Here we go again-Ukraine once again pt2 [Archive] - Page 25

Skybird

01-22-25, 03:11 PM

[NZZ] The Ukrainian defense lines are crumbling: Russian troops storm the frontline town of Velika Novosilka

In southern Donbass, Ukraine has suffered a painful defeat. After three years of fighting, its troops have had to withdraw from Velika Novosilka - with heavy losses. Critics accuse the high command of making catastrophic mistakes.

The military situation in eastern Ukraine has deteriorated dramatically in recent days. The defense lines have collapsed on various sections of the front. The main front near Pokrovsk is receiving the most attention, where Russian troops made rapid gains in territory this week and are now threatening the town from the west. This brings them ever closer to their goal of cutting off Pokrovsk from supplies.

In the shadow of these events, preliminary military decisions have also been made elsewhere. The small town of Chasiv Yar, which had withstood all Russian offensives over the past two years, is now half in enemy hands. The Russians advanced rapidly into the center this week. The fate of this city, which is militarily important for geographical reasons, seems to be sealed - in any case, it has been almost nothing but rui

Another important town, Velika Novosilka, 110 kilometers to the southwest, is likely to fall even faster. Although it is less well known to the Western public, it was an important part of the Ukrainian defense lines for three years and a bulwark against further Russian advances in southern Donbass. After Moscow's troops had steadily approached this district capital in recent months, they were able to take it in a pincer movement from three sides from last week. At the weekend, the local small airport fell into Russian hands, after which the storming of the central residential areas began. The Ukrainian defenders are apparently cut off from any supplies.

Velika Novosilka is nestled between three small rivers. This is advantageous for defense, but is now a trap for the Ukrainians. A connecting road between the provincial capitals of Donetsk and Zaporizhia once ran through here; it crossed with another route running north-south. Now the connections in all four directions are under Russian control. The remaining Ukrainian defenders can only hope to reach safety on foot through the field and on makeshift ferries across the Mokri Jali River. They have to leave heavy military equipment behind. If you believe Russian military reporters loyal to the Kremlin, the Ukrainian withdrawal is disorganized and associated with high losses. However, the resistance continues.

Attempts to come to the aid of the trapped troops and open up a route of retreat for them have apparently failed. This is evidenced, among other things, by the video of a destroyed armored vehicle in the surrounding area that Russian drone pilots set on fire. The current scenario is reminiscent of the costly retreat battles at Avdiivka a year ago and at Vuhledar in October. In both cases, the high command waited too long in a hopeless situation and ordered the retreat too late.

There is correspondingly great outrage among some Ukrainians that Kiev has apparently learned nothing. Yuri Butusov, who is probably the most influential Ukrainian front-line observer because of his exposure of several military scandals, speaks of absurd mistakes. He aims his criticism directly at the commander-in-chief, Olexander Sirski, and the general responsible for the Donbass, Olexander Tarnawski.

Regardless of individual responsibility, it remains a fact that Russia's troops are currently numerically and in terms of equipment, they have a clear advantage. After the foreseeable fall of Chasiv Yar and Velika Novosilka, they will probably be able to convert their superiority into territorial gains even more clearly than before. North of Velika Novosilka there are only a few topographical obstacles. The Russians will probably try to advance northwards through the Mokri Jali valley and reach the border between the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk provinces. It is still twenty kilometres to get there.

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Complete control over the Donetsk Oblast is one of Russia's minimum goals and is now gedtting into reach. If the Russians were to attack oblasts further west from there, this would be a clear indication that they are clinging to even more far-reaching war aims.

mapuc

01-22-25, 04:08 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Agua1309y4g

Edit
Did any of you expect this ? Trump giving an ultimatum to Putin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4IT5WAH5zk
End edit

Markus

Jimbuna

01-23-25, 09:47 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INGAkzwfVBU

Jimbuna

01-23-25, 09:51 AM

Elections in Ukraine will be held as soon as war is over. We will do everything in accordance with law - Zelenskyy

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that according to the law, elections, including local ones, can take place in Ukraine only after the end of the war.

The head of state said this in an interview with Bloomberg, Censor.NET reports.

The President called for everything possible to end Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3531899

mapuc

01-23-25, 04:10 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTG8bPxzL8I

Markus

Skybird

01-23-25, 05:31 PM

https://www-n--tv-de.translate.goog/politik/Pokrowsk-ist-schon-direkt-unter-Feuer-article25504544.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Q: Today we looked at three details. What overall situation do they add up to?
A: The Russian advance is slow but steady. A quick look at the Kursk area, where Ukraine has advanced: the situation there is becoming increasingly difficult. Only 420 square kilometers are still in Ukrainian hands, which is about half the area of Berlin. In the Donbass, the three Russian groups are continuing to launch massive attacks, and Ukraine, as General Syrskyj said in a recent interview, still lacks anti-aircraft defenses. Last week alone, the Russian army used more than 660 glide bombs. The biggest challenge, however, is still the availability of more soldiers. Ukraine is on the defensive and cannot win the war this way.

mapuc

01-23-25, 08:45 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSDASBMPsbE

Markus

Jimbuna

01-24-25, 06:46 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foMAA5Jlv-w

Jimbuna

01-24-25, 06:59 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXXuHzVq5wQ

Catfish

01-24-25, 07:14 AM

LMAO "They can't treat us like that"
"Russian state TV is stunned by Trump's ultimatum."
I did not see there even was a real ultimatum other than a proposal to meet and negotiate – what Putin of course won't do.

From the comments
"We are fightin “non-Russians who betrayed the Motherland.”
"If they aren’t Russian and it isn’t their motherland, what’s the betrayal? Is this even supposed to make sense?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y71GDcQEfls

Jimbuna

01-24-25, 08:05 AM

Each of them hoping what they say will please Putin and not be the reason for a visit in the middle of the night.

Jimbuna

01-25-25, 09:43 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dwFrzxH4jE

Jimbuna

01-25-25, 09:48 AM

US military aid to Ukraine has not been stopped, - Zelenskyy

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has commented on the US suspension of foreign aid, emphasizing that military assistance to Ukraine has not been suspended.

According to Censor.NET, Zelenskyy said this at a press conference with Moldovan President Maia Sandu.

The president emphasized that military assistance to Ukraine would not be stopped.

"Restriction of humanitarian programs for 90 days. I know there are a lot of institutions in the world that were previously supported by the US government... I can only say what Ukraine may not receive, what I am doing. I am focused on military aid, it is not stopped," Zelenskyy said.

As reported earlier, on the first day after his inauguration, US President Donald Trump signed a decree suspending all US foreign aid programs for 90 days until their compliance with his policy goals is analyzed.

In turn, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio endorsed the suspension of all U.S. foreign aid. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3532263

mapuc

01-25-25, 05:58 PM

How do Putin interpreter this ultimatum from Trump ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLHhkeF3Nls

Markus

Skybird

01-25-25, 07:36 PM

I currently cannot imagine that an ultimatum could impress Putin - it will make him locking down, thats deeply encoded in his psyche, me thinks. Mind you, Russia thinks - and I say: correctly so - that it marches on the road to victory. Time works for Russia, the same time works against Ukraine. Yesterday Col. Reisner put it in very - in VERY - clear words that all info he gets from the fronts and all images and comments by local observers show very clearly and beyond doubt that the Ukrainians are loosing this war. He did not say: "possibly", and he did not say "maybe", he said: "As things run now, they lose."

The Russian advance has become more stable everywhere, with several square kilometers of ground being captured in the combat zones every day. The Russian losses have no effect on the results of the battle, they continue to march forward regardless.

Ukraine now only holds a territory in Kursk that is smaller than half the size of Berlin, and it constantly loses ground there, every day.

Ukraine has found no means of countering the irresistible penetrating and destructive power of the Russian glide bomb attacks, which continue to raze village after village and settlement after settlement to the ground. Ukraine has practically nothing to counter this so far. Whatever the F-16s do and no matter how many there may be active - they so far have no effect on these attacks. And thse ground attacks by glide bombs are what forces the Ukrianian troops to give up village after village. Against such firepower from above, troops on the ground without AD are helpless. They must give up the place - or get annihilated.

Skybird

01-26-25, 07:31 AM

Something purely technical. I predicted at the time that the old Leopard-1 would possibly prove to be much better suited to warfare in the Ukraine than the modern western tanks of the Leo-2, M1, Challenger series. They are too heavy and the armament, at least the default ammo loadout, of the Leopard-2 in particular is too one-sidedly designed for anti-tank warfare, the ammunition loadout patterns for the Leopard-2 have a much higher proportion of kinetic and only a very small proportion of explosive ammunition. However, it is extremely rare in Ukraine for MBTs to fight each other directly. This is why the Leo-2 is a little out of its element, because the explosive ammunition supplied has been used up, while the ammunition stocks of KE (equivalent to SABOT) are still full to the brim. This is why the Leo-2s that the Ukraine still has are currently hardly seen in action at all.
------------------

[FR] Leopard 1 in the Ukraine war: Stable German tank stands up to Putin's drones: Russia needs eleven drones to destroy an optimized Leopard; a respectable success, but one that will not bring Ukraine any advantages in the long term.

Kiev - "Since the end of the 20th century, the single tank has become an increasingly tough beast," says Ralf Raths. This applies to the Abrams as well as to the German Leopard or the English or French models, the director of the German Tank Museum in Munster told Tagesschau. In the Ukraine war, the defenders have apparently now pimped up a German Leopard tank to such an extent that the drones of Vladimir Putin's invading army almost broke their teeth on it - but only almost.

"But this is neither exclusively good news for the Russians, nor bad news for the Ukrainians," writes Forbes magazine, referring to a video that the Russian Defense Ministry published on social networks. The images suggest two messages: that Russia is willing to fight to the bitter end, and that Ukraine wants to drag out this process as long as possible; and apparently can. According to the video, the Leopard is said to have held out until the eleventh drone.

Still a miserable record, both militarily and economically. However, Forbes author David Axe writes that Ukraine now has proof that it has significantly improved the survivability of an old Leopard by retrofitting it. As is so often the case, the video shows little concrete. The tank just goes up in smoke. "It is unclear whether the four crew members survived, but there are reasons to be optimistic," claims Axe.

The explosive nature of the vehicle lies in the fact that this type of battle tank has become the most widely used Western tank in the Ukrainian armed forces, although it is considered an "ancient tank." The Leopard 1 was Germany's first post-war tank produced in-house. Its powerful engine made it nimble on the battlefield and was thus able to compensate for weaknesses. Neither inclines nor transverse slopes can stop it, and its more than 40 tons are apparently better suited to the difficult Ukrainian terrain than the significantly heavier British Challenger or the US Abrams tank, which is oversized in every respect.

Since mid-2022, i.e. shortly after Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, deliveries of the decommissioned battle tank type have been discussed and prepared by various NATO countries - this meant refurbishing the machines stored in depots. However, at the time of the first discussions, Der Spiegel had already expressed serious concerns. An anonymous military source described the battle tank to the news magazine as a "modestly protected thin-sheet vehicle".

At the time of the Der Spiegel article, no one suspected that drones would be the tank busters of tomorrow. The source therefore pointed out that the Leopard was certainly superior to Russian tanks in terms of mobility and firepower, but that these virtues were bought at the cost of a lack of protection. The 70 millimeter thick front plate, which is inclined at 30 degrees, was no obstacle for projectiles from the T-72 upwards. "They go through it like nothing, even from 3,000 meters away," Spiegel quoted its informant as saying.

Tanks can fire at full speed and hit targets - and do so over several kilometers, even when reversing, enthuses Ralf Raths, director of the Panzer Museum. That alone makes them sledgehammers on the battlefield, he says; but they alone do not bring victory.

"If you want to conquer terrain, you need a tank," Markus Reisner told the New York Times (NYT), which asked about a year ago to what extent tanks still played a role in 21st century warfare. The colonel of the Austrian Federal Army still considers it important, but sees it more as an unmanned terminator in the future, remotely controlled by humans from underground bunkers, as he told the NYT.

The military expert interviewed by Der Spiegel had already judged the Leopard 1 to be outdated at the time of delivery. However, it continues to help keep Ukraine in the fight. While the West is working to make the crew increasingly dispensable and to make the tanks "smart", Ukraine is clearly successful in optimizing its armor. "Currently, electronic warfare and various types of passive protection are the most effective means of defeating FPVs (first person view drones)," Michael Kofman told the New York Times.

The analyst at the US think tank Carnegie Endowment has long called for a "tailored approach on the battlefield", but recognizes Ukraine's successes. These may now have been proven with the video. The optimizations of the "battle tank" weapon system, which has been developed for more than a century, range from more solid sheets of metal, clumsy-looking cages above the turret and hard-kill systems that spray small projectiles out of the armor to lasers that are intended to blind approaching drones. The race for the quickest death is being led by the engineers on both sides before the soldiers continue it.

The reinforcements seem to be helping. In any case, Forbes reports that of the 58 Leopard 1s that the Ukrainians received between July 2023 and the beginning of September alone, only six were confirmed as destroyed. In December, Forbes author David Axe complained that the support consortium from Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark had taken 19 months to deliver the first third of the 155 Leopard 1s originally promised to Ukraine. According to a report by the magazine European Security & Technology (ESUT), Denmark alone has invested more than one and a half million euros in the revitalization of each individual Leopard 1.

Nevertheless, Ukraine makes most of its hopeful headlines with attacks by its own drones or the defense against enemy drones. Every meter gained or lost on the ground is decided by the intensity and precision of the fighting in the air. For several months now, tanks have only played a role in the reporting as victims of drone fire. The tank itself has obviously slipped into a secondary role in Ukraine - this is more reminiscent of its function in the First World War, when it burst onto the scene when the decision had already been made in principle.

Forbes author Axe assumed in the meantime that Ukraine still has around 90 Leopard 1s - and that around 60 more could follow - but the exact number of existing ones is just as uncertain as the number of those to follow; which has little influence on Russia's ability to dig its way into Ukraine meter by meter. As the video also suggests, Putin's army can bring even an optimized Leopard to its knees with a mass of weapons. No matter how many tanks Ukraine rolls in, Vladimir Putin still seems to be able to counter them many times over for the time being.

In this respect, there is no time for complacency, as Jeffrey Cimmino and Shelby Magid wrote at the beginning of 2023. The two analysts from the Atlantic Council think tank have complained that decision-making on the part of Ukraine and its supporters is taking up too much time. To this day, this has remained a decisive obstacle to Ukrainian counter-offensives at all levels. In relation to the video, the question remains whether and when Ukraine will be able to achieve what these weapons were built for: to go on the offensive quickly.

Jeffrey Cimmino and Shelby Magid quote Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky: "Time remains a Russian weapon. We have to get faster."

mapuc

01-26-25, 09:12 AM

I wish it is the truth in which Russia have problem in recruiting new soldier

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saTUmKUKNCs

Markus

Jimbuna

01-26-25, 10:20 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIL-7fBsHlI

Jimbuna

01-26-25, 10:27 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gP160vNk3Y

mapuc

01-26-25, 04:55 PM

So Russia's advancing is being slowed down, if he is right

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCgLIZHf_VY

Markus

Skybird

01-26-25, 05:21 PM

By now, even the EU should have understood why, over the last 10-15 years, the Russians have been spying on and mapping the cable networks in the Baltic Sea in a rather blatant manner - and sometimes even covertly, by submarine.

https://www-focus-de.translate.goog/panorama/sabotageakt-schon-wieder-ostsee-kabel-beschaedigt-schweden-und-lettland-rufen-nato-zur-hilfe_id_260668281.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Jimbuna

01-27-25, 07:34 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTm1stDmG5Y

Jimbuna

01-27-25, 07:46 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a3Q7YZaaSA

mapuc

01-27-25, 03:45 PM

I believe it when I see/hear about it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYL6sBycnlw

Markus

Skybird

01-27-25, 04:50 PM

[exxpress] Colonel Reisner paints a grim picture: "Ukraine is losing this war"

According to Colonel Markus Reisner, the next three months could seal Ukraine's fate. Time is on Russia's side, while Ukraine is running out of soldiers and resources. Russia is advancing inexorably, especially in the Donbass - a possible breakthrough in Pokrovsk could have devastating consequences.

Almost three years after the start of the Ukraine invasion, Colonel Markus Reisner paints a grim picture: "Let me make one thing clear: time is on Russia's side, while it is running away from Ukraine. Ukraine is losing this war. The images from the front clearly show that."

While Donald Trump's special representative for Ukraine and Russia, former General Keith Kellogg, is supposed to push ahead with negotiations in the next hundred days, the question arises "whether Ukraine can even hold out for these three months," warned Reisner in an interview with ZDF and ntv.

You can see "that the Russians are advancing steadily. Several square kilometers are conquered every day. In the Donbass in particular, there are attempts to advance from the west via the town of Bakhmut. South of the town, the oblast border is within three to four kilometers." If Russia reaches this border, "that would be another important victory that can be sold in the information space. That would motivate the population and show that they are on the advance."

Ukraine's biggest challenge is the availability of soldiers: "Many units, such as battalions with around 450 to 500 men or brigades with 3,500 to 4,000 men, are severely depleted and often only 40 to 50 percent ready for battle." In addition, "the front is extremely extensive. There are small bases with platoon or company strength, i.e. 30 to 80 soldiers. There are large gaps in between that the Russians use to infiltrate, infiltrate and advance. In this way, the defense is being torn away bit by bit.”

So Russia continued this war of attrition relentlessly: “In the West, it may seem as if there is ‘nothing new in the East’, but in fact the Russian advance towards the West is progressing day by day.” The fact that this is happening so slowly is also due to the daily use of many thousands of drones on both sides. “These drones make it possible to observe exactly what the other side is doing – there is the so-called ‘transparent battlefield’. This makes it almost impossible to deploy large units and go into maneuvers with them, as they are already being fought during deployment.”

In order to launch an attack, tanks would have to be brought together and formations formed. “However, if this is recognized in advance, it cannot be implemented. That is why we are seeing attacks in small groups - including in Ukraine, which is currently attempting counterattacks, especially in the Pokrovsk region."

But the Russians have now made considerable progress and there is now a threat of an "operational breakthrough" that could trigger panic on the Ukrainian side: "If you look at the front, you can see that the front lines that still existed after the fighting in 2014 have largely been lost. Russia was able to break through the second line last year. Now we see that the third line is being targeted at Pokrovsk." Pokrovsk is an important base, and "if this third line is breached, there will only be loose bases stretching from Pokrovsk to Dnipro."

Pokrovsk is an "important, functioning logistics hub from which one can advance far into the depths." If the Russian forces there manage to "break free from the grip of Ukrainian drones and gain space," it could be devastating: "Behind Pokrovsk there is almost only open land, flat fields and rows of trees that separate the fields from each other. Russia could advance relatively quickly here. There are fears that a breakthrough could trigger panic."

In total, a million soldiers were wounded and killed

Immediately on the front, one sees a "balance of forces of around 700,000 men on the Russian side to around 400,000 Ukrainian soldiers." According to estimates based on all available data, a total of one million soldiers have been killed on both sides. On the Russian side, there is talk of around 100,000 to 140,000 soldiers killed and around 400,000 wounded. On the Ukrainian side, there are around 80,000 to 100,000 killed and around 400,000 wounded. The numbers are enormous, and I have not yet mentioned the civilian casualties."
At the moment, Ukraine is still using drones to fight the Russian military. It "manages to keep the Russians at a distance by using kamikaze drones. Ukraine has a good picture of the situation and reconnaissance, despite limited resources. Through the targeted use of drones, it can deal decisive blows to the Russians. This means that the slow advance of the Russians is becoming apparent. But when you are faced with an opponent like Russia, which apparently does not care much about its own losses, as we see with North Korean soldiers, then Ukraine's ability gradually wears out. In the end, the grammar of the war of attrition comes into play, in which the quantity is decisive and not the quality of the weapons systems or soldiers used.”
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mapuc

01-27-25, 05:10 PM

Fear he may be right and I also hope he's wrong.

Markus

Skybird

01-27-25, 05:22 PM

The German politologist and expert for Russia Christian Osthold recently wrote in an essay for AdG:
----------------------------

The assumption that economic pressure cannot persuade Putin to make concessions is too simplistic. Although the Kremlin publicly emphasizes the stability of the Russian economy, the intensive adjustments by the central bank since the beginning of the war show that economic realities are by no means ignored. Measures such as inflation control, interest rate increases and interventions in foreign exchange trading are clear indicators that the war is leaving deep scars on Russia's economy - and Putin is forced to respond to them.

