Sanctions against Russia

[willedoo]

Maybe it wasn't the FSB building. Most reports are saying the missiles hit the Black Sea Fleet communications centre. If the ships are badly damaged, it's a bad first week for the new fleet commander. putler will run out of commanders to sack at this rate. Russian media is reporting the three Su-27s damaged, so that one must be reasonably confirmed.

[willedoo]

With a bit of luck the Azov and Yamal are out of action in the long term. They were the last two remaining Ropucha class ships which is a relatively modern class. The remaining two Alligator class landing ships date back to 1968 and 1975.

[willedoo]

The Russians are saying that the Black Sea Fleet communications centre/command post hit in Sevastopol had more than 20 officers in it. Reports are that there was over 30 personnel killed in the strike.

 

[willedoo]

Just some thoughts on the terror attack in Moscow.

 

I don't know if we'll ever know the full story. What's been presented so far is a bit confusing and a lot of things don't make sense. Bearing in mind in Russia these days, very little makes sense at the best of times. The US government and their security agencies are still going with the IS narrative. They say they firmly believe it was Islamic State behind it. The Tajiks who were arrested seem to be giving the story that they were hired and paid to do the job. Going by the footage of them being captured, that's believable as they were crying and whimpering like a bunch of girls when they were caught. Not at all like the average gung ho, die for Allah type of IS fighter.

 

They were tracked down and caught very quickly in comparison to the hour it took the SWAT team to arrive at the concert shooting site, despite their base being only a few minutes away. The security guards at the concert venue weren't armed. The security contract is also filled by the National Guard according to one source. The shooters were in the building for 18 minutes shooting people, then casually walked out the front door and drove way. In that 18 minutes, the police must have been flooded with calls, yet none arrived at the scene while the perpetrators were there.

 

The speed with which they were caught could suggest that the authorities knew all about the plan, but let it happen for political benefit. It wouldn't be the first time that's happened. There's one problem with that theory. A few days before, putin was up on stage in public doing his usual bragging and boasting. Part of his speech was dedicated to heaping scorn on the US warnings about an imminent terror attack. He dismissed it as nonsense and said the Americans were trying to cause division and public unrest. Blackmail he called it. He would hardly say all that and set himself up to look like a mug if he knew the attack was going ahead and that he was going to let it happen.

 

It looks like he's been caught with his guard down. The suspects have copped quite a bashing. Whether any of that was to coerce them into pointing the finger at Ukraine is anybody's guess. If the whole thing was a false flag of sorts to implicate Ukraine, then it failed miserably. It's all a bit fishy.

[willedoo]

If IS did organise the attack, it makes sense that they would use local Russian Tajiks. It would be a lot easier than trying to do it themselves. There's a whole district in Moscow that's virtually overrun by migrants from Tajikistan to the point where Russians are in the minority. A lot survive through petty crime, drug dealing and general gangster-like activities, so it wouldn't be hard to get recruits there. With two million Muslims in Moscow, IS would be able to get some sort of a foothold there without much trouble.

[willedoo]

The Ukrainians are saying they successfully struck the reconnaissance ship Ivan Khurs and the large landing ship Kostyantyn Olshansky in the March 24th. attack. They previously claimed hits and damage on the large landing ships Yamal and Azov on the same day. I haven't seen any credible damage reports as yet.

 

[red750]

Belarus dictator destroys Putin's claim Ukraine was behind ISIS attack

 

See slide show here.

[red750]

Putin rounds up illegal migrants to send to the frontline in Ukraine

 

Friday's horror attack has been linked to a rise in tensions, with the BBC today reporting an increase in beatings and racism aimed at Central Asian migrants - and the embassy of Tajikistan in Russia warning citizens not to leave their homes unless necessary. Some of the migrants detained today will reportedly face the choice of jail or expulsion - or fighting in Ukraine for Russia. Migrants who have been granted Russian citizenship also express fears they may be called up. 'They check who is on the side of the military, and who is evading,' one said. 'Those who evade can be taken away against their will.'

 

See slideshow here.

[willedoo]

The Russians have shot down their own Su-35 over Sevastopol.

 

 

[facthunter]

 Must impress the Mums and Dads of the "servicemen".    Nev

[willedoo]

Around 5 seconds per spin. It's upside down as well.

[onetrack]

What a shame the burning wreckage didn't fall onto a Russian military installation.

[willedoo]

I was watching a short video clip where a Ukrainian soldier was describing Russian battlefield tactics. He said they send in a first wave of low quality, poorly equipped troops first. They've intercepted Russian radio transmissions where the Russians in command refer to these troops as sheep. The sheep are accompanied by a small number of experienced troops who's job it is to identify Ukrainian defending positions then retreat, leaving the sheep to perish on the battlefield.

