Here we go again-Ukraine once again

[Jimbuna]

Russian forces at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant have likely undermined the security and safety of the plant's operations, the UK's defence ministry says.

Europe's largest nuclear plant has been under Russian control since March but is still operational.

The UK defence ministry says Russian troops are probably using the plant as a shield to deter Ukrainian attacks.

The UN nuclear watchdog has warned the plant is "completely out of control".

The nuclear plant lies in the south-east of Ukraine along the eastern bank of the Dnipro river. It is currently still being operated by Ukrainian employees, though Russia is occupying the plant and the region around it.

It consists of six pressurised water reactors and stores radioactive waste.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62432873

[Jimbuna]

[Skybird]

As expected: Russia threatens to reduce grain deliveries to global markets due to missing spare parts for the harvesting machines it has. Of course it makes big words of that it is only due to the Wesat, and that the sanctions foster and increase global starvation.


It does not take a rocket scientist to forsee that if Russia reduces its grain exports, they will insist on that the Ukraine is not allowed to export, too. The grain deal is a wide open invitation for Russia to seek maximum propaganda exploitation from it in order to upset the world against the West and its barbaric inhumane sanctions that illustrate that the West does not care for human loives and bla and bla and blablabla. Also, Russia cna live without the money from selling all its grains. Ukraine cannot afford that, and also sees its next harvest threatened.

[Skybird]

North Korea to enter the war? Merkur.de writes:


Russia may soon receive massive reinforcements in the Ukraine conflict. North Korea has apparently offered military support to Vladimir Putin's troops.

The embattled Donbass with the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, where the majority of the population feels that they belong to Russia, will belong to Vladimir Putin's country in the future: At least the Kremlin leaves no doubt about this thesis. The Ukrainian army, on the other hand, is defending the disputed areas, also supported by Western arms deliveries (current developments in the news ticker).

To realize its ambitions, Russia could apparently soon receive support: A broadcast on Russian state television discussed the possibility of an entire armada of forces from North Korea arriving for reinforcements. Russian military expert Igor Korotchenko spoke on the Rossiya-1 channel about how "great" it would be if volunteers not only helped rebuild infrastructure left fallow by the war. There is also talk of fighting alongside Russia. A corresponding recording was published by BBC reporter Francis Scarr via Twitter.

"There are reports that around 100,000 North Koreans are being prepared to join the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and support Vladimir Putin's army," Korotchenko said. In response to another studio guest's comment that this sounds like a joke, the 62-year-old replied, "Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. The gist: North Korea has made its position clear politically, and North Korean aid workers seem willing to help us rebuild the cities that were destroyed by Ukraine." As an example, he cites cities like Kherson, which were "liberated" by Russia and should remain so.

Whether troop reinforcements from North Korea have already been initiated? Unclear. TV stations like Rossiya-1 are known to be pro-Kremlin mouthpieces. After all, the Ukraine conflict has long since degenerated into an information war in which the warring parties involved accuse each other of lying.

Korotchenko stated that it was an offer from President Kim Jong-un, but made no secret of his opinion: "We should accept it. Why be shy and not embrace this offer?" Korean workers, he said, are "robust and undemanding."

Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warns of a rising risk of nuclear annihilation. The danger, he said, is as great as it was at the height of the Cold War:

It has long been clear that the People's Republic of North Korea (DPRK) is one of the Russian side's supporters in the Ukraine conflict. The country was one of five to vote against the UN resolution condemning the Ukraine war. China is also among the countries backing Russia's invasion of its neighbor to the west. Beijing abstained on the resolution.

Korotchenko further explained that North Korea has artillery systems and self-produced large-caliber multiple rocket launchers, in addition to which it has enormous experience. According to him, the offered support in eastern Ukraine is a kind of friendly service: "We once helped North Korea (in the Korean War against South Korea, ed.), now they want to return the favor, fight Ukrainian fascism with us," said the military expert.

[mapuc]

"the possibility of an entire armada of forces from North Korea arriving for reinforcements. "

This surprised me-I have thought that if there was some country who would send military aids to Russia it would be China.

We have to wait to see if NK does send help and how much.

