Russia Invades Ukraine
Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2023 7:18 pm
Interesting timing for use of “satanic.”
Falsehoods Unchallenged Only Fester and Grow
https://thefogbow.com/forum/
Kadyrov is a thug, and he doesn't seem to be terribly bright. It's possible that he thinks Russia is doing just dandy in their "special military operation," and is a true believer, but I rather doubt it. Even he can't be that dumb.
Russia’s latest cruise missile crashed in Ukraine
Dylan Malyasov
Feb 6, 2023 Modified date: 2 mins ago
A new, secret version of a Russian cruise missile was found in the Ukrainian central Vinnytsia region after a new wave of Russian missile strikes pounded cities throughout the country.
According to the Defense Express, the Ukrainian Air Force has released footage showing relatively intact remains of a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile which was equipped with an electro-optical guidance system and decoy flare.
The Kh-101 is an advanced cruise missile under development to eventually replace the Kh-55 missile onboard the Soviet/Russian strategic bombers such as Tu-160 and Tu-95. The Kh-101 has a 400-kg conventional warhead, stealth features, high subsonic speed and low altitude flight profile. The conventionally-armed Kh-101 has also been referred to as the Russian counterpart to the United States Air Force AGM-129 air-launched cruise missile.
The previously unknown version of a cruise missile is equipped with guidance systems scan to help determine a missile’s position. It is a digital system designed to guide missiles in real-time by using camera inputs to determine location.
https://defence-blog.com/russias-latest ... n-ukraine/
Fury in Ukraine as Elon Musk’s SpaceX limits Starlink use for drones
SpaceX says satellite communications service ‘never, never meant to be weaponised’
Dan Sabbagh in Poltava
Thu 9 Feb 2023 14.38 GMT
A senior Ukrainian presidential aide has reacted with anger after Elon Musk’s SpaceX said it had taken steps to prevent its Starlink satellite communications service from controlling drones, which are critical to Kyiv’s forces in fighting off the Russian invasion.
Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s chief operating officer, said at a conference in the US that the surprise decision had been taken because it had never been the company’s intention to allow Starlink to be used “for offensive purposes”.
That prompted an immediate complaint on Thursday morning from Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukraine’s president, Volodymr Zelenskiy, who argued that Musk’s business had failed to recognise Ukraine’s right to self-defence.
Companies, Podolyak tweeted, had to decide if they were “on the side of the right to freedom” or “on the Russian Federation’s side and its ‘right’ to kill and seize territories” after its unprovoked invasion last year.
Shortly after the start of the war, Musk, SpaceX’s founder, agreed to provide Starlink for nothing to Ukraine, in response to a plea made on Twitter by Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation. “Starlink service is now active in Ukraine,” Musk said in reply.
Ukrainian forces use Starlink to help control their large network of surveillance drones, critical to monitor Russian troop concentrations and military movements, at a time when Moscow’s forces are on the attack across large parts of the eastern front.
The country’s military rapidly became dependent on Musk’s network, because other internet services were unavailable because of war damage, power outages, jamming or simply because the locations were remote.
Space X’s unilateral announcement also flies in the face of western nations, who are stepping up their military aid to Kyiv to help it resist, agreeing last month to provide tanks. Now they are considering whether to supply combat jets, in response to a pleas made by Zelenskiy on a trip to London, Paris and Brussels this week.
Shotwell said Starlink was “never, never meant to be weaponised” by Ukraine, although it cannot come as a surprise to the company as Kyiv’s military has been using it to pilot drones for months. “Ukrainians have leveraged it in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement,” she added.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... -elon-musk
VILNIUS, Feb 10 (Reuters) - A group of 35 countries, including the United States, Germany and Australia, will demand that Russian and Belarusian athletes are banned from the 2024 Olympics, the Lithuanian sports minister said on Friday, deepening the uncertainty over the Paris Games.
The move cranks up the pressure on an International Olympic Committee (IOC) that is desperate to avoid the sporting event being torn asunder by the bloody conflict unfolding in Ukraine.
"We are going in the direction that we would not need a boycott because all countries are unanimous," Jurgita Siugzdiniene said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy took part in the online meeting attended by 35 ministers to discuss the call for the ban, pointing out 228 Ukrainian athletes and coaches died as a result of the Russian aggression.
"If there's an Olympics sport with killings and missile strikes, you know which national team would take the first place," he told the ministers.
Wagner head says Russia could take two years to capture east Ukraine regions
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, has said it could take two years for Russia to fully control the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine, two regions whose capture Moscow has stated as a key goal of the war.