Putin's goal of creating a pro-Russian Ukraine is also not as irrefutable as it seems. The Kremlin has long accepted that Kiev will no longer turn to Russia. Instead, Putin is pursuing a political victory: the retention of the occupied territories and the exclusion of Ukraine from NATO. These goals shape Russia's war conduct far more than the illusion of political rapprochement. The fact that Russia continues to bomb Ukrainian cities underscores this focus - an escalation that can hardly be explained by a long-term desire for friendly relations.

The portrayal of Putin as an irrational ideologue is also too simplistic. If one ignores the decision to lead Russia into a war for which it was not adequately prepared, Putin has distinguished himself in other areas through calculated and considered actions. He has reacted with prudence to military escalations, such as the shelling of Russian targets in the heartland with ATACMS. His rationality is also and especially evident in his willingness to accept Trump's invitation to negotiations.

Volodymyr Zelenskyj knows this too. On January 23, during a state visit to Chişinău, the Ukrainian president stated that he could imagine negotiations with Putin on the condition that Trump gave Ukraine security guarantees. He also said he was open to talks even if Ukraine did not return to the 2022 borders - a position that Kyiv had previously considered an indispensable prerequisite. Opposition Verkhovna Rada MP Oleksandr Dubinsky commented that Trump had made Zelensky “squirm like an eel in a frying pan.”
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"the retention of the occupied territories and the exclusion of Ukraine from NATO", he wrote. These words in my opinion now describe exactly the Russian goals for a continuation of the war, and I think it is like this since longer time already. In other words, this is the definition of a victory for Russia. And since all this means enormous territorial and economic losses for Ukraine, not to mention the many deaths and the enormous destruction in the rest of the country, noboy should be so foolish to try reframing this as a Ukrainian "victory". It isn't, and never will be. Its a defeat, and an enormous loss.

mapuc

01-27-25, 05:33 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq6hzwJ_ZGA

Markus

Skybird

01-28-25, 04:22 AM

[Neue Zürcher Zeitung] Major General Michailo Drapati, one of the most capable officers, is taking over command of the Eastern Front. He has to solve huge problems.

It is a brutal start to the year that Ukraine is experiencing in the Donbass. Whether in Velika Novosilka or in Toretsk, in Chasiv Yar or at Liman and Pokrovsk: the Russians are advancing slowly but steadily. Last week they captured Velika Novosilka, an important fortress town in the south. The Ukrainians were temporarily surrounded and could only retreat with losses. Now, to the north of it, Toretsk, another town that has served as a bulwark against Moscow's aggression since 2014, is about to fall.

https://i.postimg.cc/gkfMq8xv/Unbenannt.png (https://postimages.org/)

The importance of these places is not only great because the Ukrainians have been building a system of defensive positions here since 2014. Cities such as Toretsk and Chasiv Yar, which the Russians now also control in the majority, are located on hills and on important connecting roads. If they fall, Moscow can also open fire on the defenders' hinterland and cut off supplies on a broad basis. The Donbass front is under more pressure than ever before in the last two and a half years. A liberation strike would be urgently needed for Kiev, both militarily and politically.

At least in terms of personnel, President Selensky made a decision on Sunday that military experts see as a significant improvement: He appointed the army commander, Major General Mikhailo Drapati, as the new head of the Khortizia regional command. This is responsible for the entire front section south of Kharkiv to the Donetsk region, i.e. practically the entire east.

Selensky has high hopes for 42-year-old Drapati, who has been fighting in the army almost continuously for over ten years. The western Ukrainian became known throughout the country in May 2014 as the commander of the "flying armored personnel carrier": at the time, he broke through a blockade by Russian-backed separatists in Mariupol, who were besieging the local police station. Drapati and his 72nd mechanized brigade played a decisive role in ensuring that the city remained Ukrainian.

A month later, he and his troops were caught in the so-called Iswarine pocket during a risky operation on the border between the Luhansk region and Russia. There, one of the most momentous Ukrainian defeats of the first phase of the war occurred. However, Drapati was one of the few to lead his unit out of the encirclement. In the years that followed, he took command of the 58th Brigade and continued his training. After the Russian invasion in 2022, the officer, who had since been promoted to brigadier general, commanded defensive operations in Krivi Rih and Odessa before becoming deputy chief of the general staff in early 2024.

https://img.nzz.ch/2025/01/27/263e519e-48fd-4e63-a6a1-8628fdee07df.jpeg?width=678&height=899&fit=bounds&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=260,345,x0,y0

Drapati is considered a capable organizer, a reputation that he further cemented in the spring of 2024: At that time, he took command of the Kharkiv sector of the front, where the defense was initially chaotic after Russia's surprise advance. As a young officer who owes his career not to good relationships but primarily to his skills on the battlefield, Drapati is respected by experts and popular in the troops.

They also credit him with communicating more openly than is usual in the Ukrainian generals, who tend to be optimistic and secretive. When he took over command of the army at the end of November, Drapati announced reforms in recruitment and practical training. There should be no more corruption, and the infantry's equipment must be significantly improved.

He thus addressed the central problems. He also spoke plainly about the scandal surrounding the 155th Brigade, which was trained and equipped with French help. The fact that the critical military journalist Yuri Butusov led a semi-official investigation into the misconduct and published the results was probably only possible because of his close relationship with Drapati.

Nevertheless, the Ukrainians should not be under any illusions that the enormous problems on the Eastern Front will simply disappear with a more capable commander. The lack of infantry is largely due to the fact that mobilization is taking place without a clear plan, richer Ukrainians can buy their way out, and soldiers in the army are only discharged if they are seriously wounded. The lack of communication between different units is also due to the fact that there is a high level of fluctuation in the higher-level regional command in Khortytsia without clear responsibilities. Drapati, who has now gained a reputation as a "fire extinguisher" on the most difficult sections of the front, therefore has little time to remedy the situation.

First of all, the new commander must ensure that the retreat from Velika Novosilka does not turn into an uncontrolled flight. If Toretsk and Chasiv Yar fall further north, the Russian advance towards the last Donbass strongholds of Kostyantinivka and Kramatorsk could accelerate: in the flat steppe there are few natural obstacles outside the fortified towns, and the Ukrainians have so far found it difficult to build strong defensive lines in the fields. It is therefore quite possible that the fighting will soon spread to the Dnipropetrovsk region west of the Donbass.
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Skybird

01-28-25, 06:59 AM

Charade.

https://www-focus-de.translate.goog/earth/analyse/deutsche-firma-spielt-zentrale-rolle-unbemerkte-lieferungen-aus-russland-deutschlands-schmutziges-gas-geheimnis_id_260672530.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Stories like this illustrate clearly where Europe's real loyalties and priorities are.

Jimbuna

01-28-25, 08:57 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7EuYBO4njQ

Jimbuna

01-28-25, 09:02 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmiX4ZMyZFM

Dargo

01-28-25, 02:45 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7ps0K78CnY

mapuc

01-28-25, 05:42 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHIQJt8JAhs

Markus

Skybird

01-28-25, 06:35 PM

Its a war of attrition. Arithmetics have taken over. Quality means little regarding the outcome of it, quantity weighs heavier with every day passing.

The past 12-18 months proves the Russian approach right, somehow. A method of beauty it certainly is not. But they win. Ukraine loses. The only thing being negotiated over now is the price tag.

Jimbuna

01-29-25, 11:11 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZcQaZ3xPrk

Jimbuna

01-29-25, 11:19 AM

Sybiha invited to expanded meeting of foreign ministers in Paris

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha will take part in an expanded meeting of the foreign ministers of France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain, the EU and the United States.

This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to Interfax-Ukraine.

According to the sources, the meeting will take place on February 12 in Paris.

The meeting is expected to discuss security issues, further assistance to Ukraine, and strengthening sanctions pressure on Russia.

As a reminder, on January 20, the U.S. Senate voted to appoint Marco Rubio as Secretary of State. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3532959

Poland warns against restarting Russia gas supplies

Poland's president has said that gas flows from Russia to Western Europe should never be restored, even if Russia and Ukraine reach a peace deal.

Andrzej Duda told the BBC that the Nord Stream gas pipelines, which have not been used since 2022, "should be dismantled".

This, he said, would mean the likes of Germany would not be tempted to restore Russian supplies to boost its own struggling economy.

"I can only hope that European leaders will learn lessons from Russia's aggression against Ukraine and that they will push through a decision to never restore the pumping of gas through this pipeline," he said.

The Polish president, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, insisted that economic sanctions against Russia were working and European countries should resist pressure from companies to re-establish business links.

The Nord Stream gas pipelines were built by Russia's gas giant Gazprom and run between Russia and northern Germany.

Nord Stream 1 was shut down in 2022 and Nord Stream 2 was never used, following the invasion of Ukraine. Both were damaged by explosions in 2022.

Gas prices in Europe surged after the shutdown and, in recent months, politicians from Germany's far right AfD party have suggested the Nord Stream gas pipes should resume operations.

Germany will hold federal elections at the end of February.

"I believe the Nord Stream pipelines should be dismantled," Duda said. "This pipeline causes a very big threat to Ukraine, to Poland, to Slovakia but also to other Central European countries."

He added: "It is a threat from the point of view of energy, from the point of view of the military but also it is a huge economic threat because it means a domination of Russia over Europe in the economic sense."

On the prospect of a deal between Ukraine and Russia now that US President Donald Trump has taken office, Duda insisted that no peace talks could take place without the participation of Ukraine.

"I'm saying that in my capacity as president of the Republic of Poland, as a neighbour to Ukraine and also as president of a country who has had very hard historic experiences itself," he said.

"I'm speaking here and referring to World War Two and to Yalta where we were not included in those talks, where certain agreements were made beyond our heads and then we found ourselves behind the Iron Curtain, where, for almost 50 years, we were part of the Soviet sphere of influence," he said.

Trump had previously said he would negotiate a settlement to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022 in 24 hours - he has since acknowledged it could take some time.

Duda said it would be "a violation of international law" for Russia to be allowed to hold on to territory it has occupied in Ukraine.

President Vladimir Putin has said he is prepared to negotiate an end to the war, which first began in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea, but Ukraine would have to accept the reality of Russian territorial gains, which are currently about 20% of its land.

Putin also refuses to accept Ukraine joining Nato, the military alliance of Western countries.

Duda said: "The international community cannot agree, and it is unacceptable that Russia would take certain territories of Ukraine and keep them by force. This is unacceptable.

"We must not let Russia win this war."

Duda said Trump "understands the region" and US involvement would be key.

"President Donald Trump - as the leader of the most powerful country within Nato, as the leader of the most powerful economy - will be of key importance," said Duda.

"I am waiting peacefully for the first steps which will be taken by Donald Trump."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1m5p21pmy2o

Dargo

01-29-25, 03:16 PM

Quality means little regarding the outcome of it, quantity weighs heavier with every day passing.Your defeatism did not take into account. A Ukrainian Leopard 2A4 tank of the 33rd Mechanized Brigade, destroying an entire Russian armoured column of five vehicles near Pokrovsk, in Donetsk region. https://united24media.com/latest-news/ukrainian-leopard-2-tank-eliminates-entire-russian-armored-column-in-donetsk-region-video-5427 So much Russian winning soooo much pfff.

As Russia is winning, that is certainly the reason Rheinmetall to Establish Four Defense Factories in Ukraine (https://united24media.com/latest-news/rheinmetall-to-establish-four-defense-factories-in-ukraine-whats-known-so-far-3303). Based on 11 Wall Street analysts offering 12 month price targets for Rheinmetall in the last 3 months. The average price target is €760.90 with a high forecast of €920.00 and a low forecast of €650.00. The average price target represents a 2.49% change from the last price of €742.40. This is all because Russia is sooo victorious. The main reasons for this were, among other things, orders from Germany here primarily from the special fund of the Bundeswehr and orders to aid Ukraine.

mapuc

01-29-25, 04:32 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owNZyvqP7i4

Markus

Skybird

01-30-25, 08:45 AM

A Ukrainian Leopard 2A4 tank of the 33rd Mechanized Brigade, destroying an entire Russian armoured column of five vehicles near Pokrovsk, in Donetsk region. https://united24media.com/latest-news/ukrainian-leopard-2-tank-eliminates-entire-russian-armored-column-in-donetsk-region-video-5427 So much Russian winning soooo much pfff.
The linked news message simply reads this:
"A Ukrainian Leopard 2A4 tank crew has successfully neutralized a Russian armored column of five vehicles near Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, according (https://t.me/Khortytsky_wind/4594) to a statement by the Operational-Strategic Grouping of Troops Khortytsia."

That could be anything. APCs. Armoured cars. APCs. Tanks. All that falls under the descritpion of amroured vehicles. The embedded Telegram link mentions ABMs that got destroyed, again that is a summary classification, mostly for armoured cars.

And even if there were MBTs that got desatroyed, it means little because the statistics are very clear: MBT-vs-MBT battles practically do not take place in this war. MBTs get destroyed by mines and artillery, drones, ATGMS. Enemy MBT fire is the very rare exception from the rule. The Leopars'S ammo loadout, as I explained earlier, however is heavily prioritized for anti-MBT-warfare, the Germans did it so since the cold war, their MBT loadouts are very onesidedly focussed on kinetic ammunition as a standard, usually only 4-6 explosive rounds were carried, the other 36-38 rounds all were kinetic (SABOT, in German KE). Abrams and Challengers usually carry a far more mixed ammo layout, with sometimes up to 5 different types of ammo stored. Hence you see the Leopard-2 currently only rarely in action - those that survived until today - because the Ukrainians have almost no explosive grenades for the 120mm guns of the Leopard-2s left. Germany cannot quickly deliver new one, since it has produced far more KE than HE rounds in the past, and its own stockpiles in HE are very, very low. Theoretically the Americans should be able to send compatible ammuntion since hte Abrams uses the German tank gun, but the limited ammount of rounds delivered go into the Abrams force the Ukrianains still have. Many of the Abrams are also not operating, since their maintenance showed to be far more complex than feared, and very time consuming, since the tanks often need to be send beyond Ukraine for repairs.

Stop reading comics, I would say. Thats what these sort of propaganda snippets are: entertaining comics to win the crowds.

As Russia is winning, that is certainly the reason Rheinmetall to Establish Four Defense Factories in Ukraine (https://united24media.com/latest-news/rheinmetall-to-establish-four-defense-factories-in-ukraine-whats-known-so-far-3303). Based on 11 Wall Street analysts offering 12 month price targets for Rheinmetall in the last 3 months. The average price target is Â€760.90 with a high forecast of Â€920.00 and a low forecast of Â€650.00. The average price target represents a 2.49% change from the last price of Â€742.40. This is all because Russia is sooo victorious. The main reasons for this were, among other things, orders from Germany here primarily from the special fund of the Bundeswehr and orders to aid Ukraine.
Until to date, not a single tank to be built in the future, which maybe will then have left the conveyor belts of the planned Rheinmetall factories in Ukraine at some point in the future, has successfully engaged even a single Russian target.

Jimbuna

01-30-25, 09:14 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcHQSWkvgTc

Jimbuna

01-30-25, 09:18 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp7bVuPLekA

Dargo

01-30-25, 09:19 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2SKsf0Maxc

Dargo

01-30-25, 10:59 AM

Russia's Soviet-era military stockpile running low, faces equipment shortagesRussia has depleted much of its Soviet-era military-industrial stockpile, with remaining equipment in poor condition, the independent media outlet The Insider reported on Jan. 28. The Russian military has lost more than half of its available equipment, and unless an unexpected shift occurs, hostilities could gradually fade by late 2025 or early 2026 due to a shortage of tanks, armoured vehicles, and artillery, the publication claims (https://theins-ru.translate.goog/politika/277994?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp) (Disarmed forces. Putin has "ground up" almost the entire legacy of the Soviet military-industrial complex, this will reduce the intensity of the war). This comes as U.S. President Donald Trump urged Russia to "make a deal" to end the war in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has since said Moscow is ready to hold talks with Trump.

The Insider reported that both Russian and Ukrainian forces are primarily losing Soviet-era equipment, with Russian losses now accounting for about 50% of its total stock. Much of the remaining equipment in storage is in poor technical condition, making it unlikely to be repaired and deployed to the front lines. The number of combat-ready vehicles Russia could still send to the front is estimated at around 2,000 tanks, 2,000 infantry fighting vehicles (BMPs), and 3,000 armored personnel carriers (APCs). Moscow is also reportedly facing production limitations. The only infantry fighting vehicle in large-scale production remains the BMP-3, with 463 units produced in 2023. Modern BTR-82 armored personnel carrier production is estimated at 300–400 units annually.

The decline in Russia's equipment stockpile coincides with a slowdown in assault operations in Ukraine, though fighting remains intense, according to the monitoring group DeepState. As of late January, 44% of Russian attacks have been concentrated in the Pokrovsk sector, a key logistics hub for Ukrainian forces in Donetsk Oblast. The peak of Russia's offensives occurred in December, following a surge in late November. Amid these trends, U.S. peace envoy Keith Kellogg suggested on Jan. 24 that tighter restrictions on Russia's oil industry could pressure the Kremlin to negotiate. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier on Dec. 29 expressed dissatisfaction with Trump's team's reported peace proposals, particularly the idea of freezing hostilities along the current line of contact. https://kyivindependent.com/russia-facing-equipment-shortages-media-reported/

Skybird

01-30-25, 11:44 AM

Usually estimations in the West say that if they continue to build new MBTs and refurbish old MBTs at the current rate, they can carry on doing so at the current rates for another 2 years, maybe even into the third year from now on, before a decline in production rates would makes itself felt on the battlefields. And that excludes the option to shift material from existing army groups in other parts of the country namely Asia.

I dont see Ukraine holding out another two years. As things are now, I would categorically rule that out. Blakc Swan event needed to change that.

They also currently produce in three months that many artillery shells like all NATO states in one full year. Means: factor is 4.

Already in late 2022, the "imminent" economic collapse and unsustainable losses were predicted.

The facts created on the Donbass front speak differently. Several Western observers as well as Ukrainian AND Russian bloggers say it is uncertain that Ukrainian front in Donbass can keep up even over the coming three months. Time is workign for Russia. Its running out for Ukraine, and at accelerating pace. In past months we have seen spectacular PR-effective single acitons by Ukraine. None of them was able to be decisive and turn the tide, and Ulkraine by now is unable to repeat such attacks day for day over many weeks to reach saturation effects on the Russians. Russia has sold 25% less oil last year thsan ever before - but sold it for bigger revenue and thus: profit than in the years before.

Russia will run out of breath one day, yes, absolutely. And the price tag for their victory is inbcreaisng every month, yes. But I do not see that Ukraine can hold out until then. And that is the problem. It always was. Its not about whether Russia can outlast Ukraine . Its about how Ukraine should outlast Russia. The arithmetics of attritional warfare are merciless and not subtle at all. Higher numbers win. That simple.

Dargo

01-30-25, 12:03 PM

The Russian military has once again shot itself in the foot. In an attempt to take out an alleged Ukrainian air defence system, Russian troops inadvertently blew up their own North Korean missile system. This reveals military bloggers, who initially proudly reported that they had destroyed a Western weapon system. According to Ukrainian military and political analyst Kovalenko, the system in question was an anti-aircraft missile that North Korea had quietly shipped to Russia. Such deliveries would take place completely out of sight of Western and South Korean intelligence agencies. ‘Extremely alarming,’ Kovalenko calls this secret cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang. It makes it clear once again that there are supply routes that no one can see.

The fatal mistake was allegedly made by a Russian drone driver, who thought he was firing at a Western anti-aircraft system deployed by Ukrainian troops. But in reality it was a North Korean system used by Russian military personnel. Ukrainian medium Militarnyi reported that the shape and silhouette of the North Korean system were strikingly similar to Western weapon systems used by Ukraine in the region, which could explain the mistake. Kovalenko draws harsh conclusions from this incident. ‘This suggests that Russia has a problem with air defence. Although we already know this, the Russian armed forces lack air defence systems and this is now one of the most catastrophic shortcomings.’

The situation, according to Kovalenko, underlines how dependent Russia is on North Korea to plug the gaps in its defence. ‘Russia is asking North Korea for exactly what it lacks most, and these supplies reflect the difficulty in replenishing losses. First grenades, +60% of the grenade hunger comes from North Korea, then meat shortage, then artillery, ballistic missiles and now air defence,’ he lists. And with this mass, Russia is still after 3 years making no major progress towards the goal of this war, the destruction of democratic Ukraine. Nor will it happen in 2025, 2026 or the years after that.

Skybird

01-30-25, 12:15 PM

mapuc

01-30-25, 12:20 PM

Dargo

01-30-25, 12:44 PM

The adapted Russian war goals are:

1. completing the conquest of the five occupied oblasts - and keeping them.
2. preventing Ukraine from joining NATO.