 

They do this a couple of times until they have the Ukrainian positions well located. Then they work those positions with artillery before sending in experienced units. To defend against the meat assaults, the Ukrainians have no option but to expose their defending positions. The Russians divide their troops into two classes - the useful ones worth keeping and the expendable ones. Their regard for the lives of their own troops hasn't changed much since WW2. In that war when there was a shortage of weapons and ammunition, unarmed troops were sometimes forced to advance into German machine gun fire.

[willedoo]

I think part of the idea of unarmed troops advancing into enemy fire was that they would be able to obtain a spare rifle when one of their armed comrades was hit.

[red750]

Pootin must be commiting so many war crimes his rap sheet would be longer than Donald's.

[facthunter]

Reducing FOOD supply to a lot of the world  deliberately would be a  war crime. This guy has no principles but Netanyahu is no better nor Trump. Nev

[willedoo]

Zelensky has said the Americans are not happy with Ukraine striking Russia's oil refineries. Zelensky told them they are using Ukrainian built drones only, so they are free to do what they want with them. Those refineries are supplying a big proportion of the cash for putler to wage war as well as fuel for his war machine.

 

 

[nomadpete]

Thinking in terms of Pooten, North Korea, China,etc, call me naive but I can't get my head around how often one psychopath can rise to the top and then set out killing multitudes and destroying lots of stuff and still have half their people thinking they are great. It doesn't make sense.

 

Since it has historically happened so much, I  sadly expect Mr Trumpet to rise to the top in USofA.

[willedoo]

[willedoo]

It looks like Ukraine is using Foxbats for their new long range suicide drones. They struck the Russian drone factory in Tatarstan 1,200 kilometres from the Ukrainian border.

 

[willedoo]

An official of the Ukrainian military intelligence has said the Crimean bridge will be destroyed in the first half of 2024. That makes it sometime in the next 12 weeks. A lot would depend on the definition of destroyed. In my way of thinking, destroyed would mean all four road traffic lanes and the two rail lines brought down for a long time. To knock out the whole bridge for an extended period, they would need to bring some concrete pylons down.

[willedoo]

U.S. Speaker Mike Johnson has again postponed the vote on Ukraine aid for several more weeks. He said it would happen after Easter and the vote was due to happen on April 9th., but he's come up with more excuses. If put to a vote, the bill is expected to pass with a large majority in favor as it did in the Senate. The only problem is Johnson refusing to put the aid bill to a vote. Aid has been delayed by months by this clown. The only likely path to passing the Ukraine aid is a discharge petition which so far has 191 of 218 required signatures to force a floor vote.

 

Edited April 5 by willedoo

[facthunter]

. Make America GRATE again. . ? Why are Republicans SO  inclined to stuff things up?. MONEY is ALL that motivates them. Isolationism appeals to selfish, self centred People till a way to profit from something different presents itself. (Like Lend LEASE in WW2)..  Nev

[willedoo]

The crazy thing about the Republicans is that they can't add up. The war in Ukraine has had a devastating impact on the Russian military and has greatly reduced their ability to wage a conventional war against NATO countries. For that benefit, America has spent 3% of it's defence budget on military aid to Ukraine. It's worth noting that the primary goal of that total defence budget is to deter and contain Russia anyway. Added to that is the fact that up to 90% of the money value of military aid is spent in the U.S. and goes to American companies and benefits the American economy. Most of the gear supplied to Ukraine is earmarked for retirement and replacement (by U.S. companies). The old, near end of life equipment is sent to Ukraine and American companies manufacture the replacement gear. The money stays in the U.S.. What part of that can't the Republicans understand?

[red750]

At least six Russian warplanes have been destroyed in an attack on Morozovsk airfield, according to Ukrainian sources.

 

Another eight aircraft suffered damage, according to the Kyiv claim, reported by RBC Ukraine.

 

Some 20 Russian personnel were killed or wounded, it was alleged.

 

Frontline bombers – Su-24, Su-24M, and Su-34 – are known to be routinely based at the airfield.

 

They have been used to strike at Ukraine during the war.

 

As of 4 April, some 26 Su-34 fighters and three Su-35 warplanes were stationed at the airbase, according to OSINT reports.

 

The SBU secret service was behind the kamikaze drone strike along with the Ukrainian armed forces.

 

‘The results of the joint special operation are amazing – at least six Russian military aircraft were destroyed, and another eight received significant damage,’ a  source told RBC Ukraine.

 

f confirmed it would be one of the biggest blows of the war to Vladimir Putin’s air force.

 

There was no confirmation from the Russian side, nor any independent analysis of the claims.