Millions of us might be **** if we ignore the Russian-Ukraine war

[probes]

yep, Israel... another conflict where it's hard to say who actually is to be blamed... and little would it help the dead ones. Is it Hamas who uses civilians as shields or Israel who was attacked?
In UKR it's clear who's the agressor, at least. For most, I mean.

In Avdiivka things are getting more complicated for UKR. An extra problem - slow Starlink. As far as I understand, they don't directly blame them of helping ruz, as the front line is a mess and difficult to decide which side the active stations are actually, but the 'net is slow and the Baba-Jagaa drone operation hampered.
ruz is attacking en masse. A friend's father in Finland had told how they had been unable to shoot in the Winter War, as the ruz piles of bodies were so high. Just wait till the next bunch climbs on top...
Also the UKR says the influx of (Korea and Iran) weapons is remarkable, plus exotic POWs. Some from Nepal have described their ordeals "There to die": The untold story of Nepali mercenaries hired to fight for Russia in Ukraine war Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ne ... aign=cppst
It beggars belief that men go to war for money (and I don't mean professional mercenaries, skilled fighters) - but then, the Nigerian scammers do get profit as well [oh, I miss our resident scammer-hunter and his jokes!] and obviously they do not have many options, but to believe ruz promises or contracts ... so they sometimes even do get something to ruz banks, but then what? You go to get cash and get caught and back to front, and transfers to other banks... yeah.

The Maidan can be interpreted both ways. There was a coup, from which the President fled. However, he was also formally voted out by Parliament. Historically, all sides have usually seen the use of violence in a change of government to nullify previous treaties. There is no international law on this, to my knowledge.

Maidan interpretation, interesting. I haven't read about that. If it's a 'new' Ukraine - what about the Ukraine not being a country at all, then?

To finish on a positive note:

[probes]

Forbes reports: ‘Pokrova’ electronic warfare system with the possibility of replacing the satellite radio navigation field ('spoofing')...
- a new drone shield which does not rely on ammunition: a nationwide electronic warfare system called Pokrova with confuses drone navigation systems.

[John Hill]

If it's a 'new' Ukraine - what about the Ukraine not being a country at all, then?

If it is not really a country the people have no right to be there so it is OK to trash the place, kill a few and shove the rest across a border.

[probes]

For the non-fans of DW, a nice one - probably a tad too optimistic about the 'independence movements' in the 'regions', but ... well, you can decide yourself: DANIEL HANNAN - Why Russia must be broken up: For more than a thousand years it's been the tyrannical land of the purge, the gulag and Ivan the Terrible. Conquest is wired into its psyche

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

The problem with dragging up historical atrocities and empire-building is that the 'worst' nation during the period Hannan mentions, on all the examples he mentions, is...his own! Great Britain!
Who first suggested gas-bombing the Iraqi Kurds? 60 years before Saddam Hussein, it was..Winston Churchill!
Which nation first used biological warfare for the purpose of genocide?
Who invented concentration camps?
Which nation had the world's largest empire?

Hannan should stick to criticising putin.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

This article offers a reasoned opinion as to why some Republicans are blocking Ukraine Aid, including the new Bill currently before the Senate.
Note that the author is someone who has supported the end of the Ukraine war by Ukraine ceding territory to Russia for some time.
So, it's what he thinks, which aims to answer Probes' original question.

It boils down to the US southern border situation, and essentially the right wing Republicans will block anything and everything Biden tries to do from now on until he makes a substantial effort to close the southern border to illegal migrants.
Biden does not need any further legislation to do this.
Furthermore, the legislation the Dems and RINOs keep trying to pass is intended to tie Trump's hands on the problem should he become President.

https://www.theamericanconservative.com ... -election/

[llondel]

The difference is that the UK calmed down and figured out democracy. The Empire got broken up and transformed into the Commonwealth. Russia hasn't reached that stage, and possibly never will. But yes, a lot of atrocities were invented by the British, even if there were subsequent "improvements" by others.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Well, quite, but Hannan didn't use that argument.

[probes]

Actually F. Carson's "interview" did have a point - to show what happens if you play 'by the rules' (even if they're according to your own ethics), and the other one looks like he'd play along, but actually never did and never will. And takes you by 'surprise', to put it mildly. And gets what he wants.

[probes]

MiG aircraft production factory on fire in Moscow
Doesn't seem to be a massive one, though.

[tango15]

MiG aircraft production factory on fire in Moscow
Doesn't seem to be a massive one, though.

Very interesting. I've been in that factory, and as I remember the workshop referred to was a sort of tooling area. The factory is in an innocuous-looking building on the road between the city centre and Sheremetyevo Airport. It is unusual for the manufacturers to have placed what is actually a production plant so close to the centre of the city. Normally they are well out of what was then the range of nuclear bombers. In the case of MiG, the aircraft are built in the factory itself, the fuselage and wings being kept separate until they are sent by rail to Nizhny Novgorod (formerly Gorky), then fully assembled and the engines installed and tested. Test flying also takes place there. I suppose there is a chance that since construction work was taking place, it was a genuine accident. We hear a lot about fires in Russia these days, but in a country where the mere concept of H&S is anathema, outbreaks of fire are very common. That said, I do not doubt that a number of them are not accidental...