These goals are absolutely realistic.

Beyond that: any bonus that can be had for low price, will be taken. But its a bonus. No necessity.Total occupied 01.01.2024 17.98% 01.01.2025 18.53% if they want to occupy the five oblasts they need another of couple of decades. Preventing Ukraine from joining NATO will also result in a loss it is not needed Ukraine will be fortified by the West that it can defend Ukraine like NATO it will become Europe military bastion a European military buffer like the BDR was. Russia goals like this whole invasion is a delusional dream, there was never any realistic plan they failed from day 1 and Putin still is not notified of this disaster.

NATO on track to send Kyiv over $40 billion in 2025The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is on course to fulfill its promise to send approximately $41.6 billion (40 billion euros) in security assistance to Ukraine by the end of the year, NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska said on Jan. 29. Member nations pledged to provide the funding to Ukraine during the NATO summit in Washington, D.C. in July 2024. Shekerinska discussed the status of the funds during a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council in Brussels. Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Olha Stefanishyna attended the meeting.

"Allies are on track to deliver on the pledge made at the Washington summit," a NATO press statement (https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_232658.htm) said.

Stefanishyna also met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte during her visit to Brussels. Their discussions centered on the current situation on the front lines, Ukraine's ongoing reform efforts, and continued NATO support for Ukraine's defense. Rutte has pledged to maintain the alliance's support for Kyiv and increase Europe's share of the spending amid the U.S. government transition. NATO has already moved into a new leadership position in coordinating aid for Ukraine, taking over certain responsibilities once handled by the U.S. https://kyivindependent.com/nato-on-track-to-send-kyiv-over-40-billion-in-2025/

Jimbuna

01-30-25, 01:01 PM

Sweden provides Ukraine with largest military aid package worth $1.2 billion

Sweden is providing Ukraine with the largest military aid package worth $1.2 billion.

This was stated by Swedish Defense Minister Paul Johnson, Censor.NET reports.

The country has agreed to provide Ukraine with the largest aid package in the amount of 13.5 billion Swedish kronor (1.23 billion dollars).

It is noted that this aid package is the 18th since the beginning of Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

As Defense Minister Jonson said at a press conference, the government is negotiating with suppliers in Sweden and Europe to supply priority equipment such as artillery and drones.

The package will include 16 combat boats, 1,500 anti-tank missiles, 146 trucks, and 200 anti-tank grenade launchers.

About $90 million will also go to the production of Ukrainian long-range missiles and drones. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3533157

mapuc

01-30-25, 04:34 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-N6EJ-AsmA

Markus

Jimbuna

01-31-25, 09:58 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k5wWYoQUYg

Jimbuna

01-31-25, 10:02 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA0kpvsco8U

Dargo

01-31-25, 12:13 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWkwLD2utHE

mapuc

01-31-25, 05:45 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gHgxl9zAjw

Markus

Jimbuna

02-01-25, 05:08 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ivn3urR3i3U

Jimbuna

02-01-25, 05:13 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w39greaVUVM

mapuc

02-01-25, 02:57 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vvqV0ypIFM

Markus

Dargo

02-01-25, 03:15 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnGe9CfDvj8

mapuc

02-01-25, 05:15 PM

What are Putin going to do about this ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn_aR6AnIGo

Markus

Skybird

02-01-25, 06:45 PM

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3w87ynn2n2o

Before taking up the EU post last December, Kallas repeatedly called for higher levels of defence spending while she was serving as Estonia's first female prime minister.
In February 2024, she said she wanted Nato countries to increase defence spending to 3% of their GDP.
Alliance members committed to spending at least 2% of GDP on defence after Russian forces seized Ukraine's southern peninsula of Crimea and Moscow-backed proxies took control large areas of eastern Ukraine in 2014.
As Estonian prime minister, Kallas pledged more than 1% of the country's GDP to Kyiv to help bolster Ukraine's war effort.
"If every Nato country did this, Ukraine would win," she told the BBC last year (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c722zxj0kyro).
According to Nato estimates for 2024 (https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/2024/6/pdf/240617-def-exp-2024-en.pdf), Estonia's defence spending as a proportion of GDP was the second highest in the military alliance.
In December 2024, Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte said member states would have to "shift to a wartime mindset" and spend "considerably more than 2%" on defence.
Instead: clownery in Berlin. The past week was especially amusing - not.

Jimbuna

02-02-25, 06:32 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIzvhQU9a7I

Jimbuna

02-02-25, 06:42 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdilRWtg2kg

Skybird

02-02-25, 07:36 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIzvhQU9a7I

Its true that the Ukrainian constitution imposes certain restrictions on elections during a war. According to the Constitution of Ukraine, the holding of elections or referenda may be suspended or postponed under certain circumstances if the country is in a state of war or military threat.

Article 83 of the constitution of Ukraine provides that the president, the parliament or the council of ministers may request the suspension of elections if such a situation exists. However, this does not mean that elections are prohibited in principle in the event of war, but that the government and the relevant institutions can examine the circumstances and decide whether and how elections can be held.

A practical example: in the recent elections and referendums during the conflict with Russia, some of these were postponed or not held at all in disputed territories such as Crimea and the occupied territories of eastern Ukraine.

So, there is therefore a legal basis for temporarily suspending elections in times of war.

Trump has a string antipathy for Zelensky himself, Zelensky did not play his ball as demanded when Trump wanted him to help him to go after Biden. For this offence to Trump's fantastic ego he now takes revenge.

Jimbuna

02-02-25, 09:14 AM

Ukraine is closer to peace than ever during war, - Zelenskyy

Ukraine is currently doing everything to bring peace closer.

According to Censor.NET, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this in an exclusive interview with the Associated Press

"We are fighting, we are holding on, we are doing everything to bring peace closer. And today we are closer to it than ever during these three years of war. We have defended our state, our independence, our country. We also suffered huge losses. I am extremely proud of our heroic people. We must do everything to restore stability and ensure a just peace for all Ukrainians," Zelenskyy said. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3533578

Jimbuna

02-02-25, 09:23 AM

Peace is not in sight at moment because Russia does not want peace, - Spanish Foreign Minister Albares

Only Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy talks about peace. Vladimir Putin always talks about war.

According to Censor.NET, citing Yevropeiska Pravda, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said this in an interview with El Diario.

Answering a question about the possibility of a peaceful settlement with the help of the United States, but with Europe's removal from the processes, Albares said that he would not want to "invent political fiction."

"Unfortunately, there is no peace in sight at the moment because one of the two sides, Russia, does not want peace. Who is talking about peace? Who presented the peace plans? It has always been the Ukrainian side, President Zelenskyy," the Spanish minister said.

He emphasized that Europeans would support any plan for a just peace.

"However, when I hear the Russian president speak, he always talks about the war, about not giving up the war, about winning the war. But, in any case, when peace is achieved, Spain and the Europeans are very clear about the conditions under which it should be achieved: we cannot decide anything about Ukraine, which is a sovereign state with a democratically elected president, without them setting the parameters," Albares said.

He added that since it is a matter of European security, Europe's voice should also be represented in potential peace talks.

As a reminder, the United States is ready to increase sanctions pressure on Russia if it does not enter into peace talks. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3533576

mapuc

02-02-25, 11:18 AM

You can always tell who want peace and who don't.
The side who's in problems are those who speak of peace-In 2023 it was Russia who spoke of peace while Ukraine spoke of war.

Markus

Skybird

02-02-25, 11:23 AM

You can always tell who want peace and who don't.
The side who's in problems are those who speak of peace-In 2023 it was Russia who spoke of peace while Ukraine spoke of war.

Markus
What words are said and what intentions are wanted are two different things. Russia never wanted a just peace, but in principle unconditional surrender to its terms and conditions, and the defacto total and complete defenceless of Ukraine to future aggression. Ukraine naver wanted thos war, but reserves the right of self-defence.

Ukraine did not want this war. Russia does not want real peace, but de facto surrender.

Moonlight

02-02-25, 11:30 AM

The war of attrition is almost won, why would Russia want peace when the "End Game" is just around the corner. Less than a year to go I'd say, and you can blame the Western Nations politicians for it ending this way, they are first class cowards and they should all paint their heads yellow. :up:

Dargo

02-02-25, 01:06 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mlJb9hePsE

Jimbuna

02-02-25, 01:06 PM

Ukraine received $75 billion in aid from US, not $177 billion, as it is alleged, - Zelenskyy

Ukraine is credited with receiving $177 billion in aid from the United States, but we actually received about $75 billion.

According to Censor.NET, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this in an exclusive interview with the Associated Press.

"Today we hear from the United States that America has given Ukraine hundreds of billions - 177, to be more precise. I, as the president of a country at war, tell you that we have received more than 75. That is, we have never received 100 billion, and this is important. We are talking about specific things. We got it not with money, but with weapons. We have received weapons worth 70 billion and something," Zelenskyy said. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3533590

Dargo

02-02-25, 01:39 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIGfMrUSS1k

mapuc

02-02-25, 01:45 PM

You criticize Putin's war and your life is in danger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrWv_aTZl1A

Markus

Jimbuna

02-02-25, 01:47 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKalXDac8pg

Reece

02-03-25, 04:41 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYqCyi7Twj4

Jimbuna

02-03-25, 09:09 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hoN1ZaQFl8

Jimbuna

02-03-25, 09:11 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzxBrKdEiLM

Skybird

02-03-25, 03:45 PM

Contrary to general - and also my - fears, Ukraine has so far managed without any major blackouts in the country during the third winter of shelling by the Russian army. The electricity supply also remained stable because temperatures remained significantly warmer than predicted. It seems it so far was an unusually warm winter for the regional standards.

This winter was to be the most difficult for Ukraine since the beginning of the war - in view of the Russian attacks on the energy infrastructure. Blackouts of up to 20 hours a day were predicted. So far, however, the horror scenarios have failed to materialize. The reason for this is as unexpected as it is simple.

The Ukrainian “ally” is the weather. Although the Ukrainians have once again prepared meticulously, these precautions would not have been enough without the unusually high temperatures, reports the Kyiv Independent. Lucky break! Discontent in the Kremlin!

Jimbuna

02-04-25, 08:13 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gtslRrXBQs

Jimbuna

02-04-25, 08:18 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=644dvt4D3bY

Dargo

02-04-25, 01:34 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULMibaeDX3k

mapuc

02-04-25, 02:09 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09wx5ml2XUc

Markus

mapuc

02-04-25, 03:54 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTSI_xJBEo4

Markus

Jimbuna

02-05-25, 12:02 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1G0UOd4SmQ

Jimbuna

02-05-25, 12:09 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAIOaeEqs88

mapuc

02-05-25, 12:09 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7_rduK5WA0

Markus

Jimbuna

02-05-25, 12:29 PM

When it comes to peace talks, we’ll see what conditions the "Russians" will have for Ukraine regarding Kursk - Zelenskyy

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine's operation in the Kursk region will be an important part of the negotiation process with Russia.

The head of state said this during a conversation with journalists on Wednesday, Censor.NET reports citing Interfax-Ukraine.

"Tomorrow will be exactly six months of the operation in the Kursk direction. A very important operation. And you will see, when we reach a diplomatic settlement to end the war, we will hear what conditions the Russians will have for Ukraine regarding the Kursk direction," Zelenskyy said.

He emphasized that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are "holding the situation steady".

At the same time, he said, the Russians have suffered heavy losses there, which they greatly underestimate.

"Their Koreans are running away, we can see it," the president said.

Zelenskyy also noted that several important targets had been hit by long-range weapons in the Kursk region.

"And these are very serious steps. They are important. And I think they will not be able to push us out of this territory in the near future, and this is what keeps 60,000 of their troops in this area today," he added. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3534186

Jimbuna

02-05-25, 12:32 PM

50 combat engagements took place in frontline, most of them in Pokrovsk, Siversk and Kupiansk directions - General Staff

Since the beginning of the day, as of 4 p.m., 50 combat engagements have taken place at the front.

This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to the report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The situation in the north
Today, the areas of Bleshnia and Mkhy in the Chernihiv region; Stepok in the Sumy region and Tymofiivka in the Kharkiv region were affected by enemy artillery shelling from the territory of Russia. In addition, the enemy launched an air strike with FFARs (free-flight aerial rockets) near Halahanivka.

Hostilities in Kharkiv region
In the Kharkiv direction today, Russian occupants twice tried to storm the defensive lines of Ukrainian troops in the direction of Kozacha Lopan, our defenders repelled one Russian attack, and another battle is ongoing.

In the Kupiansk direction, the enemy actively attacked the positions of our units seven times in the vicinity of Zahryzove, Petropavlivka, Pishchane and Nova Kruhliakivka, two firefights are currently ongoing.

Hostilities in Donbas
Today, in the Lyman direction, the invading army launched six attacks on Ukrainian positions near Novoliubivka, Kopanky, Zelenyi Hai, Kolodiazi and Torske. Two battles are currently underway.

In the Siversk direction, the enemy attacked the positions of our defenders eight times in the areas of Siversk and Verkhnokamianske, six attacks have already been repelled, and two battles are underway.

In the Kramatorsk direction, our defenders repelled two enemy attacks in the areas of Chasiv Yar and Stupochky, and another firefight is still ongoing. The enemy launched a GAB (guided aerial bomb) strike on Stupochky.

In the Toretsk direction, the Russians tried to force our units out of their positions in the areas of Toretsk and Shcherbynivka, where the Defense Forces repelled four attacks by Russian units. Kleban-Byk and Katerynivka came under air strikes.

Since the beginning of the day in the Pokrovsk direction, the enemy has made 12 attempts to push our defenders from their positions in the areas of Vodiane Druhe, Yelyzavetivka, Promin, Pishchane, Dachne and Ulakly. Defense forces are holding back the attack and have repelled eight attacks so far. The enemy's losses are being clarified. The fighting continues.

In the Novopavlivka direction, Ukrainian troops repelled two attacks by the occupation army near Kostiantynopil today, and another firefight is ongoing. The enemy launched air strikes near Komar, Rozlyv, Burlatske and Bahatyr.

The situation in other directions
In the Huliaipole direction, the enemy launched air strikes on Huliaipole and Novopil.

In the Kursk region, Ukrainian defenders repelled one attack by the invaders, and four more combat engagements are ongoing. In addition, the enemy fired 202 artillery shells at the positions of our troops and settlements.

The enemy did not conduct any active operations at the Huliaipole, Orikhiv and Prydniprovske directions. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3534168

Skybird

02-05-25, 05:01 PM

Trump eyes Ukraine's rare earth deposits. But there are inherent complications.

https://www-tagesspiegel-de.translate.goog/internationales/us-hilfe-nur-gegen-ukrainische-bodenschatze-das-abkommen-wird-eine-win-win-situation-schaffen-13148200.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp

mapuc

02-05-25, 05:50 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42FBvvziPa0

Markus

Reece

02-05-25, 11:50 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgSUpUMmcgg

Jimbuna

02-06-25, 07:08 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np4koXUunTQ

Jimbuna

02-06-25, 07:23 AM

Syrskyi about Swedish "Archer" self-propelled guns: AFU highly appreciate qualities of "offensive cannon" in Kursk operation

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi held a working meeting with the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Sweden, Lieutenant General Mikael Claasson, who is on a visit to Ukraine.

He announced this on Facebook, Censor.NET reports.

"In a conversation with my Swedish colleague, I shared my vision of the situation on the combat line, which stretches for almost 1200 km. The aggressor has an advantage in manpower, certain types of weapons, and military equipment, and carries out daily attacks with drones and missiles. However, Russia is paying a heavy price for advancing on every meter of Ukrainian land - about 1,500 people killed and wounded every day," noted Syrsky.

Lieutenant General Mikael Klasson assured that Swedish assistance to Ukraine is unwavering and will continue, despite the challenges, to strengthen Ukraine's defense capabilities and develop our defense industry.

The Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine thanked the Swedish people for their consistent support of Ukraine, its increase, and acceleration according to the plan for 2024-2026.

I was pleased to hear General Klassen praise the Kursk offensive of the Ukrainian Defense Forces. I showed my colleague a video about the role of Archer self-propelled artillery systems and CV-90 infantry fighting vehicles provided by Sweden in this operation. "Our soldiers highly appreciate the qualities of the Archer self-propelled artillery system and call it a "cannon of the offensive," emphasized Syrsky.

In his turn, the Commander-in-Chief of the Swedish Armed Forces thanked for the opportunity to learn from the experience of our army in repelling Russian aggression.

"He also assured me that he received good feedback that will help to improve Swedish weapons and military equipment. The conversation touched upon the topic of international support for Ukraine, cooperation with NATO and European allies, including the new member of the Alliance - Sweden," noted the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The parties agreed to continue the dialogue on meeting the requests of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in particular, the provision of Swedish-made aircraft.

"We have hard work ahead of us, but we have to go through this path and win. The resilience and unity of the people and the support of our allies, including our loyal and reliable friend, the Kingdom of Sweden, are with us!" - Syrsky summarized.

Earlier it was reported that Sweden is providing Ukraine with the largest military aid package worth $1.2 billion. It is the 18th since the start of Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3534304

Dargo

02-06-25, 10:58 AM

2022: Â“We will take Kiev in 3 days!Â”
2025: Â“We canÂ’t retake Kursk in 6 monthsÂ”
https://x.com/DarthPutinKGB/status/1887431999079510085
https://bsky.app/profile/darthputinkgb.bsky.social/post/3lhjc2kwg2s2c

Russia tried to hit Kyiv this morning, from Russian reports the Oreshnik failed and hit... Russia. :)

The first French Mirage jet fighters have arrived in Ukraine. This is reported by French defence minister SÃ©bastien Lecornu and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Last summer, the French announced that they would deliver the fighters to Ukraine. Ukrainian pilots were then trained in France to fly the Mirage. It is not known how many aircraft Ukraine received.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9PUiGVoMJE

Wonder how all those analysts can state that Russia will attack again after this special operation. With what? Donkeys?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AilNEIrYqi4

Jimbuna

02-06-25, 01:25 PM

Russian State Duma announces meeting between Trump and Putin in next few months

The head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, Leonid Slutsky, said that a meeting between Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump could take place in the near future.

This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to Interfax.

"February or March, we won't speculate and will give the leaders the opportunity to prepare for it competently and comprehensively, but it will be soon," Slutsky said, answering a question about the likelihood of a meeting between Putin and Trump.

He noted that the probability of contacts between the Russian and US presidents is "one hundred percent," but such a meeting "requires serious preparation, which is currently at an advanced stage."

"So, in the near future, I think we will have specific information about the meeting, and I hope that this meeting will have constructive consequences for the most pressing, most urgent issues of today's world politics. These are Ukraine, the Middle East, and generally issues of world politics and international relations in the near future. I am confident that this will be a significant meeting, it will not be in vain," Slutsky said. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3534389

mapuc

02-06-25, 04:00 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7MYHb3fAUg

Markus

Jimbuna

02-07-25, 07:05 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnAA10PbVlA

Skybird

02-07-25, 07:12 AM

Jimbuna

02-07-25, 07:18 AM

Ukraine should be accepted into NATO and European Union to prevent further aggression from Russian Federation - Hodges

Russia, with its war of conquest against Ukraine and its aggression against the whole of Europe, is today the first and most dangerous threat in the short term." Other threats are China, Iran, and North Korea.

According to Censor.NET with reference to DW, this opinion was expressed by retired US Lieutenant General, former commander of the US Army in Europe Ben Hodges in a guest article for the magazine Europäische Sicherheit & Technik.

"Putin's war against Ukraine has turned the Russian economy into ruins, and most of the Russian military has shown itself to be incompetent and corrupt. We have to prepare for the collapse of Putin's regime - to organize ourselves for victory," said Hodges.

"Victory means pushing Russian forces back to Ukraine's internationally recognized 1991 borders. And yes, this includes Crimea. Victory must also include the return of tens of thousands of abducted Ukrainian children, prosecution of Russia's war crimes at the International Criminal Court, the use of Russian funds to rebuild Ukraine, and Ukraine's accession to NATO," Hodges added.

He also emphasized that if the global West, especially the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France, act together, Ukraine will indeed win this war. At the same time, he believes that a nuclear response from Russia is unlikely.

"If Ukraine loses its military defense campaign, the risk of Russia attacking NATO countries using conventional means will increase," Hodges warned.

The former U.S. Army commander in Europe also added that Ukraine should be able to attack targets deep in Russia's rear without restrictions imposed by the United States or other countries.

"The enormous Russian mass - headquarters, artillery, logistics - must be destroyed by precision strikes," Hodges added.