In a video published on Friday with the Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov, reported by Reuters, Prigozhin said:
As far as I understand, we need to close off the Donetsk and Luhansk republics and in principle that will suit everyone for now.
That could take one and a half to two years, he said.
In September, Vladimir Putin formally annexed the Luhansk and Donetsk regions in Ukraine, along with Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, in defiance of international law and condemned by UN member states as illegal.
“If we have to get to the Dnipro, then it will take about three years,” Prigozhin added, referring to a larger area that would extend to the vast Dnipro River that runs roughly north to south, bisecting Ukraine.
Prigozhin does not speak for the Russian military but his comments provide a rare insight into Russian expectations of the conflict, from the head of a group at the centre of some of its fiercest fighting.
in https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/ ... oland-live
Increasing rivalry between Wagner and Russian defence ministry ‘key factor’ in end of prisoner recruitment, says UK MoD
The latest intelligence update from the UK’s Ministry of Defence states that a key factor in the alleged termination of the Russian mercenary group’s prisoner recruitment drive is likely to be the “increasingly direct rivalry between the Russian ministry of defence and Wagner”.
Wagner founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on Thursday that the group had “completely stopped” recruiting prisoners to fight in Ukraine.
The group began recruiting prisoners in Russia’s sprawling penal system last summer, offering convicts a pardon if they survived six months in Ukraine.
It has not provided information on how many convicts have joined its ranks, but Russian penal service figures published in November showed the country’s prison population had dropped by more than 20,000 between August and November, the largest fall in over a decade.
According to figures published in January, the decline had largely stopped. The UK ministry writes that the data suggests a drop-off in the rate of prisoner recruitment since December.
in https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/ ... oland-live
in principle that will suit everyone for now.
Iran smuggled drones into Russia using boats and state airline, sources reveal
Exclusive: at least 18 long-range armed drones were delivered to Putin’s navy after Russians visit Tehran in November
Martin Chulov in Beirut, Dan Sabbagh in Kyiv and Nechirvan Mando
Sun 12 Feb 2023 15.31 GMT
Iran has used boats and a state-owned airline to smuggle new types of advanced long-range armed drones to Russia for use in its war on Ukraine, sources inside the Middle Eastern country have revealed.
At least 18 of the drones were delivered to Vladimir Putin’s navy after Russian officers and technicians made a special visit to Tehran in November, where they were shown a full range of Iran’s technologies.
On that occasion, the 10-man Russian delegation selected six Mohajer-6 drones, which have a range of around 200km and carry two missiles under each wing, along with 12 Shahed 191 and 129 drones, which also have an air-to-ground strike capability.
Unlike the better-known Shahed 131 and 136 drones, which have been heavily used by Russia in kamikaze raids against Ukrainian targets, the higher-flying drones are designed to deliver bombs and return to base intact.
The disclosures demonstrate the increasing closeness between Iran and Russia, which share a hostility towards the US, since Moscow launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine a year ago.
Last August, US officials said that Iran had begun showcasing the Shahed 191 and 129 drones in June to Russia, and said they expected Tehran to sell them to Moscow. Mohajer-6 drones have been downed in Ukraine since September, with officials displaying one in November to the Guardian in Kyiv.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... nto-russia
NATO chief says Ukraine's ammunition use outstripping supply
Mon, February 13, 2023 at 5:08 PM GMT+1
BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned Monday that Ukraine is using up ammunition far faster than its allies can provide it and putting pressure on Western defense industries, just as Russia ramps up its military offensive.
“The war in Ukraine is consuming an enormous amount of munitions and depleting allied stockpiles,” Stoltenberg said. “The current rate of Ukraine’s ammunition expenditure is many times higher than our current rate of production. This puts our defense industries under strain.”
According to some estimates, Ukraine is firing up to 6,000-7,000 artillery shells each day, around a third of the daily amount that Russia is using almost one year into the war.
Speaking on the eve of a two-day meeting of NATO defense ministers, Stoltenberg said the waiting time for the supply of “large-caliber ammunition has increased from 12 to 28 months,” and that “orders placed today would only be delivered two-and-a-half years later.”
The former Norwegian prime minister said that President Vladimir Putin has already begun Russia’s long-anticipated spring military offensive in Ukraine, “so we must continue to provide Ukraine with what it needs to win and to achieve a just and sustainable peace.”
“It is clear that we are in a race of logistics. Key capabilities like ammunition, fuel, and spare parts must reach Ukraine before Russia can seize the initiative on the battlefield. Speed will save lives,” he told reporters in Brussels.