Markus

[Dargo]

Putin and Erdoğan have agreed that Turkey will henceforth pay for gas from Russia partly in rubles. This is reported by the Russian branch of the Interfax news agency. "Unfriendly countries" must pay for their gas in rubles. This applies to all countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia. Turkey is not on the list of those unfriendly countries, but will now do so in part anyway. The leaders also agreed to cooperate more closely in the fields of transport, agriculture, trade, energy and construction.

The big question was whether Putin and Erdoğan would also talk about a possible delivery of Turkish combat drones to Russia. However, according to the Russian state news agency Ria Novosti, there was no discussion on this issue.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Dargo

The big question was whether Putin and Erdoğan would also talk about a possible delivery of Turkish combat drones to Russia. However, according to the Russian state news agency Ria Novosti, there was no discussion on this issue.

My money would be on this was discussed.

[Jimbuna]

War in Ukraine is entering new phase, Russian Federation is massively shifting troops to south, - British intelligence

Russian forces are concentrated in the south in anticipation of Ukraine's counteroffensive or in preparation for a possible offensive. Long convoys of Russian military trucks, tanks, artillery and other weapons continue to move away from the Ukrainian Donbas and head southwest.

This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to the Ministry of Defense of Great Britain on Twitter.

"Russia's war with Ukraine is about to enter a new phase, when the fiercest battles will move to the front line with a length of approximately 350 km, which stretched southwest from Zaporizhzhia to Kherson parallel to the Dnipro River," the message reads.

According to British intelligence, there is information about the transfer of equipment from Russian-occupied Melitopol, Berdiansk, Mariupol and from the Russian mainland via the Kerch bridge to Crimea.

Battalion tactical groups (BTGs), numbering 800 to 1,000 servicemen, have been deployed to Crimea and will almost certainly be used to support Russian forces in the Kherson region. In addition, on August 2, a new BTG was transferred to Crimea, and the BTG from the Eastern Group of Forces is also being redeployed. Most likely, they will be sent to the Kherson region in the coming days, according to the British Ministry of Defense.

According to British intelligence, Ukrainian forces are concentrating their strikes on bridges, ammunition depots and railway tracks, which are increasingly being attacked in the southern regions of Ukraine. The targets include a strategically important railway line linking Kherson with Russian-occupied Crimea to try to affect Russia's ability to resupply.

[Catfish]

I would pretend to take Kherson until all russian troops are there, but go forth in the east. Southern Ukraine can be controlled via the bridges, just take time and harrass and decimate there until later.

[Bilge_Rat]

Here is one of the estimate on the current disposition of Russian forces. Current thinking is that the Russians want to keep their dispositions flexible so they can quickly react if the Ukrainians launch an attack.

https://twitter.com/DefMon3/status/1555513448506736640

Problem with launching an attack in the east is that the lines in the Donbass have been heavily fortified since 2014.

[mapuc]

Before I went to bed I saw a video about the war in Ukraine and this man who explained things said something that made me go

WOW the Ukrainian army has fully deceived the Russians. The Ukrainian has been bombing targets in Kherson area to fool the Russian thinking they would go into offensive in that area.

What this man said-Russia has moved huge amount of weapon and men to Kherson Oblast area but the Ukrainian Army didn't start their offensive there-They did it here-He pointed on the Eastern part of Ukraine-Near Kharkiv.

I can't say if it's true-If it is then Russia has been fooled.

Markus

[Reece]

What if Russia reads Subsim posts etc??

[mapuc]

Originally Posted by Reece

What if Russia reads Subsim posts etc??

Or watch the same video as I did.

Markus

[Skybird]

NZZ writes:


Just a moment ago, Ukrainian forces had felt on the upswing: after the devastating June battles in the east of the country, the daily blood toll had dropped sharply, the Russian offensive seemed to have run out of steam, and thanks to high-precision American Himars missile launchers, the Ukrainians were able to disrupt enemy supply routes in the southern province of Kherson. But the bad news caught up with the defenders again.