And he points out that 2025 should be "the year of the industrial competition," and the West, together with Ukraine, can win it against Russia, "given that the economic power of the West is many times greater than Russia's."

"No matter how the war in Ukraine ends, the West needs a fresh strategy to contain Russia. Kyiv can become a bulwark against Putin's clearly articulated plans to further conquer Europe," the former general said.

As a reminder, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte recently stated that the Alliance as an organization cannot exist and defend Europe without the involvement of the United States. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3534519

Jimbuna

02-07-25, 07:28 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FOj9Fz48qI

mapuc

02-07-25, 07:52 AM

I can understand that the Peace proposal from Trump is a disaster for Ukraine. If they reject his plan there will be no more supply from USA. Can Europe compensate what Ukraine is going to miss from USA ?

Markus

Dargo

02-07-25, 12:18 PM

The supply Ukraine receives is the old bill, Trump has not yet proposed any new bill. And this Peace proposal is not it all peace is worked out in back channels not public and both have to come to the table so it is up to Russia and Ukraine I do not see Russia accept any plan certainly not this year. If we see anything, it could be summer 2026. There is absolutely no reason for Ukraine to negotiate with Russia, at all, for any reason, in the year 2025. Any negotiations should start in mid 2026, when the Russian economy has imploded, their deficits are blasting off to the moon, and Russia can no longer fight. Europe can compensate what Ukraine is going to miss from the US they only have to order US equipment from their stock Europe has the money, same goes for the munition that can be bought from the US and other factories around the world. Ukraine has already got a NATO air force twice as it had, so it can be done.

Jimbuna

02-07-25, 12:25 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyAvve6XjOc

Dargo

02-07-25, 12:35 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJgtU81_l8A

Jimbuna

02-07-25, 12:36 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHFO4QHVGv0

mapuc

02-07-25, 01:28 PM

Dargo

02-07-25, 02:17 PM

I wrote my comment based on this video, which I posted yesterday

https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=2942899&postcount=6107

MarkusWe see all kind of stories surface in the media, Trump gone do this/that ... I do not believe it all I wait till I see something structural, find this all yada yada clickbait.

Western arms and growing local production power UkraineÂ’s frontlinesAbout 70% of the weapons used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the frontlines against Russian troops are donations from Western partners, Deputy Defense Minister Ivan Havryliuk said in an interview with the Ukrinform news agency published on Feb. 7. Ukrainian troops are dependent on supplies of weapons from allies that are either not produced in Ukraine or are produced in insufficient quantities, such as air defense systems, heavy armored vehicles, and NATO-caliber artillery ammunition. The Ukrainian defense industry is gradually increasing its

Skybird

02-07-25, 03:40 PM

In fact Ukraine got only fractions of Biden's last two packages promised, since Biden was hesitating and delaying and considering and fearing and wavering. He was hopelessly lost in the thinking schemes of the cold war, and the worry to not push the bear too far. In this, him and Scholz are not that much different at all.

mapuc

02-07-25, 05:50 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLEhhMbMOcs

Markus

Reece

02-07-25, 11:36 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLFm1kMq5is

Jimbuna

02-08-25, 09:05 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd156o9tDok

Dargo

02-08-25, 12:40 PM

Russian troops continue to fight their way forward in Ukraine. In January, they occupied 430 square kilometers. This is more land than in the same months of the two previous years. Compared to December and November, however, the territorial conquests are smaller. Overall, this January is the month with the largest net territorial losses for Ukraine to date, even though the Ukrainians are trying to carry out offensive operations in Kursk again and are said to have broken through the front at one point.

They won soem ground, and lost much more ground. Which grounds traded are of greater strategic value, I do not comment on.This gain has cost Russia huge amount of loses ratio is 7:1 for 430 square kilometres that still is no gain in any key cities or further to their minimal goal of occupation of the Donetsk oblast. With this pace, they need at least 10 year crawling in their own blood 7:1. A new patch of Russian Logistics Corps appeared.

https://i.ibb.co/SwSdfHCp/rudonkey.jpg (https://ibb.co/KxnLKBvH)

Jimbuna

02-08-25, 12:44 PM

^ Now that is quite a nice thought :yep:

Dargo

02-08-25, 01:36 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfrdE0pM7EY

mapuc

02-08-25, 01:58 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ_u49Wabcw

Markus

Dargo

02-08-25, 02:22 PM

Ukraine has mineral resources, but that doesn't mean we're giving them anyone, even strategic partnersUkraine possesses mineral resources, but "that does not mean we are giving them away to anyone, not even to our strategic partners," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. "We have mineral resources, but that does not mean that we are handing them over to anyone – even our strategic partners. It's about partnership. Invest your money. Bring in investments. Let's develop [the resources] together, let's generate revenue. Most importantly, this is about the security of the Western world and the European continent. These burglars – Russia and its allies – won't get their hands on everything," he said in an interview with Reuters, a piece of which has been posted on the president's Telegram channel on Saturday.

According to the head of state, Russia has seized less than 20% of Ukraine's mineral resources. "If 20% of our land is occupied, that does not mean they've taken 20% of our mineral resources. So far, it's less," he said. At the same time, Zelenskyy emphasized that the remaining resources need to be protected. "We must stop Putin and safeguard what we still have," he said. "There are vast [of mineral resources] in Dnipropetrovsk region, as well as in the central and western regions of Ukraine. Unfortunately, we have lost coal deposits, but I know they've also lost a lot there because they did not know how to manage coalmines and flooded many of them," Zelenskyy said. https://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/1046564.html

Skybird

02-08-25, 03:35 PM

Dargo

02-08-25, 04:41 PM

Around 70% of their rare earth deposits are concentrated in those areas that currently are occupied by Russia. This was - again - explained by varuous sources just a few days ago when the issue was brought up again by Trump's demand to be paid in access to rare earths for americna aid. And I mean not the complete oblasts, but the occupied territories of these oblasts.

These occupied teritories also house an overproportional share of Ukraine's other ressources, certain sorts of coal needed to fuel ironworks (you cannot fuel these wiht ust any sort of coal),branches of agriculture, and heavy industry. Just a week or ten days ago Ukraine lost the last mine that mined these utmost important sorts of coal. I described it in a post back then.

Zelensky sees his options diminishing while Trump and Moscow do not talk with him, but about him. Desperate people tell desperate fairytales.

Same to be said about the Europeans, they are not heard in Trump's and Moscow's talking. They are out.

Both Putin's and Trump's thinking are meeting here. They both agree that the major powers should settle this, and Putin from beginning on only wanted to talk with the US, not Europe and not Kyiv. None of them sees Europe as a major power. And I must agree.It is not 70% more, around 53% of the country’s total. You focus too much on old economics, coal is a fuel from the past and the Donets Black Coal Basin suffers from three problems:
Mines are not profitable enough to sustain capital investment, resulting in ageing mining equipment and processes.
The government, taking advice from the International Monetary Fund, has discontinued $600 million annual mining subsidies.
The Ukrainian government refuses to buy from mines controlled by Russia.
In July 2014, several mines were closed in Eastern Ukraine because of fighting during the 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine. The war in Donbass caused coal production in Ukraine to decrease by 22.4% of its 2013 value, to 64.976 million tonnes.
https://i.ibb.co/Hpfzskjt/mineralresources.jpg (https://ibb.co/bRMBZ8ks)
https://i.ibb.co/wFHWVwS0/Ukraine-critical-minerals.webp (https://ibb.co/5gD8mnrM)

Skybird

02-08-25, 05:46 PM

Skybird

02-08-25, 06:19 PM

[Tagesspiegel] Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia disconnected from the so-called BRELL network at exactly 9:09 a.m. Since then, the three Baltic countries have no longer been connected to the Russian power grid. Synchronization with the Western European power grid is expected to be completed by Sunday evening.

Until then, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were the only European countries still connected to the Russian system - a relic from Soviet times. Ukraine, together with Moldova, joined Europe's power grid in March 2022. Russia's attack, which violated international law, happened just as the neighboring country was about to leave the Russian power grid.

The Baltic countries bordering the Baltic Sea are now connected to Europe with a single cable via Poland. This is another reason why the desynchronization took almost two decades of planning. Because merging different energy systems is very complex, explains Susanne Nies. "Baltic synchronization was always a bit of a challenge because there is only one cable connection between Lithuania and Poland," says the head of the Energy and Information project at the Helmholtz Center in Berlin.

Specifically, the connections of the old system are being cut and the alternating current network is being connected to continental Europe via Poland. According to Nies, this is particularly difficult with alternating current: the current, which moves at almost the speed of light, must always maintain a certain frequency. If one small thing goes wrong, the entire network suffers.
(...)
But the Baltic states could continue to be used as Russian hostages. Moscow could use the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, which is surrounded by NATO states, as a means of exerting pressure, warns Nies: "Putin could, for example, deliberately cause a blackout there and then blame the Baltic states - and possibly give them an ultimatum to test NATO."

Dargo

02-08-25, 06:24 PM

Ukraine holds immense potential as a major global supplier of critical raw materials essential for these high-profile industries. With vast reserves of minerals, Ukraine can significantly contribute to the global supply chain for many or all of them. Ukraine’s diverse geological zones make it a top 10 global supplier of mineral resources, holding around 5% of the world’s total. Ukraine has approximately 20,000 mineral deposits covering 116 types. Before Russia’s full-scale invasion, 3,055 of these deposits (15%) were active, including 147 metallic and 4,676 of non-metallic mineral deposits.

Ukraine is a key potential supplier of rare earth metals, including titanium, lithium, beryllium, manganese, gallium, uranium, zirconium, graphite, apatite, fluorite, and nickel. Despite the war, Ukraine holds the largest titanium reserves in Europe (7% of the world’s reserves). It is one of the few countries that mine titanium ores, crucial for the aerospace, medical, automotive and marine industries. Before February 2022, Ukraine was a key titanium supplier for the military sector. It also has one of Europe’s largest confirmed lithium reserves (estimated at 500,000 tons), vital for batteries, ceramics, and glass. Ukraine is the world’s 5th largest gallium producer, essential for semiconductors and LEDs, and has been a major producer of neon gas, supplying 90% of the highly purified, semiconductor-grade neon for the US chip industry.

Ukraine boasts confirmed deposits of beryllium, which is crucial for nuclear power, aerospace, military, acoustic and electronic industries, as well as uranium, which is essential for nuclear and military sectors. Zirconium and apatite are vital for nuclear and medical production. Additionally, Ukraine holds significant reserves of nonferrous metals such as copper (4th in Europe), lead (5th), zinc (6th), and silver (9th). Nickel deposits (215 thousand tons) and cobalt (8.8 thousand tons) are found in the secure Kirovohrad and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Ukraine’s graphite reserves represent 20% of global resources. The country also ranks among the top 10 globally for minerals, including bromine, magnesium metal, manganese, peat, pig iron and kaolin, among others.

The world is on the brink of a sustainability-driven era. Goldman Sachs forecasts that by 2030, 72% of new vehicle sales in the EU and 50% in the US will be electric vehicles. This transition will markedly boost demand for critical raw materials such as lithium and cobalt, vital for battery and electric engine production. By 2030, EU demand for lithium could surge up to 21 times its 2020 levels, while the region’s import reliance on critical raw materials remains high due to limited domestic mining capacity. Ukraine can become a vital part of the global supply chain for critical materials, acting as a strategic partner to create more resilient supply chains. Its potential spans sectors, such as agriculture, energy, raw materials and military-industrial capabilities. Europe should continue facilitating Ukrainian exports; Ukraine’s accession could bolster the EU’s industrial resilience and green transition by increasing domestic critical raw materials sourcing.

The European Commission highlighted Ukraine as a significant global supplier of titanium and a potential source of over 20 critical raw materials for the EU. Last year, a strategic partnership was launched to integrate Ukraine’s raw material supply into the emerging battery value chain. Before the full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s mining and metal complex contributed approximately 10% of its gross domestic product and 33% of its exports. Despite ongoing hostilities, the mining sector remains attractive to investors, offering auctions for mineral extraction rights. The country’s vast, untapped resources, including lithium and copper, are crucial for recovery and future growth.

In response to geopolitical resource dependency, the United States and the EU promote on-shoring and friend-shoring strategies to source resources domestically or from allies. Access to Ukrainian resources could help democratic countries achieve greater autonomy from non-democratic regimes, particularly in energy and technology. Recently, Ukraine began auctioning exploration permits for lithium, copper, cobalt and nickel, offering lucrative investment opportunities in refining critical raw materials. These investments can drive Europe’s green transition and support Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction and reintegration.

Dargo

02-09-25, 09:35 AM

I go with what they analysed both on TV, and in various print/web media. The number of mines is not the relvant thing but how each is in reserves it holds. And the majoirty of those reserves of precious earths (not number of mines) is concentrated in the Donbass and Donezk region. So it is with coal which you seem to underestimate, Ukrainian economy was and still is runnigngon coal significantly, so are ironworks. What the bright future of welath and glory will bring remains to be seen but until then Ukraine depends heavily on coal, last but not least for ironworks and steel making. Eelecgtric power production alone based to over one third on coal before the war (38%). And for steelmilling they need not just any black coal, but a certain type of coal that they have lost the last mine for to the Russians just a week or two ago. They have NONE of tnta anymore, currently. It will and already does have an effect on their steel production and that hampers defense production as well - SIGNIFICANTLY. When that mining town fell Western experts speculated that they could lose over 50% of their steel milling capacity if they do not manage to get the needed kind of coal from other coutnries. They need to buy that sort of coal offshore, which costs them much money, and time.

Every child knows that Donbass and Donezk was and is the centre of their mining industry for coal, much of their gas, and steel milling. Asov Steel was one of the biggest steel producers there was, internationally.

They have also lost a very big part of their agricultural sector, namely sunflower, wheat. And Russia wants to defend what many see as dominant role in internaitonal wheat production. Some said already at the beginning of the war that this was a factor in the decision to go to war: to neutralise Ukriane as a rival in wheat trade and get control over their wheat production. Estimations vary what ammount of wheat production now is lost to Russia, but considering that Saporischja and Cherson were the two leading oblasts in national wheat production, Crimea also was very important, and even Donbass and Donezk contributed significant ammounts to the national harvest per year, and considering further the ammount of territories occupied by Russia in these five oblasts, estimations vary between one third and one half of Ukraine'S total wheat harvest now being in hands of Russia. Or better, Ukraine lost one third to one half of its former national wheat capacity, since russia does not farm and harvest all occupied agricultural soils currently (but could so after a seize fire), but only partly does so.Problems have been piling up rapidly for Europe's steel industry in recent years. International steel prices are low due to overproduction from China, while energy and labour have become significantly more expensive in recent years. Slowly but surely, European companies are losing market share and scaling back production. This is happening at Tata Steel in IJmuiden, and certainly also in Duisburg. Of the 11.5 million tonnes of steel Thyssen can make, around 9 million has been achieved in recent years (about a quarter of total German steel production). ThyssenKrupp suffered a €1.6bn loss in 2023 due to its steel division, and a serious loss has already been announced for 2024 as well.

That the world does not necessarily end when certain industry disappears, they know better than anyone else in the Ruhr region. The silent witnesses of the vanished coal and steel industry there are now a tourist attraction, with the main attraction being the former coal mine Zeche Zollverein in Essen, some 20 kilometres from where the black giant still smokes. Now Unesco World Heritage Site, between 1851 and 1985 one of the largest coal mines in the Ruhr region. On the coal reserves still lying beneath the Ruhr, the German economy could run for hundreds more years. But coal from China and South America is now cheaper. Six years ago, Germany's last coal mine closed.

It was not just coal mining that disappeared abroad, as a 2002 film in Zeche Zollverein's museum shows. Dozens of Chinese men in blue suits and crash helmets are dropped off in buses at the Dortmunder Westfalenhütte. Cutting torches are used to dismantle the disused steel plant, after which the parts are transported. In Qingdao and Shangjian, the plant gets a second life. So now these factories relocated from Germany threaten the German original.

Skybird

02-09-25, 10:48 AM

Different to Duisburg, Ukraine must survive a WAR, and it must survive it NOW. :03:

When economic analysts familiar witgh the steel market situaitons on the globe said after that mining town falling to Russia that this means Ukraine looses around 50% of its so far remaining still milling capacit, I am not in a position of better knowledge to argue with them, and when they further say that this will have a dramatic effect on arms and armour production inside Ukriane if they cannot replace the loss of this special coal, I have no better argument to tell them its not that bad as they claim.

Dargo

02-09-25, 11:23 AM

You still not see that since 2013 Ukraine does not use the Donetsk coal it became cheaper to import also for steel production the price is too low China is dumping all kind of materials on the markets it is cheaper to import. The investments in mines and steel it too expensive because China and India with state capital determine the price of coal and steel at the moment. Ukraine has many other options in the rare minerals that they even not started to explore, where the real revenue is to finance this war. That is where the west comes in by capital investments, western technology, both can make big profits and gain key industrial security against the anti-west block.

Dargo

02-09-25, 11:28 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Hi380f-l7w

Jimbuna

02-09-25, 11:47 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTMkRAwLU3Y

Jimbuna

02-09-25, 11:57 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-HTS9F8LbU

Skybird

02-09-25, 12:38 PM

Toretsk in oblast Donezk is mostly under Russian control now, and practically completely destroyed. It was the capital of a regional stronghold area once housing arond 70,000, and a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.
From here Russia is currently preparing to launch its attack on the last remaining Ukrainian-held enclave inside Donezk, Kramatorsk. Kramatorsk already is under attack with glide bombs of all callibres.

Both Russian and Ukrainian bloggers indicate that according to their informations Russia also prepares a spring offensive beginning in late March or in April. This could explain why in recent days the intensity of Russian ground attacks has a bit faded, although their air attacks have won in intensity again since two nights.

Russia also has revitalized attacks on Kupjansk in oblast Charkiv. They have crossed a river and established a stable beachhead, and from there now increase their attack on Kupjansk. Ukraine resists, but currently must give ground. Not that they have much ground available there, Kupjansk is practically on the frontline.

In Kursk, Ukraine has scored a few tactical attention-getting successes and took two small villages. So far, nothing they have acchieved there in the past couple of days since they advanced by a claimed 5 km depth, makes a real difference. Achtungserfolge, but nothing of tactical or strategical relevance so far. So far, still over 50% of the territory they claimed since last autumn when they launched their attack into Kursk, has been taken back by Russia, the last "offensive" (that was not really one), and the one now, have not been able to change that.

My impression is that the Ukrainians currently try to come to terms with Trump and thus do a lot of theatralic stuff to score prestige points in a bid to impress him. Their biggest issue probably remains to be the fact that Trump cannot stand Zelenskyi and wants to get rid of him. Thats why I doubt they can really impress him, not to emntion: changing his mind. But we will see, maybe he surprises me. I must admit that Trump has surprised me already several times since he took office.

Both sides fight with shzortages in troops, but the problem is much more severe on Ukrainian side. Whereever they make advances, they can do so only by overstretchung the personnel strength of troops in their flanks and at other parts of the neighbouring frontline, here is where the Russian counterattack and push into Ukrainian lines even deeper. Its a dilemma that Kyiv is unable to solve until today.

Jimbuna

02-09-25, 12:53 PM

World has demonstrated its unwillingness to put Putin in his place during three years of full-scale war - Zelenskyy

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that over the three years of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, the countries of the world have failed to "put Russian dictator Putin in his place."

The head of state said this in an interview with the British broadcaster ITV News, Censor.NET reports .

"What is surprising is that over these three years we have not been able to, the whole world has not been able to stop Putin. I mean, to stop him, to slow him down, to prevent him from destroying us, they could. But the world has not been able to put him in his place, to really put him in his place, to slap him on the wrist, as they say. And this, frankly, surprises me. This is not an inability. This is unwillingness," the president said.

At the same time, Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude to the partner countries that have been helping Ukraine greatly during the three years of full-scale war. He noted that without the help of partners, it would have been "difficult, if not impossible."

"Therefore, I am grateful to the main partners. They have helped me a lot, and they have helped Ukraine and Ukrainians a lot," the head of state said.

He also added that a "resounding victory" is not the main thing, and that the establishment of peace for many people will be a victory for Ukraine.

"For many people, peace is a victory for Ukraine. The victory over death, the victory of life - we survived. And the victory you're thinking about, the loud one... Listen, this is not the main thing - all these parades, something that Putin loves very much. We need to end the war, live, develop our country... And understand how to integrate all those territories... all those people who are divided by the war, by the contact line or the front line. All of this will return to Ukraine anyway," Zelenskyy said.

