dimyh

Damn, I severely underestimated the Russian manufacturing capacity. If they can build a wooden chair to support that Seagal fatass then they could easily refurbish some T-34s into withstanding direct HIMARS hits.

Medusa reporting that the new 2025-2027 budget proposal by the Kremlin is projecting 41% of federal spending to go directly for defense/military. They are sweating public opinion and trying to figure out how to spin this shit stroganoff to the masses. https://meduza.io/en/feature/2024/10/02/it-could-become-a-trigger-fearing-public-discontent-the-kremlin-tells-russian-state-media-not-to-report-on-its-defense-spending-hike

Interesting news...the richest woman in Russia, Tatyana Bakalchuk, is going through a divorce. Which means in Russia her soon to be ex decides to storm her office and gets in a shootout killing at least two. Basically it is gang vs gang fight as each side's security detail gets in a brawl before bringing out the hardware. Exciting to see the oligarchs starting to rip into each other. Can't wait for the next episode of this Russian telenovela. https://meduza.io/en/feature/2024/09/18/gunfire-breaks-out-in-moscow-as-wildberries-ceo-claims-husband-led-raid-attempt-on-company-s-central-office

Someone else pointed out this RT blurb back in 2018: oropets /Tver region/, June 2. /TASS/. The arsenal of complex storage of missiles, ammunition and explosives constructed in the city of Toropets of the Tver region meets the highest international standards. This was stated on Saturday to journalists by Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, General of the Army Dmitry Bulgakov, who is on a working trip to the troops of the Western Military District to check the progress of construction of military infrastructure. “Arsenal allows to hide stockpiles of missiles and ammunition from external influence and ensure their safety and fire safety. The full load of each storage of the arsenal is up to 240 tons, ”said the deputy head of the military department. That is the same General Dmitry Bulgakov who was arrested and imprisoned in 2022 due to corruption charges...

Regarding the US weapons restrictions: 1) Ukraine should have been cleared for full use ages ago. 2) Once they are cleared, the only notification we should have provided is watching Ruskie shit blowing up and down the map while Putin screams "WHAT THE FUCK" into his 1995 speaker phone. No advanced notification, no big warning, just a big helping of FAFO for them to chew on.

Go for the kill!!

Further proof that the 70s were the best decade. Makes me want to have a dance party. Less swamp ass and more tight ass shorts.

Uh oh now they are marching on Bryansk College Station! Volodymr what is best in life? To crush your enemies, see them driven before you and to hear the lamentations of their sheep.

Before anyone says that this is fake...that last line is 100% believable.

Quote fail...delete previous msg. Just trying to share article corroborating Miller's info. Forbes article discusses some of the drone tech advantage on the Kursk front. That allowed them to get the drop on the Ruskies. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2024/08/09/ukraines-kursk-offensive-blitzed-russia-with-electronic-warfare-and-drones/

Everyone has been providing some interesting theories but I still don't know the long term objectives in Kursk. What I do know is that any use of maneuverability is going to favor the Ukrainians. They have consistently shown the ability to target the tail of the enemy, taking out logistics, etc. If this is just a temporary push to force Russian troops to redeploy then that is just extra opportunities for the Ukes to use their better coordination, better tech, better intel, to pick apart the enemy reinforcements. Plus this has been proven to be a golden opportunity to nab a good number of prisoners and some headlines just over a couple of days. Still I do have my concerns about being able to hold ground long-term. Especially if Russia can do some damage with their glide bombs from a distance. I know that may force them to target their own buildings and infrastructure but they really don't give a shit about their own citizens. I am just worried about losing too many Ukrainian men and equipment if the area does not have any good defensive features. Ultimately this is still an attritional war and the primary strategic objective has not changed: dislodging the Russians from Ukrainian territory. Will this offensive help in that regard? Still not sure but god bless these guys for taking a chance to kick Putin in the nads for all the world to see.

Can we at least have one scene of a Russian mob parading around Putins corpse ala Mussolini?

