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

[John Hill]

Someone will make a lot of money replacing them with new stock, for the next war.

It is what makes the world go 'round.

[Pontius Navigator]

In other words, kit supplied to UKR is the same age as the ew Russian kit.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

French will now supply "significant numbers" of SCALP missiles - aka Monsieur Storm Shadow.

Russian deputy commander of Southern Military District, a three star general, reported killed in his hotel room in Berdyansk yesterday, by Storm Shadow.
Hero of Ukraine medals on their way to a few busboys and housekeepers, I suspect.
Never annoy The Help, eh?

Russian former submarine commander suspected of launching a cruise missile strike on Vinnytsia last year which killed many civilians (likely a Russian Intel cock-up).
was shot dead during his morning fitness run a few days ago.
Credible evidence that the assassin(s) had access to his fitness app showing his route and timings.
Russians blaming "partisans", Ukrainians say it was the Russians because the commander refused to continue in submarine service and had transferred to recruitment.
No way of telling which is true - both possible on past form.
But frankly, who cares?

Joke of the Day: Russian MoD claiming 26,000 Ukrainian dead, 1,244 tanks and IFVs destroyed, 137 HIMARS and 27 Storm Shadow Intercepted. All in the last 5 weeks.

The Interception technique seems to be Placing Important Targets Under The Missile Impact Point

[tango15]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z67gP1SYCw&t=7s

Is there really no end to this man's gaffes? (Rhetorical question, but he really is becoming an embarrassment)

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

He was known to be senile before the election.
People chose senile over Trump.
Or, if that's your way of thinking, they chose Trump but weren't prepared to do anything substantive about a stolen election.

We just have a corrupt, stupid, coward at the top of the heap.
But he needs every vote he can get, and Canada has a lot of Ukrainian stock.
Some town guides on the Prairies are printed in English and Ukrainian.

afa2fd464cd02ff2002abed2de651bd4--church.jpg (50.58 KiB) Viewed 731 times

Whilst it may seem that Ukrainians mainly favour the Prairies, because some towns there look like they have been transplanted from Ukraine, there are in fact higher numbers in Ontario.
Toronto is 10% Ukrainian, and this is where the next election will be won and lost.
Trudy doesn't care about the Prairies, his party doesn't have a seat anywhere between Vancouver and Thunder Bay. That's the distance between the Orkneys and Madrid.

[tango15]

The parents of my lady contact in Lviv have applied to immigrate to Canada. Apparently, her mother (Ukrainian) was accepted quite quickly, whilst her father (Polish) is still undergoing the acceptance process. I think they plan to settle in Montreal.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

There are significant holdups in the Canadian systems. I have friends currently going through the process from UK.
There does not seem to be much rhyme or reason for why some people get delays and others are whisked through.
I got through rapidly simply because, as ex-British Forces, my approval was administratively short.
But that was quite a while ago, and things are definitely more confused now. The Civil Servants' strike earlier this year made a bad situation worse.
Trudy has lost control, frankly. As have my Provincial politicians. They can and do talk about Initiatives and Funding and Reviews, but they aren't even touching the fundamental causes.

As to the effect on Ukrainians trying to get here, I'm not sure.
I think Trudy has given the Ukrainians just about all the sustainably serviceable tanks we have.
My suspicion from chatting to Canadian Forces personnel in the last year or so is that things are worse than most people think.

[tango15]

Thanks F3. I shall pass that on.

[tango15]

Well, journalistic standards may be quite low in The Sun, but the broadsheets are sinking, too:
From today's Independent:

On Wednesday this week Russia’s defiance ministry said the Wagner Group was completing the handover of tits weapons to the military.

...unless of course one of its keyboard warriors has just been fired, and is exracting revenge!

[Dushan]

My hands have been referred to as “tits weapons”.

[Woody]

Let them eat yoghurt

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66218999

[Boac]

The Kerch bridge has been hit again. I understand there was an 'agreement' not to attack it in exchange for the grain export 'deal'. That deal was ended by Russia yesterday. I wonder if there is any connection...............