President Volodimir Selensky, in one of his evening video addresses this week, called it "simply hell" what is currently happening on some front lines in the Donbass. Selensky was referring to the hail of enemy shells pounding the towns of Avdiivka and Piski. The two towns are close to the Donetsk metropolis, which serves as the capital for the Moscow-affiliated separatists of the "Donetsk People's Republic."

On this section of the front, the Russians made a potentially momentous breakthrough this week. The Ukrainians had to retreat along a length of about 20 kilometers. Piski has apparently fallen for the most part, and the situation is becoming precarious for the defenders of Avdiivka. On the map, the Russian territorial gains do not look spectacular; it is a matter of a few dozen square kilometers. That is why the military leadership in Kiev and some Western experts are downplaying the setback.

But the Russian advance, which came as a surprise to many observers, is significant because it involved one of the most heavily fortified sections of the country's front. Since the 2015 ceasefire, known as the Minsk Agreement, the Ukrainians had built a system of trenches here to arm themselves against the separatists of the Donetsk "People's Republic." While the Russians were able to break through the old ceasefire line in many places after the February 24 invasion, the positions near Piski held for more than five months.

But now the Ukrainians have had to abandon, among other things, a coal mine used for defense and the parts of Donetsk International Airport they control. The Russian advance does not constitute an actual breach of the dam. This is because the attackers lack the necessary forces to quickly gain further ground. However, corresponding reinforcements must be expected. Russia has an interest in pushing the Ukrainians further back in order to improve Donetsk's strategic position. The outer quarters of the large city have so far been almost directly on the front line.

For the Ukrainians, the challenge now is to build a new defensive disposition in the shortest possible time. Otherwise, Avdiivka, once an industrial city of 30,000 people, known primarily for the country's largest coke factory, could be surrounded. According to its mayor, Vitaly Barabash, some 2,500 civilians are still holding out in Avdiivka. They are living in terrible, inhumane conditions, he told Radio Liberty on Wednesday. There is no gas or water, he said. When shelling the city, he said, Russia uses heavy flamethrower systems, one of the most feared weapons in the Russian arsenal because their missiles have a tremendous heating effect and can burn everything in larger areas.

The Ukrainian generals have obviously been taken by surprise by the Russian offensive. Although reinforcements are said to have arrived in the meantime, the defenders were fatally undermanned beforehand. The testimony of a young non-commissioned officer, who posted the following cry for help on Facebook on Tuesday, is profound: "What else can be taken from me on the sixth day of my personal hell in Piski? The bodies of those who were dearer to me than a family lie under the heat in the destroyed trenches."

Every day 6500 shells fell on this locality, wrote the squad leader of a volunteer unit. His weakly armed infantry battalion was barely able to respond, he said. Counterattacks with artillery, so-called counterbattery fire, failed to materialize. As a result, the enemy systematically eats through the strongest defensive positions. He feels like cannon fodder; his soldiers can oppose the attacks "only with bare bodies."

The report suggests that the Ukrainians still have not found a recipe to stop Russian artillery - a veritable machine of destruction. The destruction of several dozen Russian ammunition depots by American Himars missiles has caused a stir, but it has by no means depleted Russian supplies of shells. At Piski, moreover, the Ukrainians lacked any artillery, let alone Western precision guns.
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I said it some time ago. I dont think a few HIMARS systems scattered along a very long frontline will have what it takes to really fundamentally change the inner dynamic of the war.
How do certain bees kill Japanese giant hornets? They flock around and hang on to them, and start moving their wings and create a lot of muscle activity, that heats them up. They create warmth thta way, and then warmth turns into heat - and that heat then makes the much bigger giant wasps overheat, they get "cooked", and die. Thats what Russia can do. It only has to throw Russian artillery shells and Russian bodies onto the ukrainians until they are completly covered and cannot move or breath anymore. And thats what they are doing. That Russia traditionally has no respect whatever for its own soldiers' lives and wellbeing, of course helps tremendously with this strategy.

Westernr strategist imo are too much focussed on surgical precision strikes. What it really takes is is not only a few scalpels, but two hand broadswords and heavy war axes - and plenty and plenty of them. Nicht kleckern - KLOTZEN. (means: dont spill it - make it count).

[Dargo]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

My money would be on this was discussed.

If Russians deny it happened!