Ukraine Invasion: Part 29

[MagicFox]

Welcome all, part 29

One comment in that thread @minsmum posted implied that she and dad were criticising Putin for not going farther in the ‘special op’ (is it a war yet?) in Ukraine and this was a warning to dial it down / back off. I find it more believable that it’s internal and a warning, but we’ll never know exactly what. Still… interesting in that it might be visible evidence of fraying Moscow alliances.

Key Takeaways

Russian offensive operations in eastern Ukraine have likely exhausted the limited momentum they gained at the end of July and are likely culminating. The Russian military has shown a continual inability to translate small tactical gains into operational successes, a failing that will likely prevent Russia from making significant territorial advances in the coming months barring major changes on the battlefield.

Ukrainian military intelligence reports that Russia and Belarus have reached an “urgent” agreement for Belarus to repair damaged Russian aviation equipment for re-use in Ukraine. This agreement could be part of a Russian effort to use the looser sanctions regime on Belarus to circumvent sectoral sanctions on Russia.

Russian forces attempted several unsuccessful ground assaults southwest and southeast of Izyum.

Russian forces launched a ground attack southeast of Siversk and northeast and south of Bakhmut.

Russian forces made limited gains west of Donetsk City but did not conduct any ground assaults on the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast administrative border.

Russian forces attempted unsuccessful ground assaults southwest of Donetsk City and continued attacking settlements northwest and southwest of Avdiivka.

Russian forces conducted several assaults on the Kherson-Mykolaiv frontline and made partial advances east of Mykolaiv City.

Russian forces are likely not training new recruits in discipline, creating an entitled force engaging in disorderly conduct in Russia and illegal conduct in Ukraine.

Russian occupation authorities intensified filtration measures and abductions in occupied territories ahead of Ukraine’s Independence Day on August 24.

+++

Ukraine’s unemployment rate record high amid war, but labor market recovering in some regions (kyivindependent.com/business/ukraines-unemployment-rate-record-high-amid-war-but-labor-market-recovering-in-some-regions)

⚡️Unknown Russian group claims responsibility for murder of imperialist ideologue's daughter. [Apparently car bombs were a thing of the 1990's in Russia but had fallen out of fashion. It was under the driver's seat, so it's said]

⚡️Mayor: Ukrainian partisans slit throat of Russian soldier who harassed underage girl.
Ivan Fedorov, mayor of Russian-occupied Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, also said that explosions had been heard in the city on the evening of Aug. 21.

⚡️Deputy PM: Ukraine wants ‘political clarity’ from EU leaders by end of this year on joining the bloc.
Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for European integration, said that the country had fulfilled 70% of its EU accession obligations.

⚡️Russian official confirms explosions in Crimea.

⚡️Sweden opposes total ban on Russian tourist visas.
Swedish Minister for Integration and Migration Anders Ygeman said his country supports strict limitations on visas for Russians, such as eliminating the simplified visa applications.

⚡️Ukrainian army destroys Russian stronghold in Kherson Oblast.

⚡️Bloomberg: Seized Russian super yacht to be auctioned for the first time since the start of the war.

📣 The German Foreign Affairs Minister Annalena Baerbock, as quoted by Der Spiegel: "We either provide assistance to Ukraine or deny help to millions of people

🤝 IRIS-T air defense system and COBRA counter-battery radar system will "soon arrive" to Ukraine according to the German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz

📣 The leaders of the US, Germany, France and Great Britain have discussed the current situation on the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant during a phone call

⛔️ The Russian Federation is partly closing off the airspace over Lipetsk, Voronezh, and Belgorod region for the period from August 22 to August 25

🇩🇪 Germany approved selling of 225 Vulcano high-precision artillery shells, reports Welt am Sonntag
It is noted that the Vulcano shells are not in service with the Bundeswehr, so Germany will supply them to Ukraine directly from the manufacturer as soon as they will be produced.

💥 Yet another Russian ammunition depot is eliminated in Chornobaivka, according to Serhiy Khlan, an advisor to the Head of Kherson Region Military Administration, who commented on the recent explosions in Chornobaivka

❗️ Russia has illegally mobilized 430 workers of "Dovzhanska-Capitalna" mine in the temporarily occupied city of Dovzhansk (Sverdlovsk) of Luhansk region

🔎 Soon Russia will increase its attempts to get Ukraine to negotiate, argues Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine

(losses not yet published)

bah, the cartoon page didnt really work. there were a pile of them, some very good.

Helicopter down and 200 more Russians

Still following.

I'm open-mouthed at the killing of Dugin jr.

Shit just got real for the chicken-hawks in Moscow who've so loudly demanded the sacrifice of other people's lives in their pointless war.

Definitely! I thought Kamil Kazani's assessment was very interesting, where he said that basically whatever the reason for this, the family are part of an elite who were supposed to be untouchable. Whether the bomb was intended for Daria, her father or both, it shows that their position didn't protect them. So there people coming to the realisation that they are more vulnerable than they'd previously thought.

And if it really wasn't Putin who ordered it, he must be absolutely shitting himself.