In this interview, Zelenskyy also said that there is every opportunity to end the Russian war against Ukraine in 2025. However, peace requires tougher sanctions against Russia and security guarantees for Ukraine. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3534802

Jimbuna

02-09-25, 12:55 PM

Frozen conflict will lead to Putin returning with aggression against Ukraine - Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the victory of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in the war against Ukraine would be a loss for the Western world, both for Europe and the United States.

He said this in an interview with the British broadcaster ITV News, Censor.NET reports.

Zelenskyy emphasized that Putin "will never stop."

According to him, settling the war without security guarantees will simply lead to Putin returning to take what is left of Ukraine.

He also said that there can be no decision on the country's future without the consent of Ukraine itself.

A frozen conflict will lead to Putin returning with his aggression. Who will receive the prizes then? Who will go down in history as the winner? No one. And it will be a loss for absolutely everyone. And this is very important both for us and for Trump. He needs to not just end the war, he needs to make sure that Putin has no chance to come back with a war against us. I think this is the most important part. Everyone should recognize this. Then it will be a victory," Zelenskyy emphasized.

At the same time, he said, the path to peace could create another conflict - and a dangerous one - for Ukraine, putting it at odds with the United States, which provides it with military support and de facto protection.

"If I had an understanding that America and Europe would not abandon us, but would support us and provide us with security guarantees, I would be ready for any format of negotiations," Zelenskyy said, commenting on the possibility of negotiations with Putin.

Zelenskyy noted that he did not want to even think about the insoluble differences between the positions of the two countries.

"If there is a confrontation, God forbid, between the Ukrainian position and the American position, I don't even want to think about it, then only Putin will benefit from it. Putin's victory is a loss for the Western world, both Europe and the United States. And he will never stop. No matter how long [Putin] lives, he will live in the Kremlin. No matter how long he lives, he will take lives. He will continue to wage war," the president added.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was ready for potential peace talks with Russia to end the war. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3534797

Dargo

02-09-25, 03:10 PM

Ukrainians are overrunning Russian soldiers as they launched a massive surprise assault in the Kursk salient. Catching Russian forces completely off guard, the Ukrainians achieved a massive breakthrough through a coordinated mechanized assault, penetrating over four kilometres deep into Russian lines. After Russians suffered heavy losses in their recent failed attacks on the Ukrainian salient, Ukrainians decided to press their advantage and take Russian forces by complete surprise in a sudden assault southeast of Sudzha. Ukrainians started by covertly accumulating their forces in Sudzha, planning to use the hardened roads leading out of the settlement for a lightning assault through Russian lines near Cherkasskoya Konopelka.

Ukrainians initiated the operation with an intense artillery barrage to suppress Russian positions on the frontline, while FPV kamikaze drones precisely eliminated dangerous Russian firing positions along the planned avenue of attack. Shortly after the last shells landed, Ukrainians initiated their first ground assault with a massive mechanized column, overrunning Russian positions and advancing along the key hardened roads. With the preliminary Russian positions taken out of the equation by Ukrainian shelling and drone strikes, Ukrainian forces quickly reached Cherkasskaya Konopelka and Fanaseevka, dismounting their infantry in the settlements and surrounding forest. After establishing their positions, the southern flank was secured, allowing Ukrainians to launch another three waves of mechanized forces to reinforce these positions, and advance further toward Ulanok, starting intense clashes with the Russian garrison in the settlement. Russian sources reported that Ukrainians used nearly a full mechanized battalion during their assaults, with up to 400 soldiers and 30 to 50 various armored vehicles.

Footage from the area shows how Russians quickly scrambled to counter the threat, trying to eliminate the leading Ukrainian mine-clearing vehicles. However, Ukrainian electronic warfare equipment did not allow Russians to launch swarms of drones to counter the Ukrainian advance. This limited the Russian forces to only use a scarce number of fibre optic FPV drones, which are immune to electronic warfare as they do not require any radio signals to be controlled, however their low numbers caused only minimal casualties to the Ukrainian assault group. Additional footage from Chechen Akhmat special forces shows how Russians had not prepared any defensive positions like foxholes or trenches in this area, forcing them to lay prone in the forest while Ukrainian kamikaze drones conducted precision strikes on their forces. Further footage from Russian fibre optic reconnaissance drones shows a Ukrainian MRAP landing an assault group in the forest near Ulanok, ready to take over control of the town.

The main goal of the Ukrainian counterattacks was to take the settlement of Ulanok and increase the buffer zone between Sudzha and Russian frontline positions. Sudzha is the most crucial town in the Ukrainian salient in Kursk, where all their logistics and reinforcements flow through. With the Russians having shown to be incapable of rapid advances or manoeuvre warfare against prepared Ukrainian defences, Ukrainians are trying to force the Russians to conduct costly week-long grinding battles in an effort to retake the ground that the Ukrainians had taken in just a single day. By advancing to the Psel River in the south, Ukrainians are also attempting to cut off the Russian forces to the south of Sudzha from direct reinforcements. Any further advance in this area would also allow Ukrainians to establish a robust line of defence along the Psel River, while concentrating their fire on the open fields and forests to the east. Overall, Ukrainian forces successfully overwhelmed preliminary Russian positions south of Makhnovka and exploited this success to achieve a 4-and-a-half-kilometer-deep breakthrough south of Sudhza. With Ukrainians successfully landing and consolidating their newly gained positions, the remaining Russian forces south of Sudzha were effectively cut off from their ground lines of communication, forcing further reinforcements to cross the Psel River in rubber boats. Most importantly, the Ukrainians have once again demonstrated their ability to reintroduce manoeuvre warfare under the correct circumstances and make significant gains in one day that will take the Russians weeks of costly, grinding battles to retake. With the Russian failure to contain the Ukrainian advance, the Russian high command has decided to immediately dismiss the commander of the 11th VDV Airborne Brigade, Pavel Filyatev, for failure to properly defend his area of responsibility.

Probe For Weakness And Then Attack Fast—The Tactics Behind Ukraine’s New Kursk OperationTwo days after Ukrainian mechanized forces counterattacked in western Russia’s Kursk Oblast, taking advantage of an “operational pause” by Russian and North Korean troops in the oblast, the leading Ukrainian elements are clinging to new positions around the village of Fanaseevka, three miles east of their original lines. In the third year of Russia’s wider war on Ukraine, with drones everywhere all the time and modern armored vehicles in short supply on both sides, a one-day advance of three miles is impressive. To march that far, that fast, the Ukrainians appear to have employed the same tactics the Russians use in their own most successful assaults—but with a twist. It’s not at all clear the Ukrainian infantry will be able to hold on in Fanaseevka. Their positions in the forest just outside the village have been under relentless bombardment by Russian drones and artillery for two days. “There’s still a chance to quickly push the enemy out,” one Russian military blogger reported in a missive translated by the Estonian analyst WarTranslated. But to get as far as they did, the Ukrainians did what the Russians usually do: probed enemy lines for weaknesses and then deployed fast-moving groups of armored vehicles to shuttle infantry into new positions past the original line of contact. Whether the Ukrainians can consolidate their advances depends on whether more infantry arrive fast enough to defend against Russian counterattacks. Having consolidated, Ukrainian forces “may attempt another attack to build on their success,” the blogger warned.

The probe-then-assault tactic, led by infantry but enabled by fast-moving vehicles, was refined by the Russian armed forces as the wider war ground into its second year and Ukrainian mines, drones, artillery and anti-tank missiles rendered massed mechanized assaults impractical if not suicidal. The Russians, with their three-to-one or greater manpower advantage in many sectors of the front, tend to send small groups of infantry toward Ukrainian lines, clearly assuming most of the scouts will get killed but apparently hoping a few of them discover gaps in Ukrainian defences. “Disposable infantry are the first to be employed,” the Royal United Services Institute in London noted. “As teams are destroyed by defensive fire, Russian forces will commit successive teams forward by the same line of approach. Ukrainian forces must continuously defend their positions against consecutive waves, expending ammunition, exposing the locations of their defensive positions and exhausting their personnel.”

If Russian manpower outlasts Ukrainian firepower, the Russians may take control of the weakened Ukrainian positions. The main difference between the Russian and Ukrainian versions of this assault tactic is that the Russians have an abundance of troops, but the Ukrainians don’t. So the Ukrainians must be taking some other approach to probing Russian lines before the main attack. Ukraine’s advantage in drones surely helps, but the presence of Ukrainian special operation teams in the vicinity of Ukraine’s most successful attacks may also hint at another Ukrainian advantage that lends itself to probing operations that aren’t virtual suicide for the scouts.

The Ukrainian navy’s 73rd Naval Special Operations Center—Ukrainian Navy SEALS, basically—is deployed in Kursk near the launching position for the recent counterattack toward Fanaseevka. The center’s job, it stated, is to “gather crucial intelligence on hostile forces.” Highly trained Ukrainian commandos stand a better chance of surviving a risky reconnaissance mission than untrained Russian conscripts who may have signed their enlistment contracts mere weeks earlier. In that way, Ukrainian assaults may be less costly than Russian assaults—a necessity for a Ukrainian military that has consistently struggled to mobilize enough troops. Indeed, a paucity of manpower may yet doom the Fanaseevka counterattack. “There is just one flaw” in the operation, the Russian blogger assessed. “Positions that were formally ‘secure’ but lack sufficient troops (or have none at all) are instantly lost.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2025/02/08/probe-for-weakness-and-then-attack-fast-the-tactics-behind-ukraines-new-kursk-operation/

mapuc

02-09-25, 03:23 PM

I wish they, the Ukrainians had same success in Ukraine around Donetsk Oblast and other areas, where they are under pressure.

Markus

Dargo

02-09-25, 03:44 PM

They have success in the Donetsk oblast? Have you ever seen the Russian minute gains there? That army is not victorious, it is a midget doing midget steps forward, it would take the Russians at least 10 years with this kinda offensives to take it all.

https://i.ibb.co/HfrBHyvf/ukrainesince-Dec2023.png (https://ibb.co/RkCYDKnk)

mapuc

02-09-25, 03:50 PM

I meant same success as in Kursk Oblast-Take 5 km of occupied terrain from the Russians in Donetsk

Markus

Dargo

02-09-25, 04:07 PM

I meant same success as in Kursk Oblast-Take 5 km of occupied terrain from the Russians in Donetsk

MarkusKursk is an opportunity Ukraine could not resist, it was the Russian's weak position at that part of the front that made the Ukraine army to act on. For the rest, it is still the defence strategy to save troops and equipment. Estimated recruitment rates of 500–600 troops per day meet only half the needed replacements. Meanwhile, Russia’s “meatgrinder” assault tactics have pushed average daily casualties to a stunning 1,570 as of December 2024 all for minimal territorial gains. Moscow is struggling to maintain its force levels the longer Ukraine can defend, the more they can save. While Putin puffs his chest, Russia’s economy falters, its military stretches thinner by the day, his stocks dwindles and its global influence wanes. I hope any negations this year fails next year it will be worse for Russia do not think Russia will stop they have like 3 months till their new offensive will start again do not think Putin gambles that he thinks now can win away he is the only one that hopes here he is the delusional person here he is alone and misinformed by his inner circle. Russian losses are 7:1 in troops and equipment, let that sink in for a successful offensive you need at least a ratio of 3:1 in your favour he got that double against him. It is the Ukraine army that decide to defend at all cost or not, and it decided to do not. That Ukraine gives up land is no defeat, but they save a lot of troops and equipment for minimal, losing land that is open without cover no army in the world would defend at all cost.

I thought donkeys was it but the arrival of Russian ‘combat camels’ to the front lines tops it but many Russian Telegram channels are reporting on it too… :har:
https://i.ibb.co/bjLb6cV7/combatcamels.jpg (https://ibb.co/ZRK2fqrN)

Reece

02-09-25, 10:31 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7XbO8OnH-Y

Jimbuna

02-10-25, 06:20 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLh5F1suDk8

Jimbuna

02-10-25, 06:26 AM

FSIN officers ordered to mistreat Ukrainian prisoners - Wall Street Journal

Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, senior officials of the Federal Penitentiary Service have told "senior guards" that "there will be no restrictions on violence".

According to Censor.NET, the Wall Street Journal reported this with reference to three former employees of the Federal Penitentiary Service.

The former Federal Service employees described "how Russia had planned and carried out what UN investigators described as widespread and systematic torture". It is noted that their stories were supported by official documents, interviews with Ukrainian prisoners and a person who helped Russian FSIN employees leave Russia.

According to the WSJ, Major General Igor Potapenko, who was the head of the FSIN department in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region and has been the vice-governor of St. Petersburg since November 2024, "gathered his service's special forces at the regional headquarters" to talk about the system that "was developed for captured Ukrainians."

"The usual rules will not apply, he told them, there will be no restrictions against violence. Body cameras, which are mandatory in the Russian prison system, could be switched off," the publication said.

According to the WSJ, similar instructions were given to FSIN units in other regions, which led to three years of "merciless and brutal torture" of Ukrainian prisoners. Guards used stun guns and beat prisoners to inflict maximum damage, denying them medical care to allow gangrene to develop, which could lead to amputation, the investigation said.

The publication asked the FSIN for comment, but received no response.

The newspaper identifies its sources as two special forces officers and a doctor who entered the witness protection programme after testifying to investigators of the International Criminal Court.

The two special forces officers stated that they had resigned from the prison service before they were forced to engage in torture, but kept in touch with their colleagues who remained in Russia, the article says.

A Kremlin spokesman told the WSJ that the Russian and Ukrainian ombudsmen overseeing the treatment of prisoners are in touch with each other and that conclusions about conditions in Russian prisons are unfounded.

"We need to look at individual cases," he told the newspaper.

Earlier, Pablo de Greiff, a member of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry into Russian war crimes in Ukraine, said that the torture of Ukrainian prisoners by Russians was part of a coordinated state policy. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3534884

Exocet25fr

02-10-25, 06:54 AM

Torture of Russian soldiers in Mala Rohan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torture_of_Russian_soldiers_in_Mala_Rohan

Jimbuna

02-10-25, 07:24 AM

You show the same level of bias in the Hamas thread so I'll politely ask forum members not to rise to the bait.

Catfish

02-10-25, 07:33 AM

^ Agreed ;)

mapuc

02-10-25, 11:53 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3JJIr0n8Kk

Markus

Jimbuna

02-10-25, 12:21 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQl6Xuyi9cI

Jimbuna

02-10-25, 12:31 PM

Latvia orders Patria armored vehicles for Ukraine: Terms of delivery revealed

Latvia has ordered Patria 6x6 armored personnel carriers (APCs) to be delivered to Ukraine's armed forces by the end of 2025, the Latvian Ministry of Defense reports.

At the same time, the number of vehicles ordered has not been specified. The report also notes that the order for APCs for Ukraine will not affect the fulfillment of previous contracts for the Latvian army.

"This year, the defenders of Ukraine will receive armored vehicles of Latvian production. We are not only supporting Ukraine in its fight against the occupiers, but we are also testing the use and durability of armored vehicles in real combat conditions, which will allow the National Armed Forces to draw useful conclusions," said Latvia's Minister for Defense, Andris Sprūds.

The Latvian Ministry of Defense reminded that in 2021, it had already ordered over 200 Patria 6x6 armored personnel carriers. In the summer of 2024, an additional 56 APCs were ordered, but this time of the command and staff type.

Latvia's assistance to Ukraine

As previously reported, a charity initiative in Latvia raised funds to purchase 100 FPV drones for the Ukrainian military. The UAVs have already been delivered to Ukraine.

In September 2024, during a visit to Kyiv, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa announced a new military aid package for Ukraine.

In addition, the Ministry of Defense of Latvia provided Ukraine with combat reconnaissance tracked armored vehicles, which had previously been purchased from the United Kingdom.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/latvia-orders-patria-armored-vehicles-for-ukraine-terms-of-delivery-revealed/ar-AA1yLgIS?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ENTPSP&cvid=936e1ee683724a5abd8c16a4843f212e&ei=60

Exocet25fr

02-10-25, 01:52 PM

Trump wants having Canada, Greenland and Gaza under control while saying the Russians cannot have Ukraine under their control.....! :D

Skybird

02-10-25, 02:48 PM

Whatever the remaining specific war goals for Putin now are (and nobody can look into his head) - if he cannot get what he wants as a minimum and sees them not being fulfilled, he will go "all in". Whatever "all" means in his thinking. He will not give up just because Trump wants it so, and he will not get "trumped" by US bullying. This I think is encoded in his psychological structure. Its against his genes. Also, his KGB psychological profile assessment recommended to not promote him since he were incabpable to correctly assess longterm future consequences of his present deesd, his records say.

So, Trump will need to give him something that he wants. And this something can only be something at the very cost of Ukraine.

Except much later in the year, maybe. When the war began I estimated, or guessed if you want, that economic consequences in Russia and for Russia would start to have noticable consequences on the Russian side of the war not before 3-4 years have passed. And maybe that guess was not that far off, by the end of this year 2025 it would be that time frame, or in the second half of 2025. And indeed slowly we maybe spot signs that the economic situation in Russia starts to shift towards a detoriation that can no longer be kept under the carpet or held down by force and control alone. Its still too early, imo, to talk of a Russia collapsing soon, that is still years away imo, if ever, but maybe the economic and financial situation in Russia in the second half of this year will become that bad that is starts to impact on the war effort by Russia and commands "adjustements" of any sort. Whatever "adjustement" in Putin's thinking means. "All in" can be seen as an adjustement, too. See above - it could mean just anything. A seize fire. A freezing of the war. Nuclear weapons.

"All in" - so be it then.

August

02-10-25, 03:13 PM

Trump wants having Canada, Greenland and Gaza under control while saying the Russians cannot have Ukraine under their control.....! :D

Which of the four countries mentioned has been invaded? Which of the four have had territory seized and annexed? You want comparisons then compare that comrade.

mapuc

02-10-25, 03:27 PM

Which of the four countries mentioned has been invaded? Which of the four have had territory seized and annexed? You want comparisons then compare that comrade.

Don't take the bait Dave-We know there's no comparison between these countries and Ukraine.

Markus

Dargo

02-10-25, 03:45 PM

Today, I will introduce the FREEDOM FIRST LEND-LEASE ACT to give President Trump flexible authorities to send war-winning weapons to our partners including Ukraine to deter War Criminal Putin as Biden should have done long ago. Bring Russia to the table through American Strength! https://x.com/RepJoeWilson/status/1889006399297859924

Skybird

02-10-25, 05:06 PM

Don't take the bait Dave-We know there's no comparison between these countries and Ukraine.

Markus
De facto Trump was asked whether his claim for Greenland includes the threat of military annexation. He explicitly refused to rule it out.

And there is a record of US military interventions in Middle American countries. That includes an intervention from late 1989 to early 1990 in - Panama.

mapuc

02-10-25, 05:21 PM

So who's right Markus Reisner from Austria, who is a military expert
Or
Georgij the host of this video ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1uB7d8nKSM

Markus

Skybird

02-10-25, 05:53 PM

Col. Reisner does not deny that the ukrainians score local tactical successes.

What he doubts - and he can prove it - is that these spectacular actions are so numerous and regular that in sum they would have a saturating effect that can prevent the Russians from advancing further and further, though with high losses. The Ukrainian attacks clearly do not have this saturating effect, the Russians shrug them off, and continue.

In addition, the Ukrainians have a much greater manpower shortage, so that most of their advances are answered by the Russians by "dripping" with small mobile units (motorbikes!) into the gaps in the Ukrainian attacks that always open up when Ukrainians gather troops for an advance from elsewhere and therefore have to create weaknesses in other parts of their lines, into which the Russians then infiltrate with small units and then widen the breach with larger units that follow up.

It is obvious that this is not shown in the Ukrainian propaganda videos. I stopped watching such videos a long time ago. It's not worth it.

August

02-10-25, 06:15 PM

De facto Trump was asked whether his claim for Greenland includes the threat of military annexation. He explicitly refused to rule it out.

And there is a record of US military interventions in Middle American countries. That includes an intervention from late 1989 to early 1990 in - Panama.

Apples and Oranges

Panama was 35 years ago and we didn't annex the country or even occupy it for very long. We were there for regime change and that's it.

Exocet25fr

02-11-25, 05:03 AM

US President Donald Trump has suggested Ukraine may fall under Russian control “someday,” :D as he called for the war-torn country to share its natural resources in exchange for US assistance.

Trump, whose return to power has thrown doubt over billions of dollars in future US aid to Ukraine, told Fox News in an interview on Monday that he had told Kyiv he wanted “$500 billion worth of RARE EARTH.” et voilà !:haha:

Ukrainian officials had “essentially agreed” to the proposal, he claimed.

Ukraine has “tremendously valuable land in terms of RARE EARTH, in terms of OIL and GAS, in terms of other things,” Trump said. “I want to have our money secured, because we’re spending hundreds of billions of dollars.”

