Here we go again-Ukraine once again

[Jimbuna]

[August]

[Jimbuna]

Sunak instructed Ministry of Defense to determine which aircraft Britain can provide to Ukraine

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak instructed the Ministry of Defense to investigate which combat aircraft the country could potentially provide to Ukraine.

This is reported by Censor.NET with reference to Ukrinform.

"The Prime Minister has instructed the Defense Secretary to investigate what jets we could provide, but to be clear, this is a long-term solution, not the short-term capabilities that Ukraine needs most now," a British government spokesman said.

He emphasized that the decision on the supply of British aircraft to Ukraine has not yet been made, but this issue is being "actively" considered by the head of the Ministry of Defense, Ben Wallace.

"We have not yet made a decision on whether we will send fighter jets to Great Britain. Obviously, there is a discussion among other countries about transferring their own fighter jets, some of which are more similar to what Ukrainian pilots are used to," the spokesman added.

According to him, Britain hopes to receive the first Ukrainian pilots in the spring for training, adding that "obviously, we want it to start as soon as possible."

"We think it's right to give Ukraine equipment in the short term, like Challenger tanks, additional guns, longer-range weapons that can help win the war now, but we're also looking at the medium term to ensure that Ukraine has all the capabilities that it needs." needs," said the spokesman of the British government. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3398624

Zelenskyi and Sunak visit Ukrainian military training to drive Challenger 2 tanks. PHOTOS

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited a training ground where Ukrainian military are being taught to operate Challenger 2 tanks.

"The British military base Bovington Camp, where Ukrainian soldiers are trained. Saw how Ukrainian crews are trained on the British Challenger main battle tank and other armored vehicles.

Our military are in a hurry to acquire new skills as soon as possible in order to return home and use everything they have learned to liberate our territory," wrote Zelenskyi in Facebook.

The President of Ukraine awarded tankers, paratroopers and mechanics of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the Orders of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, III degree, and For Courage, III degree, as well as medals "For Military Service to Ukraine". Source: https://censor.net/en/p3398637

[Catfish]

Originally Posted by Skybird

This is potentially explosive for trans-atlantic relations. Seymour Hersh writes that it were the US that blew up the Nordstream pipelines. [...]

Oh i like it.
Both statements, that is

[Catfish]

Very informative and long interview with Israels's former prime minister Naftali Bennett.
he speaks about Putin, how they met, what they talked about, what their "deal" was about Syriah, and what to think and expect of Putin.
All interesting but very long, the part about Ukraine begins at ~ 2:19



One thing is true, if you want to speak tacheles with Russians you have to drink with them. They want to know the real man behind the words. Bennett probably failed at this

[Jimbuna]

[Ostfriese]

Originally Posted by Skybird

This is potentially explosive for trans-atlantic relations. Seymour Hersh writes that it were the US that blew up the Nordstream pipelines.



https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/...he-nord-stream

He cites a single, very dubious source. As long as he doesn't come up with substantial evidence this is nothing but a conspiracy theory.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Ostfriese

He cites a single, very dubious source. As long as he doesn't come up with substantial evidence this is nothing but a conspiracy theory.

Yep, most likely

[mapuc]

Originally Posted by Catfish

I'm not joking-In 2000 he wrote a book called Midvinter mörker-Midwinter darkness and the main story is the Russian attack on Sweden and the occupation of Gotland. In the start of the book Russia demands Sweden to send the terrorist who's behind the destruction of Nord Stream. Furthermore the Russian claim that these terrorist has their nest on Gotland.

The attack on Sweden, start with a massive sea and air exercise.

Markus

[August]

I bet his single source was a Russian GRU agent.

After all as a friend of mine put it:


"This story makes no sense. All of the purported advantages that the US stood to gain by blowing the pipeline up would have been achieved anyway.
The US and Norway were already making record LNG sales to Russia when this thing blew up.
Russia had already completely screwed up it's position in the European energy market by invading Ukraine.
Germany was already weaning itself from Russian energy at significant cost to it's economy.
The potential political fallout from making a move like this would have been spectacular - epoch forming, even so why the heck would you risk that for no foreseeable gain?"