NATO members and Ukraine’s other allies are meeting at the alliance’s headquarters on Tuesday under U.S. supervision to drum up more weapons and ammunition for the war-torn country. Many NATO allies are bilaterally supplying weapons to Ukraine, but NATO as an organization only provides non-lethal aid.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/nato-chief-s ... 04274.html
(original: The New York Times)'Our Losses Were Gigantic': Life in a Sacrificial Russian Assault Wave
Andrew E. Kramer
Mon, February 13, 2023 at 1:50 PM GMT+1
LVIV, Ukraine — Creeping forward along a tree line late at night toward an entrenched Ukrainian position, the Russian soldier watched in horror as his comrades were mowed down by enemy fire.
His squad of 10 ex-convicts advanced only a few dozen yards before being decimated. “We were hit by machine-gun fire,” said the soldier, a private named Sergei.
One soldier was wounded and screamed, “Help me! Help me, please!,” the private said, although no help arrived. Eight soldiers were killed, one escaped back to Russian lines and Sergei was captured by Ukrainians.
The soldiers were sitting ducks, sent forth by Russian commanders to act essentially as human cannon fodder in an assault. There are two main uses of the conscripts in this tactic: as “storm troops” who move in waves, followed by more experienced Russian fighters, and as intentional targets, to draw fire and thus identify Ukrainian positions to hit with artillery.
Either way, they have become an integral component of Russia’s military strategy as it presses a new offensive in Ukraine’s east: relying on overwhelming manpower, much of it comprising inexperienced, poorly trained conscripts, regardless of the high rate of casualties.
In interviews last week, a half-dozen prisoners of war provided rare firsthand accounts of what it is like to be part of a sacrificial Russian assault.
“These orders were common, so our losses were gigantic,” Sergei said. “The next group would follow after a pause of 15 or 20 minutes, then another, then another.”
Of his combat experience, he said, “It was the first and last wave for me.”
By luck, the bullets missed him, he said. He lay in the dark until he was captured by Ukrainians who slipped into the buffer area between the two trench lines.
The New York Times interviewed the Russians at a detention center near Lviv, in Ukraine’s west, where many captured enemy soldiers are sent. From there, some are returned to Russia in prisoner exchanges. The Times also viewed videos of interrogations by the Ukrainian authorities. The prisoners are identified only by first name and rank for security reasons, because of the possibility of retribution once they are returned.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/losses-were- ... 37564.html
(original: The Telegraph)Russian general takes his own life after being sacked by Vladimir Putin
James Crisp
Tue, February 14, 2023 at 8:41 PM GMT+1
A Russian general who led a suppression of opposition activists shot himself in the head after being sacked by Vladimir Putin.
Maj Gen Vladimir Makarov, 72, was found by his wife Valentina with gunshot wounds just weeks after he was fired by the Russian president in late January.
Police have ruled that his death was the latest in a string of suicides among high-ranking Russian security and military figures.
The major general had fallen into a “deep depression” and “didn’t know what to do with himself” after losing his job, relatives told Russian media.
Number of suicides
Maj Gen Makarov was deputy head of the Main Directorate for Combating Extremism.
The Putin regime uses the term “extremist” to describe its opponents, including jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny and those involved in anti-government protests.
He was described in Russia as the main organiser in the “hunt” for “inconvenient” opposition activists and journalists.
Last summer, retired Federal Security Service Maj Gen Yevgeny Lobachev and Foreign Intelligence Service Maj Gen Lev Sotskov were found dead in what were reported to be two separate suicides.
Col Vadim Boiko, who was involved in Putin’s mobilisation of new recruits, was found dead with gunshot wounds in a suspected suicide in November.
His widow said he “executed” himself with five gunshots in the chests after allegedly being blamed for some of the problems plaguing Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/russian-gene ... 51071.html
Russian defense official has died after falling from a window of a building in St. Petersburg, according to local media reports.
The body of 58-year-old Marina Yankina, who headed the Financial Support Department of the Russian Defense Ministry in St. Petersburg's Western Military District, was found on Wednesday morning, Fontanka reported.
The Western Military District is one of the five military districts of the Russian Armed Forces.
Reports of Yankina's death come just days after Major General Vladimir Makarov, who was recently fired by Russian President Vladimir Putin, was found dead outside of Moscow in a suspected suicide.
My Ukranian Cleaner has nothing but contempt for Lukashenko. Everyone seems to hate his ass, but he wants to be an important Strongman. He only stays in power because Putin holds him upLukashenko warns Belarus will join Russia in war if attacked
Alexander Lukashenko warns he is ready to wage war if one Ukrainian soldier enters Belarus.
Few people know Vladimir Putin quite as well as Alexander Lukashenko does.