He added: “They may make a deal, they may not make a deal. They may be Russian someday, or they may not be Russian someday. But we are going to have all this money in there and I say I want it back.”

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/11/europe/ukraine-russia-trump-zelensky-intl/index.html

Skybird

02-11-25, 06:25 AM

Jimbuna

02-11-25, 09:10 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhkGlGH9ICg

Jimbuna

02-11-25, 09:13 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9rsYXWKucc

Dargo

02-11-25, 01:13 PM

Rare earths for weapons: Ukraine did not agree to a proposal from Trump, as he claims in his megalomaniacal nonchalance, but Trump agreed to a proposal made by Ukraine already in early December or late November. Or was it even earlier...Ukraine can not give rare earths because the mineral rights are not theirs, so Trump needs to buy those mineral rights that is the deal. Ukraine will get money from this deal that they can use for their defence.

Dargo

02-11-25, 01:14 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCGfO-58dYU

Jimbuna

02-11-25, 01:52 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtk5-zf5aEk

mapuc

02-11-25, 03:19 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JN-TRYmLA8

Markus

Skybird

02-11-25, 05:43 PM

There seem to be indications for an end of the current war already in spring. Thats a bit unexpected for me, I would have guessed for that not before late in the second half of the year at the earliest. At maximum costs and more losses for Ukraine, also Europe, so my worst fears seem to materialise. So much for my "defaetism" of which I get repeatedly accused. IF this rumoured plan becomes real, it is what I always tried to make it as: realism. Russia will get what it now wants, and some more. If the rumour is right, Trump will leave Ukraine no chance to say No.

And Europe is out, is demanded to pay but get no gains from it. The gains, in form of rerssources and economic priviliges, go to the US. Thats the real reality of powerpolitics in the 23rd century, dear bigmouthed EU. Get used to it.

https://www-n--tv-de.translate.goog/politik/Die-Russen-wollen-ein-grosses-Stueck-ukrainisches-Gelaende-herausbrechen-article25552246.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp

mapuc

02-12-25, 11:14 AM

Jimbuna

02-12-25, 12:25 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqoJSnHB0Xc

Jimbuna

02-12-25, 12:27 PM

Donald Trump says he had a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin about "immediately" starting negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

In a post on his Truth Social account, the US president says he will begin by informing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of the conversation.

Skybird

02-12-25, 01:46 PM

And more and increasingly clear indications that the worst scenario for Ukraine is materialising.

During his visit to Brussels, the American Secretary of Defense made it clear that it was unrealistic for Ukraine to insist on the 2014 borders, which are still valid under international law. Washington is thus acknowledging and enshrining Russia's territorial conquests and some of the regions it is demanding but does not yet fully control. This is a catastrophe for Ukraine.

He has also de facto ruled out NATO membership. This is also a total political defeat for Ukraine, which will have consequences.

The American rejection of binding security guarantees from the USA is also completely obvious. This means that Ukraine will have hoped in vain for reliable guarantees, because the Europeans may be heroes of pathetic words, but not of military combatting. Their promises do not mean much if military action is required. They are too low in numbers.

Trump is said to have already spoken to Putin on the phone several times, which is an enormous gain in face for Putin, and only today did he deign to speak to Zelenskyi on the phone. This is what Ukraine has always feared: that the leaders in Moscow and Washington will no longer talk to them, but only about them. This also signals that Russia's and America's two top bosses are talking together, but Zelenskyi, as the Ukrainian "boss", has to make do with the second-rate American team.

The Europeans are clearly at a loss and have only responded to the US minister's tough statements with helpless phrases and magical incantations. Zelenskyi has always said that the Europeans are unable to provide security guarantees for his country. He is right about that. Under Trump, the low European defense spending could actually be sanctioned to a certain extent for the first time. I would even agree with doing that. Too m any in Europe still have not understood that we do no longer live in times of peace, but that we already are engaged in war enforced on us by Russia. Since many, many years.

Today marks a turning point and is a crushing political defeat for Ukraine, which precedes the final military defeat in the sense of a pre-emption. The military defeat of Ukraine and the loss of the territories now occupied by Russia are thus practically already a done deal - completed by Trump now, and begun by the endless taunts of the Biden administration and the European governments before. Trump is now completing the work of defeat. But it were others before him who started it.

In other words, and this is what I have been saying for a long time: Russia has won. The USA has increased the price that Russia has to pay, also at the expense of Ukraine - but Russia is winning in the sense that it will achieve most of its present war goals. It will pay a high price economically and in civil society. But the destruction is at the expense of Ukraine, and the formal military victory plus the current objectives of each side will be achieved in the end by Russia, not by Ukraine: no NATO membership for Ukraine. No US troops in Ukraine. No return of the occupied oblasts. I define victory in a war very clearly by answering the question of whether the mission objectives have been achieved. Russia's current war goals will have been achieved. The victory is Russia's. Devastation, loss and destruction, even annihilation, is Ukraine's. "End of the message."

Trump's preference for Putin over Zelenskyi also marks a diplomatic upgrade for the Russian regime.

A pitch-black day for Ukraine. This is the beginning of the end.

Scheiße.

Jimbuna

02-12-25, 01:57 PM

It sounded like the death knell for Ukraine.

Catfish

02-12-25, 02:09 PM

^ and ^^ unfortunately i have to agree. The USA wins the war for Russia.

Dargo

02-12-25, 02:40 PM

Negotiations have not even started and Ukraine has already lost. As if suddenly today, it will lie on its back and give up everything. Ukraine can still inflict many losses to the Russians this year, don't assume right now OK here you have everything Mr Putin and btw here you also have our army that destroyed your army for three years. The Cossacks really don't have the culture to surrender right away, they have been fighting the same Russian culture of Übermenschen for centuries to be free and independent.

mapuc

02-12-25, 03:01 PM

Ok Trump have given Russia a clap on the shoulder for their aggression against an another country. This is the impression I get from reading Skybirds latest comment.

Markus

Dargo

02-12-25, 03:12 PM

I do not listen every week Trump say this or that and... nothing is accomplished remember him making love with Kim after all those love letters North Korea has not changed a bit Trump has gained no success. He can clap what he wants, but he is not who makes peace he never brought any peace not in the Middle East, not in Asia, and he will not in Europe. If you really trust Russians you are daft, good luck with that bus driver Putin to hell. All what comes out of the US administration is old news nothing to be surprised about they yada yada what they always yada'd

Skybird

02-12-25, 03:20 PM

The USA wins the war for Russia.Perfectly said. Exactly this was to be expected from Trump, and he delivers fully. For a short time I hoped he would surprise us positively on this topic.

Well. Hopes...

mapuc

02-12-25, 03:20 PM

Dargo

02-12-25, 03:37 PM

I do not trust the Russians or Putin for that matter.

But is Skybird wrong in his statement ?

MarkusYou can not say who is wrong here (only thing I know you can not foretell the future), but that Ukraine will go back to 2014 borders is a wrong assumption that Ukraine already not seeking they know it can not be done military. For NATO nobody invited them yet also known by Ukraine only thing they want is a real guarantee not the one like last time. The only parties who can make peace are the ones at war, nobody else, if that is impossible this war will last till one crumbles. What now is published in the media (wars are ended in back rooms not in public) I do not trust, certainly not till there is a real peace deal and Putin and Zelenskyy shakes hands, but that I will not see in my life. Do not either see the need for Ukraine for this peace deal this year.

Skybird

02-12-25, 03:38 PM

[FOCUS] US President Donald Trump announces the start of negotiations to end the war in Ukraine after a phone call with Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin. For Ukraine, however, Trump's peace plan is bad news.

Donald Trump wrote on his "Truth Social" platform early Wednesday evening that he had had a "long and very productive" phone call with Putin. "We agreed to work very closely together and also to visit each other's nations." Negotiations to end the war in Ukraine should begin immediately.

About an hour later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on X that he had had an "important conversation" with Trump. "We talked at length about ways to achieve peace, discussed our willingness to work together at a team level and Ukraine's technological capabilities - including drones and other advanced industries. I am grateful to President Trump for his interest in what we can achieve together."

However, the peace plan for Ukraine could be worse than Zelensky's message suggests. The US historian and professor of strategic studies Phillips O'Brien wrote on "Understack" that Trump's plans are not new, but have existed since at least June last year.

According to O'Brien, the draft "peace plan" by General Keith Kellogg at the time was "the basis for every Trump peace plan we have heard since." The US government takes the same view. The expert fears that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has even drawn up an "even worse" plan.

In this plan, Putin would be given "most of what he wanted." Ukraine's interests, on the other hand, would receive "very little" attention, wrote O'Brien. According to the draft, the conflict is to be frozen in its current form. Russia would have time to rebuild its military. This would give Putin a "considerable breathing space". The Kremlin also declared that Putin was open to a "long-term solution" to the invasion.

Ukraine could not and should not liberate any territory as long as Putin is alive. In addition, Ukraine should be kept out of NATO. The sanctions against Russia should be partially lifted. O'Brien's conclusion: "It is a plan for a Russian victory - especially as long as Putin is still alive."

Military expert Carlo Masala spoke in the "Ronzheimer" podcast of a "lose-lose situation with regard to Ukraine". Trump wants to end the war as quickly as possible in order to be able to withdraw his forces from Europe. "We will have a negotiation over the heads of Ukraine and the Europeans," Masala feared. "We will not be asked whether we agree with the result. We will be confronted with the result and we will have to accept it."

Europe may have to secure peace itself afterwards. "If I were Putin, I would clap my hands. A European force is the best thing that could happen to Putin. That will not stop him from launching a new attack on the rest of Ukraine in a few years or months. That is no deterrent for the Russians," said Masala.

Catfish

02-12-25, 03:47 PM

So Trump wins the war for Russia. What a statesman.
If anything good comes out if this it should be obvious that Europe will have to build up its own kind of military defense, along with own nuclear weapons, and not to rely on the US.
Basially a good idea, but Europe may not have the time before Putin attacks in ten or so years. We have been so dumb.

mapuc

02-12-25, 03:52 PM

You can not say who is wrong here (only thing I know you can not foretell the future), but that Ukraine will go back to 2014 borders is a wrong assumption that Ukraine already not seeking they know it can not be done military. For NATO nobody invited them yet also known by Ukraine only thing they want is a real guarantee not the one like last time. The only parties who can make peace are the ones at war, nobody else, if that is impossible this war will last till one crumbles. What now is published in the media (wars are ended in back rooms not in public) I do not trust, certainly not till there is a real peace deal and Putin and Zelenskyy shakes hands, but that I will not see in my life. Do not either see the need for Ukraine for this peace deal this year.

Don't know if it's propaganda, but a Danish reporter in Kyiv, said that the Ukrainians was tired of the war and that they want peace even if it meant giving away land for it.

Markus

Dargo

02-12-25, 03:58 PM

Also, an assumption by armchair... the majority of Ukraine still do not want to be ruled by Russia Cossacks hate Russians and will resist them till the dead. And good luck to Mr Putin to fight against a guerrilla in Ukraine that will cost him more troops. That stage has not even started, and he already is in big trouble.

Russia's Sakhalin has nowhere to store unsold Russian oilThe global sanctions against Russian oil are harming a variety of Russian projects, but those in the Far East are particularly hard hit. Raw minerals, in particular, are not exported from Sakhalin's coastal fields. They must be stored in tankers, which are now in short supply in the Far East. The vessels that have been drifting off the coast of Sakhalin for at least a week are currently storing about 6.3 million barrels of oil. This corresponds to about two days of total seaborne exports from all Russian ports in normal times (more than 3 million barrels per day).

Meanwhile,

Skybird

02-12-25, 05:07 PM

Don't know if it's propaganda, but a Danish reporter in Kyiv, said that the Ukrainians was tired of the war and that they want peace even if it meant giving away land for it.

Markus
Yes, the mood tipped already 12-18 months ago.

I woud expect that the closer to the front people live or the more often they endured nights with air sirens and aerial bombardement, the more the psychic stress has weakened their mental resistence. And that is just human, they are no superhumans. Not their soldiers, not their civilians.

Skybird

02-12-25, 05:17 PM

Dargo

02-12-25, 05:18 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-m_TGfWUZM

Dargo

02-12-25, 05:29 PM

Dream on, Dargo.

Just for the record, should I maybe conclude from your avatar name that you are ukrainian? I dont know, to me it could be, by the sound of the word, or at least it is a name from the Balkan region?! If so, "you are excused", it would explain your unwillingness to face unpleasurable Ukrainian realities, and if I were in your place, maybe I would react in the same way (considering my advanced age and lack of practical military experience).

But if you are not, I could just scratch my head. What you say is so often a mix of distraction from unwanted truths, imaginative reality denial, and extenuasion.

I certainly stick to what I said in #6177.Sorry to disappoint you, but we are all from Ukraine, Russian steppes but no I am Dutch from the 1600. Have to admit am in contact heavily with Ukraine "we" attack the factories (SCADA) but also with Russian resistance yes it exist I talk with many on I2P, Tor I am the one who started OpRussia and know from both the sources that it is not what you think it is. Signed core Anonymous.

I have been in interrogations with the French and the Spanish state, who both walked away angry because they could not catch me. Rather stop because you have no chance with me, I work for the Ukrainian Secret Service right now. And ask Neal what my creds are, I think I can root this server if Neal still uses the same password he has in the past.

mapuc

02-12-25, 05:51 PM

If the lastest videos are to be believed then Ukraine have gained momentum in Kursk and East Ukraine. Pushing Russia back near Pokrovsk and in Kursk.

Markus

Jeff-Groves

02-12-25, 05:54 PM

Sorry to disappoint you, but we are all from Ukraine, Russian steppes but no I am Dutch from the 1600. Have to admit am in contact heavily with Ukraine "we" attack the factories (SCADA) but also with Russian resistance yes it exist I talk with many on I2P, Tor I am the one who started OpRussia and know from both the sources that it is not what you think it is. Signed core Anonymous.

I have been in interrogations with the French and the Spanish state, who both walked away angry because they could not catch me. Rather stop because you have no chance with me, I work for the Ukrainian Secret Service right now. And ask Neal what my creds are, I think I can root this server if Neal still uses the same password he has in the past.

Sounds like a threat?
:hmmm:

mapuc

02-12-25, 06:00 PM

Dargo

02-12-25, 06:02 PM

Sounds like a threat?
:hmmm:No, all my resources are focused on trying to set fire to Russian factories.

mapuc

02-12-25, 06:09 PM

No, all my resources are focused on trying to set fire to Russian factories.

Hope you are aiming at those who is related to the Russian military.

Markus

Skybird

02-12-25, 06:45 PM

I am surprised he did not list the Tal Shiar as his employer.

August

02-12-25, 07:10 PM

No, all my resources are focused on trying to set fire to Russian factories.

Given the amount of time that you've wasted posting here I find that hard to believe. :03:

Commander Wallace

02-12-25, 07:46 PM

mapuc

02-13-25, 12:04 AM

Here is an expert with an another view on these phone calls between Trump and Putin

https://ekstrabladet-dk.translate.goog/nyheder/Udland/ekspert-det-er-bare-venskabelig-plidder-pladder/10528247?_x_tr_sl=da&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=da&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Markus

Catfish

02-13-25, 02:13 AM

It is *not* pampering and *appeasing* and 'friendly talk' with a dictator like Putin that will really END the war.
If at all this will be a foul compromise, a ceasefire giving Putin the time to build up his military and do it again, then probably involving the baltic states.
Trump will be out in 5 years.

Exocet25fr

02-13-25, 06:11 AM

Ha! Ha! Ha!, this thread turns into ridicule :haha:
Secret agent....LOL!, USI wins for Russia and these permanent victories propagands :har:

Remember!: I said in the past I don't waste my time anymore on this thread! :D

Skybird

02-13-25, 06:47 AM

Paris is in a state of shock.

Berlin finds the American minister's comments “regrettable”.

Zelenskyi's comments can only be interpreted as a desperate attempt to counter his loss of importance.

And the Kremlin is scenting fresh morning air: recent statements echo a demand from 2021 when they say that they now want to talk to Trump about “security in all Europe”. Translated, this means: reversing NATO's eastward expansion and restoring the bloc's borders from 1989. Putin can't believe his luck, which is what he has always worked for: that the Americans are withdrawing from Europe without Russia having to fire a single shot.

I almost want to say: the long faces in the European capitals are worth it. Unfortunately, Europe is facing an imperial Russia naked and largely defenceless. And the Germans in particular are still talking rubbish - and will experience the third year of recession in a row in 2025.

Skybird

02-13-25, 08:20 AM

[Berliner Zeitung] Europe will probably only realise the day after what happened on Wednesday evening. "I think a bomb has exploded for Europe," Markus Reisner told the Berliner Zeitung. The telephone conversation between US President Donald Trump and Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin confronts Ukraine, but also the EU, with facts. "The crisis meetings will begin in the European capitals on Thursday morning at the latest," said the colonel in the Austrian army. Europe as the big loser in an impending deal between Washington and Moscow?

The dynamics that are developing in the Ukraine issue are remarkable. "We have a President Trump who, before he talks to the Europeans or Ukrainians, talks to President Putin and slams the result onto the table for his allies in a cool and power-political manner," said Reisner. The hopes of the European Ukraine allies that Keith Kellogg, the US special envoy for Ukraine, would get the Europeans on board at the Munich Security Conference taking place this weekend have now evaporated.

"The USA has abandoned Ukraine," says Reisner, who has analyzed and assessed the war situation in Ukraine in recent years for the Berliner Zeitung. The battered morale of Ukrainian soldiers, who of course also hear the news of an impending Trump-Putin deal in the trenches in Donbass, will continue to suffer. Even if Reisner assumes that Ukraine will continue to resist Russia, he does not rule out that the front in eastern and southern Ukraine could collapse in view of the current dynamics.

Another key question is whether Europe can compensate for the lack of US aid. "The Europeans must now quickly develop a plan," demands the military expert. The major EU member states have long relied on the United States. The state of the European armies is therefore not in a position to replace the Americans' military support for Kiev. On the one hand, Europe does not have the military-industrial capacities of the USA; on the other hand, lengthy bureaucratic processes are slowing down the modernization of the armies.

Security expert Claudia Major and Lieutenant Colonel Aldo Kleemann from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs write in a publication on the parameters of a possible ceasefire: "The geographical situation is an immense challenge. The border between Ukraine and Russia is around 2300 km long. Added to this are the approximately 1100 km border between Ukraine and Belarus, which is closely linked to Russia. The current front line stretches over around 900 km. Russia currently has around 600,000 soldiers deployed."

Military expert Reisner believes that the Europeans, purely numerically, could support Ukraine sufficiently. But that is only in theory. "But the political will is lacking," says the Austrian, who points out that the EU is divided on key issues relating to Ukraine. While the Baltic states, Poles and Scandinavians are calling for extensive and sustained military support for Ukraine, Hungary and Slovakia are the biggest opponents of such a policy within the EU and NATO.

In the area of military deterrence, Europe cannot keep up with Russia without the USA. "If we now talk about deterrence, then we have to use the weapon system that is the most devastating and most important - and I know that sounds harsh and we don't want to hear it - nuclear weapons," says Reisner. "And here I say clearly that NATO only works because it is essentially supported by the USA. If Washington's nuclear potential disappears, NATO will only have a very limited deterrent capability that is on a par with the Russian arsenal."

For Reisner, something crucial has also happened. "Remember when Barack Obama called Russia a regional power in 2014," says Reisner. Trump, on the other hand, called Putin a "world leader." "The US has effectively revised its position on the fact that it is a regional actor," said the military historian. The US would now negotiate with Russia on an equal footing over the outcome of the Ukraine war. "This is a true paradigm shift, a serious turning point." Especially for European security policy.

Catfish

02-13-25, 09:39 AM

^ with wednesday being over there seems to be a bit of fury brewing here in Germany.

Skybird

02-13-25, 09:44 AM

^ with wednesday being over there seems to be a bit of fury brewing here in Germany.Und das mitten in einer Dunkelflaute...! Schlechtes Timing.

Skybird

02-13-25, 09:50 AM

[FOCUS] Donald Trump is not only throwing Ukraine under the bus. He is also destroying the European post-war order. And within 24 hours, he is burying the rosy dreams of Olaf Scholz and Annalena Baerbock's foreign policy. And now?

The wannabe neo-imperialist Donald Trump is meeting with the real neo-imperialist and aggressive warrior Vladimir Putin to decide the fate of Ukraine in Stone Age Islamic Saudi Arabia.