[Jimbuna]

Russia blow after losing half its tanks as troops struggle to meet Putin's demands

Oryx, an open source intelligence website, revealed that Russia could have lost up to half of all its operational tank fleet since the beginning of the war on Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin, the website claims, is now short of up to 1,000 tanks.

They added that a further 544 Russian tanks have been tanks by Ukrainian forces, 79 have been damaged and 65 have been abandoned by Russian troops.

A military analyst writing for the website, Jakub Janovsky, said: "Russia started the war with around 3,000 operational tanks ... so there is a good chance that Russia has lost one half of (its) usable tanks."

Speaking to CNN in September, Janovsky said that Russia would find difficulties in replacing tanks,

He said: "Due to sanctions they might have to replace sensors and electronics with inferior alternatives - and the amount they can produce in the near term is a fraction of what they are losing. Those material losses ... are not sustainable."

It comes as Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky on Thursday addressed the European Parliament as he seeks more military aid, saying Ukraine and the European Union are fighting together against Russia - in his words "the most anti-European force" in the world.

Zelensky received standing ovations before, during and after his speech to European lawmakers. He held up an EU flag after his address and the entire legislature stood in somber silence as the Ukrainian national anthem and then European anthem "Ode to Joy" were played.

"Europe will always be, and remain Europe as long as we are together and as long as we take care of our Europe, as we take care of the European way of life," he said.

Zelensky added that Russia wants to destroy the European way of life, but "we will not allow that."

Before Zelensky spoke, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said allies should consider "quickly, as a next step, providing long range systems" and fighter jets to Ukraine. Metsola said the response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine "must be proportional to the threat, and the threat is existential."

Zelensky's high-profile pursuit of more Western military aid came as evidence mounted that Russia's anticipated offensive around the anniversary of the invasion is starting to take shape.

The Kremlin's forces "have regained the initiative in Ukraine and have begun their next major offensive" in the eastern Luhansk region, most of which is occupied by Russia, the Institute for the Study of War, said in its latest assessment.

They added: "Russian forces are gradually beginning an offensive, but its success is not inherent or predetermined."

Zelensky will be using the dais of the European Parliament to make his point in a plenary session, hoping to match Wednesday's speech to Britain's legislature when he thanked the nation for its unrelenting support.

That same support has come from the EU. The bloc and its member states have already backed Kyiv with some 50 billion euros in aid, provided military hardware and imposed nine packages of sanctions on the Kremlin.

After the solemn words at parliament, Zelensky will move to the urn-shaped Europa building for a working session with the 27 leaders.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...26b89f437d58ca

[Jimbuna]

Russians fighting for Ukraine tell Putin's soldiers: 'All your enemies are in the Kremlin'

Defiant Russians fighting for Ukraine against Vladimir Putin's forces have vowed to fight tooth and nail to repel his invading hordes - and warned their countrymen: "All of your enemies are sitting in the Kremlin". The Free Russia Legion was formed in March 2022, with Ukrainian insiders suggested its founding members were Russian soldiers who defected shortly after Putin ordered his invasion on February 24 - almost 12 months ago.

Their manifesto describes them as "free citizens of Russia who take responsibility for themselves and are beginning to fight for a New Russia" - and for the last year they have been locked in a bloody battle with their own compatriots.

Many are based in Bakhmut, currently held by Ukrainian forces and the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the entire war.

Two of them, who go by the call signs of Tsezar (Caesar in English) and Tikhy (which translates as "quiet") told Radio Free Europe about their reasons for joining.

Tsezar said the situation had got more intense since Putin ordered his military mobilisation in September, as well as the move by mercenary army the Wagner Group to begin recruiting convicts from Russian jails.

He explained: "We can feel the difference since mobilisation.

"Now you can just shoot without aiming and you'll definitely hit someone. Earlier we had to search for targets to corner Russian groups. Now, there are a lot of them - in every hole."