The authoritarian leader of Belarus is a firm Kremlin ally and backer of what Mr Putin refers to as the "special military operation" - what most of the world calls Russia's war in Ukraine.
Since his full-scale invasion of Ukraine a year ago, Mr Putin hasn't sat down with Western journalists.
But today in Minsk, Mr Lukashenko took questions from a small group of foreign media, including the BBC.
"Last year you allowed your country to be used as a staging ground for Russia's invasion," I reminded Mr Lukashenko. "Are you prepared to do so again?"
"Yes, I'm ready," he replied. "I'm ready to provide [territory] again. I'm also ready to wage war, alongside the Russians, from the territory of Belarus. But only if someone - even a single soldier - enters our territory from there (Ukraine) with weapons to kill my people."
Military co-operation between Russia and Belarus has been on the increase, with joint drills and the formation of a joint military grouping. But so far the Belarusian leader has avoided sending his troops into Ukraine to fight alongside Russian forces.
The UK, EU and the United States do not recognise Alexander Lukashenko as the legitimate president of Belarus. In 2020 Belarusians poured on to the streets to accuse him of stealing the country's presidential election. The protests were brutally suppressed.
Mr Lukashenko used Thursday's event to blame the West for the war in Ukraine.
He accused Western governments of fuelling the conflict and engaged in a touch of Putinesque nuclear sabre-rattling,
"If you continue this escalation, you will get nuclear weapons and Russia has more than anyone," he said.
"So, you should stop this. If a nuclear war starts, Belarus will cease to exist. We need to sit down at the negotiating table, because nuclear war will wipe out the USA too. No-one needs this."
A Russian military official in charge of financial provisions for the military district blamed for the Kremlin’s worst losses in Ukraine has been found dead after a nasty fall from a St. Petersburg high-rise.
Marina Yankina, head of the department of financial provisions for the Western Military District, was found dead on a sidewalk on Wednesday morning, according to multiple local reports. She is just the latest in a growing list of Russian military officials, defense industry figures, war critics, and gas and oil execs to die suddenly and mysteriously since the start of the full-scale invasion last year.
The 58-year-old’s belongings and documents were found on a balcony on the 16th floor of the building, Mash reports.
Russia’s Investigative Committee is looking into the circumstances of the deadly plunge, with their preliminary conclusion being suicide, according to Fontanka.
This is true.Sam the Centipede wrote: ↑Thu Feb 16, 2023 5:40 pm It has been pointed out that people non-accidentally falling from Russian windows is not necessarily murder. Some of those might be people who know the game is up for their corruption and other misdeeds but lack the influence, wealth or power to gain immunity. Rather than face the horrors of Russia's prisons and fearing torture and worse they preempt the law of Russia with the law of gravity.
Russia's enforcers don't need to push people out of windows; they have many other options behind closed doors.
The fall is a message that is very clearly understood.Sam the Centipede wrote: ↑Thu Feb 16, 2023 5:40 pm It has been pointed out that people non-accidentally falling from Russian windows is not necessarily murder. Some of those might be people who know the game is up for their corruption and other misdeeds but lack the influence, wealth or power to gain immunity. Rather than face the horrors of Russia's prisons and fearing torture and worse they preempt the law of Russia with the law of gravity.
Russia's enforcers don't need to push people out of windows; they have many other options behind closed doors.
Yeah, I remember the doctor on a conference call who somehow fell out of a window. I have a window at work, I'm on many hours of calls, yet I've never fallen out the window.Dave from down under wrote: ↑Thu Feb 16, 2023 6:57 pmThe fall is a message that is very clearly understood.Sam the Centipede wrote: ↑Thu Feb 16, 2023 5:40 pm It has been pointed out that people non-accidentally falling from Russian windows is not necessarily murder. Some of those might be people who know the game is up for their corruption and other misdeeds but lack the influence, wealth or power to gain immunity. Rather than face the horrors of Russia's prisons and fearing torture and worse they preempt the law of Russia with the law of gravity.
Russia's enforcers don't need to push people out of windows; they have many other options behind closed doors.
Just as being shot while escaping was a message..
Voluntary defenestration sounds like a difficult way to go. I believe the doctor who managed to fall during a call lived a while, or one of the other ones about that same time did, presumably horribly mangled for however long it took to die in hospital. Coincidentally the doctors were critical of the government's response to COVID. Coincidentally.Sam the Centipede wrote: ↑Fri Feb 17, 2023 5:56 am I wasn't completely clear: my point was that some "falls" from high windows might be deliberate suicide to avert a horrible fate. Clearly many/most are not.