Yeah, there's basically no answer to Whodunnit that gives any comfort at all to the Putinist elite.

Ukrainian forces dunnit = "Shit! They can reach us in Moscow!"

Putinist forces dunnit = "Shit! He's turning on even his closest buddies, even those who support the war!"

Underground Russian rebels = "Shit! Who are these guys? They could be anywhere and anyone!"

What is this national republican army claiming they are responsible? Can we believe there is an internal rising? I've watched the video and he doesn't mention Ukraine alongside others who have been terrorised by Russia...

Ilya Ponomarev, ex-Russian parliamentary (the only one who voted against Crimea annexion), announced the National Republican Army, underground partisan group, is working inside Russia to oppose Putin's regime.

Their manifesto is in the video in English.

t.co/cMcc3UNfqr t.co/KlgPkXlZqq

‼️The occupation authorities abduct children in the Luhansk region to send them to war
Residents of Luhansk report repeated cases of disappearance of children aged 14 to 18. They are detained until their identity is established.
The procedure lasts not 72 hours, as usual, but until a father or brother comes for the child, who is put to the choice: "If not the child, who will go to the front instead?

〽️ Oil prices fell on Monday after three days of gains as investors worried that aggressive United States interest rate hikes would weaken the global economy and reduce fuel demand. The strength of the U.S. dollar has also increased market pressure — Reuters

⚡️The Armed Forces of Ukraine struck the Antonivskyi Bridge near Kherson today

🫶 Poland has handed over five thousand Starlink satellites to Ukraine, the Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov said
It will help Ukrainians to always be in touch and critical infrastructure facilities to work in the most difficult conditions.

🔗 South Korea and the United States have launched their largest military exercises in recent years. The countries want to prepare for new missile tests by North Korea — Reuters

📈 Gazprom's blackmail worked. The spot price of gas in Europe rose sharply in the morning of August 22 on the news about the repair of the Nord Stream pipeline and crossed the $3,000/thousand cubic meters mark.

⚡️ CEO of Baykar Makina, Haluk Bayraktar, confirmed that preparations for the construction of a drone manufacturing plant in Ukraine continue according to the approved schedule

⚡️Two bare-chested female protesters interrupt Scholz’s speech, demanding embargo on Russian gas.
Two women who shouted “Gas embargo now” during a public Q&A session held by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz were quickly subdued and removed by security, AFP reported.

⚡️General Staff: Russian forces have partial success in Blahodatne between Kherson and Mykolaiv.
Ukraine's General Staff also reported on Aug. 22 that Ukraine had repelled Russian offensives in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk oblasts.

Is there any compelling reason to think the killing of Dugin jr. is related in any way shape or form to the "Special Operation" or is it more likely to simply the result of a (possibly misdirected) gangland hit...

tbh I don't think anyone will ever know.

Seems they are now blaming a Ukrainian woman for it. Quelle surprise.

Also:
Kherson Police Department head Serhiy Khlan confirms there was a Russian truck convoy full of ammunition on Antonivsky bridge at the moment of attack. [oops!]

It wouldn't surprise me if we did find out, but at the moment it seems impossible to say.

NEXTA
@nexta_tv
Almost 9 thousand Ukrainian servicemen died in the war with #Russia, - Valery Zaluzhny, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of #Ukraine.

(A rare mention of Ukrainian deaths. )

Seems they are now blaming a Ukrainian woman for it. Quelle surprise.

Cherchez la femme. It's always a woman at fault, innit? 😁

And she did it with her 12 year old daughter in tow. That's ridiculously impressive.

AND. She was an Azov nazi

Honestly it's so transparent it would be funny if it weren't life or death

She is one impressive woman travelled to Russia with her 12 year old, set a bomb and escaped to Estonia, what a shame she left her Ukrainian ID behind. Honestly my eyes couldn't roll any further

Russian media is claiming Ukrainians hit the workers that were repairing the bridge. If there really was a convoy with ammo, they must have been some special explosive workers...

Oh and Maxar published satellite images today, where there's no visible damage to ZNPP whatsoever. Russia is requesting an urgent meeting with UN about it though 🙄

Well, this is a bit concerning.

British soldiers warned to ‘prepare loved ones’ for deployment to Ukraine in war against Russia

Has this been in the news on your side of the pond?

Honestly it's so transparent it would be funny if it weren't life or death

I can picture myself on this secret assassination mission with DD at 12.

Claire, if you don't get out of the bathroom this minute, we will miss the car bombing, and no, we cannot stop at Mcdonald's after. They've all closed here and we need to scoot to Estonia.

There have been occasional warnings/comments for some time now, so it's not new news..🤔

For example:

unherd.com/thepost/top-general-britain-must-prepare-for-war/

I think it's more a case of some form of expectation management, and perhaps a reminder to some - including some politicians - that members of HM Forces may actually have to go to war...(as has actually always been the case).

Could someone kindly link the brilliant article a while back that someone posted on China and Russia and the future?

nm finally found it. A bad memory is really really annoying

Was it a really long one and talked about the benefits to the US too? If so I have a feeling I've read it but forget the name. It was on someone's substack as like an 80 minute read!