[4mastacker]

Looking at a photo of one of the spans, the answer is 'No'.

[PHXPhlyer]

They got only one side of the highway bridge and missed the rail line altogether.
Unfortunately, a civilian couple were killed and their daughter injured.

PP

[boing]

Considering the air defenses that are installed at the bridge any damage inflicted is a win for Ukraine. The message has to be that if the Ukrainians got through once they can do it again. The cost of the weapons? Peanuts in the scheme of things. A good plan would be to hit the bridge at three separate points. The two outer points can be fixed from the mainland but the centre point can't be fixed until at least one of the outer points is fixed to allow access causing much longer delays.

Two civilians killed. Unfortunate but compared with Ukrainian civilian losses negligible and at least the bridge has justifiable military value.

We don't know what hit the bridge yet. Could have been drone surface boats or even Storm Shadow. I would think that to avoid diplomatic problems the Ukes would use drone surface vessels if possible. It is also possible that the Sevastopol attack was a cover operation to get the surface drones past that base. For a long time Ukraine has had fully submersible drones with the range to hit the bridge but these may not have the required payload capability.

.

[prospector]

How can anything be called a win for anyone in Ukraine. When a negotiated settlement is eventually arrived at, who will be the Winner?. many thousands killed, on both sides, Ukraine completely bankrupt, many of its citizens have left for good, it is perfectly obvious why this war is being dragged out. What is the profit on every 155mm shell that is fired from Ukraine? who supplies them? they are certainly not manufactured in Ukraine, and there are many hundreds fired every day. If the countries supplying all these munitions became the recipients of same then no doubt an agreement to settle hostilities would be reached very rapidly.

[prospector]

Considering the repercussions of the bridge strike, was it worth it? Perhaps for observers many miles from the conflict, but certainly not for the inhabitants of Odessa, and all the starving millions in Africa waiting for Ukranian grain to arrive.

https://www.rt.com/russia/579972-black- ... aign=Email

Russian military issues maritime warning for Black Sea
All ships heading for Ukrainian ports will be treated as potentially carrying weaponry, the Russian Defense Ministry has said
Russian military issues maritime warning for Black Sea
FILE PHOTO. © Getty Images / bfk92
The Russian military issued a new navigational warning for the Black Sea on Wednesday, declaring certain areas in its international waters to be “temporarily unsafe” for vessels. Apart from that, the military advised seafarers against attempting to reach Ukraine’s ports, stating that all vessels heading there will be treated as potential carriers of war goods starting from Thursday.

Therefore, the flag state of a ship attempting to reach the Ukrainian Black Sea ports will be deemed as “taking part in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of the Kiev regime,” the Russian Defense ministry said in a statement.

The military said it also declared certain areas in the international waters of the Black Sea to be “temporarily unsafe” for navigation. The areas are located in the north-west and south-east of the waterway, the military noted, adding that all the necessary navigational warnings have already been published as required under existing procedures.

“With the termination of the Black Sea Initiative and the abolition of the maritime humanitarian corridor, from 00:00 Moscow time on July 20, 2023, all ships en route to Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea will be considered potential carriers of military cargo,” the military insisted.

The new restrictions de-facto re-impose the Russian naval blockade on Ukraine, lifted under the so-called Black Sea grain deal in July 2022. The agreement, signed with mediation by the UN and Türkiye, enabled the safe shipment of Ukrainian grain through Black Sea corridors amid the conflict between Moscow and Kiev. Moscow withdrew from the deal on Monday,
https://www.rt.com/russia/579962-ukrain ... aign=Email

Russia launched a massive cruise missile and suicide-drone barrage on targets in Ukraine overnight, the country’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday. Military infrastructure, fuel depots, weapon stockpiles, and an airbase were among the targets identified by the Russian military in its daily briefing.

