Here we go again-Ukraine once again pt2

[Jimbuna]

More than 60 tankers with Russian oil drop anchor after US imposes new sanctions - Reuters

At least 65 oil tankers are drifting off the coasts of China, Russia, Singapore and the Far East after the United States announced a new package of sanctions on January 10.

This is reported by Reuters with reference to ship tracking data, Censor.NET reports.

According to Reuters' analysis based on MarineTraffic and LSEG data, five of the tankers were near Chinese ports, while seven more anchored off Singapore and the rest stopped near Russia in the Baltic Sea and the Far East.

"On Friday(January 10 - ed.), the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions against Russian oil companies Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegaz, as well as 183 ships carrying Russian oil, as it targets the revenue Moscow used to finance its war with Ukraine," the agency writes.

Stopping the trade in these tankers increases pressure on ships that have already suffered from previous US sanctions, as 25 oil tankers have already been idle in various places, including near Iranian ports and near the Suez Canal, according to an analysis of ship tracking.

It is noted that some ports had taken a number of measures even before the imposition of US sanctions on January 10. Thus, last week, traders said that Shandong Port Group had banned tankers under US sanctions from entering its ports.

Analysts estimate that about 10% of the world's oil tanker fleet is under US sanctions.

On January 10, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced new sanctions against the "shadow" tanker fleet, which allows Russia to export oil bypassing restrictions imposed by the G7 countries. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3530249

[Dargo]

More than 100 brigades on battlefield, each needs additional equipment

More than 100 brigades are currently deployed on the battlefield and each of them requires additional equipment before the number of personnel is increased, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Tuesday. "We have heard the signals regarding the age of our servicemen, the draft age and so on many times. [Â…] From both the former [U.S.] administration and NATO representatives. [Â…] I will not give you the exact figure, because this is dangerous, but we have more than 100 brigades deployed on the battlefield and each of these brigades needs additional equipment every day," he told reporters ahead of a meeting with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius in Kyiv.

According to an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent, the head of state also pointed out that a large number of brigades "constantly need to repair something" and that is why there is always a lack of some equipment. "Th

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[Jimbuna]

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[Dargo]

[Dargo]

Ukrainian armed forces currently number 880,000 troops

Zelenskyy also said that Ukrainian forces face 600,000 Russian troops, who maintain numerical advantages in specific areas due to concentrated deployments. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed that Ukraine’s military currently consists of 880,000 service members defending the entire country, while facing approximately 600,000 Russian troops on Ukrainian territory. Speaking at a joint press conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Kyiv on 15 January, Zelenskyy provided insight into the military balance between Ukrainian and Russian forces, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

“Currently, there are 600,000 members of the Russian contingent on our territory. As for the Ukrainian army, it stands at 880,000 [personnel] today,” Zelenskyy stated. “However, our 880,000 are defending the entire territory. Russian forces are concentrated in several directions, giving them numerical advantages in some areas.” About 33-34% of the weapons currently in Ukraine are domestically produced.

https://euromaidanpress.com/2025/01/...880000-troops/

Originally Posted by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Sybiiha

Ukraine will not engage in direct negotiations with Putin: the ban remains in effect Ukraine will not make concessions on the issue of the right to join NATO during the upcoming negotiations on ending the war. The only effective guarantee for Ukraine is NATO membership. Moreover, Ukraine's membership is a guarantee of NATO's security itself.

[Jimbuna]

NATO must prepare for war. It’s time to think like wartime - Rutte

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called on members of the North Atlantic Alliance to prepare for a war with Russia, which could be in 4-5 years, and to strengthen support for Ukraine.

He said this during a session of the NATO Military Committee in Brussels on January 15, Censor.NET reports citing Voice of America.

"We need to support Ukraine more to change the trajectory of the war, we all want it to end, but above all we want peace to last," the official said.

"We are safe only today, but four or five years will pass, and if we do nothing, we will not be safe anymore. So finish your 'Christian language courses' or go to New Zealand... And this debate needs to be concluded within three to four months in order to stay safe in this part of the world and to protect ourselves," Rutte emphasized.

The NATO Secretary General said that his priority as Secretary General is "to make sure that we do what we need to do and that we are active on Ukraine and the partnership, fully and quickly. And to do that, I count on your continued engagement and support."

Rutte added that Allies must cooperate with partners around the world.

He noted that Russia's threatening actions against European countries are gaining momentum and the Alliance must protect its people.

"We must continue to do everything we can together to protect all our people. Our future security is under threat, Russia's war against Ukraine continues, Russia's hostile actions against our own countries are gaining momentum through cyberattacks, assassination attempts, acts of sabotage, etc. We used to call it hybrid actions, but these are destabilizing actions and campaigns," Rutte said.

According to Rutte, Russia "is trying to weaken our democracies in order to gradually undermine our freedoms. And it is not alone, China, North Korea, and Iran are with it". Source: https://censor.net/en/n3530461

[Jimbuna]

Zelenskyy: Strongest support for Ukrainian army is to provide 250 billion of Russia’s frozen assets

The strongest support for the Ukrainian army would be to receive $250 billion in frozen Russian assets.

This was stated by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Censor.NET reports citing Interfax-Ukraine.

The President noted that as part of the implementation of the G7 decision, Ukraine was allocated $50 billion in proceeds from frozen Russian assets, of which $20 billion is provided by the United States, $18 billion by the European Union and other partners. However, support for Ukraine is spread over time, so pragmatic decisions need to be made.

