety.

[Jimbuna]

Vladimir Putin one step closer to putting nuclear energy in space with new order

Vladimir Putin has taken the next step in realising his plan for space nuclear energy as he orders agencies to begin funding the program.

Roscosmos and Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation, two Kremlin-controlled agencies, were ordered by the president to allocate funds for nuclear energy in space by June 15.

These orders, however, did not mention nuclear weapons or anti-satellite devices, despite Western fears of weapons of mass destruction being used in space.

State-run news agency Tass quoted Putin as saying: "Starting from 2024, budgetary allocations from the federal budget in the amount necessary for the implementation of measures provided for by the federal project 'Development of Space Nuclear Energy in Russia'."He added: "[With special attention] to the implementation of measures to develop the existing scientific and technical basis in the field of space nuclear energy."

In February, the White House warned that Russia is capable of creating an anti-satellite weapon that could be used in space, and ABC News reported that the country is attempting to create one.

John Kirby, the White House National Security Council spokesperson, declared that the use of any such weapon would violate a decades-old treaty.

In 1967, the US and what was then the Soviet Union signed a treaty banning the placement of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction in space.

However, at the start of the war in Ukraine, Putin removed his country from the New START treaty - the last remaining treaty with the US that limited nuclear arsenals.

In March, he discussed putting a nuclear power unit in space, calling it a priority for Russia.

He said: "[Russia] has good competencies and, moreover, even has such reserves that we can be proud of, which we can count on in the future."

This appears to be a reaction to the news that China is "seriously considering" installing a nuclear reactor on the moon between 2033 and 2035, according to the head of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...40d3fc89&ei=19

[mapuc]

Markus

[mapuc]

(Warning-Harsh language in the video)


Markus

[Dargo]

Estonia Just Found Another Million Shells For Ukraine

Seven weeks after Czech defense policy chief Jan Jires announced his government had identified 800,000—later, a million—artillery shells that Ukraine’s allies could buy for Ukraine, Estonian defense minister Hanno Pevkur said his own government had found another million shells and rockets for Ukraine. Pevkur told Postimees he’s trying to scrounge, from the same countries that paid $1.3 billion for the Czech-sourced ammunition, an additional $2.2 billion to pay for the Estonian-sourced ammo. “If we combine these one million shells, the Czechs' potential purchases, our buying capabilities and also the British”—who reportedly are organizing their own ammo-for-Ukraine initiative—“I dare say that it would be possible to send Ukraine two-to-2.5 million shells this year, if the funding were available,” Pevkur said.

With 2.5 million additional shells and rockets through the end of the year, the Ukrainians could match Russia’s own ammo supply, Pevkur claimed. It would be the first time in a year that the Ukrainians could fire as many shells and rockets as the Russians could fire. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidax...s-for-ukraine/

[Skybird]

Russia is estimated to currently produce 250,000 shells per month, or 3 million per year. Tendecny growign, since they still have the capacity to boost this production level - and they use it.



Also, Ukraine does not destroy Russian war production sites in Russia. But Russia systematically decimates such factories in Ukraine, plus the energy grid.


Russia still outproduces Ukraine in terms of drones and missiles. They also send more fresh armoured vehicles of all kinds than Ukraine can. The brigades Ukraine now tries to freshly build, around 5 of these, are infantry brigades, at best partially motorized infantry brigades.