Welcome to the New World. In which the old world is officially and publicly buried: Order of international law? Can go. Values-based foreign policy? Can go! Self-determination of nations: Can go. America ensures Europe's security - can that go too? It looks like it.

And it is a shock. Trump and Putin are downgrading the Europeans as a whole, with Germany at the top, to court jester status. The reactions? Defiant to helpless. It is a disaster. It changes everything.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in Cottbus, "we must prevent the eternal rearmament." It is a self-satisfied chancellor statement from a fictional parallel universe.

Firstly, who is "we" - does anyone believe that Scholz can prevent or promote anything that is of such strategic importance as a complete reorientation of German and European defense - for years, perhaps decades?

Secondly, the "eternal rearmament" is not over. It is only just beginning. The "turning point" proclaimed by Scholz after Putin's attack on Ukraine may have fizzled out, as the Union says. Maybe it hasn't. But in any case, it is over.

Trump's defense minister praised Poland - but not Germany

The SPD has never wanted to spend two percent of its gross national product on defense, and Scholz has even broken this promise of a turning point.

If the Germans and the Europeans are serious about their defense, two percent is not nearly enough. Trump's Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not even say a word about the Germans. Instead, he praised the Poles - for their five percent.

Five percent of Germany's gross domestic product for Germany's external security, for arming the military, towards what Boris Pistorius called "war readiness." That would mean that we would spend around 130 billion euros on securing Germany against a Russian attack. Instead of a good 50 billion. With a budget of just under 500 billion euros, every fourth euro would have to go to the military.

Then there would be no money left for a lot of other things. Today, Germany spends three times as much money on social issues as it does on defense. If the defense budget has to be increased, the social budget has to be drastically reduced, to an unprecedented extent. This puts social cohesion in Germany at risk. That is the dimension that is now at stake. We could have known it.

From now on, this should at least determine the federal election campaign. If everything changes now, if little is still certain, if the Germans are now facing a "blood, sweat and tears situation", who is the chancellor of the hour?

For the SPD, it is hardly Olaf Scholz. The renowned Eastern European historian Jan Claas Behrends has now stated this about the current incumbent, after months of warnings to the SPD executive board: "At the very end of his term in office, Scholz failed even more epochally than Merkel." And: "The SPD was warned. It wanted to pray the world back to health." Behrends is a social democrat.

The political scientist Thomas Jäger draws this broad line under the Scholz government's entire Ukraine policy: The traffic light coalition "did not live up to the historic challenge of securing European sovereignty."

Jäger, an experienced man, expands this to include criticism of the system: "The problem is how the parties select the top ranks of political personnel. That is suboptimal.”

The alleged “prudence”, the core asset of Scholz’s security doctrine, has now collapsed, judges author and security expert Ulrich Speck. The Chancellor is a “strategic failure”.

The real turning point is now beginning. The SPD has someone in its ranks who would be far more appropriate for the new situation than Scholz: Boris Pistorius would now be the man of the hour for the Social Democrats.

Trump is throwing Ukraine “under the bus”. This is how the respected peace researcher Nicole Deitelhoff analyses it. Looking at the darkest years of the European, German, Russian and Polish past, with a view to Ukraine, she says: “History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes. To me, this US-Putin rhyme sounds like Polish Partition.”

The Hitler-Stalin Pact, with which two totalitarian, bloodthirsty, genocidal rulers divided Poland between themselves in 1939, is returning as a memory. Hitler and Stalin both waged war in Ukraine – Hitler for German “living space”, Stalin then to wipe out the Ukrainian population in the “Holodomor”.

Yalta, when the great powers divided Europe between themselves in 1943. From now on, that is the height of the fall. And thus also the yardstick by which the quality of statesmen (and stateswomen) is measured. And all of this just over a week before a federal election.

From now on, one must not lose sight of the “big picture” in the skirmishes of day-to-day business. This includes the remedy for the traffic light Ukraine policy. Which was supported by the Union – which is now becoming a burden for them too.

Now it is no longer just about Olaf Scholz’s qualities as a statesman. But also about Friedrich Merz. And Robert Habeck. And also Alice Weidel, who has no prospect of becoming Chancellor (nor does Habeck), but has a considerable influence on the mood in Germany.

In a groundbreaking article entitled "Europe needs a Ukraine strategy", which appeared on this day as a special issue of the current Munich Security Conference in "Internationale Politik", the two leading foreign and security strategists Claudia Major and Jana Puglierin also put forward this scenario: If the Americans now make their military engagement in Europe dependent on the Ukraine deal they have agreed with Russia, then the Europeans would agree to this. In my opinion, Baerbock may as much as she likes to put forward her mantra that nothing should be decided over the heads of Ukraine and Europe.

Major and Puglierin are clear-sighted: The Europeans "would hardly question their life insurance to support Ukraine".

"Mourir pour Danzig" was one of the key strategic questions in the 1930s. In a current twist: Die for Kiev? The question seems almost answered. Not by the Europeans, who are at best sitting at the kids' table, not by the Germans, but by the Americans. What a historic turn.

It raises painful questions: Were the Ukrainian deaths in vain? Were the German financial sacrifices in vain? Did the USA - the Biden administration, which is held in high esteem here - wear out Ukraine, even sacrifice it, in a war against Russia that served its interests?

Roderich Kiesewetter, one of the most combative Ukraine supporters, a strategic mind, CDU man, but politically independent, already notes what all this could mean for us: "A lack of German stance and approval of crazy US power politics would in fact reward a war of aggression. What a disaster for the whole of Europe.” And, regarding our security:

“NATO will never again be what it was for us.”

Shearwater

02-13-25, 12:31 PM

Peace for our time.

Exocet25fr

02-13-25, 01:06 PM

The French nuclear arsenal is enough to wipe humanity from earth 15 times.

It's enough....!:03:

Skybird

02-13-25, 02:45 PM

[FAZ] Ukraine says it has now lost two thirds of the territory it occupied in the Russian region of Kursk. His country currently has a "security zone" of 500 square kilometers on Russian territory, Ukrainian Chief of General Staff Olexandr Syrskyj said on Thursday on the online service Facebook. In the course of its offensive, Ukraine said it had previously conquered an area of almost 1,400 square kilometers in Kursk.

Armistead

02-13-25, 05:11 PM

To be fair to Trump, Biden and NATO were totally inept when this war started to provide Ukraine with what they needed. NATO nations bogged themselves down in bureaucracy, arguments, denials of platforms, etc. It was like you had to reach through your arse to scratch your elbow to figure out a way to get a weapons platform delivered the next year. Then what came, came slowly for years. It should've been an all in effort from the start.
When Trump was last in office he was rather prophetic in blasting NATO members for not paying for proper defense. While Euro nations neutered themselves from fossil fuels and nuclear energy in the name of climate change, they imported massive amounts of oil from Russia, enriching Russia and doing nothing for climate change.
Biden and NATO's stupidity got us here. The question is what it would take now for Ukraine to actually win and drive Russia out from all the land they've taken, most of which they're dug in like ticks. Even with a mass effort from NATO, at best it would continue as is, a stalemate at current line for at least another few years. NATO would have to pay out about a trillion during that time, which Euro members don't seem interested in doing so. To win and drive Russia out is another issue. It would take providing a mass of long-range unrestricted platforms to strike deep into Russia at a large scale and NATO would probably have to put boots on the ground in at least a secondary role. Putin then threatens all-out war with nukes possible. Is it just talk, worth the risk?
Blast Trump all you want; Biden and NATO blew it for 4 years and to think now Ukraine can fight and win back all the land they've lost is not likely. The only thing left is the best compromise Trump can get. If Euro thinks they can do all the above and win, then let them do it. They certainly didn't care to win before.

Aktungbby

02-13-25, 05:55 PM

Aktungbby

02-13-25, 06:41 PM

Peace for our time. ...:hmmm:having once recieved an infraction for plagiarism from moderator Sailor Steve myself, you must properly attribute your remark to Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain; which he infamously uttered following his sitdown with Adolf Hitler. It's certainly getting to be 1939 all over again; and Western humanity certainly doesn't heed its own dismal history.:|\\ Given MIT's projected assertion "that civilization will cease in about 2040", our time looks to be under 2 decades left...:oops::dead:

Armistead

02-13-25, 09:44 PM

Armistead!:Kaleun_Salute:...these 6 month 'silent run' hiatusses in the twilight of your years must stop.:k_confused: The Bilge and the State of the Union depend on it. You may have noticed(in 2-daze W.S.J) that X, now owned by Musk, has agreed to pay Trump $10,000,000:timeout: as a settlement for deplatforming him when it was called Twitter...a clear 'conflict of interest' by a toadying sycophant towards his OvalOffice'd lord and master. Gotta run now....there's men in coats and ties aknockin' at my front door; no doubt with a 'Disloyalty to the new Regime' warrant in hand.... :oops::nope::/\\chop

This ole boat and its crew have been stranded here so long I think we've formed a coral reef. I decided to do something useful and get a wire brush and attack the layers of rust on the coffee pot and turned out to be Red October's head. I heard on the radio that Biden spent 20 million to study transgender tadpoles in Taiwan, so i sent him a letter if he really was serious about studying sexual issues, they should check out what's going on in the aft torpedo room, then Trump gets elected, so I don't expect any funds. For the first time in 30 years or so I actually didn't vote for a president. I don't have the answers, just stay prepared to go off grid in the hills. If you ever need a place to hide, get in touch. No one around here has worn a suit since the Yankee invasion, so we can see em coming.

Aktungbby

02-13-25, 10:25 PM

For the first time in 30 years or so I actually didn't vote for a president. I don't have the answers, just stay prepared to go off grid in the hills. If you ever need a place to hide, get in touch. No one around here has worn a suit since the Yankee invasion, so we can see em coming.That shines!(HotDamn! in N.Carolinese) I didn't vote for the president either as both choices were not to my liking; If I gotta hide, I'll be in my ol' 14th Tennessee gray gear with .58 caliber Enfield in hand; hopefully your Helena washedout cabin will be restored...:Kaleun_Salivating:

Reece

02-14-25, 01:17 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVqgQy9EDNo

Skybird

02-14-25, 06:19 AM

[FOCUS] After Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone, high-ranking delegations from the USA and Russia are to negotiate a possible ceasefire in Ukraine. Political scientist Joachim Krause examines the opportunities and risks of these talks. He fears a dangerous situation if Trump loses his desire for peace.

There is currently great uncertainty about what has been agreed between the American president and his Russian counterpart. Some see the Western front of rejection of Putin broken and Ukraine marginalized, others hope that there will be a diplomatic breakthrough that will finally end the war in Ukraine.

After all, Trump is the first Western politician to have managed to open such a dialogue with Putin since 2022. This has something to do with the fact that the American president is more powerful than all Europeans. But also with the fact that Russia's ability to end this war with a victory is clearly not sufficient. The Russian media, which are close to the Kremlin, have been speculating for some time about whether the current front line could be considered a "victory".

The first question that comes to mind is: Can something good come out of this for Ukraine? That could be the case, but there is no guarantee. Donald Trump is unpredictable and easily impressed by flattery. Today he says this, tomorrow that, depending on who he last spoke to. No one can predict what Trump will end up doing.

What solutions (short-term and long-term) can we imagine? So far, the starting point has been a paper that Trump's special representative for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, wrote in April last year. But Kellogg is not a member of the negotiating delegation. Therefore, one must assume that everything is open again. The USA is not proceeding without consultations with the government in Kiev and is coordinating its approach with Zelensky. But no one knows how long that will last.

What could the path to peace look like? According to everything that has been heard from the Trump administration so far, there should be a ceasefire along the existing front lines. This is realistic given the fact that Ukraine is not in a position to drive out the Russian attackers and given the fact that no Western European state would be prepared to take on this task, least of all Germany.

The next step would be to determine how this ceasefire can be verified and secured. There is only one lesson to be learned from the Minsk agreements of ten years ago: ceasefires agreed with Moscow are worthless if the OSCE is tasked with monitoring them. So an effective force must be deployed, and that can only be NATO.

Putin will reject this with all his might. This could cause the plan to fail. Then it will depend on whether Trump has the leverage he can use to force Putin to give in. The economic sanctions against Russia have largely been exhausted, so there is little that can be done there. Putin would not be impressed by tariffs either.

At most, Trump could threaten that NATO would block access to the Baltic Sea for Russian oil tankers. This would violate international law, but should not be ruled out. It would hit Putin hard. As a sweetener, one could then suggest that Chinese troops on the Russian side be allowed to monitor that the Ukrainians adhere to the ceasefire.

If Trump's delegation does not succeed with these proposals, Trump has two options: One is to withdraw and leave the problem to the Europeans. The other option is to agree on a rotten compromise with Putin, which will be about as dirty as the Minsk agreements, for which Angela Merkel and Frank-Walter Steinmeier were responsible on the German side.

Let's assume that Trump succeeds in convincing Vladimir Putin that there is a ceasefire monitored by international (mostly NATO) troops. What then follows? The Kellogg Plan stated that Ukraine should obtain the return of the occupied territories as part of a political process in which the Western states would support Ukraine.

This would mean that the sanctions would only be lifted piece by piece when Russia voluntarily withdraws from the territories it has occupied since 2022. This was the most constructive part of this plan. It is unclear whether the Trump administration will pursue this idea further. Putin will probably reject the request and demand the lifting of sanctions as the price for an internationally monitored ceasefire.

It cannot be ruled out that Trump will agree to this, or at least agree to lift major sanctions (which, however, requires the consent of the Europeans). This would mean that the option of peacefully regaining occupied territory would be off the table.

Ukraine would then be in a situation where around 20 percent of its territory is occupied and annexed by Russia. Ukraine would thus remain viable and could be rebuilt with Western help. But how can its security be guaranteed? Statements by members of the Trump administration have made it clear that NATO membership is out of the question for the time being. It is regrettable that Defense Minister Pete Hegseth has said this publicly and so clearly, because it would deprive them of a decisive negotiating advantage.

The Russian side has stressed that Ukraine must significantly disarm so that it does not pose a military challenge to Russia. A possible compromise would be that Ukraine does not belong to NATO, but becomes militarily strong enough to fend off renewed Russian aggression. That would be the "Israel option" that the then Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had unsuccessfully proposed to Putin in 2022. Together with Western troops on Ukrainian territory, this could work. It could, because there is still the problem of nuclear weapons, which Russia has but not Ukraine.

What does all this mean for the Europeans and the Western alliance? On the one hand, it is good that things are moving, and on the other hand, Europeans' trust in the Trump administration is so low that pessimistic assessments predominate. For the German government, as well as the other allies and Europeans, it is important to be prepared for developments that require rapid action.

We must expect that Trump will very quickly lose his desire for peace and leave the matter to the Europeans. Frankly, we are not prepared for that. We must also expect that Trump will demand an end to sanctions. We Europeans have a significant say in this, which we must use - provided we agree. And thirdly, we must be prepared to put together a force to monitor a ceasefire. And this cannot just be a passive monitoring mandate, but must also include the ability to intervene on the ground if necessary. The debates on this in the German Bundestag will certainly be very controversial.
--------------------

One thing should have become very clear to Europeans this week, namely how completely alone and helpless they actually are on the world stage, and this in a week in which the EU has just received mass rejections from all over the world about bowing to its claim to leadership in documenting supply chains outside Europe and even without the EU's involvement in international deals - what presumption! The almost brutal coolness of the statements by Vance and Hegseth left no doubt about this. I find it refreshing, and much needed.

In my opinion, stationing European troops in Ukraine on a scale that makes these troops "robust" carries a risk, which is that we are talking about a significant accumulation of scarce personnel reserves in this area - which will enshrine the unavailability of these troops in other parts of Europe, namely the Baltic states. Furthermore, Europe is in no way prepared for a tough armed conflict with Russia, and will not be for many years, if ever. One should not hope to be able to return to old constellations with the USA after the four years of Trump that are coming up. American vice presidents have a surprisingly frequent habit of being elected as successor presidents.

Finally, having European troops in Ukraine has the advantage for Putin of being able to test and shake up European solidarity and cohesion at any time by carrying out low-threshold military provocations. And the EU states are already now not in agreement about Ukraine.

Dargo

02-14-25, 11:25 AM

Ukraine has received more than 80 billion euros in Western aid every year since the Russian invasion, the German Kiel Institute calculated. ‘More of a small political hobby project than a major financial effort,’ the researchers find. Eastern European and Scandinavian countries have supported Ukraine the most since the Russian invasion three years ago. Calculated by the size of their economies, these countries gave more than twice as much as Germany, the UK and the US. Among Western European countries, the Netherlands gave the most to Ukraine.

This is according to the Ukraine Support Tracker (https://www.ifw-kiel.de/topics/war-against-ukraine/ukraine-support-tracker/) by the German Kiel Institute, an updated version of which was published on Friday. In total, Europe gave 62 billion euros in military aid in three years, and 70 billion euros in financial and humanitarian aid. The US gave €64 billion in military aid and €50 billion in financial and humanitarian aid. With pledges made, Europe is far ahead of the US: the sums involved are 115 billion from Europe against 5 billion from the US. Whether this amount will remain so is unclear, especially given President Trump's announcement this week that he will negotiate with Russian President Putin over Ukraine. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday night that he assumes future US aid will be part of those negotiations. The US role declined in 2023 as the flow of aid was blocked for nine months by opposition from the US Congress. US aid increased again in recent months, but the Kiel Institute expects military aid to stagnate again with the return of President Trump.

The Kiel Institute considers the West's contribution to Ukraine low in historical perspective, compared to previous wars and crises. ‘If you look at the budgets of most European donor countries, aid to Ukraine over the past three years looks more like a small political hobby project than a major financial effort,’ said Christoph Trebesch, head of the financial research department at the Kiel Institute. In Friday's report, the researchers wrote: ‘In most Western countries, there are questionable subsidy programmes, for example for company cars or diesel fuel, which cost much larger amounts of taxpayers’ money annually than what has been mobilised for Ukraine.’

No big surprise from the survey is that Western aid is increasingly being spent on arms. In the early stages of the war, military aid to Ukraine came mainly from existing arsenals of donor countries, the report states, but these have since been depleted. Today, the vast majority of military aid consists of newly produced weapons from the Western defence industry, with a small but growing role for multilateral arms procurement initiatives. The Netherlands also ranks high on the lists compiled by the Kiel Institute on concrete arms deliveries. From the Netherlands, for instance, 104 tanks, 269 armoured vehicles and 23 howitzers went to Ukraine. https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/02/14/europa-begint-ver-uit-te-lopen-op-vs-met-hulp-aan-oekraine-met-oost-europa-en-scandinavie-voorop-a4883150

Russians detonate drone at Chernobyl nuclear plant, but otherwise make little progressRussia detonated a drone carrying explosives on the protective cover of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The attack, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, shows that the Kremlin is not out for peace in Ukraine. The Russian drone drilled a hole in the outer layer of the sarcophagus, covering two hundred tonnes of radioactive material on Friday. The impact caused a fire and damaged equipment, but there is no evidence of increased radiation levels, Ukrainian authorities report.

The attack on the site of the biggest nuclear accident in history proves that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ‘absolutely unprepared for negotiations’, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday. Zelenskyy warned government leaders that Putin is only using the American-initiated peace negotiations to mislead the world that Russia intends to end the war. ‘Putin's only goal is for Ukraine to cease to exist,’ Zelenskyy said earlier this week. The drone attack on the nuclear reactor was part of a new, large-scale Russian air strike on Ukraine. Russia fired 133 drones at Ukraine cities during the night from Thursday to Friday, Kyiv reported.

However, Ukraine is increasingly successful in repelling the airstrikes. It reportedly managed to shoot down 131 of 133 drones or knock them off course with jamming equipment. Ukraine is also holding up better on the battlefield against the relentless Russian rush than in the final months of 2024, during which Ukraine was losing territory at an increasingly rapid rate. The speed of Russian area conquests is slowing down in recent weeks. At the same time, the Russian army continues to suffer very heavy losses: it is losing about a thousand soldiers every day, according to Western estimates. The main Russian advance in Ukraine - that towards the eastern city of Pokrovsk - is slowing down. Russia has been sacrificing large numbers of soldiers for months to break the Ukrainian defence lines around the city. Now that a frontal attack on the city has failed, the Russian army is trying to encircle it.

But that attempt is also proceeding slowly. On Thursday, the Russian army did not make any ground gains towards Pokrovsk, the military think tank ISW reported. Ukraine has been particularly successful in deploying homemade drones, according to ISW. ‘The Russians have multiple problems at the same time and have suffered significant losses for months,’ writes military analyst Emil Kastehelmi of Finnish research group Black Bird. ‘The offensive has to slow down at some point, and we may see that happening now.’ Russia also failed to drive the Ukrainian army out of Russia's Kursk province, despite heavy attacks. A Russian commander in Kursk spoke to the US newspaper The New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/world/europe/kursk-russia-war-ukraine.html), which rarely reported on the Russian side of the front, of ‘the most brutal fighting’ he had seen in the war.