Fuck you Putin

Also there is a procurement minister that has also been detained. Interesting that Putin is making this change when their armies should be going full bore while Ukraine is trying to get their manpower and munition shortages worked out. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c900qz4wll4o When one top defence official is arrested in Russia, that’s interesting. When five senior defence figures are handcuffed in less than a month, that’s a purge. The latest senior military man to be locked up is Lt Gen Vadim Shamarin, deputy chief of the army’s general staff and head of the Main Communications Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces. Accused of large-scale bribe-taking, he’s been placed in pre-trial detention for two months. Hours later came the news that a senior defence ministry procurement official, Vladimir Verteletsky, has also been detained. According to Russia’s Investigative Committee, he’s been charged with abuse of authority in the execution of a state defence order. The roll-call of Russian defence figures who, within a month, have fallen from grace on corruption charges includes Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov and Lt-Gen Yuri Kuznetsov, head of the defence ministry’s personnel directorate. There’s also been change at the very top of the ministry. In a recent reshuffle, President Vladimir Putin replaced his defence minister of 12 years, Sergei Shoigu, with technocrat economist Andrei Belousov. The move was widely interpreted as an attempt by the Kremlin to boost efficiency in the Russian military and tackle corruption. Mr Shoigu was given a new job, that of secretary of the Russian Security Council. As for Vadim Shamarin’s boss, Valery Gerasimov, for now he remains chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces. But high-profile arrests in the ministry and the general staff reflect badly on the military leadership that has been directing Russia’s war in Ukraine. Watch Live RegisterSign In Home News Sport Business Innovation Culture Travel Earth Video Live Rosenberg: Putin's military purge echoes Prigozhin's call to act 10 hours ago Steve Rosenberg,BBC Russia editor Share EPA Mr Putin's long-standing Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu was replaced earlier this month When one top defence official is arrested in Russia, that’s interesting. When five senior defence figures are handcuffed in less than a month, that’s a purge. The latest senior military man to be locked up is Lt Gen Vadim Shamarin, deputy chief of the army’s general staff and head of the Main Communications Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces. Accused of large-scale bribe-taking, he’s been placed in pre-trial detention for two months. Hours later came the news that a senior defence ministry procurement official, Vladimir Verteletsky, has also been detained. According to Russia’s Investigative Committee, he’s been charged with abuse of authority in the execution of a state defence order. The roll-call of Russian defence figures who, within a month, have fallen from grace on corruption charges includes Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov and Lt-Gen Yuri Kuznetsov, head of the defence ministry’s personnel directorate. There’s also been change at the very top of the ministry. In a recent reshuffle, President Vladimir Putin replaced his defence minister of 12 years, Sergei Shoigu, with technocrat economist Andrei Belousov. The move was widely interpreted as an attempt by the Kremlin to boost efficiency in the Russian military and tackle corruption. Mr Shoigu was given a new job, that of secretary of the Russian Security Council. As for Vadim Shamarin’s boss, Valery Gerasimov, for now he remains chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces. But high-profile arrests in the ministry and the general staff reflect badly on the military leadership that has been directing Russia’s war in Ukraine. Reuters Lt Gen Vadim Shamarin is the latest to have been detained There is a huge irony in all of this. Remember Yevgeny Prigozhin? A year ago the leader of the Wagner mercenary group had publicly criticised military chiefs. He’d accused senior figures of incompetence and corruption, and blamed them for failures on the battlefield in Ukraine. Prigozhin had focused his ire particularly on Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov. He had demanded they be replaced. The very public spat spiralled out of control, leading to a 24-hour mutiny. Wagner fighters took over key military installations in southern Russia and began marching towards Moscow. It was an unprecedented challenge to the Kremlin’s authority. But its principal aim had been to sweep aside the country’s top military brass. It failed. President Putin sided with his military chiefs. Prigozhin lost his power battle with Mr Shoigu and Gen Gerasimov. And, shortly after, he lost his life in a plane crash. But, one year on, a Kremlin-backed purge of the army has started. And this tells us something about Vladimir Putin. The Russian president is averse to acting under pressure. Order him to sack a minister or an army general, and he’s unlikely to agree to it then and there. He won’t be told what to do. That doesn’t mean Mr Putin won’t act. At a time of his choosing. What isn’t clear is how far this purge of the Russian military will go; how many more senior figures will end up behind bars. The former commander of Russia’s 58th army, Maj-Gen Ivan Popov, was arrested this week on suspicion of large-scale fraud. Last year he had announced he had been sacked after complaining to military leaders about problems on the front line in Ukraine.

Video of the attack

Makes me want to finance an honorary Jere Lehtinen special force squad that just forechecks the fuck out of the Ruskies.