"The safest guarantees, the cheapest guarantees of security for Ukraine are provided by NATO. And the strongest support for the Ukrainian army is to allocate 250 billion. Ukraine will take this money and allocate a large amount for domestic production and imports of the types of weapons that Ukraine does not have," Zelenskyy said at a joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3530463

To end war, both Ukraine and Russia must make concessions, - US Secretary of State candidate Rubio

Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who was elected by Donald Trump to the post of US Secretary of State, said that in order for the Russian-Ukrainian war to end, both Ukraine and Russia must make concessions.

Rubio said this during a Senate hearing on the confirmation of President-elect Donald Trump's nominees for positions in his administration, reports Yevropeiska Pravda, Censor.NET.

Speaking about the prospect of ending Russia's war against Ukraine, Rubio said that "it will not be easy."

"It's important to remain realistic: there will be concessions needed - both from Russia and from Ukrainians... It's important that there is some balance on both sides," the senator said.

According to Rubio, Ukraine will not be able to liberate all of its territories seized by Russia. At the same time, he expressed his belief that Russian troops are not capable of capturing the entire territory of Ukraine.

"Russia will never be able to capture the whole of Ukraine. Ukrainians are too brave, they fight too hard, the country is too big. This will not happen. But it's also unrealistic to believe that somehow a country the size of Ukraine... can push these people(Russian troops - ed.) back to where they were before the invasion," Rubio said.

The State Department candidate believes that both sides have leverage that they could use to strengthen their positions in possible future peace talks.

Rubio also said that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's goal may be to "impose neutrality" on Ukraine, regain strength and return in 4-5 years, which is "not a scenario that any of us would prefer."

The senator also said that the Trump administration will seek "bold diplomacy" to end Russia's war against Ukraine.

"This war must end... It won't be easy, but it will require bold diplomacy," Rubio added.

As a reminder, the day before, Pete Hagel, Donald Trump's nominee for US Secretary of Defense, said that Washington wants the Russian war in Ukraine to end with the most favorable outcome for Kyiv. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3530471

[Dargo]

Consequences of war in Ukraine shake up Russian gas giant

Russia's Gazprom is suffering billions in losses and has to lay off more than a third of its employees. The loss of the European market is proving to be a sensitive loss for the once-mighty state-owned gas company. The plan for a massive round of lay-offs leaked through Russian Telegram channels early this week and was later confirmed by Gazprom. Management is about to lay off more than 1,600 of the 4,100 employees at its headquarters, which towers almost half a kilometre above Tsar Peter the Great's low-rise building in St Petersburg. It would be the biggest round of lay-offs in Gazprom's existence. The bad news about the company is piling up. In 2022, Gazprom's hugely expensive Nord Stream pipeline to Western Europe was blown up. In 2023, the company made its first loss in over 20 years: a whopping €6.7 billion. This year began with the end of decades of gas exports to Europe via pipelines through Ukraine.

The company with hundreds of thousands of employees across Russia is in trouble, mainly because a large part of the European market has been lost. Before the invasion, in the era when European government leaders teamed up with Kremlin leaders to commission gas pipelines that bypassed Ukraine, and when Gazprom was the main sponsor of the Champions League - 45 per cent of EU gas imports came from Russia. By 2023, that had dropped to 15 per cent. The flow of gas through pipelines in particular has declined, which is disastrous for the company that has a monopoly over Russian gas exports by pipeline. Gazprom itself initially shut the Nord Stream pipelines in 2022, but said it would reopen them if European countries withdrew sanctions. This allowed the company to keep political pressure on Europe, one of Gazprom's main tasks. But explosions in the pipes a few weeks later were the unexpected death knell for Gazprom's multi-billion-dollar pipelines to Germany.

For now, Gazprom still has limited gas exports left to the EU. Turkstream, a Russian pipeline to reach Europe via Turkey, allows Gazprom to supply Hungary with gas. But even that pipeline is vulnerable. According to Russia, Ukraine carried out a failed drone attack on a compressor station at Turkstream early this week. Russia also depends on transit country Bulgaria, and that country recently announced it was reconsidering transit due to US sanctions against Gazprom. For Russia's flagship economy, the last remaining route to Europe is by sea: liquefied natural gas (lng) is still welcome at European ports. Russian tankers even exported a record amount of Russian lng to the EU last year. But Gazprom does not have a monopoly over lng exports in Russia and faces a shortage of tankers and terminals for lng. Moreover, Brussels wants to get rid of all Russian fossil fuels by 2027 10 EU member states are lobbying for a ban on Russian lng imports.

The outlook for Gazprom is downright poor, according to a report a research firm conducted last year on behalf of Gazprom's management. Western sanctions against the Russian energy sector are simply leading to ‘a contraction of export volumes’, the report said. Recovery, Gazprom need not expect ‘any earlier than 2035’. The company is trying to shift gas sales to other customers. This is not going smoothly with a product that requires thousands of kilometres of pipelines. Sales to China have increased in recent years with the construction of the Power of Siberia in 2019, the first pipeline from Russia to China. A yet-to-be-constructed, second pipeline should increase those exports from 2030. But even then, the volume cannot match that of the old gas flows to Europe. Moreover, China has alternative suppliers, so it negotiates a low price. Instead of dictating, Gazprom is now forced to hold up its hand.

[Skybird]

North Koreans - just incompetent and just cannon-fodder? No way, according to these reports.

https://www-focus-de.translate.goog/..._x_tr_pto=wapp

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[August]

"Not a question of if but when"


https://youtube.com/shorts/hmeG75bFb...3kbkQiobpf4Tv7

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