It said a group strike had been conducted using “high-precision sea- and air-launched weapons,” which struck “military industry facilities, fuel infrastructure, and ammunition depots” near the city of Odessa, as well as Ukraine’s Kanatovo air base in Kirovohrad Region. All the designated targets were successfully hit and the objectives of the strikes were achieved, it added.

Footage circulating online shows massive explosions in the vicinity of Odessa, including at its Black Sea ports. Ukrainian officials have claimed the strikes also inflicted damage on civilian infrastructure, with the city’s mayor, Gennadiy Trukhanov, saying the attack was the largest since the beginning of hostilities. He described last night in the city as “terrible.”

[boing]

The Black Sea belongs to Turkey because Turkey owns the only access. I don't remember the last time a large military vessel was carried by road. Russia is therefore subject to attrition.

Ukraine has capable anti-ship missiles which is why you do not see Russian ships in the Western Black Sea. A few more Sevastopol attacks and the loss of a couple of capital ships and Russia will be powerless at sea which is why most attacks on Ukraine are presently from long range with ship launched cruise missiles or use air launched weapons. They don't want to risk losing any ships because they can't replace them.

The Ukes really have not seriously had a crack at Sevastopol yet, attacks on Odessa will change this and the rest of the World will nod and say the Russians sure asked for it. When Ukraine has enough sympathy to use their long range weapons Sevastopol is dust This leaves the Russians with the base at Novossysk which is a much easier target than Sevastopol and, you may not have noticed, is about the same range for the Ukes as the Kerch Bridge.

The Russians are making a high stakes bluff.

.

[prospector]

https://maritime-executive.com/article/ ... -in-crimea

Do not need a wide road, or the approval of the Turks, they would appear to be quite capable of handling the situation. To say the Russians are fighting Ukraine is ludicrous. The war would have been finished many months ago, if the NATO nations had not leapt in to try and save? a non NATO, and non for very good reasons, nation.

" On Tuesday, the More (or Morye) Shipyard in Feodosiya, Crimea laid the keel for the first Russian naval vessel to be built on the disputed peninsula since Russia annexed it from Ukraine in 2014.

""Today, we are laying the keel of the advanced ship Shtorm . . . this proves that the shipyard has managed to integrate with Russia's defence industry quickly enough. The company is prepared to fulfil the order," said industry and trade minister Denis Manturov.

The new class of 18 vessels, known as Project 22800, is intended as an alternative to the Project 11356 / Admiral Grigorovich class frigates, which halted construction when Ukraine stopped exporting their engines in protest of the Russian annexation of Crimea.

The Shtorm and her sister ships will be armed with eight ground-hugging, long range Kalibr-NK cruise missiles, the same armament as on larger Russian naval vessels. "To keep the pace of ship construction, we’ll replace [Project] 11356 by building a new series of vessels - small missile ships, corvettes armed with cruise missiles - [Project] 22800. This work is being done today, and we hope that by the end of the year we’ll be able to lay down the first ship," said the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Viktor Chirkov, in comments in July 2015.

Two 22800 corvettes are already under construction at Pella Shipyard in St. Petersburg; the lead vessel, the Uragan, is slated for delivery in late 2017.

At just 800 tons, the 22800 class is small relative to its armament, and has only 3,000 nm of range and 15 days of endurance. Despite its size, "it is armed well enough, in fact. The Navy is awaiting for it," said Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov in December.

Ukraine still claims Crimea as its own territory, and the majority of nations have not formally recognized Russia’s claim. The U.S. and the EU maintain trade sanctions against Russia over the annexation, but Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown no sign of yielding. On Wednesday, contractors completed a power grid connection between Russia and Crimea at the Kerch Strait, bringing 250 MW of electrical carrying capacity to the territory. Russia is also building a multi-billion dollar road and rail bridge across the strait, a measure intended to consolidate its hold. That project is expected to be complete in 2019.

[Pontius Navigator]

Prospector, good bit of history there. Para 2 was. 7 years ago.

What was your point?