He continued: "They have been able to advance a bit, but at the cost of enormous losses.

"I feel sorry for the poor guys. I would like to be able to tell them: 'You have no enemies in Ukraine. There are no enemies in Paris or New York.

"All of your enemies are sitting in the Kremlin."

The precise number of Free Russia Legion troops is a closely guarded secret - but estimates suggest there are roughly 4,000 of them.

"February 24 came as a shock. My children were looking at me with tears and asking: 'Papa, how can this be? How could Russia attack Ukraine?'

"I told them not to worry because Ukraine would win in the end."I couldn't just stand by. I tried to volunteer for the international legion, but they weren't taking Russians then. When Free Russia was formed, I applied, went through some background checks, and ended up here."

While Tzezar was confident Ukraine would ultimately prevail, with Volodymyr Zelensky using today's visit to London to try to persuade Rishi Sunak to supply him with fighter jets, he agreed victory would be hastened by Western weapons.

He explained: "You saw how 20 or 30 HIMARS units changed the course of the war.

"And the West has hundreds more. And thousands of tanks. I won't even mention aircraft.

"If Ukraine had even a tiny fraction of these weapons, Tikhy and I would be celebrating our victory somewhere on a beach in Crimea."

Tikhy hails from the city of Tolyatti on the Volga river.

The former construction worker said he was in Kyiv in February when it came under attack.

He explained: "At first, I simply couldn't believe it. Only after the third rocket flew by did I understand what was happening. I gathered up my family and we hid in the basement."

Explaining his reasons for signing up, he added: "I'm done with Russia. I don't even want to hear about it after what they did in the Kyiv region and elsewhere."
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...8f9fd48a28cfa6

[Jimbuna]

Igor Mangushev: Russian who waved Ukrainian skull on stage dies days after being shot

ARussian ultranationalist who once held the skull of what he purported was a dead Ukrainian soldier has died in hospital after being shot in the head.

Igor Mangushev, 36, who also claimed to have invented the Z symbol used as a symbol of support for Russian forces, was shot in a close-range attack, doctors told his wife.

He died in hospital four days later at 6am on Wednesday.

His wife hit out at Russian authorities for failing to investigate the killing seen as a warning to one of Putin’s closest allies, head of Wagner private army Yevgeny Prigozhin.

In August Mangueshev achieved infamy after horrifying footage showed him taking to the stage of a metal concert holding the reported skull of a downed Azov fighter.

He told the cheering crowd: “We’re alive and this guy is already dead.

“Let him burn in hell. He wasn’t lucky. We’ll make a goblet out of his skull.”

Mangushev’s wife Tatiana Azarevich posted a video claiming he had been executed at close range miles away from the frontline.

She claimed that life-saving care was withheld and that the Russian authorities hadn’t adequately investigated the killing.

Doctors had told her “the shot was made at close range, at a 45 degree angle to the back of the head, from top to bottom”.

“I think we can safely describe this as a hit,” tweeted Mark Galeotti, a London-based political scientist and expert in Russian security affairs. “Was this about him or a proxy attack on Prigozhin? Obviously at this stage, impossible to say.”

In a thread analysing the situation, Galeotti concluded that “his could be a warning, or taking a pawn off the board, or a sign that Prigozhin’s more thuggish rivals feel he is weakened enough that they can move.”

Gruesome images appeared to show a bandaged and bloodied Mangushev lying in a hospital bed after they were shared on Telegram by a friend and colleague, Boris Rozhkin.

His reported death came as Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky was welcomed to Buckingham Palace by King Charles on his visit to the UK.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/newsl...3e070e5de5441f

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

Russia blow after losing half its tanks as troops struggle to meet Putin's demands

Oryx, an open source intelligence website, revealed that Russia could have lost up to half of all its operational tank fleet since the beginning

(...)

move to the urn-shaped Europa building for a working session with the 27 leaders.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...26b89f437d58ca

Here is your daily dose of good ol' NaCl.

[Jimbuna]

^ One can only live in hope.