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Looks like the Russians will gain Avdiivka in time for putin's election.
The remaining supply road has been cut, south of the coke plant.
Goodness only knows how many troops they will lose to do it, but putin is not short of them.
They stopped using AFVs a week ago, and it's just been artillery and human waves, same as Bakhmut.

There are still two unmetalled roads to withdraw along, and I expect the Ukes will be doing this over the next two nights.

This one should be put down to the artillery rounds the West promised, but didn't deliver on time.
A contribution is that the Russians are not having to use artillery elsewhere much, as the Ukrainians failed to break through anywhere last year.

https://mstdn.social/@noelreports/111925781616628304

[probes]

yep, unfortunately
Foggy weather has been on the ruz side these days.
A more massive effort expected to follow from the Svjatove direction.

Nothing optimistic around Bakhmut either. The ruz drone operations are said to be more effective there as well.

[probes]

Some success, too: Russian landing ship Caesar Kunikov sunk off Crimea, says Ukraine

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Video here

https://mstdn.social/@noelreports/111928900148885077

The land in the background, taken from the second set of footage in the video, does match the coastline south of Yalta - seems like a good claim.

Unless they have some means of launching closer, it seems like the nearest bit of Ukrainian territory is over 220 miles from where the Ropucha-class was just sunk - that's some drone!

[probes]

yep, Magura V5, reportedly. The locals had discussed several explosions, probably ammunition being transported into the port.
The ship was named after a troop who died 14. Feb 1943 (seriously!), which also happens to be the day of all the friendly people in the world.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

It's difficult to see it on first viewing, due to the avoidance manoeuvres of the videoing drone, but the capsize sequence starts at 02:43 and the ship rolls through 90 degrees at 02:54.
It's definitely sunk.

There is more video and audio reportedly from the scene showing what looks like a big explosion of cargo.

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/02/ ... sea-a84075

This would fit with the drone video, which shows an internal fire initially, as the ship's side is aglow in IR, then there's a big hole in the port side in the next sequence, and then the ship capsizes by rolling to port whilst slightly down at the stern.
So I would guess the explosion led to rapid flooding. The hole appears to be below the main superstructure/bridge.

They now have intercepted audio of the searching Russian helicopters reporting just an oil slick and some debris at the scene. There's no mention of survivors, and if the loss sequence I've described above is accurate, there may well be none.

[tango15]

It's difficult to see it on first viewing, due to the avoidance manoeuvres of the videoing drone, but the capsize sequence starts at 02:43 and the ship rolls through 90 degrees at 02:54.
It's definitely sunk.

There is more video and audio reportedly from the scene showing what looks like a big explosion of cargo.

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/02/ ... sea-a84075

This would fit with the drone video, which shows an internal fire initially, as the ship's side is aglow in IR, then there's a big hole in the port side in the next sequence, and then the ship capsizes by rolling to port whilst slightly down at the stern.
So I would guess the explosion led to rapid flooding. The hole appears to be below the main superstructure/bridge.

They now have intercepted audio of the searching Russian helicopters reporting just an oil slick and some debris at the scene. There's no mention of survivors, and if the loss sequence I've described above is accurate, there may well be none.

Quite a nice-looking vessel actually. What are the chances that it was carrying ammo? That is a particularly fine stretch of coastline, too - I wonder if it was heading to Yalta?

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

The explosion video appears to show both rockets and small arms ammo cooking off, with a very loud bang, so definitely carrying ammo. This would fit with previous sinkings.
Given location shows it heading SW, already past Yalta. The logical points for delivery would be Sevastopol, Yevpatoriya, or Skadov'sk. and I would lean towards the latter.
As a landing ship, it could of course park up and unload almost anywhere along the W side of Crimea, but it would be quicker to use a port, and they would not need to carry the offload crew.

[PHXPhlyer]

MAGURA V5

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAGURA_V5

Tactical and technical characteristics
Some technical characteristics of the drone were published by the Ministry of Digital Transformation in November 2022:[2]

Length: 5.5 m
Gross weight: < 1000 kg
Operating range: up to 400 km
Range of operation: up to 800 km
Range: up to 60 hours
Payload: up to 200 kg
Cruising speed: 41 km/h
Maximum speed: 78 km/h
Navigation methods: automatic GNSS, inertial, visual
Video transmission: up to three HD video streams
Cryptographic protection: 256-bit encryption
Cost of Production: about 273,000 USD
It is reported that in addition to the drone itself, equipped with an autopilot system, video subsystems, including night vision, redundant communication modules and a combat unit, it includes a ground-based autonomous control station, a transportation and storage system, and a data center.

PP