Despite this, Ukraine has so far failed to stabilise the front line. According to Ukraine, Russia is now on the attack with 800 thousand troops and still has the momentum, according to analysts. In some places along the 1,200-kilometre-long front, Russia occupied some small villages again this week. The best news the Russian state news agency Tass could report to the population on Friday was the capture of the eastern Ukrainian villages of Datshne (population 1,600) and Zelene Pole (population 500). https://www.volkskrant.nl/buitenland/rusland-schiet-drone-op-sarcofaag-tsjernobyl~b1ca6606/

Jimbuna

02-14-25, 11:50 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjJSxx5UvSY

Jimbuna

02-14-25, 11:57 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGneLVJ5LFA

Shearwater

02-14-25, 01:11 PM

One thing should have become very clear to Europeans this week, namely how completely alone and helpless they actually are on the world stage, and this in a week in which the EU has just received mass rejections from all over the world about bowing to its claim to leadership in documenting supply chains outside Europe and even without the EU's involvement in international deals - what presumption! The almost brutal coolness of the statements by Vance and Hegseth left no doubt about this. I find it refreshing, and much needed.

In my opinion, stationing European troops in Ukraine on a scale that makes these troops "robust" carries a risk, which is that we are talking about a significant accumulation of scarce personnel reserves in this area - which will enshrine the unavailability of these troops in other parts of Europe, namely the Baltic states. Furthermore, Europe is in no way prepared for a tough armed conflict with Russia, and will not be for many years, if ever. One should not hope to be able to return to old constellations with the USA after the four years of Trump that are coming up. American vice presidents have a surprisingly frequent habit of being elected as successor presidents.

Finally, having European troops in Ukraine has the advantage for Putin of being able to test and shake up European solidarity and cohesion at any time by carrying out low-threshold military provocations. And the EU states are already now not in agreement about Ukraine.

Europe claims a leadership on the world stage for itself, but has been unwilling for decades to invest in its military. It's very simple - military power is a prerequisite for political power. It's something Europe has been loath to admit. For decades, and especially after the end of the Cold War, Europe has profited from American security and at the same time decried American militarism - sometimes they were right about it, but generally speaking quite hypocritical.

Trump hasn't been very smart about the way he made this clear to the Europeans, but he does have a point.

Dargo

02-14-25, 01:15 PM

China says Europeans must have role in Ukraine talksChina’s foreign minister welcomed talks between the US and Russia to resolve the Ukraine war, but said Europeans must be included. “China would love to see all its efforts to produce peace, especially if the US gets to a common understanding with Russia,” Wang Yi said, adding: “This war is happening on European soil. Europe should play an important role in the process.” Asked whether China could apply more pressure on Russia by cutting gas imports, Wang said Beijing should put the interests of its own people first. “If China does not buy gas from Russia, from which other country could it buy so much gas?” Wang said. “We must be responsible for our people.”

Zelenskyy refuses to meet Putin until he has a ‘common plan’ with TrumpPresident Volodymyr Zelenskyy has refused to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin until he has a “common plan” with Donald Trump for ending Russia’s war against Ukraine. “I will not meet with Russians,” Zelenskyy said at the Munich Security Conference. “I don’t know whether they are happy or not happy with this. But it is not in my plan.” “I will only meet with one Russian guy, Putin, only after we have a common plan with Trump. And we will sit with Putin to stop the war.” https://www.ft.com/content/3af08b74-9432-4183-8e95-a1dc7dd16bbb

And the next appeaser is?
https://i.ibb.co/FbVtwYfW/appease1938-2025.jpg (https://ibb.co/gMVCTWX7)I will not repeat the Munich conspiracy. A peace agreement cannot be signed in Munich. Because we remember what things were signed here.

Jimbuna

02-14-25, 01:21 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bix4nTSs7g

Jimbuna

02-14-25, 01:24 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwRCi7E5CMc

Dargo

02-14-25, 01:38 PM

Combat losses and manpower challenges underscore the importance of ‘mass’ in UkraineUkrainian forces managed to blunt Russian territorial advances and inflict significant casualties and material losses in 2024, even with ammunition shortages and a deficit in infantry. However, Ukraine will need continued Western support and better manpower-management to avoid further battlefield setbacks. While 2024 was a difficult year for Ukraine on the battlefield, its armed forces have managed to limit Russian territorial advances and inflict significant losses. These outcomes, achieved despite Ukraine’s acute shortage of ammunition in the first half of 2024 and manpower difficulties, show that Russia’s successes on the battlefield are certainly not decisive.
...
Like equipment losses, it is difficult to know the exact number of Russian casualties. However, as of early January 2025, the IISS estimates that a minimum of 172,000 Russian troops have been killed and 611,000 wounded, of which at least 376,000 are severely wounded (disabled), with up to an accumulated 235,000 wounded but recoverable. Russian recruitment, including the forced mobilisation in occupied Donbas, the mobilisation in 2022, and recruiting from the prison system, has generated approximately 976,000 personnel for the war effort. Up to 617,000 – including those recoverable wounded and those undergoing training – are therefore estimated by the IISS to be deployed in or near Ukraine as of late December 2024.
...
The bottom line
While Russian forces are likely to degrade in the coming months, they have been sufficiently reconstituted and adapted to sustain offensive operations for at least another year; this would, however, come at a very high cost of equipment and casualties. The situation is not as dire for Ukraine as it was in early 2024, but it will still rely on Western support and improving its manpower-management to avoid further setbacks on the battlefield.

*Current numbers in The Military Balance 2025, also accounts for equipment deployed, in reserve, used for training, in maintenance and undergoing repairs. https://www.iiss.org/online-analysis/military-balance/2025/02/combat-losses-and-manpower-challenges-underscore-the-importance-of-mass-in-ukraine/

Jimbuna

02-14-25, 01:44 PM

Zelenskyy: I don’t plan to meet with any Russians except Putin, but only after plan with Trump is approved

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that he does not plan to meet "any Russians" except for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

He said this during his participation in the panel "Strategic Investments: The Future of Ukrainian-American Security Cooperation" at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, February 14, Interfax-Ukraine writes, Censor.NET reports.

At the same time, the head of state emphasized that he would meet with the Kremlin leader only after a joint plan with US President Donald Trump is prepared.

"I will not meet with the Russians. I don't know whether they will like it or not... I will only meet with Putin. Only after we prepare a general plan with Trump. And after Putin ends the war. Only then will I meet. There will be no other platforms with compromises," the president said. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3535879

US never wanted us to be in NATO – Zelenskyy

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that the US position on denying Ukraine NATO membership, starting with the Biden administration, is the main obstacle to Ukraine's accession to the Alliance, but believes that the situation may change under Trump.

The senator said this during the Munich Security Conference, Censor.NET reports.

"To be honest, the United States has never wanted us to be in NATO. They said something, but they did not want to see us in NATO... I have heard (this refusal) many times from the Biden administration, now from Trump," Zelenskyy emphasized.

He recalls that when he first spoke to President Biden, his first question was about Ukraine joining NATO, to which Biden said no.

"When I first spoke to President Biden on the phone, my first question was whether we would be in NATO. He said no. I then replied, "We'll see," Zelenskyy said.

He noted that although there is support for Ukraine's membership in NATO at the level of ordinary citizens and some politicians in the United States, this position remained unchanged at the level of leaders.

Despite this, the President of Ukraine expressed hope for changes in this policy: "This does not mean that we cannot change it. Now Ukraine can strengthen NATO. And I believe that this is in the interests of Ukraine and in the interests of NATO." Source: https://censor.net/en/n3535866

Jimbuna

02-14-25, 01:51 PM

Putin will lose if we sign minerals deal, as Trump will defend it – Senator Graham

US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham believes that the Russian-Ukrainian war will end when Ukraine and the US sign a partnership agreement that provides for the extraction of Ukrainian rare earth minerals. If there are American business interests in Ukraine, President Donald Trump will defend this agreement.

This was stated by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham on Friday, February 14, during the Munich Security Conference, Censor.NET reports.

"Putin doesn't understand what will happen if we sign this minerals deal, Putin will lose because Trump will defend the deal," the US senator said.

He said that such a deal would be the best option for Ukraine, as the head of the White House would defend the interests of the United States and make every effort to end the war.

Graham also said that Trump was going to end the war in a way that would make it impossible for Russia to invade Ukraine in the future.

In addition, the U.S. lawmaker said that the U.S. president is not going to act hastily in Ukraine, as the United States did in Afghanistan.

"How do you contain Putin? Just arm this guy (President Zelenskyy - ed.) to the teeth. Yes, give him a whole lot of F-16s, not just a few planes. Give him ATACMS, give him tanks, and they will fight," Graham concluded.

Earlier, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the agreement on rare earth metals between Kyiv and Washington could leave Ukraine with a "security shield" after the war with Russia ends. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3535884

Dargo

02-14-25, 02:17 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9xQfjfhpcE

Jimbuna

02-14-25, 02:26 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgjvuEHZhkM

mapuc

02-14-25, 03:00 PM

If Trump and Putin makes a deal without Ukraine taking part-Would this give country like China a carte blanche to attack Taiwan ?

Markus

Dargo

02-14-25, 03:12 PM

Trump and Putin can make any deal but Ukraine Rada will never accept it this never gone to happen.

Dargo

02-14-25, 03:13 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqdtHl9koIQ

Skybird

02-14-25, 04:46 PM

Those in power do not care anymore for what Zelenskyi wants. And the EUpeans definetly are not in any power at all. Thats why everybody now shows them their place - at the side table. Von der Leyen'S narcissism and attention craving changes nothing in that, nor does anyone care for the offended ego of the Germans.

I do not agree with all Vance said, I think some of the descriptions about the AfD and the situation in Europe and Germany is too shallow. But in general I welcome the external shockwaves hitting the EU and Germany in special, for they really shake Europpe and Germ,any in their very fundaments. And I can only say: about time for that, very high time.

Scholz babbled about a Zeitenwende three yeras ago, and then forgot it and betrayed the idea he intiially outlined. Neverthelss, a Zeitenwende now is here. Its just of a nature that the political patriarchs find most unpleasing and that ruins their sleep. Good so! More of this, please!

Whether Trumps recipes really will all work well for Americans, as he claims, remains to be seen. It could maybe become as expensive for them as it becomes expensive for all others.

I feel like that just everything is better than just an unchallanged continuation of the typical European and german left-green-woke-red-gender-climate-regulation madness that now haunts us all over here. Its all madness, just madness. It must be brought to an end, and I dont care anymore how.

What Ukraine has to do with this? Well, nothing. Get used to the new world order and the return of Realpolitik. It may prove to be quite healthy. Not pleasant, but healthy: a bitter medicine.

In early 2023 or so I said that continuing the war with this sort of unsufficient support is useless and just extends the killing. I did not imply that Iwnated to see Ukrian e loosing, I wanted to see support beignfiundamentyll drmaaticlaly beefed up. Col., Reisner since years says the same: the way we supprt them now, it makes no sense, he repeatedly said, it just extends the war, for nothing. Either do it right, or do not even care to get engaged. What we did, is clear. The result is accordingly. That too is Realpolitik.

mapuc

02-14-25, 05:20 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWLqSk4ZlN0&ab_channel=AndersPuckNielsen

Markus

Dargo

02-14-25, 05:35 PM

:agree:

Skybird

02-14-25, 06:05 PM

Trump's plan is such that the Europeans and Ukraine do not like it and what it means. That should not be mistaken with that Trump has no plan. He has. Its short, clear, and very uncomplicated.

The Europeans bluffed. And now their bluff gets called.

And "not working"? Serious? If Trump loses interest in Ukraine and just turns away and leaves it to itself - there is nothing Europe and Ukraine could do about it.

The too little too late approach of unsufficient support by Europe and the Biden government - achieved nothing than to drive up the price for Russia. In this way, the war gets just extended without gaining the chance to win it. Already in 2023 I said I was against continuing the war in this way. I did not mean to give up - I meant to dramatically drive up support. What did not happen and was rejected to do.

Colonel Reisner since very early said the same: in the way the aid was done, the Ukraine could not made winning the war. Such "aid" just extended the war and drove up the numbers of killed people and annihilated cities. Then it would have been better to just let it be and give it up. The extending of the killing while not doing what is needed to win, is just a waste of lives.

Do it right - or dont care to even get engaged.

Right now, Russia produces more military goods than all Europe together. And Europe lacks behind dramatically, already now. So how does one think one can catch up and close the gap in military strengths and capabilities when the aggressor increases his lead ever more...?

Especially the Germans totally refuse to realise this. They would need to raise their defense spending from 50 bn to 120-130 bn per year, say experts. The Americans say it anyway.

Skybird

02-14-25, 06:12 PM

[FOCUS] While US Vice President J. D. Vance remains silent on NATO and Ukraine, he gives Germany and Europe a resounding slap in the face in his speech at the security conference in Munich. A declaration of war, according to FOCUS-online chief correspondent Ulrich Reitz.

With his appearance at the Munich Security Conference, US Vice President J. D. Vance ushered in a new era. Instead of talking about security issues, peace efforts in Ukraine or necessary defense spending, Trump's vice president mercilessly took Germany and Europe to task. The tenor: It is not Russia or China that pose a threat to us, but ourselves. Europe is moving away from the liberal values that it has associated with the USA for so long.

Vance's speech was a "declaration of war on everything that the left in Germany holds dear. It was an anti-woke speech and will have profound consequences," said FOCUS-online editor-in-chief Ulrich Reitz. The vice president's only message was that Germany and Europe had forgotten what freedom means in a democracy.

"Basically, Vance explained why Donald Trump thinks the same about Europe as Vladimir Putin. Namely, that we are a left-wing, green, filthy event and have long since forgotten to stand up for our values, our freedom and our people. It was a culture war-like confrontation with a parallel universe."

Vance criticized illegal migration and asked whether Europe even knew who its population was anymore. And he condemned what he believed to be dwindling freedom of expression and the exclusion of people who hold uncomfortable opinions.

The scolding was combined with a "tangible threat based on the understanding of freedom," Reitz continued. The question was not: How much money do the Americans spend on defense? "The central sentence was: If you are afraid of your own voters, then the Americans can't do anything for you."

In plain language, that means: If Germany and Europe do not move towards the USA's understanding of freedom, they cannot count on their support. "That is a real shock."

Reitz is certain that Vance will not only receive applause from the AfD. "I think he has really hit on a point that is really on the minds of the non-woke part of the population, the bourgeois-conservative-liberal part. He has given them a voice."

Reitz therefore predicts an "uprising of the left in the coming days: that is, the SPD, the Greens, the Left Party, actors, directors, authors. "We will see them try to play it down." But that will not work, because the USA remains Germany's most important ally even under Trump.

But why did Trump's vice president not speak in Munich about concrete peace plans in Ukraine? About dealing with Russia? About NATO? "He gave the Europeans the finger," Reitz continued. Vance's silence therefore means that the USA alone decides on these things. No one else.

Reece

02-15-25, 03:35 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt4lN-ZjSsQ

Bilge_Rat

02-15-25, 09:03 AM

what people do not seem to realize is that is does not matter what Zelensky wants. All of Ukraine, military, economy, government is being propped up by the US, not just the direct military aid, but spending by other agencies and international organizations like the IMF.

If Trump shuts off the money flow, Ukraine will collapse in short order unless the EU decides to pour in Billions of Euros to compensate.

But then that brings us back to the same basic question since the beginning of the war, namely what is the aim of the West in this war? The basic strategy so far as been hope: hope that the sanctions would cause the Russian economy and/or government to collapse; hope that the Ukrainian military would win on its own. That strategy is a failure.

If Europe really wants Ukraine to win, it would have to intervene militarily on a large scale, including ground troops and go to war with Russia, hoping it does not turn into a nuclear conflict.

Is Europe willing to take that step? If not, why continue to prolong this war?

Despite what our “leaders” are saying in public, no one believes Russia is planning to invade Europe.

Skybird

02-15-25, 09:36 AM

^ That give me an opportunity to repeat once again one of my most favourite quotes by General Sharon: "Hope is no strategy."

With one thing you are wrogn, I think. There are Europeans and European politicians who take the risk of a Russian attack on NATO very serious. Amongst them the three small Baltic states, Poland, probably also Finland, Sweden. The so-called front states, so to speak. And I think their arguments and reasons are convincing. Putin calls the collapse of the USSR the "biggest desaster in moden history" (his words), and since twenty years he never has hidden that he wants to re-establish the borders and the order of political spheres of influence as they were in the cold war. Many did not believe he would attack Ukraine. He did. He has committed acts or terrorist mass murder against his own people to stage excuses to reattack Chechnya, and attack Georgia.

Be careful to assume Russia would not attack again in the future. Their military production is bigger than the whole military production of all Europe. Europe is not closing the gap - Europe falls more and more behind.

More European states need nuclear weapons. Poland. Finland, Germany, Italy. It must be individual states, not the EU - too many cooks spoil the soup. Europeans must aim at becoming the dominant actor in NATO, not the US, to take over the role of the US in NATO. That is a long term project, but it makes no sense to assume when we were unwilling or unable to finance NATO as it is now, then we would be able to bring up the money for parrallel double military structures in form of an EU army additional to NATO where leaders from 30 countries would share command. There is a military structure. Its NATO. The problem is that Europe let America dominate in it. This must change, and dramatically, and tisi cannot be done by endless talking and political claim to power, but by drastically increase European military ability and weight in NATO. DRASTICALLY. In principle, Europe must in the long term take over NATO and by that making US membership optional, but not decisive anymore.

I doubt they will do it. I see both a lack of ability and a lack of willingness.

Jimbuna

02-15-25, 09:49 AM

Ceasefire and long-term peace agreement will not be remarkable success, - Kellogg on war in Ukraine

The United States does not intend to repeat the mistakes made during the Minsk negotiation process.

This was stated by Trump's special representative for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, at the Munich Security Conference, Censor.NET reports citing RBC-Ukraine.

He explained that the problem with Minsk-2 was that many people who were at the negotiating table did not have the opportunity to join the peace process.

"I am honestly telling you what will happen. We looked at the problem of Minsk-2. There were a lot of people at the table and they had no opportunity to join the peace process - it was not successful. We will not repeat Minsk," Kellogg said.

He emphasized that the new agreement will not be "Minsk-2". According to Kellogg, the definition of success will be when the ceasefire is violated for the first time and how all parties react.

"We need to make sure that Ukraine's security is about achieving the right goals. It will not be Minsk-2. It will be a stable long-term peace, an environment we can work with. A ceasefire and a long-term peace agreement will not be a remarkable success. The definition of success will be the first time the ceasefire is violated and how all sides respond," said Trump's special envoy. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3535992

Jimbuna

02-15-25, 09:53 AM

I will not take issue of Ukraine’s membership in NATO off table - Zelenskyy

Ukraine will never give up its membership in NATO.

This was stated today during a speech at the Munich Security Conference by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Censor.NET reports.

"I don't believe in security guarantees without America. It will be weak. America will not provide guarantees if European guarantees are not strong. I will also not take Ukraine's membership in NATO off the table," he stressed.

However, according to Zelenskyy, Putin's whims have the power to block NATO's decision.

"Our people and our army are stopping Putin. Putin lost 250,000 soldiers, more than 600,000 were wounded. We have completely destroyed the North Korean troops that Putin sent to the Kursk region. And for 6 months now, we have been staying on the territory of the Russian Federation, even though it was the Russian Federation that wanted to create a buffer zone," he added.

He also asked European leaders whether their armies would be able to fight in the same way in the event of a Russian attack. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3535962

Trump: Vance’s speech in Munich was great

The speech by US Vice President J.D. Vance at the Munich Security Conference was excellent.

This opinion was expressed by US President Donald Trump in an interview with CNN, Censor.NET reports citing UP.

Speaking about Vance's speech in Munich, Trump said he thought it was "excellent."

He is also convinced that the US Vice President's words were "well received."

"And I think it's true that Europe is losing its wonderful right to free speech," Trump said.

He later added that Europe "has to be careful" and said that the continent "has a big immigration problem."

In his speech at the Munich conference, Vance focused on criticizing European partners.

In particular, Vance said that the biggest concern of the Trump administration regarding the security situation in Europe is not external enemies, but the situation with democracy in the EU. Europe must step up to ensure its own defense.

As reported, Vance said that journalists "twisted" his words about the possibility of sending US troops to Ukraine. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3535990