I thought last year that the Russian military losses were so severe that they would be 4-5 years before they could attempt any serious threats by tangling with NATO in the Baltics. We all know that is where Putin would like to strike next but I didn't think he would have enough popular support nor the military might to properly intimidate us into inaction. However Russia's shift to a war time economy is going to make them even more dependent on wartime profits. As soon as the Ukraine war ends their true economy is going to be plain to see. Putin is hallowing out their peacetime economy to feed his war machine. That social pressure he has been keen to avoid will be even hotter once the apathetic masses realize "winning" this war is not going to end up adding money to their pockets. It will not be business as usual. So I could see Putin continuing to triple down on his bets and keep up the war angle. Especially if EU/USA keep up the sanctions. Putin might be able to convince enough of his serfs that the only way to keep food on their table is being able to keep working in his manufacturies cranking out shells and drones. Plus with our own inability to really commit to ammo production means that we may look weaker than needed to stave off the little green men if they start showing up in Estonia. It's not something I thought was seriously possible but now it is becoming a bit more plausible. Especially thinking about Putin's own crazy psychological reasons for recovering their lost land and building his own legacy in history. Giving his subjects a financial reason for joining his megalomania is just the cherry on top of the shit sundae he is trying to serve up.

A long but interesting article measuring some of Europe's attitudes about the war and how to maintain support. No doubt enthusiam is waning but the authors are pointing out that a peace is not a permanent end to this conflict. TLDR "The best way to mitigate against war fatigue will be to define this idea of ‘durable peace’. Russian victory is not peace. And if the price of ending the war is turning Ukraine into a no man’s land, it will be a defeat not only for Kyiv but for Europe as a whole. In the event of negotiations, it is essential for both Ukrainian and Western publics to know what is on the table and what is not. What is not negotiable is Ukraine’s democratic and pro-Western future." https://ecfr.eu/publication/wars-and-elections-how-european-leaders-can-maintain-public-support-for-ukraine/#european-perceptions-of-the-war-in-ukraine

Maybe Russia just really likes shooting itself in its tiny pee pee. Either way this is awesome news because replacing those cannot be easy.

And on that note China is showing that Russia is their forever friend...unless money gets in the way. With their own economic problems they aren't quite as willing to challenge any sanctions. At least publicly. I'm sure there are plenty of work around but at the minimum this has to be driving up the price on any black market deals. Main thing though is that we have to keep Ukraine militarily supplied long enough for economic stranglehold to take effect. Putin's all out offensives is to make his position appear as the winning position. In time for his elections in March, the EU Parliament elections in June, and their our own in November. He has to appear as strong as possible to deter any more aid going to Ukraine. Because Russia is not going to win if this becomes a wallet flop out challenge with the West. https://www.businessinsider.com/china-biggest-banks-stop-russia-payments-icbc-ccb-boc-2024-2 China's biggest banks are finally getting scared by the West's sanctions against Russia Huileng Tan Feb 21, 2024, 2:08 AM ET Three of China's Big Four state banks have stopped accepting payments from sanctioned Russian financial institutions, per Izvestia. The halt follows the EU's 12th sanctions package against Russia and US secondary sanctions. The West is now targeting international firms doing business with Russia. Three out of China's Big Four state banks have halted payments from sanctioned Russian financial institutions, Russia's Izvestia news outlet reported on Wednesday. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Bank of China have stopped the transactions since the start of 2024, Alexey Poroshin, the general director of investment and consulting firm First Group, told Izvestia. While the three Chinese banks informed their Russian clients of the move in January, the issues started in December — after the European Union imposed its 12th sanctions package against Russia, Poroshin said. In December, the US also authorized secondary sanctions targeting financial institutions that help Russia skirt sanctions. Chinese banks are tightening compliance checks with Russian businesses because they fear getting caught up in the West's increasingly restrictive sanctions regime against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Poroshin told the Izvestia that Chinese banks are now unwilling to do business with sanctioned firms because the trade balance between the US and China is far greater than that of China and Russia. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Bank of China did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. The West has been ramping up sanctions against Russia as its economy appears resilient even two years after its invasion of Ukraine triggered sweeping trade restrictions. This is partly because Russia has diverted its trade eastward, particularly with China and India. In particular, Russian firms trading internationally have become more dependent on Chinese institutions and the Chinese yuan since some Russian banks withdrew from the SWIFT global financial-messaging system. So, the West is now trying to find a way to break Russia's economy by targeting international firms still doing business with the country instead. The Kremlin has acknowledged issues with Chinese bank transactions, with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying earlier this month that authorities are "working" on addressing them with Beijing.

Fun fact this ship was named for Tsaezar Kunikov, who died 81 years ago on this date fighting for the Soviets in WW2. Not sure if just a pure coincidence or if the Ukrainians are adding an extra fuck you to the Ruskies.